"I was in grade 9 or thereabout when I met with Ethan...!" Temi began to say.
"Actually, he was the one that came into my class being a new student 'nd all...!" Temi said with her head lowered as she paused momentarily.
The old woman watched her, hut kept her peace as she knew pretty well that the girl would talk.
Temi purposely stopped talking as she waited for the woman to say something.
The momentary pause that she gave was to confirm if the old woman was genuine or not, but when she didn't utter a word to interrupt her, and also hasten her to continue talking, Temi knew she could the old woman everything...
(That she needed to know...and not just anything)...
So going on with her story, Temi said;
"He was the one that came to my school back then...!" Temi repeated slowly with her eyes still staring downward.
"As a transfer student...?" The older woman asked.
Temi shrugged as she raised her eyes to look at the woman.
"I have no idea...!" She said.
Temi could see the confusion I'm the older woman's eyes so she clarified.
"From what I heard, he hadn't been to school in a long time...and that something had propelled him to come...!" Temi said.
"Do you know what had propelled him to attend your school?" The older woman asked.
Temi bit the corner of her lower lip as she shook her head in negation.
"No ma'am...!" Temi responded.
The old woman studied Temi's face carefully.
"I can tell when someone's lying to me, girly, so don't test me...!" The old woman said in a little bit of a harsh tone.
When Temi heard the old woman's tone, she knew the woman was not being harsh as she sounded.
Narrowing her eyes slightly at the old woman, Temi lowered her eyes and said;
"They said he had a reason, but I'm not in for it...!"
"But you know what it is, right...?" The old woman asked.
Temi shrugged as she sighed.
Rasing her head up as she looked away, Temi said;
"If it weren't for you asking me right now ma'am, I wouldn't have given a damn...!" Although not in a harsh tone.
The woman only stared at her.
Wanting to say something, but closing back her mouth as she didn't know what to say, the old woman continued to stare at Temi.
Turning her head to look at the older woman, Temi stared right back at her.
"So when he came into the school...!" Temi continued.
"Everyone was talkin' 'bout the new boy that's in school...!" Temi said.
"Everyone was talkin'...saying that 'OMG...The guy's smoking hot...I can't breathe...!' And I'm like...!" Temi made a face as she squinted her eyes and looked in a direction away from the old woman.
"I was like...'Girl, we're talkin' physics, chemistry 'nd math, you're talkin' new...? Boy? Hot?...' "
"I was so...it felt so surreal to me, but I didn't really mind that, cause it ain't any of my God-blessed biz...!" Temi said.
"Why was it so surreal to you? And why wasn't it any of your God-blessed biz...? " The old woman asked.
"Ain't it supposed to be 'God-damned' biz...?"
Temi looked at the woman.
"It wasn't any of my 'God-blessed' biz, because I was at school to learn and prepare myself for my future, and not to be talkin' 'bout boys, hello?" Temi said.
"Grandma, do you get my picture...?" Temi asked.
The old woman nodded.
"Yeah, Darling, I get your picture...!" The old woman said with a smile.
Temi nodded.
"Good!"
Lowering her head in rte direction of the old woman,Temi said in a low voice;
"Plus God-damned biz...I use that on certain occasions and not all the time, so...!"
The old woman smiled as she nodded, showing that she understood what Temi was saying.
"And why it felt so surreal to me was because, that girl hardly spoke 'to' boys talk much more of speaking 'of' boys...she's never into any boy, so hearing her say that that boy was hot was definitely new...!" Temi said with a puzzled face.
"Except maybe when she's gossiping 'about' boys...!" Temi said.
The older woman nodded that she understood what she was saying.
When she nodded that she understood, Temi went silent for a while. After some time, Temi finally spoke up again.
"So when the boy came into the school, the whole girls in my class at that time, and I mean the 'whole' girls, and I'm not gonna lie, including me...!"
"Including you, right...!" The older woman said as she laughed lightly and pointed at Temi.
Nodding, Temi laughed also as she responded;
"Yes, ma'am, including me...!" Temi first confirmed before going on to say;
"But my own 'sight-seeing' was after they had all gone to see who he was, plus, I was being sent into the principal's office in an errand...!"
The older woman nodded;
"Okay...!"
After some time, Temi said;
"And when they had all returned, they were all talking about who he was in little little clusters as they'd all hurdle themselves together and would begin gossiping, whispering and talking in hushed tunes 'bout the guy, and...!"
"Gossiping, whispering, and talkin' in hushed tunes...weren't you part of 'em?" The old woman asked.
Temi looked at the woman.
"I might've been friends with every single one of 'em back then, but I was never involved in any single thing that they did...discussed...gossiped 'bout, so I was never updated on the latest gist and they never ever bothered coming close...!" Temi said.
"...They just kept to their space and I kept to mine...no crossing of boundaries...!" Temi said as she rose and brought her shoulders down.
"But what 'bout your best-friend?" The old woman asked.
"I thought you had a best friend or something...what 'bout her...?"
"Grandma, calm down, we ain't rushing anywhere...even on the plane, we still here...!"
The older woman laughed heartily.
She's loving this girl...
Temi smiled.
Letting out an unconscious sigh, Temi thought;
'Oh Lord, I hope I'm not doing anything wrong here, this afternoon is my first time of not knowing what to do but just doing it for out of impulse...!'
Afterwards as she went on as she said;
"So when he came along, everyone was busy talkin' and talkin', and I was busy being busy as I was the only one that was actually working on the assignments that had been given to us...!" Temi said as she looked out the window.
"As I went on my own work, I heard the girls say that the boy's hot and good-looking...he's got that face that a those girls' ate always looking for, you know...?" Temi joked as she looked at the old woman.
The old woman only looked at her with her brows raised and a slight smile on her face.
"You can't tell me you weren't at least eavesdropping on their conversation about least to know who or what they were all talkin' 'bout and why it was so important to them...!" The woman said.
Temi laughed lightly.
"Granny, why are you so persistent 'bout this?" Temi asked.
The old woman shrugged.
"If I were to answer your question honestly, I'd say no, I wasn't eavesdropping...never eavesdropped on what the girls spoke of, even when my 'best friend' kept it to herself, I never invaded her privacy...!" Temi said as she lowered her head and subconsciously played with her fingers.