NERDS UNEXPECTED AFFECTION

CHAPTER 4

At the cafeteria

The cafeteria was a battlefield during lunch, and Isabel sat at the corner table with Nadia.

She kept her voice low as she told Nadia what happened that morning. Bianca. The hallway.

Nadia’s spoon stopped halfway to her mouth. “And what good, will it do to you if she liked you?”

Isabel choked. “Ah! Nadia!”

Nadia wasn’t joking. She slammed her palm on the table, making trays rattle. “That girl is really crazy! Why! So just because of her, no one should pass their exams? If she is smart enough, she should have stayed home. Maybe we’ll have some peace in this school for once.”

“Just calm down,” Isabel said, grabbing Nadia’s wrist. “Don’t let that bother you. I don’t even care about what she says.”

Nadia stared at her, then let out a sharp, “Ah!!” and spat her orange juice. It hit the table, the floor, and the edge of Isabel’s tray.

Isabel didn’t scold her. For one second, with juice dripping and people staring, Bianca’s threats felt smaller.

In the library

The library was cold and silent. The kind of silence that meant Bianca was speaking.

She held court at the long table in the Law section, Geraldine and Annabel flanking her like guards. Books open, but nobody was reading.

“I can’t believe you’re really dating Desmond,” Geraldine whispered, awe cracking her voice.

Bianca smiled. Slow. Practiced. The smile she’d been wearing since elementary school. “I am not just dating him. I am going to be his future wife.”

Geraldine and Annabel gasped in unison. “What?!!”

“Yeah,” Bianca said, examining her nails like she’d announced a new timetable instead of a marriage contract.

Annabel leaned in. She was always the one who asked what others swallowed. “Bianca, do you think you’ll have a happy marriage in the future?”

Bianca’s smile didn’t move. But something flickered behind her eyes. A crack, there and gone.

She opened her mouth to answer.

The library door opened.

A first -year student entered. But Bianca didn’t even look. Her eyes were locked on Annabel, on the question still hanging between them:'Do you think you’ll have a happy marriage?'

“Of course!” Bianca said. The words were sharp, too fast. Like she’d rehearsed them.

Geraldine shifted in her seat. She pushed her glasses up, glancing at Annabel before she spoke. “As we all know, Desmond is a playboy . Won’t it affect your relationship?”

The word 'playboy' hung in the cold library air. Two first-years at the next table stopped pretending to study.

Bianca’s smile thinned. Her knuckles went white around her pen. “He does not do that anymore.” She said it like a fact. Like saying it would make it true. “Besides, all those girls his been flirting with,are just wasting their time. he won’t marry any of them.”

Her voice dropped, but everyone heard it. “He’ll still come to me!”

She said it with an angry face. Not sad. Not scared. Angry. Like Desmond was a thing she owned and other girls were just borrowing.

Annabel and Geraldine looked at each other. They didn’t say anything. They didn’t have to.

The silence that followed was different from the library’s usual quiet. This one had weight. It pressed against the shelves, against the tables, against the three girls sitting there.

Bianca uncapped her pen and dragged it across her notebook, hard enough to tear the paper.

Outside the library windows, the bell for free period hadn’t rung yet. But inside, Bianca was already at war.

At the basketball court

The laughter from the boys died fast.

Joel was still slapping Desmond’s back from that “love her, as f**k” comment, but the joke felt different now. Heavier. Kelvin wouldn’t meet Desmond’s eyes. Enoch just whistled low. Daniel stood a few steps away, basketball finally on the ground, watching Desmond like he was a stranger.

Desmond rolled his shoulders, shaking off the mood. “What?” he said, his easy grin sliding back on. “Y’all act like you’ve never heard me talk before.”

“We haven’t,” Daniel said quietly. “Not like that.”

Before anyone could answer, there was a shift in the courtyard. Heads turned. Conversations dropped.

Precious was cutting through the crowd toward them, and she wasn’t pretending not to see the four boys flanking Desmond. If anything, she walked straighter.

Joel muttered, “Oh, hell.”

Precious stopped right in front of Desmond. She ignored Daniel. Ignored Kelvin’s wide eyes. Ignored Joel mouthing “abort mission” at Enoch. Her gaze was only for him.

“Babe, so you’re really back!!”

Desmond’s friends went still. This was the part where he usually brushed girls off. Where he’d say something bored and walk away.

He didn’t.

“Yeah,” Desmond said. “I came this morning but you weren’t around.”

Enoch choked on nothing. Kelvin elbowed him, hard.

Precious’s smile went sharp with victory. “I decided to skip school, but I came because Priscilla told me you came back.” Then she threw her arms around Desmond’s neck, hugging him right there in front of his boys. “I miss you, babe!!!”

Daniel looked away. Joel ran a hand over his face.

Desmond’s arms came up automatically. Muscle memory. “I miss you too.”

The words hit the group like a dropped tray in the cafeteria. Loud. Impossible to ignore.

Precious pulled back, but her hands stayed on his chest. “I’ll visit you today so we can catch up!!!” She rose on her toes and pecked his cheek, quick, claiming.

