"The hell," Steph murmured uncomfortably on her chair.
Chloe and her minions Janely and Rina walked into the rooms. Joel had an affectionate smile on his face, and he warmly stretched his hands to hug Rina.
Upon seeing Ivan, Chloe rushed to him to hug him, but he didn't reciprocate. Steph looked away uncomfortably.
"Where is that b**ch?" Chloe said as she looked around the room in disgust.
She was loudly chewing gum, and for the next two or so minutes, it felt like judgment day as Steph murmured a silent prayer that Chloe was looking for someone else and not her.
But who was she fooling?
"You lowkey girl!" Chloe shouted at Steph when her eyes landed on her, and Steph found herself looking up at her in courage and determination to challenge her.
"Do you really have any shame? Trying to steal my boyfriend? I heard about what you tried to do at the drama club yesterday. Stay away from my boyfriend. He is mine and mine alone," Chloe shouted, and the class burst into laughter, which infuriated Chloe the more.
"Shut up, you b**ches!" Chloe shouted, but the laughter did not stop, and the look of shock and rage on Chloe's face was priceless.
"What is funny?" Chloe asked one of the students, Jacky Blake, and the laughter slowly died down.
"Mmmh, nothing," Jacky answered and shrugged, and Chloe felt like spitting on her. Pleased about the infuriation Chloe was feeling, Jacky knew she had the upper hand. Wasn't it time to show that off a little bit?
Chloe had tormented her for as long as she could remember. They had both contested to be the cheerleading team leader, and Chloe had used a dirty campaign to ensure Jacky lost.
It was so bad that Jacky had decided to leave the team altogether, citing lack of mental peace.
"Your man? Is that what you said? Hell, Ivan is a community man. I could go to him today, and he will give me what I want," Jacky said with a smirk, and the class broke into another fit of laughter and clapped her on.
Perhaps the laughter of the students and Jacky's statement to Chloe did it, or perhaps Steph just felt she had had enough of people standing up for her, so she suddenly felt courageous. She stood up, cleared her voice, and everyone's attention shifted to her.
Steph's eyes hardened and narrowed into slits. Her nostrils flared, she had bared teeth, a curled lip, clenched jaws, and a thousand lines were drawn on her forehead. Her heart was pumping loud for all to hear.
"She looks like a wounded lion defending its cubs," a classmate whispered.
"I have never seen her this annoyed," another whispered.
"If you were just a little bit wise…." Steph started, using two fingers to show the magnitude of the word small. "You would leave this boy alone and focus on growing you because, honestly, he can't be kept,"
"Look who's talking," Rina said in mockery, but ignoring her, Steph continued talking to Chloe, who had started regretting what had compelled her to confront Steph in such a crowded place.
She had wanted to embarrass her publicly, yet she was the one getting humiliated.
"What do you know about relationships when you have never even been in one?" Janely came do Chloe's defense after seeing she was still in shock for Steph confronting her back.
"Aa… me?" Steph asked as she laughed nervously and looked around the room as if she wasn't the one being addressed.
"I have been in relationships and I'm even in one right now," she added, looking intently at Ivan. "I just don't want public scrutiny of my affairs; you, of all people, should understand that,"
Steph winked, and the color drained from Janely's face. Steph had brought up her relationship, and she felt tears forming in her glands.
She had repeatedly told herself that she had gotten over her past relationship, but anytime someone mentioned anything about it, Janely found herself rolling down a dark tunnel with no end.
The lecture hall suddenly became quiet as a graveyard, and seeing things had gone hayway, Rina decided to take charge.
"Come on, let's go," Rina told her fellows as she led them out of the lecture hall. As she walked out, Chloe's gaze moved from Ivan to Steph and back to Ivan.
"I'll be waiting for you at our normal place," Ivan said with a smirk after the three girls left.
"What?" Steph asked in shock.
"I'll send you a message. Please keep time," Ivan said and hurriedly walked out of the room, leaving Steph more confused than ever.
Her boring life had just taken a turn for an adventure nothing could prepare her for.