Episode 21

Brian got close to the school gate. He checked his watch and to his relief, he wasn't late. He was about to get into the school compound when he heard his name being called. He turned to the direction and saw three guys beckoning at him to come over. Their faces were unfamiliar. He walked up to them wondering who they were, what they wanted and how they knew his name. He crossed the street and got to where they were standing. "Morning" He greeted them.

"Trust me, the morning isn't that good" Bhalla replied.

Confused at the response he got, Brian asked. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you should stay away from Grace" Bhalla stated.

"Excuse me?!"

"Just listen to advise boy" One of the other guys said.

"We only advice once" The other stated.

"I don't know who you guys are or what your interest in Grace is, but I'm not staying away from anybody" Brian said with his best poker face. Although his heart was pounding. He knew whoever they were, they were probably dangerous.

Bhalla moved closer to him and hit Brian's chest with his palm, pushing Brian back a little. "Look boy, you don't know who you're messing with so I'll just overlook your ignorance. Don't let me come for the same reason next time" He stated, patting Brian's face.

"Is anything the matter?" Kelvin said coming behind Brian with Jacob beside him.

"None of your concern" Bhalla said to him.

"It is my concern when it concerns my friend" Kelvin said in defiance, standing in front of bhalla.

"You should mind your business man" The other guy pointed out.

"And you should leave my guys alone" Kelvin replied. Bhalla smiled at Kelvin, staring at him for a while before walking away with his boys.

The boys walked back to school, staring at Bhalla and the others until they were out of sight. "What was that all about?" Kelvin questioned, staring at Brian intently.

"I don't know. They just called me and warned me to stay away from Grace" He explained

"What? Do you think one of them is interested in her?" Jacob asked

"I don't know, but Grace might, so I'll ask her"

"Yeah you should....but meanwhile there's another problem" Kelvin started as they got into the school compound.

"What is that?" Jacob asked

"Okay....I kissed Angie, but before then, she kissed Kyle thinking he was me and Kyle kissed her back then she told me she loves me and that's when I kissed her not knowing why I did it but Kyle is in love with her and said he won't back down and I think I might be in love with her too" Kelvin blurted out. Jacob and Brian stopped and turned to look at kelvin, staring at him with a confused look, not understanding what he just said but getting the keypoints.

"What!!" They chorused together

"Yeah I know it's confusing" Kelvin said

"I told you before and you waved it off. Kyle was bound to fall in love with her and now you do too" Brian said hitting Kelvin's shoulder.

"So what are you going to do?" Jacob inquired.

"I don't know" He replied.

"You have Valerie. Why don't you just leave Angie for Kyle" Brian suggested

"Yeah, moreover you love Valerie more right?" Jacob asked

"Erm...maybe...I don't know but maybe you're right. I'll leave Angie for him since I do have Valerie. I don't wanna fight with my brother because of a girl" Kelvin explained.

"Yeah that's nice but how are you going to make her believe she's in love with Kyle and not you? Or better still, how are you going to break the truth to her without her hating you both?" Brian asked

"True. But I think I'll just tell her that Kyle has been the one coming to clean up her place, that I haven't step foot there before. Hopefully that'll work" Kelvin explained.

"I think it will" Brian said. They walked a little further to the direction of the class when Brian spotted Grace. "There she is, I'll catch up with you guys later, I should go ask her" He announced, rushing off after her.

"Hey grace, wait up!" He called after her. Grace stopped on seeing him.

"Morning" She greeted him with a smile.

"Morning, how are you doing?" Brian asked

"I'm good and you?"

"I'm okay." He replied. "I think you have an admirer" He continued.

"What do you mean?" She asked, puzzled.

"I was stopped by some guys on my way to school not too long ago and they told me to stay away from you" He explained.

"What? Do you recognize any of them?" She asked

"Nope. I was hoping you might and you can tell me who they are" He stated.

"I'm not sure, nobody else has confessed feelings to me except you and...." She paused, realizing what she almost said.

"Me and??" Brian inquired, staring at her curiously.

"You and that's all" Grace concluded

"Okay" Brian replied, not totally convinced by what she said

"So what are you going to do? Are you...going to...listen to them?" Grace asked hoping he wouldn't be scared into staying away from her.

"You mean, stay away from you?" Brian asked smiling.

"Yeah"

"You know I can't. I can't just stay away from someone I love just because someone said so" Brian said smiling and holding her hands. She uttered a sigh of relief, smiling back.

