"Meerah, you need to change your handwriting." Adam moaned.
"What? My handwriting is okay." She smirked.
"Okay, but too cursive." He said, raising an eyebrow at her smug smile.
As if she could read his mind, she frowned and said, "Don't look at me that way, it's a family thing."
He rolled his eyes before saying, "Just pitying who'll mark your WAEC exams scripts. This is like a tangled plate of noodles spread out on a notebook."
It'd been two weeks since they walked home together. Two weeks that brought with it a bond so tight. Adam seemed to have no one to be friends with, other than her. And since she was equally a loner, and readily available, there was no choice.
Ameerah was in search of a witty reply when the Principal walked in.
She automatically flew off the table that she was sitting on while Adam refused to budge from her chair.
"What are you supposed to have now?" His deep voice boomed.
"Civic." Some students chorused while others just sat back and stared, uninterested.
Deep inside, they were expecting him to start para-ing as usual. Instead, he walked over to where their time-table was pasted, gave a humph and walked out with a scowl plastered on his face.
Ameerah giggled the same time Adam gave a loud chuckle.
"The way he humphed reminds me of a bear. The Papa Bear in the story of -"
"Gee! Adam, that man is old enough to be your father." Ameerah squeaked.
"Who cares about father?" He asked in a flat tone.
At the mention of the word 'father', an unreadable expression flickered on his face but before Ameerah had the chance to say something, Rasmiyah's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Hello everyone, I'm looking for something."
Ameerah hissed. "Her things are always lost."
"Let's hear what she's looking for this time." Adam grinned.
Ameerah sighed but she couldn't look at him for long, fearing that she would drool over him.
"I don't know why eyes are always on my calculator!"
"It's always her calculator." Ameerah frowned.
"Well, it's black in complexion, but not really short." Before she could go further, one of her minions interrupted.
"Miya, we know that already."
Almost in a provocative manner, Rasmiyah rolled her eyes.
"I don't believe that you guys aren't smart enough to know that it's a cleeaar reference to the black beauty of this class."
At the mention of 'black beauty', she lets her eyes settle on Ameerah. Though she did this while resisting the urge to look at Adam.
In the case of Adam, his eyes flickered between the two girls. A part of him was expecting a fight to break out between the one sitting right in front of him and the other making a fool of herself in front of the class. At that moment, it seemed that he wasn't the only one thinking that because a hush had suddenly fallen over the class.
Ameerah simply proved their thoughts wrong by maintaining her composure with a smirk on her face. If anything, she was enjoying the attention of everyone. At least, she didn't ask for it. She decided to use this as an advantage. With confidence slowly radiating from her, the smug smile on her face widened to a grin that could easily be interpreted as evil.
The seconds was ticking by, with the whole class watching while waiting for Rasmiyah to say something else that would trigger Ameerah's anger, but that didn't happen. Rasmiyah's attention was fully focused on Adam and Ameerah instead of Ameerah alone.
Ameerah, who thought that she was aware of what everybody else wasn't or were yet to know, leaned way too backwards, almost touching Adam.
Adam, who knew exactly what was going on dropped his pen and rested him arms on the little space remaining on the desk, careful not to make contact with Ameerah but also leaned forward enough to make it look like he was going to rest his head on her shoulder.
If not for the fact that Ameerah was determined to accomplish her mission, she would have toppled over with laughter. Plus, Adam was sitting right behind her and she didn't want to embarrass herself like Rasmiyah, the soon-to-be laughing stock.
Somehow, Ameerah's pose with Adam had passed on the message that she wanted to pass without saying a word.
Some of the boys understood this 'cause they were all now snickering, throwing thumbs up in Adam's direction while most of the girls had fallen into fits of giggles.
Ignoring the fact that she was at easy hearing distance, they said among themselves, "Rasmiyah likes Adam." Even her so-called best friends didn't act any different.
All these Rasmiyah couldn't stand anymore. She ran out of the class with liquid underlining her eyes.
The whole class seemed to shake with laughter, and sure enough, it was the gist of the day in SS 2A.
*.*.*.*......*.*.*.*......*.*.*.*
"Ameerah, grease those cupcake pans for me please." Auntie Zaynab said.
"But I thought you said there won't be excess."
"Have I ever baked without excess?"
