In this story, love and deception were one and the same. Or at least that was what it felt like. It was almost impossible to tell the difference.

One thing we had in common is that we were all capable of taking any shape and form to get what we wanted. Just like lying, pretence was also a necessary skill.

Sure, it gets messy when pretence becomes reality and we realize that we'd gone after something and found another. Or what started out as just a game could later on turn into something much more special.

Unfortunately, that didn't mean all would turn out well. I wish this were a story where the end justified the means but it wasn't.

◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈

The Friday morning saw Ahmed Yusuf and  Tari Disemi sitting on the grass carpeted just like the football field not far from them. For many, it was an unusual thing seeing the two together but those who knew that they'd been partnered for a project stole glances and didn't think much of it.

Speaking of projects, that was the reason why Tari had joined him on the ground, or at least, that was what she forced herself to believe and deny the fact that she'd been running track all morning and was already exhausted and a tiny, stupid part of her was just itching to get closer to the Yusuf twin who helped her out during one of her darkest and scariest moments.

It had only barely been days since the abortion but Tari was trying her best to forget about it and move. And one of the ways to do that was to reluctantly put on the sports wear she hadn't worn in ages and participate in sports that got her worn out easily all in the name of a competition she couldn't give a rat's ass about. But then again, all these were welcomed distractions.

She would not deny the fact that Ahmed Yusuf, the notorious twin to her best friend and loyal member of the evil Head Girl's gang, was now a person of interest to her. In as much as she and Amira never talked about Ahmed, and she spent most of the time forgetting that someone like him even existed, she could now clearly see him. In fact, Ahmed stuck out like a bright yellow in a black and white background.

The fact that he'd kept her secret didn't help matters either. After she had gotten home that night, she was pretty sure she would wake up the next day and find out that the whole world knew about her abortion. But then, Ahmed still hadn't said a word to anyone and she was feeling guilty for ever doubting him.

Maybe it was possible to be in a platonic relationship with the Ahmed Yusuf, but if he kept looking at her like that, she wasn't sure where things were headed.

"Abi you know say Annika go soon find you come?" Ahmed looked up at Tari as he laid on the grass, using his elbows to prop himself up.

"Who that one bash?" Tari's thick ghetto accent was sharp and dramatic. Ahmed grinned widely but didn't say anything. Things would be perfect for Tari if he didn't mention Annika's name every five minutes. "Buy something let's eat, I'm hungry." Tari hit his arm playfully before returning her gaze to the field where a few girls were trying and failing miserably in the art of playing football.

"I resemble your papa, abi wetin?" Ahmed looked her down and she just glared at him before shaking her head.

"Stingy men association," Tari mumbled.

"Na we," Ahmed replied, that grin still on his freckled face. He was wearing the sparkling white T-shirt and pebble colored shorts that made up the general sports wear and his seemed to be a perfect fit— probably one those people who were given smaller sizes or head mended theirs to be tight fitted. Knowing Ahmed, the latter was definitely the case.

"We need to talk about our project," Tari said, literally having to force herself to even initiate the conversation. And with the way Ahmed hissed so loudly that he got the attention of others sitting close to them, he obviously wasn't thrilled about the idea of talking about abortion. Or maybe it was the idea of public speaking in general. In fact, Tari was sure that nothing academic was Ahmed Yusuf's business. People like him were termed 'non academic students.'

"I'm serious," Tari added, she wanted to see his reaction.

The boy in question only laid fully on the grass, adjusted his back against it and sprawled out his hands as though he was about to make a snow angel. "Abeg fashi that nonsense. May that woman dey there dey cap nonsense. If she yarn finish, she go rest."

Oh, well. At least she wouldn't be the only one getting a zero. Someone else was just as enthusiastic as failing as she was. Tari smiled to herself.

Tari figured Ahmed was probably tired of watching their class girls make mockery of football as he now stared up at the sky as though it was speaking to him. She wondered if she was the only one seeing this side of Ahmed Yusuf and why she hadn't seen it before. And most importantly, why her? Why had he shown up that day? What had he helped her? Did he have ulterior motives? Would she be surprised if he did? Would she be hurt?

