°Munachi Odumba°

"Silvana pass it. " Arthur whispered with his head turned back, he dropped a calculator manual and I watched Silvana gasp.

"Ehh? To who?" She whispered back to him and carefully slid the manual unto her laps from the top our table.

I looked around and sighed with relief when I saw that our invigilator wasn't looking at us.

"Pss me. Pass it to me. " Philip signaled her and I decided not to be distracted by this anymore, I continued scribbling on my exam booklet while chewing on my bubble gum.

According to a research I'd read sometime ago, chewing the same flavor of gum while reading and during exams would make you retentive. I could boldly say that it worked.

Silvana, on the other hand...of course, decided not to obey instantly but instead she decided to toss the manual onto my own legs.

Excuse me?!

"Ehh?"I said almost too loudly and she acted like she was erasing off her booklet.

Silva we're not even writing with pencil... Nor are we drawing either, so what exactly are you cleaning?!

"Check it. Check if number 3 is inside there. " She whispered to me and started doodling on her script.

Why couldn't you check it?

"Uncle was and is still looking at me. That's why. Check it now, please?" She replied like she'd read my mind, I nodded and looked up, sure enough he was looking at her.

I picked up the manual with my left hand while writing, my handwriting was getting wonky and awkward as my pen danced upwards and downwards on my exam booklet while I swiped across pages with the other hand.

Seconds later I spotted Arthur's handwriting written with a pencil.

At least he was smart enough to write with pencil and not pen.

Doing this was just too dangerous, so many risks involved: expulsion, suspension, embarrassment.

Only if you're caught though.

Still the same thing.

"No, number 3 isn't here." I whispered after I'd finally swiped to the end of this manual.

"Oh God. "She groaned and picked up the manual then threw it at Philip.

Silvana reread the questions on her paper, cracked a smile then began writing with her pen.

That was the beauty about her, her memory was like a reservoir.

2 minutes later our invigilator walked out of the class and Arthur turned,

"He didn't tell me to write it. " He chuckled.

"So you know it then? " Silvana asked in a louder tone. Most of my classmates were also whispering loudly now

"Yup. Pass your manual, I'll write it. " Arthur told her and I stared at my exam booklet.

I've finished. Just need to complete this numbe-

"-Write number 4 too. " I whispered lowly in the mist of loud voices.

Eh... Expulsion, suspension, embarrassment. Look at you now.

Shut up.

Arthur turned and looked at me with a poorly hidden smirk.

"Okay babe. I don't know when you joined bad gang oh. But okay, besides you're so cute when you're doing something wron-"

"-Arthur, shut up, take this thing and write something! " Silvana sounded aggravated, she threw her manual at him and turned his body roughly with her hands.

Actually, she tuned his body towards his desk. Like an antenna.

He laughed and I joined in, seconds later I'd successfully managed to stop laughing; just when our invigilator walked in.

Although, ironically, it was very funny how the class instantly stilled.

•••°°°•••

"I'm so through with this fucking exam" Chiamaka exclaimed loudly in front of her class, there was just this way our classroom was built that I could easily see her from my seat.

Chiamaka.

Everything about her confused me, she was such a paradox because I knew how brilliant she was.

So I wonder why she chose this path and how she could still maintain her grades, even Silvana of all people struggled at first when she started dating Nonso.

I knew Chiamaka had a more social life than Silvana yet her record was impeccable because I've seen them myself.

All As from Js1 down to Ss2. No wonder she enjoyed such an umbrella of grace.

"Finally, she said something I can relate with. " Silvana snickered and shoved her writing materials into her bag.

I pushed my pen into my hair, my hair had this massive undergrowth growing out of my braids and it was the perfect nest for my slender slim pen.

I'd be going to dad's home this weekend, I'd make a new hairstyle there-aunty Philo would happily braid my hair for me.

She was dad's housekeeper.

"Loose this hair, it's too rough. "Arthur said in front of me and suddenly smacked me on my head!

Excuse me?

"Ow." I muttered and massaged my scalp.

"Moan out baby. Moan it loud, owwww!" He said loudly and Silvana and I turned to gawk at him with wide eyes, he erupted into this annoying laughter and walked out of the class, while shaking his flat butt.

Flat butt? It's actually perfect-

-What?

