Thirty one

I took in a short but deep breath before reaching for his shoulder with my arms stretched. He turned his neck backwards immediately I tapped his shoulder. Seeing that it was me, he turned me, facing me directly now, he seemed to have lost his usual smile.

We didn't say anything to each other for a short while then it dawned on me that I was to say something since I was the one who came to him, I should tell him why I came to him.

"My notebook," I started,"I just remembered that you still had it with you." I said, breathing fast because I felt he was angry with me, it seemed so, he wasn't smiling like he normally did.

He didn't say anything, he didn't say anything after me, he just put both hands in his jean pocket and kept staring at me.

Two girls walked by us, I could see them both turn back and whisper to themselves. This was what I didn't want, it was happening, I'm sure they were saying something about me or wondering why I was talking to him.

"Did you bring it with you?" I asked when the two girls took a turn to another direction and I looked back at him.

He didn't say anything, he just reached for his bag in the locker and brought out my math notebook. He gave it to me.

"And my textbook t..." He brought it out before I could finish what I wanted to say."Thanks." I said even though I thought I sounded weird.

I was about to walk away from him when I felt a grip on my wrist. I turned and he was holding me from leaving.

"Your rough note." He freed my hand and got it out from his bag, handing it over to me.

"Yeah, I forgot about this, thanks." I said wanting to turn around and leave again but he grabbed me by the wrist again before I could do so. How could he catch my hand so fast?

I turned back to him again, waiting for him to tell me why he held me from leaving like the first time but he didn't. He just kept looking at me with his brown eyes.

I looked into those brown eyes and i realized they weren't angry or mad, they were sad. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came.

"Are you mad at me?" I heard him ask and I shook my head slowly.

"Then why are you in a hurry to walk away from me?" He asked again. I wanted to say something but I didn't even know how to say what I wanted to say.

All I could think of, right now apart from discovering that he was sad about what I did earlier was that more students were passing by us and they would see him holding me.

I looked away from him and I was right, some persons would glance at us while they walked on. I attempted freeing my wrist from his hold but he didn't let me so I looked back at him.

"You are doing it again, you want to walk away." I heard him.

"It's not that." I told him in a low voice.

"Then what is it? You are ashamed to hang with me? Is that why you wouldn't let me hold you when we got here?" He asked again and I shook my head.

Ashamed to hang with him? Was he seriously asking that? Did he think I will be ashamed of him? I couldn't be ashamed of him, he's Uche, smart Uche, handsome Uche, loved by practically everyone Uche, how could I be ashamed of him?

It was funny that he would think that, I mean, if it got to comparison, he should probably be ashamed to hang out with me.

"Didn't we agree on keeping the relationship secret?" whispered.

"I don't want to do that."

"Huh?" What was he saying?

"I don't want to keep what we have, secret. I thought about it last night and I don't want us to hide our relationship."

"Ssh." I shushed him from saying what he just said out loud but he didn't seem to care.

"I don't want to do it, Julie. I can't." He shook his head.

"What do you mean you can't? What about Nick? and your bro code?"

"Julie, finally I found you," I heard Casey and wanted to withdraw my hands from Uche's hold but he still didn't let me, so I just turned to her, my right hand behind me. She continued;

"I was wondering if you already went to class and I went there but I didn't see you there, so I...." She paused. I wonder if she saw Uche still holding me and that was her whu she stopped talking. "Oh, you are with someone....." She trailed off in a lower voice, not sounding as free as she did whenever she was talking to me alone.

"Give us a minute, can you?" Uche told her.

"Yeah, sure. Sure, I can." She nodded."Sorry, I didn't know you were talking to her." She added before she left. I turned back to him.

"Let him find out, whatever is going to happen can happen."

"but..." I didn't even know what reason to give at this point.

"You don't like me enough to let others see us together?" He asked after I wasn't saying anything more.

"No!"

"So we are not doing the secret relationship anymore, I can do what I want to do with you in front of everyone?"

"Hmmn?" I asked because....Do what he wants to do with me? My mind went dirty when he said that.

****

Heyy, it's your author geni. Please note that everything written here is nothing but fiction.Please vote as you read, comment your thoughts and don't forget to leave a review, I am very open to constructive criticism. I'm on all socials as @genika3na.