A Sweet And Sour Muddle

Chapter 8 - Surprise, Good And Bad.

Chapter 8 - Surprise, Good And Bad. 

"Woah! That was a close call..." Jazeem said, letting out a breath that he was holding.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." I uttered looking away.

I didn't wait for his reply; I pulled my bike back and started moving when he called out to me. I didn't want to stop and turn around but my heart just wasn't in the mood to obey me today. He came and stood in front of my bike, "Umm.." he rubbed the back of his neck nervously before letting out an awkward chuckle. 

His face held mixed expressions of confusion, indecisiveness, contemplation and God knows what else. But behind all this I could see a hint of falseness? Was he hiding something from me; his eyes were looking everywhere but me as if, if they meet mine they would spill out the truth. 

This thing really intimidated me. 

I had a sudden urge in the pit of my stomach to turn away right now and go. Go away from Jazeem before he makes me a subject of another one of his cruel jokes that he had played earlier on so many people from school. 

Before I could move he looked up straight at my eyes, but this was different. His eyes now held a very warm feeling, a convinced look. I was perplexed, I didn't know how to react.

"Please let me explain, I think I can fix this. Give me a chance." He said with pleading eyes. As much as I wanted to back away and run I also wanted to go and listen to him. 

"Please?" he said expectedly.

I let out a defeated breath that I didn't know I was holding.

"Okay, " I muttered, barely audible. He let out a sigh of relief before smiling excitedly. "Let's go and sit there?" he asked, pointing towards a bench near a fountain; just opposite the community park.

We went towards the bench and I parked my bike just behind it. Jazeem sat right on the edge and rubbed his palms together as if preparing himself for a good debate. Something is seriously odd with this guy I thought and shook my head. 

"Okay, so let's start." he said, looking at me. I nodded and he continued.

"First, I'm extremely sorry for whatever happened." 

I suppressed an urge to scoff and just rolled my eyes to make my displeasure evident. He took a heavy breath, his lips were pursed. 

"Look, I know its all hard for you, it is the same for me too. Believe me, being the centre of attraction is always not so good as it seems. Sometimes your personal life is targeted which is very disturbing, but you have to tolerate it all because you are not just a normal person. You are a role model to others, especially when you are to your own siblings." he said in one go. 

Wow, he sounds like a rock star. Wait, what did he say?

I tried, but whatever he said just now went above my head. Now that he has completed he waited for my reply I went haywire; I didn't know what to say. Saying that I didn't understand a single word would feel really rude, and so will be staying quiet.

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked ahead, and I think he guessed the confusion, "You didn't understand anything, did you?" he asked with a straight face.

I just gave him a guilty nod and looked down.

"No problem, I anyway owe you a very long explanation, " he said clasping his hands together.

"See, being a football player and representing my school is a huge thing for me. It has brought me popularity but that is not what I am afraid to lose. It has also brought me love and admiration from my little brother." he said, his fingers intertwined and his elbows placed on his knees.