chapter 7

It couldn't be jealousy.

Jagun sneered at the thought, why on earth would he care if Janet was obsessed with his best friend? Besides, she wasn't his type, even if he sometimes admired her beauty, or even her figure that showed through her uniform...maybe he also stared sometimes in awe at how smart she was. 

Just harmless observations.

Janet knew she couldn't clean up his bruises in his parlor, they needed to go to a more hygienic place. Like the toilet...just to clean the bruises! She wasn't using that as an excuse to be alone with him— or perhaps she was.

"Guys, we'll be back." Janet spoke up, trying to hide the grin on her face. Ada looked up at her with an arched brow before she then snorted. "Babe, where are you going?"  Ada asked while scrunching her nose, looking up at Derek in suspicion. She didn't trust him, even if Janet thought he wasn't a bad guy; Ada wasn't yet convinced.

"I want to clean the wounds, it can get infected." Janet's conscience snickered at the way she made it seem like it was just about his wounds. Nice one. Her conscience spoke with a mocking tone. Janet mentally rolled her eyes at his.

"Sure...that's why." Obinna chuckled, winking over at her before picking up his phone. Jagun hadn't said anything, he just looked over at Janet, annoyed. While Ope laid back on the couch, his legs quite close to Ada. 

"Give her a break jare." Ope hissed, mainly to Ada. When he did this, Ada simply flipped him off before getting back to her phone. "Have fun." Ada hummed, making Janet giggle.

"This way." Derek motioned, walking over to the narrow steps at the end of the hall. She quickly picked up the first aid box, hurrying to his side before looking up at the stairs. They were narrow and looked rather unsafe.

"Watch your step." Derek said quietly as they began to slowly climb the staircase, this made her scoff. He had made her seem fragile, the way he looked at her, thinking she'd fall; it made her feel annoyed inside.

"I know how to climb...eep!" Before she could finish her sentence, her legs had betrayed her, tripping over one of the steps as she found herself being wedged by him.

Stupid. She groaned at herself in embarrassment, slowly getting up and looking sheepishly over at the boy who had a smirk on his pretty face. As if he was mocking her, Janet's face heated up as she pouted her lips, pulling down her skirt that had hiked up from the fall. She'd even heard a slight rip.

"You know how to...?" Derek teased with a laugh.

"Whatever..." Janet found herself muttering under her breath, too embarrassed to look him in the eye. 

After successfully climbing up the flight of stairs, Janet stared at the place. The hall was a bit spacious, the stairs led to a hallway, which had doors at the side, about three. There were no pictures in the wall, just a black clock. Without waiting, he began to walk into a room, turning to the left with Janet hot on his tail.

"Nice home." She peeped out, this made him chuckle, he shook his head then opened the door which she guessed was too his room.

His room! She was going into Derek Damilayo's room! Alone...well, with him! Her heart began to thump harder at the thought, her palms sweaty, she bit her lips trying to suppress her smile. Throwing caution to the wind, she entered the room; widening her eyes so she could analyze it.

His room wasn't that messy, he had clothes scattered on his bed, a guitar at the side of his table and a small crate of malt peeking from under his bed. She giggled at this, it wasn't exactly what she had pictured as his room, but it gave that comfy aura. The best part was that the room oozed of his scent, she could inhale this all day.

"What's making you laugh?" Derek asked once he faced her, crossing his arms with a side smile. She looked up at him, still not believing that she was in her crush's room.

And here her mom thought she was at the library, doing a non existent project.

"Cute room."

"Ehn? Cute ke?" He scoffed, looking at the room in confusion, she giggled. "You're seeing things." Derek voiced out playfully, well his room wasn't very manly, it was...normal.

"Okay, sit down." She pointed to his bed, dropping the box on his vanity table as she began to bring out what she'd use. From the mirror, she could see Derek sitting with his legs open and his hands resting on the bed, his eyes trained on her.

She felt the heat rise through her body, nibbling on her lips and staring at him through the mirror. Suddenly, the room rose in temperature, or maybe it was just the fact that her body felt hot under his intense gaze. From the mirror, she saw how heated his stare was, his eyes trailed down her back, down to her waist; taking in her figure.

She had the urge to arch her back, but she just shook her head, turning to face him and almost immediately, his eyes met hers. He was checking me out? Janet's heart raced at the thought. Good thing she wore her fitted skirt today, the one that defined her curve and showed quite some skin. Her butt looked rather appealing in that skirt, if she did say so herself.

To be frank, Derek thought so too.

"Does it hurt?" She breathed out, standing between his open legs and looking down at this face. He closed his eyes, as if inhaling her scent, shaking his head. With her lips parted, she took the damp cotton bud and dabbed it below his eye, near his cheekbone.

There was a dark bruise against it, a slight cut on the area. Who on earth would do this to him? That bastard Pedro? Janet clenched her teeth at the call of his name. Whoever he was, she hated his guts. 

After dabbing the area, she went down to his lips; hesitant at first, but when she looked and saw that his eyes were still closed, she continued.

Oh, his lips...

They looked so plump and attractive, even with the bruise; his lips were not dark, they were a bit pink, she noticed how chapped they were. Regardless, she'd still want to kiss him. Kiss wetin? Better clean the wound you came for before he notices you ogling at his lips. Her conscience laughed at her.

She gently used the cotton to tap against the wound against his lips, trying to clean off the dried blood, unknowingly pressing against the wound too hard. "Easy." Derek hissed in pain, on reflex, he grabbed her wrist. Janet gasped at his touch, the cotton dropping from her hand, unto the floor.

