Falling For The Playboy

EVA

My face stung and I blinked quickly, desperately trying to stem the tears that had filled my eyes, threatening to make an appearance.

I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry.

I told myself I would not show these people that I was weak by crying in front of them, but as I saw the satisfactory looks on their faces, the smiles and hollers, and the pity on some, it felt like I was fighting a loosing battle. What had I even done to them?

When I looked at the one who called herself my sister, the one who had hated me from the very first day I stepped into her life, as she put it, I saw something stand out amidst the anger burning in her eyes. I could barely see past the tears blurring my vision, but the hatred she had for me shone clearly and that, I realized, was probably the only thing I’d guessed right about her from the beginning.

That she hated me with a vengeance.

“All I asked of you was to stay away from me. ” she yelled, breathing heavily. “The only thing I wanted from you, was for you to stay the hell away from me. Did I ask for too much?

Wasn’t that what I had been doing for the past week?

I was so confused and I wanted to just scream and let it all out. The pain and the hurt I had been harboring inside me. That I didn’t ask for this -for my life to be cruelly taken and replaced with this alien one. But of course I didn’t. The words would never come out.

“Did I ask for too much, Eva? ” my name rolled off her tongue acidly. I had never hated my name more than I did whenever she said it.

I believed I was a good reader of people and until today, I had always been spot on. It came as a slap to the face, literally, that I was wrong about Zoe. To me, she had seemed like the type that could effortlessly make people hate themselves with the destructive words she threw at them, but never one to lash out physically. That assumption was shot to hell the moment she slapped me.

“Now I know why you were eavesdropping that day. ” she shook her head, “It’s because of him, right? And I don’t know what you expected to hear but I’m glad we caught you earlier. ”

Who was she talking about?

“So they caught her spying on them. ” mused one of the watchers.

Everyone, except me, knew what was going on. I looked around, wondering if I would find a familiar face in the crowd and of course there was Amaka, who had made that comment about my eyes being contacts and Coco, my seat mate. I knew for a fact that they were  eating this all up; they never missed out on drama. This was, without a doubt, going to be the next topic for gossip.

I hated myself. Hated that I couldn’t talk back, hated that I let them bully me and get away with it, hated that I was always the victim. I hated that I was born different and I hated my parents for putting me in this condition.

“You have no idea what’s going on, do you? ” she asked after a while, disgust evidently written on her face.

I shook my head.

“Jesus. ” her eyes flickered up in exasperation. “You’re so fucking dumb. We found your love letter, Juliet. ”

Come again?

She shoved the paper into my face and I caught it before it could fall. Holding it at a safe distance from my eyes, I read.

Hi, Dexter.

I thought long and hard on how to tell you this and I have settled on putting it in written form since I’m a very shy person.

I think I fell in love with you from the very first day I saw you and no matter how hard I tried, I have not been able to stop thinking about you since. I don’t think it’s possible for me to continue living without letting you know how I feel and I know you love Zoe, but that isn’t really an obstacle because I know I’m better than her and you will see that with time.

I would appreciate it if you kept this between us. I await your reply.

Love,

Eva.

The letter had been typed and printed.

“I didn’t write this. ” I shook my head vigorously.

“Once a liar, always a liar. ” she tsked.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“I’m not lying. It’s not even in my handwriting. ” I pushed the paper back at her, but she didn’t look at it.

“Of course you didn’t. You used a typewriter because you didn’t want to get caught. ”

Really?

“If I didn’t want to get caught then why did I put my name? ”

That gave her pause. I could tell she thought it was strange too, but she didn’t let up.

“That was a mistake on your part. ” she cocked her brow, “How else was he to identify you if you didn’t? ”

I had obviously been set up and she couldn’t see that. She didn’t want to.

“It’s not-”

“Shut up, you lair. ”

“Ashawo. ”

[Ashawo: Prostitute]

“Useless girl. ”

Shouts came from the crowd.

Frustration filled me and I wanted to cry again. I wanted to speak but I couldn’t find the right words and even when I did, they wouldn’t let me.

“What is going on here? ” this voice, louder than the others, took everyone by surprise.

The entire room became deathly silent. In that moment, if a pin had dropped, it would have been heard. I turned around slowly, taking in the alarmed look on people’s faces and then dreadfully, my eyes met the newcomer’s. Mr Utoh.