Broken ✔

Chapter Eight

Song: Come and See My Moda – MzVee ft. Yemi Alade. (This song fits this chapter perfectly and Elorm really relates to it!)

**Unedited** (Dedicated to CookieAdu)

"Have you been following me?" I asked him.

The dimples pricked his cheeks as he smiled. "You've caught me." He handed the change to the vendor.

I didn't know whether it was all in my head but the middle-aged woman gave me the stink-eye. I presumed she was one of the women who gossip about me in the market. By the end of the day, all the market women would know that a 'white' boy paid for my tomatoes.

I pulled him away from the woman and into a corner of the market where I reasoned people wouldn't focus on us, but it was hard to camouflage when the colours don't blend. Chris' skin was much lighter than everyone else's. When you spot him from the corner of your eye — especially in a crowd of dark-skinned people — he looks like a fluorescent lamp that always makes people do a double take. They were bound to see me when they looked at him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Good morning to you too. How was your night?" He asked. "It's good to know you care about me."

Even though I was agitated that we were spending too much time talking, I laughed. "Don't fool around. Why were you following me?"

"You didn't come for tutoring last night. Did your date wear you out?" He asked.

I sensed the tightness in his voice.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it," I told him. "My house had unexpected visitors with unfortunate news."

"Why didn't you tell me that you have a boyfriend?" He asked.

"I didn't know that I was supposed to," I replied.

I was a little bit offended that he expected me to know that he had feelings for me. Apart from a little flirting, he hadn't done anything to convince me that he liked me.

"I'm sorry," he frowned, "I don't mean to sound like that."

"Do you like me?" I asked him.

He laughed. "Does it matter? You are already with someone else and besides, that girl I met the other day, Stacey, I think we have something going on."

I wasn't expecting to hear that. I knew that I was contemplating marrying my boyfriend, but I couldn't help but crush on Chris a little.

It wasn't my fault. We had spent a long night together in a room with poor lighting. That was enough to get any girl's heart racing. I knew it was selfish to wish that nothing would come out of his relationship with Stacey, but no human being is perfect.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked. He was smirking as if he could read my thoughts. Perhaps he didn't need to read my mind to know what I was thinking.

"Like what?"

"Like you want to kill someone," he smirked. "I don't know about you but I don't like to share."

"Share what? I assume you're referring to an object," I said, indignant.

He laughed. "Will I see you tonight?"

"I don't think so. I don't think we'll be seeing each other anytime soon."

"Why?"

"The night you sent me home, my parents had the wrong idea. I'm not allowed to see you anymore."