EMPIRE HIGH SCHOOL - Episode 23

?Katherine’s POV?

“I think someone’s getting a love note now” Temi announced as we walked close to our lockers.

And truly there was a note on Elena’s locker.

“My heart skips anytime I see you” Temi re-ad out loudly

“You’re getting letters now!” Temi screamed

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Elena hissed

“Why the noise?” She tossed the paper Into a bin nearby.

“Why did you do that?” Temi questioned with a frown.

“It doesn’t make any s-en-se to me” She said

About a week after my encounter with Angella in the basketball room. I did my best to avoid Angella and Joseph after I’d made it clear to him that I was going to report to the principal. Jeffrey didn’t allow me see Joseph alone. He stood by my side while I discussed with Joseph. He didn’t say much to Joseph.

“It’s best to stay away from Kate and find Out Angella’s plans” he’d said

Well Jeffrey thinks Angella won’t sit back after the fight. I don’t really know if she’s planning anything but Jeffrey was determined to find out. I recalled the surprised look on Joseph’s face on

seeing Jeffrey with me.

“Why is he with you?” He had asked

I wanted to be quic-k in talking to him. So I ignored his question. After our discussion Joseph promised that he won’t do anything to harm Emeka. Well it was obvious Joseph was scared of his dad finding out what he did. I explained things to Elena and Temi. And I realized Elena wasn’t happy to find out Joseph likes me. But she tried to hide it by saying it was okay and that she had expected it. Temi on the other hand pestered me to tell them about the new development between Jeffrey and I. And I told them, though not the whole story.

“His Aunt stays in my estate.. and Jeffrey is unhappy because he doesn’t have a mom” I narrated in few lines.

“So are you guys together now?” Temi asked

And I replied with a “No”

I didn’t disclose it to them that I was in love with Jeffrey. It’s better to keep it to myself.

Elena had been recieving love notes since about a week from an anonymous person. And everytime she’s always throwing it into the bin.

“Why do I have this feeling that you know the person writing this letters?” I said

“I..I. I don’t know..” She stuttered

Temi and I exchanged glances

“Hmm or you don’t want us to know that someone likes you” Temi said

“Warn yourself Temi” Elena said with a de-ep frown

And why is she mad now?

“Temi, better leave her alone” i said

“No its unfair. Elena likes hearing someone’s love story but she’s never open up about her own love story” Temi hissed and walked away

“Temi..” I followed her

“You shouldn’t be mad at Elena”

“I’m not mad at her. I don’t like it when someone is too secretive” she said and walked off

I turned back to Elena who was now close to me.

“Don’t worry..I’ll talk to her” she said

I went back to my locker to pick the pinpop Jeffrey gave to me yesterday.

?Katherine’s POV ?

It was on a h0t friday afternoon, once again I was alone during lunch. Jeffrey didn’t come to school because his stepmom wasn’t feeling well and his dad was away in some country constructing

houses. He has really changed towards his stepmom. And Aunty Joke was impressed, she even thanked me the last time I visited the store on saturday.

Actually, she thinks we are d@t!ngnow! Well I don’t know where she got that the idea!

Elena was working with Mr Daniel again while Temi was in the basketball room. Jones had said he wanted her to watch him pl@ytoday. Temi had insisted that I follow her but I declined. And she

un-derstood that I was staying away from Joseph. I would have joined Emeka to watch the football players but I wasn’t in the mood. I don’t really like watching football.

I was missing Jeffrey badly! And I’ve been thinking of going to his house to check on him.

Is that a good idea?

Visiting Jeffrey at his home?

How am I going to inform him about it?

I thought de-eply

And an idea struck me immediately

I could visit him un-der the pretense of bringing school notes to him. And we can even work our @ssignments together.

Good Plans!

I smiled at the image on my screen saver. It was Jeffrey!

I had taken a picture of him in the tuck shop while he was picking out chocolate for us. I glanced up from phone when I s-en-sed a pres£nce in front of me.

“Hi” Angella greeted with a mock smile

I plugged in my earpiece and made an attempt to leave but she blocked me.

I stared at her.

“Hello..” She snapped her f!ngers.

“Miss popular bingo” she mocked and her girls laughed.

I mumbled something indifferently. Angella leaned forward and I stepped backward.

