𝐈𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

THIRTY EIGHT

You should look at your reflection
If you wanna see a lie
Heading in the right direction
If you wanna pick a side
- Tom Odell.

ZAYNAB

I couldn't finish the video playing on my phone screen. To say I was repulsed was to say the least. I looked up and scanned the faces of everyone seated on our lunch table, they all looked as shocked as I was.

Apart from Larisa and Evan.

The girl was seated right across from me and between Willow and Chimdindu, her head bowed and her posture freakishly still, she almost resembled a statue. I assumed she was struck frozen with shame.

Who wouldn't be ashamed? I knew she couldn't see me, yet I shot her a dirty look, shaking my head. True, true, don't judge a book by its cover. Some people were really disgusting behind their outside front, when they were away from eyes and ears and in the confines of their own bedrooms, or in this case, hostel bathrooms. Iyama.

Evan, on the other hand, sat spine straight, staring into nothingness. His jaw clenched and unclenched and his index fingers repeatedly tapped against each other. He wasn't saying anything, he wasn't performing any movements, but I could feel the heat of his temper from where he sat, all the way beside Willow and I was sure I wasn't the only one feeling it.

"Audhubillahi," I muttered, deleting the video from my phone as an awkward silence fell upon all seven of us. Somehow, the noise in the hall seemed to be overshadowed by the loudness of our silence, making us all turn in the direction of the footsteps we wouldn't have heard on a normal day.

Evan was quick. In a second, he was in front of the girl, squaring her down with his glare of fury. Obviously not expecting the ambush, Maia took three steps backward without shifting her eyes from Evan's and almost tripped over her own feet. That gave Sebastian enough time to get between them and restrict Evan.

I was having mad deja vu.

The stare down seemed to continue for longer than it should've, passing the message to the rest of us, that this went way deeper than we knew between the both of them, and I had a feeling I knew why. It made almost complete sense. Except, I had no idea what Evan had to do with this video, or how he even knew about it without it being sent to him.

Maia finally broke whatever unspoken argument they were having, smiling sweetly and walking right past him to the rest of us.

"Where are my manners?" she giggled, waving in Larisa's direction. "Nice to see you back here, Eniola Adenekan." Maia emphasized on the girl's last name, placing her fingers on the head of the empty seat in between Maina and me, which was supposed to be her space.

"What is wrong with you, Maia?" Evan's voice remained at it's level tone, but I could hear the venom laced in that question. "How dare you do something so disgusting? Are you out of your mind?"

Maia laughed, shaking her head, but didn't say anything. Rather, she continued her sweet smile, staring at no one else but Larisa. Even with how soft her smile was, her stare was hard and wicked. As much as I was enjoying the whole display, I was becoming confused again.

"I just hope you're ready to defend yourself in court—"

"Oh, please!" Maia cut in, turning sharply to look at him. "I am not a fool. Was that the same tactic you used to frighten Funkẹ out of doing the right thing?"