Chapter {26} Destiny

Upcoming exams were rolling up and stress was eating up at me. There was no day when my plate was not full. Assignments and Exam preparations were underway for everyone except for Nio— he seems so nonchalant and uncaring, while we ran around doing last-minute studies he was seated uncaring as though he knew everything there was to know. But perhaps I was judging him and he knew all he needed to know and made use of the time he had to study at home as I had but still needed more time to grasp the concepts and know them word for word.

There was only one way to find out whether he was fully prepped for the test, "Nio, why aren't you studying?" And as usual, his head was buried under his phone.

"Amore? Why study for what you already know?" He smirked looking at me, his eyes were no longer downcasted or dull but with one careful glance I could see that his grey pools were filled with colour and an emotion he had hidden from everyone; love.

"So, you have revised everything we dealt with this semester?" I was genuinely curious, perhaps I had fallen head over heels for a genius.

"I did not need to as I had done all my assignments and paid attention in class and with an IQ of 160, I don't think I should fill my mind with things it has already stored," Wow, that was new, he was a genius!

"Oh, okay." I decided to leave him alone as clearly he had no intention of studying or bothering himself with the exam and maybe I deserved a break before bombarding my mind with tedious information.

"Pack up your stationery and make your way to the writing Hall!" Mr Heywood walked into the room and boomed without a greeting but I could not possibly expect a greeting from him.

Most learners made their way out of the class, chatting loudly to their classmates, while some walked anxiously with study papers tightly gripped in their hands and lips quickly moving in hopes of remembering all that they had studied. Nio on the other hand was not chatting to anyone or stressing himself about the exam but looked rather nonchalant he seemed to have something eating at his mind.

"Are you okay?" I took the liberty of asking him, perhaps today he would open up to me.

"Nothing, just worried about the exam," he shrugged looking me deep in the eyes as though he wanted to tell me something. But as he was about to open up he seemed to get tongue-tied, only opening his mouth just to close it again with a sigh.

He then stood up and walked away without saying another word, leaving me to think about what he could've possibly wanted to tell me.

"What are you waiting for? Do you possibly want to be specially asked? If so, say so and stop wasting my time!" Mr Heywood barked at me. His angry gaze met mine, and without a shadow of a doubt, I knew that he one hundred percent hated me. But why? Today I would not be silenced but would most definitely speak up.

"Sir, why do you hate me?" I asked raising from my seat and packing my stationery before walking down to him as he stood, watching my every move with anger still etched on his face.

An evil smirk touched his lips, "Well if I began to list all the things I loathe about you, you would leave a sobbing mess and probably end up hating yourself." He said crossing his arms on his broad chest covered by an expensive-looking blue shirt. He knew I would not stop till I found the reason why he hated me especially since he hated a lot of things about me.

"Go ahead and tell me, sir," I prepared myself for the profane words that would spill out of his mouth.

"If you insist then I shall, for starters, I hate how you got free will in this prestigious university but still decided to take advantage of that and tried to hurt Samantha. Secondly, I dislike how someone such as yourself could even get here in the first place and finally I dislike your lack of punctuality," he finished with a satisfactory grin on his face for successfully completing his mission to hurt me and disregard my emotions, it was like Samantha was back again.

I swallowed back the tears as his words hit deep and that's when I realised why the Lord had said that we would be judged for every word and action we take on Earth, good and bad because a few simple words were enough to hurt someone beyond recovery. And now I felt as though everyone seemed to have some sort of dislike towards me and loved torturing me emotionally, till I ran back into the warm arms of my loving Heavenly Father.

"Okay, I get why you hate me but please remember that I am not perfect and neither do I wish to be, sir, are you a Christian, actually scratch that out are you a Child of God?"

His brows furrowed, "How does my religion fit in the context of what we are talking about?"

"I am guessing that you are indeed a Christian," by now I was standing in front of him and when he didn't reply I knew I was right.

"How can you claim to be a child of God or even a Christian without loving all like you love yourself? How can you do so when you have so much hate in your heart, how can you do so if you cannot accept another human being just the way they are, the canvas and the clay of the Lord, the image of the Almighty Lord, uniquely, wonderfully and fearfully made?" One tear slid down my cheek, which I quickly wiped away, I could not show him just how hurt I actually was.