She could see Zehan at the verge of taring his hair out as he yelled and probably cursed at the girls on the field and waved his hands frantically as though he was drowning. He was trying to coach the girls as much as he could but it looked like they were successfully close to making him attempt suicide for the third, fourth time?

"See as that one dey do like wetin dem use remote control dey operate." Tari hasn't noticed that Ahmed was sitting up again and watching the mockery the girls were making of his favourite sport. Together, they both made fun of the girls on the field. Not like Tari knew the first thing about the sport herself but hearing Ahmed make jest of the players was hilarious.

Tari laughed so loudly that she didn't notice that they were starting to draw attention to themselves more than before.

"Folake!" Zehan yelled on of the player's name, "this is football, not handball. You kick the fucking ball with your leg, not throw it!" He made funny gestures with his hands like a fish out of water and that made Tari laugh more.

At that moment, she thought, she had never seen Zehan Essien more invested and committed to something like he was with his Sports Prefect duties. He was always so difficult to understand and vibe with. That was why she preferred his brother. When she'd heard of Ismael's death, she was devastated and in as much as Zehan killing his brother was very believable, there was something in her that couldn't totally believe it.

The smiles and laughter slowly faded away from their faces when Ahmed first, then Tari had looked up to see their siblings casting down a questioning gaze at them on the floor.

"Hey," Amira was the first to speak, looking from her best friend to her brother. She was putting on a white hijab that blended into her equally white T-shirt. Timi stood awkwardly next to her, totally forgetting to speak.

"Hey, I've been looking for you," Tari said, referring to Amira. "Where are you guys coming from?"

"We're coming from the recreation center, some of us were using the lawn tennis court there to practice," came Amira's reply.

"They let you guys?"

"Yeah, the school paid, I think," Timi was the one to speak. "Are you guys getting ready for the debate next week?" he asked, trying to find a reasonable explanation as to what his sister would be doing with Ahmed Yusuf. The fact that they looked like a newly wedded couple on their honeymoon was definitely a reason to raise eyebrows.

"Which debate?" Ahmed was the one to ask, his ghetto accent never failing to coat his words. He eyed the Head Boy up and down.

Timi only squinted back as though he couldn't see clearly, which might've been the case since he wasn't supposed to wear his glasses during sports activities. He knew Ahmed knew perfectly well what he'd been talking about, there wasn't need for further expounding.

Tari was about to say something about the whole thing not being a presidential debate that would require preparing for but decided to go with the simple lie instead. "Yup, we're getting ready,"

"Wetin you wan chop?" Ahmed whispered for the ears of only  person sitting next to him on the grass.

For a moment, Tari forgot that Amira and Timi were still standing above them with confused looks they probably didn't know they had on. She almost couldn't believe Ahmed was actually willing to buy her lunch. He did care, after all. She was going to decline and tell him that she'd just been teasing him earlier when she said she was hungry but thought against it since she didn't know when she'd get free lunch from  Ahmed Yusuf again.

"Just soya milk and doughnut," she replied with a smile and as she watched him get up to go get the snacks, she added, "thank you."

"We're going inside, we need to work on points for our debate," Amira said as though to remind Tari that she and Timi were still standing awkwardly beside her. Meanwhile, Amira tried to recall the last time her brother had offered to buy her snacks.

"Oh, okay, okay. Good luck." Tari still had that smile on her face as she watched the retreating figures of her brother and best friend and wondered why Timi was walking so close to Amira.

"When did they become friends?" Timi asked Amira when there were a good distance away from his sister.

Amira shrugged. "I'm as surprised as you are," she replied although something told her that friends wasn't exactly the right word to use. She didn't know if it was because of Tari or Ahmed, but she knew there was no way in hell they could stay just friends even if that were to be the initial intention.

• • •

The air around Zehan Essien was just as hot as his body and temper. Never did he know that a bunch of underclassmen girls could infuriate him all in the name of playing football. He was sure that if he'd spent five more minutes on that field, he would've definitely landed himself in a psychiatric ward.

