Zaria's POV

"I really need someone to talk to right now." I plopped down on a seat beside Lyla and she stared at me warily.

"Since when? I have known you to have everything all figured out. Now you want to talk to someone. I can feel my best friend instincts tingling." She said in one breath and I scoffed at her.

"I don't think you'd like me so much after I say what I'm about to say." I told her and her forehead creased in confusion.

"Alright, out with the dets. I really hope it's worth it o because if it's not, I'd kill you for disturbing..." She rambled and I rolled my eyes.

"Joel and I kissed." I whispered out harshly and that stopped her rambling. She looked like a deer caught in headlight, her eye balls almost bulging out of their sockets.

"You did what?!" She exclaimed to the point that half of the class began to stare at us weirdly. I gave them a sorry smile, picked Lyla by the hand and dragged her tiny body outside to the less busy hall way.

"This is why I don't like telling you things. Why would you shout like that na." I chided her and she flashed me a glare.

"Well forgive me for expressing how shocked and surprised I was." She blurted out before smacking me on the butt. "You whore! You have been sneaking kisses behind my back!" Her voice went from shocked to excited and her eyes flashed like it always did whenever she was hungry for gist.

"First of us, Ouch. You have a rather painful hand for a pretty tiny person." I rubbed the spot she had smacked. "Two, we haven't been sharing kisses. We only kissed once, last Saturday." I told her and she gasped dramatically, placing her hand on her chest.

"Last Saturday? You guys were supposed to be training for Decathlon and how come I'm just hearing about your first kiss two days after it happened? I'm your best friend yo!" She smacked me again.

"Lyla lower your voice. I don't want Ada hearing about this kiss that happened. I'm not ready for World War three." I whined and her mouth formed in a o as she realized what I meant.

"Damn, I just realized how panicky your tone was. This is complicated." She said and I sighed.

"I know and I'm trying to look for a better way out of this without anyone getting hurt." I told her but she shook her head.

"That's the problem. There is no better way out of this without someone getting hurt. Be it you or Ada or Joel. Or the three of you together. Someone will get hurt, one or all." She said and I groaned.

"He said he likes me." I told Lyla and she rolled her eyes.

"Well durr, and you like him too. When y'all were at each other's throats sef I could still sense the chemistry. This is the first time you are actually talking to me about a guy and I'm so happy." Lyla said.

"But I'm betraying a friend for some thing I am not sure would last. My friend likes the same guy I like, what do I do about it. Is it really worth it." I asked her and she sighed.

"It's worth it because Ada doesn't like Joel. She's just wants to add him to the collection of her conquest. Her feelings are not genuine, yours are and that's what is giving you an edge." Lyla said and I exhaled, not knowing what to say. Lyla placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Look, I'd advice you to take this risk because High school won't be forever. You can't like something like this pass you by because you are being sentimental. Ada would get over it, she always does. If she doesn't understand then it's on her because honestly, she has had her own share of high school anything. It's time for her to compromise." Lyla concluded and I smiled in gratitude.

"Thank you so much, Lyla. I kinda feel better." I told her and she smirked.

"You are supposed to feel better, I'm not your bestie for nothing. By the way, what did Joel say about the whole Ada issue?" She asked and I shrugged.

"He told me he'd give me time because he knows how difficult it must be for me. But he wouldn't stop emphasizing how much he likes me and not her." I smiled and Lyla chuckled.

"Chai, Zaria. I've never seen you so excited because of a guy, see how you are glowing. I'm loving this. So tell me the most important part." She wiggled her brows. I frowned in confusion.

"What important part?" I asked and she rolled her eyes.

"How good a kisser is Joel?" She asked and I burst into laughter.

"Sooo Goood." I drawled and she laughed even more.

"I can't believe you." An awfully familiar voice pierced through the air. Lyla and I looked to the side and saw Ada fuming, literally.

Oh shit!

"Ada, what..." I started.

"Don't Ada me!" She snapped at me before moving closer to us, pointing fingers."I knew it. I knew you were the reason why Joel told me off but I thought I should give you a benefit of doubt. You are such a backstabber!" She growled out, staring daggers at me.

"Ada, can you let me explain..." I started.

"Ada you have to calm down and at least hear Zaria out." Lyla said at the same time but Ada scoffed in return.

"Oh please, spare me all of that!" She rose her hand to the air to stop us. She then looked at Lyla. "I am so disappointed in you, Lyla. I knew Zaria had the tendencies to back stab me but I didn't expect you to support her." She shook her head pitifully and I almost got pissed.

Almost.

"I'm not a backstabber. It's not my fault Joel doesn't like you. I tried to be the good friend by talking about you to him whenever I got the chance. Not liking you was solely his choice. I didn't see myself liking him either but it just happened." I explained in the best way possible.

"If that's your excuse then it's bullshit because if you were a loyal friend from the start, you'd have gotten rid of your feelings for him." Ada stated and Lyla scoffed.

"Can you even hear yourself, Ada? You want her to drop her feelings on the basis of what, your infatuation with Joel? Your feelings weren't genuine in the first place so it's you that's supposed to drop your fücking obsession with Joel and be a good friend for once." Lyla deadpan and every where became quiet. Ada kept staring daggers between us.

"What's going on?" Joel's voice interrupted our stare down as he walked towards us with Charles and Kelvin. He looked at me and I looked away. Ada noticed this and scoffed.

"Right, the lover boy too is here. How typical. Y'all should just go on and fück yourselves." She spat out with so much venom, flipped the finger at us and walked away.

"I'll go after her." Charles said and ran after Ada. Lyla left with Kelvin and Joel looked at me.

"What was that all about?" He asked, his hand coming to rest on my upper arm. I sighed.

"She found out." I said.

