Chapter 55
EVA
Mustering all the energy I could, I lifted my eyes to his and saw pain and fear and a whole lot of other emotions swirling in them. I hated how easy he was to read. It made the words I was about to say a lot more harder.
“I can’t, Axel. ” I said finally. “I can’t do this. I-We can be friends. ” his eyes dimmed at the mention of the word ‘friend’, but I couldn’t stop now. “That’s all we can be. The other thing….. We can’t have that. ”
He stared at me a while, but he didn’t look as hopeless as he had a few minutes ago.
“That’s progress then. You willing to be friends, I mean. Maybe with time-”
“Axel… ”
A sad smile touched his lips. “Friends? ”
“Friends. ” I confirmed, standing up from the bed.
He took a step back.
“Will you stay for the game at least? ”
Did I want to stay for a game of T of D where absolutely anything could happen?
“Please? ”
I sighed, my shoulders dropping. “I will. ”
But even though I had agreed to stay, I still felt guilty as hell walking through the door.
The living area was indeed packed with my classmates. Thankfully, everyone seemed to be busy doing one thing or the other, so they didn’t notice me when I came out. I spotted Laura in the dining area and I hurried over to her.
“Hey. ”
“Hey. ” she pulled a can of sprite from the fridge, giving it a baleful look before turning the cap and taking a sip. “Did you get your phone? ”
Shit.
How could I have forgotten about my phone? The only reason I had come here in the first place?!
“Yes. But…. ” think fast! “I-I left it to charge. It was down when he gave it to me and I thought since we’re staying here a while, I should just plug it in. ”
She nodded, believing my lie. I was definitely getting better at it.
Was that a good thing?
I knew one person that would be proud if he knew. Speaking of, I had been too preoccupied to talk to Omar at length and I planned on calling him when we got back to Nigeria. I hoped he hadn’t gotten in trouble for the stunt he pulled. Sometimes, it baffled me how irresponsible he was even after all he’d been through. One would think he might have learnt his lessons. But he never did. Instead, he got worse.
The door to the suite opened and Zoe came in, with Dexter, of course, on her heels and Phoebe following far behind. They seemed to be the last to enter because immediately they did, one of the guys from Arts who had been standing by the door, locked it.
“How did you know about the game? ” I asked Laura, curious. I hadn’t been aware about it, but everyone seemed to know.
“Henri sent it in the class group. ”
“Class group? ”
“Yeah, there’s a class group. ” she frowned. “You haven’t been added yet? ”
I shook my head.
She hummed. “They usually do that around your first week of school. At least I was. ” she capped the drink, pushing away from the granite counter. “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Dare. He’s an admin. ”
It made sense that Dare would be an admin in a group chat. He was the type of person to get involved in everything.
Axel came out into the living area, now dressed in sweatpants and a long sleeved top and even though he was now wearing clothes, I still couldn’t get the image of him almost naked out of my head.
You’re trying to be friends with him, remember?
Right.
“Axel’s here. ” Laura pulled me with her as she walked. “The game is about to begin. ”
“Do you people play it alot? ”This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.
“Yes. ”
People were jam-packed on the floor, but at the same time, they were scattered around. Some sat on the couch and some on the floor. Laura and I found a spot and dropped to the floor, sitting cross legged like the others. I guess I didn’t have to worry about a game like this one. People rarely paid any attention to me.
A guy from Class C dropped a bottle at the center of the makeshift circle and I guess the game had officially begun.
The bottle was spun by a very loud guy in Arts. I didn’t know his name, but he was easily recognizable. It landed on Ibiwari, a girl in my arm and she giggled excitedly.
“What are your top three turn-ons? ” the guy wasted no time in asking.
My mouth dropped. He went straight to the sexual stuff? Okay, Alex hadn’t been joking when he said that these people were horny.
Everyone watched Ibiwari, waiting for her answer and she seemed to preen under the attention she was recieving. “Well, I… I love being kissed on my neck. I like it when guys grab my boobs and I like being kissed on my feet. ”
A round of laughs and shouting rang out while I tried to recover from my shock.
Laura leaned into me and whispered. “Foot fetish. Who would have thought? ”
The game continued quickly and one time, it almost landed on me. I nearly died of panic.
Soon, the bottle was spinned by Henri and it landed on Tabitha and I swear she suddenly sat three inches taller than she was before.
“Truth or Dare? ”
“Dare. ” she said easily.
He watched her with narrowed eyes, seeming to ponder on what he was going to dare her to do and then suddenly, his eyes lit up. “I dare you to make out with your boyfriend for twenty seconds. ”
She damn near somersaulted with excitement as she got up, even though she tried to play it cool. Alexander’s eyes widened slightly and he glared at Henri. The latter simply smiled. Girls and guys were hooting, saying all sorts of things as Tabitha made her way to him, but Henri and Alex seemed to be locked in a stare down of some sorts.
Alexander’s eyes promised payback which had me wondering why. Why was he so opposed to the dare? Hadn’t he been the same person that had been kissing her publicly in the cafeteria?