Falling For The Playboy

EVA

None of the guys at the table reacted to the new plus one. Axel continued his conversation with his partner, Henri still had his hand around the girl sitting beside him and the last guy -I still didn’t know his name- simply stared at his untouched food. He was hands down the scariest of the group and as far as I knew, none of the girls that sat at the table ever sidled up to him. He never spoke, or ate or smiled.

As if feeling my gaze on him, his head lifted and his eyes met mine. The arctic orbs roved over my face in… what? Curiosity? While his perusal didn’t feel like a caress, it didn’t feel like he was mocking me either. It seemed like he was just…. looking and wanted me to know that he was. I froze, my muscles locking one by one as I sat there, unable to do anything but stare back at him. Why the hell couldn’t I turn away?

Jesus, he had grey eyes. Not brown like every other dark-skinned guy at this school. Grey. And how startlingly cold they were.

Starting to feel prickly under his intense gaze, I looked away, rubbing my palms together under the table to rid the cold I was suddenly feeling. With my head still lowered, I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye and to my greatest relief, he wasn’t looking at me anymore. He was now making patterns with his food on his plate. How weird.

“Who is that guy? ” I asked before I could stop myself.

“Who? ”

“The one sitting on the same side as Alexander. ”

Laura shook her head when she saw who I was talking about. “That’s Vaughn. He’s a total creep. And I don’t mean that lightly. ”

That much I could tell.

“Does anyone even have traditional names here? ” I squinted and she chuckled.

“They do. We just prefer to go by our English names. Since, you know, they’re easier to pronounce. ”

I nodded. That was true, I guess. And I wasn’t one to talk. I went by my English name too.

Only because you don’t have a traditional name.

Me and Axel’s conversation at the eatery came back to me. All my life, I’d believed that I was an Edo girl. That was where the name, Otasowie originated from. And now that there was a possibility that Eva Otasowie might not be my real name, I realized that I could be from any tribe in Nigeria.

I glanced at Axel. Well, his back more like, since he was facing away from me. His words from that day came back to me. Did I really look Igbo?

A waft of perfume drifted to my nose, assaulting my nostrils and interrupting my thoughts. A perfume I’d come to associate with Zoe. I looked up just in time to see her walking past, headed straight for the cafeteria, without turning her head our way. I wondered how she did that so effortlessly -pretending someone wasn’t there. I mean, I understood that she was simply ignoring us, but did she have to give the same treatment to her twin sister?

When she reached the counter and gave the woman there her order, she leisurely raked her eyes over every seated person -as she did every other time- not letting her gaze linger on anyone for a millisecond too long.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Hell might just have frozen over because today her ritual broke. For her eyes lingered on Alexander and his apparent girlfriend.

Tabitha, obviously relishing Zoe’s eyes on them, grabbed Alexander’s face and kissed him. Right there for everyone to see. I looked away, but not before seeing Axel throw something at Alexander and muttering something to him. I didn’t wait to see the latter’s reaction.

There was absolutely no emotion on Zoe’s face as she stared at them. In fact, it didn’t seem like she was looking at them, she seemed to be looking past them, but she wasn’t. And I knew she had to be feeling something, because, hell, Zoe was staring and Zoe Lawson didn’t just stare at anyone.

All heat evaporated from her eyes when Alexander turned his head and stared back at her as if he knew she’d been watching them all along. Their gazes locked and that familiar tension that tightened the air whenever they stared at each other was back. Only this time, it was laden with something more.

Everyone was watching this exchange, enraptured by seeing even a glimpse of reaction the coldest girl at Ivacy High. The cafeteria lady was now pushing Zoe’s order at her, trying to get her attention, all to no avail.

Finally bored, it seemed, Alexander turned away from her and it was very much like a dismissal. Zoe’s stunned blinking told me she thought as much too. Her chest rose and fell on a deep breath before she turned around, just now noticing that she had been the center of attention -but to be honest when had she never been? Her usual neutral mask fell over her face and she turned to the cook who had been trying to get her attention, muttered an apology, grabbed her food and left.

Almost comically, everyone went back to what they’d been doing.

“Oh my God, Abi. ” Laura breathed.

The sound of her voice reminded me of her and Abi’s presence. It was so easy to forget you had company when Zoe was in a room.

