With You, For You

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"We have French together. You're not late." He puffed up his cheeks.

"Chioma, later we'll talk."

"When is later?"

"After school..."

"Hey Vivian, don't forget that we're going to the lounge after school." I immediately removed the arm around my shoulder and stared incredulously. "Sorry." He smiled at me and then looked at Kris. I saw his eyes morph into disdain. "I have German now. See you later, friend."

This was so unlike the cold Kenneth. Why was he forcing this friendship on me sef? "So you guys are now friends?" Kris laughed. That laugh was faux.

"Are we going to class together?"

~~

•DISGUSTING STUFF AHEAD. DONT JUDGE THE AUTHOR.•

"So, tell me what's wrong?"

"I can't. I'm sorry for distancing, but-"

"Just tell me. I'll understand."

"Your brother is Brian Igbokwe." I nodded. "He attended Sofony High School at Abuja." I nodded again. "So did my brother, Victor Adeniji." The name sounded familiar. Victor...

"He's late. Victor, the only one who could match my genius brother. They were best friends." Kristopher scoffed.

"He lied to you." What? "He lied to everyone. Your brother is a bloody liar."

"Enough. Don't talk about my brother that way. Just tell me why you aren't speaking to me.  Does it involve him?"

"Victor died because of him."

"It's not true. Victor died because Lisa rejected him."

"That's a lie!  Christ, that's a fu- lie. " He shouted a string of words in Yoruba. "Victor didn't die because of Lisa. He died because your disgustingly perverted brother rejected him. What best friends? They were lovers for crying out loud."

"Lovers? How? They were boys. They couldn't be-" The words died out. "You're lying."

"Really. Here's proof." He gave me a black book with DIARY on the cover. "Victor's diary."

I flipped it open. Victor started using it when he had just entered SHS.

SS1 TERM 1. SEPT 15.

I'm feeling out of place. All these rich kids walking around. And the way they look at me... it's expected. I'm not one of them.

SEPT 27

I met one guy today. Brian Igbokwe. His father owns the largest Real Estate agency in Nigeria and is ranked 9th in Africa. His clique is very weird. Nengi and Lisa seem like the only normal ones. Abundance carries very long braids. I heard it's his natural hair. The school authorities don't care. Other than that, he's a skirt chaser.

He has done it with half of the SS1 girls. Then there's Aloysius who acts like a female. Always clinging to Nengi. He even calls Brian husband. Then there's Brian.  He's a freak.  I've never seen anyone who gets perfect scores like him. In the impromptu tests we took this week, he cleared. A+ in all. How?

I felt proud reading this.

OCT 5

He told me to meet him after school. I'm quite worried.  Is it because I did better than him in Biology and Maths today? Or is it because I caught him making out in the library? Does he want to silence me?

OCT 21

After midterms, his attitude changed completely. He's quite kind. He snubs though but he's good. He caught me staring at Lisa during lunch. It was embarrassing.