Behind The Gate of Lakeview

~Forty~

               Dedicated to Iyanuoluwa-Temi  one of my favorite writers. Love you girl   ❤️           

                            ~Uthman~

I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the game I was playing but I was failing miserably. Jade was standing in front of me and it was taking all of my willpower not to look at her. I'd love to dare a glance at her but I couldn't, if I don't want to make a fool of myself because I for sure knew I wouldn't be able to stop staring once I looked at her. She said something to Hana which I did not hear.

Fuck this game and the stupid money bet. I thought to myself as I looked up but she was already gone.

'Hey, you lost the game. My money'

I turned to Akin who had a wide grin on his face.

'I knew for sure you lost concentration the moment Jade got it. You got it bad man.'

Trust Dan and his words.

'What are you boys doing there? Don't you know it's time for your tutorial?'

We all turned to the direction of the voice. It was Mr Rahmon, our mathematics teacher. We followed him to the class and my eyes immediately sought out Jade, her eyes glued on something on her phone, there was an empty seat beside her. I sat down.

'Hey'

She mumbled a reply I did not hear just as the classes started. Trust me, I only heard like 20% of whatever the teacher said.

I kept  glancing at her.

Kept glancing at her.

Kept glancing at her.

Was this how you'd flop your exams?

The tutorial soon ended and before I knew it. She had disappeared from the class again. I had an inkling of where she would be though and I wasn't wrong.

'You have an habit of sneaking away, don't you?'

I said once I saw her. She did not turn back and her body system gave no inklination that she heard me. I sat down beside her.

'A penny for your thoughts.'

She still said nothing and I turned to look at her. She was staring straight ahead. I studied the side of her face that was facing me, her lashes were long and thick and her lips, God! She was not even using lip gloss today. Nothing, just her lips, just the way they were.

'You've been awfully quiet since morning, are you alright?'

Still no reply. I moved closer to her.

'You okay?'

'Of course I'm okay.'

Hallelujah oo. She finally replied but was that sarcasm in her voice just now?

'You look good today but then, that would be an understatement, you look good everyday'

I said, moving a little bit forward so I could see her expression. She was trying so hard to stiffle her smile that she bit her lips to keep from smiling.

Totally innocent but insane move.

I followed the movement with my eyes. She looked up and met my eyes. She looked down and moved back.

'Well, thanks for your compliments and...'

She trailed off when I moved closer to her and threw my left hand over her shoulders, pulling her closer to me. She looked up, her eyes a mirade of emotions I couldn't decipher.