Rugged To The Core

Chapter 27

Abel 

     Abel was in the classroom, sat at the back of the class as per usual, he was aimlessly twiddling his biro, he got bored and slouched in his seat, he craned his neck, fixing his gaze on the girl who sat three rows and four columns away from him.

    Abel watched Lucky, she was speaking softly to her friend, the blue eyed boy, Best Orland. Best and Lucky's dialogue was not audible, but Abel heard her laugh several times, her voice wasn't high pitched, it was mellow and small, Abel found it sultry.

     Lucky had her braids up in a perfect bun, she had her back to him and Best's features were directly in his line of vision, all Best had to do was shift his gaze and the two boys would be making eye contact. But Best seemed captivated, he had no plans off taking his eyes off Lucky and this annoyed Abel to the core — even as he reached over to touch her face, Abel's grip on his biro tightened but he felt smug when Lucky playfully swatted his hand away.

     Best and Lucky conversed for a while before Best got up and excused himself, strutting out from the classroom. Abel lifted his legs from the desk and threw them to the floor, he pulled out a notebook, turned to the back and started scribbling on it. After writing on it, he hurriedly tore the page and began folding it into a paper airplane, then he launched it.

Lucky

     A mild prick at the back of my neck shocked me. Impulsively, my hand flew to the spot and felt it for damage. I turned around and met Abel's gaze, he had an amused look on his face, I arched a bow at him, he thrust his index finger at my feet, I followed his finger and saw a paper airplane next to my shoe.

     Yesterday, Abel had really surprised me, he had struck me multiple times, I had mixed feelings. First, he almost bit my head off, I kept ignoring him, then he got up close and personal, breaking my walls and poisoning my mind with his hotness, that husky voice and those darn squinted eyes.

Babe, it aff do...

     Momentarily, I thought Abel was going to kiss me, the way his eyes flickered to my lips, I thought he would kiss me then and there, in school. I didn't know what I would have done if he had kissed me.

Would I have kissed him back? Why would he even want to kiss me to begin with? Abeg, It's just in my head.

    Of everything that Abel did yesterday, what dazzled me the most was how he had enveloped me in a bone crushing hug after I had told him to stay away from me, he held me so tight, my bruised abdomen hurt but I paid no attention to it. It was like Abel was scared of losing our friendship, I never knew he valued it that much, our friendship was a weird one but I too equally cherished it.

     I pushed my chair a tad backwards, I leaned down and picked up the paper airplane, I gently unfolded it and saw a handwriting I would describe as chicken scratch. I read the note.

Chichi, I wanna show you something. Can we hang during break time?

~ Your Gorilla.

     My eyes zoomed in on his reference: your gorilla. I released a broken laugh, I turned and found him smiling too, I instantly wobbled my head like an agama lizard.

Lucky, stop fooling yourself, you are acting too excited. Chill...

Abel laughed. "You're supposed to reply."

"I did reply." I said. "You don't really eat -"

"Write it."