On Monday morning, I was walking into the school through the gates when a car drove by.

"Nairobi!" A very familiar voice called. I looked towards the owner and it was Chijioke. I couldn't even remember when last he called my full name. I waved back at him as the car drove ahead. Soon the car stopped moving and Chijioke came down. He beamed at me and jogged over to where I was.

"You decided to wear your glasses this morning," I commented taking note of the transparent framed glasses on his nose.

"My mother would not stop telling me how I would go blind before forty if I don't wear them," he complained pulling off the glasses. Typical Chijioke. He only wore his glasses when reading or copying notes. Sometimes he would rather squint than wear the glasses.

"It makes you less ugly," I teased as I continued walking to the Senior school building. He fell in step with me.

"So this is your way of saying with my glasses, I am cute in a nerdy sorta way."

I only chuckled lightly.

We walked in comfortable silence for a while until we reached the senior building.

"Nairobi," Chijioke called. I hummed in response. "Do you know if anyone has asked Jessica to the love fest?" That question reminded me of Vincent's text. I reached the house only to realise that Vincent had sent a text asking me to be his val. It reminded me of Aliyah's words last year. It came to pass.

"I don't know she didn't text or tell me anything."

Chijioke just said okay and kept walking.

"Are you planning on asking her?"

Chijioke just smiled sheepishly and truthfully what I wanted to do was slap some sense into him. How could he want to ask Jessica? The girl who he claimed had insulted him because she was jealous of me. He wanted to ask her? Come on wasn't that the perfect definition of stooping low?

"We are good now," Chijioke told me like he had heard my thoughts.

So?!

"You know she likes Stephen," I said instead. Chijioke deflated. And I felt bad for him.

"It won't hurt to try my luck," he smiled. Chijioke it would hurt a lot especially if she refuses you, I wanted to say but I shrugged instead.

I stepped into our class first and paused at the entrance because of the scene my eyes met. That instant I just wanted to run out of the class and pull Chijioke far away.

"What's the hold up?" Chijioke whispered in my ear before peering into the classroom. I closed my eyes and hissed lightly as I felt him momentarily pause beside me. Chijioke didn't deserve this.

There at Jessica's desk, Stephen and Jessica were kissing. And Chijioke had to watch. Chijioke was watching the girl he wanted to ask to be his Valentine kiss his friend. His bosom friend for that matter.

Chijioke didn't say anything, he just stared.

"Chijioke. . ." I trailed of not knowing what else to say. The boy looked so beaten and heart broken.

The 'couple' must have heard me because they jumped away from each other. Jessica stared at us with wide eyes. When Stephen eventually turned to us, he dragged his palm down his face, muttered something under his breath and looked away.

"I'm going for assembly now."

"I can drop your bag for you," I offered as Chijioke walked away. He paused then handed me his school bag before leaving.

"Aren't you guys going to continue where you stopped?" I asked, sass and a bit of anger rolling off with the words. Both of them just looked down as if they were sorry for what they had done.

I just scoffed and walked to Chijioke's desk to drop his school bag before going to my seat. Stephen came to me seconds later hovering like he was certain ghost I was supposed to know. I ignored Stephen as I thought about going to the auditorium to see how Chijioke was doing. I figured he might just want to be alone so I decided against it.

"Can I talk to you for a minute. . .or more?" Stephen finally asked.

"No." I didn't even look up at him.

"Thought as much," he said before leaving the class. His action made me suck my teeth in annoyance. He lowkey didn't want to talk. When I stared at the back of Jessica's head, she turned in time to meet my gaze.

She looked apologetic. Then I realized I shouldn't be angry at her. It was what her heart wanted. She liked Stephen and Chijioke was just her friend. But I felt really bad Chijioke. He was my favorite person after Richard and I didn't like the fact that my friend was breaking his heart. It was breaking my heart too.

"It's fine," I voiced out. Jessica stared with disbelief written on her fair face. "Really. It is."

She gave a slight smile, then came over to me. She dragged a nearby chair and sat.

"Do you think I should go and see Chijioke?" She asked me.

I shrugged. "I really don't know."

Jessica only sighed.

"He likes you a lot."

Jessica sighed again and her shoulders dropped. "I figured. I wish he doesn't. I like him too but not to that extent. I don't want to be the one breaking his heart and I don't want to ruin our friendship. It pains me that I'm breaking his heart."

Jessica really looked sad about the whole situation.

"I said terrible things to him during Vincent's party," she confessed.

"He told me."

Jessica rubbed her forehead and inhaled deeply.

"Did he ask you to be his val?" When she didn't reply I added, "Stephen."

Jessica hesitated. "I asked him."

I swallowed my next words and the question I wanted to ask. I don't think I wanted to hear her answer.

"Vincent asked you right?" She asked me, beaming with a smile.

"Why would you think so?" I asked my voice sounding defensive.

Jessica laughed. "Are you blushing? Oh my God." She laughed some more. "Stephen told me he was going to drag the boy along. I figured he would need a val if he was going to come. And that would be you. So he asked right?"

