Games of Hearts

Chapter One

"Uhm… aren't we dating?"

The text flashed across her screen like a tiny bombshell. Nike blinked once, then twice, before bursting into a sarcastic laugh. Without hesitation, she sent her reply:

"Dating? How? When? Did you ask me out? Did I say yes?" The audacity. She laughed again, amused at how ridiculous the situation was. On the other end, the guy's heart must have shattered into a million pieces.

"If you didn't like me… why then did you…" his message trailed off, unable to fully capture the swirl of emotions he was feeling.

"Sir!" Nike typed back, adding just the right amount of sarcasm. "Please, I don't really like stress. I'm working on a serious project and am quite busy. Bye for now." She punctuated her response with a cheeky smile emoji, then hit send.

Without wasting another second, she blocked his number and deleted the chat. "New miracles every morning," she muttered with a shrug, tossing her phone aside. Picking up her game controller, she dived back into her match as if nothing had happened.

**** 

"Nike, I still don't understand how you do this," her friend, Adesua, said, shaking her head in disbelief. "How do you sleep at night, casually rejecting guys who are, like, head over heels for you?"

"Easy," Nike replied with a smirk, sipping her juice as though her friend had asked the most obvious question in the world. "The heart is a freaking prison, boys are a waste of time, and life is short."

Adesua sighed deeply, throwing her hands in the air. "You know you'll eventually get married one day, right? You can't keep dodging love forever."

"One day," Nike echoed, leaning back in her chair with a scoff. But the sly smirk that followed hinted she wasn't taking her friend seriously.

Nike's POV 

Heartbreaker. Flirt. Heartless. They call me many things. Maybe I am all of that, but who cares? I live my life how I want, free of emotional baggage or unnecessary drama. Life's too short to be tied down, and frankly, boys are too predictable to keep me interested for long.

Yet… there's always that nagging voice in my head. That faint whisper. One day, Nike… One day, someone will come along and make you feel all the things you've avoided for so long. But until that day comes? I'm just going to keep living my life, one broken heart at a time.

****

That's how life has been going. Smoothly and adorable. I had a destination ahead of me, boys, I always thought were bus stops to take a rest then move on. Heart breaks? That's not me ever. I don't think I have actually experience something as heart break or depression. I wonder for girls of my age or even younger that cries every day, bang their heads on the wall and try so hard to win boys especially those who didn't value their worth.

I'm not going to blame them though. They just don't understand that you have to love with your heart, think with your head.

"What's up with your prom plans?" Adesua asked, scrolling through Pinterest on her phone as we lounged on my bed, checking out some really cool outfit ideas.

"I need a prom date. The boys in class are..." I trailed off, struggling to find the right words to describe them.

"Pick Noel," Adesua said casually, her eyes glued to the screen. "He's pretty cute, he's rich, and he's a cool dude," she added with a grin.

"Uh… I don't like his eyes. They're scary," I sighed, as if that was something to actually feel sad about.

"Nike, that's what girls usually love him for! His eyes!" Adesua half-shouted, looking at me like I'd just committed a cardinal sin.

"Go for him, then," I shot back with a laugh, grabbing my phone to check my messages.

I had just been added to a group chat. Cool, I thought. But barely a few minutes in, I got a notification that I'd been removed. Without wasting time, I went straight to the admin's DM. My fingers flew over the keyboard as I typed a polite message.

"Hello, you removed me. Why?" I sent the text, frowning slightly.

It took almost thirty minutes before he replied.

"Because you were acting freakish, creepy, and weird."

The response hit me like a slap, and I froze, staring at my screen. For a moment, I felt my composure slip. Then, a small laugh escaped my lips, covering up the sting.

"Uh, excuse me, I didn't even say anything serious," I texted back, my fingers hovering over the keyboard as I tried to think of something savage to add. Nothing came to mind, though.

"That doesn't change my previous deductions," he replied. His words carried a cold, casual nonchalance that practically leaped off the screen.

