Episode 9

"When you're done cleaning that, do the kitchen next" Angie instructed, putting her legs up on the table in the sitting room whilst turning on the TV.

"If I didn't know better, I would say you love watching me clean" Kelvin replied dusting the set of furnitures next to the TV.

"Yeah you wish" She snickered, rolling her eyes

"So tell me, what's the relationship between you and Luke?" He asked

"That's none of your concern" She retorted, switching between channels on the Tv

"Come on..at least if we are going to be stuck together, you might at least indulge me" Kelvin pressed on

"Oh no we are not stuck with each other. You here is an invasion of privacy. In fact I think I should be going back to my room" she shot at him, standing up to leave and putting on her flip flops. Kelvin turned around to look at her, switched the napkin from one hand to the other and said to her

"Invasion of privacy? I'm a cleaner in your house in case you haven't noticed or do you think I like being here with you three times a week after normal school time?! No I don't! So you can run to your room, daddy's little girl" He retorted

"You did not just call me that?!" She glared at him furiously

"hum..yeah I did"

She glared at him with a strangling look and stormed off to her room. Staring at her until she was out of sight, Kelvin then smiled at himself 'That went well' he thought to himself and then continued his work just before Jessica walked in.

"Good afternoon Kelvin" She smiled warmly at him.

"Good afternoon. you're back" he replied.

"Yeah, I thought I wouldn't meet you here" she continued

"I'm almost done"

"Okay. It's Angie home?" She dropped her car keys on the refrigerator and slid out of her shoes

"Yeah she's in her room" he replied.

***

Luke saw Angie walking to the direction of the field alongside her friends. He hastened his footsteps till he caught up with her. He greeted her and her friends and pleaded with them to give him some minutes alone with Angie. They complied and Angie stood alone with him "What is it you want to say?" She questioned, crossing her arms.

"Okay. Well you know I resumed very late and exams are around the corner...."

"Yeah, so??" She replied bluntly

"The principal said I need someone to put me through on what has been taught and I couldn't think of anyone else but you. You're one of the brightest in class. So please will you tutor me?" He pleaded.

"No. Why will I do that?" She cocked her brows "And besides I have enough on my plate already" She continued.

"Well for one, you and I have history and two, it's the least you could do after what you put me through" He pointed out.

"Oh so, you're saying I owe you. I wasn't the one who pushed you to start selling drugs in the first place so you did that to yourself" She protested.

"Okay, you are right but all I'm saying is I need help and you are the only one I can turn to now...so please, just till exams" He said, practically begging.

"Alright I'll think about it" She said, feeling a bit guilty.

"Thanks, I knew I could count on you" He smiled excitedly.

***

"So you're saying if you had a chance you'll wanna be both a computer engineer and a biochemist?" Valerie asked with a curious look.

"Yeah, always loved those two courses" Kelvin replied. The pair sat in the classroom discussing since the bell for lunch break rang. Being the only two in the classroom, they talked freely and loudly.

"What kind of a combination is that?!" Valerie laughed

"Well laugh now, it might just happen. What about you?" He asked.

"Well if I had the chance I would be both a doctor and a poet" she answered, smiling broadly.

"And you call mine a terrible combination. What will you be doing? Read poems to your patients while disecting them" he asked her, laughing.

"Exactly! That's the idea" she replied joining in the laughter.

Brian and Jacob walked into the class and found them laughing hard at whatever they found funny. "Hi Valerie. You didn't come down for launch break Kev" Brian interrupted, announcing their presence.

"Well I was about to when we got into an interesting topic" Kelvin replied smiling.

"That's good. Can we go now?" Jacob asked

"Sorry to drag him away from you" Brian said to Valerie who had been listening silently at their conversation.

"Oh sure no problem" she replied

"See you later" Kelvin said to her before leaving with the boys.

They walked down the stairs chatting and having an argument about how Kelvin is becoming very close with Valerie when they bumped into Luke. "Hey man" Kelvin greeted.

"Hey, how's it going?" Luke replied.

"Well I'm good. you are not easy to find recently, especially after classes. You don't even bother to link up with your friend anymore or even call or visit" Kelvin stated

"I'm sorry bro, I have just been very occupied at home and in school, trying to catch up on things but I promise I'll call when I've settled a little" Luke explained

"Alright, if you say so" Kelvin shrugged before they continued on their paths.

"Wait, you're friends with Luke?" Brian asked with a puzzled look.

