Chapter Twenty-Six: Valentine's Day

"Still don't want to tell me what we're doing today?" Kevin's breath tickled my ear as his hands snaked around my waist.

"Kev! We're at school!" I exclaimed, my eyes darting all over the place in search of any sign of the faculty members also known as Westerbridge Wardens.

"So? It's Valentine's Day." He justified and placed a kiss on my cheek. In spite of my resolve, the corners of my mouth stretched into a sly grin and responded to his quest with a quick peck on the lips.

"So... tell me what we're doing today. I'm dying over here." He pestered and started rubbing his hands over my stomach in a rhythmic motion.

"For the last time Mr Lockhart, if I told you, it would no longer be a surprise." I said with an eye roll. He had been pestering me about our plans for the last 24 hours, not getting it through his incredibly thick head that I would not tell him.

"But baby, I hate surprises." He whined; his lips pursed into a cute pout. I twisted my body and gave him another quick peck on the lips, which earned me a heart melting smile from the head boy.

"No, you don't." I dismissed with a chuckle, amused by his petulance.

"Okay I don't," he tried to look ashamed, failing dismally and making me laugh. "But I don't like them when I know there's a surprise waiting for me. The anxiety is suffocating." he exclaimed, every bit the dramatic oke he is. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as I kissed my teeth and untangled myself from him so I could open my locker without the restraints.

"Too bad." I retorted nonchalantly, trying to concentrate on my faulty locker dial.

"Azaaania!" his voice was like that of a child, far from his 19-year-old maturity. I didn't budge.

"Fine, if you won't tell me then I won't share my Nutella brownies with you."

I shrugged, "Cool." He gasped dramatically and leaned in to whisper in my ear,

"You're turning down Nutella brownies?" the disbelief in his tone was comical. I love Nutella brownies sure, but at the end of the day, it is just sugar. And I could live without sugar.

"I need to ease off the calories anyway." I lied through my teeth. In actuality, I would love some brownies. I never got to eat the ones he brought me for my birthday. He did not know that though, and I couldn't tell him without explaining why.

"Coming from the girl who had a double cheeseburger during lunch." He snorted and I just smiled sweetly at him before shutting my locker door and falling in step with him. He swung an arm over my shoulder and pulled me closer. Things had dramatically changed for the better between us since my meltdown in the rain. He has been more caring and attentive, even though I hadn't told him what happened. Our relationship felt new again, giving me a chance to fall in love with him all over again.

We walked past the masses of red balloons and roses, through the string of people clad in red and white garments and stopped at the top of the staircase that led to the ground floor, to talk to a few of Kevin's 'friends'. The agitation was clear on my boyfriend's face, but he smiled at his weird group of cult-like followers' nonetheless, because that is just who he is. These people were only short steps from worshipping the ground he walked on, hanging on to his every word like a bunch of bees around a honeycomb. I averted my attention around us, observing the lovesick teenagers in their pairs. The school's sperm dish Bianca, had her tongue shoved down a massive, bulging boy who has taken too many steroids but somehow still sucked at rugby. My nose scrunched in disgust and I dragged my gaze away from the Herpes infection waiting to happen and zoned in on the conversation my boyfriend was still having with his stupid band of geeks.

"-Aw that is so cool man. You live the life of a boss!" a guy with a face that looked like it was the inspiration for Ferrero Roche chocolates announced. Kevin flinched a little when pimple face smacked his shoulder, and I finally decided that my boyfriend had suffered enough.

"Baby, can we get out of here already? I need to get my hair done before our date tonight." I meant to sound playful, but instead, the irritation was unmasked in my voice. Pimple face turned to look at me, as if he'd just noticed my presence.

"Oh, Princess Azania ..." He trailed off, looking at me from head to toe. It was not his wandering eye that was annoying me, it was how he addressed me. A little evil bitch used to tease me about my name, after she heard my mom calling me a beautiful Nubian princess when she dropped me off at school that day. The little big nosed twit would call me "Princess Azania" to taunt me, and all the snot nosed stupid kids in our class would join her. Fucking sheep. Is pimple face mocking me?

