Roses were on top of the freezer, and a useless antenna which stood on top of the big screen television, flared downward. The television showed a boring program which her eyes didn't want to see, and her mind wasn't appeased with.
She sighed looking at her father grin at the television. She cuddled on the sofa, and brought a throw pillow to her bosom and was about to shut her eyes when her phone's vibration yelled for her attention.
It glared bright and a text message popped up on the home screen. She pinpointed her eyebrows wrinkling her face to confusion. As she picked the phone, her eyes widened.
"It can't be…" she gasped, pushed over the throw pillow and joggled out of the sofa chair, bringing her feet to the ground. "Oh my! Oh my!" She exclaimed.
Palemo steered slowly, his face to her and wondered what the hell it was all about, but he couldn't bring himself to ask her what it was because they weren't in good tides yet… well, he had control over that.
Letting go of what happened too soon was out of his vision, but Valentine didn't care anymore— there was life to live, not to impress, and not someone else's life to live. It's been two weeks already, but the end of the unnecessary silent feud had its flight to her doorstep that very morning.
"Hello, Valentine Perez, You have been absent for two weeks. Liege college misses you, get back to your studies now and continue to chase after your dreams! We hope all is well with you! Good luck and welcome back!" She muttered, which wasn't audible to Palemo who only stretched his ears as much as he could— wasn't enough.
Valentine rushed inside and in less than twenty minutes, popped out ready for school.
Palemo was surprised that she was going out and wondered where? She hasn't left home since the past two weeks.
Her face was lengthened and weighted with a beautiful smile and it was only going to take the sunlight to gleamer her face on the face of the earth.
Palemo once more held back to talk. Valentine put on her shoes and catered away.
With joy in her heart and a smile on her face, she walked up to school and upon seeing and meeting with the environment again it felt like she had been completed with something that was lost before.
She locked in and went straight to the fingerprint scanner, so that she would be sure. Greeting Mrs Spectacles who greeted back with surprise, she placed down her thumb to the scanner, and after some repeated scanning, a green light appeared with a successful mark. She grinned and shouted for joy in her heart.
Passing across Mrs Spectacles, she called her back. "Valentine?"
Valentine answered her and took a few steps closer, she could sense her surprise. "Oh, you know my name?" She asked.
"That name's been like a popular one out here" she replied with a smile.
"Oh…" Valentine exclaimed "Really? Well, I'm just as surprised as you" she said with a grin.
"I'm only surprise because you keep making history here, and breaking records"
Valentine's happiness died down a bit to give way for some reasoning. "Sorry, how do you mean?"
She shrugged "isn't it obvious?" Valentine expressed absolute ignorance. "I guess not. You are also the first person in Liege's history to be reinstated after an expulsion. You are really lucky. I wonder who did it" she concluded, and went back to her work.
Valentine opened her mouth to say something, but she knew better like everyone else, once Mrs Spectacles looked down to face her work, the conversation was over for the day.
She walked ahead anyway. Lina was the first person on her mind to see before anything else— lectures, exams, and assignments.
She looked into various lecture halls but little to no students were available. Tired already to continue searching, she wondered what she would do at that time, since according to her card, she had no lectures for the whole day.
She stooped to one corner away from the hallway to lean against the wall when a group of girls chartered pass her, and she rushed up to them with a halt. They looked like they were honoured to meet her.
"Hey, sorry, wh—"
"Are you Valentine?" One of them asked.
"Um yeah" she replied.
"Omg I love you so much!" She exclaimed.
"Oh! Thank you so much…" she smiled. "I guess," she muttered to herself.
"Oh dear, can I help you with anything?"
"Actually, I was just wondering where everyone is? The lecture halls are empty, so—"
"Oh most students must have gone home or in their hostels, but you can find pretty much at the campus quad"
"Go-gone home?" She stammered.
They looked at each other with tints of confusion. Why was she acting like she had no idea why?
"Yes. The exams are finished, so it's a free world now, haha" they cheered.
"Oh oh…" Valentine nodded her head. She had just remembered something.
The pain had to slip back to her after a sheer moment of happiness. But at least, she enjoyed it while it lasted… probably!
They turned their backs to leave after signs of no more questions but she had another, a very important one.
