With the way things are about to turn out, I think we should create an hashtag for Tolani; #PrayForTolani. She's definitely going to need all the prayers she can get because from here on now... I don't even know what to say. God help us 😪💔.

****

"𝒀𝒆𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆."
_𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 8:32

𝕁𝔸𝕄𝔸𝕃

"I swear, if my phone should buzz one more time, I am going to smash it on the floor." Somadina lamented, glaring at his phone like it was an evil spirit from hell. Mateo who was just as tired of Somadina as the rest of us, if not worse, just hissed and looked away.

"You know, you can easily freeze your Whatsapp and act like the application doesn't exist. Or better still, off your bloody data." Skye retorted, casting a stink eye at Somadina. She's lucky Vanessa wasn't here to give her a mouth full for looking at her boyfriend like that.

"I'm using the school's WiFi." Soma stated, waving his phone to the air. "I'm downloading something." He added and Skye scoffed, but didn't say anything to that effect.

WAEC ended few days ago, which meant no more school, no more work and no more classes till graduation; well, at least for those of us that are not doing NECO. The reasons some of us were still coming to school was because we had to plan for all the events that would serve as landmarks to the end of our stay in Limelight.

But something happened two days ago that just made the entire set go on a rampage.

The news of Tolani's pregnancy.

Even though it was still tagged as a rumour, the thought of it still troubled the hell out of me and that was the reason the four of us were seated in the middle of love garden, commenting on the reaction of all our classmates to this news.

On cue, a phone buzzed and this time, it was mine. The class group chat has been blowing up for the past two days on the issue of Tolani's pregnancy. Everyone kept arguing if it was just a rumour or it was actually true. Sighing, I opened the group chat, even though I dreaded what I was going to see.

Everyone had one name or the other to call Tolani. Slut, whore, Walking STD and so many other degrading names. Anyone that tried to diffuse the situation was attacked with insults as well. It was utterly disgusting to keep reading so I just hissed and dropped my phone.

"This is getting messed up." I muttered more to myself that to the guys but they heard me anyway.

"These guys should just stop already." Mateo growled out, dropping the smoothie cup he was holding on the table. "This isn't anyone's business." He added, his face scrunched up in a scowl.

"The minute that gist got leaked to the class group chat, it became everyone's business Mateo. They won't stop buzzing about it. Especially since it's about Tolani." Skye chipped in, shrugging afterwards.

"These messages are legit giving me headache." I stated, rubbing my temple with my thumb and index. "You guys are admins. Just turn the group chat off. Stop the messages from coming it." I told Skye and Somadina. Since they were the head boy and girl of the set, then they had the privilege to me admins.

"You want the entire Limelight Trojans to come after me? No thank you." Somadina rose his hands in surrender, backing down immediately and I rolled my eyes while Mateo muttered pussy.  Skye hissed and retrieved her phone from her pocket.

"Well, if you won't do it then I will." She said, locking her phone and punching in some buttons. Soon, she dropped her phone and said "Done. They should come after me if they dare." She sassed and I rolled my eyes, looking away from her.

"But guys," Somadina began, causing us to look at him. "Do you think the rumours are true? Do you think Tolani is actually pregnant?" He asked, all trace of joke or playfulness gone from his face and he was looking very serious. I sighed, shaking my head as I didn't even know the answer to the question.

"No one can really know for sure." Mateo replied. "I mean, it's just a rumour right? It can't be true." He said, obviously trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince the rest of us.

"It has to be true because immediately after the gist got leaked, Tolani left every single group chat. The prefects group chat and the general class group chat. That basically affirmed it." Skye stated matter-of-factly, speaking with all certainty. I was more surprised about the revelation because I didn't even noticed she left the group. Maybe because I had issues of my own to deal with.

Why did she leave the group chats?

"Why did she leave the group chats?" I found myself voicing out my thoughts, feeling their eyes on me. "Tolani is smart, she knew it would have roused suspicion and she still left anyway. That doesn't make any sense." I said, looking at the guys in utter confusion.

"I think she did the right thing for her mental health." Mateo replied and we all looked at him. "After I almost died last year, the class group wouldn't stop buzzing about how I almost killed myself and I got even extra depressed. If she remained on the group chat, she'd legit loose her mind."

