There's Something About Him

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"Saul !!" somebody yelled my name from behind, I quickly turned around from where I sat to see who it is... then I made a bored expression when I knew who it was, I turned back to my book and faked that I was concentrating on it, maybe he would leave me alone, then I felt a slap on the back of my head, I quickly turned to glare at him
"OW!!" I exclaimed, he just quirked his brow
"you don't ignore your best friend when he comes bearing good news" he said crossing his arms on his chest, I groaned turning around again, I was sitting on one of the cemented benches on the campus garden trying to have a quiet time and read my book that was getting on the good part, but sadly Hakeem happened. He came and sat beside me, I did not look at him, eyes on the book, then in a flash he snatched my book from my hands
"hey!! do not test me!" I said trying to reach for my book which he raised it up in the air with his left arm, it did not help that he was taller and bulky, making him have the upper hand, literally
"no, I will give it to you once you hear what I have, no moment sooner" he said while sitting on the book, I made a strangling gesture at him while glaring, he just laughed
"you know, you look like a cartoon when you try to be scary"
"what is it Hakeem" I asked glaring, he turned his whole body to my direction, eyes with excitement
"I just heard tha....." he was cut off by
"Mr Amin, Mr Omar, the Dean wants to see the both of you in his office" it was our Linguistic professor, he did not even wait for our response and just left, my mouth went dry, this was not good at all, everybody was scared of that office and for good reason, if you were called in there you will be either expelled or be forced to repeat a whole year on your expense. I turned to Hakeem who immediately stood up looking giddy and excited, he looked at me and pulled me by the arm forcing me to stand up. As soon as I gathered my things in my bag he groaned
"let's go!" he urged as he dragged me to the deans office, I looked at him strangely as I hurried my pace to match his, the other students were staring at us, he did not seem to care
"please tell me what is going on, and I can walk by myself" I said snatching my arm away from his grip, he momentarily paused to look at me then he left me there while he paced quickly to the office which was on the first floor, I quickly followed him up the stairs, but he was too quick
"hey, will you just tell me before I die from high blood pressure!" I yelled at him
"stop being a wuss and hurry up damn it, I do not want him to change his mind" he said while he made his way to the office. when I reached to the first floor, I ran to the office, only to find Hakeem outside the door staring at the handle intently, I walked to him, then he stared at me looking like he is about to cry while biting his lower lip
"knock!" he whispered pointing at the door, I looked at him in disbelief, I mustered the courage of running till here, now he is going to be a wuss about knocking? I rolled my eyes and knocked
"you are unbelievable" I told him
"come in" we heard from the inside, Hakeem quickly reached for the handle, twisted it and quickly pushed it while walking inside, I followed, closing the door behind. When we got in we found ten more students some smiling, others murmuring to each other, what is going on
"finally the two of you are here" professor Aloyce said sitting on his desk laying back on his comfy leather chair, I looked at the other students again, I noticed some of them, I looked at Hakeem who was whispering something to a girl near him, always a flirt, the dean cleared his throat, and we all looked at him
"I know as the gossip mongers some of you are, you already know why you are here" he said looking at Hakeem, then he continued
"every end of the year, we give our best students a free holiday tour, now due to your excellent performance in academics and discipline, you are the students selected by the board to go on this tour. We have chosen one student from each faculty and I am proud to say that you twelve are our top students" claps exploded and a cheering whistles from Hakeem, I clutched my necklace and started fiddling with it, I was so shocked that I just froze staring at the dean in disbelief, he looked at me worriedly
"are you okay Mr Amin" that snapped me out of my trance and I momentarily locked eyes with Hakeem, he gave me a reassuring smile, then I looked at the dean while nodding,
"am okay sir," he nodded in response
"sorry, Professor, but I have to ask where are we going on tour" Scott, a marketing student asked
"good question Mr Davis, this year you are going to South Africa" he said, my breath hitched, South Africa!! I have never been outside this city, since I was born, now he is telling me they are taking us to S.A, I know to some people it is not a big deal but for people who live in third world countries like us, going to South Africa IS a big deal. Sure, Tanzania is beautiful and all, but It is not that marvelous when you get used to it, besides the grass is always greener on the other side. Excited murmurs erupted from the students it was quite noisy considering the size of the office
"Okay settle down, remember its already the end of November and you'll be spending two weeks of the first half of December there, leaving you with two weeks before the tour, so you have to prepare the essentials, permits will be required, passports and visa will be upon your expenses, the rest of the instructions will be sent to your email accounts, now off you go" the dean said waving us off. I was the first out, I stood aside the door as the others got out because I was waiting for Hakeem, he came out talking to the same girl, well he was talking the girl just laughed and giggled poor dumb lamb she is... their conversation seemed to end as soon as Hakeem saw me, he said see you later to her and she left, then he turned to me with a smile. We started walking down stairs holding hands, even though we are just friends Hakeem never felt uncomfortable about holding hands especially in public, in fact he always held my hand when we were walking side by side, when you ask him about it he will say "if girls do it why can't we?"
"so you knew and did not tell me" I said
"well I wanted to tell you but you were ignoring me then when the professor came to call us I decided to make it a surprise" he looked at me with a smile
"I don't think I will go" i said in a low voice, he immediately stopped then turned to me " why " he asked
" 'cuz... I don't have a passport or visa, and those things cost a lot" i confessed and he pinched my hand, I hissed
"boy, I thought you were going to say you were allergic to South Africa" he said while slightly shoving me by his shoulder
" we will talk to mum, she will cover everything" he added, I shook my head
"Hakeem no, I already owe your family too much, I don't want to trouble them even more" I said looking down
"you know they said you don't owe them anything, that they consider you as their own son, and look what you did to me, you transformed a stupid rich kid into an intellectual and the best in his faculty, they are the ones who owe you," he said squeezing slightly my hand and then we continued walking "and besides, you know my mom adores you more than me" he added and I giggled
"and who is the girl you have been whispering to in the office" I asked looking at his slightly taller figure
"oh, you mean Lucy, that shawty is boring as hell" he said chuckling
"then why...."
"well, duh, we are going to South Africa, I am going to need something to release my sexual desires, and you don't like me so..." I punched his shoulder "OW!! I was just kidding" he said with a laugh
"asshole" I muttered underneath my breath, we were now back to the garden, Hakeem let go of my hand then slid them on his trouser pockets
"so... I have no more classes today, should I go or...."
"no, I have two more classes, I will come home myself, you should go" I said smiling
"you sure"
""yup, bye" I said while turning around and going to the opposite direction