When Abi continued eating her food in silence, Laura pressed. “Come on. You can’t not say anything about this. ”

Abi, seemingly fed up, dropped her spoon. “What do you want me to say, Laura? ”

“Are you serious right now? ” Laura’s eyes narrowed. “She’s your sister and-”

“And our relationship is pretty much the same as yours and her’s. ” Abi showed the first signs of anger since I met her. “The fact that I’m her sister doesn’t stop her from giving me the same treatment she does you guys. ”

I’d always assumed the twins were close. Not that close, but close enough. I never knew Zoe was as much of a stranger to her as she was to everyone else. Everyday, I mourned the fact that I didn’t have siblings but I assumed having one and not being able to connect with them was worse than not having at all.

Laura drew her head back. “Jeez. You kept that bottled in for a hell of a long time, that’s for sure. ”

Abi shook her head, her lips tightly pursed.

Unable to hold it in anymore, I asked, rather hesitantly because I had a feeling Abi would say it was none of my business. “What’s going on with Zoe and Alexander? ”

Thankfully, it wasn’t Abi that answered me.

“The whole school, well, not to exaggerate, the old students know that-”

The bell rang out, signaling the end of lunch period. I waited impatiently for Laura to continue but she was already distracted, frowning down at her food. “Shit. I didn’t get to finish my food. ”

“Because you were too busy talking. ”

“Oh, sod off. ”

A wide grin split Abi’s face, her anger gone. “Your accent just became more pronounced. ”

Laura rolled her eyes. I noticed she never said anything about her life back in London. Apparently, that was where she was born, which meant she was a citizen. She left when she was six and the accent had stuck. She never responded to comments about her accent or her life when she was younger. I didn’t know why.

“Can you finish what you were saying? ” I tapped Laura.

“I’ll be going now. ” Abi told us. “I’m late already. ”

“Maybe later. ” She waited for Abi to gather her things before they both walked out, taking the path that led to their building. This was where we separated. Everyday.

Taking my empty plate, I dumped it in the bin, before walking out. The Physics teacher, Mr Afujue Chinedu, was already waiting for us in class when we entered. I’d never met a person who took his job more seriously than this man. Taking my seat, I blocked out Coco’s incessant whispers and focused on the lecture.

Before we closed for the day, all the SSS3 students were told to gather out into the hallway for a brief meeting with the Principal.

I hugged my bag to my front as we all piled out into the hallway. The Principal joined us almost immediately, taking a stand in front of the small crowd. Her ever present glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose, her suit pants and white button down shirt ironed to perfection.

“Good evening. ” A chorus of ‘good evenings’ rang out throughout the crowd. “I’m assuming you all already know that your first test starts next week. ”

I did. And after I took my drivers test tomorrow, I planned on studying all through the remainder of the week.

“Next two weeks, which is the week after your test, you’ll be going on your yearly excursion. ” I perked up. “The place you’re visiting is located in the United States of America. The Smithsonian National Meseum of National History. ” She relayed all these with boredom like she wasn’t talking about the freaking USA!

“You can do as much research as you want before we go, of course. Let your parents know so you can get your documents available on time. I wouldn’t want what happened last time to repeat itself. ” She looked pointedly at some people before addressing a few unimportant things and rounding up.

Giddy with excitement, I almost skipped down the stairs as I made my way outside. I saw that the Arts weren’t done with their lectures yet. This wasn’t the first time. It had happened twice before and I always sat on one of the chairs arranged outside underneath a shade, just by the car park. It was a good spot and was always empty because most students would rather hang around in classes with their friends while they waited for their cars to come.

Dropping my bag on the seat beside me, I sat back, removing specks of dirt from under my fingernails.

A sudden presence had me looking up. Axel stood a few feet away from me with his hands shoved into his pockets. He looked criminally good. His long sleeved button down shirt clung slightly to his skin and his pants highlighted the muscled legs that were constantly haunting me. His hair was dark and so curly, glinting under the low sun. Again, I found myself wanting to run my hands through it.

Unspoken words hung in the air between us as we stared at each other, waiting for the other person to break the silence.

What could I say?

I’m sorry for leaving the way I did yesterday?

When it started to get awkward and I began to contemplate grabbing my bag and leaving, he spoke first.

“Hey, Cg. “