"S-sorry, did I hurt you?" She whispered, noticing how close they were, she could see how brown his iris' were, admiring them silently. His eyes were beautiful, scratch that, this guy was just so beautiful... handsome, whatever category you wanted to put him in.

"Don't press too hard abeg." Derek simply said, not letting go off her hand. She nodded, warmth spreading through her at the feeling. She wasn't used to people holding her hand, so the feeling was kind of strange. A good kind. It felt like the heat from his body warmed her cold hand.

"Okay..." She whispered again, her voice didn't seem to be going up more than a whisper; she bit her lip with an innocent stare at Derek, his eyes falling right into the trap. He noticed what she was doing, innocent stare or not. He watched as her teeth got a hold of her soft looking lips.

"The thing fell." He quickly brought up, narrowing his eyes at her. Janet nodded, giving him an innocent smile and she got on her knees...to pick up the cotton!

Taking it up from the floor, not knowing what she was getting into, she looked up at him again from that angle, her eyes immediately staring straight ahead in shock.

This was the first time she'd seen a guy's bulge up close! Not like that was a kind of achievement, but...dang. Like a deer in headlights, she stared at it; from the grey sweatpants, she could see the imprint. Why could she see the imprint!? Her eyes quickly looked away, even if her mind didn't want to. Slowly, she stared from beneath her lashes at Derek, who stared at her intently.

His mouth slightly parted and his brows arched up a bit. Did he notice her practically ogling at his bulge? Perhaps now they were even. 

Janet quickly looked anywhere but at him, tossing the stained cotton in the trash and tearing out another.

She couldn't stare right at him, she was far too embarrassed! How on earth would she boldly ogle at his clothed manhood? Since when did she have such guts? In a minute, she was done cleaning him up, the dried blood on his lips were now gone. She had even put a small brown bandage above his cheekbones, covering the scratch.

"Thanks." Derek beamed, still staying on the bed, his eyes never leaving hers. With a shy smile, she nodded her head; turning around to observed his room.

She began to walk around his room, touching against some surfaces, she didn't know why she did that; they were either dusty or clean. Then she saw an image on his night stand, the frame was turned down, so she couldn't tell what picture it was.

Without asking for permission, she slowly reached for it; turning it back up. It was a picture of a boy and an elder woman, the little boy was glaring at a taller one. She smiled at the small boy, it looked so much like Derek, well, what Derek looked like in JS1.

She wondered who the guy was.

"What the heck?" Her hands were roughly grabbed, startling her. She looked over with wide eyes as Derek snatched the frame from her, stuffing it into his drawer.

He looked pissed, glaring at her with a scorn on his lips. Janet was confused, what...why was he suddenly so mad?

"You saw it turned, why the heck did you now open it?" He spat at her, his anger livid in his tone and countenance. She just blinked at him, still shocked at how angry he had gotten. Why did that picture get him so upset? Before she knew it, the guilt started kicking in; stupid! Of course he doesn't want you prying into his things! You aren't even close. This time, it was Janet that scolded herself in her mind.

She looked down, hot with shame. He let go off her hand faster than he had done the first time, clicking his tongue against him teeth, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Just ask first." Derek muttered, sounding apologetic; truthfully, the last thing he wanted was to scold her. He just didn't want her to see that picture. He wondered why he hadn't throw it away.

"I'm sorry." There was a moment of awkwardness before Janet found the liver to apologize. Her hand rubbing against her neck, she didn't want to see this side of him. The angry side, or rather, the pissed off Derek.

When he heard that, he just took a deep breath.

"So, you play the guitar?" Janet quickly brought up, not wanting the room to be quiet; Derek let out a chuckle before nodding his head. Like he couldn't get hotter, now he played the guitar as well? Walking over to it, Janet stretched her hands to grab it but stopped.

She remembered his words.

Just ask.

"Can I?" She asked innocently, clasping her hands at her back. Derek smiled at this, nodding his head at her, before adjusting on his bed, making space for her to sit.

The guitar was heavier than she expected, picking it up, she walked over to Derek, sitting beside him. "Hm, you know I've always wanted to learn to play the guitar, even had a lesson teacher for that." She brought up, trying to steady it on her lap, he just watched her. 

"But apparently the guy was more interested in my mom's akara and custard than he was in teaching me." 

Derek let out a laugh at her comment, throwing his head back. Janet always scoffed at the memory of the yeye music teacher her mother hired. He was always head down in the akara her mother made for the both of them, completely forgetting about his student.

"You're even holding it wrong." He chuckled at the girl, putting one of his legs up as he took her hand and placed it under the neck of the guitar. Janet stared at him, a little grin on her glossy lips.

"You see, he didn't teach me shi shi." She joked, steadying the guitar on her exposed laps. The skirt had already gone up to her mid thigh, Derek had his hand on the guitar, his fingers brushing against hers, while they sat ever so closely.

The first tune she played was off, she winced at the sound, while Derek laughed. Using his second hand to tune the guitar, he worked on it like a pro.

"Try now."

And she did.

It sounded much better, with an excited squeal, she face him; her grin up to her ears. Janet's eyes slightly widened as she saw that their lips were so close to each other, she didn't move, Derek didn't as well.

They just stared at each other, a small smile coming from Derek, Janet parted her lips, not knowing what was going to happen.

Was he going to kiss her?

Was she going to kiss him?

She had no idea, what she did know was that they were both slowly but surely closing the space between them. His hands let go off hers and balanced himself on the soft mattress. Their lips inching closer and closer, heck, Janet even shut her dang eyes. 

Waiting for his lips to meet hers.

But then——

"I did not know that's how they used to clean wound."

A spiteful remark caught them off.

*