I leaned back on my pillow, biting my lip as I thought of a comeback. But instead, I just let it slide. "Wow, okay," I muttered to myself, deciding not to give him the satisfaction of a real reaction.

"Who's that?" Adesua asked, peeking over my shoulder.

"Some guy with way too much attitude," I replied with a shrug, tossing my phone aside. For some reason, his bluntness lingered in my mind longer than it should have.

Adesua laughed, shaking her head. "You and your drama. Honestly, it's a talent," she said, returning her focus to the outfits on her screen.

I smiled to myself, my face returning to the screen as I typed:

"Just add me back."

"I need to see your picture to confirm if you're a boy or girl, because you're still freaky."

"Can you stop saying that already?" I replied, my fingers jabbing at the screen in mild annoyance.

"What do you expect? Your name is literally jailbreak, and that's a boy's name," he typed, adding, "a criminal's name, as a matter of fact!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a boy," I replied, tossing in a bored emoji for good measure. Then, with a smirk, I added: "I just happen to steal hearts, jail them, and break them."

His response came almost immediately. "Damn…"

I grinned, proud of the comeback.

"Just send your picture. If you're fine, we'll reconsider adding you back," he said with an irritating mix of nonchalance and sarcasm.

Normally, I'd make anyone who asked for my photo send theirs first. But this time, I badly wanted back into the group, and this admin was getting on my nerves—though, strangely, I also found him interesting.

I sent a picture with the "view once" feature and waited. His reply came after what felt like forever. "I've seen this before. Send another."

No "please." No explanation.

What kind of human is this? Was his sense of sight malfunctioning, or was he just a professional sadist? And why did I even expect a compliment? Did I care? I hadn't even seen him before, so… Wait. How had he seen me before? I'd never met him. Unless… Was my name already so popular that people knew me as Jailbreak?!

The thought sent me into a mini panic before another thought calmed me—and left me smirking. So I'm getting popular, huh?

"Uh… are you okay?" Adesua asked, watching me act out the drama with my phone like I was in a Nollywood movie.

"Shhh," I hushed her without looking up.

I sent another picture. This time, after another eternity, he replied with a video set to "view once." Excited, I opened it, only to find a compilation of side views, back angles, and masks—anything but his face.

I sighed. Since he didn't bother complimenting my picture, I let his pass without a word. Instead, I typed: "Can I be added to the group now?"

His reply came seconds later. "Save my number," he said. Then added, "That's if you want, though. I already saved yours."

Before I could reply, he went offline.

"Na wa o!" I muttered, shaking my head. My phone buzzed again, and I saw the group chat lighting up with messages. He'd added me back—but didn't even bother to mention it!

Reluctantly, I went back to his chat, reacted with a thumbs-up emoji, and saved his number. Why? Maybe I found him cool. Maybe he was different from the others, even if he'd been annoying all day.

As I went offline, his words and the whole conversation lingered in my mind longer than they should have.

Wait, what?

I shook it off. My graduation was in a few months, and I had prom to plan. No time to waste. Speaking of which, I still hadn't checked my JAMB result. Only God knew what was written there.

And hold up—I didn't even ask for his name. But then again, he hadn't asked for mine, either. I'd wait. He'd ask first.

****

As I closed the chat and went offline, my phone buzzed again. This time, it wasn't from the group or the admin. It was an unknown number.

"Who's this?" I texted cautiously.

The reply came almost immediately: "You'll find out soon enough."

My heart skipped a beat. The message felt both playful and cryptic. My first thought was the admin, but something about this felt different.

"Stop playing games. Who are you?" I typed back, my fingers suddenly hesitant.

The next message was just an image—a blurry photo of me. Taken recently.

I stared at the screen, my mind racing. How? Where? Was this a joke?

"Adesua!" I called out, my voice trembling slightly.

She looked up from her phone, concern flashing in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

I handed her my phone without a word. She glanced at the image and frowned. "Nike… where was this taken?"

I had no idea.

Just then, another text came through: "You're more interesting than you think."

****