ADAM

I and your dad... We're getting a divorce.

It was the news I've been expecting for years, the one I've always wanted to hear for years but now that it was finally here, I don't really know what to make of it.

I was happy that mom was finally getting out of the marriage, I was happy mom would be able to finally start all over on a clean state but there were things that had floating to my ears and drifting to me room from their conversations, arguments from that night.

Dad seemed angry, very angry at mom which wasn't exactly logical. I knew dad and I knew how quick he was to act on his anger by hitting her so him holding on to his last bit of self restraint to not take his anger out on mom and for him to be restraining himself that much... It did seemed like mom was holding something over him.

Something huge because that was the only reason why he'd agree to a divorce he did not obviously want. Mom was his pride, his perfect and flawlessly beautiful wife. I knew the kind of pride he has among his friends because of her.

I couldn't even tell what mom was scheming but I knew she was scheming something because it did not even look normal. One minute, she was speaking up for dad and defending his violent behavior and the next, she was dressing up extravagantly and announcing their divorce...

It did not even normal at all.

And then, there was Kunmi on the other hand. If she wasn't running or fleeing every time she saw me, then that meant she wasn't seeing me at all.

And it had been like that ever since we resumed.

She still wasn't interested in seeing me.

"Korede, I've been standing by your door for the past 15 minutes and you did not even notice." Mom's voice jolted me out of my reverie and I looked up from where I was reading at my study desk to see her walking towards me with a glass of what I could tell was milk in her hands.

"You've been spending more time indoor these days, is it because your exams are fast approaching or is it because you've decided to punish me by abandoning me downstairs?"

What's she even saying now?

She placed the tray on my desk and she ruffled my hair ever so slightly before leaning against my desk so she was slightly facing me.

"Or have you been locking yourself up in here because you're interested in chatting with your girlfriend more than you're interested in talking to your mom?"

I couldn't help the low sigh that escaped from my mouth and mom jerked towards me at that, her eyes glittering with an excitement that was a little bit unbefitting of her in this kind of situation.

"Why? Did she break your heart? Hmm hmm?" She asked excitedly and I found myself shifting back on the chair.

"Mom,"

"Hmmm?" She answered, her stance overly eager as if she was waiting to hear an exciting gist.

"How did you get dad to agree to agree to the divorce?"

Her stance fell immediately at my question and she leaned away from me so she was leaning fully against my desk again. For a while, she said nothing, she just kept staring at the wall behind me with her arms crossed over her chest.

And that was why I allowed myself to notice her... To notice what she was wearing.

She was wearing a long flowing gown, an armless and almost backless one and I could see her hand, the whole of it with the bruises. She was always covering up, always wearing the clothes that covered the whole of her body even when it was horribly hot. I knew it was because she didn't want me to see her scars and bruises.

But now, she was wearing something that was showing all of that, just like she had been doing every other day since she announced the divorce. I could see all the scars, the bruises, the fading ones, the ones that'd probably never fade, the ones that were permanently etched on her mind and I suddenly did not care how she was able to get dad to agree to the divorce.

What mattered was the fact that she was finally getting out of this marriage, out of this nightmare.

I couldn't even be more happy.

"I had to... I had to do something a little bit terrible to get him to agree but you don't mind, right? You won't hate me, right?" She asked solemnly, her tone masking something I couldn't decipher and her eyes still fixed on the wall behind me.

I did not know what to make of that.

Why she wouldn't look at me and what's the terrible thing she did to get dad to agree to the divorce?

Everything in me was dying to know what she did but I still didn't want to. The only important thing here was the fact that she was finally getting out of the divorce. That she was finally going to be happy.

"Mom, I'm happy as long as you're happy and divorcing dad is... You getting out of this marriage is the important thing."

"Right?" She asked eagerly, turning towards me in the process and for the briefest moment, I saw how clouded her eyes were with so many sad things before it cleared up again.

I wanted to hug her.