"Especially with all the nasty comments going on and on about her." Soma chipped in. "She's smart enough to know that remaining on the group chat would be hard for her to handle, so she had to leave." He expounded, ending with a shrug and I nodded in affirmation. Mateo and Somadina did make a lot of sense.

"In as much as I am not a big fan of Tolani, granted all.the shit she has done to me," I paused, leaning back against the chair. "I'm kinda worried about what she is going through at this point. She can't show her face in school with all these going on." I stated, folding my hand across my chest.

"We are all not big fans of Tolani," Skye chimed. "But that doesn't mean she should go through this. No one should have to go through this kind of humiliation." She said, sighing afterwards.

No one should ever go through any sort of humiliation...

I was about to chip that in when Somadina decided to make a counter statement to Skye.

"Well, you did humiliate her one time by calling her a community slut in front of your mum and the entire Limelight Trojans in SS2." He said, peering at Skye through his glasses. She glared at him and he shrugged. "I'm just saying. All of us have had a fair share of humiliating Tolani."

"She really didn't give us much choice back then." I countered back, trying to defend my sister's actions and she flashed me a small smile of gratitude. Somadina shrugged again, leaning back on his seat.

"Whatever happened in SS2 stays in SS2." Mateo butted in, drawing the attention to himself. "The issue at hand is bigger and way more disastrous and in as much as I'd like to avoid it, I can't help but think about it." He said and I agreed. This was too big to ignore.

"Khalil knows something about this issue." Somadina said, causing me to frown in confusion, wondering how Khalil why dragged into this.

"What do you mean he knows something about this?" I asked, looking around the trio for more explanation.

"The person that leaked the secret claimed to have heard it from Khalil. Which means, Khalil is a centre piece of this puzzle." Mateo answered, then sipped on his smoothie.

"Or he is the father of Tolani's baby." Skye deadpanned, causing Mateo to splutter the smoothie that he had just drank all over the table.

"Dude!" I snapped, recoiling in disgust as I started to pick my phone and other things off the table before they got soiled in Mateo's smoothie puke.

"I'm sorry, I was just shocked at that statement."

"What is so shocking about that?" Skye asked incredulously, "It is no news that Tolani and Khalil were FWBs and they practically went at it every where. What other logical explanation do you have?"

She did have a point. But...

"Well, I don't know..." Mateo started, looking at his girlfriend with sarcasm written all over his face. "The fact that Tolani doesn't have an off switch when it comes to sex and it can actually be anyone other than your cousin." He replied with a shrug. Skye wanted to counter him but I cut in.

"Mateo is right, Skye." I said and she looked at me, her right eyebrow raised in question. "Khalil might be a bloody casanova but he knows what his dad can do when he gets into any kind of trouble. We both know how strict Uncle Hakeem is. Khalil wouldn't dare." I stated profoundly and Skye nodded, agreeing with me. I didn't fail to notice how Somadina had suddenly gone quiet, a thoughtful look on his face.

Okay...

"Do you think Elyon knew about this before it leaked?" Mateo asked, knocking the breath right out of me. My mood suddenly changed to that of utter concern and worry for Elyon.

"It's most likely." Skye answered with a shrug. "They have always been together since..."she paused and I could feel her not so subtle glance towards me. "Well, since two months ago." She muttered and I looked at her. She had wrapped her hands around herself, a familiar faraway look in her eyes.

She was having one of those moments when she unconsciously reminisced everything that happened that day, all the things she had said. The guilt was written all over her face. I knew it first hand because I was still filling that guilt. I'd probably always feel it. But even if Elyon and I weren't together, I would do everything for her not to be cut up in Khalil's mess.

"The last thing I want is for Elyon is for her to be caught up in Khalil's bullshit." I blurted out.

"Well, there is nothing you can do about it." Mateo stated and I scoffed, standing up on my fee

"Not if I can help it." I stated, wanting to walk way when Somadina decided to talk.

