TABITHA

CHAPTER 5

Our school cafeteria was buzzing with people whose stomachs were filled and had a lot to share with their friends.

We only had about 30 minutes left of our break. All thanks to Rita, the walking questionnaire.

I quickly scanned the place as we entered, in search of Greg and the gang. On sighting them, I tapped Rita and gestured toward them. Her eyes brightened and she started to pull me towards them.

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty nervous about this idea.

Firstly, Greg is quite popular and sitting with him will draw unnecessary attention to me.

Secondly, various meanings could be read into that singular action.

Thirdly, I know several girls in the school like him and I don't want any avoidable rivalry. I had a lot of other things to list but we were already standing in front of Greg.

"Tabby!" He said when he looked up and saw us.

"Hi," I replied in greeting.

"You decided to grace us with your beautiful presence. The best decision you ever made, my dear." He said with a smile.

"Oh... Well... Umm..." I stuttered.

"Why does he always have that effect on me.?" I thought.

Having no idea what to say to him, I remained quiet. I couldn't help but hear the whispers and pointing of my fellow students. It was making me feel self-conscious.

"Hi, Greg! Thanks for having us." Rita suddenly said. Efficiently putting me out of my misery. God bless you, Rita!

"Sure. Have your seats." He replied with a smile. His smile is captivating.

We did as he said and then he introduced us to the gang who were watching the whole show with looks that showed they thought the whole exchange incredulous on their faces.

Apart from Greg, there were 6 of them. Tobi, Ikenna, Samson, Phillip, Ibrahim and Firefunmi were their names.

Of them all, I figured he was closer to Fire than the others, judging from the way they relate with one another. He introduced Rita and me to them. He told them we would be sitting with them from then on.

They all said their Hello's and the conversation resumed. Rita seemed to take a liking to Phillip because she was currently having a flirty talk with him. Even though she had a boyfriend.

"So, Tabby, welcome to our table. We hope that you grace us more often with your presence." Greg said turning towards me.

The sitting arrangements were made in a way that I sat beside Greg, Rita was beside me with Phillip on her left, Fire on Greg's right and the rest of the gang just filled the remaining available spaces except for Ikenna who was standing.

The table only had 8 chairs and we were nine. So. I gave him an apologetic smile since we were the cause of his current situation. He smiled back in return.

"Thanks, Greg." "Maybe," I said in reply to his second statement.

"You're welcome. So, I heard that your birthday is coming up." He suddenly said.

Looking surprised I replied, "Yes, it is. It's on February 16th."

"Yeah. I know. That's a few weeks from now. So, what are your plans?" He asks.

"Erm... Pray with my family, cook and maybe my dad might take us out if he's around."

I suddenly heard a loud outburst of laughter around us.