Boys over Books✔️

Is this love?

Final(baba nla) by Wizkid.

She was gone.

That was all Jefffery could think of. She wasn't with him, she wasn't in his arms, she wasn't in his house either. He knew because her bag was gone. Why did she leave him? He had wanted to spend all of his time with her. Only her.

Jeffery took his thoughts into deeper thoughts and he noticed that all he could think of was Ifeoma. It was a wonderful and scary feeling at the same time. Scary in the sense that he had felt this way only about few girls and in those few times he always got his heart pounded into a pulp.

When people talked about heartbreak, Jeffery merely stared at them. Their lives were better at least. They had their heart broken but Jeffery had his' made into pounded heart just like pounded yam. It was broken, mashed and melted all in one. And in order to get his heart back, he always had to go through the highs and lows of being a player. Not that his heart was ever the same after that anyway.

Now he was feeling that way again. That burning feeling in his chest, that urge to want to do better; to want to be better. The need to want to be good enough for her, to be everything she wants, needs and desires. But he couldn't explain why.

Every time he was with her, his stomach seemed to do a hundred, tumbling, flips in a row. And when he was not, he felt all the strength and happiness in him drain out completely.

Was this love?

"What kind of person are you?" Jake moved over to him on the sofa. "The drug was supposed to knock you out for at least six hours. But it's not even up to two hours, and you're already awake."

Jeffery grunted in response. He didn't seem to have the strength to say any words. But yet without him knowing what or whose strength he used, he asked the question that made him wake up so early. "Where is Ifeoma?" He croaked, his voice sounding like that of a dying frog.

"She left." Jake said casually.

"To where?" He croaked louder. This time his words accompanied by a string of coughing fits.

Jake watched his brother patiently, offering him some water in between the show he put on. "Here have some more water." He said, slowly raising Jeffery's head.

"Thanks." Jeffery murmured. The water made him feel a lot better and he could feel the coolness of the liquid washing all over his body, giving him a tingling sensation. He liked the feeling.

"So if you must know, Ifeoma went back to her aunty's house. She said she needed to go tell her everything that happened before she went to school or did anything else." Jake explained while on his mobile phone.

"Oh..." Jeffery let out silently. He wondered how Ifeoma's Aunty would take the news. Not too lightly. He supposed.

In a few minutes more, Jeffery felt his eyes dropping back into place, shutting close to take him out of the world he was; to take him to another world outside of reality. A world that was awesome and unreal but still Jeffery didn't want to go.

He fought the dizzying effects with all the power he had left. However the drug was a lot more stronger than he was, maybe it had just a little more willpower. The less willpower that Jeffery had lost when he was beaten up by those guys.

"Stop fighting the fact that you need to go to sleep." Jake said after seeing Jeffery's eyes drop several times. "I just pray make Nepa bring light because the water for fridge don start to dey melt." Jake added, more to himself than to the torn up boy that lay beside him.

After a battle between falling asleep and staying awake, Jeffery found himself giving in to a world filled with dreams and floating wishes. He pulled one of them into his hand and it exploded, slowly taking the shape and form of a girl. And not just any girl, the girl he wanted badly, Ifeoma.

She held his hand and together they walked towards a set of blinking lights. She was his dream girl, if you take that both literally and figuratively. Her hand felt soft on his hand, but still so real.

The sadness in her eyes were gone and she smiled at him lovingly. If that was what sleep held for him, then he could live with that. Although, a small part of him still wished he could have gone to school with Ifeoma. Well wishes don't always come true and dreams most certainly do not either.

Without any warning, Jeffery found himself floating into Neverland, leaving behind an uninterested brother who was still glued to his phone's screen.

Raising his head from the only thing that kept him sane in this world–his precious phone, Jake noticed that his brother was fast asleep. How long has he been sleeping? He wondered as he stretched his long limbs that were already sore from sitting around in the house everyday.

"Knucklehead." He muttered as he covered his only brother—whom he loved but would never tell to his face—with a bigger blanket. He was shivering and Jake didn't want his problems to get any worse. It was kind of weird though, in the humid heat that coursed through the ceiling and walls of the house, someone lay shivering in cold.

"If only I could shiver too." He muttered as he wiped some sweat from his brow.

The only way to survive in this stupid heat was through a source of cool breeze. And sooner or later, Jake was going to have to put on the generator. Especially when night came.

"Nepa nor just dey treat us well at all." Jake groaned as he rummaged through the cupboard in the kitchen. He found a big tin of Milo and Bournvita and another of Peak Milk. He choose his best beverage, Milo and also the tin of Peak milk. He was going to make himself a hot cup of beverage/tea before he did anything in the house.

As Jake sipped on the hot cup of tea and ate pieces of an unsliced bread, he heard the doorbell ring. Twice in a row. Making him choke slightly on the bread he was eating. He knew who rang the door like that as there was only one of that person in the world.

He got up and headed for the door, unbolting the lock as soon as his hands reached it. "Ifeoma." He gasped as he saw her face. Her cheek was red, her eyes the same colour as it seemed she had been crying and her face was stained with tears. What did they do to her? He cried out inside of him.

"Ifeoma what happened? What did they do to you?" He asked and at the same time he looked behind her to see two big boxes.

Ignoring his questions about her wellbeing, Ifeoma went on to ask him for a very big favour. "Jake can I please keep my bags here before I find a place to stay"
•••••••
Thanks a million for the votes and comments loves. Cheers!