Friday January 18, 2019
       
                  Elizabeth reclined wistfully into her chair glaring at her phone's screen. The class around her erupted into chaos.  It was Friday.  More importantly it was Friday's lunch break. The last lunch break of the week. Teenagers giggled and laughed and talked about things as meaningless as a weekend party. A party Betty dreaded and would very much love to smack Ugo in the face. Hard.

               Attached to the message that informed her about the cancellation of the meeting they were supposed to have that afternoon, was an Instagram link. A link that advertised the stupid party that would hold the next evening. She hissed and slapped the phone face down on her desk. She couldn't keep any of this to herself anymore. She was used to telling. To speaking. To spilling words.

                Her lunch break had been planned. It began and ended with the meeting that got cancelled. What was she supposed to do with a solid one hour break?

              How will I even attend the party tommorow? What if  Ugo's a liar?

              She needed to tell someone. Demi was gone and she definitely couldn't deal with a three hundred pound Skylar member.  Straightening on the wooden uncomfortable chair, she tapped at her phone and searched for Vicky's number. Guilt hovered above her like a dark cloud in the same way her fingers floated over the keyboard on her screen.

               "Hey... I'm sort of free-"

              She paused, pulled her lower lip under her teeth and shook her head. She had to apologize first. But for what? For being happy? For feeling offended everytime her best friend made her feel bad for doing what she loved?

                "Hey... I'm sorry. Lunch? Let's have lunch. We need to talk."

                 Quickly she hit the send button before she chickened out and rose up lazily. She had to get to the cafeteria early. No way was she giving Vicky another reason to be mad at her. They needed to settle the feud. They needed to settle a lot of things so she could sleep easy at night.

              The cafeteria was a civil war compared to her chaotic classroom. Hoots and hollers flew from every direction. It seemed as if every mouth moved- even the ones ladened with food. Their usual table was empty surprisingly and guilt left the dark cloud to bite at her gut.

              "Where's everyone?" She mumbled as she stalked towards the counter to order a medium sized meat pie and a cold bottle of fanta. Aware of the eyes that followed her every step, she walked awkwardly to the deserted table. "Enoch's not even here. Or that block head. Where's Vicky?"

                Where are you? Her conscience echoed and she shut it up by stuffing her mouth. Some part of her blamed her. Some part of her felt responsible for the desolated table. But what else could she have done? Tokunbo had been right. She had lived for a selfish man who didn't care a kobo about her. And when her brother joined in, she realized it wasn't worth it. After all she had done for Eli, his actions couldn't be forgiven. Ever.

                But since when had wanting to live for herself torn her friends apart? When had it pushed her away from them?

               Her phone vibrated in her bag and quickly she scrambled for it. She let out a long angry hiss when Ugo's message winked mischievously at her and a smile that had began to form on her lips died as soon as it started

             "I'll see you tommorow Liza. I'm calling you Liza. Do you like it?" 

              Where was Vicky when she needed her?
______________________________

              Victoria sniffed the envelope again, wrinkled her face to recall where and when she had smelled such a familiar scent. She couldn't for the life of her figure it out. It must've smelled stronger on Monday when she found the envelope but she had been too scared to care. Now the scent was just a faint tickle. A tickle at her memory. She had smelled that scent before. She knew it. Rhoda must've put it there purposely.

                   "Vicky! Please hide me!" Eli whisper-yelled as he barged into her class startling everyone who had refused to leave during lunch. His thin eyes searched frantically for a place to hide while stomping towards her.

                  Swiftly, she slipped the paper in her bag beside her and glared at the approaching male. "What?"

              Eli pouted and ran behind her chair. "Don't go all ice on me babes. Just hide me!"

               "Don't call me babes." She spat and got a shove from the back. She turned in her chair to glower him to death and saw he squatted behind her looking rather fearful.

                   "Sshhh" He pressed a finger to his lips.

                  She gave him a sour look. "Don't sshhh me. What did you do? Break your girlfriend's heart?"

                 "I wish! It's a crazy girl Vicky. She's obsessed with me." He groaned and tried to flattened himself against the wall beside them.

               "Riiiight. Because that is sooo believable." Vicky replied dryly.

                 At that moment, a brown skinned girl rushed in and stood in the centre of the class skimming over everyone with her eyes. Vicky thought she looked familiar but couldn't place her.

              "Ahn ahn." Someone spoke up. "Anna what are you doing here? Didn't think we'll see you here after you left us." 

              Other students nodded in agreement and Vicky slapped a palm over her face. The girl apparently transferred from their class. What was wrong with her memory?!

                 The girl, Anna, nodded briefly at their words. "I'm looking for someone."

               "Ehn. Go and look somewhere else." Another person spat a tad too bitterly.

                Whoa! What's with the hostility?

                  Anna's head dropped bashfully and she walked out of the room briskly. Vicky considered calling her back and pictured the look on Eli's face. She laughed at her mental joke.

                "Stop laughing." Eli hushed and peeked at the door. "She's gone?"

                 "No. She's right in the middle of the class. You just can't see her because you don't have the gift." She grunted.

