THE MASKED GIRL

19

The first week we returned to Abuja passed in a blur, school resumed and Suhail carry on with his school proceeding that we hardly get the time to chat until he was settled in. I pleaded with him to drive me to school the following day, I cannot wait to introduce him to my best friend.

Chemistry was unfortunately my first period for the day and I am not looking forward to it at all so I was whining about how I don't like it since we get in the car.

"I can see from your results that chemistry is not an issue cause you always aced it" Suhail speak after listening to what I have against the subject.

"So you've been digging up on me?" I asked back ignoring his question. "I had to check" He replied.

I kept mute because I cannot tell him how I do it, it is my secret. "Well?" He pressed. I don't know but I think that is the one superpower we have in common, we make the other give in to our questions.

"I've never written a chemistry exam myself"

No matter how much I try to understand the subject I don't get it. It was like chemistry was not added to what I can understand while I was being created, I don't even understand its concept.

"So who helps you with the exams?" He asked as he take his turn to the school premises. "Please tell me it's not a teacher" He added.

"Of course not" I answered with a chuckle while I waved my hands at the school's gateman. "My bestie is a smart kid and chemistry happens to be something she has an obsession with, so she helps me with it"

"How do you guys do it?" He asked again not letting the subject go.

I groaned in response but answer him nonetheless"We just exchange our question booklets"

"I hope you know that what you are doing is cheating" He scolds as he parked the car and I quickly get out taking that as my escape because it is not cheating.

"Let me get Maryam," I tell him before running to call her.

"Suhailaaa" She exclaimed and we hugged. She calls me by different names based on her mood which is the same as me, we hardly call each other by our real names. She had been calling me Suhaila since we returned from Adamawa and I like the name. "Let's go see the popular Suhail" She said as she stands from her seat and we walked to the parking space.

We find him leaning on the car with his hands in his pockets. My heart fluttered at the sight of him, how can someone be this good-looking? He is drop-dead gorgeous.

I saw my classmates gushing over him from a distance. He leaves after exchanging pleasantries with Maryam.

"Please tell me he has a brother," She asked immediately after he left and I shake my head no. "He is the only child"

I went over a mini-interview with my classmates about Suhail throughout the day.

Suhail put it on himself to coach me in chemistry saying he cannot let me not see how amazing the subject is. He tries to teach me on days he is not busy after Isha prayer and I am still yet to see how great the subject is. Sometimes I understand what he teaches me but just to see him stressed out saying 'it's this easy' and that I pretend to not.

My life had been different since he started living with us I now feel what it is like to have a brother. I am glad the topic of me telling him I like him was never brought up again. We leave to school together sometimes where I am dropped off first before him and sometimes if he doesn't have evening lectures he followed the driver to pick me up and today turned out to be one that he does not have lectures the entire day.

I didn't see him before I went to school because he was catching up with sleep but he came to pick me up and I introduced him to some of my friends as promised. I showered and prayed after we reached home, school had been hectic lately with mock exams starting at the end of the week.

I later joined him in the parlor after eating and we catch up with how we had been. He tell me how he cannot wait to be done with school and he started listing his dreams like all brothers do. How he pictures himself in the theatre room operating on his Ummah, his main reason for becoming a cardio surgeon. That got my mind to Dr. Romantic, a kdrama that I think will have an impact on him because it is also among the reasons why I want to be a surgeon so I decided to introduce him to it.

He had told me how useless he thinks watching kdrama is each time he finds me watching one, especially when he hears me going crazy over them but I still made him watch the first episode with me as an introduction and he agree on continuing when he is bored or free.

I was not able to sleep reading a book I started later that night but couldn't finish it like I wanted to before two thirty in the morning. I had to stop because of school and got down to take water, I almost have a heart attack when I saw Suhail on the kitchen island cause he always sleeps early. He tell me that he surprisingly find the series interesting and decided to continue, I am a very bad influence.

"What episode are you on?" I asked him while I drink my water.

"Seven"

I laughed in response. "I hope you don't plan to watch it all night" He has a long way to go, he has 13 more episodes to finish the first season and the second has 18 episodes making 31 episodes in total. Each episode lasts for an hour so he has 31 hours to spend before he finishes.

The next day the driver took us both to school and he continue watching in the car, he had moved from watching it on his phone to his laptop. "When did you sleep yesterday?"

He raised four fingers in response and hold a finger to his lips telling me to not disturb him anymore.

Thanks to sleeping late yesterday, I find it hard to keep up with my classes which isn't the first but with mock exams school has turned into a nightmare. I returned home at five in the evening feeling drained, hungry, and exhausted. Suhail gave me another scare when I find him in my room eyes glued to his computer screen.

"I'm on episode 15" He said while I fall on the bed, I desperately want to sleep but I need food first. "Congratulations" He paused his movie upon hearing how off I sound and looked at me since I came in. "You look tired" He stated and continued with what he was doing, I rolled my eyes at him.

"Thank you for reminding me"

He should have seen himself but I was too tired to talk back. I sluggishly walked to the kitchen and munched on a leftover pizza before falling into a deep slumber without even removing my uniform, it was good that Maryam made me pray at school.

"You do know that Maghrib's time runs out quickly right?"Suhail's voice disrupted my sleep and I ignored him. A few seconds after, he dragged me with my feet off the bed. His only way of waking me up, the fastest way as he claimed.

I prayed and showered and changed into comfortable clothes. I went to Mommy's room and lay on her bed, she was still on her prayer mat offering supplications. I went there to talk to her about something but fell back asleep before she finishes, her comfy bed being the reason. I was woken up a few minutes later to go meet the sheikh that teaches me, I don't go to Islamiyya.

I whined about a fake headache which Mommy didn't fall for. "It is not anyone's fault that you stay up all night" She said as she shooed me off her bed.

"I -

She didn't let me protest covering her ears with her hands. I don't know why she choose to act oblivious to what I do when she is actually very conscious about how I live my life.