Ifeanyi was still looking at me as I took off the hoodie and stretched my hand forward for him to take it.
"Thanks a lot. You can have your sweater back. You must definitely be cold", I said with a smile which was genuine for a change.
"No, I am not actually cold. You can hold it for a while longer if you really need it."
"I insist. You must have been cold. I mean who in the world wears a hoodie over their clothes without a reason or when they are feeling hot..."
I trailed off when I saw the look on his face. Oh! I did wear hoodies a lot and for no reason, even in a really hot weather.
"Just keep it. You might need it later", he said adamantly.
"Nah. I have a whole wardrobe of them anyway. I lost count after the fiftieth one I got..."
"So you're saying that you have more than a fifty hoodies?" He asked interrupting me.
"Are you taking the hoodie or not?" I asked ignoring his question.
"I will. But you should probably keep it on since Genevieve headed for an S.S.3 classroom and has quite a chance of still bumping into you", he said and I nodded thoughtfully.
I shrugged an 'okay' as we continued walking towards our class.
"But I still need to know one thing though. Why were you hiding from Genevieve? Do you guys like know each other?_ So sorry, I let my curiosity get the better of me. There's no need answering if..."
"It's okay. I'll answer", I said interrupting him.
"Truth is, that girl is a pest. She has been trying to get on the girl's soccer team but we all know her condition and I'm aware of the fact that she can't play in the soccer team.
"I told her off the first time thinking it would end there, but she kept following me around, asking over and over if she could join the team when it is pretty clear that she is not able to.
"I don't just know what to do. It is really frustrating you know", I said surprised at how convincing I sounded and quickly I came up with the lie.
Hopefully, it wasn't such a bad lie and he might actually believe it.
"It is a good thing that you hid from her. You just want the best for her", Ifeanyi said and I nodded slowly glad that he actually bought it.
****
I strolled out of my house alone after like an hour of convincing Stephanie that I wouldn't get into any trouble even if I didn't have any bodyguards.
On a norms, I was free to stroll a lot but I think she was worried since it was already late. Roughly a few minutes past seven p.m. last I checked.
And I really needed to get out. As you know by now, my house got really boring sometimes.
I strolled a little further than the usual distance I would normally stroll until I got to a suya spot.
It was kinda on the roadside but was still fancy. I decided to get some suya.
I walked towards the person selling it. I told him what I wanted and as he was wrapping it in a takeaway, a familiar voice made an order.
I turned once I recognized the voice. I saw Ifeanyi standing beside me facing the suya guy.
And there was either something really wrong with me or he looked surprisingly handsome.
How he was even looking this hot was what I couldn't understand. I really thought that Aldrin was the only hot guy in my class.
He shifted his eyes to my direction. "Hi", he said in a calm voice. "This is the last place I expected to see you."
"Explain," I said.
"There is no actual explanation. I didn't just expect to see you", he said shrugging. The suya guy handed me my wrap before handing him his.
We both paid.
"Why don't we eat it here? I bet that would be a lot more fun", Ifeanyi suggested and I only nodded.
We found a table at a corner and sat there. Ifeanyi sat just next to me instead of opposite as should have been in a normal setting.
He unwrapped his suya and started eating. I did the same but I didn't eat much before I remembered something.
I searched for my phone before I realized that I forgot it at home during my argument with Stephanie. No wonder I hadn't gotten any calls from her because she should have blasted my phone with calls since I was already late.
I searched my other pocket to know if I could find anything useful.
I brought out a pen from the pocket and luckily also found a scrap of paper. I picked it up and started writing with my right hand since I was eating with my left.
I had barely written for a while when I heard Ifeanyi say, "I thought you were left handed".
"I write with both hands", I replied still writing.
"So you are ambidextrous?" He asked.
"I just said that", I snapped.
"Okay your highness", he said in mock surrender.
"Don't call me your highness."
"So what should I call you?"
"Alya."
I didn't get a reply for quite a while so I turned. He was staring at me and our faces were really really close. I mean I could even feel him breathing.
How did that even happen?
I did not feel very comfortable in that position but I could not get myself to move away which would be the easiest thing to think of doing but I just couldn't think at the moment.
There was this unsettling feeling I had but I still couldn't just move.
I kinda jerked backwards when he started leaning towards me scratching my hand against a loose nail in the process.
I looked at the injury and almost gasped.
MY PERFECT SKIN!!!
I almost teared up, not because of my injury, but because of how it would ruin my almost perfect skin. I sighed. It wasn't worth more than my friend's happiness.
Remind me never to eat at some random roadside kiosk.
I stood up to leave when I heard Ifeanyi's voice.
"Hold on!"
I stopped at impulse. "Are you okay?" He asked standing beside me.
I kept quiet.
"Alya are you okay?"
"Are you okay?" He repeated.
"Yes", I finally answered.
"But your hand is bleeding and you didn't answer my question until the third time so I think..."
"I am fine. I said that already and you are making me a liar if you don't believe it. I don't care anyway. I'll have to go home. Stephanie is probably worried sick about me."
I left after I was done saying what I wanted to. He didn't try to stop me or come after me. I saw Chiamaka as I was about to exit the place.
She was with an elderly woman. The woman looked too old to be her mother but a little too young to be her grandmother.
I didn't think she saw me, plus I wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone so I just left.