Whispers and Jealousy

By the next week, Breakthrough Academy Secondary School was buzzing and somehow, Ebun’s name was at the center of it.

It started small. A few students noticed how often she and Daniel talked. Then someone saw them laughing under the almond tree again, and by the end of the day, the gist had gone round the entire SS2 block.

“Ebun and Daniel are dating,” one girl whispered near the canteen.

“Ah! But he just resumed!” another replied.

“Love at first sight,” someone added, and everyone burst into laughter.

Ebun heard the gossip later that evening when Eri came to her bed with wide eyes.

“Babe, have you heard?”

“Heard what?” Ebun asked, already suspicious.

“You and Daniel are now campus couple!”

Ebun almost choked on her biscuit. “What?! Eri! It’s not even funny!”

Eri laughed. “Don’t vex. I’m just telling you what people are saying o. Me I sha know you like gist with that boy.”

Ebun hissed and buried her face in her pillow. But deep down, a tiny part of her couldn’t stop thinking about it. Why did everyone even care?

The next day in class, things felt different. A few girls whispered when she walked in. Even Daniel noticed.

“Did something happen?” he asked quietly.

Ebun sighed. “People are just being annoying.”

He frowned. “About what?”

“Us.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Us?”

She avoided his gaze. “Never mind.”

During break, a girl named Bisi known for spreading half of the school gossip came over to Daniel’s seat, smiling too sweetly.

“Hi Daniel,” she said, flipping her braids. “You shouldn’t be sitting with Ebun too much o. People are starting to talk.”

Daniel looked up calmly. “And why should I care what they say?”

Bisi blinked, surprised. “Just saying. You’re new here. You don’t want drama.”

He smiled faintly. “Then maybe people should stop creating it.”

Bisi rolled her eyes and walked off, but Ebun had seen the whole thing. For some reason, her stomach twisted — a mix of embarrassment and something else she couldn’t name.

When the bell rang, she packed her books quickly.

“Ebun, wait” Daniel called.

“I’ll see you later,” she said shortly and walked away before he could say anything else.

That evening, she sat alone behind the hostel, watching the sky darken. She felt angry — not at Daniel, not really, but at how everyone turned a simple friendship into gossip.

She was lost in thought when she heard footsteps.

Daniel.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said gently.

“I just wanted some air,” she replied without looking at him.

He stood beside her quietly for a while. Then, softly, “Don’t let them get to you. They’ll talk today and forget tomorrow.”

Ebun sighed. “It’s not that simple.”

He turned to her. “I didn’t come to this school to make trouble. But if talking to you causes drama… then I’ll still talk to you.”

She glanced at him, surprised. “Why?”

He smiled that calm, patient smile she was beginning to know too well.

“Because you’re the only person here who makes this place feel less strange.”

For a moment, the air went still. The crickets hummed, the hostel lights flickered in the distance, and Ebun’s heart beat faster than she wanted it to.

She looked away quickly, pretending to focus on the sky. “You talk too much,” she muttered.

Daniel laughed softly. “Maybe. But only when I’m talking to you.”

And just like that, the tension faded replaced by a quiet warmth that neither of them dared to name.

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