Chapter 13

Irye runs down the stairs after dressing up and almost runs into Blake who's at the bottom.

He shows his phone to her and Irye stares at it with a raised eyebrow.

"From your family"he says."See, you have a lot more people who care about you than you think."

Her eyes trail back to the phone and inhales sharply."29 missed calls?"

"Oh I know right?"Blake chuckles nervously as he presses some buttons on it.

"Hello?"he says and suddenly pulls the phone away from his ears with a little frown.

Irye could hear the person on the other line. It is Evie and she is busily complaining on how many calls she made.

"We are fine"Irye hears him say."She is alright now"he looks at Irye with a smile.

"Alright"he laughs,shaking his head and Irye crosses her arms having a suspicious look in her eyes.

After Blake hangs up,he sees Irye's face and chuckles.

"She says I can have you all to myself tonight"he jokes and Irye elbows him. Blake laughs heartily and Irye chases him around the room for teasing her blushing face.

The alarm sounds across the room causing her to wake up.She rubs her eye and smiles, stretching. She had a video call with Evie the night before and she did some funny things which makes Irye laugh her heart out. She is still thinking of that.

It's being a week since the cousins left the house for school purposes.Grams had to take them back.They will be back the next summer vacation.

Irye keeps thinking of what she will do with Evie if they come back. Time with her has been fun. She almost forgets it's school day.

"Shoot" she curses as her eyes land on the clock. She is late. She runs to the bathroom smiling to herself at the thought of meeting Blake.He's been helpful and fun throughout the vacation,they've become very close.

"Good morning"she shouts out to no one before turning on the shower.

Blake on the other hand is also bathing in a rush not sure if he's bathing well or not.

In school,students meet new faces and other catch up with their friends,chatting about things they did over the vacation days. They go into their various classes as soon as the siren blows.

"Okay today we are learning about the history of..."The teacher's voice faints to the two who are busily stealing galnces at each other,smiling to God-knows-who

They wait eagerly for for break and soon enough,the bell rings. A wide grin plasters their faces and they turn to each other.

"How?.."They say in unison and smile.

"You first."they gesture in unison again. Irye keeping her cool couldn't hide her blushing face and that makes Blake chuckle.

Amber and Derrick as usual stare at them arm-crossed and shake their heads unbelievably as the two chat and grin.

"Could you please excuse us?"Derrick passes in between them breaking their moment.

They come back to reality glaring at Derrick who's walking out the class knowing he's going to face trouble if Blake gets hold of him.

Another teacher comes to class after their lunch break. The class become quiet as the teacher lessons them. Blake whispers to Irye and she turns. He passes a piece of paper.

"Wait for me after class"she reads and looks at Blake raising her eyebrows, gesturing a 'why'. Blake just shrugs in a funny way making Irye smile.

Finally class is over and everyone rushes out leaving the four of them. Amber, Derrick, Blake and Irye. Blake urges for Amber and Derrick to excuse them.

"Why?"Derrick asks making Amber face palm himself. They both walk towards the door and Amber turns suddenly.

"But seriously..why?"he asks with a serious face.

Blake squints his eyes at them and within a second, they are out of sight. He turns to Irye who's sitting on the table of the desk in front of him.

"What's up."Irye says nervously. Blake chuckles."What do you want to tell me?"she asks scratching the back of her head.

"You.."Blake says dragging his desk closer. He sighs."You know something? I..the day I came to you when you were in pain, I could feel it as if I was the one hurt. I never told you this but when you hurt, I also hurt."

Irye gets where that was going and prepares herself.

"I was rude to you for when u first came here. Am sorry but I didn't do that because I hated you or something.I just...I just did it trying to ignore my feelings. I thought they were just something bothering me and that I could rid myself of them."Blake explains.

Irye licks her lips nervously and listens.

"I could not accept it at first but when I saw you in pain, I realized...I realized how real my feelings were. I couldn't bear to see a tear in your eyes.Then I knew you already got me."he continues.

Tension building up as he exhales to release some. Irye keeps a straight face making sure not to show any expression on her face. She wishes for him to stop but couldn't say it out.

"I know you've always been by yourself but it's time you let someone be by you."Blake breathes out.

"Will you allow me protect you and be the one by your side?"he ends his speech.

Irye blinks and tries to stop her mind from running wild. For some minutes, she thinks about accepting him but then her mind goes back to her dream and what her mother said. "No"she thinks. She has to reject him for his sake.She gets down from the table and looks at Blake hoping not to hurt him with her answer.

"I love you Irye"Blake says standing. "Everything makes sense to me now, my behaviour towards you, and how I kept changing towards you too"he tells her.

Irye sighs and walks in front of the class."Am happy with all this but you should stop."she says not making eye contact. "Don't... don't.."she shakes her head, sighing and walks out of the class.