"I've been thinking about a statement Mateo made." He started and I turned to face him, hoping that he wasn't about to utter one of his gibberish. "He said Tolani doesn't have an off switch when it comes to sex and it reminded me of what Mrs Tiana said about a category of people addicted to sex," He paused, looking at all of us. I frowned, wondering what he was talking about.

"Rape victims." He deadpanned, catching all of us off guard. I saw it on Mateo and Skye's face. They were just as surprised as I was.

"That's not possible." I said. "Tolani grew up with us. There was nothing like that."

"What if you guys had no idea?" He asked, eyes still peered at us from beneath his glasses.

☆☆☆☆

My back was leaned against the wall, my eyes trained on the door of the female lavatory. I had seen Elyon walk in there earlier and I decided to wait for her just opposite it. Call me crazy, maybe I was crazy but, I just wanted to be sure that if at all Khalil had something to do with Tolani's pregnancy, she wasn't meddling into it. It spelt trouble and all I wanted was for her to be safe.

While waiting, my mind travelled back to what Somadina had said earlier about Tolani's inability to take a break from sex being related to what Mrs Tiana had told us about some rape victims getting addicted to sex. It seemed kinda absurd coming from Somadina since he didn't know Tolani as much as we did. I mean, I practically grew up with her and there was nothing wrong.

Right?

The opening of the lavatory door jerked me out of reverie and I quickly looked up to see Elyon walking out of it, her attention solely on dusting an imaginary dust off her skirt. I didn't even want that imagine what her reaction would be once she saw me standing there. On cue, she looked up and when her eyes met mine, they widened as she veered back in shock, almost falling back into the lavatory.

Well, you have your answer. My subconscious mocked me while I tried to ease Elyon with a small smile.

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked, her eyes running over me skeptically. I looked at my watch, then back at her.

"Approximately twenty minutes." I answered with a small smile playing on my lips while she looked at me like I had lost my marbles.

"You have been standing outside the girls toilet, waiting for me for the past twenty minutes." She repeated my reply, and coming from her mouth, I began to realize how stupid that was. "Do you know how weird that looks and sound?" She asked incredulously, her shocked expression not faltering.

"Coming out of your mouth, it does sound stupid." I said and she rolled her eyes, muttered no kidding, and began to walk away from me. I sighed, following behind her. "I just needed to speak to you."

"I already told you before." She said, not halting in her steps. "There is absolutely nothing to talk. We have done all the talking that is needed to be done." She added. I stopped walking, watching her retreating figure.

"Well, how about we talk about you and Khalil knowing of Tolani's pregnancy before it got leaked?" I called to her and that did the trick, because she stopped walking and turned around to face me, an impassive look on her face. I walked closer to her.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, trying to feign ignorance but I could see through her stoic and nonchalant expression. Elyon has never been a good liar and I knew that first hand.

Shoving my hands into my pockets, I moved closer to her and said, "You are not a good liar, El." At that statement, her stoic expression faltered and she exhaled, her regular baby look expression marrying her face. I felt my lips twitch a bit in a smile.

"Fine." She breathed out. "Tolani told Khalil about three weeks ago and he confided in me as a friend." The fact that she still called Khalil her friend had not settled well with me but I didn't say anything about that.

"How then did it get out? Do you think Khalil could have told someone else?" I asked and she shook her head.

"Definitely not. It took a while before he could even tell me, so there is definitely no way he could have told someone else. Someone must have overheard us talking about it and then blabbed it to the entire Limelight Trojans." She answered, shrugging afterwards. I sighed, scratching my temple.

The next question I was going to ask, I wasn't so sure Elyon would answer it but I still went ahead to ask anyway.

"I-Is Khalil the father of the baby?" I whispered out, even though there was really no one around to hear me. But with the way secrets are flying these days, one cannot be too careful. I saw Elyon scrunch her face up in a frown like she couldn't believe I asked that question.

"Khalil is your cousin. You live with him everyday. I think you can ask him yourself." She answered sassily, trying to bypass me and walk away again. I quickly took hold of her hand, stopping her from moving any further. She corked her head to the side, looking at me as if to ask why I had stopped her. I didn't release her hand from my hold and she surprisingly, she didn't pull away.

