K A I R A

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The second I entered into the library, I walked to my favourite reading spot--where the huge shelves blocked the jointed tables, sun rays scattering on them. Having sat down, I muffled the scream I'd withheld into my palms as what I said rang through my mind on replay. It was stupid, stupid and unnecessary. Amara and Daniel were only joking around, and I just had to mess things up by taking their words seriously. Nathan too might be wondering if my mood normally switched back and forth. Oh God.

Breathe, Kaira. I bet it wasn't that serious anyway. I breathed in and opened my civic notebook. Civic wouldn't be enough to wash off the embarrassment I felt. If I could feel dizzy while taking down notes during classes, imagine how tempting it was for me to get get up and join my friends in the cafeteria. But then my silly reaction to what they said downstairs glued me down to my chair.

Despite knowing they wouldn't be offended with me eating with them again, I couldn't stand myself saying something ridiculous again, or Tola starting another of her unnecessary drama. Her creativity always resulted in dramatic things. Why she ended up choosing to be in science, I saw no sensible reason.

Christ...my train of thoughts derailed again. 

I slouched in my chair and tipped my head backwards, hiding my eyes when reflected light rays shone hard into them. Someone knocked on the shelf or table, whichever. The person better not be trying to get my attention because such a light tap against the wood wasn't worth opening my eyes for. Sitting here like this in silence gave me a kind of comfort. Now someone had to spoil it.

"I know you heard me knock, Okori."

Argh...Kazeem.

"You're pronouncing it wrong." I frowned, reluctantly sitting up. "I really don't know why you keep on pronouncing my surname wrong when you know the right way to."

''The day you call me Senior Kazeem or head boy I'll reconsider what to call you, but for now, you're Okori," the annoying head boy said with an irritating smug look on that yellow face of his. "Your sister didn't complain once when I called her senior Okori."

Still frowning, I said, "That's because she didn't care if you pronounced it right or not, as long as you showed her respect. Unlike her, I like my surname being pronounced right."

He nodded, only as a mock show of understanding when we both knew he was never going to do as I asked, even if I went down on my knees for him to (no chance of that happening). While I despised Omotola for being so nosy, troublesome and annoying, I disliked Kazeem for being so cocky. Like him being brilliant and good-looking wasn't sufficient for him to boast about, he had to be nominated for the position of headboy, which he obviously ended up being.

Whether he was the head of prefects or not, I still hated his guts and my sister's for choosing him to be her school child--even with our school was a day one--when she already had me with her. Looking at him, his perfectly knotted tie, perfectly ironed uniform, perfectly polished leather shoes, his fresh fingers tapping his crossed forearms...a vein almost burst in my head.

"Don't eat me please--" He coughed in sudden realization. "Okay, how about we both unhear that?"

"Agreed."

He pulled out the sit opposite me. His perfume struck every sensory nerve in my nostrils that I wanted to sneeze.

"You still haven't changed that insecticide for a perfume, I see." I commented, rubbing my nose.

"Like I've always told you and still will, Okorie, you need to see an ENT doctor because you're the only one that thinks this wonderful cologne is bad." Cologne? That insect killer?  He must  be playing. ''Or maybe I'll give you the bottle to check if you're allergic to one of the ingredients." He stroked his beardless chin lightly, the way he did whenever he was having deep thoughts. He did care, surprisingly.