He'd stormed out soon after Annika had showed up and immediately dismissed all the girls, confirming that none of them nor their entire generation to come would ever have a career in football.

Even as he matched towards his class to get his water bottle— which he should have brought along with him in the first place— his breathing was still heavy from exhaustion. Why had he taken up Annika's offer to be sports prefect again? Right, because he'd always dreamt of it before Ismael happened.

Zehan was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize that there was actually someone in the class which he'd thought was empty.

Charles Elias sat at the last row, glaring daggers at the sweaty boy who had just walked into the class. Zehan nearly had a heart attack when he heard "Essien!" resound and echo in the almost empty room. Charles chuckled.

Zehan didn't know what to say until the principal's son was standing in front of him. "Everybody is supposed to be outside," Zehan spoke the same way he'd speak to a junior student hiding in class during sports activities. Charles seemed unfazed.

"The English teacher said you'd tell me more about our project," Charles said instead, ignoring Zehan's initial statement.

"Oh," he mumbled, "we are supposed to choose a topic first."

"Then choose a topic." Charles shrugged, his hands in his pockets.

"Uhhm...I was considering, 'Nigeria would be better with a female president'," Zehan replied. "I'll support."

"I'll be against it then."

"Great." Zehan grabbed his water bottle from his bag and headed towards the class exit. He'd planned on simply taking a sip and leaving the water bottle in his bag but he couldn't spend one more minute in that room with Charles. The air suddenly felt intoxicating.

"I have one question though."

Zehan turned around at the sound of Charles's voice. To think he'd almost made it to the door.

"Why did you kill your brother?"

He nearly dropped his water bottle. First, he tried making sure he'd heard correctly before becoming flabbergasted by the simple question. Sure, everybody probably had that question in mind but no one had outrightly asked him.

Charles began laughing like a maniac and even that gave Zehan the chills. "Guy, I'm joking, see your face," he said in between laughter.

Zehan simply willed himself to turn around and just leave the psychopath. If people thought he was crazy then they should probably have someone like Charles Elias checked.

Charles stopped laughing after Zehan had walked out. His laughter had turned to a wicked grin as he remembered the conversation with his mother.

"If you were truly framed, then I'm very sure of the person who is responsible for it."

"Who?"

"Zehan Essien, " She said. "That boy is a nuisance. I just need him to disappear, I need a reason to expel him."

• • •

"So you have a boyfriend?"

That had got to be hundredth time Kasy had gotten that question since Zehan had blabbed his mouth at the perfects meeting. Now, not only were other prefect talking about it but everybody in the set was now pestering her like it was supposed to be their business. But this time was different because it was Bamidele Akindele who had asked.

Dele stared down at Kasy, expecting a response to his question as she tied her shoelace with shaky hands. She couldn't even begin to think of why Dele would care but it pissed her off because she couldn't say "No, fool, I don't have a boyfriend because it's you that I like."

Kasy didn't say anything until she was done tying her shoelace and stood up from her squatting position to meet Dele's sweaty, chocolate face and curious eyes. "Yes,"

Since that was what everyone thought, there was no use in denying it to him and besides, there was something satisfying about having Dele think that she was with someone else and not patiently waiting for the day he would finally notice her and reciprocate her feelings.

Dele was dumbfounded for a second or two before he said, "Wow, really." It wasn't a question. Maybe he'd been hoping for her to tell him that it was just a rumor started by a silly joke and that she was still single.

"Yeah, really."

"So, it's serious?" Dele had his hands on his hips and his breathing was a little uneven since he'd just run a hundred meters on the track behind them. Kasy had just been standing next to the track, tying and untying her shoelace the whole time, hoping that Annika wouldn't notice she hadn't done anything.

"I guess so." She needed to get away from Dele because it seemed he was hell bent on getting enough info about her supposed relationship with Casper who she hadn't met before.

"Casper, right?" Dele asked and Kasy nodded. "He seems like a good guy."

"He is," Kasy said confidently, knowing that that was probably the only thing she didn't need to lie about. He was a good guy.

