chapter 7

The day had come and gone and the next day had already started, people were still talking about the whole incident. New versions of the story had even emerged. One was that Derek had blinded Kareem's left eye, the next was that Kareem was sleeping with Adaobi. Janet couldn't even keep up with the rumors anymore. She couldn't help but giggle at how stupid they were being. 

But her lips arched into a deep frown when she recalled how Dotun had interrupted her and Derek's conversation. She was just getting to know more about him! Then Dotun just had to arrive with her stupid big breast to rest his head on when they hugged, ugh! She was fuming. After Janet saw that yesterday, she just got up and left them alone; rolling her eyes as she slammed the door.

Petty? Yeah, she was aware of that.

What did lighten her mood when she got home was that there was a text from Derek. Right? He actually message her again, when she read it, her mood was lifted for the whole day. Even Juliet, the maid/her gist partner wondered why she was cheesing around the whole house.

The message read: Hey, thanks for treating the wound. Guess I still owe you a story, but maybe later. Goodnight.

Yes, just that simple message made her cheeks heat up. She had it bad. On an even better note, he said he still owed her a story, so they had a solid reason to talk the next time they saw.

"Yo, earth to Janet."

The boy beside her called out, the boy was Tiwa.

Tiwa was the head boy. 

He wasn't in SS3A, no, he was in SS3B. He hadn't gotten the position because he was smart, unlike Janet. He was just charismatic, the way his words could twist a person's thinking about him was unreal. Teachers were in love with the boy, as well as students and of course, mostly the girls.

In short, Tiwa was hot.

His well sharpened jaw, shiny set of teeth, his well aligned nose all complimented Tiwa's face. In fact, when he began wearing the slim framed rectangular glasses, it became a trend in their school; which he set.

"Ehn?" Janet replied, snapping out of it.

"Ehn? See your mouth, better concentrate." Tiwa mocked with one of his signature smiles. Janet just rolled her eyes, looking back at the task they had to complete and submit before the end of the day. 

"So, what's all this one I'm hearing?" Tiwa said as he scrambled on the record book, filling in the required details as Janet did the same. "What are you hearing?" Janet asked, playing clueless.

Tiwa looked up, giving her the look, his lips tilting up into a smirk. He just observed as she pursed her lips, swinging her legs and writing on the record book.

"Derek, you, punching..." Tiwa finally gave in, completing his sentence. What did he expect her to say? She didn't even know why he had punched Kareem. Surely it wasn't because he cursed at her...was it? No, of course not.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I don't even now what happened or what pissed him off." Janet shrugged, putting her pen down as she just stared out the window.

"Yeah...right." Tiwa was not buying her story.

This made Janet scoff, playfully pushing his shoulders as they laughed. They would really be a cute couple, but then...

"Anyways sha, let's be fast, I promised Dika I'd see her soon." 

Dika was his girlfriend, they had been going on strong since SS1, Janet thought they were a cute couple, so she left him be.

"Aw!"

She cooed.

"Which one is aw? Hurry up jare." Tiwa scoffed then rolled his eyes. They were supposed to finish the report for their set and submit to the principal, something she really didn't understand why they had to do it.

When they had finished, they bided goodbye with a hug before going there separate ways. 

"Head girl!" A call interrupted her from her daydream, before she felt a large hand gently tap the back of her head. When she looked up, she saw that it was Obinna that had tapped her, he had on his slim glasses, tossing a lighter in the air, quite carelessly. "Ow." Janet scoffed at him, rubbing her head in exaggeration. 

"Haba." He said, walking away from her, but her curiosity peaked, what was he doing with a lighter? Where was he even going to? He hadn't even noticed that she was right behind him, following as he went outside the building and took a turn. When he did, they got closer to a restricted area. The school had a small fence which led to an empty space. The principal had told her to report any student that was found there when they last spoke.

"Shoot!" Janet said, ducking behind the wall as Obinna looked back, after counting down from ten, she looked back again, seeing that he had already turned back, climbing over the fence. Now, this was getting interesting. As Janet got closer, she could perceive the smell of cigarettes', this made her quicken her steps. Who on earth was smoking?

Janet made sure that no one was behind her, before raising up her skirt and jumping over the fence, she definitely wasn't athletic for nothing. Thinking that there was a slab for her to come down on, she jumped carelessly, landing on her feet with a loud slam.

All the heads turned.

"Well, well..." The voice belonged to Dotun. How many times was she going to make herself freaking known? Janet was getting tired of seeing her at every chance she got. "Guy, what the heck, I thought you said no one followed you?" This came from Ope, he had a cigarette in between his lips, the smoke escaping from his nostrils as they flared at the sight before him. 

On the floor, Ope and Dotun sat, smoking a cigarette, while Obinna; whom had a look of shock on his face, sat with his legs crossed at the bench; to his left was the one and only Damilayo.

No, why him...? She didn't want to snitch on him.

Derek looked up, his eyes widening in shock as he saw Janet, he wasn't holding a cigarette, he held what seemed like a vape. Jagun on the other hand, just groaned at the sight, getting up from the floor as he marched over to her with a toothpick in his mouth.