***

Grace stormed into the class, looking for Sam. She found him sitting on the desk and discussing. Classes had not started yet for the day and students were still moving about. She went to him and dragged him out to the empty lab room. "Hey careful, don't separate my arm from my body" Sam complained. "What's the problem?" He asked

"Brian was threatened to stay away from me" Grace blurted out, staring at him intently.

"And what has that got to do with me?" Sam asked

"Please tell me you don't have anything to do with that" She said

"I'm surprise that you think so low of me. Why would I do such a thing" He said, withdrawing his hands from her grip. "You think I'm a tout who goes around threatening people?" He quarrelled.

Grace sighed, calming down a little. "Look, I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure" She said, reaching for his hands again.

"Cool but why are you holding my hand? Your precious Brian might see us" He pointed out, wriggling his hand from hers again and walking off back to class and leaving her there as she felt guilt about her actions.

***

Kelvin stood in front of the classroom building observing students moving about when someone came up behind him and covered his eyes. His heart skipped not knowing if it was Angie or Valerie. He decided it was better not to guess. He forced the hand away from his eyes and turned to see who it was. "Good morning" Valerie greeted smiling.

His countenance fell on seeing her. "Morning" He replied, unenthusiastically, turning to walk away.

"Hey! what's the problem? Are you not happy to see me?" She asked with a sad look.

"Have you forgotten what you did yesterday? I'm still angry" He replied.

"Yesterday?!" She blocked his path to stop him from moving. "I thought you said you weren't angry anymore when I came to your house"

"What?" Kelvin asked, frozen by her statement. "M...my..house?" He stuttered.

"Yeah, you told me you were not angry anymore and you didn't hesitate to kiss me" She explained.

"ki...kis..kissed" His eyes widened more.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Valerie asked

"Ye..yeah I'm fine. Let me get this straight. You came to my house yesterday, you talked with me and we kissed?" He inquired.

"Yeah. Are you sure you are really okay?" She asked again and just then the bell for first period rang. Kelvin moved past her hurriedly to class without uttering another word to her. She stood there confused as to what just happened.

Kelvin entered the class and immediately, his eyes met with Angie's. She smiled at him warmly. He headed for his seat, sat down and his mind went back to what Valerie just told him. 'Kyle, kissed Angie and now Valerie. Definitely knows what he's doing. Maybe it was a bad idea to not oppose him concerning Angie. If that's how he wants to do it, let's do it' He thought to himself.

The rest of the classes went by quickly for Kelvin. He wasn't paying attention to the lectures and he tried avoiding Angie's and Valerie's eyes that have been boring holes in his body.

***

It was launch break. Kelvin rushed out of the class not wanting to talk with anyone. He was on his way to the cafeteria when Sam, Luke and victor stopped him. "Hey bro, what's up?" Sam asked

"I'm good" Kelvin replied, wondering why the ambush.

"Erm...you see bro, you're a good soccer player with lots of talents and all, but the team wants Luke back so we are giving him the spot back" Sam explained.

Kelvin was taken aback. "Spot? There is no spot because I am already there and you can't just kick me out unless the coach agrees"

"Don't worry, Mr nyangodo knows what the soccer team needs and he has already agreed to it" Luke said smiling.

"It's nothing personal man" Sam said as they walked away. Kelvin stood still, processing what just happened. He had just been kicked out of the soccer team. The day was going hard on him, he thought.

***

Veronica walked over to Victor and sat down next to him."I miss seeing you" Victor said to her, holding her hand.

"But you see me everyday" Veronica said, smiling.

"I mean, seeing you at home not just in school" He pointed out.

"You know it's week days. I'm not allowed to leave the house. My dad is over protective" She explained

"Well I'm not surprise, if he wants to protect someone as beautiful as you" Victor flashed her a smile.

"Stop trying to make me blush" She smiled.

"Okay then, how about weekend? will I see you then?"

"I will try" She replied.

Angie who just came into the class in search of Veronica, saw them sitting at the back of the class. She walked up to her, eyed victor and then siad to Veronica. "We have been waiting for you girl"

"Yeah, I'm so sorry. I almost forgot" Veronica said smiling and standing up to go with her.

"Hi Angie. It seems like you have been avoiding me since we resumed" Victor said

"Yeah, and for good reason. I still don't know what exactly happened at the party, but I'll find out soon" She said, grabbing her friend's hand and dragging her out of the class with her.

"What's that about?" Veronica asked as they came out of the class.

"Don't worry, it's nothing...and what are you doing with him anyway? I thought we agreed he was bad news" Angie replied.

"He was asking me out even though I keep on refusing" Veronica lied.