I started to get up to hug her and she spoke again.

"So I've been thinking that we should permanently move out of the country when you're done with all your exams. The divorce should be finalised by then."

I sat down back with a loud thud.

Ehn?

My eyes must have mirrored disbelief because she was quick to continue.

"I just don't want us to continue staying in this same city with your dad, not even country. For our, for your mental health. I know you have friends and probably you already have plans..."

I've had plans and moving out of the country wasn't just part of it at all. There was Kunle and Sophia and there was... There was Kunmi... How could mom just dump this on me that we're supposed to move out of the country in what... Less than five months?

Oh God.

Kunmi...

Of course not...

"I've been looking into Art schools for you in Canada..." She continued but I wasn't really paying attention to her. We were really moving out... Mom wasn't pasking me, she was telling me.

The prospect... The fact that I'd have to leave everything behind, Kunmi, Sophia, Kunle and every other thing was enough to fill me with so much dread that I couldn't process it.

"It shouldn't be that much of a big deal," She was quick to continue as if that'd alleviate me of my worries, "I mean, you are in SS3 and you're graduating soon, your friends must have plans of moving out of their countries to further their education too so it won't be like you're the only one leaving them behind."

Of course, we were in SS3 and we were graduating soon, we've always looked forward to that, that's what we've always been thinking about but we just never thought of what would come after.

The fact that we'd all have to go off to some other schools, that we'd all have to leave our current lives behind, start a new one with not necessarily our current friends in it.

I. Did. Not. Like. That. Thought.

I've always known I was going to study Visual Arts and if it wasn't in Coven School of Art here in the country, then it was obviously going to be outside the country but I just haven't allowed myself to dwell much on it, to think much of it but now, I was being forced to think about it.

"Korede, I know you probably don't like the idea and it might be too sudden for you but we really have to move out of the country... For security reasons..."

I sat up.

"What? Why? What security reasons? Are we..."

"Nooo... It's not like that." She interrupted and she put her left hand on my shoulders as if to reassure me. "I just don't want us to be in the same city with your dad when we finally settle everything."

I did not need anyone to tell me that the everything in the statement wasn't just about the divorce and I was torn between asking her to tell me what's up and not asking her.

Looking at her right now, she was looking happier, her eyes were shining as if there was a thousand stars in them. I've always wanted this for her. I've always wanted her to leave this nightmare behind. I've always wanted her to be fully and truly happy and I wasn't going yo deny her that simple happiness because it was just going to cost me a little.

"Alright mom. I understand. I know it's for the best and I actually don't mind."

I mind... There's Kunmi, Sophia... Kunle... I'm not sure what I'd be without them.

"Really? I'm glad you don't mind." She said excitedly before she lurched forward and she threw her hands around me. I smiled, feeling her contagious happiness. "That's why you're my favourite son." before she pulled back.

I chuckled at that.

"You don't even have any other son."

"Yeah, that's why you treat me anyhow you like."

"Mom... I love you."

She rolled her eyes playfully, "I'm not that pretty girl in school that you can't stop looking at when you're with her and can't stop thinking of when you're not with her."

I smiled, feeling that familiar tug at my heart. Just how much I couldn't get enough of Kunmi and just how little she knew this.

Mom shrank back as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Aaah, aye mi oo, look at how my son is smiling like mumu. Won ti lo nkan fun omo mi." They've used something for my son.

I burst into laughter. I just couldn't help it. God! This woman.

"Just bring her over soon. You can invite her over for dinner."

Hian...

I did not even need to burst into laughter before she started laughing at her own joke.

Mine trailed off and I sat there watching her. I've never seen her this happy, this carefree, this beautiful and this... This is what I've always wanted.

"Okay Okay," She clapped her hands together and she stood up straighter, "I know you can't get enough of how pretty your mom looks but I won't have you drooling  over me when you should be studying for your exams."