"I-l don't have any words," he stuttered, looking everywhere but me as he analysed how he had lived his life.

"You don't have to have any words but a heart, a heart that Christ had when he shed his blood on the cross, have that love that God had when he gave his only begotten son to die on the cross for us, for the bible says in  1 John 1:6-7 that;

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Are you walking in the light of God? Do you have his glory shining upon you or are you living in bitter hate, in blinding darkness?"

When he did not reply, I continued, sniffling, "I don't know what has happened to you that you turned out to be a man with a hardened heart but what I do know is that God can turn any situation around and turn your heart soft like a pillow, sweet like an ice-cream on a hot summer day but that can only happen if you allow him to if you open the door of your heart and let him enter. There's nothing impossible with God. He died for your sins, carried them on the cross, and you just need to accept Him as your Lord and Saviour."

"Well, I don't need him, I-l am fine just as I am," he replied stubbornly, hardening his heart once more before stepping back and disappearing into the hallway.

I then realised that change did not happen overnight but was gradual and I knew that he would change one day but what if he did not and by the time he did it would be too late?

A scripture resounded in my heart Ezekiel 33:4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

I thought I could've done more than I did today but was glad I could finally open up about the loving grace of the King of Kings and how he could save him, it showed that the countless amount of times I had prayed God heard my pleas and finally answered me and now I was brave enough to tell others about him. Now all I would do is pray for Mr Heywood and hope that he would allow the Lord into his heart and life.

With that thought, I walked to the writing Hall, and that's when I remembered that they closed the hall at exactly ten ó clock, how could this slip my mind? I was so deep in the conversation with Mr Heywood that I forgot about my exam. I promptly looked for my phone which had suddenly disappeared in my bag whilst simultaneously trying to find my way to the hall. After searching for a good minute, I found it hidden under my textbook and hastily removed it. Only to find that my battery was flat and my phone had switched off. What was going on?

Lord, please help me find a solution to this problem, I seriously need you now.

I waited for another solid minute, as I tried to switch on my phone, which was my last hope, not only did I need the time but it had a map with a clear outline of the campus but now it could not even switch on.

Minute after minute seemed to tick by and my phone was still off and that's when I lost hope of ever writing my test. An ocean full of tears leaked out of my eyes as I thought about how hard I had studied just to write the test, I had been well prepared but it was all going down the drain by the time I found the hall, the doors would be closed shut and I would not be able to write. The tears did not stop as everything just piled up on me, from the test to Mr Heywood's harsh words. Everyone who passed by gave me weird looks, none of them stopping to ask what had gone wrong.

I slid down the wall and laid my head on my raised legs as I continued crying regretting why I had even come to Italy in the first place, all I had ever experienced was pain and hatred. I missed home, and I missed my mom but something reminded me that no matter where I was God was with me.

The sound of rushed footsteps reached my ears but I was too tired to raise my head and continued in my cry of despair.

"Amore!" Nio? No, it couldn't be, he was in the hall writing his test. My mind was making up all these sounds.

"Amore," I was shaken by hands that could only belong to one person. I raised my head and found Nio kneeling beside me, his worried glance upon me.

"Nio?"

"Yes, it's me, what are you doing here? I searched high and low for you, why were you not at the hall?" He asked, running his hand through his messy hair that looked dishevelled, a clear sign that he had been running his hand through it.

"I-l was in class," I replied my eyes watering again.

"Why are you crying, amore?" He asked giving me a once over before tenderly wiping my tears away, leaving me astonished at his care.

"Because I cannot write the test as the halls are closed," I admitted, looking away suddenly embarrassed from getting over something such as that.

"Amore, you can and will write the test. Okay?" He looked me in the eye and I looked at his and found a gleam of love hiding behind them. Did he love me as I did?

He lifted me from the ground and held my hand and bag as we walked to the hall. Eyes turned to look at us curiously as we walked hand-in-hand.

One thought ran through my head and that was how I could no longer hide my love for the man beside me.

"N-nio?" I called, halting him to a stop before removing my sweaty palms from his hand and taking a deep breath as I looked at the one who gave me his utmost attention and toke the time to look for me when he could've been writing his test.

"Yes?"

"I... Love you."