Episode 4

"Hey sis, I'm leaving" Angie called from the bottom of the stairs as she uses her phone as a mirror, checking her face covered with makeup

"Where the hell are you going to? You just came back from school not too long ago" Jessica inquired.

"To a friend's birthday party. I told you about it" she answered checking the time on her phone. "I'm running late, see you later" she bade her sister farewell.

"Don't stay out too late!" Her sister concluded.

***

Kelvin stood outside the well edified building. Music blaring loudly and setting the mood for the guests. He looked around for his friends, he had earlier called them to check if they were still going together but they were there already. He walked around for a while, spotted Sam and walked up to him. "Happy birthday man!" He shook hands with him.

"Thanks bro I appreciate" Sam replied and left to welcome more of his guest.

"Here you are" Brian said tapping Kevin's shoulder. "I thought you were not coming anymore" He added

"Why? The party just started" Kelvin replied

"You were not your usual self in school today, so I thought you were not feeling too well" Brian said sipping from the drink in his cup

"I guess we've established you're not a caring friend. If you were, you would have come to asked why I was like that"

"Sorry man, but hope you're good? Let me pour you a drink" Brian said, leaving to get an extra cup.

Kelvin continued looking around and thought to himself that he hadn't seen some of the people present before and though they were probably not from the school. He noticed Grace walking passed him, rushing out of the house with tears welled up in her eyes. "Here's your drink" Brian stretched the cup toward him.

"I just saw Grace sad and almost crying. This is your chance! Go after her" He instructed taking the drink from him.

"What will I do?" Brian asked

"Ask her what's wrong? Use this as an opportunity to bond with her" He replied and took a sip from his drink, watching Brian chased after her.

'I thought this was going to be more fun and probably take my mind of things' He thought to himself, not feeling the party as he thought he would. He downed his drink. Watching the guests dance, he saw Angie squeezing her way through the crowd and then settled on one of the sofas in the sitting room. She was wearing a skinny blue jean, a white crop top and a white sneakers. Her hair was hanging down on her shoulders. "Wow that's a new look" He thought to himself, walking passed the crowd to meet her.

"Hey bookgirl! You look good" He complimented, dragging a chair close to sit in front of her.

"I don't remember inviting you to sit down with me" She said with a disdain look on her face.

"Well it's a free party and besides you look sad in this happy environment"

"That's not any concern of yours" She came on rather harshly

"You know, one day I'll get to know the face behind the mask" He concluded, got up, flashed her a smile and left.

"He got some nerve" She thought to herself

***

"Hey Grace! Wait up" Brian called after her. She wiped the tears from her eyes before turning to face whilst forcing a smile

"Yeah. what's up?" She asked.

"I saw you almost crying and leaving hurriedly, so I came to. Check on you" he replied with a concern look on his face.

"Crying?! I wasn't crying, just needed to get some fresh air" she said, trying to hide her sadness but her quaky voice was giving her away.

"There's no one here Gracie. You can tell me" he said as he drew close to hold her hands. She thought of withdrawing from his grip but she didn't have the strength, instead she just gave in.

"He cheated on me, lied to me. He's seeing someone else" she explained amidst sadness and tears which was now flowing freely from her eyes.

"Who? Sam?" He asked as tried comforting her.

"Yes" she nodded covering her face with her palms.

"He doesn't deserve and you definitely deserve better" he pointed out, patting her back. She looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears

"You really think so?" She asked with a sincere look.

"I don't think so, I know so. You shouldn't cry over him, he's a jerk. You shouldn't let him think you are weak, you should show him that you can do without him and that you are strong." He cheered her up

"Thanks. But, why are you helping me? After all I've been nothing but mean to you" she inquired.

"I don't think it's still a secret that I have a crush on you and no matter how mean you have been to me, I still don't want to see you hurt" he said to her with a sincere look on his face, surprised at how easy it was talking to her at that moment.

"Wow. That's the nicest thing someone have ever said to me, thanks" she replied smiling at him.

"Yeah sure but why didn't you go to your friends instead of running off" he asked

"No. I didn't want them to see me like this, they would have a flip"

"Oh okay. So do you want to go back inside?"

"No, I think I will just go home." She replied

"Okay. Can I escort you home? Just to make sure you get home safe" He offered.