Jasmine walked in seconds after he'd walked out with Williams besides her, they'd first struggled to fit in through the door before Williams poked her butt with his pen then she squeaked and walked towards us.

"We've finished oh! Oya oh, start the party planning!" Jasmine shrieked loudly and Williams shielded his ears with his two hands.

Silvana still was ignorant to his feelings, surprisingly she hadn't found out about Williams exhibition days ago-No one in Emerald Academy had told her yet... No one. And that, was the shocking part. Didn't 98% of this school population indulge in petty gossips?

"Munachi is going to her daddy's house oh! Lagos things loading on point oh! " Silvana danced funnily and I giggled.

"Why's she excited? I thought your house in Lagos was under renovations? " Williams asked Silvana, she rolled her eyes and picked up her school bag.

"Tarh, my sister's the renovation oh. She just learnt interior design and she's practicing with our house because my mom allowed her. I can't wait to see the nonsense she's done. "

I picked up my bag and we walked to Williams and Jasmine's classroom.

Arthur, Nonso, Kenelum, Chidinma and basically all of them were in there taking selfies or making videos.

"...Stupid captions, guy don't post with those captions." I didn't catch Arthur's first words but I didn't miss his wink at me.

He really was tall and he'd gotten a new school uniform, one that was tighter against his body. His beautiful body.

Nonso stood up, rubbed his chinstrap and glared at Williams-lowkey enough so Silvana didn't notice because he too knew she was still ignorant to Williams feelings then he walked over to her and wrapped his hand tightly round her waist and kissed her forehead.

No words spoken but we all understood-except Silvana.

She pushed him away with a smile and exclaimed, "Shuu!" then continued, "Wait now. When last did you see me that you're missing and kissing me? "

"Can't I kiss my girlfriend again? I mean she's finally all mine again. " Nonso smirked, he'd drew out the words like they were titles he'd won.

Taking her hand in his, they both walked away from us towards Arthur and his selfie gang.

"He just took her away from us. Like that. Away from me. Like that. Again. It's always going to be him, even though he doesn't deserve her. " Williams muttered, picked up his strap bag and walked out of the class. Jasmine did the same too and I turned to follow them too.

Arthur was watching me because he immediately stood up and grabbed my hand.

"Leave him. He needs to get over her. " He said plainly almost like he was annoyed and I pulled out my hand.

Arthur and his friends already knew about Williams exhibition.... Which made me more confused on how Silvana still didn't know.

"He's been trying for years now. Do you think Nonso now rubbing it in his face would make it any faster for him? " I asked him and stared up at his face.

Arthur had such a defined jaw, like a Greek god sculpted by the best sculptor known to man. His lips shifted downwards into a frown and his nose flared out a bit.

His facial expression changed because of my words.

Why?

"No, it'll just hurt him enough until he backs off. He needs to back off, maybe in the near future he might have a chance but he's clearly not me and Silva's clearly not you. "

And it finally clicked.

I understood.

"And Rooney is nothing like Nonso. " I said in a tone as low as I could, not knowing how to decipher his mood again.

Arthur stared at me then his lips twitched before he started laughing maniacally while walking out of the class, he stopped at the door to wait for me.

"I swear. They're even the opposites. Rooney has nothing in common with Nonso except that they both breathe air. He's nothing like Nonso at all. " Arthur exaggerated and I giggled in relief.

So his mood was good then?

We walked towards our classroom and he picked up his bag then sat down on his seat, while I stood awkwardly above him.

He stared at me, sighed deeply then stood up and sat me down, placing his palms on my shoulders as he pressed me down on the chair next to him. His chair shook and he decided to make a joke out of it.

"Don't use big bumbum and break our seat oh. "

A very funny joke.... So funny I forgot to laugh.

"Shut up." I muttered and he sat down besides me and placed his hand over my shoulder, his hand dangled inches above the tight outline of my breasts—maybe I needed a new uniform too? I was going through such a crazy growth spurt and my skirt and shirt from just this ss1 last year was now too fitted as if I'd slim fitted it.

Arthur pulled me closer to his body. "So babe, plans for the holiday?"

"Eat, sleep, eat, sleep, dance, post, sleep, ea-"

"-No wonder!" He exclaimed with that voice he used whenever he was about to tease me.

