Chapter 62 SEALED WITH SILVER
Godiva POV
“Wow!” I exclaimed, staring at the beautiful bracelet in the box. It was a silver bracelet with the initials J.G on a bead at the tip. I didn’t need anyone to tell me what the initials meant.
“This is pretty,” I said, smiling as I attempted to fix it on my wrist.
“Here, let me help you,” Jerald offered, snatching my wrist to his thighs. I noticed he was equally putting on the same bracelet.
“What!” I exclaimed, pointing at his bracelet.
“Busted,” Ben whispered, turning away.
“What do you mean, busted?” I asked.
“Well, Jerald sort of predicted you’d refuse wearing it if you found out it was a matching bracelet,” Ben responded, smiling.
“Matching bracelets already?” I exclaimed, looking at Jerald, who was suddenly speechless.
“It’s never too early for that,” he said.
Finally fixing the bracelet on my wrist, he warned, “Don’t take this off, ever. It is water-friendly, so no excuse.”
“Aawww, this is so sweet,” Dina exclaimed. “Ben, where is my bracelet?” she fired at him.
“Chill, amor, he didn’t get her a ring, but I may just get you one,” Ben teased, blowing her a kiss.
“It’s almost break over,” I announced to Jerald, who was still sitting on my desk, holding my hands firmly.
“Break isn’t officially over,” he teased, making a cute face.
“But at least you need to let go of my hands. You’ve been holding me since forever, and your friend keeps glaring at me,” I said, using my head to point at Hakeem, who was staring at us.
“Forget about him, he doesn’t care about anything ever,” Jerald said, placing his lips on the back of my hand.
“But did you tell him about me?” I asked in a whisper.
“Yes, I did. As I said earlier, he doesn’t care about anyone’s business. He also advised me on getting this bracelet,” Jerald shared.
“Wow, I’m surprised then,” I said.
“But why do you sound shocked?” he asked, tilting his head to get a better view of my expression.
“Well, it’s just… he’s a little weird,” I said, stuttering.
“Why do you think so? Is it because of your constant battles with him?” Jerald asked, laughing.
I went silent for a while. I contemplated telling him about the kiss at the trip, but I dismissed the thought. It was still too early to tell him anything more.
“He acts strange. At first, he sent flowers to my home. How he found my address, I don’t even know. And he blew me a kiss, that’s strange,” I said, looking at Hakeem, who was equally staring at me with disgust.
I watched in confusion as Jerald laughed for over a minute without pausing to catch his breath.
Hakeem heard it all and his expressions told a different story.
“Do you think I like you?” Hakeem asked, walking toward us and pointing at me, disgust written all over his face.
“Well, yes, I think so. Do you?” I fired back.
“That’s a rhetorical question, so I won’t bother answering,” he thundered, giving me the middle finger.
“Eww, you’re not even my type of guy,” I said, laughing.
“If you need to know my opinion, then here it is. I’m still in shock Jerald stooped to your level,” he snapped back, laughing hysterically.
I was about to speak when Jerald placed his palm over my lips, finally letting go of my hand.
“You two, stop it please. That’s enough for today,” he said, trying hard to suppress his laughter. “You both need to learn to accommodate each other for me.”
“God forbid it,” we both chorused as Hakeem walked away.
..............
After one hour of boring lecture I gazed into thin air, reflecting on memories of the camping trip, my humiliation and how to deal with people like Amanda when Jerald invaded my space.
“Don’t bother about him. He does that to lots of girls, just to make them uncomfortable,” Jerald said, still laughing. "So don't think too much about him."
“I was about thanking God you weren’t like him before I remembered you’re actually worse,” I teased, laughing hard.
“Where’s Ben and Dina?” Jerald asked, dropping down from my desk.
“Really?” I asked sarcastically. “Did you forget Dina went with Ben to check his college application status in the admin?”
“Oops, my bad,” he replied, smiling at me.
Some minutes later, Dina walked in. “I thought you were going to spend the rest of the year with Ben,” I whispered into Dina’s ear the second she took her seat during the lecture.
After school, Dina and I decided to go study together at the library since there was no tutorial or choir rehearsal.
We had barely studied for up to an hour when Ben and Jerald walked into the library. Ben stopped at Dina’s desk, which was five tables apart from mine.
“Why are you still in school?” I whispered to Jerald as he sat on the chair opposite mine.
“We ditched the research academy today,” he responded, smiling uncontrollably. “You’re proud of me, huh?” he teased, winking at me.
“I am not proud of you, and please don’t ever wink at any girl aside me,” I warned seriously.
“Do you think my winking is sexy?” he asked, winking again.
“Nope, it’s ugly. Still, I alone deserve that ugly sight,” I said, shying away.
“Don’t worry, I’m not here to distract you. I also brought my books,” he said, bringing them out from his bag.
All through our study, he didn’t say a word to me. The only time we spoke was when Dina and I switched questions, and he bet on me beating Dina.
“Told ya!” Jerald exclaimed, hitting the library table hard. “Told you my girl was going to beat yours,” he teased Ben.
“Don’t bother, babe, I’m going to beat her next time,” Dina said as Ben helped pack her books.
“Where is your driver?” I asked after we stepped out the gate with no one in sight.
“He must have gone to snitch on us,” Ben responded, nodding from left to right.
“I guess you’re in another bag of trouble,” I said, looking at Jerald’s dark shades. “Can’t you take this glass off?” I asked, removing the dark glasses he had worn since the start of the day.
“I actually expected you to protest,” I said as we walked back home together.
"My baby's got the exclusive right to my creative control." Jerald smirked.
I smiled sheepishly as I jumped in excitement.
“Div, you’re truly finished,” Dina teased, running away as I chased after her. We only stopped when Jerald started making a video of us on his smartphone.
Stopping at the foot of the bridge, Dina teased, “Congratulations on your first walk, or should I say trek?”
“I really thought you were going to give up and take a taxi,” I added.
“What do you both take us for?” Jerald said, pinching my cheek.
“We go to the gym, girl,” Ben said, hugging Dina as we all parted ways.
“Who the hell is Jerald?” Mama thundered the second we shut the door behind us.