"Yeah, he's an old friend" Kelvin replied

"Then is he okay with you going after Angie?" Jacob inquired

"Why does his opinion matter?"

"Okay let's see, I don't know...maybe because he is her EX" Brian said sarcastically

"What do you mean her ex?" Kelvin asked confused.

"Like they dated but just broke up during the last holiday or so we heard. Didn't you know? I thought he was your friend" Jacob asked.

"I knew he was dating some girl in school but he never said her name was Angie, he called her Zara, said he loved the name" Kelvin explained.

"Well that's Angie middle name my friend" Brian clarified

"You have got to be kidding me and you guys didn't bother to mention this before" Kelvin complained

"Well we didn't think it was important" Brian added. "Sorry bro" He shrugged

***

Luke approached Sam in the restroom giving a friendly smile. "Hey Sam, how is it going?" He asked

"Quite good man and you?" Sam asked, washing his hands

"Same. So, you know I'm back and I know the term is running out and I have missed a lot but it was all for a reason...." Luke started "I was thinking if I could get my old spot back in the team" He inquired.

"I'm sorry man but someone is already occupying that position and he's quite good too" Sam explained, drying his hands and then began tucking in his uniform.

"Who exactly is filling my spot?"

"Kelvin, the new guy in your class" Sam replied

"Are you serious? Kelvin?! come on man you know I'm better than him. Just help me talk to the coach" Luke pressed on

"I'm sorry man, I can't, Kelvin is quite good and we can't just remove him from the team. We thought you weren't coming back and no one heard from you but if you think you still have a chance, you should talk to coach yourself" Sam concluded, walking past him, leaving him there.

***

"What did he want?" Veronica asked her friend as they proceeded to field.

"Who?" Angie asked

"Luke of course!" Veronica replied

"Well, he was asking if I could take him extra lessons, so he could catch up before exams" Angie explained.

"Tell me you told him no" Grace chipped in

"I told him I will think about it" Angie shrugged.

"What do you mean 'Think about it'? How are you going to do it? where are you going to do it, not at your house certainly because of Kelvin and not at his house obviously, because of his parents" Grace pointed out, looking worked up.

"Wait, I thought you can go to his house? What happened with his parents?" Veronica questioned, feeling left out.

"Well, yeah, tell her Angie" Said Grace.

Angie explained everything that happened between Luke and her that resulted to them splitting up. With surprise on her face, Veronica felt guilty about what happened. "I'm sorry for introducing you to that lifestyle of drugs. I caused it. It's a good thing you have stopped though" She said with a sincere tone

"Yeah, it is a good thing" Angie nodded in agreement.

***

"Hey how are you doing?" Brian asked, smiling as the boys came across the girls at the football pitch.

"Because you're friends with one of us doesn't give you the right to talk whenever we are all around" Angie quarrelled, glaring at them

"Whoa calm down book girl, don't come between two love birds" Kevin shot back.

"And who's talking to you? When you're done with school today, make sure to go clean my house" Angie retorted, rolling her eyes at him. The girls burst out laughing at Angie's come back.

"Whoa man she got you there" Jacob whispered to Kelvin and they left without saying another word.

"I don't understand man, she's burning you always and fate seems to be on her side with you cleaning her house and we don't see you doing anything about it" Brian complained, looking back and exchanging glances with Grace.

"Yeah man, I think she did it once again, she proved superior" Jacob added.

"Don't worry boys, the game just began" Kelvin said smiling.

***

The exams where getting closer and Angie seems to think that her decision of helping Luke seems to be a bad idea. Her parents recently called and her dad was getting ready to come visit them since it was his turn to visit and the news had began messing with her mind.

It was an evening on Friday and she just got home from school, no sooner had she finished eating when Luke came knocking. Knowing it was him, she sighed, going downstairs to get the door for him. They exchanged brief pleasantries and Angie lead him to the sitting room.

He brought out his textbooks, looking around whilst dropping them on the table. "Where's your sis?" He inquired

"She's not yet back" Angie replied, sorting the textbooks.

"So how was your day at school today?" He asked again trying to make small talks.

"You were there, weren't you?" She quipped, rolling her eyes

"Just trying to make small talks that's all" He muttered.

"Well don't. Let's just focus on the studying so you don't go home late" she concluded.

Luke fell into silence for a while, just staring at her flipping through the pages of the textbooks. "Do you hate me?" He questioned, breaking the silence.

"What!" She said, taken aback by the sudden question.