"What? " I asked,

I feel like I already knew the answer to this.

"No wonder you just blew up like that. You're lazy, no gyming, no exercising-"

I said it.

"-I exercise. Dancing is an exercise. "

He tilted my head upwards and smirked, his next words were surely going to be stupid. I just knew it, "So is fucking, but you don't hear people saying that do you? "

"Shut up. "

"Mum's or Dad's?" He changed topic easily and I smiled.

"Abuja or Lagos?" I rephrased his question.

Previously dad's used to mean Port Harcourt but 9th grade Dad moved to Lagos and now it meant Lagos.

I miss the Port Harcourt home so much. The hammock, the pond, the ducks, the gate. I loved that house a lot. The Lagos home was some building in an estate, no grass, no life, just pool and gate.

"Munachi, answer oh!" Arthur exclaimed and I felt like it wasn't the first time he'd repeated himself. I must've zoned out so hard just reminiscing on the wonder that Port Harcourt house was...

I sighed and he rolled his eyes at me.

"Lagos. "

Back to the estate and the no pond, no hammock, no life duplex.

He grinned and hugged me. Awkwardly. Thanks to our sitting position.

"iMax film house. Next week Tuesday? I'll pick you up. Please say yes. " Arthur requested and I pretended to think.

"Bills all on me. Of course. " He muttered his last words in an attempt to convince me to agree and I continued to think

Arthur groaned besides me and tilted his head till his face aligned with mine.

"Can I help you decide?" His hot breath fanned me face and I gulped slowly while locking eyes with him.

I see the appeal behind Arthur Dike. I really really do. This boy was incredibly handsome and I understood now.

His eyes slowly trailed down to my lips and our lips were mere inches apart, the air in here suddenly went up a few Celsius and my body temperature felt like it was suddenly over 68°C, the fan above us must have clearly been turned off and the AC must've packed up because why else would his eyes shine like that?

He moved closer and whispered "I'll take that as a yes. "  in a quick breath before placing his lips on my lower lip. His left hand quickly moved to the back of my rough hair and he trailed his palm over the back of my head, rubbing my head so softly and massaging my scalp like a professional stylist.

For a brief second I forget we're still in class and I kiss him back, five seconds later and I remember so I push him off.

With an embarrassed and flustered face because science students did not like to see things like that in our class, A and B's were gone but we were the unofficial A and Chiamaka's class was the unofficial B and over here in the A's classes we don't do things like the B's, we don't stare into abysses in A classes so I look around the class and notice we were actually... alone.

How?

"Can I kiss you now? Everyone left minutes ago." The smirk is evident is his tone, like he knew me so well and knew what exactly gave me anxiety, regardless, I shook my head at him.

"We still can't be kissing in cla-"

"-Oh shut up. " He barely finishes his words before his lips move down on mine.

Okay.

••

"Munachukwu." My daddy mumbled out my name, he was sitting on the couch in front of me-well opposite me but.. Well...

His Samsung Tablet in his right hand and the pen in the other hand. I stared up at him and he smiled then requested I reduced the volume on the TV.

I did that, "Okay daddy."

"I'm traveling tomorrow, business calls-I might not be back before your holiday ends unfortunately. But you're a big girl, you can stay without your daddy. " His attempt at a joke failed and I smiled in sympathy.

He cracked a grin in gratitude and I admired his sharp pointy incisors that reminded me of our Husky Siberian dog,

Yes daddy, a dog reminds me of you.

If he's a dog-then mother must've been a bitch.

Ah ah. Keep quiet.

He then proceeded to get up and I marveled at his height, my tall genes were all gotten from mother-definitely.

Towering over 6'9, Daddy could compete with Tristan Thompson-His favorite basketball player and win a height competition.

Even a most handsome competition and he'd win it, jet black hair with curly edges, he'd carved it perfectly-so it looked professional yet he had this young adult look that made approximating his age easy.

He looked under 35, doesn't matter if he was turning 35 next year. He just looked under 35.

I was now the same age as he was when he got my mother pregnant. I was 17 years old.

I got my complexion from him, my eyes too—the shape and the slant, my lips—his nose was straight and mine wasn't so I didn't get my nose from him, but my curly hair edges were from him. He was built perfectly and I imagined a younger him-I imagined why mother fell for him 17 years ago-How I was made 17 years ago.

