Kora

"Make it public."

Those were the last and only words I could remember from two days ago. The exact words I told Jeremiah right before I gave him back his phone. I took a deep breath, grabbing on tight to both arms of my backpack. I had barely had enough sleep in two days and I barely only managed to leave the house with all the press and media that made sure to surround our house as early as five AM since the news got out. Sometimes they left really late at night and sometimes, they didn't leave at all. My phone was still blowing up from a lot of interview requests so much so that I had to leave it at home. My story had gained a lot of attention from the entire country in just one night and I wasn't sure how to feel about all the attention I was getting. I had received a call from the dean of student affairs and was asked to come in today. According to him, the real culprits of the drug incident I was framed for had been caught. Call it luck or Grace but my life was almost starting to feel better again. Like I could breathe. I wasn't suspended from NAUN anymore and the entire internet had a lot of curses and ill words for the Orjis, for Charles and his parents. I could barely imagine what they were going through at that point.

Here I was, standing in front of that tall building that led into the hallway, wondering if I was really ready to walk in. The staring didn't look like it was ever going to end. Right from the moment I stepped out of the car till that moment, I was getting double the attention I used to. Everyone must have heard Charles' confession and they were sure talking about it. I just didn't know if it was a good thing. I was nervous. Really nervous to get in.

At that point, I wasn't sure I could handle all the attention. I wasn't sure I could do it anymore. I wasn't sure I was ready to see the look in everyone's eyes whenever I walked into a hall or a lecture room or one of the cafeterias and coffee shops. I was trying so hard to hide the fact that every inch of my body was trembling. I was so scared to even check my phone. I really wasn't sure if I wanted to know what everyone was saying about me. Their eyes and the way they looked at me already told me what I needed to know. Some felt pity for me, some looked like they were proud for me and it looked like a very few of them were still finding it hard to believe me.

I exhaled.
Maybe coming back to school so soon was not a good idea after all. I never listened to my mum. It was something I had to learn to do sometimes. I lowered my gaze. I wasn't ready. Maybe everyone still needed some time to get used to the story and I needed some time too. I raised my head a little bit.

Courage Kora, cour-

I froze the moment I felt a hand slowly cover mine. I turned to my hand as I felt the warmth in each finger as it slid and locked itself in mine, taking mine completely. I froze because I knew exactly whose hand it was and who owned the cologne scent that had caught my attention. I raised my head so I could meet Jeremiah's. He had a stern look on his face and had his eyes focused on the building. I was literally looking up so I could see him. He was so tall that he almost had me standing on my toes. From that angle, I could see the perfection of his jaw line. How beautifully carved it was and how every part of his face complemented it. The sun was shining down on him. He was literally glittering in the sun and then he did what I waited for; he slowly turned to me, narrowing his gaze on mine. I swallowed hard the moment I looked into his bright brown eyes. A smile found its way on his perky lips.

What was he doing here? Was it really okay for him to be in school? Was he fully recovered now? He tightened his grip on my hand and for some reason, it felt like the heavy invisible bricks of burdens had fallen from one of my shoulders. I felt this relief in my soul and I felt strength rushing inside of me.

"Aren't you going to get in?" He asked me. "You've been standing out here for over thirty minutes."

Really? It had been up to thirty minutes? How on earth did I not notice? How on earth did he know? Had he been watching me ? With the way he looked, dressed in his ankle length navy blue trousers, yellow turtle neck long sleeve top and his NAUN blazer, it looked like he hadn't gone inside too.

I slowly turned back to our joined hands. My hands weren't trembling anymore. My entire body was calm now under his touch. Could you believe it? Neither could I. There were a lot of people looking now. Everyone had stopped walking to look at us. Happens to be that I wasn't the only one surprised about my hands being locked inside of his. Everyone else was too. I looked around just so I could see how much they were all staring at us with their jaws dropped. It made me feel extra nervous. Was it too much? Were we doing too much? I slowly tried to pull my hand away from Jeremiah's but he didn't let me. He held on tighter and then started to pull me gently towards the front door.

Major jaw dropper.

It was intense. You should have seen how the crowd started to follow us right into the hallway. They increased in their numbers. People were beginning to call their friends to come out and see what was happening. Everyone was coming out of their lecture rooms, music rooms and dormitory. Unlike other universities, NAUN didn't have the numbers but trust me, it was an advantage. The entire school was bigger than the number of students in the school. I mean, if just anyone could afford it, it wouldn't have had the reputation it was known for. If you really took your time, you could know at least a fifth of the school's population by their names. The crowd kept increasing in their numbers and I just didn't know what to do about it. I just wished he slowed down for a second. I wished he didn't have to make everyone so interested in whatever it was he was trying to do. He wasn't even trying to let my hand go and no matter how I gently struggled with him to pull out, I was never able to. The crowd got worse and so were their footsteps and the tiny murmurs and whispers they made and I guess he was really frustrated by it after he made that loud sigh and stomped one foot right before he stopped walking.