Aaah! My mouth dropped opened and I had to consciously close it back while mom just kept staring at me, a bemused expression on her face.

"So, let me leave you now to continue reading or thinking about her. Whichever one you've been doing."

"Muuuummm."

"Just keep doing whatever you're doing oo, I'll be downstairs."

She took two steps away from my study desk before she suddenly turned and walked back again.

"Drink this." She said, carrying the glass of milk from the desk and putting it towards my mouth.

I did not even understand why she'd want me to drink milk of all things in the world but I took a small sip, then made an attempt to collect the glass from her so I'd drop it on the desk.

She did not allow that and when I looked up at her, her brows were raised and she was looking at me sternly.

"You have to finish it now now."

"Mom, that's milk, not energy drink. I don't even understand why I'm drinking milk at my age. It's for small boys."

"Aaah," The corners of her mouth twisted up in mock disgust, "Sorry, I've forgotten that you're like 45 years old..."

"Mom..."

"Omode yii, just drink the milk jhare, you need to grow taller."

Hmmm?

"Mom, I'm already as tall as..."

I was interrupted by the cold liquid on my lips. She had nearly jammed the glass cup to my mouth, forcing me to open my mouth and forcing the milk down my throat slowly till the cup was empty.

God...

"Now, you just need to grow taller."

"I'm already taller than most of my friends..."

"In your dreams. Just keep reading jhare, ko je ki n gboro."

She said before she sashayed her way out of my room, leaving me in awe of her character.

And also to ponder on the fact that I'd have to leave the country and friends behind soon.

And Kunmi....

***********

There was something about the way the students wouldn't stop looking at me the moment I stepped into the gates of Crescent High.

I was used to the looks, to the unabashed stares from the girls and even the guys who wished they had my looks but this, these looks didn't seem like the ones I was used to.

It looked... I wasn't sure but it looked way different. It was more like they were gossiping about me.

I fleetingly wondered what's up before I concluded that I wasn't interested in knowing what's up with them. They could look and gossip and whisper all they wanted till they were tired of it.

That was until someone dragged me to the corridor the moment I was about to step into our block.

I started to shrug that person's hands hurriedly, shocked at that kind of nerve of the person to grab me like that.

Except that it was Sophia.

She let go of my hands and when I looked at her face, her always calm, nothing ever get to me eyes that now looked nothing like that. I instantly knew I should be worried.

She was literally almost shaking where she stood and she looked on edge as if she was privy to some very bad news.

I instantly connected the way she was acting to the stares and whispers I've been getting since I stepped into the school premises.

What's going on?

"Sophia..."

"Have you seen this?" She asked, her voice masked with self control, making it obvious that she was indeed trying to hide the vulnerability in her voice. I noticed the phone in her hands and I knew whatever she was taking about must be on the phone.

"What's that?" I asked and I took two steps closer to her while she just backed up away from me as if doing that will keep whatever information I was yet to know away from me.

"I think you should just go back home and talk to your... Your mom."

And talk to my mom...

My mom... What could she possibly have to do with this?

I had to... I had to do something a little bit terrible to get him to agree but you don't mind, right? You won't hate me, right?

I quietened that thought just as soon as it popped up.

Mom wouldn't... She wouldn't do anything remotely terrible but with the way Sophia was literally shaking like a fish on water, the students' whispers and looks... I did not know what to think, what to make of that.

"I think you should just skip school today." Sophia was still talking but I wad hardly paying any attention to her. My hand was already in my pocket, fishing out my phone. I needed to see with my own eyes what was going on.

I had hardly turned on my data when my phone was assaulted with hundreds of messages from our group chat. I've seen this... I've seen how Crescent High Students were always quick to jump into things that were so irrelevant to their future.

That wasn't even what attracted my attention. It was the notification from a popular blog and the headline was something about dad's company being acquired by another company, a company whose name I recognized to be dad's company closest competitor, D.C, Daare's Construction.

