....But he stopped some feet away from her, still for her, he was too near. She wished he would just back off and leave her alone.
She didn't want any more trouble. The one she brought upon herself was heavy enough for her to carry alone.
But he was damn attractive and had this irresistible aura, like Josef ; maybe it was one of their few similarities. "... It never gets old. Moreover, we need it in our everyday life dealings, and reading is part of who I am. So, that is why I'm reading it, Valentine" he spurred out a heart warming smile, but Valentine was more concerned about…
"You just called me Valentine, how did you know my name?" Her first run in was that they had been gossiping about her.
"Of course. Nothing happens around here without us knowing."
"Oh" she muttered. He was Josef's brother after all, so if Josef was a top guy in the college, he would be too. She thought he might be the same with him but just hiding behind the walls. "Wait, us?"
"Yes. Triple B, and the 4DD's"
Valentine wrinkled her eyebrows "Triple B? And the 4DD's? What's that?"
Jemima chuckled "Seriously? You don't know?"
"No…" she shook her head.
"Of course you do. Josef and the four devil doves"
"Oh." It had steered into Josef , so she was going to remain mute.
"My brother is crazy, big bad boy. He thinks he will be forever young" he chuckled. "But he is an intelligent one" he added.
Valentine didn't even want to hear anything about him again so she just nodded her head to show that she wasn't interested in the conversation. Her heart throbbed that Josef might be near.
"But just try as much as you can not to fall into their lanes. They can be shitty, honestly. Is not a good thing, really, but what can we do? We just hope he changes, and those devil doves too…" he shrugged.
Words clustered around Valentine's tongue, but she tried resisting the urge to talk. But as Jemima continued, it seemed to be more relevant and needed.
"I can't be around all the time you know…"
"I have already fallen in their lane or whatever. He just bully innocent girls—"
"And boys"
"Hope? He can never change"
"Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes we just need someone to spark a light in our life"
Valentine chuckled, she had unlocked the gate for the words passage that would only bring back hazard. "I promise you that no good girl in her right sense would ever want to be with that jerk! Or to talk of changing him, no one!" She snarled.
"Hmm. Such anger… is it necessary?"
Valentine just realized how angry she had been, she shut her mouth, hoping that Jemima wouldn't tell his brother the words she said. Her eyes emitted apology, but she wouldn't say the word. And she couldn't keep quiet either.
It was raging in her heart, and was like a lump in her throat which did nothing better than choke her, she didn't hold back…
"He just do whatever he likes, and the school authority doesn't do anything about it? No one ever reports him!"
"Authority, report him… haha. Good luck with that. I don't think they have done anything to you, yet…" the word “yet” resounded in her ears, and spread like a poisonous gas in her mind, which went straight to her heart. And yet again, she was utterly disturbed. She gulped, grip her hands and tried to slow down the beating of her heart.
Jemima stepped back from her and turned to leave. Valentine parted her lips to apologize, but she couldn't. She was gripped by fear that she just landed herself into a deeper trouble. She forced herself but only his name came out through trembling lips.
"Jemima!"
"Don't worry, Valentine. I'm not Nicholas. Trust me…" he turned his face and winked at her. He was gorgeous and the wink was enough for an assurance. But that wasn't in her mind.
"Please don't" she muttered a few minutes later after Jemima had gone away. The library became her secured room, and then she stayed in there until it was time to go home.
She flinged back her capped sweater and walked out of the library with her bag.
She had been cool and had found peace reading a few books and sleeping but it was almost going to be taken away from her, as her heart jumped into her stomach when she sighted Triple B and the 4DD's coming along the path she was taking.
She immediately ran back; fortunately the library entrance wasn't far from her reach.
Her breathing escaliated as she hid behind a shelf at the library. She thought that they were coming for her. "No, no please let it not be. Could he have told him all I said?" She muttered under her breath.
All the words she said, and the ones she would have said came rushing like tsunami waves. She held herself tightly so as not to lose it all. Her heart beat against her ribcage as she waited for her potential doom or escape.
Who knew what they would do to her in the library? Coming to the library was becoming a bad decision.
She was even more scared because of the fact that she said some mean words, even worse than rude. But heaven bless, a few minutes passed and no one came in for her, nothing except the dying hassles and chatter of college students.
She got out of the Library and glanced around for a moment to see if there was any potential threat around, and she found her way home immediately without stopping at the road for whatever reason.
The battle for the day had been fought, and whether she won or not wasn't important, the most important thing was that the day was gone. But there would be more days, and more battles ahead.