But till now, I didn't understand why he'd fallen for her. She was beautiful-yes. But how'd he get love struck enough to come back for us?

Was it even love or an intense responsibility he felt considering they did not even legally get married?

"Munachukwu, are you listening to me at all?" Daddy's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I nodded quickly.

"You're lying, anytime you lie your left ear picks up... Just like Zeena's. You have dog ears. " He compared me... To our Husky dog.

Excuse me?

He didn't let two seconds pass before he broke into his funny laughter.

"What? Can't I notice two similarities between my bitch and my daughter?"

Ha ha ha. Funny.

His sense of humor was too similar to Arthur's humor.

The humor where I'm the butt of the joke.

So funny that I always forget to laugh.

"Well, you have her teeth. " I muttered and crossed my hands over my chest.

"Yeah yeah. This sexy teeth makes them go meow." He purred.

Blood of Jesus. Ew.

One of the cons of having a single young father in his early thirties.

"Straight to the point. " I clapped loudly so he'd focus on the real topic at hand and stop traumatizing me further and he started laughing again.

His laughter finally died down and he said, "I'm traveling, I wanted you to stay over at your mum's but that lady loves to travel. She isn't at home. " he was trying to smile in the way all adults do when they don't want you to bother about adults affairs but he couldn't hide the low frown tugging his lips.

"Really loves to travel. But yeah, business calls her too. I guess Stella also has to earn a living. So you'll stay at home with Philomena, she agreed to move in temporarily to watch over you. Be nice to her, I know you would. I just had to sound like a dad. You know, once in a lifetime kind of thing." He made another attempt at a joke and I chuckled.

"17 years and I'm still not used to being a dad. Joel, grow the fuck up. " I wasn't going to lie but my ears did perk up at his cuss word.

He smirked at me and wiggled his brows weirdly and strangely, "Oh come on Munachukwu, just this one time I slip up and you're going all Zeena on me? Down girl, down." and this attempt at a joke actually made me laugh.

•••

"Muna, you sure say you no go chop first before you commot. " Aunt Philo's voice was louder than the TV in front of her, I put my leg over the last step and removed my palm from the railings.

How'd she hear me come down?

"No oh, I'm not going anywhere. I just want to check something. " I answered and straightened down my jean skirt, which looked short: stopped inches above my knees.

"I tell you say make you no dey stress your self. You for tell me make I check am for you instead. I no go complain, see how the hair wey I do you how many many days ago don dey rough." Aunt Philo spoke in this thicknified pidgin that reminded me of Nonso in way.

My hair wasn't rough, at all. She made it yesterday night. Exaggerating was her super talent.

I chuckled as a reply and walked to the door, I opened it and Jasmine and Williams walked in.

"Girl! You look drop dead gorgeous! Like, I'd bend you over that counter and fuc-"

"-Jesus Christ! " Aunt Philo interrupted Williams with a scream and he scratched his head awkwardly.

"... If I was Arthur." he muttered the rest of his sentence.

But aunt Philo didn't hear that because she walked towards the door with her napkin.

"Who you won fuck eh Willy Willy?" She asked him and his dark face almost turned red.

"How'd she even hear me? The TV's blasting." He whispered and greeted her, Jasmine greeted too with a laugh.

"Um, nobody ma'am. I no wan fuck nobody ma'am I'll help you in the kitchen. Ma'am. Um.. " He stuttered weirdly and walked towards the kitchen, aunt Philo and Jasmine started laughing loudly.

My phone beeped in my jeans skirt. I brought it out of my back pocket and read the Snapchat message from Arthur.

'Ring the bell or Knock on the door, which would grant faster access to your heart?'

It took a minute before I understood what he meant, and a second later I heard a knock on the door in front of me, followed by the door bell echoing round the house.

I opened the door and saw him leaning there, every time I see Arthur outside school I understood how he had that much followers on Instagram.

He smirked at me and barely completed his, "Hey Baby-" before aunt Philo interrupted him.

"-Chineke' nna! Baby? Baby at this age?" She screamed again and I couldn't stop laughing at his facial expression.

Arthur looked like he just had a heart attack.

Looks like somebody's going to love aunt Philo.