Falling For The Playboy

His eyes roamed the students faces intently as he looked for the perpetrators and when they finally landed on Zoe and I, who stood right in the middle of the huge circle the students had created, his mouth pressed in a grim line.

“Both of you, follow me. ” was all he said before turning and marching out.

As he left, Amaka hissed. “The snitches in this class have done it again, abi? Who called the Vice Principal? ” she pointed at a boy leaning on the wall, “You Ozo, I know it’s you oh. ”

“Me that has been here since? ” he glared at her.

So someone had called the Vice Principal and we didn’t know who. But whoever that person was, I owed them gratitude.

We made the walk to his office like prisoners about to face death row.

Different ideas of how this could go played out in my mind. One in which Zoe got yelled at for hitting me and another where I got scolded for ‘writing a letter to her boyfriend’. The first one was pleasing, the second one would be reliving the nightmare I just escaped. Zoe pushed the door to the VP’s office open, shouldering in, not an ounce of fear on her face.

Should I be worried?

“Sit down. Both of you. ” he ordered and we did. “Now what did I walk in on? ”

“Well, ” Zoe began, lacing her manicured hands on top her crossed legs, all prim and proper, “We were in class when someone found a letter written-”

“Who’s this someone if I may ask? ” Mr Utoh cut in.

Zoe seemed to think about it before saying, “I’d rather keep them anonymous, sir. ”

Mr Utoh’s brows climbed up on his head. “And where did this someone find this letter? ”

I stared at her, curious to know.

“In Eva’s locker. ”

“Okay then. ” Mr Utoh continued, “Zoe, before you continue, I want you to understand something. I know you’re just trying to protect your friends but going into someone else’s locker without their permission and collecting something from it is a punishable offense. ”

Zoe’s expression didn’t change. “I know that, sir. ”

I had to admit I was shocked by this polite side of her. But we were also talking to a person in authority so I suppose she had to be.

He nodded, “Go ahead, then. ”

“As I said before, someone found a letter written by Eva that she intended to give to my boyfriend, Dexter, telling him all about how she loved him and how she’s a better person than me. ”

Mr Utoh turned to me, “Is that true, Eva? ”

“No. ” I said simply. Faintly. All of a sudden, I was exhausted.

“She’s lying. Her name was on it. ” Zoe argued.

Mr Utoh shook his head, taking his glasses off and placing it on the table, “I expected better from you, the senior students. Treating such personal matters in the school compound-”

“But, sir, ” Zoe interrupted, “We found the letter here-”

“It makes no difference even if you found the letter here in my office. ” he scolded sternly, “You should have waited until you were outside the school premises before bringing up such an issue. ”

I couldn’t believe it. Part one was playing out.

“And what did I hear about a slap? ”

She hesitated, “I was very angry and…. I didn’t know when it happened. ”

Mr Utoh shook his head again, wearing an intense look of disappointment. “I expected better from you, Zoe. ”

She looked down and was that a look of regret I saw on her face?! She must really have a lot of respect for the man.

“I’m sorry sir. ” she mumbled quietly.

“And I would send the both of you to the Principal’s office, but I don’t want you getting in more trouble. ” he picked up the school telephone, “So I’m going to call your parents instead. ”

Zoe’s face paled instantly, draining of all color. She knew that as long as her mom was involved, she wasn’t going to hear the end of it. I almost pitied her.

In less than thirty minutes, Mrs Lawson pulled into the school, parking in the car park. Mr Utoh exchanged pleasantries with her as he handed us over. We were going to have to leave Abi behind because she wasn’t done with her lectures for the day. The chauffeur, Mr Desmond, would come for her later.

“Thank you for intervening, Mr Utoh. I don’t want to think about what more could have happened had you not been there. ”

He nodded, “I’m glad I stepped in sooner rather than later. ”

“Thank you. ” she said again, before entering the car. Zoe and I sat at the back, a thousand miles apart from each other. She had doned that mask of indifference that made it impossible to read her.

Mrs Lawson didn’t utter a word all through the ride home, she just watched us once in a while from the rear view mirror. When she got down from the car to enter the code for the gate, I chanced a glance at Zoe and saw her looking though her window.

The lines of her body were tense, her left hand, wedged between her thighs and her right, supporting her head as she leaned on the door. She could act all nonchalant and aloof on the outside all she wanted  but I knew she actually wasn’t. And she was scared about what was to come when we entered the house.

Oh, Zoe.

Mr Lawson was sitting on the couch in the sitting room when we walked in, a stony expression on his face. He welcomed us as he usually did, but he lacked his cheer.

Zoe’s ass had barely touched the couch when Mrs Lawson started. “Why did you hit your sister, Zoe? ”

She stared at the ground, silent.

“Answer me! ” Mrs Lawson shouted, showing the first signs of anger, as she dropped down beside her husband on the long couch, her leg bouncing subtly.

The calm, happy woman I’d known hadn’t been around much lately. She had been replaced by this angry, bitter version.

“I didn’t mean to. ” Zoe said quickly, her eyes still on the ground.

“That’s not what I asked. ” my foster mom narrowed her eyes, “I said why did you slap her? ”

Mr Lawson hadn’t said anything yet, but one couldn’t forget he was there. His presence was silent, yet loud and it was blindingly obvious that he was not happy.

“I-” she paused, using a different tactic, “Eva wrote a love letter to Dexter when she very well knows that he’s my boyfriend. ”

Oh, wow. They knew about them and they were okay with it. A lot of Nigerian parents tended to act like it was the end of the world when they found out their teen children were in relationships.