You are beautiful

"Not bad," I smiled, looking into the mirror as I prepared for school. Everything about me today was the same, from my glassy lip gloss to my waist length french curls except for the beautiful pink hair band that held my braids up in a ponytail.

 Since Tobi had gotten it for me, there was no way I could just throw a gift somewhere and indirectly tell him that I had no regard for it.

My mood had been perfect that morning until I set my eyes on someone I wouldn't even want to see in a dream. She never greeted me in the mornings and would always ignore me like I was a nobody.

Once we were both ready, we got into the back seat of the car and the driver took up the steering wheel.

God, sitting in the same car with Sharon every morning was literally the worst 45 minutes of my life every single day.

"Omo this dress is fine o," She would always have something to say no matter how silent the car would be.

I rolled my eyes and plugged in my ear pods. The best way to feel the slightest comfort in times like this was to listen to some jams by SZA.

Soon, we arrived at school and made our separate ways.

"What a relief," I muttered in relief as I walked to my class.

As I was walking down the lobby, I came across the girl whom I hade seen all wet in the restroom. She waved nervously at me and greeted me.

"Good morning," I returned her greeting with a smile and that seemed to be just enough for her.

When I finally got into class, I was shocked by what met my eyes.

"No way," I gasped and placed my hands over my mouth. "There is certainly no way that this is real. Tell me this is a dream."

I glanced at my phone to see that the time was 6:45am and then looked back at our desk where Kiki was already seated in her place. She never came to school early so what suddenly made her change?

Even though I hadn't really read too much meaning into it, I believed that Kiki's changes had to with Tobi's rejection. Was she trying to become perfect because she thought If she did, he would give her a second chance to be with him?

No. There was definitely no way that the Kiki I knew would stoop so low to please a boy.

"What?" She eyed me while trying so hard to refrain herself from laughing.

"Maybe this is not the real Kiki," I shook my head and moved to our seat. Once I had settled down, I used my hands to pinch her cheeks.

"Feels soft," I nodded and proceeded to tug a little at her nose. "Big. Extremely big. It really is Kiki!"

She hissed amidst a light chuckle before her lips went into an upside down smile.

"Wetin dey worry this one?" She asked.

"It's really surprising to see you so early in school. Did an angel visit you in your sleep last night?" I teased her with my silky expressions.

"Abeg shift," She playfully tapped me across the shoulder.

"I hope you changed for a good cause sha," I smiled while pulling at my right ear. Although it may have sounded like a joke or something like that, I really meant those words.

I didn't want my best friend to try and become perfect for anybody. She was just perfect the way she was and I wasn't ready to see her change just to get the attention of a boy.

*.*.*.

~ KIKI'S POV ~

Maybe I was overthinking things or maybe I wasn't. Tobi and Amahle were the class prefect and assistant class prefect respectively. It was normal that they were friends since they were both the overseers of the activities of our class but lately, I had begun to notice how much closer they had become.

Even though I knew Tobi didn't like me, I could not stand that someone I really liked was happy with someone else.

Was Amahle truly that "someone else" he had spoken about at the party? If not, who was it?

But then, everything so far had pointed back at her. She liked Tobi and maybe he liked her too.

Nervously, I walked up to the two of them who were reading together in Amahle's seat. She had somehow gotten her seatmates to give them some alone time.

"Um hi," My greeting interrupted their little moment of giggles.

They both looked up at me from the Physics textbook before them.

"Um Tobi, I really needed your help for something but it seems you're busy," I began, subconsciously hinting at ' busy.'

"What's up?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

Now, I could see it clearly. I had only been mistaking his kindness for "having feelings for me."

If only he knew the battle I was fighting inside of me just to keep myself composed in front of him and another girl so I wouldn't end up shedding tears like a new born baby.

"It's a-a math problem," My voice came in a low tone.

"It must be really difficult then," He twisted his lips and turned his gaze to Amahle who suddenly seemed a little disappointed.

"We can read together later," He said to her.

"Yeah sure," She forced on a smile before sending me a blank gaze which had an underlying meaning only I understood as, "This isn't funny."

He returned to his seat and I brought my maths textbook to him. Did I really want to show him a math problem or had I been so bitter that I couldn't stand seeing him with Amahle any longer?

"My goodness, there's too much noise now," He sighed in frustration after a brief moment of explaining the topic as a whole to me. The whole class had suddenly gone noisy since there was no lesson for the meantime.

"We can go to the park," I suggested. "It's quiet there."

Without a second thought, he agreed to go to the park with me.

When we got to the park and settled down on a bench, he began to teach me better but maybe everything about him was far more interesting than staring at complex symbols and trying to find someone's x.

"So when we add this one, we'll get minus 13..." His words slowly faded away from my ears and my gaze and focus was solely on him.

He had lied to me at the party just to make me feel better. I wasn't pretty enough because if I was maybe Amahle would never had a chance against me.

"I just wish you could like me back," I suddenly found myself saying out loud.

His head slowly turned to face mine and his lips parted.

When I realized what had just slipped out of my mouth, I wanted to shy away but something inside of me wanted me to let it all out rather than keep on filling myself with something that unhealthy.

"Truly," I continued with a sigh. "If only you could like me this little, it would mean a lot to me. I know I sound like some obsessed kind of girl by saying all of this after getting rejected..."

I chuckled and buried my face in my palms. What did hell was I even saying?

He didn't say anything. I lifted my face out of my palms and sighed.

"I never knew this was how it felt to not get liked by someone you like but with you, I found out and guess what? It hurts so bad," I clutched my chest in emphasis.

He still didn't say anything and stared at me dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time," I sighed once again and took my textbook from him then stood up. His gaze followed my movement yet not a word had come out from his mouth.

"You should head back to meet your... friend," I added and swallowed hard. I could feel the burning sensation in my throat and my eyes returning with full force.

"Kiki..." His voice trailed off immediately.

I waited patiently for him to say something. Even though I knew his decision wasn't going to change, I had too much hope that he was going to say something better.

It was his turn to sigh.

"You deserve better," was all he said.

To be honest, that sentence hurt a lot more than a blunt "no."

*.*.*.

~ TILDA'S POV ~

"It's crazy how fast you finish reading books," I heard his voice from the opposite direction and a strange feeling came over me.

I lifted my gaze from the book in my hand to see him standing a few metres away, looking good in his school uniform.

"What do you want?" I rolled my eyes.

He raised an eyebrow and briefly looked around.

"If I remember correctly, this is a library," He made it sound like a question and statement at the same time.

I went silent and returned my gaze to the book while fully being conscious of his presence. Soon, I heard his footstep grow closer and my heart started drumming in my chest.

"What book is that?" He took out one hand from his right pocket and took the book from me to examine the cover. "Seems like a good one."

"It is," I clicked my tongue and snatched the book away from him.

He chuckled and reached for a book in the rack above me.

"Matilda Olusegun," He sang and I sharply turned my gaze to him. If he was thinking of trying that thing he did in class again, I swear I would break those long legs of his.

"You seem to like trouble nowadays," I scoffed.

"No," He shook his head. "I'm a quiet boy."

"Quiet boy my foot," I shook my head and clapped mockingly then returned my attention to the book.

The next time I looked up, my gaze met his. Had he been staring?

"You are beautiful," He simply said.

Huh?

"How come I never noticed that?" He added.