Episode 1 : Notebook incident

Zoe willams had exactly five minutes to get to biology class, finish her meat pie, and figure out why her heart skipped every time Jason Atwood smiled at her.

So far, she was failing on all three.

The sun beat down on the dusty courtyard of Silver High School as students rushed to their various classes. Some were chatting loudly, others dragging their feet, but Zoe walked with purpose — clutching her worn-out books and nibbling on the meat pie she’d bought with her last ₦300.

“Zoe!” someone shouted behind her. She didn’t need to turn — she already knew that voice.

Jason Atwood, tall, cocky, and stupidly good-looking, was jogging toward her like he had all the time in the world.

He was wearing a hoodie over his uniform shirt — school rules be damned — and his smile was as careless as ever.

“You’re late,” she said as he caught up to her.

Jason shrugged. “Takes time to look this good.”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “Or maybe your driver got stuck in traffic again?”“Actually,” he said, dramatically sniffing his own shirt, “I couldn’t decide between vanilla breeze and storm thunder cologne. You know, for the full academic experience.”

She snorted. “You smell like debt and disappointment.”

Jason clutched his chest in mock pain. “You wound me, Z.”

“You’ll survive.”

They walked side-by-side toward the science block. Their steps fell in sync without effort. It had always been like that with them — easy, natural, familiar. Since JSS1, they had done everything together. They were known as "Zoe and Jason", always side by side, always teasing, always arguing — but never apart.

Zoe tried to pretend she hadn’t noticed how tall he’d grown. Or how his voice had deepened. Or how every time he smiled at her lately, her stomach did that stupid flip thing.

She shoved her biology textbook deeper into her backpack, trying to pull out her class notes.

Except… her fingers missed.

Her biology notebook — the one with all her assignments, sketches, and last-minute cramming tips — slipped out and landed, face-down, in a dirty puddle by the steps.

“Oh no,” she gasped.

Jason bent down instantly and picked it up. Mud dripped from the corners.

“It’s still good!” he said, shaking it hopefully.

Zoe took it from him and opened it. The ink had smudged. Pages were stuck together. Her diagrams were now watercolor disasters.

She looked up at him, horror in her eyes. “That was due today.”

Jason winced. “Okay. That’s on me. I distracted you.”

Zoe groaned. “Jason!”

“Hey — I’ll fix it. I’ll buy you a new one. And lunch. Deal?”

She blinked. “Lunch?”

“Yes. Food heals emotional wounds. And notebooks, apparently.”

Zoe crossed her arms. “Fine. But I’m picking the place.”

“Obviously,” he said, grinning. “You’re the queen of budget bites.”

“Better than being the king of broken promises.”

Jason grinned and tossed an arm over her shoulder. “I’ll take it.”

Zoe laughed, shaking her head. But even as they walked toward the lab, something was different. The touch of his arm lingered longer than it used to. And when he smiled at her now, it didn’t feel harmless anymore. It felt... dangerous.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

Jason Atwood: best friend, partner-in-crime, professional teaser… and now, the guy who made her feel like her heart had a drum inside it.

No. She wasn’t going there. Not again.

They slid into the biology class seconds before the teacher walked in. Zoe pretended to listen. Jason actually dozed off halfway through a diagram on osmosis.

But her mind was stuck on one thing — that soft look in his eyes when he offered her lunch. It wasn’t the usual Jason nonsense.

It was… something else.

*Later that day…*

They met by the canteen gate like always, but this time Zoe had her arms crossed.

“You’re lucky I’m hungry,” she said.

Jason held up his hands. “I come in peace.”

They got jollof rice and fried plantain from the regular line — to the shock of half the school. Jason Atwood, eating with the “commoners”? A scandal!

They found a quiet bench under the mango tree. Zoe poked at her rice. Jason balanced his tray like he was doing it for the first time in his life.

“So,” he said between bites, “this makes us even, right?”

Zoe raised a brow. “You still owe me a new notebook.”

“True. And possibly therapy, for the trauma.”

She laughed. “Definitely therapy.”

They fell into their usual rhythm — teasing, talking, eating like they hadn’t seen food in days.

Then Jason asked, quietly, “Do you ever think about… after school?”

Zoe blinked. “You mean like university?”

“Yeah. Life. Friends. Us.”

“Us?”

He nodded. “You think we’ll still be this close?”

Zoe hesitated. “I don’t know. I hope so.”

Jason gave her a long look. “I hope so too.”

There it was again — that shift. That thing in his voice that made her chest tighten and her mind scream questions.

She quickly looked away and stuffed plantain in her mouth.

Play it cool, Zoe. Play. It. Cool.

But in her heart, a single terrifying thought had already bloomed:

She was falling for her best friend.

And worse?

She had no idea if he was falling too.

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