This meant dad's company was going over. If D. C was truly taking over, then the situation of the company must be so bad that dad would allow his greatest company take over. That explained his bad mood, his grumpy ones, why he was so angry and pained, why he looked like someone whose life was tripping over. I did not even care about that or about what that could mean for his financial status or how it'd invariably end up affecting mine.

But this wasn't explaining why mom looked like someone whose life was falling into pleasant places... Why she had been so happy since dad started falling into his own terrible mood.

Did mom perhaps have something to do with this? What could she even possibly have to with dad's company going over??

What...

My answers were answered when I kept scrolling to see the news being detailed that mom 'cheated with the CEO of D.C and she handed her husband's company over to biggest competitor.'

I've never read a more ridiculous news. Mom would... She would never do something like this... She would never.

The whole news looked like a well constructed fable. I was sure that someone must have paid the blogger to write this convincing fictional story to put mom in a bad light... I was sure of that until I stumbled upon pictures, pictures of mom and this supposed CEO of D.C, pictures of them eating out, entering cars together, him opening and holding the car's door for her.

My whole world tripped over and a sudden and heavy dizziness washed over me that I'd have fallen down if Sophia wasn't quick to grab my hands.

"Hey... You don't look good, Adam. Are you... I think you should just go back home. You know how unpleasant our mates can get with news like this... Just..."

I wasn't even paying attention to what she was saying. I was just trying to think, trying to remember the things mom had done that'd have suggested that she was having an illicit affair.

But I could think of nothing.

I knew mom and I know she'd never do something like this.

***********
KUNMI

I still haven't turned my phone on.

And I did not need to turn it on to know the rumors that had been going on and around about Adam dad's company and the supposed role that his mom played in everything.

How would that even be possible?

I only had to use the browser on my laptop to read the full article on the popular blog and the content of the blog wasn't even what saddened me, it was the comments, the hateful comments of people that knew nothing about their personal lives but were so quick to jump into conclusions because of some article on a site that'd do anything to garner traffic.

Fear women. I've seen videos and pictures of the Tellas on newspapers and local sites and I've seen how the man looks at his wife but she had been cheating? Cheated to the point of selling her husband's company to her concubine? Hell NO! Some women deserves to be locked up for real.

She had the nerve to cheat even though she couldn't give the man more than a child. The poor man deserves better for real. He could have easily married another wife but he stayed faithful to her and what? She's rendering him penniless? How heartless can she be?

I actually felt like crying at the point.

I don't care what the man might have done to her because nothing he could have done would warrant her destroying a company worth billions of naira. For what? For some dick? Some women are just certified hoes and before we know it, feminists will start looking for excuse to start defending her actions. Bunch of jobless and senseless sets of people.

She has that kind of committed and caring husband, lives in that sprawling mansion, drives those cars around, only has to snap her fingers and she'd have anything she wants and she still cheated and sold her husband's company? Women! She doesn't even have an idea how many ladies out there will kill to be in her shoes.

What kind of sleeping around is she even doing at this age? Does she not have any shame? Does she not care for her son at all?

Her son... God! Adam. I knew he must have seen all these. He must have read everything they were saying about his mom and I did not know what to make of that. My heart wouldn't stop hurting for him. He did not deserve to go through all these. His mom did not deserve to be patronised like this, not after the kind of pain she had gone through in her marriage.

He had not shown up in school for three days after the news broke out but afterwards, he had shown up in school every other day acting immune and oblivious to all the whispers, not like there were particularly that much whispers to begin with. They all gossiped all they wanted on the days he didn't show up in school but the moment he showed up in school, all the murmurs and whispers reduced to the barest minimum.

I wanted to go to him, wanted to go and console him, to tell him that everything would be better because I knew that under that hard exterior, under that facade of pretending to be fine, he wasn't fine at all.

But I still couldn't go to him. I couldn't go to him when I looked like this.

Him on the other hand wasn't even paying any attention to me. He had left me alone like I wanted but I still... I still wasn't okay.