I looked at him for a second. Yup. He was really irritated by the crowd. They had even blocked us at the front and were slowly forming an arc around us.

There were a lot of eyes.

Jeremiah turned around to look at each one of them slowly and then he came to a pause.

"Don't you guys have anything else to do?" He had to ask. I was thinking the exact same thing.

"What do you expect us to do?" A girl sobbed. It looked like she was about to cry. "When you're going around school holding another girl like that? You're the only reason I transferred to this stupid school anyway. Even if you were going to break up with Oma why does it have to be her of all people?"

Did I tell you that seventy percent of Jeremiah's fans were girls? Girls that actually fancied him? Girls that crushed on him and lived their lives like they were living for him? Girls that adored, worshipped and stalked him? Yes, they were. This was why my life was a living hell. They accepted the reality of his engagement to Oma but they looked like they were never going to get used to him holding hands with anyone else.

"Isn't she the girl that was raped by Charles?" Another girl asked him. "How can you be holding her hand so openly and confidently?" She stomped her feet.

"It's even worse. She has a black card too."

"I can't believe this."

"He's really holding her hand."

Everyone was beginning to talk at once and it was difficult for us to even listen to what each of them had to say but I knew one thing for a fact, I knew that I was the only one capable of defending myself. Always had, always would be. I tried one more time to pull my hand away from Jeremiah's but he didn't let go. Why?

"So what?" He turned to the crowd. I froze for a second the moment I heard his voice.  The crowd too. It became really quiet. "So what if I'm holding her hand? So what if she's a rape victim? You all heard the recording. If there's anyone to blame for any of this it's the accused. Why does the victim have to be blamed for what happened? Who gets blamed for being raped?" He turned around so the rest of the crowd could have a good look at him.

"How come you all are standing here and judging her even after the truth has been revealed!" He yelled at them. "What kind of people are you? How are you all any different? All you do is look down on people and bully people." He paused for a second and then scoffed. "I'm tired of this bullshit." He said to himself right before he nodded and then turned back to the crowd.

"I revoke it." He announced. "As from today, I revoke Kora's black card!" He was loud enough so that everyone could hear it. The murmurs got worse.

"No one is allowed to hurt or bully her for any reason without my consent as a matter of fact, no one is allowed to bully or hurt her at all and if any of you try to disobey me, whoever it is, male or female had better be ready to handle whatever consequences I deem fit. I would make you pay in the most hurtful way you could ever think of, regardless of what class you belong, regardless of who you are."

I couldn't believe it either. For a second I thought I had forgotten how to breathe. My entire body was numb and I had my eyes only on him. My heart beat wasn't as fast as it used to be.

"Revoke her black card?" Someone asked from the crowd. "You have no right to Revoke her card. No one does except the person that gave it to her. Old money has no business with any of this. Why do you even care? Why do you care what happens to her so badly? Are you two together now?"

"Yes." He told them

What in the name of the president of the republic of Nigeria-

"Kora is my girlfriend. She's mine." He pulled me closer "And that makes her my responsibility."

"What? Impossible."
The crowd went mute all of a sudden. Had the almighty Jeremiah Ozor just told the entire NAUN that I was his girlfriend? I could barely imagine what was going to happen after this.

He scoffed out a chuckle.

"What?" He asked them. "You all had a lot to say five seconds ago. You're awfully quiet now."

He slowly turned to me and smiled. How could he even smile like that? I could hear my own heart beat. Did he mean it? Did he mean everything he had just said? He slowly pulled me to turn around with him and then he pulled me away from the crowd gently down the hall too.

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I got to the lecture room before Jeremiah did. Scratch that. The renovation of the Old money building was complete now and it was kind of a relief that we didn't have to have joined classes anymore. Everyone was back to doing what they wanted without trying so hard to look good or cool in front of them. That was a good thing because at least now, I could sit where I wanted. Above the stairs.  News about what had happened in the hallway thirty minutes ago had spread round the school faster than I had expected it to. Now when people looked at me, I didn't know what it was for. If it was for Charles' confession or Jeremiah's. I had no idea what was going through everyone's head especially since the entire hall went quiet the moment I walked inside. I wasn't going to let myself get intimidated by anyone. I was in NUAN because of me, not because of them. I was just going to go ahead and do what I wanted this time without worrying about anyone or how they felt about me. I was done feeling sorry for myself. I looked around the huge room hoping I'd see her.