On parting her lips to let out sound again, she withdrew immediately after the memory of their previous reaction surfaced— that question was sure going to establish her as a dumb girl.
She sighed. "Frey! Where the hell is the campus quad?!". Well, it seemed like she was going to find it out herself. And one step was all she needed to start her journey.
She was disappointed in herself for not knowing where the campus quad was located.
She could know, just that she didn't know that it was what it is. Probably, if Josef hadn't pulled her off like a pin shrieked out of a holder she would had known where the campus quad was meant to be— that was her best resolution.
She found herself in what seemed like the middle of the main campus, after some minutes of hard walk work. There, she found students, many of them, in groups and singles and to themselves, and to one thing and another, on benches, on the grass, on the pavements, and the rigs and the branches of big short trees.
"Oh My God!" She exclaimed. "Valentine you haven't been here before?! No you haven't" she curled her hands to her mouth to cover her awestrick while she smiled in between.
The campus quad looked like Paradise as it was laced with beautiful grasses and trees, with different tints and kinds of grass with different gradient were present.
Some students were seen laying down on the accommodating and comfortable grass looking up to the sky while some sat chatting with others.
Some lurked around, some stood and some sat, and while she was steering her eyes around with her head, her eyes met a familiar figure. She stopped at the sight and a closer look confirmed that she was right— she knew the person, and it must be Lina.
Valentine walked with a cheerful face only to be met by an ugly realisation when Lina saw her and frowned her face.
She would had wondered why she did that if she wasn't hit by the realisation— she hadn't called her for two weeks straight and didn't return her previous calls and texts.
Explaining that she forgot about it would bring more harm than good and complicate issues, and Lina wasn't ready for that conversation.
"Lina, I - i am…" she stammered, and sat down slowly beside her. Lina's face portrayed only disappointment and disbelief, but she had questions to ask though.
"I'm so sorry, you have to believe me, I —"
Lina chuckled. "I can't believe this" said Lina, shaking her head in disbelief.
Valentine sighed. "I'm sure you don't know what happened…"
"I'm sure you saw hundreds of calls and texts from me" she scoffed.
"I know, I know. I was just too depressed and pained, I'm so sorry, I will make it up to you anyhow and anyway, please?"
Lina turned away from her, shaking her head. Valentine smiled and clipped her arms around her lower stomach descending to her waist, and rested her head on her back.
"You will pay for that," Lina said.
"How much is it?" Valentine asked, holding her tight but warmly.
"Never leaving my side. Being mine forever"
Valentine grinned. "Say no more, baby girl. I can do all that"
"You better do, Val…" Lina placed down her hands on Valentine's, it was cool, soft and accommodating.
She started caressing her arms which she led up to her upper arm, until she touched Valentine's boobs. Valentine gasped, Lina's eyes widened, withdrawing her hands slowly and turning with the tide.
Valentine let her hands fall off from her waist as she turned to sit upright, facing the field.
They both had pretence sit between them while some minutes was killed trying to fathom what just happened and forgetting about it.
“it's not a big deal" kept lashing around Lina's mind, but the touch and the feel of Valentine's boobs was floating steadily, and she would do it again if she was given the chance. That was when her mind recoiled to what Valentine had said before then…
"Oh!" Lina exclaimed, turning to face Valentine. "You said something happened? What happened? I couldn't stop worrying and thinking that something bad had happened to you, but when you didn't return my calls even after more than a week, honestly, I didn't know if I should worry anymore or not…" she sighed, bowing her head down to the earth.
"But then, how can I be truly happy and in peace and, and, when you are not around, when you don't want to talk to me anymore, I - I…" she stammered… Valentine held her hands in the reassuring clasp of her hands.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere again. I promise…" they shared a cute smile together with the sheer passing of time, looking into each other's eyes with admiration, which was cut by Valentine with an explanation.
"Well, it's a long story, but It was all Josef . He expelled me —"
"Hold up!" Valentine jilted by the power of her exclamation. "Did you just say Josef expelled you?"
"Yeah? I thought I had told you before?"
Lina shook her head while trying to recall any explanation before about Josef .