Something made me look at the door and I saw Aminah entering the class, dressed fully in her school uniforms, with her blazers on too and I realized then that Aminah had hardly ever showed up in school without dressing completely like that.

She was always wearing that blazer.

She was entering the class and my eyes wouldn't stop following her. It was weird to see this new version of Aminah and think of her as the girl I was friends with for more than a year. She looked nothing of her and even when she talked which was almost never, she sounded nothing like the Aminah I knew.

She had become a totally different person.

Maybe she had always been a totally different person and we just never noticed before because she was too good at covering up and pretending.

I was still following her with my eyes when she got to her new seat and she sat down. I watched as she opened her Accounting textbook and she started to write some thing on her notebook.

She was writing on her notebook and she was constantly raising her head to copy whatever she was copying from her textbook to her notebook.

I was still watching her when her hands started trembling, it started trembling so bad that she had to clamps her left hand over her right one as if to stop the trembling. It did not work because the pen fell right out of her hands because her hands wouldn't stop trembling, trembling too much that it wasn't normal for a seventeen year old.

What's going...

She bent down, picked the pen on the floor but she couldn't even bring the pen up because it fell right out of her hands again and again and again for like 5 different times before she finally sighed tiredly and she sat up, abandoning the pen on the floor.

She sat perfectly still on her seat, her trembling hands clamped together, her expression neutral and vacant. She wasn't unused to this... Her hands trembling so much that she won't be able to hold objects properly.

She... I didn't know if I should be worried about her. I shouldn't even be... We were never friends. She hated me, loathed me, despised me, was repulsed by me but I liked her except that the girl I liked never existed.

And probably never would.

Her eyes darted up as if she knew someone was watching her and our eyes met.

I stilled, without even knowing why.

She smiled, the kind of smile that I've seen before on her face, a smile that scarred me too much because a smile wasn't supposed to look that sad and broken. I hurriedly looked away because I couldn't bare to look at her.

When I dared another glance at her, she was looking out of the window, hands now crossed over her chest and looking like sadness personified itself.

Looking at her, seeing her this way made me remember that I had stumbled upon her and Kunle just last week. Not stumbled upon per say but I was just walking towards the old block for studios when I overheard them talking.

It wasn't even a conversation, Aminah was the one trying to talk to him, to apologise to him but he wasn't even having any of that. Infact, it looked like it was taking all his self restraint nor to actually throttle her.

"Kunle... I... It's not... I'm not... I just..." She was stammering, unable to even articulate a statement while Kunle just kept staring at her as if she was the most despicable person on earth... The hate in his eyes as he looked down on her was so much, too much making it obvious that he actually couldn't stand her sight.

"If you don't have any tangible thing to say, I'll just take my leave..." And he started to turn back but Aminah was quick to grab his hand, successfully stopping him from walking away.

He turned back, slowly, the hate in her eyes turning into that of pure rage and he shrugged her hands off with so much force that she almost fall down.

"Don't ever grab my hands or ever try to touch me again. Don't. Ever. Do. That." He said through gritted teeth and he wagged a finger in her direction before he turned back and he started to walk away.

I thought he was really walking but he stopped when he got to a distance and he turned back and started walking, nah, he started storming back towards her in a maddening rage.

I shrank back, scared that he was really going to hurt her but Aminah stood her ground even when the guy looked like he was going to snap her neck into two.

"Do you even have an idea the gravity of what you've done? The impact, the meaning of what you've done. The... I thought... You don't know how much..." He trailed off and his rage and hate in his eyes evaporated giving way to the pure and undiluted hurt and pain... The two that he had been trying so hard to mask all these while just completely took over.

"I don't think I can ever forgive you so I see no reason why you should keep apologising. Let's just try not see each other till we graduate." He said in a cold and detached voice before he walked off.

I walked off quietly too without even waiting for Aminah's reaction.

"Baby Kay."