Grace.

We always had psychology one-oh-one together.  It was her favorite class and she never missed a single class but I couldn't find her. I wasn't sure how I felt about her anymore but I knew one thing for a fact, I knew there was something she didn't tell me. The Grace I know would never hurt me that way unless she was forced to. I knew I couldn't judge her. At least not without hearing her side of the story but she never called me. Not even when I was out of jail, she never reached out to me to explain and she didn't take my call when I reached out to her either. I had thought about stopping by at her house but I figured she needed her space too plus, with everything that was going on around me, I had just been too occupied to even think straight. I exhaled as I walked the distance up the small flight of stairs to the seat that had caught my eyes. The seat farthest from the crowd. It was getting really uncomfortable with them looking at me like that and with the way everyone's phone was churning at the same time, it almost felt like they were texting each other about me at once. Thank God she didn't leave with her phone.

I pulled out her bag from my back and then dropped it on the table slowly reaching for my books, ignoring all the crazies happening around me. I dropped my textbook on the table.

"Hey." I froze when I saw three pairs of really long legs stop right in front of my table. I could see how their short skirts adorned their legs. I exhaled. Looked like I couldn't really run away from the attention even if I wanted to. I slowly raised her head to them. Hi Kora." One of them said to me. I squinted my eyes but no matter how I tired to remember their names, I couldn't. I could recognize them anyway. They were a part of my team. The team that tried to bully me during hand ball days ago. Why did they all have nice smiles on their faces and why were they looking at me like that?

"I'm Amanda." The first girl started. "This is hope," she pointed at the girl by her right "and this is Stephanie." She pointed at the girl by her left.

O-Kay.....

"We just wanted to let you know that we are sorry for the way we treated you during handball the other day." The second girl spoke up.

"We were ignorant and we let other people's opinions about you get the best of us." The last girl added. "We actually never thought that the rumors about what happened between you and Charles was a lie. You see, we all have been victims of sexual abuse in the past, my brother lost a great deal of his life after he was framed for rape and so when we heard what happened we were quick to judge you and for that we deeply apologize." The last one said.

Oh wow.
Trust me when I said I had never seen this coming in my life. I was shocked to my bones and I couldn't do anything but stare at them lost.

"We know how hard coming out to the world is and how difficult it must have been to have your story out in public for everyone to know. We also know how confused and scared you must be right now but if you ever need anyone to talk to, new friends or anything, you can hang out with us."

"Especially since your friend won't be schooling here anymore."

Wait what?

I blinked and then sat up straight.

"W-wait," I had to cut her off. "What do you mean my friend won't be schooling here anymore? What friend?"

I wasn't sure I knew what they were talking about.

"The one you always hung out with?" The first girl made it her goal to clear my doubts. "Grace." She said. "She's leaving NAUN today. Didn't you hear? She got expelled."

"What?"

"She confessed she had placed those hard drugs in your locker two days ago. She told the dean Charles made her do it. Looks like he had an information on her about her mother and threatened her with it. He must have been so desperate to get rid of you. She had no other choice than to do what he wanted. She and Charles got expelled from school and taken to the NDLEA headquarters for questioning."

I got up as fast as I could. I couldn't believe it one bit.

"She's cleaning up her room as we speak. I don't think you'd be able to meet up." The girl said as fast as she could the moment she realized that I was no longer interested in their conversation. I needed to find Grace. I needed to go to Grace as fast as I could. I couldn't let her leave, at least not yet. Not without listening to what she had to say.

I rushed away from the table, running as fast as I could towards the door. I rushed out of the room as fast as I could.

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Jeremiah

I ignored a lot of people and things. There was only one thing left to do now. I had already started and I had to make sure I protected Kora in every way I knew how. Getting to that lecture room was the only way I could think of.

"Hey man, can we talk?"

I walked past Sadiq without even giving it a second thought. His apology was the least of my concerns and besides, he was going to get another chance to apologize anyway. I wasn't paying any attention to the new and luxurious reconstruction of the old money lecture room so I'm not going to give you a detailed explanation because at that point, getting to Seven's table and disrupting her happy time with the girl beside her was all I was concerned about.