Kelvin made a strangled noise. Enoch actually took a step back.

That was when Bianca’s voice cut through everything.

“What’s going on here?!!”

She stood at the edge of their circle with Geraldine and Annabel. She wasn’t shouting, but she didn’t need to. The whole courtyard heard her anyway. Her eyes went from Precious’s hand on Desmond’s uniform to the faint shine on his cheek.

Daniel went rigid. Joel whispered, “Oh, he's dead.”

Precious dropped her hand from Desmond’s shirt, slow and unbothered. She turned to Bianca with a smile that wasn’t sweet. “Just chatting!!!”

Bianca took one step forward. Her voice was ice. “I saw what you did.”

Nobody breathed. Four boys, two girls, and Desmond in the middle. The court suddenly felt like the center of a battlefield.

Desmond finally moved. He didn’t look at Bianca. He didn’t look at Precious. He looked at Daniel.

Then he said nothing.

Bianca’s “I saw what you did” was still hanging in the air. Nobody moved.

Daniel, Joel, Kelvin, and Enoch were frozen in a loose half-circle behind Desmond. Joel looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him. Kelvin was staring at his shoes. Enoch had his arms crossed, watching like it was a match. Daniel just looked tired.

Precious broke the silence first. She let out a laugh. Short, sharp, nothing friendly about it.

“Oh, so you can see,” she said to Bianca, her voice sweet and poisonous at once. “I thought you were blind.”

Before Bianca could answer, Precious grabbed a fistful of Desmond’s uniform shirt and yanked him down to her level. She kissed him.

It wasn’t a peck. It was deliberate. Claiming. Her point made in front of Bianca, in front of his friends, in front of half the court.

Joel sucked in a breath. Kelvin choked. Someone in the crowd gasped loud enough to hear.

Precious pulled back, lips curved. She winked at Bianca. Slow, obvious then tightened her grip on Desmond’s shirt.

“Let’s go,” she said, and started pulling him toward the classroom block, away from Bianca, away from his friends.

Desmond didn’t resist. He didn’t look at Bianca. He didn’t look at Daniel. He just let Precious drag him, one step, then another.

Daniel finally moved. He stepped forward like he was going to say something, to stop it. Joel grabbed his arm.

“Dude, no,” Joel hissed. “Not here.”

Bianca hadn’t moved. Her face was blank. That was worse than screaming. Geraldine reached for her elbow, but Bianca shook her off.

The bell chose that moment to ring, loud and ugly, ending free period.

Students scattered, but nobody was looking at their classes. They were looking at Bianca, standing alone, and at Desmond’s back as Precious pulled him around the corner.

Kelvin broke the silence in their group. “he's so screwed.”

Enoch nodded, grim. “Yeah. He is”

Precious dragged Desmond almost midway to the classroom block, her fingers still twisted in his shirt. She wasn’t walking fast , she wanted people to see. Two second-years ducked into a doorway to stare. A group of first-years froze mid-step.

Desmond let her pull him. His expression was unreadable, but he wasn’t fighting her. That was the part that made everyone watch.

Behind them, at the center of the basketball court , Daniel, Joel, Kelvin, and Enoch hadn’t moved. The bell had rung. Free period was over. No one went to class.

“Dude,” Kelvin muttered, watching Desmond’s back disappear around the corner. “He actually went with her.”

“After Bianca saw that,” Enoch said, shaking his head. “He’s dead.”

Joel didn’t laugh. For once. “Bianca looked like she was gonna kil...”

“Don’t,” Daniel cut him off. He finally picked up his basketball. “Just don’t.”

Halfway to the classrooms, Precious’s victory march got cut short.

“Precious!”

Priscilla jogged up to them, breathless, her prefect badge glinting on her uniform. She didn’t look at Desmond. She kept her eyes on Precious like this was official business.

“Sir Erasmus called for you,” Priscilla said. “Office. Now.”

Precious’s grip on Desmond’s shirt tightened for a second. Then she let go, smoothing his collar like she owned it. She shot a look back toward the court, toward Bianc ,and smiled.

“Excused,” she said, all fake politeness. She turned on her heel and walked off with Priscilla, not looking back at Desmond once.

Just like that, he was standing alone in the middle of the corridor.

He didn’t go after her. He didn’t go back to his friends. He just stood there for a beat, then shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking. Not toward class. But was heading towards the science block.

Back at the court, Kelvin exhaled. “I smell war”

“Same here,” Enoch and Joel said at the same time.

Daniel watched Desmond’s back until he vanished. Then he looked toward the classroom block where Bianca had disappeared with Geraldine and Annabel.

The boys followed them.

Desmond took the long way around the science block, hands in his pockets, trying to outrun the image of Bianca’s face at the court. It wasn’t working.

He was still lost in his thoughts, when a voice stopped him.

“Hey, you!”

He turned. Isabel stood three steps away, school bag slung over her shoulder, her expression blank. Not scared. Not impressed. Just blank.

Desmond frowned. He wasn't familiar with her face “Excuse me, have we met?”

