CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: CRINGE
"Can you excuse John and me? We want to talk," Vanessa said rudely, glaring at me.
Gosh! I didn't want to be rude because of the age difference, but now she was really testing my patience.
"What?! You and who? You better not include me in your stuff at all," John snapped, refusing to look at her.
"John, why are you suddenly like this?" Vanessa asked, making me cringe silently.
"Vanessa, if you don't want me to shout at you, then don't say things that are unpleasant to the ears," John said, and I couldn't help but laugh silently, looking away.
"Well, later then," she said as she stood up. "Love you," she added, smiling at him.
Gosh! This is child abuse if you don't know, I thought, disgusted.
"What is your problem, girl? Did I call you into my discussion?" Vanessa hissed at me.
"She doesn't need to be invited into your discussion before she realizes it's cringe," Morayo said, scanning Vanessa from head to toe.
I could tell Vanessa noticed, because Morayo was sitting right in front of us.
"Abeg, I can't waste my time on both of you," Vanessa hissed as she left.
It was as if she was afraid of Morayo.
"Thank God she left!" I sighed, using my pinkie to clean my ear like she'd disturbed my hearing.
"I just loved the way she left without any argument," Morayo said, turning her neck to face me.
"You should have heard John. The way he spoke to her was hilarious," I laughed.
"Yeah, I actually heard him say that part about unpleasant words. I laughed silently too, so as not to hurt Vanessa's ego," Morayo responded before turning forward and talking to the person in front of her.
"I know you already know," John suddenly said, breaking the silence.
"I don't understand whatever you are trying to say," I replied, putting my book back into my bag.
"You already know that Vanessa and I know each other," John said, dropping his pencil and facing me.
"Like… duh, who wouldn't know? It was obvious," I shrugged, taking out the sweets I had bought that morning. Morayo had bought Tom Tom, a cool throat-soothing sweet, earlier.
"Victoria told you, right?" John asked, bringing out his sketchbook.
"What? Why bring her up all of a sudden?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I popped an unwrapped sweet into my mouth.
"You must have known about Sunshine," he said, and I suddenly remembered what Morayo had told me.
"I asked a question," John said when he noticed I hadn't responded.
"Yh, your sister told me that," I answered, looking at him briefly before looking away.
Morayo had told me she knew John and Joan, and so did Victoria. Something still felt missing in the story.
Did Morayo and Victoria know each other before coming here? But Morayo told me she came to this school because of John's sister.
"My sister?" John asked, surprised.
"Surprised? Don't worry, I was too," I waved it off.
"What else do you know about me?" he asked, looking straight at me as if he was afraid of something.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"What else did my sister tell you?" he repeated, staring into my eyes.
"Nothing. I can't really remember anything important she said," I admitted honestly.
"Oh, goodness," he sighed with relief and opened his sketchbook.
That was awkward!
---
"She never rests," I said to Victoria.
"You see, it's not just me who thinks that," Morayo added.
"Whatever, change the subject," Victoria rolled her eyes.
"When did you and Morayo meet?" I asked as we walked to the dining hall for afternoon lunch.
"Why the sudden question?" Victoria asked, curious.
"I'm just curious. You may have answered before, but I forgot," I scratched my head, acting realistic.
"Hmn… we met in this school," Morayo answered.
"Okay, then… how do you explain both of you knowing John and Joan from before?" I asked, confused.
"It's not bad. We know the same people; that doesn't mean we've met before," Victoria replied as we entered the dining hall.
"True, true," I nodded, finally understanding.
"You're acting suspicious," Morayo said as we sat down.
"Suspicious for what?" I asked, confused.
"It's almost as if you don't trust either Victoria or me," she replied, turning to watch a senior drop a big cooler on the table.
"Nah, I was just curious. I wasn't thinking about trust. It's just been on my mind," I said, shaking my head.
"Okay, if you say so," Morayo said, then turned her attention to the senior getting something else.
"So… what are we having for lunch today?" I asked, curious.
"You've been here almost a week, and you haven't studied the food timetable?" Morayo asked, smiling.
"For Christ's sake, who has time for that?" I groaned.
"Someone eager to know, just like you," she replied with a smirk.
It was Friday, and I was happy there wouldn't be classes for a while.
As for my brother… nah, let's move on.