Oh my God.

Sophia's overly excited voice jolted me out of my reverie and I heaved a sigh. It was like I had gotten myself into another bout of wahala by laughing with her on the day of resumption because from then, she wouldn't leave me alone, wouldn't stop talking to me.

She wouldn't even let me breath in peace. It was Baby Kay this, Baby Kay that. She wanted to tell me this, wanted to tell me that. She wanted me to go to the cafeteria with her and when I insisted firmly that I wasn't going to the cafeteria knowing fully well that I'd never be able to go to the cafeteria and eat with that many people again, Sophia stopped going too and she'd sit with me throughout the break or follow me around whenever I decided not to stay in class.

I still did not know what to make of Sophia Williams.

But I allowed her to stick around, allowed her to be with me when I realized that students wouldn't dare to be outrightly rude to me whenever she was around.

I knew it was the same circle all over again but I really did not care.

"Baby Kay," She drummed loudly to my ears again as she took her seat beside mine with takeout nylons from the cafeteria in her hands. She actually unwrapped one and she stretched it out towards me.

"I got this for you," She said when I wasn't making any attempt to collect the wrap of sausage roll and Pepsi from her. In my head, I was already calculating the amount of calories in the snacks and soda, already calculating the fact that Sophia would follow me to the toilet if I should excuse myself to go to the toilet while my stomach was begging me to collect the snacks.

"I'll pass," I muttered and my stomach growled in protest.

"Okay, you can just eat it whenever you want to." Sophia answered before she dropped it on my desk and she started eating hers.

I ignored the worms in my stomach as she ate excitedly beside me.

Sophia, to me, to other girls, was indeed a symbol of perfection. Everything about her was exquisite, from her well oiled small afro hair to even the smallest things about her. Like even the way she was eating now. She was someone who did not even need to try. It was like poshness and exquisiteness were ingrained in her DNA.

Of course, every other girl was going to be jealous of her.

My eyes wandered from the caramel skin goddess beside me to Adam's seat.

Of course, he wasn't in class just like he hadn't been in class in most free periods, lunch breaks and even some classes and I knew he'd be in the Art studio and trying to escape reality by the strokes of brushes on paper.

I wanted to go and console him.

"Adam isn't fine." Sophia said simply beside me, drawing my attention back to her again. She was done eating her meat pie and she was cleaning her hands on the tissue, looking exquisite while at it and when she was done, she opened her coke and she drank everything in one gulp.

I sat up.

How could she drink a bottle of Coke in one gulp, in one sitting? Shouldn't she be wary of her weight as a model? How can she even eat that much calories and just be fine?

"Adam isn't fine," She repeated and my heart sank.

Of course, he wouldn't be fine. That was his mom, his favourite person in the world. She had done nothing wrong and people were so quick to troll her that much without even carrying for the facts. And what was even more mind bogging? It was the fact that the people that were so quick to post those comments were nearly all females.

"You should know better than anyone how he acts all tough as if everything is fine even when they're not and..." She directed her gaze right at me, "He needs you right now, you're the only person who has ever truly gotten true to him just like he's the only one who has ever truly gotten through to you. You guys needs each other. This... This is not the time to push the other person away."

It was easier said than done. I was worried about him, my heart wouldn't stop hurting for him. I couldn't stop feeling his pain for him and if I was feeling this bad, only God knows just how terrible he must be feeling.

That was why I wanted to go to him and comfort him and tell him it was all going to be fine which felt hypocritical because just months ago, I was in his position, I still am but I didn't even want him anywhere near me.

"You should try to go and talk to him, at least, see if he's fine... You can do that much for him, hmm?"

She grabbed my hands when she said the last part and she squeezed gently before letting go and turning to her phone, leaving me to my thoughts.

Of course, I wanted to check if he was fine... I wanted to make sure that he was fine but I couldn't... I couldn't bear to just go up to him looking like this.