I slammed my hand on her table immediately. Not too loudly anyway. The rest of the class didn't have to know what it was I was about to say to her but that was dependent on her cooperation. I wondered how her friend was the first to see me coming but she didn't. Seven's huge smile turned to a frown the moment she had traced my hand back to my face. I wasn't in the mood to smile either.

"Revoke Kora's black card." I made sure I kept it short and simple. I could see how the girl beside her kept staring at me from the corner of my eyes but I only had my eyes on Seven.

She waited for a second. She waited for me to be done talking and then she scoffed out loud.

"What?"

"You're the only one that can make it go away. It's all part of your game isn't it? Revoke it." I hated to repeat myself. "Kora's black card." But I broke my words as slow as I could so she didn't have to ask me to again.

"And why would I want to do that?" She asked me after turning to exchange short laughter with the girl beside her. "Why would I do anything you ask me to? What's in it for me?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Oh." She continued. "I heard about that little thing you did this morning." She pushed herself to relax in her seat, raising her legs slowly to the table and then crossing them. Not even bothering to care about her skirt and how much it was starting to expose. Not that I cared to look. That was one thing about Seven, she wasn't like other girls that cared about how they looked. She wasn't reserved or trying to be cute at all, not even if you were me. She scoffed.

"To be honest, I never thought you had it in you. The ability to settle for less." She continued looking right into my eyes.

"Does your fiancée know about this?" She asked me. "Was she there when you were confessing your love for poor Kora?"

"I'm not here to play with you." I had to remind her.

"I'm not playing with you either." She frowned hard at me. I waited. I had to give her time to weigh her options and think carefully about her next choice of words. "God. You and your fiancée have so much in common than I thought. What's with the obsession about this Kora girl? Is she even worth all the drama? You think coming here looking like that is going to make me tremble? I'm so many things Jerry but scared of you is what I'm not. My father practically owns this school. There's nothing you or anyone can do to me here. I do what I want, when I want to. What part of asking politely for things away from your jurisdiction do you rich people not understand? We rich people." She said . "Don't mind me, I'm just kidding. I never ask politely for anything."

Was this girl serious? Did it look like I was in the mood for her games? Or a friendly conversation?

"I think you have me mistaken with someone else." I pushed closer to her. "I don't care who you are or what your father is as a matter of fact, unlike everyone here who is easily intimidated by you, I'm not."

"Mnnn."

"I don't care about this place. I don't care about anything. I have nothing to lose and so hurting you would take only a second and I wouldn't have to think twice about it. But it really doesn't have to come to that yet. I have other means of getting what I want."

"Oh really?" She asked me. "Please share these means with me. I'm dying to know."

I dropped my phone on the table immediately. There was a video on the screen waiting to be played. The goal was to let her see it. It caught her attention but it first caught the attention of the girl sitting beside her. I could see how she was beginning to tremble and she had barely watched the video yet.

"Oh you don't have to be afraid." I told her. "I'm actually not going to say anything if your girlfriend cooperates with me." I turned to Seven who had her eyes glued to my phone. "I mean that's what you both are to each other isn't it? Girlfriends?"

I took a deep breath.

"I wonder what your father is going to say if he accidentally stumbles on that Video. If he finds out that his precious daughter has feelings only for people of same sex with hers? If he finds out that his daughter is a lesbian who thinks it's okay to hide her identity and feel better of herself by bullying other people?" I scoffed.

"Isn't your father also a pastor?" I turned to the other girl. "I can't even imagine what's going to happen when he finds out, when everyone finds out that you've been sleeping with the daughter of Fabian Balogun?" I slowly turned to Seven. "Come on, you know there's only one thing that's going to happen to you two if the truth ever comes out. I'm really trying to make this go as fast as I can so bear with me."

"What do you want?" I could hear Seven's voice tremble. She could barely even look at me at this point. She was extremely terrified. I slowly reached for my phone.

"Revoke Kora's black card and make her immune to future black cards and you won't ever have to worry about this video getting out ever again."

She scoffed.

"Then I guess it's coming out anyway because your fiancée also has that video and she's going to release it if I do what you want me to do." She slowly raised her eyes to mine. I could literally see the fear in them. "I'm doomed both ways."

"Just do what I asked you to do and I promise, your secret is going to be safe. Leave Oma to me."

"And I'm supposed to just believe that?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I mean, would you want to know what would happen if you don't?"

She scoffed. I guess she understood perfectly what I was trying to say.

"That wasn't so hard how was it?" I gave her a quick tap on her shoulder and then turned to leave right before I paused. I just wanted to be petty for a second.