"Well I already called my mom to come pick me up at the bus stop before I ran out"

"Okay then let me escort you to do bus stop"

"That would be nice" she grinned

"Great" He said smiled

***

"Hey Mary" Brian's mom called out, drawing the attention of Kelvin's mom.

"Oh hey" Mrs Williams replied

"How are you doing? And how are your sons?" Brian's mom asked

"We are fine. what about you and the family?"

"Same" She replied, rummaging through her bag. "Here it is. This is the list of things I want" she handed her the list.

"Okay yeah, i think I have all these except the green pepper for now" kelvins mom replied.

"Okay. Just put the others together"

Mrs Williams was about leave to get the items when a thought crossed her mind. "Please I wanted to inquire something..." she started

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Well, I am looking for an extra job and I don't know if you have anyone for me. Anything at all, as long as it pays" she explained

"Is this one no longer moving as before?" Brian's mom asked with a concern look on her face

"It is the same as before. The main thing is that, my son scholarship has been cancelled for some unknown reason and ones he's done with his seniors, I am going to start paying for his tetiary institution and this market alone can't make me save enough" She explained.

"I am so sorry dear. And you're right this alone won't suffice. But unfortunately, right now I don't have anything. But I'll ask some of my friends and if I find anything, I'll let you know"

"Thank you very much. Let me go get the items"

***

Kelvin got up from the bed, looking around in his room as though he didn't recognize where he was. His phone rang when he was about to go the bathroom. "Hello?" He picked up the call, without viewing who it was. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands.

"Hey man, are you just waking up?" Brian asked with a happy tone. You could clearly tell he was happy.

"Yeah. Where were you man, I didn't see you again after you ran after grace. What happened?" Kelvin inquired

"It was amazing man, the little time I spent with her was glorious and I just decided to go home after that." He explained.

"I'm happy for you bro but are you sure she's not planning on playing you, the way she's acting nice to you?" Kelvin asked.

"Nah man, I am pretty sure she's sincere"

"Okay. Just be careful man and don't forget the plan" he reminded him.

"Sure man,I have got to go, later." He ended the call.

***

It was a new monthand it was like any other day for Jessica. Jessica got to work looking exhausted, she got to the nurses room and sank down on one of the chairs. "Hey girl, why are you looking like you just walked all the way here from your house?" Zinzi her co-worker asked as she examined her "Or are you sick?" She continued.

"Nope I'm not. I'm just exhausted from the chores at home, it's actually stressful and weighing on me too" Jessica explained.

"What about the house help?" Zinzi asked.

"She has stopped coming for a while now." She answered, standing up to change into her uniform.

"Why haven't you gotten another one?"

"I haven't seen yet, if you happen to know anyone please I'm interested" she pleaded.

"Okay, I'll help you to look for" zinzi assured.

***

Redhill high was busy with students moving about in groups, pairs or alone. Kelvin and his friends were not exempted. They sat under the shade close to the soccer field, which has become their favorite chilling spot during lunch break. They will sit, examine and talk about anything that comes to mind, especially girls. "Angie has not stopped trying to sink you to the ground man and you said you have a plan but you haven't done anything to sink her too" Jacob stated.

"I'm not going to sink her yet" Kelvin said smiling at Jacob

"Then what are you going to do to her?" Brian asked with a confused look.

"I'm going to make her fall in love with me" Kelvin explained.

"Wait what? First of all, not possible...and secondly how's that going to help with her mean nature?" Brian questioned.

"Yeah I can. Just watch and see. For your second question, love changes everyone" he said having a distant look on his face.

"Well I'll bet with you that you can't" Jacob suggested

"Yeah me too. If you can, we'll both get you a new phone" Brian added.

"Ok, then it's a deal" Kelvin said as he shook hands with them.

"So what about Grace? We are becoming close, what about the information you wanted?"

"Don't worry just focus on becoming closer with her, it's not yet time" Kelvin replied.

***

"You keep smiling whenever you look at your phone lately, is there something you are not telling us about?" Angie asked Grace as they stepped out of the classroom.

"Yeah something new?" Veronica chipped in.

"There's nothing guys or is it bad to smile?" Grace retorted

"No is not but that isn't just a regular smile. Is there a boy?" Angie pressed on not ready to give up yet.

"There's none, can we drop this yet?" Grace protested

"Okay If you say so" Veronica gave in. Angie not ready to let go yet, felt like she has to find out and that there is definitely something behind it.