Even though mom and Mayowa were complimenting on my weight loss, I still did not feel like it and I didn't...

I still didn't want to go up to him looking like this.

************

I didn't even have the mind to change into my sports wear when it was time for sport practice. I didn't even have the mind to even go to the field at all and it wasn't even because of the fact that SS3 students were already excused from practicing or getting overly involved in any sport activities because our externals were just less than a month away but my classmates still showed up at the field. To them, the one hour of playing around on the field was a getaway from studying too much in class.

I was infact, the only person left in the whole block. Sophia would have stayed with me if their coach hadn't requested that she and the now fastest girl, Aminah in school to come and train the juniors and I was glad for that because I actually wanted to stay alone. I wanted that solace and solitude.

It hit harder on days like this... How everything had happened with Aminah, the words, everything she wrote about me were still fresh in my head. It was the first thing I think about when I wake up and also the last thing I think about before falling asleep and each time, it was like reliving the pain, the hurt, the anger, the betrayal all over again.

The only difference now was that  it wasn't the only thing thing I thought about before falling asleep and when waking up, I thought about Adam too, I worried about Adam constantly. It had been a couple of days since the article got out but I still haven't been able to go to him. I still couldn't bring myself to go to him even though it seemed like he was barely holding himself together.

I felt terrible and I knew that if I should continue this way, we'd probably have to break up for real.

I couldn't bear the thought of that just like I couldn't bear the thought of going to him.

I was still lost in my thoughts when I heard approaching footsteps as if someone was entering the class and even though my reflex thought was to slam my head against the desk and pretend to be asleep but I found myself looking up to see Adam walking into the class with some sort of heavy bag in his hands.

He entered the classroom, made straight for his seat without even throwing a glance at my direction and I did not know if that was intentional or he simply did not see me.

I decided I'd have to go with the latter.

I watched him, taking in his eyes with bags as if he hadn't been sleeping properly and I concluded that he probably was skipping sleep and throwing himself into drawing and reading for our externals. That had always been his coping mechanism, doing what he claimed to like to distract him from reality.

I was still watching him till he got to his seat and he started to pack the things he just brought in in that bag into his locker. Looking at him, he looked okay, put together, no one would be able to tell that he has so much going on with him...

That he wasn't fine at all but I knew and I could tell...

So one minute, I was still sitting down and watching him and the next, I was standing almost close to him. He still continued packing what he was packing as if he couldn't tell that someone was beside him.

I wanted to retreat, wanted to recoil. Standing right there, standing beside him like that, I've never felt more vulnerable.

I actually wanted to run back.

But my foot remained where they were and my mouth opened and formed words by itself. Two letters.

"Hi."

His hands froze against the set of color pencils he was just about to put in the locker and he turned to me slowly.

I nearly lost my footing when his eyes met mine at the sheer intensity in them and my heart really did skip five, no, seven beats before it resorted to pounding heavily in my chest.

He said nothing, he just kept staring at me and I wanted to squirm at the intensity of the gaze. With him looking at me like this, I felt bare, I felt like there was no where else to turn to, to hide. He was looking at me in that way, in that deeply unsettling way like his eyes were poking right into my soul and seeing all of my certainties and uncertainties.

All of me.

I took two steps back.

"I..." I started, clamped my hands over the other, "I wanted to... I wanted to ask if..."

He still said nothing, he just kept staring at me.

"I've been worried about you."

He turned back, dropped the pencil in the locker immediately I spoke, locked the locker and he...

He walked out of the classroom.

Okayyyy... We're done here.

And writing this chapter made me realise again how unfair the world is to women.

And quick question, if you were in Kunle's position, do you think you can ever forgive Aminah?

And if you were Kunmi too, do you think you can go back to being friends with Aminah?

And on the low, I love Korede's mom a lot 😩😩😩❤️❤️

See you soon 🥺❤️❤️ and we're on with the countdown to the chapter finale of this book 😪😪❤️❤️❤️