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"OK, I'll forgive you for that, but why didn't you say anything when I told you about it today?" My brow furrowed in his direction.

"When you first met me, you were busy talking about hitting me on the nuts. No, I don't think so "He chuckled nervously, as if he truly believed I would follow through on my words. I was obviously joking because I didn't have the confidence to do something like that.

"I'm not going to do that anymore," I declared.

"Why? Because you discovered that your future fiancée is me?" I guess his annoying confidence was back, Frederick said with a grin.

"No, now that I know it's you, I've changed my mind about putting you in a body bag," I replied sarcastically. He inhaled deeply.

"Are you serious?" His nervous voice inquired.

"Maybe I am, maybe I am not, the point is that you never know," I shrugged, smirking.

It was amusing how I was pissed at him seconds before and now we were joking around like little kids. For God's sake, what is this boy doing to me?

"Is that why you've been pleading with me to be your friend?" After a few minutes of silence, I spoke up.

"Desperately? Amanda, you have wounded my man pride "He cracked a joke. I gave him a look that made him sigh.

"This was not the reason, Amanda."

"So, what is it?" I tried again to persuade him to tell me why, because someone can't just wake up one day and decide they want to be friends with me after ignoring my existence for three years. I'm just not getting it.

"Like I said, it's not the right time for me to tell you right now, but when it is, I will." I sighed as I saw the pleading look in his eyes.

"Okay, fine. But you do realize you're annoying, don't you?" I made a joke.

He winked, "Only for you." My heart strangely skipped a beat. Strange, I believe I took my prescribed pills today.

"Yes Sure," I replied with a chuckle.

................................................

After we resolved our minor disagreement, our food was brought in for us, and I've been staring at it for the past five minutes.

"Are you not going to eat?" Frederick inquired.

"No, I'm fine," I said with a tight smile. I was practically starving at the time, but I knew I couldn't eat it. God help me, I was such a liar.

He raised an inquisitive brow. "Is the food not to your liking?" he asked. The food was delicious; it was roasted chicken breast and jollof rice with a side of salad.

I gave him another fake smile and said, "No, it's not, I'm just not hungry." Liar. Liar. Liar. Oh my goodness, I was such a liar.

He squinted at me before returning his attention to his food. I thought I'd convinced him with what I said until he spoke.

"Don't lie to me, Amanda; I recognize an eating disorder when I see one." I froze as my brain registered what he said. How did he come to know about my eating disorder?

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I gulped. I gasped when Frederick raised his head, he appeared enraged. The fire in his eyes was unlike any other.

"Don't bullshit me Amanda, do I look dumb to you?" he clenched his jaw.

"So you're going to tell me that when they brought the food, you didn't start estimating how many calories and grams each of them contains?" he continued. I gulped once more. How and why does he know all of this?

He was mostly correct; I did exactly what he assumed I did. Who was this boy that he knew so many things about me?

"Frederick..." I started, but he cut me off.

"The roasted chicken; 165 calories, 31 grams of protein, and 3.6 grams of total fat" He recited it as if it were a daily mantra.

I started over. "How do you..." but was cut off again. I felt suffocated, as if the restaurant's walls were closing in on me.

"The jollof rice has 284 calories and 11 grams of total fat."

I choked out "Frederick, that's enough..." wanting to try again.

"Oh, and don't forget the salad; 100 calories or so, total fat 20 grams. That should be about right, shabi Amanda?" In a mocking tone, he said. I glared at him, but he, too, appeared irritated.

Finally, I choked out, "How do you know all this?" I asked.

"Is it really important right now? Amanda, you must stop torturing yourself."

"Frederick, what do you know? You have no knowledge. You are completely ignorant!" I screamed at him. My eyes welled up with tears.

"Amanda, I've seen enough! I know you're slowly killing yourself!" He yelled back, but much louder.

"You think I don't know that," I muttered softly, tears streaming down my cheeks. When he noticed I was crying, his face softened slightly, and he spoke barely above a whisper.

"So, why? Why are you torturing yourself?"

Fat.

Ugly.

It's a waste of space.

"I don't believe I'm obligated to tell you that 'Fiancé,' " I said with a sad smile. I emphasized the last word as hard as I could, then stood up to leave.

"Frederick, let my hand go," I said as he stopped me from walking.

"No way this time. You always leave me in these situations. You must learn to confront your problems head on "What did he think he was, the Pope? He had no right to lecture me.

"Let me go," I said again.

"I'm sorry, but I'm unable to do so. I've left you alone every time you've run away, but not this time "I didn't turn back to look at him, and my tears had already dried up.

"What are you doing?" Already tired, I muttered. This boy was a real pain in the neck.

Suddenly, he let go of my hand and used his hands to make me turn around to face him, and then he held one side of my cheek tenderly, almost as if I were made of glass.

With a determined glint in his eyes, he then spoke.

"Because I want you to get stronger, Amanda, so you can fight back whenever you need to."

I couldn't stop the flood of emotions that washed over me. Something in me snapped, and tears poured down like waterfalls. Frederick gently removed his hand from my cheek and embraced me. I hugged him back like my life depended on it while still sobbing like a baby, and he didn't seem to mind that I was getting his suit all wet in the process.

What on earth was this boy doing to me?

————————————————————

"WHEN YOU GET TO THIS STAGE, ADD 2 TO THE ANSWER YOU GOT IN STEP 4 TO GET YOUR......" I blocked out what Mr Joe was saying by replaying what had happened the day before.

'Because I want you to get stronger, Amanda, so you can fight back whenever you need to.' I didn't know when a small smile appeared on my face as I remembered Frederick's words.

"What are you grinning about, you creep?" Damilola asked from beside me, which caused me to frown immediaely. I can't believe she had to be the one to sit beside my table out of all the people who could.

Ignoring her entirely I started thinking about yesterday's events again. I was so embarrassed after Frederick and I hugged that I ran out of there faster than Usain Bolt, but not before muttering, 'See you tomorrow.' Mr Ola looked confused about my state when I arrived at the car, but he didn't say anything- bless his soul- and then he drove us home.

I hadn't seen Frederick all day for some unknown reason. He didn't come to the library during lunch break like he usually did, and school was about to end sef. - What? Don't look at me that way, okay, so maybe I was looking forward to seeing him, what's the big deal about that, huh?

"Mr Joe," an all-too-familiar voice called me back to reality. Murmurs engulfed the entire class in seconds.

"How are you, Frederick, my boy?" I knew I was correct; Frederick had apparently just entered the classroom, but why now? He had no reason to come now because school was about to end in a few minutes.

"No problem, sir." He responded with his signature golden boy grin. Did I mention that the teachers at Qatass Academy idolized Frederick? They, too, worshiped the ground he walked on. I could see why students did that, I mean, look at him, the boy was the epitome of beauty. But I couldn't understand why teachers did the same.

"Excellent, excellent, excellent. So, what has brought you here?" Mr Joe smiled brighter than the sun. And believe me, my maths teacher was anything but cheerful; in fact, his cheek muscles barely rose.

When I heard Mr Joe's words, I wanted to yell, 'He is practically a student of this class, why are you asking what brings him here?' However, I decided against it. But seriously, it still amazes me that Frederick was allowed to skip classes if he didn't want to, as if he didn't know what to do with his free time when he wasn't in class.