Lola's Pov--3:45 p.m.

I already think either of these three things will happen when I get back to school:

1. Ayo will ignore me.

2. Ayo will mock me in front of his team.

3. Ayo will forgive me and we may continue our little adventure.

I hope it's the third option. Maybe I'm selfish for wanting a friend even though I would stop living by tonight. But anyone in my shoes knows what it feels like to be damaged. It's the weird voices that promise me of an end to my suffering… that there will no longer be pain and in those moments, I just want to be happy... I just want peace.

But how can I get out of this web of pains…?

I don't know how else since my mind is nothing but a big box of junks. My mind is a mess and the only one who has given it a little direction in a long time is Ayo. I'll chase that direction if it gives me a temporary peace before the end.

We pass Snarky, I see the park a few minutes later and then we pass Cups and Saucers too. The ride is short much and I keep biting my lips and nails. What if?

My hands are shaky as I pay the driver and drop from the taxi. I pull my phone from the pocket to see it's 3:48 which means there are twelve minutes until his basketball practice starts.

I take another route that leads to the football pitch. My senses are at alert because any moment from now, the bell will ring and everyone will be out of the school. And seriously, I want to see just one person; not Seun, not Kim and not Miss Jodi. And after walking out on Miss Jodi during Geography class, she's the last person I want to see.

Our school stadium is small so when the guys are out here, there won't be any hiding place for me. But for now, the place is empty. I run along the track which feels like stepping on a hard rug then dash towards the wire-mesh fence. There's a small entrance that leads to the school exit and thankfully, it's unlocked.

The moment I go through the entrance, I spot Kim talking on the phone. More like shouting. She fans herself with her hand, stares heavenward before stumping on the ground like a little child. I can't see her face but I can tell she's angry.

I stand there. As much as I don't want to see or have anything to say to her, I just watch her. Her hair reminds me of burnt orange and the sun rays add to its warmth. It's thick and tumbles over her shoulders like noodles.

"No," she threads her fingers through her hair and grabs a handful. "You have to stop."

I force down a sickening feeling and start towards the door. Does she feel bad once in a while for dating Seun?

"Lola."

The tremulous voice stops me. I know it's her but how do I talk to her after two months? I turn anyway and there she is, staring back at me. Her eyes are red and the skin around it is splotchy from crying. If Kim has not hurt me so badly, I would have wrapped my hands around her in a hug.

"Listen, what happened this morning wasn't cool..." she smiles. She always does even when the situation of things requires all seriousness. That's one of the things that drew me to her in the first place: her friendly smile. "The principal wants to know who did that prank and she's mad about it. Uhm… Seun might get away with a lot of things but this could land him in a lot of trouble. Don't rat..."

Just as I suspect, Kim is not sorry for the things she did to me. She's concerned about Seun's reputation. I shake my head, turn the doorknob but stop, whipping around to see her still standing there.

"What happened to you?" I ask. "You were a good person... what changed?"

Kim opens her mouth but says nothing. For some seconds, we stare at each other then she breaks. Her eyes glisten with tears and as she sniffles, it rolls down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry... for everything. But don't rat," she croaks out before heading out of the field. "I'll tell Seun to chill out too."

Wasting no time, I leave the stadium too.

It's 3:54 pm when I get to the basketball court. The place is quiet and as clean as a whistle and almost empty except for Ayo sitting on the bleachers with his head in his hands. He's already dressed in a yellow jersey. Seeing him this way breaks my heart. It reminds me of those times I used to find him all alone in his thoughts.

"Ayo," I call and he looks my way. His brows shoot up as his mouth drops open, but he recovers quickly anyway and he starts towards me. "Hi."

"You shouldn't have come here," as he grabs my arm and drags me back to the door. "Why are you here?" there's so much tremor in his voice. I wonder if it's because he's angry or other people are not allowed to be here during practice. Either way, I don't like how shaken he is. He faces me and wipes the beads of sweat on his forehead as if the whole place is hot. PS: it isn't, so I settle with that fact that Ayo is still angry at me.

"I...I" how do I apologize to him when he is acting like this? "Wait-"

Ayo rubs his temple then throws his hands up. "We can talk later. But not here. It's almost four-"

The bell interrupts him and we both stare at one another. What I feel deep down in my heart is not even what I can explain. For once in a long while, I feel the strength in me grow even though the stabbing pain is stronger. Having someone to hang onto made it different; it made it better, so why this, Ayo?

"You hate me too," my gaze drops to my feet. Again, my heart is bleeding like it has been for two months - two months of isolation. That's what friendship can do: fix souls, fix brains, cure us all. But when it ends, it breaks you more than you can imagine. "Like the rest... you hate me too... right?"

"Wait, what?" he releases me as his brows furrows. "No. never. I can never hate you." Silence passes between us and although I have no idea what will happen next, his words calm me a little. And then, he continues. "Can we talk after practice?" A smile appears on his face, relaxing his hard features. He raises his hand to the side of my face but doesn't touch me, it just hangs in the air like he's too scared to move.

Someone pushes the door, bumping into me and pushing me into Ayo's hands. A horde of boys in yellow--our school color--jersey jogs in as if they are a bunch of sheep running away from a wolf. A few of them whistles as they pass by and then I see John, Seun's friend. The air leaves my mouth like someone has punched me in the stomach. A sense of dejavu washes over me, knocking the air out of me over and over. I know what Seun did to me but what about John and Garry? My memory is clouded but the glimpses… they are all in my diary.