                  "Yep. You're back." Eli grinned. "Thank God she's gone. I could've suffocated. Your bag smells like our janitor. Phew."

                  She gasped at the insult and grabbed her bag to sniff it then fixed him a glare. "I'll slap you Eli- wait... Our janitor smells like this?"

                 The idiot shrugged. "I don't know. Do we use the same janitor?"

                Vicky paused mulling over his words and her next cause of action. If Eli recognized the scent, then their janitor could be Rhoda all along.  "When did this Janitor start?"

                Eli squeezed his face in confusion. "Why do you want to know about our janitor?"

              She itched to slap the perplexed look away. "Why are you hiding from Anna?"

              He cleared his throat uncomfortably and pulled at his collar. "I don't know when the janitor came o."

                "Do you know where she is? When does she clean your classes?" She tried to resist jumping in her chair excitedly. Rhoda was a few steps away. A few!

                Eli took a few steps away from her staring at her like she was crazy. "Uh... I'm going. Bye-"

                Vicky jumped out of her seat that instant. "Take one more step and I'm calling Anna. If you didn't notice, she was my class mate before."

                A frustrated growl escaped Eli. He collapsed into a nearby seat and stared daggers at her. She matched with a glare of her own. 

             He threw his hands up helplessly. "Fine! What do you want?!"

               Vicky smiled wickedly and stalked to where he sat. "Take me to your janitor."

             "Confess me, madam confessor." He mocked and earned a knock on his head. "I keep saying it. Women are crazy."
______________________________

                When her phone vibrated for the fifth time that day, Betty concluded two things. First, Ugo was irritating and was most likely not out for the blood sort of revenge but the 'drive you crazy' sort of revenge. Second, Vicky wasn't coming for lunch.

                  "She didn't even answer my text!" She grumbled opening Ugo's text.

                 "I'm really sorry about your brother Liza. I swear it. I'm not with the gang anymore. Please give us a chance to talk. Let's talk Queen Elizabeth."

                    Awwww.

                    Perhaps he wasn't really out for revenge. Maybe he really was telling the truth.

                    But does it matter?

                   No. She decided. It didn't matter. It didn't matter if he became a pastor sef. She didn't want any dealings with anyone that could put her through all that Demi had. Her father and brother were enough torment. Ignoring the message like the others he had sent before, she made to throw the phone in her bag when two familiar people passed by the open doors of the cafeteria. They argued and pushed each other as they walked. She would recognize them anywhere.

                  I can't believe this.
       
                Gaping, she grabbed her bag and bolted out of the cafeteria so she wouldn't lose sight of them. They walked a couple of meters ahead. Eli said something that made both of them pause and throw their heads up in wild laughter. Vicky threw a blow at his shoulder, one he returned heartily. They sobered up then and continued their talk.

                 Anger, hurt, jealousy licked at her veins. She couldn't believe that her best friend ignored her message so she could hang out with her stupid brother. The brother that she hated! With all the strength her short self could muster, she stormed towards the duo and shoved at Vicky. A loud sound of surprise escaped the taller girl.

                   "Betty?" Vicky and Eli chorused looking at her incredulously. She heaved and puffed with indignation.

                  "I can't believe you. You picked hanging with this... This... Him! Over lunch with your best friend?!"

                Vicky frowned puzzled. "Oh we're still doing lunch together? I got the memo when you refused to reply my text on Monday."

                "So you decided to hang out with him! You know I hate him. You know what he did to me!" She screeched gesturing at Eli who shifted uneasily.

                   "Not my problem." Vicky waved dismissively and grabbed Eli's hand. "Now if you'll excuse us-"

                 "Oh I see. I know what you're doing. I know what you're doing Vicky. This is revenge huh? Both of you. You're both taking revenge. Well it's not working. I don't care what happens to you or him or any of you!" She fumed.

                  Vicky smiled bitterly. "Thanks for clearing things up. Let's go Eli."

                A wave of helplessness washed over Betty.  "I'm not done talking!" She snarled and stepped in front of them. A crowd was beginning to gather but she couldn't care less. This wasn't right. Vicky and Eli shouldn't talk to each other. She felt betrayed. She felt shattered and above all she felt guilty. And she hated feeling that way.

                  "Just shut up Betty. We're done here. Can you go back to your writing shit stuff or whatever? We'd like the peace of mind that disappears every time you show!" Eli bellowed and for a while she was stunned.

                  "Peace of mind?" She laughed harshly when she recovered. "More like guilty conscience. Why? Can't sleep at night? Good. Because all of this is your fault. All of it!"

                  Vicky clapped sardonically. "Classic Betty. Blame everyone else for your problems. Don't be a witch honey-"

                   An electronic crackle dispersed the tension that brewed between the three of them. Confusion descended on everyone around as they tried to find the source of the sound.  

                   "Elijah Adebayo!" The nearest loud speaker to them boomed noisily. It hadn't been used in ages. Betty gasped and stared at Vicky then Eli.

                   "Elijah Adebayo!" The speaker repeated. "Report to the Principal's office now!"

*********

Oh no Not again!😂😂😂