"Elyon," I started, my voice calm and low. "The last thing I want is for you to be caught up in Khalil's bull shit. This is a big thing and if Khalil is actually involved then you shouldn't get involved. If anything happens and he gets into trouble, you go down with him." I said, my eyes unwavering from hers as I wanted her to understand me and see how serious I was.

"Look, everything happening right now isn't Khalil's fault. He is already beating himself up about how this entirely blew up in his face." She stated, eyes squarely on me. "I need to be his friend right now and stand by him, just the way he stood by me. The fact that you are already pushing all these on him without knowing exactly what happened just shows how much you are not ready to make things right with him." She alleged, looking at me in a way that said I should tell her she was wrong.

But I couldn't, because she was right. Elyon has always had a way of seeing through me, reading my emotions even though I try to hide it as much as I could.

"What if there is nothing to make right? What if you were wrong about Khalil, all along and I was right?" I asked her, wanting to hear her answer because God knows, I didn't want to be wrong about my claim all these years. Yes, it might be toxic but it's better than looking like an idiot.

Right?

My mind didn't seem to agree with me.

Are you really comfortable habouring all that hate inside of you?

Is it even healthy?

Don't you want Elyon back?

"Then I'd be the one to apologize for everything that has gone wrong ever since Khalil showed up." Her voice jerked me back to reality. Elyon slipped her hand from my grasp and walking away from me. I had one more question so I stopped her again.

"Hey!" I called to her and she stopped, turning around to look at me. I suddenly began to feel nervous about the question I was going to ask. She looked at me, urging me to speak up.

"D-Do you m-miss me?" I stuttered out, messing up my words. I could see her lips twitch a bit, but that was just it so I decided to prod even further, walking to meet up with her.

"Do you miss us?" I asked when I got to her, my gaze solely on her. She was searching my eyes and I was searching her. So much emotions were hidden behind them and to me, that seemed like a very good sign even though I was still nervous about her reply. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it.

When she opened it again to talk, she said "I'll see you in the evening Jamal." And with that, she walked away, leaving me to stand in the middle of the deserted hallway, my mind hazy.

"On the bright side," Somadina's voice came from behind me and I turned around to look at him."She didn't say no." He shrugged, coming to stand beside me.

"She didn't say yes either." I said, looking back at Elyon's retreating figure till I couldn't see her again. "I don't even know what is going in her head. She told me she loved me but I keep having this sense that there is always going to be something negative coming after that statement." I sighed, folding my hands across my chest.

"Well, If she completely breaks up with you, just know that Doctor Somadina Charles Dike is here for you." He flashed me a smile, his hands on my shoulder whilst I glared at him for the statement he made.

"You are not making me feel any better." I shrugged his hand off my shoulder, exhaling as the burden I was feeling kept weighing me down.

"Right, Sorry." Soma muttered, drawing the both of us into silence. "What did she say about Khalil being the father though? Is it true?" He asked after a moment of silence. I shook my head.

"She didn't expressly tell me if he is or isn't the father, so I am not very sure. But still, I don't want to gamble on it." I stated and Soma nodded.

"What are you guys doing this evening though, that she said she'll see you in the evening?" He asked.

"Elyon's parents travelled for a week conference in South Africa this morning, so they coming to stay with us. My parent's wedding anniversary is this weekend, so they are travelling to Dubai this evening for a romantic get away. They all won't be back till late next week sha." I explained to Soma. His eyes suddenly brightened like he realized something.

"So you, Elyon and Khalil are going to be in the same house for an entire week." It was more of a statement than a question but I nodded anyway. It was after I nodded that implication of what he just said dawned on me like a cold water in Harmattan.

Bloody hell...

It was at that moment Somadina burst out, laughing hysterically like he had been shot with an high voltage laughing gas.

"Mehn, this is going to be interesting!" He chocked out between laughter and I glared at him. "Can I come to your house tonight? I need a load off from my sisters and I this is going to serve as a good comic relief."

"Oh shut up, Somadina."

☆☆☆☆

"Elyon, how was your WAEC exam?" Mum asked, looking away from my Dad for the first time since we started dinner.

