Chapter 22 RISING FIRE
Godiva’s POV
I didn’t understand the stare from Leo, all I knew was that he was definitely up to something, and it would definitely be something dangerous.
I quickly removed my hands from his grip, looking around to see if Leo saw us. “What are you doing?” I asked in a loud whisper.
“Nothing a friend is prohibited from doing,” he replied, smiling at me.
“Oh, so we are friends now,” I exclaimed as I attempted to jump on his back.
“Our friendship ain’t that deep,” he replied as he dodged, which almost landed me face down.
My heart skipped a bit. What was I ever thinking, to trust someone like him? I questioned myself in silence.
“Are you all right?” He ran over as he tried to pick me up from the floor.
“Stay away from me, you monster!” I barked at him.
Ignoring my gaze, he went on to yap.
“I saw you reject Leo’s kiss, why?” he asked, waiting for a response from me.
“Mind your business next time,” I replied as I forged ahead. I could hear him chuckle.
………….
The next morning, we had a two-hour lecture, which seemed like forever. After the long, boring lecture, we were given two extra hours to get ready for swimming at a stream.
I didn’t want to go out, but Dina practically forced me to do so. She said it would be fun. If only I had envisioned the fallout from the evening event, I would have just stayed indoors.
I knew I wasn’t going to swim because I didn’t vibe with all the exposing bikinis, and I knew if I wore pantyhose beneath mine, I’d be subjected to mockery. Plus, I wasn’t good at swimming.
The night smelt like danger, an uncertainty, and a snare, but I foolishly walked right into it.
It was finally time for the swimming. We all converged at the pathways separating our hostels. All the girls were dressed in their beautiful bikinis, while the boys were dressed in their shorts and shirts.
I was the only one dressed in jorts, a vest, and a light outer dress on top.
“Hail mother Mary, what the heck are you wearing?” Hakeem whispered in my ears from behind, startling me.
“Just shut up,” I said, moving away from him. “What I wear is none of your business, so watch it.”
“All right, all right!!” He surrendered, unwilling to go toe to toe in a meaningless banter with me.
“Babes, you can’t snitch on me today,” Dina said, dragging her ears playfully as if warning me.
“No one is snitching on no one. Like a stamp to a letter, like birds of a feather, we stick together,” I said, locking fingers with her, laughing.
Our journey to the stream started with everyone chattering and interacting with one another. During the tour, we were not shown the route to the stream. None of us was prepared for the long and hectic journey we embarked on.
We all stopped to catch our breath at the foot of a not-so-high mountain.
“The stream is just behind this mountain,” Mr Bao’s voice cut through.
“You’d have told us we were coming hiking,” a notorious voice echoed, making everyone laugh.
I pouted the moment I noticed Jerald walking toward me, putting on blue and white shorts with dolphins beautifully designed on them. The last thing I wanted was to make Leo think something was going on between Jerald and me.
“What is it?” I asked arrogantly as Jerald sat beside us.
“I was bored through this journey without you,” he teased as he waved at Dina.
“You’ll have to carry me across this rock,” Dina said to Jerald. “Div says you have a firm back, so…”
I rushed to press my hands on her mouth before she could complete her sentence.
“Ooow girl, so you enjoyed the ride on my back,” Jerald said, smiling directly in my face. I, in turn, glared at him and nodded.
At the peak of the mountain, we could see the very beautiful stream. It wasn’t what I expected. When I heard “stream,” I was expecting a small, dirty water body, not the gigantic and beautiful blue water body in front of us.
The stream was big, filled with very clean water and a few rocks inside it. The rocks surrounding it were beautifully decorated with calligraphy arts by tourists and beautiful drawings of some Chinese actors like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.
The boys were asked to assist the girls down a sloppy rock, which would land us in the stream. That was the only way to the stream.
I knew Jerald was the only person that would assist me down without me pleading. If only Leo was speaking with me, he’d have gladly assisted me down.
As expected, Jerald jumped down. Taking my hand, he gently guided me to a safe landing on the ground.
He was going back up to assist Dina when I saw Leo already assisting her. I felt even more grateful to him for looking out for my girl despite our issues.
I decided to use Dina to create an avenue so I’d apologize to him and hopefully have my first kiss with him.
While everyone was busy swimming, I sat on a rock, admiring the scenery and everyone swimming in groups.
I noticed Jerald wasn’t in the water. I turned around, searching for him. I didn’t see him anywhere around, so I quickly dismissed the thought.
I finally saw him coming out from an angle formed by three rocks, with Rachael following. I didn’t need a prophet to tell me what just happened. I sighed and nodded left to right in disbelief.
I was burning with fury the moment I saw him coming my way. What the hell is wrong with this flirt?
As much as I wanted to confront him, I couldn’t. We weren’t really an item. He didn’t owe me loyalty.
He goes temporarily to do the unthinkable with Rachael, then comes back and starts trying to be nice with me. I need to teach him a lesson.