"But that's what you-"
"Shh! I only said so because of the way you kept licking the batter. The fear of losing the quantity needed."
"That's not fair!"
Auntie Zaynab narrowed her eyes. "Now, tell me what's not fair."
"The way you... you..." Ameerah stuttered.
"Sarap, and get to work."
It was a Saturday and Ameerah was helping her aunt in a cake contract. She was to help with the essential stuffs like the mixing of ingredients, and of course, scraping clean of the empty bowls with her fingers working together with her tongue.
There was silence between the both of them for few minutes where only the sound of cupcake pans could be heard. Ameerah couldn't help but notice the unvanishing smile on Auntie Zaynab's face.
"Sis, why are you smiling?"
"You don't want to know."
"I do."
Auntie Zaynab's smile slowly turned smug.
"Auntie!" Ameerah was suddenly sure of what her aunt was thinking about. "Please, don't tell me that you suddenly want to start teasing me with Adam."
"Of course, you know that's it."
"Argh!" She frustratedly pushed some greased pans towards her aunt.
"I can't just forget the way you kept squealing the day you guys supposedly walked home together."
"Mtchew! I'll not be telling you my things again." She grumbled.
"Just wondering how you would react if he suddenly walks in and finds you licking bowls of batter like a monkey."
Ameerah's frown deepened into a scowl. "You are calling me a monkey again. God will ask you se."
Auntie Zaynab simply laughed at the comical look on Ameerah's face.
"Okay! Okay! Let's move on to something else. Gist me na!"
Ameerah's face broke into a cynical smile. "I treated somebody's fuck up yesterday."
"Please, don't tell me you fought with someone."
Auntie Zaynab suddenly sounded worried.
Ameerah smirked."Nah! Not even close."
"So tell me, what really happened?"
"Yesterday, Adam was writing his Civic note on my seat when the begotten daughter of Lucifer suddenly. . ."
The begotten daughter of Lucifer was Ameerah's nickname for Rasmiyah. When she finished talking, she sighed with a proud smile. Auntie Zaynab was left with a pained look on her face.
"I can almost imagine it all in my head. So you leaned closer to Adam so as to get her jealous which in turn made everyone aware that she likes Adam because of the expression on her face. So painful!"
"Who cares?! She deserved it."
"That's true but -"
"Next time, she won't look for a trouble sitting on its own."
"So what did Adam think of it?"
"I don't think he felt any penitence towards her. Infact, he had smirked." She had a far away look as she spoke.
"Earth to Ameerah!"
"Uhm. . . It's just that there was something else to the look on his face that I couldn't decipher but all in one, he looked proud and partly smug." She shrugged.
Her aunt thought about this for a while, while they proceeded with their different tasks. The main cake and cupcakes were already in the oven. The only thing left to do was the washing of cake tools.
"Do you think they know each other before?"
"Who?"
"Adam and Rasmiyah."
Ameerah chewed the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. "I don't think so. What I've noticed ever since the boy joined us is that she won't stop staring at him and she's always looking for reasons to talk to him."
"Does she still do that?"
"Talking to him, No but staring at him, absolutely Yes."
"Hmm.... Lemme guess, she stopped trying to talk to him because he has gotten closer to you."
"And she doesn't like it that way." Ameerah completed for her aunt.
Auntie Zaynab wiped her hands on her apron before turning to place them on Ameerah's shoulders with a solemn expression that worried Ameerah.
"Auntie, what is it?"
Her aunt looked into her eyes and said, "That is why you should be more careful, Ameerah. There's definitely more trouble to come. That girl. . ."
"The begotten daughter of Lucifer. . ."
Her aunt suddenly smiled. " If that's what she truly is, you wouldn't want to know what she'd do next."
"Hmmm!" Ameerah sighed.
Her sigh was accompanied by a rumble in the sky. A gust of wind blew into the shop which made Ameerah shiver.
"Auntie, lemme take these tools into the kitchen before it starts to rain. I'll wash them later."
"Sure Babes."
Sarap: Shut up!
Para-ing: Tongue-lashing.
God will ask you se: This means God will surely ask you.
Another chapter done! Hope you love it.
*Sighs*
Less than two weeks before Ramadan. How are we all preparing?
❣️❣️