"Brought your Lil girlfriend, I see," John chimes, and Ayo immediately, holds me tighter to his chest as if the mere presence of John will hurt me. Maybe he will. "Sucks you can't get a girl. You had to go to your brother's bitch."

Ayo makes a move towards him but I'm quick to stop him. I survey the court to see a couple of the guys are now staring and waiting for a fight. There will be none, not on my watch.

The thing is, I hate seeing people fight, especially when one of the people involved is big, tall with broad shoulders. It's not like that determines who wins a fight but I take no risks.

I hate John and it's always been like that even when Seun and I were dating. There's something off, menacing and irritating about him that makes me steer away from him. Well, same with Garry.

"Nice talking to you, Lola," it rolls off his mouth, giving me a negative vibe I just wish to wash away. He saunters towards his team without looking back.

I shouldn't be here. "I'll wait for you outside-e"

The basketball coach, Mr. Adam enters the moment I decide to leave and his eyes immediately find us, holding one another. I step away, adjusting my backpack as if it's the most interesting thing here right now.

"You missed all your classes today, boy," the coach looks at Ayo, with a face of utter annoyance, as if he can't even stand Ayo at the moment. He frowns, shrugging, and for a fleeting moment, his eyes shifts to me before moving back to Ayo. "No practice for you today..."

"Coach, I can explain."

"There's nothing to explain here. You know the drill."

The man struts across the court with hands on his waist. Somehow he is taller than most of the boys in the school basketball team; not too lanky though, but there's some bulk on him too.

"So...?" I say. "You shouldn't have missed classes because of me."

Ayo smiles for a second and then turns all serious. And with that, my mind is back to exactly why I'm here in the first place. To tell him I'm sorry and tell him a story, something I have kept from everyone except Kim, the one who betrayed me.

I stare across the court, watching Mr. Adam wave the guys over as he began whispering something to them. "You... start..."

Upon instructing them, the guys immediately start playing. The atmosphere takes a drastic change. Now laughter and ecstasy are written all over the court. More than once the basketball bounces towards us which makes Mr. Adam signal for us to seat on the bleachers.

"I can wait outside," I say, studying his face which contours into a frown as if in deep thoughts.

He takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes for a moment. There's a short silence between us and the only thing audible are sneakers screeching against the floor, the ball bouncing against the floor, and the boys shouting for a pass. "Stay." He says then opens his eyes.

And just like that, he changes his mind.

We both make our way to the bleachers without getting hit by a ball and watch them play. From what I've seen, John is quite good with the ball but he's still a monster. He collects the ball from another, tall, lean boy with a lion's mane as hair then shoves him out of the way. The boy stumbles to the ground and without stopping, John drives the ball to the basket and shoots.

Next to me, Ayo sits up, grabbing the sides of his seat like he's about to jump out of it.

"Coach," the boy staggers, his face scrunched as he points to John who's now laughing. "Did you see that." His hair bounces, looking too big for his body.

"John," Mr. Adam blows a huge air through his mouth as he rubs his forehead with his fingers. "I've told you to stop shoving people. That's not basketball, John." He shouts, waving his hands for John to come over.

John jogs towards him, shouting all the way. "He should have shoved back." The rest of the team erupts in a laugh and I can't help but wonder what is funny about any of this?

"I'm warning you, boy," the coach wags a finger at John. "No shoving or you won't join the team for the spring series."

"That escalated real quick," he snorts but the coach pays him no attention. "The guy is fine." John snarls, wiping the sweat on his forehead with clenched teeth.

Mr. Adam turns to the boy with the big hair, "Are you good to go?"

The boy with the big hair settles a hard gaze on John before looking at the coach. "No. Imma head to the school nurse." Getting up, he staggers out of the basketball court.

"I can go," Ayo raises his hand as his brows shoot up and eyes pleading for mercy. "Please, coach."

He holds up a finger. "Just as a heads up... if you miss school tomorrow, forget the spring series."

With excitement written all over his face, Ayo runs to the middle of the court and so does the others. Practice picks up again and each time Ayo gets hold of the ball my heart beats faster. He's good, even way better than John.

The ball bounces off the rim, a black guy in the team catches the rebound. He makes a fast break down the court and scores a layup. John growls, his face is a mask of fury. I get he's mad because the guy who scored is not part of his group. But does it matter? No matter how many groups they're divided into when the spring series starts they all become a team.

Again, Ayo catches the ball inbounds to the black guy who drives the ball down the court. He passes it back to Ayo. But before Ayo can score, John slams his shoulder into him.

"John—n," the coach says and blows the whistle. "Out, now!"

There's something about anger: you can't hide it. It starts slowly with an aching feeling in your chest and then it rises and keeps rising. At a time it gets you so emotional that you want to do more than just shout, you want to cry too, you want to leave and never look back. But instead of crying, you brace yourself and puff up. That's what is happening with Ayo now. He puffs, standing behind John with clenched fists and cold gaze.

"What did I do?" John throws his hands up then jabs a finger towards Ayo. "He was too slow—w"

Ayo doesn't let him finish before slamming a fist into John's face.

Chapter fourteen