Jason had been lying on his bed since he left the party, scrolling through his Instagram feed and watching the stories of the people he followed.
He saw a video of Timi and Moyo kissing on Lateef's story and he felt a pang of irritation. He did feel a little bit better knowing that Timi looked like he was struggling to pull away from Moyo and wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation.
Beamer started spamming Jason with pictures and videos from the party. Jason explained that he had shown up for the party but had to leave for some urgent reasons. Beamer then told Jason about kissing Stephanie, hoping that someone had recorded it as proof. Jason believed him and gave a short response, sensing that Jason wasn't really in the mood to talk. Beamer ended the conversation and went offline.
Jason texted his LGM after, saying "Hey, I feel so frustrated, Timi clearly doesn't want to be in a relationship with Moyo, he's not even straight, he should stop forcing himself on her, it doesn't work that way. I honestly can't blame him, if you're in a society like this, you'd have probably wanted to feel among to...Being in a society that has deemed you 'abnormal' or 'stupid', You wouldn't want to feel that way. I wish people could understand we don't choose any of this."
She responded immediately agreeing with everything he said, Adding "Why would they even think it's a choice? Why would someone in their right mind, choose to be apart of a community that has been demonized, criminalized and sometimes killed for just existing? Why?"
Jason wasn't the type of person who usually opened up about his feelings to others. In fact, he had only shared his secret about being gay with Timi, because he felt like he was the only person who really understood him. He wished that there were more people like 'LGM' in the world, people who could be supportive and understanding without judging him.
The next Monday morning, Lateef called Malik and Chika to his class.
"Look, I don't know what you are doing to my brother, but it better stop." Lateef instructed.
"He's not doing anything..." Malik said.
"Will you shut up? Am I your mate?" Lateef asked rhetorically "I don't want to see the two of you together, you this boy stay away from my brother, I'm warning you, he's not a fag stop talking to him" Lateef pointed at Chika, He felt hurt by the things Lateef was saying and he had to fight back tears, he knew if he didn't, that would only give Lateef more ammunition to use against him and add to the insults he had already received.
Chika and Malik wanted to leave together, but Lateef stopped Malik from following Chika. Instead, Malik stayed behind with his brother, who mocked the way Chika walked as he left. Malik wanted to stand up for Chika and defend him, but he didn't want to get into a fight with his brother.
A tear rolled down Chika's cheek as he got passed SSS3 block, he regretted why he was born into this cruel world, he wished he was like 'every other boy'. He was so goddamn tired of the amount of hate he got everyday for just being himself, sometimes he thought of taking his own life so the pain would stop.
He wanted to let his parents know how he felt, but they were religious conservatives and would most likely react with hostility, on top of that, they were barely around, so he wouldn't even have the opportunity to talk to them about it. He felt like he was completely alone and that there was no one who could understand what he was going through.
Zuriel entered SSS2 class with a full knapsack on her back and dropped it in front of Tope. She opened the bag and pulled out a pack of sweets.
"I've started selling sweets" Zuriel explained "since you guys casted me for collecting your money, I've decided to start making my own"
"Mummy, It wasn't me I swear" Tope crossed her heart.
"I know. Which is why I'm giving you half of this to sell for me"
"...but this is also illegal"
"Do you have money to give me?" Zuriel asksled.
Tope didn't say a word, she just took her share of the sweets and put them in her bag.
"Buy for me na" Zuriel smiled and Tope chuckled "I'm not joking"
Tope brought out 100naira and bought two pin pops for Zuriel.
Jason was secretly using his phone at the back of the class when Timi walked in, causing him to quickly hide it, thinking that it was one of the school's staff members. He felt relief when he saw that it was just Timi. He brought his phone out again and watched as Timi stood in front of him, trying to get his attention. Jason stopped what he was doing and looked up at Timi, ready to listen to what he had to say.
"We can't keep fighting" Timi said.
"Who said we were fighting? I'm not fighting with anybody"
"I'm sorry for what I said, but I meant it, I don't want us doing anything... I just want us to be friends"
"OK" Jason answered.
"Zino said he wants to see you, that's the main reason I came though" Timi added.
"Alright I'd see him after.... Thanks for telling me"
Timi left feeling like he might have said the wrong thing but now had to live with it.