THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

Chapter Two

A week later, I could not take that disgrace away from my mind. I didn't see her after then so I thought maybe she loves staying indoor.

One evening, we had visitors. Mum called me to open the door and when I did, I saw her and her parents. I was shocked. I thought maybe she reported me or something. I greeted her parents and they responded warmly.

When my mum asked them to sit down, my eyes could not leave Caroline. She snubbed me and I took it as a warning- "you are dead today". What made me worry was not the harsh words I would get from my mum but the disgrace I would get from Caroline.

After offering them drinks, her mum talked. " Ma, we heard that your son got admission into UI". "Yes" my mum responded. "Caroline chose UI in her jamb and we were happy when we heard about your son's admission. We have a favor to ask you." Her mum said. "Okay, what favour?" My mum asked. "Since UI doesn't resume soon and as regards post utme, we want your son to give lessons to Caroline. I hope you don't mind?" She said smiling a bit. "I am not sure. It's fine by me but I don't know if Tunji will want that." My mum answered looking at me. "Tunji, do you think you will have the time to teach Caroline?" My mum added. I walked up to them, looked at Caroline who was looking down, and I smiled a bit not allowing them to notice. "Yes, I will. Since I am always free. I will teach her" I replied. Her mum looked at me and said alright.

I guess she was shy because of how she responded when we first met-a tit for tat.

After that interesting encounter, Caroline didn't show face. I didn't hear her voice. Deep down, I thought she was shy. I didn't bother since I won't be affected but the fact that she chose UI made me happy. A fellow Uite and she is next door.

I was listening to music one afternoon when I heard a knock on the door. I asked who it was and there was no response. I continued with what I was doing. The knock came again. Angrily, I stood up and went to the door. I opened it and saw Caroline with books in her hand. I was surprised. She was looking at me straight in the eye. I swallowed my saliva because we were never this close before. She motioned for me to move and she went in. I followed her in. She sat on a chair and I sat on the longer cushion. The atmosphere was strange. After some minutes, she looked at me and said "So?" . I looked at her and asked which subject we would talk about. She said any. I started with physics. Explaining to someone who is sitted far away from me was somehow. I told her to move closer but she didn't answer.

After a while, I got tired and told her" if you want me to teach you, you have to follow my rules. I can't stand this rudeness" I said that in a gentle and honest way. Her answer baffled me.

When I said that to her, I was expecting her to either stand up and scream at me or leave. She did nothing. She looked at me, blinked and looked down. She said I am sorry. Hearing those three words were shocking and more surprising. I looked at her baffled making her feel somehow.." Can she be as gentle as this?" I asked myself. I said okay and she moved closer. We continued with the tutoring and that lasted for hours. When she was leaving, I asked her when we would meet next and she said tommorrow. For the remaining hours of that day, I was smiling. She said sorry. She was gentle. Even my mum noticed how happy I was. I expected the next day to be great or so I thought.