AWAKE

Chapter 9

"Stupid" Nina cursed whenever she remembered what Michael did. It just made her dislike him the more.
"Now I have to kill myself all in the name of reading geography." She said to herself. Deep down, she knew it wasn't Michael's fault at all. Her dislike for geography didn't have anything to do with him, but she needed someone to take the blame.
Anny had invited her several times to join her reading group, but she declined. It wasn't like she didn't want to, but she couldn't stand him.
Afternoon prep was over. Nina decided to stay back to study a little more for the upcoming test. When she got tired, she packed her books, heading for the hostel to rest a little. While passing the SS3 science class, there he was reading. It was Daniel. She had started looking at him differently after all she heard from Anny about him. She considered him attractive but seeing him engrossed deeply in whatever he was reading, increased its level.
"How can you be swayed by a guy" she shook the idea of going in to meet and decided to leave quietly.
"So much for waiting for you," Daniel said, halting Nina.
Nina turned around and switched immediately like she didn't know what was happening. "Excuse me"
"I thought you'd be brave enough to come in"
"Why would you think that"
"You were at the window for twenty-two seconds"
"He was counting," Nina thought to herself.
"But you were reading"
"I think you should come in and have a seat. Your legs would soon start aching."
"Typical boys" Nina muttered. "I'm not complaining" she rolled her eyes.
"Whatever you want. Well, am done reading, just reviewing. Besides I don't read here."
"Am sorry, I need to go" she turned around and left.
When she got up the stairs, she remembered she forgot to ask him something, so she went back to meet him.
"Hi," she said, this time she entered and sat down on the table close to the entrance.
"You came back?" Daniel asked puzzled but showed no expression.
"Yes-yes...umm, did you say any other thing to John?"
"I just warned him to stay away from you. Did he disturb you again?" Daniel asked with his voice raised.
"No no no" Nina quickly answered.
"You read geography?" Daniel asked noticing the test book in her hand.
"How did you know"
"I'd always know that textbook wherever I see it."
"Hmm"
There was silence between them, and Nina got nervous when their eyes met.
"I heard you are smart, so... are you good at geography?" Nina asked.
"Seems starlights hasn't gotten my name off their lips yet. It's a good thing they still say nice things about me."
"I think you are good and that's why I came to ask if you could teach me?" Nina asked softly.
"Hmmm, you seem nice"
"Are you teaching me or not?"
"not here"
"Where else-other than here?"
"Geography is not something you teach immediately, I'd give you a guide."
"Okay" Nina hoped he had heard her question.
"To answer your question, I read at a different class block."
"There's another class block?" Nina asked surprised.
"You ask lots of questions"
"And you answer reluctantly, with no expression whatsoever. How do I know you are not trying to kill me? Do you even smile at all?"
"Wow. You are asking if I smile, I should be asking you the same thing. If I wanted to kill you, I would have besides no one is here." Daniel said, then put the book he was reading into his bag and stood up.
"If you are interested and ready, meet me up immediately after you hear the bell ring for prep tomorrow."

Nina decided to meet him after all the warnings her thoughts screamed. "We are just going to read. If anything happens, I'd scream" she said to herself, trying to make herself feel better. She couldn't blame herself. Whenever Anny came back from reading, she whined about how Micheal was a good tutor and how well their reading was going.
"Hey",
"Hey",
Nina had met Daniel at the stairs.
"Let's go then," Daniel said.
"Wait" Nina called back.
Daniel turned around, "Any problem"
"If you try anything stupid, I swear..."
"Okay, we don't need that fierce lady, nothing is going to happen," Daniel said, placing his hand on his chest.
Nina trailed behind Daniel, as he took her to the old building behind the teachers' quarters. She got scared when they got to the staff quarters. It was where the teachers and other staff that stayed in the school lived. It was prohibited from students. So she attempted to go back, when Daniel held her hand and nodded his head, in an assuring manner. When she saw the new building, she was amazed. She never knew the school had old abandoned buildings.
They both walked into one of the buildings. Nina looked at each class as they passed. Some of them were empty, while some had old wooden seats, and most of them were broken. The hallway didn't seem abandoned. There wasn't any cobweb or dirt and it felt warm. Daniel exhaled a deep breath he didn't know he held, "This is the place."
Nina was amazed at what she saw. The class was neatly arranged, the old paint was merely seen, cause the wall was decorated with basketball pictures, some players she didn't know. Books were arranged neatly on the shelve and the floor was rough but had no dirt.
"Wow! here is pretty" Nina gushed, "You did this all by yourself." Nina moved around, touching everything she came across.
"Yeah. But I didn't just do it in a day, it took a while." He said, watching her.
"So when did you find this place?" Nina asked.
"Jss3," he said coldly.
Nina knew it would either be before he left school or after he came back. She didn't want to open old wounds for him.
"That's a really long time..." Nina paused as she touched each book on the shelf with her fingers. "Hmmm, You read a lot"
"If I'm not playing or watching basketball, I drown myself in my books." He said.
"We're kinda similar in the book aspect," Nina said as she turned around to face him.
"I noticed, That's why I brought you here," Daniel said.
You have two seats here. Do you have a reading partner?" Nina said noticing the seats.
"No. but I always felt I would get one, but I haven't."
"Don't you care about the teachers finding out?" Nina asked concerned.
"They don't care about me, so," Daniel said.
Nina could see the coldness in his eyes and the restraint in his voice.
"Then you've gotten one," Nina said as she shook his hand, "An inconsistent reading partner." Nina smiled.
Daniel smiled too.