"Oh. Right, Pretty much not. Was a bomb to me too,. Josef practically owns Liege College…" Lina's eyes widened, and her lip dropped. "He is like the big boss…" Valentine shrugged.
"He is the CEO of Bond Holdings… I never thought" Lina said. Valentine nodded her head. "But, I thought he wouldn't be until he gets married?"
"Oh! Really? Maybe he is just a practicing CEO now, until then it will be official, still the same thing though. I wonder who would agree to marry that jerk of a boy. He would cheat the hell out of her, and use her like she is nothing. Play her like football, I feel sorry for the girl already, it's a huge misfortune, you know" said Valentine with a chuckle.
"Uh huh. I see you really hate him"
"Do you know that he just wanted me to kneel and beg him?"
"Omg… I'm guessing you didn't do it then, but…" she pinned her mouth. "Ho- who got you back then?"
"Um, what?" Valentine asked, reaching to something out of reach.
"I mean, you didn't just get called back, it must have been someone that pressed the button" she shrugged.
Valentine went dumb for a while, and her face lightened as if she had just remembered something. "Oh my!" She exclaimed and trudged up from the bench.
"Wh-ere are you going Valentine?" Lina yelled after her.
"I will be right back Lina. I promise!" She said, running off, and Lina stood there watching her until she was swallowed wholly by the building.
Valentine rushed to the Library and there she saw Jemima who closed a book, standing up once he saw Valentine. His face lightened with a smile; always.
"You—"
Valentine couldn't wait until he finished his speech. Before he could finish his first word, Valentine had already coupled his body with hers, not minding if her breast was resting on his chest, but that was more of her face.
Jemima could see himself saying wow, again and again. His mind recoiled, and in a slow motion, he could see Valentine coming toward him to hug him.
He could see a typical Indian movie playing before him, while Valentine's hair blowed back and her eyes flustered, a smile, followed with a cute dimple and an adorable face. Was she the beauty goddess? She could be.
It was in his deepest interest to hug her back. "Okay, you're welcome" he said as Valentine unhooked from him. She smiled at him, and for the first time, it really felt deep to him.
"I know you are the one, Jemima. The good one" she said with a slight nod. Jemima shrugged with his smile.
"I can't thank you enough"
"It's okay, Valentine. Good to have you back"
"All thanks to you…" she smiled. "Missed me so much?" Valentine said, twisting her body shyly. They both chuckled.
"I'm sure your girlfriend did" he said.
Valentine seemed so pleased to hear that. But what was it with people calling Lina her girlfriend?
She wondered in what context and at that moment wished that Jemima, for some reason wouldn't think something else, or something more.
But even her, didn't know what Lina was to her, their relationship was becoming kind of dynamic and going somewhere. She would ride on the boat anyways and see where the road led.
"I also heard that I'm the first person to get back after an expulsion?"
"Talk about making history, huh?" Jemima chuckled. "I guess some people are meant to be lucky…"
"Or they were just meant to attract luck and be loved?"
Jemima smiled. "Maybe" he concluded. He flipped his wrist to check his watch. "I'm sorry, I have somewhere important to be right now, I will—"
"Oh! That's okay. Please don't waste your time, see you around then" she made way for him to pass through the door.
"Thank you, Val"
Valentine smiled with a nod as he left by the door. She sighed, and a moment of what to do next was presented. She went back to Lina.
"So, what's next now?" Valentine asked Lina, already feeling tired.
Lina stared at her a bit and wished they could be together, all alone in her room until the next day. But it was not going to work because she herself had to go see her mom.
"Nothing, I would just be going home. Hope we can spend some good time together sometime soon" she said with a smile.
"Oh. Yeah, sure. So, you are coming tomorrow?"
"Are you?" Lina retorted.
Valentine shrugged. "If you are coming, then I surely. Have nothing to do at home anyway"
"Well…" she packed up her notes and bag. "See you tomorrow then, dear"
"Yeah, bye."
Lina nodded her head and brisked away. Valentine felt lonely after she was gone, and she wondered if she was really a lonely person.
Without Lina by her side, she felt empty and quite sad. Perhaps, if Jemima was around, she wouldn't feel as much as she felt.
She moved to look for Jemima to fill the void Lina had left, but she remembered that Jemima had gone already, so she slowly walked home.