Chapter 3 ~Ida Brings Out Hidden Things(2)~

In their apartment, Ida was telling Efe and Ariana a story, which made the two girls laugh till their tummy begun to ache, they couldn't stop laughing and it made tears sting the corners of Ariana's eyes.

" So what did you do?" Efe asked still gasping as she couldn't breathe well.

"Well...." Ida made a funny face a small smile forming on her lips, the two girls burst into fits of laughter again.

" Listen you two! I ran, I ran as far as I could from that dog, and you know what the boy did?" Ida asked, and the two girls shook their heads vigorously.

"He laughed!"

They burst into laughter again , this time rolling on the floor, even Ida joined them also clutching her tummy.

The rugged floor of the bedroom felt warmer as they tried to control themselves, when they were sobber enough, they sat upright, silence spreading amongst them.

"I think we should go out since it's evening" Ariana suggested, she wanted to go out, not because she loved the mosquitoes that made buzzing sounds in her ears, or the too cold night that left her shivering, no.

It was because, lately, she loved to spy and be a stalker, she loved to watch a particular being from afar, and that night she had the strong urge to go out and just watch him, hoping that one day, he'd come up to her and talk to her, and they'd become friends...

"Dede, come on" Efe interrupted her thoughts, she nodded before getting up, they left the apartment not before locking the building up.

As they stepped outside, Ariana could hear noises, and she knew exactly what those noises were, she saw as they stepped out of the compound through the main gate, Perry's friends, she saw him amongst them, they made so much noise, and it made her more nervous, his attention was on his phone, and he made no attempt to look up, even as Ida closed the gate noisily.

" God, I'll never get used to closing this damn gate" She said giving up , it's been two days after Ida's grand arrival and Miranda had left that morning for school, Ida still wasn't used to closing the gate, Efe giggled as she helped her close the gate, at that moment, most of the boys were looking at them, mostly at Ida.

Ida was a beauty, with beautiful curly afro hair and a model - like stature, she mostly drew attention to herself, she strutted confidently towards the boys, Ariana stood in front of the gate a deep frown on her face, she couldn't move, even Efe walked with Ida, not a bit shy.

Ariana stood firmly at the spot just watching Ida and Efe's back.

She wondered, Ida knew very well how she couldn't socialise, they still hadn't noticed she wasn't with them.

Ariana felt frustration taking over her as she stood there alone not knowing what to do, her gaze quickly fell to the floor as Perry gazed at her suddenly.

Ida and Efe had already gotten to the boys, and they were talking heartily, like they knew each other already.

"Aria!"

she heard her name, she looked up immediately, as she saw Ida gesturing for her to come.

She shook her head vigorously like a child refusing a bitter medicinal syrup.

This made Ida chuckle, even with a deep frown and her lower lip pushed out, Ariana still managed to look adorable.

"Oh come on, they are nice" Efe said, some of the boys started calling her in a friendly manner.

She felt dead nervous, and Perry with his unwavering gaze on her made matters worse.

As she took a step, she lost her balance and tripped, she fell to the ground her knees making strong impact with the ground.

A cry escaped her lips as sharp pain zapped through her knees. Suddenly she felt strong arms around, thinking it was Ida she held onto the body hiding her face, she hugged the person's arms sobbing, something she did when she felt embarrassed and frustrated.

She went stiff when she realised it wasn't Ida, Ida didn't have such deep voice that could send shiver down her spine.

It was only one person...

" Are you okay? " His lips brushed against her left ear, as he held her, his smell was intoxicating and she sniffed liking it.

She shook her head like a child, she looked up at him, her doe eyes much wider and teary, it made his heart swell with emotions well known to him, he wanted to hug her and make her feel no pain, hearing her voice even made things worse, he almost touched her face, he stopped himself quickly sighing deeply.

Ida rushed to them, worry written all over her face.

"Oh no,Aria, your knees look bad" She said taking her cousin into her arms.

"Are you fine" She asked Ariana, who shook her head.

" I want to go inside" She mumbled looking at the floor.

"Okay, let's go" Ida supported her cousin as she limped towards the gate.

"Let me help you" He offered, his tall figure towering over them, now watching him closely, she took in his features.

He wasn't the most charming, in fact he was average, with strong jaws, thick brows and a narrow eyes rimmed with thick long lashes, his pouty lips were in a firm line as he opened the gate, his long fingers caught her attention and she found herself staring longer at them, his looks were average, but still managed to intrigue her and she had no idea why, his nose were a bit crooked and she frowned as she thought they were adorable.

They soon arrived at her apartment, she slumped into the couch hissing as pain shot through her knees, maybe she shouldn't have suggested for them to go out in the first place, she wouldn't have gotten herself embarrassed, she wondered if his friends were mocking her at the moment.

"Okay this is really going to hurt.." Ida said as she dipped the piece of wool into a bottle containing spirit, she begun using it on Ariana's knees who hissed in pain.

After some time, her injured knees were treated and she was lying on the couch in the living room trying to sleep.

Efe came in holding a book in her hand, Ariana frowned as she looked at the girl, who sat on the floor facing her, her legs crossed in.

"Where is Ida" Ariana asked.

"She's talking to one of the boys, I don't remember his name" She said opening the book.

"what is that book" She asked again.

"oh!" Efe grinned wriggling her brows at Ariana, the latter frowned, her thin brows knitted in confusion.

"Perry asked me to give this to you" She announced beaming.

"What? who is Perry" Ariana frowned thinking who Perry was, then her eyes widened in realisation, she sat up abruptly forgetting about her knees.

" Oh so you don't know Perry anymore .. huh?"

Efe asked as she giggled.

"Give it to me" Ariana said, stretching her arms to take the book from Efe, the girl handed the book to her still smiling.

"I never knew you talked to him" she said unable to mention his name.

"Oh yeah, he's really nice " Efe answered .

"I thought you hated him" Ariana frowned looking at her friend closely.

"Yes I did, but he's really a nice person, guess we don't judge a book by it's cover" She shrugged.

Ariana turned her attention to the book, she read the title and soon her interest was peaked. It was a novel and how much she loved reading.

As she opened the book a paper fell from it, she took it as she read it. It was scribbled in a not so attractive handwriting. A smile soon found its way on her face as she read it again.

*"I'm sorry about your knees. I know you love reading so I decided to give you this book. you'll love it.*

The letter was simple and plain, yet she felt her heart beat faster, the smile on her face widened, she stared at the letter for a long time , she didn't notice Efe and Ida were in front of her watching her with deep frowns.

" Why are you smiling too much?" Ida asked snatching the paper from her.

Her brows shot up as she read the letter, before a smirk formed on her lips.

"Oh I think I have a task this vacation" Ida's smirk soon widened as she sighed folding her arms over her chest.

"what task?" Ariana and Efe asked at the same time, this even boosted Ida's confidence and determination.

"I'm not telling ,sorry" With that, she left the room to the bedroom, Efe and Ariana frowned at her retreating figure before looking at each other.

Ariana again had a feeling, Ida was going to change something or change her life rather.