"Do you hate me?" He asked again.

"No, I don't, what makes you say that?" She answered feeling uncomfortable.

"Well for one, the way you've been treating me since I got back" He explained.

"Well I don't. So what actually happened? What made you disappear on us all?" She asked hoping to change the topic.

"Well, after you left, my dad called my uncle who is a soldier living at cape Town and told him what happened and my uncle told him to let me spend some time with him and so my dad sent me to cape Town...He is a widower with two little kids. So you can guess what my holiday was like. He took me to the holiday school at their barracks and apparently the lesson or should I say discipline lasted more than expected. I didn't have my phone, which was suppose to be part of the lesson. So that's it" He explained

Angie sta speechless, thinking about what he must have gone through. "I'm sorry. I know it's my fault" She stated.

"It's by the way" He said smiling

"Okay then, straight to it" She opened the page to the topic they were gonna be treating.

"Wait, you do know we technically didn't break up" Luke pointed out with a mischievous smile.

"We are not together either" Angie quipped and shifting her attention back to the book. "Let's just get on with the lecture"

***

Angie sat under the shed in the school parking spot, crying her eyes out, tears streaming down her cheeks and wetting her uniform collar. She buried her face in her palms, trying to hide her state with no luck as she was also sobbing loudly. She felt a warmth hand on hers, slowly pulling her hands off her face.

She looked up at who it was and saw Kelvin, kneeling in front of her, giving her a concerned look. She protested, trying to push him away "Leave me alone!" She shouted but Kelvin held her tightly and drew her into a strong embraced her. He stared directly into her eyes, kissed her passionately on her lips and whispered in her ear.

"I'm sorry" while wiping her tears with the back of his palm. She broke down with another stream of tears, she hugged him and held him tightly as though he was gonna disappear when she suddenly heard her sister's voice calling her name.

"Z, wake up!" Jessica kept calling.

Angie opened her eyes and saw her sister standing beside her bed. "It was a dream" she thought to herself immediately feeling uneasy and agitated.

"You were muttering something in your sleep" Jessica said, parting the curtains and introducing light to the room.

"Thank God you woke me up, I had a weired dream" Angie pointed out, uttering a sigh of relief.

"Well your friend is downstairs" Jessica announced, turning to face her

"Who?" Angie inquired, cocking her brows

"Kelvin. That's his name right?"

"Yeah it is but why are you telling me? I don't want to see him." She said feeling agitated and nervous all of a sudden again. 'Why I'm i feeling nervous and worked up because of him' She thought to herself.

"I just thought you should know that's all." Her sister concluded and left the room.

Angie got up, went to the bathroom, washed her face, brushed her teeth and tie her hair up into a ponytail. She got downstairs, her heart pounding faster than usual. The dream had scrambled with her head and it made her angry. She got to the sitting room and saw Kelvin coming from the kitchen and her heart skipped a beat. "Hey, morning Miss Angela" He said to her, flashing her a smile.

"Are you kidding me? Miss Angela? You are done with 'book girl'?" Angie asked trying to seem her usual confident self.

"Well if that's the one you prefer then of course" He shrugged. "You look gorgeous this morning though" He added

"And you look a bit lighter today" Angie shot back.

"Well this is my morning face" Kelvin replied and proceeded to the dinning to clean. "I'll be doing your room next" He said with a mischievous smile.

"That's invasion of privacy. We should have gotten a female cleaner."

"Well at least you haven't insulted me since I came, that's good. That's progress" He nodded at her. She rolled her eyes and left him, going back up to her room.

***

Angie was singing along with the music playing on her laptop when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in" she called out.

"Hey darling I'm home!" Kelvin shouted, poking his head through the door. He laughed at his joke, stepping into the room fully "I'm kidding" He said to her. She comported herself, finding it hard to be her usual self as before.

"Nice bedroom" He said, scanning the room.

"You have seen it before" she stated

"I know, but I have to compliment it everytime" he explained, moving to the bathroom.

"Suit yourself" she said, now focusing on her laptop again

"At least you respect your hygienes" Kelvin shouted from the bathroom. She smiled appreciating the compliment. He finished cleaning the bathroom and then came out to clean the room. He started with the windows and Angie kept stealing glances at him with the dream playing over and over again in her head. The part where he kissed her was becoming the main focus in her head and she quickly waved it off, feeling a bit irritated with herself. She tried staying focused on what she was doing until he was done and left.