“Its obvious you’ve been avoiding me but here we are again. And where in hell are your watchdogs?” She laughed and her girls joined in.

I said nothing, hoping she would just go away. I knew she felt silly with the way I was staring at her.

“I don’t see anything special about you..” She pushed my shoulder

Angella was testing my patience. She want me to fight but I won’t give in to her demands.

“plea-se excuse me” I said.

“Where are you going?”

She asked blocking my pathway.

“To the libr@ry..I’d rather re-ad some books than stand around to listen to your nons-en-se” I burted and walked away

“Hey!” She called out and gr@bb£d my hand. I wh!pped it away aggressively.

“Get lost Angella!” I screamed

“What?” She said in a g@sp

The students in the hallway turned their attention on us. I could see them whispering into each others ears.

“You heard me” I said

We stared at each other. Angella was stunned. I knew a h@rd expression played on my face.

“Don’t you dare t©uçh me again. You can go about carrying Joseph in a bowl and place him on your head so every girl won’t go near him!” I said loudly

I was breathing h@rd.

I knew my words t©uçhed her. Laughter erupted from the students in the hallway.

“plea-se let her know!” Someone said

Angella was so embarr@ssed. She couldn’t close her mouth properly.

“I..I..I’ll deal with you” she pointed.

Angella turned and walked away foolishly with her friends.

“She’s jealous of s£nior Kate”

“I don’t even like her attitude”.

“I hate Angella Benson”

Those were the handful of comments from the students. I sighed and made my way to the libr@ry.

*****

Emeka,Elena,Jones and Temi joined me after school. We made our way to the garage. Emeka offered to drive me home while Temi and Jones are going home in Elena’s car.

“We heard what happened today between you and Angella” Jones said

“Did you really tell her to get lost?” Emeka asked

“Yes” I replied

“hmm kate I hope what happened today won’t cause big trouble for you” Jones said

“I don’t care..” I replied

“I’m worried..” Elena said in a disturbe-d tone.

“Elena you are nice to worry about me but I’ll be fine” I said before entering Emeka’s car. I was re-ady to face Angella anytime.

“See you on monday” they waved

•••••••••

?Jeffrey’s POV ?

“Jeffrey! Your phone is ringing!” My stepmom said loudly from the sitting room. I was in the kitchen washing dishes.

“I’ll be out soon” I replied

I re-moved the rubber gloves and wiped my hands on towel. I turned to see my stepmom at the entrance.

“You shouldn’t have bother -”

“Its important to you” she replied with a shrug

“Come on she’s waiting” she said with smile.

She?

I collected the phone to check the caller ID.

My Heartthrob!

It was kate!

My phone st©pped beeping. I looked at my stepmom.

“Don’t worry, go and talk to her. I’ll finish up” she said

“Go.. Go..” She pushed me out of the kitchen.

We aren’t close but we are good now. Losing my unborn sibling really pained me. And I figured

Miss Lola deserves to be happy with my dad.

Kate was calling! I’d saved her number as “My Heartthrob”. Miss Lola must have suspected something for her to conclude that the call was important. I have spoken to Kate in her pres£nce but I haven’t informed her that I was in love with Kate.

I walked to my be-droom and redialed Kate’s number. She picked on the first ring.

“Hi Jeffrey” she greeted

“Hello Kate, Sorry I missed your call”

“No problem, I realize that you must be busy that why I didn’t call back” she said

“Not..Too busy, I was washing some dishes”

“Okay..” she said

“So how was school today?”

“Boring..and awful. Boring because I was alone”

“What about Elena and Temi?”

“Elena helped Mr Danny with scripts and Temi had to watch Jones pl@yand Emeka watched football” she explained

“That must have been pretty boring for you”

“Yes..And awful in the s-en-se that Angella attacked me today”

“What?! Why?” I said with a concerned tone.

“You don’t have to worry, I didn’t let her get away today” she said

I was alre-ady thinking of a way to teach Angella a lesson of her life..One she will never forget. I’d tried to find out about her plans but I didn’t find anything.

No secret movement with her girls! I’ve been tracking her since the encounter in the basketball room. And most of all I paid my little friends Nora and Cora to help me inspect the female’s toilet

just in case Angella alre-ady set up a tra-p..But none. I bec@m£ friends with Nora and Cora because they like Kate too. Actually, we are walking together to unravel Angella’s devious plans. Those

girls are determined to teach her a lesson. They believed that Angella deserves to learn in a h@rd way.

