Chapter 59 MINUTE RECKONING
Godiva POV
“Excuse me, sir, I was asked by a staff to call Ben,” I said, standing in front of the 12th grade.
“Ben isn’t in class,” someone announced from inside, voices overlapping lazily.
“Thank you,” I murmured, dipping my head slightly before turning away.
“What could have possibly gone wrong? Why are Ben and Jerald absent today, after the drama they displayed yesterday?” I thought to myself as I walked back to class. I made up my mind to hear from Hakeem why they weren’t in school.
From the way I kept my face, Dina already knew Ben wasn’t in school either.
“We will ask Hakeem why they are absent, so don’t worry,” she scribbled quickly and slid the paper to me with a small, reassuring nod.
I couldn’t help but worry. My mind spun with too many thoughts, Jerald walking up to me, telling me he didn’t mean any of what he said, or worse, telling me he can’t leave Lis, or that his family is relocating.
The second the bell rang, Dina and I rushed Hakeem like a tiger pouncing on its prey.
“Why isn’t Jerald in school?” I pressed, leaning forward.
“Why isn’t Ben in school?” Dina added sharply, folding her arms.
“So who do I respond to first?” he drawled, dropping his legs lazily on his desk with a smug stretch.
“Please be serious,” I urged, my brows knitting together.
“Well, congratulations, the both of you have successfully made the Youngs ground their precious children,” he said, breaking into laughter as if it amused him too much.
“You’re not serious, are you?” Dina asked, her voice tightening with concern.
“Do I look like I’m playing around?” he shot back, arching a brow.
“Girl, what do we do now?” Dina asked as we walked toward the basketball court, her shoulders slumping.
“I really don’t know what it is, but I guess I’ll find out when I go to tutor at the Youngs’ residence today,” I replied, holding on to the little hope I could find.
“Are you sure you wanna risk your life by going into the lion’s den?” Dina muttered as we sat down, glancing around like danger might appear.
“I don’t believe Hakeem, plus I doubt the Youngs know about anything. Let’s hope something came up,” I said, patting her gently, trying to steady both of us.
“Can I join you?” Leo’s voice cut in from behind, smooth and irritating.
“O boy!” I groaned, dragging my palm over my face.
“Is there a basketball match today?” Dina asked, turning to me with confusion.
“There isn’t,” I replied, blinking in mild disbelief.
“Then why is this pest in school?” Dina snapped, glaring at Leo like she could burn holes through him.
“This pesticide is in school because I heard there are gold digging pests around, so I came to uproot them,” he fired back, gesturing dramatically to the boys behind him.
“No one called you a pesticide,” Dina shot back, rising to her feet without hesitation.
“Pest or no pest, we’ll know who will be removed at the competition next month,” he laughed, the sound loud and mocking as he walked off with his crew.
It felt like a wake up call. We had an exam to prepare for, and there we were worrying about boys.
“Reality check 101, we need to tighten our belt,” Dina declared, suddenly energized as she strode out of the court.
“You know, his words prove they may actually manipulate this,” she added, her voice lowering with worry.
“Wake up, girl, this is not Bread of Life High School. We are talking state, baby,” I replied, nudging her with a grin, trying to lift the tension.
I impatiently waited for lectures to end so I could go to the Youngs’ and find out why the “Youngs’ princes” were absent.
“You see why we need to protest so the Young's gets us better phones, the one you've been managing is crying for mercy.” Dina said out of the blue, nudging me.
I burst out laughing before I could stop myself.
Our laughter was short lived as Amanda, one of my greatest nemesis, worked by with her minions. "What the hell are you looking at" she said, almost threatening.
"Your fat face" Dina replied. As she looked around making sure that we weren't alone.
Amanda couldn't hurt us in public, not when staffs roamed about. She smiled and walked off. I knew that she would retaliate later, but right now, we needed to hear from Jerald and Ben.
“You’re sick, bro,” I shot Dina, struggling to keep a straight face.
“Don’t worry, girl, I’ll call you the second I find out from them what stopped them from coming to school,” I teased as we stopped at the foot of the bridge leading to the Young's mansion.
..............
I heaved a sigh of relief the moment I stepped into the Youngs’ house. Everything felt normal. Jenny ran straight into my arms, warm and familiar, though Jerald and Ben were nowhere in sight.
“What of your brothers?” I whispered to her as we walked through the lobby.
“They both had an errand to run.”
Mr. Young’s deep voice cut in suddenly.
“Wooo, sorry, sir,” I gasped, clutching my chest as my heart jumped.
“It’s not a problem, I guess you were startled,” he replied, a faint smile appearing, something I had never seen before.
That smile stayed in my mind as I walked into the study. Not because of what he said, but because he had never even smirked before, and now he smiled at me? It left me with mixed feelings, though most of them were strangely good.
While Jenny worked on the exercise I gave her, I kept glancing at her, debating. Should I ask? “Don’t do that, control yourself,” I muttered under my breath, tapping one hand against the other.
As the tutorial came to an end and I had seen neither Jerald nor Ben, anxiety crept back in.
“Why am I even worried about Jerald when I won’t date him?” I thought, trying to convince myself.
The sound of the gate rolling open snapped me upright.
I rushed to the window.
“Oops, it’s Mrs. Young,” I whispered, retreating quickly to my seat.
“Why are you sweaty, ma’am?” Jenny asked softly, tilting her head with concern.
“It’s nothing, dearie, I’ll see you Friday,” I replied, packing my stuff quickly.
“Mr. Young will want to speak to you in his office,” a maid announced as the door swung open.
“Alright, ma’am, I’ll be going there now,” I said quietly, my voice almost betraying me.
The walk to his office felt endless. Each step came with questions, with fear, with uncertainty tightening around my chest.
“Oh shit,” I breathed the moment I saw Mrs. Young seated inside, her strict face already fixed on me.