Dele was about to say something else but then someone called out Kasy's name and they both turned to see Naomi, the assistant sports prefect making her way towards them from across the track.

"Kasy, please can you help me get two basketballs from the sports equipment store? These SS 1 boys are rough and they've deflated the other ones." Naomi smiled, revealing her gap teeth.

Before Kasy could even confirm if she'd be going, Dele interrupted, "I'll go with her."

Naomi sighed in relief. "Thank you, here's the key. I'll be in the basketball court." She handed the key to Kasy and jogged away.

Kasy turned to Dele with a questioning look but he ignored it and simply said, "let's go."

Not long after they'd taken a few strides towards the junior secondary school building where the sports equipment store was located, Dele was at it again. "So I thought Casper was in Lagos, how did you guys meet?"

Great. So that was the reason why he'd wanted to go with her, just to probe her further. And shit, that was a hard question to come up with a lie for.

Kasy thought for awhile, strings of "Uhmm..." and "Emm..." leaving her mouth for a few seconds before she remembered something Casper had told her. "His grandparents live here in Abuja. We met when he came to visit them during the Easter break."

"That's cool," Dele mumbled, looking ahead to where they were headed. "So it hasn't been that long since you guys met then."

"I guess not."

They were in the building now and making their way towards the store down the empty hallway and Kasy was sure Dele still had a lot to say or ask.

"So what's he like?" Dele asked when they got to the store and Kasy was unlocking the door.

"He's cool," Kasy said at first before she paused to think of what Casper was like ever she started chatting with him on Facebook. "He's also very funny, persuasive and has a way with words. He's just really good."

"Hmm..." She heard Dele hum behind her as they walked into the extremely dark store. They couldn't find the light switch and that made it even more difficult finding the basketballs. The light from the hallway was doing little to nothing in helping. "So you guys have gone on a date before?"

Kasy was thankful the room was dark and he couldn't see her face as they aimlessly searched for the basketball. "Err...yes, we have...once." Because it wouldn't make sense of they hadn't.

"Really? Where did you guys go?" Dele asked behind her as he reached for something that looked like a basketball on the top shelf.

"Uh...just the mall...the cinema...the cinema at the mall." Kasy shook her head. She wasn't lying as smoothly as had been doing ever since.

"Oh," she heard Dele mumble but she didn't know if it was a response to her answer or if it was because what he'd been reaching for wasn't actually a basketball. "So...have you kissed?"

Kasy's eyes grew wide before she turned to see Dele just standing there, seriously waiting to hear what she would say.

Kasy cleared her throat awkwardly. She shifted her gaze to Dele's Nike snickers and could immediately make out the round big, brown balls a few feet away. "Oh, look at the basketballs!" she exclaimed, thankful for the distraction from the pending question before making to grab them but then she stepped on her loose shoelace and tumbled forward like a drunkard.

She was going to fall on Dele but he'd quickly caught her with his hands on her ribs side. To think she'd tied those shoelaces a hundred times that day.

She mumbled something that sounded like a "thank you" after she stood to her feet and grabbed the basketballs on the floor, each of them on each of her hands. "Let's go," she said to Dele who was awkwardly staring at her in the darkness without blinking. She made to walk out the door but something else happened.

"Kasy, wait," Dele whispered in a very low, husky and chilling voice before he grabbed one of her hands and spun her around just like that before placing his lips on hers.

The the sound of basketball hitting tiled floor as they left Kasy's hands— which had gone numb— were the only sounds made in the dark room as Dele's lips remained still against hers. She stood still as he cupped her face and began moving his lips slowly against hers. It took Kasy a few seconds to get her heartbeat in check before she responded the only way she knew how. And when he pulled away slowly but left his hands on her face and her hands still around his waist, Kasy stood on her tiptoes and connected their lips again, this time, with all willingness and devotion to his soft, warm lips.

And thank heavens, he kissed her back.

So raise your hand if your ship is sailing!

Kasdel?

Timira?

Tarmed?

What about AnnJay?

These are terrible ship names, you don't need to tell me.
And what do you think Charles and his mother are up to? And what's next for Kasdel?