Janet backed up against the fence, her eyes wide.

She definitely shouldn't have let her curiosity get the best of her.

"Why'd you follow me?" Was what Obinna replied, using his hands to scratch through his hair in agitation. Jagun was in front of her in a second, his eyes running through her body with a sick grin. "How about you just go and forget what you saw." This wasn't a question, no, he practically commanded her.

Janet scoffed.

The audacity of him.

"Guys, you know being here is bad enough, you're now smoking on top." Janet continued, folding her hands along her chest as she tried not to inhale the smoke. When her eyes landed on Dotun, she just grimaced. So, Dotun was part of their group? Or did she just tag along to get high?

"I'm sure she'll report." Dotun snapped at Janet, folding her arms in annoyance. This sentence made Derek stand up, Janet had intentionally not looked his way, that would have been a bad idea. "Report?" Derek repeated, pushing Jagun's shoulder so he would back away from her. 

"I-I didn't say that. But-" 

"Can't you just let them off the hook?" Derek asked, his voice hopeful as he creased his eyebrows together. Oh, please. Not the face.

"Them? You too you're smoking." She grumbled, folding her hands as she pouted, not really a fan of smoking, not that she had ever tried it before. At this, Derek let out a chuckle, "Vaping." He corrected. "But, c'mon...please?" He continued, if Janet chose to report them, they'd be walking on thin ice. So Derek already knew how this could end up.

A loud long lasting hiss came from Dotun, cutting off their conversation.

"Why're you even begging her?" She seethed.

"Shut up, jorh." Ope hissed back at her.

"I won't report, but you guys should just go." Janet concluded, not breaking away from the gaze Derek had her in. With that, Obinna groaned, putting out the cigarette as they rose to their feet, Dotun stomping away, intentionally butting shoulders with Janet.

They had all gone, except for Derek. He still stared at her, it felt like he was in his trance. "I'll go, but first, come." Derek motioned to her, walking towards the slab which was at the back of the bench. She just stared at him in confusion, tilting her head to do the side. He put the vape between his lips and inhaled once more before looking over to Janet.

"Come." He said, the vapor coming out of his mouth. The way he said that word made her insides tingle. Such demand, so she obeyed. Walking towards the bench and sitting beside him, placing her back on the wall and squeezing her legs shut. She stared at him, at how good he looked, sitting with his legs opened and one of his hand resting on his knee, while the other held his vape.

Sexy.

"So, what was your question?" He asked, oh he remembered that he hadn't answered her question before Dotun came to hijack him with her big breast. Ha! Take that, Dotun. Janet couldn't even remember the question, it was probably because she was hypnotized by him. She just stared at him and then at the vape then a question popped into her mind. 

"How does it taste?"

The words came out of her mouth before she could stop it, Janet just wondered how the vape tasted, if it even had a taste, at her question, he took a drag out of the vape, raising up his head and then puffed it out with a grin.

"Try it, if you're so curious." He offered.

"No, no. I can't."

"You can't?" He asked, almost confused at what she said.

"Oh, oh...omo pastor. Don't worry, I get." Derek teased. Janet scoffed, snatching the vape from him, making him laugh as he rested his head on the wall. With her lips less than an inch away from the vape, it dawned on her that it was like an indirect kiss. Maybe she was just over thinking. "You don't have to, oh!" Derek cackled, about to take it from her, but that just encouraged her; without another thought, she took a drag out of the vape with her eyes closed.

Janet began to cough so hard, she didn't know that it would go straight down her throat! "Breathe oh, give me." He said, taking the vape from a coughing Janet, who playfully pushed his shoulders as he mocked her. "So how does that taste?" He continued, mindlessly taking another drag from it. Her cheeks heated up as she saw his lips touched where hers just did.

The vape, it tasted-

"Slightly sweet, but it doesn't have that much taste sef." She concluded with a shrug. 

"Yeah, my question..."

"You already asked it." Oh, see who was playing smart. 

"Ahan now!" Janet snapped, folding her hands as she pouted. He wasn't playing fair. She hadn't even noticed how comfortable she had gotten with him, her shoulder was slacked against the wall and her leather shoes touching his. Who would have thought.

"Okay, oya now, just one." 

Janet had to play her cards right.

"Why're you and Kareem beefing?"

It took a while for him to answer, with several sips of the vape, he looked her way with his eyes squinted, her chest tightened at how hot his gaze had made her. He didn't look angry, he just looked like he was in thought, probably wondering if to tell her or not, or maybe if he trusted her that much. Then he leaned in, no, not to kiss her! 

"I'm not vexing for the guy, he's angry with me." He informed, before, licking his lips, his hands messing with the vape. "Why?" The question that came from Jane's was so low and gentle that she could hardly hear it for herself, the heat between them doubled up, the tension rising.

It was just the both of them, at the corner of a wall in the restricted are of their school, it felt to her like the air had seized up, or maybe she just forgot how to breathe. Janet looked down at his hands, waiting to hear it but he didn't say a word, so she looked up at him instead.

"I fucked his sister."