Ninety two

"I don't want to go to class, Uche." I held him back when we got to the door of the classroom."You got the video deleted and you found a way to stop them from talking about me in the group chat, but they've got lips you know. You can't seal that." My anxiety was getting the better of me.

"Just ignore them," I heard him say like it was so easy. 

"I...I can do that," I muttered to myself as I remembered that I could. I used to have classmates and neighbors say the most horrible shit about my mum and her addiction, and I survived it.

I freed my hands from his and kissed him on the cheeks before walking in. He followed behind and all eyes turned to us. When we entered.

Everyone just paused what they were doing and stared at us till Uche went to his seat and I went to mine, then their looks became divided.

"Is it true?" Someone asked from behind me but I pretended not to hear so he called my name."Julie," he called and I rolled my eyes and turned. I didn't even know he knew my name all this while he had been sitting behind me in class.

"What?" I asked.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?" I acted dumb about it.

"The video from yesterday. On the school blog? The live?" 

"Leave me alone," I turned back front.

"I liked you, you know..." I heard him trail in a moody voice."Julie?" He called me again and I turned, my eyes tired.

"If what the video said wasn't true...I like you, and I wanna take you on a date. I never told you because...I was scared...I was scared you'd say no and...we've never talked before."

"And you know why we've never talked?"

"Because I'm a nerd and girls don't like nerds?"

"No. Because you're always quiet, and I love, love, love, quiet people. So please, keep being that?" I found a way to dismiss him without being as rude as I wanted to be.

The teacher entered the class and everyone sat up. I looked over at Uche and caught him staring at me. He smiled when I looked at him but I didn't smile back. I don't know why, I just worried I might make things worse if I smiled at him back.

I looked over there again and saw that his smile had faded. I felt shitty. Maybe it was my period making me mad at everything. It came Monday morning when I woke up.

Probably the reason I wanted to be fucked so bad I got mad at Uche. And my aunt. And every other person that attempted to talk to me that Sunday night.

***

It was break time. The teacher dismissed us and left. Some people left the class while some stayed. Casey left to secretly walk behind Nick when she saw him leaving the class.

I looked in Uche's direction. Some boys were talking with him but they weren't the ones I always saw him and Nick with.

I sat and let my eyes wander through the class. I didn't go to the cafeteria because I felt like eating would make my cramp worse so I just sat in class, bored as fuck.

"You really dating Uche?" I looked up and met April's glossed-up lips. They weren't smiling. But they weren't frowning either.

"Why ask if you already know? I'm sure you watched the video?"

"Well, I don't like to believe shit anyone says till I get in front of the source directly," She sat on Casey's desk and crossed her legs, exposing some of her pretty thoughts in the skirt she wore.

"Go ask Uche then?" I took out my phone and swiped through it aimlessly to keep myself busy and not continue the conversation with her.

"I tried. He doesn't reply to my texts like before, and he avoids me when we're at school. His friends made fun of me when I tried to talk to him and he made up the most non-existent excuse that made it so obvious he didn't wanna talk to me. Is that your doing?" She leaned in intimidatingly towards me when she asked.

I swallowed without an answer. Of course, it was me! I wanted to tell her, but I didn't have the energy to continue talking to her so I just sat there muted, staring back and blinking once in a while.

"Bitch," She then said. My breathing got louder; am I scared of her?"You've got a pimple on your forehead." She noticed, making me touch immediately to confirm.

Oh, my God, I did have a pimple on my forehead. She got up from Casey's desk and walked out of the class, her friends following behind.

I immediately opened the camera of my phone to use as a mirror and saw the pimple. Great, now she's successfully made me aware of it.

"Hey, you okay?" Uche sat on Casey's seat before asking.

I hissed and placed my hand over my forehead to hide the pimple."I can't believe you didn't tell me." I whined.

"Tell you what?" 

"Don't act like you haven't noticed it all morning," I pouted.

"Noticed what?" He took my hand off my face and he shrugged, "What? I thought you shaved your eyebrows off or something?"

"Seriously?" I placed my hand over my face again."It's a pimple," I whispered and he raised a brow.

"Let me see," he took my hands off and looked closer."Oh," he laughed, "It's so small."

"No, it's not," I argued.

"It really is, I swear I didn't notice it at first."

"But April did," I sighed.

"Yeah...about that...I saw you two talking, it's why I came over here. You good?"

"I'm not. I just wanna go home." I shoved some of my front hair behind but they fell right back.

Uche pulled Casey's chair closer and helped me get them off my face in a more calmer manner than I attempted and then didn't fall back.

"Are you sick?" He asked in his softest voice ever, or else I would have gotten mad at him.

"Do I look sick?" I had to ask.

"No, but..." He paused, making me want to know more.

"But what?"

"I don't know how to say it."

"Just say it."

"You've been a little off. I don't know...probably stressed..." He bit his lips and waited for me to get mad at him, but I refrained.

"Go on," I swallowed, wanting to know how horrible I've been to him lately.

"I don't know if it's because of your aunt the other day, or the party, or Nate's case...whichever it is, I feel horrible, it was my fault one way or the other."

"Not your fault," I folded my arms and moved my seat a bit far from him when I noticed some of our classmates who didn't go for lunch were watching us.

"I convinced you to go to Kim's party and..."

"I'm on my period," I cut him short with a sigh and watched as his eyebrows arched with an expression I couldn't describe.

At first, I thought he was disgusted with knowing I was on my period but I knew I was wrong when he smiled." Explains a lot," he muttered.

"What do you mean 'explains a lot?" I asked, getting offended.

"Your crying at the slightest shit..." He shrugged.

I hissed and picked up my phone from my desk. I stood up to leave the class and he followed."Where are we going?"

"I'm hungry. Going to the canteen." I let him know.

"Okay. You mad at me though?" He hastened his footsteps to catch up with me."April says something to you?"

"No." I sighed.

"Slow down then," He stopped me by standing in front of me.

"I'm hungry," I pressed.

"I'll get you food then. I'll get us food," He corrected after."Let's eat in the assembly hall," he suggested.

"And get caught, yeah thanks. I don't plan on visiting the principal's office again."

"We won't get caught, I promise. I'll be back in a minute..."