Kate narrated her encounter with Angella in the hallway. I was happy Kate had put Angella in her place.

“You have to be careful” I said

“Jeffrey, I know..”

“So did you talk to Joseph?”

“No” she said

“Okay..”

“Hey Jeff -” she called

“Yes”

“What will you be doing tomorrow?”

Tomorrow Is Saturday!

I can’t go to the Store yet because I have to take care of my stepmom”

“Yeah I know..”

I would have suggested a d@t£ but I can’t risk it. My dad won’t be home until Sunday morning.

“Actually, Mr Daniel gave us some mathematics questions”

I sighed out loud

“How many note do I need to write?”

“Four, Economics, Maths, literature and English”

Now how do I get the mathematics questions?

Mr Danny won’t listen to excuses. He doesn’t care if you show up at school or not. Even if you are sick you have to do his @ssignment.

“So..I was thinking..of bringing the notes to your place” Kate said in a low tone. I could ba-rely make out the words.

“I can come over to your place..So we can do the mathematics @ssignment together” she said clearly

I felt a familiar tinge of happiness! Kate wanted to come to my home! Thank Goodness I didn’t have to suggest it.

“Are you there Jeff?”

I was too stunned to talk.

I was completely out of the world.

“Um..Its okay if you don’t want me to visit you at your place, probably because of your Stepmom. I un-derstand..”

What?! Of Course! I want her to come to my house! I’m sure Miss Lola would love to meet the girl that Succeeded in changing my mind about her.

“No..no..you can come around” I said happily

“Really?!” She said

“Yes Kate” I said

I could imagine Kate smiling because of the excitement in her tone.

“So what time should I come around?”

“Anytime” I replied with a bright smile

“Okay..Expect me by 10:00am”

“Good”

“Yeah..see you tomorrow” she said

“Bye Kate”

The line dropped.

I jumped in happiness before falling back on my be-d. A knock sounded on my be-droom door.

“Jeffrey” my stepmom called

“Yes Ma” I walked to the door

“I want to prepare dinner” she said

I closed my door and followed her to the kitchen

“What would you like to eat?” She asked

“Anything” I said

“Anything like..” She asked again

I walked to the food time table on the small board in our kitchen.

“Amala and soup” I re-ad

“I’ll prepare the food. Go and rest” I tried to push gently out of the kitchen.

“That’s unfair” she said soberly

“Why don’t I get to do anything?” She said

“The doctor advised that you should have a good rest” I said

“Okay..Can I just sit and watch you?” She pointed to the stool close to the counter.

“No problem” I said

Her face brightened

“Thank You” she cl@pped excitedly as she settled in a stool. I set to start cooking dinner.

“My friend is coming over tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind her visiting us” I said

I took out boiled pepper from the refrigerator

“Your friend or Heart – Throb?” She said sheepishly

I smiled

“Heart – throb I guess..” she laughed

“Well do I have any right to know about your heart throb?” She said

“Her name is Katherine. We’re friends” I said

“But you love Katherine?”

I nodded

“Is Katherine aware that you love her?”

“I don’t know. We’re just close but we haven’t discussed anything about relationsh!ps and all”

“You can’t keep hiding those feelings” she said

“What do i do?” I asked

“Do you know if she likes you?”

“I think she likes me but I don’t know if she’s in love with me” I answered

“Why don’t you make a move on her?” She suggested

“I don’t think that’s a good idea”

“Why?” She asked

“Well..You see..Kate is only interested in school stuffs”

I responded

“.. Like she’s determined p@ss SSCE”

She said

“Everyone’s determined to p@ss the final exams” I added

“What if Kate is waiting for your confession for her to admit her feelings too?” She said

“You think so?” I asked

She nodded

What if Miss Lola was right?

“So are you saying I should confess my feelings?”

“Yes” she nodded

I pondered if it was the right thing to do.

What if I confess and Kate ends up saying she doesn’t love me or that we should keep it on friendzone level.

Friendzone I can take but saying she doesn’t love me would definitely break my heart.

Kate was my first love!

I don’t know how to confess my feeling. And I haven’t asked any girl out in my life.