"Well yes. But I'm not going so no need."

"Why?!" She screeched like a banshee.

At that same time the bell for morning assembly rang.

"Time for Assembly," I smirked at her standing up.

*
I walked into the class with Amanda and Jessica on my two sides arguing about Korean actors and I just had to smile at their devotion to the thing. I couldn't even relate to anything and I thought the same for Aliyah because she didn't contribute she just smiled like me.

When I detached myself from their frivolous bickering I met Vincent staring at me.

Would you be my val?

We hadn't even told the Amanda and Aliyah that Vincent asked me to be his val. Their reactions would be worth watching. I knew Aliyah was going to scream like a girl who got engaged till my ear drums bled to death because she predicted it.

Was her ship sailing? I shook the thought from my head. There was no ship.

But honestly, Vincent shocked me. After the nightmare he faced that afternoon and nearly giving me a heart attack, he had the mind to ask me to be his val. Was the boy even in his right mind when he sent me that text? Because reaching home to receive a text from Vincent asking me to be his val was not expected at all. My mind didn't even reason that he would think of going for the event, talk more of asking me to accompany him.

And the way Jessica had been hyping the whole thing, I didn't want to say yes. As vals we had to go to the love fest together and spend time at the event together too. We had to exchange gifts. What on earth was I supposed to be saying to Vincent if we weren't studying and what did I even know he liked? Could I even afford it?

After what happened on Saturday, I've had the unexplained desire to do what pleases him and I didn't like it. That was because it just seemed like I was just pitying him.

Vincent was still looking at me so I waved at him. If he eventually came up to me to ask me then I'll tell him No.

When Vincent waved back, I offered a small smile before sitting at me desk.
Since there was nothing to do at the moment so I decided to look through my scrap book.

I flipped through the pages and stopped at a drawing of a girl that was supposed to be me at a corner of a room and my mother yelling profanities at me. I HATE YOU described it all. Dinma in the drawing was at a corner ignoring us as she smoked and concentrated instead on a man. I sketched it when I was in SS1. Dinma had gotten drunk and came back home when I was studying. She started yelling at me for no reason at all and started reminding me of everything that was wrong with my life. She went ahead to tell me to give up because I would still end up like my mother. Her words had left me depressed for days as I wondered if all my efforts at being a better person were just futile attempts and fate was just going to fuck me over in the end.

I got a pen from my bag and added two horns to the woman that was my mother's head. Fortunately, she didn't call again but deep deep down, that made me more bitter and I hated her more.

I flipped the pages of the scrapbook more and I laughed at the caricature of Chijioke I had drawn. It was the drawing I had made when I met him first. Talking about him, I looked towards his desk and he had his headsets on as he probably solved past questions or something. I didn't see him during the assembly. I made a mental note to talk to him later and give him his caricature. That would make him smile at least.

The next page of my scrapbook had a caricature of Vincent I had drawn after our first lab gone wrong. It had the inscription; Stupid annoying brat under it. I frowned at my first thought about him. I cancelled it and wrote; could be annoying but he's a nice guy. And I meant it. Vincent was lowkey a nice guy. Grief was just messing him up.

I flipped more and rage from nowhere invaded me. I was staring at an incomplete drawing of Stephen. I hadn't completed the face but those eyes of his were complete. It wasn't a caricature and the reason why I had sat down to start drawing Stephen's face and spent this time to complete his eyes were beyond me. I had  gotten that honey brown shade of his eyes by using some very quality colour pencils I had intentionally swiped from the art studio.

Just for his eyes. It baffled me now.

I tore out that page of my scrapbook book in anger and stood to go and throw it in the trash basket when I bumped into someone.

I looked from Vincent to my scrapbook and back to him, panicking slightly.

"How long have you–"

"Not so long. I just came actually," Vincent told me. I sighed inwardly in relief. My scrapbook was my own diary.

When he said nothing more, I proceeded to walk away.

"Wait!" He blocked my path making me hit his chest. I looked up and scowled at him. But he just stared back, looking directly into my eyes like he lost something in there. His gaze disoriented me a bit and I couldn't even keep my scowl. The scowl eventually melted into a neutral look. I stepped back a bit because I was not comfortable with our close proximity.

"What?"

"I sent you a text on Saturday." He scratched his head as he said. "We should go to the love fest together."

So he really meant it? He didn't send the text by mistake?

"I. . .I don't know. I might not go." Was my slow unsure reply. I wanted to say no but yet I also wanted to say yes.

"I'll pay for the ticket and every other thing."

I blinked at him. Why was he sounding desperate? Now I wanted to say yes, more than I wanted to say no.

"See it's not about–" I paused. What was I even saying? I wanted to help Vincent right? If we did spend time at the love fest hanging out it would improve our relationship hopefully, if I don't bore him to death. And best of all I would be faraway from the house. I smacked myself in my head, what had I been thinking for goodness sake? "–you know what, I'll get back to you."

Vincent smiled genuinely at me before I walked away. Maybe he knew he was getting a yes.