"Oh and I always want you to remember one thing." I told her. "Don't mean to brag but the only reason this school is still standing is because your father owes my family and Kingsley's two-fifty million. You have the title you're so proud of right now because we made it so. God, just come out already and tell your father the truth about who you are. Stop making people's lives miserable so you could feel better about your insecurities. People are legit out there fighting so the rights of people like you can be acknowledged. The least you can do is embrace yourself or don't. But stop bullying people to make them feel they are just as weak and scared as you are. Jesus, that's embarrassing."

I turned around to leave. Pettiness achieved. Black card revoked. I smirked as I walked out of the room as fast as I could. It was time to find Kora.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Kora

I ran to the parking lot as fast as I could, hoping I was right on time. Hoping I could at least meet up with Grace before she left. I had just come from her room and one of the janitors clearing it had told me that she had just left the dormitory a few seconds before I got there.

God, let her still be around.

I prayed so much in my heart. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe Grace had taken the fall for what had happened and she had made sure to take Charles along with her. That explained why I didn't see any trace of him in school today. I had a lot of tears in my eyes threatening to fall and it got worse when I got to the garage. It didn't take so long before I found her. I let out a relief exhale, walking as fast as I could to the black SUV the moment I had seen her drop her box inside the boot and then shut it.

"Grace?" My voice echoed and it made her to refrain from taking a final step into the car. She slowly turned to face me. It had only been less than a week and I could see how pale and lean she had become already. She had this sadness in her eyes that I had never seen before but I kept making my way towards her. Hoping she didn't turn away from me. I watched her lean inside the car.

"One second Mum."

Oh that was her Mum at the driver's seat? I didn't notice. I wasn't even sure if it was okay for me to say hello. I wasn't even sure what I was going to do or say. At that point, it looked like I was out of words. She was really leaving. Grace was finally leaving NAUN. Leaving me behind. I watched her shut the door slowly and then she took a deep breath right before she turned to me, I could see how she whirled her fingers like she was scared to look me in the eye, more like ashamed. She took slow steps towards me just as I did towards her. We stopped the moment we were right in front of each other. I could feel my lips shake but I didn't know what to say. I just looked at her, from her head to her toe. I had to be sure this wasn't a dream because I had felt like the past few days were dreams all along. I wished I was, and that my best friend wasn't leaving.

Grace raised her head finally so she could look me in my eye. She let herself smile just a little bit.

"Hey." She told me. "Looks like you heard the news." She managed to remain so strong. She was trying so hard not to cry in front of me even though I could see the tears in her eyes.  "I guess nothing would ever be hidden under the sun would it? The truth finally came out. I got expelled. But look on the bright side, I didn't go down alone. I took that rapist with me. At least now, the truth is out. You don't have to feel scared or threatened anymore. Now he's going to get what he truly deserves. He can pay for what he did to you. We both would."

Her voice broke. She took a deep breath, further increasing her resistance to tears. I could see her fight so hard to keep her cool within herself but it looked like she was failing at it. Every word she took brought her closer to tears. She swallowed hard and then exhaled loudly after puffing air into her cheeks. I could see how she was struggling to speak.

"Kora, I'm sorry." She told me as a tear fell from her face and then another. "I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for what I did to you. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry I was weak and I let them get to me. I'm sorry I am not as strong as you are. I chose myself first and I probably would again because I'm really selfish so maybe I deserve this. I deserve to be far away from you. I don't deserve you and all the kindness you've shown me and I'm sorry."

I didn't care. I didn't care about any of those things. I hurried as fast as I could to Grace and I hugged her as tight as I could, taking her by surprise. I could feel her hesitate to hold me right back and the moment she did, there were a lot of silent tears that came with it. I was crying too.

"Why are you crying?" She asked me, "Why are you being so emotional? You should be grateful that you've gotten rid of a bad friend like me, a bad person."

"I'll call you everyday." I sobbed. "I'd text you everyday. I'd come visit you in the weekends and we could go to the movies and get our nails done as we used to. Nothing is going to change. I'm never going to forget you."

I was trying. Trying to keep my emotions in check but I couldn't. My heart was tearing apart and I didn't know how to control myself. I didn't want to think about anything else before that moment. I held on tight to Grace. Grace was finding it hard to hold hers in herself. She was crying loudly too and before we both knew it, our loud sobs echoed all around the parking lot. We couldn't stop crying. We didn't want to. I didn't want to. I just held on as tightly as I could to her. To Grace. To my best friend.

She was my best friend. Always was and always would be.

My best friend.