"What did you just call me?" he hadn't expected me to answer him, much less in that tone, I could see it on his face. He hid his feelings as well as he hid his pimples. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously. "Uhm ... I, uh, called you Princess Azania." His voice was feeble, every bit of pathetic.

"Why?" Kevin slipped his right hand into the right-hand pocket of my blazer, subtly pulling me into his side. He knew.

"Uh, because ... you know, you're the most popular girl in school. You're dating our head prefect, and uhm, you know... you're ..." He was calling me Princess Azania for the same reason that fish-faced little bitch did, to remind me. I wasn't amused.

"First of all, I'm not your fucking friend. The next time you think of calling me some stupid shit, think again and then bite your tongue. I don't need you rednecks reminding me every day that I'm black. Trust me, it's not something I want to forget. Call me that shit again, and you'll get a royal ass whooping." His eyes widened as he took one step back, his friends standing behind him, gaping at me. Kevin chuckled next to me, masking it with a cough. He has to stay neutral. The group left without a word, all of them refusing to meet my eyes. My heart sank.

"And that is why Bianca needs to eat my shit." This was all her fault, my eyes quickly flashed to where she was standing with her meathead, my hatred for her accumulating. Kevin laughed, shaking me slightly, making me laugh too. I felt my muscles relax.

"You are so feisty. I thought you were going to bite the poor guy's head off." He ran his hand through his hair, messing it up.

"It's his fault. How dare he call me that?" my hands fold into fists. Kevin shushed me and held my head against his chest. "Words are wind baby; people will always say some dumb shit. It's how you choose to react to them that matters."

"Well I choose to beat their ass."

"You're the queen of my heart, Azania Wyatt." he pressed his lips feverishly against mine before I could say anything, melting my resolve yet again. I tangled my fingers in his silky hair and deepened the kiss. I was about to slip my tongue in his mouth when we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. We both let out a groan, thinking the Ferrero Roche club had come back for the royal ass whooping I had promised.

"If you two don't mind, we have rules in this institution that I would expect our head prefect to follow and implement." His voice penetrated through our make out fogginess and sent Kevin flying away from me faster the speed of light. It was quite a funny sight watching him try to hastily fix his messy hair so that he could at least look half decent in front of the impeccably dressed principal. I, however, couldn't give a rat's ass and made sure that my death glare delivered my message across. The Jackass fixed his stare at me with those crystal blue eyes of his, an eyebrow cocked. Kevin broke the trance by apologising for his 'unacceptable' behaviour.

"You are the head prefect of this school Mr Lockhart. You are expected to lead by example and gyrating at the top of the staircase is not the kind of example that you need to set." Jackass bellowed; authority and domination dripping from his voice. I rolled my eyes and cocked a hip.

"It's Valentine's Day Sir, and school is out and there aren't a lot of people around. Plus, this is a high school, everybody knows the difference between right and wrong and don't constantly need a warden to set them straight." I challenged with my arms crossed. Kevin groaned softly from beside me, basically telling me to shut up before I landed both of us in more trouble than we were in.

"I don't recall ever addressing my concerns to you, Miss Wyatt. You do not have the head leader title in this conversation so I suggest you keep quiet and not involve yourself in matters that are above you." he said sternly and coldly, leaving me speechless for probably the first time in my life. Old man Denner would never do that to me, and he tried a lot, and I ALWAYS had a comeback. But there I was, completely dumbfounded. Satisfied with my lack of response, he turned his attention back to Kevin, who looked ready to shit a brick. Suddenly, his appeal was fading, leaving me with a somewhat not attractive gent.

"I trust that this won't happen again, Mr Lockhart?" he asked, only it didn't sound like a question, more like a command.

"Yes sir, it will never happen again." My boyfriend shamefully echoed. With a nod and a glance in my direction, he walked away, passing between us. I did not miss the "In my office, now!" command he bellowed in my direction before waltzing away looking like a Mafia boss, although I wish I did.