"He better stay away"

***

Kelvin sat by the side of the soccer field watching them practice. He knew taking him off the team was Luke's idea and it was done out of spite. 'Finding out Kyle kissed my girlfriend and now getting kicked off the team, could this day get any worse' He thought.

He kept getting mocking smiles from Luke and his circle. At least now he knew who was not on his side. He needed to sort out things before they got more messy than they already are. He knew if things continued like this, it'll definitely blow up soon and it'll be catastrophic.

***

Lunch break was almost over. Angie, grace and Veronica sat at the cafeteria discussing with what little time they have left. Done with their lunch but still remained at the table to relax some more. "Are you considering dating him now?" Angie asked Veronica.

"Dating who?" Grace asked with a curious look.

"Victor. I saw the way you were laughing warmly with him" Angie explained

"Whoa what? are you?" Grace asked

"I don't know, maybe, I mean he's not that bad when you get to know him" Veronica replied.

"What? We all know Victor. He isn't good either" Grace stated.

"I don't think it's a good idea dating him" Angie said with a stern look.

"And why would you say so?" Veronica asked

"I don't think he's good for you. I don't think he's a bad guy, I'm sure of it" Angie replied.

"Whoa, I don't think that's any of your business if I do decide to date him" Veronica said her mood visibly changing. "So it's okay for them to like you and run head over heels for you or for you to date whomever you like but it's not okay for us to do it too?" Veronica asked angrily

"I know it's not my business and you can date whomever you like. I just think you should be careful" Angie pointed out.

"Thanks. But why don't you tell us why you've been smiling since morning instead" Veronica retorted.

"Yeah girl, I noticed, so why, is it luke?" Grace asked

Angie couldn't help but smile. "No, it's not" She replied. "It's Kelvin"

"Oh no" Grace gasped, closing her mouth with her palms

"What happened?" Veronica asked, now intrigued.

"We kissed" She said, her face turning red.

"Oh my God!" Veronica called.

"Are you in love with him?" Grace inquired, unable to hide her excitement.

"Erm...yeah I think so"

"What about him? Do you think he feels the same way?"

"I...I mean..I think so" Angie replied

"But you do know he's dating Valerie right?" Veronica pointed out.

"Yeah I know but I hope it'll change"

"Now this is unbelievable. Enemies falling in love. Now that's a movie type of love" Grace said smiling.

***

They decided to head back to class before the bell sounded when they bumped into Valerie close to the library. "Hey Angie, please have you seen Kelvin?" Valerie asked

"No I haven't" Angie replied

"I think he's at the school soccer field" Brian said as he and Jacob came up behind them, on their way to class too.

"Nice to see you ladies" Jacob said to the girls.

"Okay thanks" Valerie said, feeling uncomfortable in the gathering. She was about to leave when the school gate sprung open and Kyle walked through, coming into the school compound. He stopped, looking around. He had never been to the school before. He was still looking round when his eyes fell on the group standing not too far from him. He recognized them all except Grace.

"Oh shit" Brian muttered.

"Where's Kelvin?" Jacob whispered to Brian.

"I should go get him" Brian said before taking off to the direction of the school field.

The girls stood confused at the sight before them as they all turned their attention to him. "Is that...?" Valerie paused.

"Kelvin?" Angie said, completing her question.

"It can't be. He's wearing Wendywood high school uniform" Veronica pointed out.

"What's happening right now?" Grace asked.

"Jacob what's going on?" Valerie asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Jacob shrugged, hoping Kelvin would arrive soon to explain himself.

Brian got to the school field and found Kelvin still sitting down there. "Hey kev! you better come with me now" He said, gasping for air.

"What is it this time?" Kelvin rolled his eyes.

"Kyle" Brian said. "Kyle happened this time" He added. Kelvin stood up immediately, panicking.

"What did he do?" He questioned

"He's here, he's here standing before Angie, Valerie and the others" Brian explained. Shocked, Kelvin went after them, following Brian's lead.

Kyle stood looking at them without moving an inch since. He saw the confusion in their faces. He took a deep breath and started walking toward them. The more he got closer the more astonished they were and soon he was standing right in front of them. They stared at him as though they were spellbound.

Angie was about to speak up when Kelvin and Brian got to where they were. They all turned to look at him and then glanced back at Kyle. The confusion grew more. It was as though they were waiting for someone to break the silence with each of them not knowing what to say. Kelvin looked at Kyle with anger raging in him. Kyle stared back at him and smiled. "Hello brother" He said breaking the silence.