It took some minutes before Naomi came back with my bag.
Seeing her murmuring to herself while grasping the handle of my bag which was strapped along her shoulder made me wonder again why she was so adamant on helping me today. Did a fairy godmother, probably from my ancestry, appear to her last night and asked her to be good to me?
"Here, your bag. C'mon I will drop you off." She said as she handed over to me my bag.
You see..there she goes again. Behaving all kind and good toward me. Not that she had bullied me or joined the others in doing so in the past, but she had always been neutral, aloof like Ava, only saying a few words to me if we are paired up for practicals. So, what changed now?
"No, you can't. That might earn you a detention. I don't want to be the reason for that. I have a feeling that your brother will never let me see the rest of the day in peace if that happens." And I really want to see the rest of the day. I completed it in my mind of course.
"Heyyy, you are worrying too much. Nobody is going to know. I will just drop you off and get back to school for the remaining classes today and if worse comes to worst, then I will have to play the guilty card on the principal." She answered, chuckling as she slipped her hand into mine, causing me to shudder before I could help it.
Not out of fear, but out of surprise. Naomi was going to kill me with surprises today. But what was she talking about when she mentioned the guilty card?
"What is the guilty card?" I asked her, tightening the grip on our hands, pacified when that single small act of mine caused her to smile wider and begin to take steps toward the exit doors.
"Well, Mr Johnson had told me to take care of you literally after the cafeteria incident, and so if any teacher tries to serve me any form of punishment like detention, then I would have to fake cry whilst telling them that you were falling apart, ruminating and talking about committing sucide, and that was why I had chosen to take you home." She replied, and I snorted, shook my head for a bit, looked at her again, and then divulged in bits of laughter when I saw the comical look on her face.
"You like the card?" She asked me, swinging my hand tro and fro.
We were outside the locker rooms now, taking the short bend right back the school's building to get to the parking lot, taking care to avoid being seen.
"Yeah, it's cool." I replied, taking cognizance that there was no one in sight.
"Where is everyone? Is the principal still keeping them in the cafeteria?" I asked her, furrowing my eyebrows when she shrugged.
"There was no one in the hallways when I went to get your backpack, so I guess that Mr Johnson is holding them captive. Well, that's for the better eh..we will escape out of here easier." She said after a minute.
She was right. It was for the better. Whatever the principal had, going on with the students, be it a punishment or a bouts of motivational talks, it was for my own betterment. I didn't want to see any of those hooligans around me, for the remainder of this day.
"Here, put on the helmet." Noami said to me as she handed me one of bike's helmets, before slinging her leg over the bike and turning on the ignition.
"Sure, thank you." I muttered, before mounting on the bike too, excitement lacing my voice. Bike riding had to be my most favourite thing now, well apart from books of course.
I shut my eyes, inhaling the cold clean air caress my skin when Noami sped across the parking lot out to the road in the direction of my house.
***
"We are here." Noami stated when she took a right turn to my house.
I noticed immediately that my mother's car was parked in the garage. She was around? I asked myself, getting down from the bike slowly, taking in the state of our surroundings. If my mother was around, then my father was likely around too.
"Thanks a lot, Naomi. I don't know how I could best appreciate you for your help today." I said, my curiosity spiking me when she replied me with a-"Well, I think I know something that you can do. For me, that will pass out as a good appreciation item."
What could she be talking about? I wondered, feeling my anxiety rise above the normal levels, my normal reaction to situation like this, before I could process it myself and put an end to it.
Whatever Naomi wants, I will follow it one step at a time. Just like I push through everyday despite experiencing hell on a daily basis.
But could whatever reasons she had, have been the purposes why she had been helping me? Well, I thought as much. Nothing was damn free in this society of ours. Nothing goes for nothing.
"Aren't you going to ask me what I want in return?" She asked me, piquing her eyebrows, her eyes skimming the entirety of me.
"Oh…yeah. What do you want?" I questioned, slipping my right hand into the front pocket of my oversized faded jeans, my right foot already tapping the ground out of habit.
"I want us to be friends. It took a while for me to admit that out aloud, but I did it. You are a good person." Noami mentioned, a wide smile on her lips, shocking me for the umpteenth time today.