Isabel’s jaw set. “Oh we’ve met already.” Her face was serious. Her tone matched.

Desmond rolled his eyes. He was in no mood. “Chill! What’s with the attitude?”

She didn’t answer. She just stepped forward, pulled a folded note from her skirt pocket, and shoved it into his hand. “Here. Take your money.”

Then she turned to leave.

Desmond’s fingers closed around her wrist on instinct. He wasn’t thinking. “What’s the money for?”

Isabel froze. She looked down at his hand on her wrist, then up at his face. When she spoke, every word was flat and deliberate.

“It’s yours. You weren’t yourself last night and you forced it on me just for bumping into you and refusing to apologize.”

She tried to pull her hand free. He didn’t let go right away.

Across the corridor, Daniel and Joel had just turned the corner. They stopped when they saw Desmond holding Isabel's wrist. Joel’s mouth opened.

“Dude,” Daniel said under his breath. “What now?”

Kelvin and Enoch caught up behind them. Four pairs of eyes locked on Desmond and Isabel.

Desmond finally dropped Isabel’s hand. He looked down at the money. Twenty cedis, creased from being in her pocket.

Then back at her face. Something clicked.

“Oh,” he said, his bored mask slipping into something sharper. “You were the one. I absolutely remember you bumping into me.” He tilted his head, studying her. “just for my money.”

Isabel blinked. “What?!!”

“Yeah!” Desmond grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He was back to playing.

“You’re insane!” Isabel snapped. Her voice echoed down the empty corridor. “Why will I return it ?if i wanted your money ? I wanted your apology.”

That wiped the grin off his face.

Desmond recovered fast. He leaned against the wall, casual, like he hadn’t just been called out by a girl who refused to fawn over him. “Oh. Or you want to come close to me. ’Cause you can’t resist a cute boy like me.”

Down the hall, Joel choked. Kelvin covered his mouth to kill a laugh. Enoch just mouthed “no way” at Daniel. Daniel didn’t look amused.

Isabel didn’t even roll her eyes. She looked at Desmond like he was something she’d scraped off her shoe. “I would rather be single than like a mannerless boy like you.”

She didn’t wait for a comeback. She turned and walked away, her back straight, her steps measured. Not running. Never running.

Desmond watched her go. Then, slow, a smile pulled at his mouth. Not his usual smirk. Something real. Surprised.

“Wow!!” he said under his breath. “That was harsh.”

The moment shattered.

“Desmond!!”

Bianca’s voice cracked down the corridor like a whip. She was storming toward him, Geraldine and Annabel half-jogging to keep up. Her eyes weren’t on his friends. They were on the spot where Isabel had just disappeared.

“What were you doing with that girl?” Bianca demanded, stopping two feet from him.

Joel, Kelvin, Enoch, and Daniel had gone statue-still. Nobody wanted to be in this.

Desmond shoved the twenty cedis into his pocket. He shrugged. “Just talking.”

Bianca’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean by just talking?”

Desmond opened his mouth. “Well she...”

He stopped. Because how did he explain Isabel? She gave me back money I forced on her yesterday when I was being an i***t, then called me mannerless to my face and walked off.

Yeah. That wouldn’t help.

Bianca crossed her arms. “Well?”

Behind Desmond, Daniel finally moved. He stepped forward, putting himself between Desmond and Bianca without actually getting in the middle.

“Bell’s gonna ring for next class,” Daniel said. Neutral. A peace offering.

Nobody moved.

Desmond was not done.

He pulled her into a hug, quick and public, like he was proving a point to everyone watching. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous!”

Bianca stiffened in his arms. “Desmond! I hate precious!”

He shrugged, his chin resting on top of her head. “Who says your enemies should be my enemies?”

That did it.

“Huh!” Bianca shoved out of the hug, her eyes flashing. She didn’t care who saw.

Desmond just slid his hands into his pockets. “Never mind.”

The anger drained out of Bianca as fast as it came. She hated that about him. How he could flip her mood with two words. She stepped closer again, lowering her voice. “Desmond. Will you have time tonight?”

He raised an eyebrow. “No. Why do you ask?”

“I was thinking maybe we can go out tonight.” She said it carefully. Not demanding. Asking. That was new.

Desmond didn’t even pause. “Sorry. I have somewhere to go. Next time.”

Bianca’s jaw tightened, but she forced a smile. “Okay.” Then she hugged him again, tight, like she could keep him there if she held on long enough.

Over Bianca’s shoulder, Desmond’s eyes found Daniel by the tap. Daniel looked away first.

The siren wailed, ugly and loud. Change of lessons ,but they were still outside, not caring about the class they skipped.

Bianca let go of Desmond slowly. She didn’t say anything else. She just walked to class with Geraldine and Annabel, her back straight, her head high.

Desmond watched her go. Then he followed.

Joel exhaled. “He told her no.”

“Yeah,” Daniel said. “To go out with her. Not to stop seeing Precious.”

Kelvin and Enoch looked at each other. Neither of them had an answer for that.

"Let go to class "Joel said. And they left.