Rats, Roses And Paper Bones

Chapter 28:'The wall of truth'

I still had a throbbing pain in my head. It must have been from when I fell. Or maybe it was after, when I heard what made my mind go haywire this evening.

"Michael likes you!". Victoria had said with every inch of assurance.

"No, he doesn't". I quickly snapped back. One thing not to do was mistake his kinds actions for affection. Victoria didn't know that, but I knew better.

"But he does! Can't you see?".

"That's impossible". I replied.

"But what if he does?". She said again, raising her eyebrows maniacally.

"Just mind your business". I said to her, pushing her out of the room.

Since then, my mind just refused to go back to its resting state. The siesta session wasn't any use for me. I just couldn't sleep. I kept twisting and turning in my bed for two hours straight.

What if he actually liked me?
No, there was no way.
But come to think of it? Monitoring someone didn't necessarily mean you had to be nice to the person.
He was definitely too nice to me to round it off as "just" monitoring.
What if he was monitoring me at first and then ended up developing feelings?
Did that mean that he already found out he was wrong about me?

I turned again for the 100th time.
All these thoughts were just speculations.
It was true he was always nice and thoughtful, but still, thinking he liked me was too far fetched.
It was very unlikely.
He was nice to everyone. Even the people that hated him.

Did I like him?
Well, to be honest, I didn't even know. But what I knew was that It definitely wasn't time for a distraction like this.

I headed to the school clinic to pick up some painkillers before the night prep. I met Nurse Temilade at her table, sorting out some drugs. She looked up at me and smiled as I approached her table.

"You're here". She said.
"Good evening ma, please can I have some-" I started to say.
"Painkillers?". She finished up my sentence for me.
I was confused.
"Michael came to pick them up for you this evening. He said you bruised your head and knees pretty badly, I told him I would give you myself". She said.

"Oh, I see". I said slowly, still trying to comprehend everything she said.
Why was Michael playing with me like this?
I mean, why would he do that?
"But it wasn't that bad". I said.
"Do you need an ointment with the painkillers?". She said packing the pills into a plastic bag.
"Oh no, thank you". I said, remembering that I still had Michael's dad "special" ointment.

"Michael seems to be really fond of you". She said, handing me the drugs.
"Oh no, he isn't". I said, chuckling nervously and collected the drugs. I was still in DENIAL.
"Well, you two are close, aren't you?". She asked.
"Um...well...no, I mean...yes....but...well...yes". I said, stuttering.

I didn't even know why I was stuttering but it seemed like since I got informed of the possibilities of him having feelings for me,my tongue just seemed to get numb whenever someone mentioned his name.

Nurse Temilade gave me a questioning look.
"Alright then, use this twice a day for three days".

********************************

"Ahhh". I muttered quietly as I applied Michael's dad's special ointment on my bruised knee.

Applying the ointment made me immersed in thinking about him. I could still feel his hands caressing my legs gently and his eyes sparkling under the sun as he stared at me affectionately.

My lips creased up in a smile unknowingly and I snapped out of it as soon as I realised

What was happening to me?

I looked around my dorm room, making sure no one was hearing me or staring at me, and everyone was going about their business as usual.