Saint Patrick's College

Chapter Eleven

At lunch, Adaeze kept staring at the popular table, kept staring at Chinasa Adigwe. At the way the girl walked up to the table, the way she sat, poised, the way she laughed at the jokes of her friends. The girl wasn't just smart, she was popular. She was the kind of girl others wished to be, the sort of girl that appeared kind and welcoming—even if Adaeze was yet to formally meet her—she projected everything Adaeze wanted to see in herself. To be put together, organized.

Every seat in the popular table was filled. Aside Chinasa, the only other recognizable face was that of Femi who didn't pick up on Adaeze's staring. She couldn't imagine what he would have done if he did notice. Would he wink at her again? Would he get up and walk up to her? Her pulse raced at the thought.

She swallowed a lump in her throat.

She needed to focus. Her attention wasn't on Femi, it was on Chinasa, the subject of the first page of the leather-bound book.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Ayomide asked, worry laced into her tone. She sounded like a mother scolding her child. "And don't tell me you're not hungry because you barely ate anything yesterday." Adaeze could only imagine what kind of mother the girl was going to grow up to be.

And her accusations weren't true, Adaeze had a few bites of her dinner last night. Sure, she didn't finish her portion, but she still ate something. So, there, she was wrong!

"Might I remind you, you're not my mother." Adaeze said rolling her eyes. A little concern was fine, but Adaeze could take care of herself.

"I might as well be your school mother. You need someone to watch over you and make sure you eat." Ayomide grumbled.

"Don't you need to be at least a class above her to be her school mother?" Segun asked around a bite of food. Today he was eating swallow and eguisi soup. He devoured it with his hands like he hadn't seen food in days.

It was the day's special.

"If I have to find her a school mother I will." Ayomide leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. "Segun, don't you think she needs to eat?"

He rose his hands in mock surrender. "Don't make me pick sides."

"Alright, alright, fine, I'll eat, get off my back." Adaeze said as she cut a ball of amala with her hands and mixed it into the soup. The moment she tasted it she gobbled it up. It tasted like Ijeoma's cooking but with more pepper. She missed her mother's cooking. She missed being able to cook her own food. She missed being home where there weren't any dead girls or mysterious books.

"Thank you," Ayomide said. "At least now I don't have to worry about my roommate dropping dead because of a hunger strike."

"That's what you were worried about?" Segun sounded surprised.

"Yes na!"

Even as she ate, Adaeze's eyes kept drifting back to Chinasa. The girl was good, too good. Was the book, right? Was there more about her than meets the eye?

Adaeze made up her mind. She needed to delve deeper into the book. She needed to uncover what Ogechi knew about her friends before she passed and if they had a part to play in what happened to her.

With a new resolve, Adaeze packed up her lunch tray and gathered her belongings.

"Where are you going this time?"

"I just remembered I have a meeting with the school counselor."

"You need counseling?" Segun found that hard to believe.

"I'm not perfect, you know." She said shooting to her feet. "Anyway, I gotta go, I'll catch up with you later."

Ayomide gave her an inquisitive look. "Are you sure you're okay?"