****

Joel and I walked hand in hand as we roamed the mall. It was the weekend and he had unexpectedly shown up to my house to take me out on a date. I was so thankful Sam and my parents were not in so it was easy for me to go out.

I accessed his dressing for the umpteenth time today and I bit my lower lip, a gesture I've gotten so used to doing whenever I was around him. He was dressed in a flimsy grey sweatshirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbow, black ripped jeans and white sneakers. His eyes was shielded from the sun with shades but I could tell he knew I was checking him out.

"You can stop checking me out now. I know I look good." His voice cut through my reverie and I saw him smirking. I could feel his eyes peering at me through the dark rim of his shades. I feigned a scoff.

"You give yourself so much credit. I wasn't staring at you. There was some on your face." I lied and he scoffed, smirking.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever makes you sleep at night, love." I blushed furiously. That was his endearment for me. There was a way he sounded whenever he called her and his accent added effects that gave me goosebumps.

"I want ice cream." I told him, pouting. He chuckled and we walked over to the Cold stone session of the mall and to the counter.

"Good afternoon, please place your order." The young lady by the counter requested with glee. She was baiting her eyelashes at Joel and was adding extra effort to reveal her cleavage. I scoffed.

The bitch was flirting with my boyfriend in my presence. She's obviously a few years older than him.

Yes. I said Boyfriend.

Yes, we are already official.

"My girlfriend and I would be having a mint mocha chocolate chip ice cream, please." Joel smiled good naturedly. The lady looked at me with a scowl and I flashed her a smile of my own. She got to work and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Would that be all?" She asked, still trying her luck with Joel. Joel looked at me.

"Do you want anything else, love?" He asked me and I smiled.

"I'm fine. Thanks for your service." I looked at the girl while saying that. She scoffed and returned to her duty post, giving up. I chuckled again.

Some ladies have no shame whatsoever.

"You are so mean." Joel told me immediately we got seated. I gasped dramatically and huffed.

"Says the one that kept rubbing the word 'girlfriend and love' in her face." I smirked and he chuckled.

"I don't like desperate people." He stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm so sure that if she had her way, she'd have shoved her boobs down your throat." I said and Joel's face contoured to that of disgust.

"Ewww, Zaria." He grimaced and I laughed. We began to munch on our ice cream, making small talks.

"Have you been able to get through to Ada?" He asked me in between our talk and I sighed, dropping my spoon.

"She blocked me everywhere. It's really serious. She even blocked Lyla. I don't know what to do anymore." I replied, dejected.

I've been trying to make amends with Ada for the past week but all to no avail. She even stopped seating with all of us, calling us back stabbers and liars. It was obvious she was hurting, hurting that she didn't get what she wanted for the first time. It was pretty selfish, but I understood where she was coming from.

She has had her own fair share of heartbreaks and betrayals in the past.

"I honestly didn't think she would take it this far. I also tried talking to her but she just kept giving me a cold shoulder. Asked me what I saw in a pretender like you." He looked at me skeptically and my breath caught in my throat.

Does she know?

No! She is just jealous.

"Wow! She's really pissed at me." I muttered softly, looking away from his scrutinizing gaze. I felt his hand rest mine on the table. I looked at me.

"I know there are some things you don't want to tell me about yourself yet and I understand why you are skeptical but the sooner I know, the less surprised I'd be when I find out from outsiders. I don't want to find out from anyone apart from you, Zaria." He told me and I looked away, biting against my lips. I looked at my ice cream and saw that it was melting.

"Wow! I need to finish this up fast." I lamented, changing the subject. Joel looked at his and chuckled.

"Mine too." He was distracted. Good. We speedily took our ice cream that I didn't know I smeared a little on the side of my lips. "Hey, come here." Joel beckoned and I moved closer. He used his thumb to wipe the excess ice cream tentatively and then licked it off his thumb slowly, not breaking eye contact. I felt my cheeks grow hot.

Shit! That was hot.

"W-we should get going." I stuttered out and he smirked.

"Sure." He said and I chuckled at how smooth he was.

Hand in hand, we walked out of the mall.

****

It was dark by the time Joel stopped in front of my house. He parked and stopped the engine before turning to face me. I looked at him for a while before I felt hot under his gaze and looked away. His finger tilted my chin up to look at him.

"Do I make you feel uncomfortable?" He asked me, a teasing undertone evident. I chuckled softly

"Of course not. I just feel shy whenever you looked at me like that." I told him and he chuckled. The air became pregnant with silence.

"Zaria, I mean what I said earlier. I need you to trust to tell me things about you. I don't want to hear them from someone else." I sighed and looked up, feeling weak and helpless for the first time.

"Joel, it's hard... There are so many things, so many dark things. I'm..." He pressed his index against my lips.

"Shhh... It's okay. Whenever you are ready, I'll wait for you." He told me and I exhaled. Joel moved closer to me, running his knuckles through the length of my face.

"I care so much about you, Zaria." He whispered, his breath fanning my face.

"I care about you too." I murmured back and he flashed me a small smile, his fingers trailing the edges of my face. I watched him look at me with utmost love and serenity. I've never had anyone look at me that way before.

I leaned closer against the dashboard and pressed my lips against his. He seemed surprise at first but got over it fast, bringing his hand that was rested against the steering wheel and wove it through my hair, tilting his head to deepen the kiss, pulling and biting against my bottom lip. His tongue invaded my mouth and I moaned softly, vaguely thinking of how good it felt to be kissed by him.

****

The house was dark when I went in and my guess was that my parents were out and Aisha was upstairs because she told me she wasn't going anywhere. She was probably sleeping.

Putting on the inverter, I made my way to my room only to be shoved inside with force and be knocked against the wall. I groaned in pain at the force. A hand wrapped around my neck cutting my breathing.

I knew exactly who it was.

Sam.