Jazz blinked surprisedly at Mitchel who just stared blankly at her in return. She wasn't expecting what she just heard. Who could have told him though, she wondered. Only Kelechi and Ronke knew of it and Kelechi was always against the idea so she wouldn't be surprised if she was the one that told him, though she highly doubted it.

"How did you know?" Jazz managed to ask.

"When we first met, you never wanted anything to do with me, never wanted me around you, always told me how annoying I was and then, all of a sudden you started liking me and treating me lovingly. Not to mention your exaggerated show of affection towards me whenever Ella was around. It was pretty obvious to me though," Mitchel answered with a shrug.

"So you knew all this while that my feelings for you weren't genuine. Then why didn't you say anything or get mad or something?"

"I don't know. I really liked you and I guess I was okay with the fact that you were pretending to like me, as long as you liked me? If that makes any sense." Mitchel chuckled.

"It makes zero sense," Jazz offered playfully. "But I guess this is the right time to tell you that I like you, for real this time."

"I know," Mitchel said with a smirk.

"How did you—"

"Another reason why I chose to play along with your pretence game was because I thought that if we were close, I could charm my way into your heart, which I did."

"I see. You had it all figured out."

"It's difficult to resist my charm, you know."

Jazz smiled knowingly. "Indeed."

"Is that all you called me out here to tell me?" Mitchel asked.

"Uh no, I actually wanted to apologize for deceiving you the way I did. It was selfish and thoughtless of me, and I'm sorry."

"I never thought the day would come when I would get an apology from you, but like I mentioned earlier, I was never angry at you. Sure, I was upset, but I was determined to win your heart so I also pretended to not be aware of your pretence." Mitchel winked and Jazz rolled her eyes.

"So, are we cool?" Jazz asked.

"We've always been. I'm just glad you came to me to talk about it," Mitchel replied and slowly wrapped his arms around Jazz for a warm hug.

"Aren't you worried that someone may see us?" Jazz asked.

"Mmm, whatever," Mitchel mumbled.

Jazz smiled to herself as she listened to his not so steady heartbeat. They stood there in each other's embrace, not uttering a word, until the bell rang signalling that lunch break was over. Jazz and Mitchel finally broke away from the hug, grinning sheepishly at each other.

"I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean for the hug to last that long, I guess I got carried away and—" Mitchel started to ramble and Jazz put her index finger on his lips to stop him from speaking.

"We both got carried away," she said and kissed him on the cheek.

"Uh..." was all Mitchel managed to utter.

"See you later." Jazz waved him goodbye as she went back into the cafeteria. A good number of the students had already left and the place was scanty.

When Jazz took her seat, she was welcomed with wide eyes and mischievous grins from her friends. She groaned and took a sip of water. "What is it, you guys?"

"You were smiling to yourself when you walked in. What transpired between you two?" Ronke asked curiously.

"We talked."

"Of course. So, what exactly did you talk about?" Kelechi pressed.

"Can we not talk about it here?"

"Absolutely not," Ronke replied.

With a sigh, Jazz filled them in on her conversation with Mitchel, knowing full well that they won't let her be unless she told them.

"No way! He knew that you were pretending to like him, and he still chose to stick with you just to see if he could make you like him for real? I can't believe this guy," Ronke commented.

"I can," Kelechi said with a smile and Ronke groaned.

"She's got that look in her eyes. Let's make a run for it before she gives us a good lecture on the importance of fighting for the love you believe in." Without wasting another second, Jazz and Ronke stood up simultaneously and headed straight for the door.

"You didn't have to exaggerate it that way," Kelechi whined as she went after them.

* * *

"Why is he still staring at the door even after she's left?" Osas asked Mitchel teasingly.

"Because he deeply misses the love of his life and wants to spend more time together with her," Zainab replied with an overly emotional tone.

"Of course he does. I mean, just look at the way he's grinning like an idiot," Osas concurred.

"So, what did you guys talk about?" Zainab asked Mitchel.

"Don't ask him that, it's none of your business," Osas said as he turned to Mitchel and winked at him. "Don't worry bro, your secret is safe with me. By the way, how was it?"

Mitchel's brows creased together in confusion. "How was... what?"

"Oh shut up Osas, it's clearly none of your business how it was and how it wasn't," Zainab snapped at Osas.

"Wait oh, what are you people even talking about?" Mitchel asked, confusedly.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, okay. Don't mind Osas," Zainab assured him and patted his shoulder which only left Mitchel even more clueless than he already was.

"Aren't we supposed to have a class now?" Osas asked suddenly.

Zainab heaved a long, tired sighed. "We have a free period now. For your mind, I would sit here with you and while away my time when I have a class."

"Are we not in the same class?"

"I don't know for you."

"Can we please go back to the class and do something useful with our free time?" Mitchel pleaded.

"Absolutely. Sitting here with Osas is already a useless waste of my precious time," Zainab agreed and they stood up to take their leave.

"Excuse me, you don't have to insult me when I'm right here," Osas whined as they exited the hall.

* * *

As Mitchel and co passed by Ella's table, she had tried to get Mitchel's attention by waving at him but he intentionally kept his gaze forward till he left the cafeteria.

Ella frowned. "I can't believe Mitchel didn't believe me."

"I can. And besides, you didn't even tell him everything, you omitted the part about Jazz actually liking him this time."

"He doesn't need to know that. She already deceived him and took advantage of his feelings in the past so what does it matter?" Ella defended.

"It matters a lot because we're in the present and not the past."

"What do you mean? Are you not on my side?"

"I am."

"You sure don't sound like it." Ella folded her arms and Titi sighed.

"I've been telling you this from the start; Mitchel doesn't like you, and with Jazz around, that's not about to change anytime soon. I'll advise you to find someone else to love who's willing to love you back. You've wasted more than enough time on Mitchel, just let him go already. And quite frankly, this is getting pretty annoying, I wonder how Mitchel must feel."

"How can you know how he must feel when you're not him, and how can you know whether he likes me or not when you're not him?!" Ella snapped.

Titi gave her a deadpan stare. "You're missing the point."

"I think it's better I miss it cause I don't even understand what you're busy saying to me."

"All I'm saying is that you should just forget about Mitchel, he's not the one for you. As much as I hate Jazz, I have to admit that she's the one that has Mitchel's heart and no one can change that, not even you."

Ella threw her hands up in despair. "What the hell are you even saying to me? I can't believe you would say this to me!"

"Someone has to, because you seem to be too blind to see it for yourself. The sooner you let him go, the better."

"I'm going back to the hostel." Ella stood up from her seat.

"What? But we agreed to study together this free period."

"Find someone else to study with, or better still, study alone," Ella said and solemnly walked out of the cafeteria.

"Ella! Ella, wait!" Titi called out as she went after her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys, thank you all so much for keeping up with my story despite the long delay. I'm done with my semester exams so I'm back on the pads and would be updating more often than not 🙃

Love y'all ❤️