My parents wanted all of us to have dinner before they go to airport to catch their flight to Dubai. I thought it would be awkward but then, my parents were all over each other, Khalil and Elyon were talking in hushed tones and Venus was on her phone from the beginning. I think the only people feeling awkward were Skye and I. I was feeling more uncomfortable because since Elyon came here few hours ago, she's been avoiding me, majorly locked up with Khalil in his room.

I was utterly disturbed.

"It was fine, Aunt Zaria. Maths wasn't all that good, but I can pull through." Her chirpy reply pierced through my mind trip and I looked at her, my eyes running over her for the first time this evening.

She had gotten rid of her braids, her natural curly hair pulled up in a messy bun. She had on a baggy sweater that draped around the neck line, revealing the skin of her shoulder. She wore shorts under her baggy sweater and I could see her bare legs from under the table. Her long flawless legs.

You are so hopeless Jamal.

"Khalil," It was my dad that called him, causing Khalil to look up from the food he was eating. "Have you gotten any news from the basketball academy in New York?" Dad asked and Khalil nodded. I frowned, wondering what they were talking about.

Basketball Academy?

"Yeah!" Khalil said, the excitement in his voice was unmistaken. "I actually forgot to tell you. I was accepted on a full scholarship." He quickly added, a wide grin stretching across his face. Mum gasped, a proud smile stretching her across her lips and congratulations came out of my Dad's mouth, reaching over to fist bump with Khalil. I on the other hand was as confused as hell.

Thankfully, I wasn't the only one.

"You applied to a basket ball academy in New York?" Skye asked incredulously, her eyes still huge in surprise. Khalil looked away from my Dad and faced her, his grin coming down a notch.

"Yes, I applied last year after the Olympia." He then faced my parents again. "The man I met there helped me get into the Academy easily by recommending me to the board." He explained.

"I had no idea..." I muttered, but loud enough for everyone to hear. Khalil let out a scoff like laughter.

"Of course you didn't." He murmured right back, even though everyone heard him. Immediately, there was tension on the table. I didn't miss the way Elyon had pressed a hand against Khalil's shoulder, as if to pacify him.

Sighing, I stood up from my chair, the scrapping sound of my seat on the tiled floor, calling everyone's attention to me. I felt Elyon's eyes on me but I couldn't look at her.

"Inioluwa, where are you going?" That was my mum. "You barely touched your food." She stated and she was right. Since dinner started, I only ate half a slice of yam.

"I'm not hungry, mum. I'd be in my room." With that, I left the table and began to walk to my room. I heard a chair draw back as well and I knew Skye had followed me.

"You don't have to keep following me every single time I walk out of the dinning room." I said immediately we both got to my room. "It's like you have been wired to always follow me everywhere I go." I added, folding my hand across my chest. She scoffed in return, rolling her eyes at me.

"Don't flatter yourself, baby brother. I just came to check if you were okay." She shrugged and I nodded, my mind going back to everything that was said downstairs. How Khalil had applied to a basketball a academy in New York and I didn't know about it.

How did I not know about it?

Since when have you been interested in what goes on in Khalil's life? My subconscious asked me in sarcasm.

"You also didn't know about Khalil's basketball scholarship?" I asked and she shook her head in negation. I sighed, "Why do I feel like a bad cousin?" I asked, more to myself than to Skye, plopping down on my bed. She joined me.

"Well, we really haven't been interested in Khalil's life. There is really no way we could have known." She paused, as if she was digesting what she had just said. "And saying  that out loud makes me feel even more guilty for not knowing, especially since he is someone that knows a lot about us, beef aside."

I wasn't even really listening to Skye anymore as my mind began to work in overdrive, thinking about all the things that Elyon had made two weeks ago when we had a little chat after the symposium.

...It is convenient for you to blame him because he has always been the villain in your story...

...Deep down, you know there is another side to the story...

"Something is on your mind." Skye said, jerking me out of my reverie. "What is it?" She prodded.

"Elyon has always been of the notion that everything that happened between Khalil and I was a misunderstanding." I stated and Skye nodded. "I have always countered that because that's not how it was for me..." I trailed off and Skye frowned.

"But?" She drawled, urging me to go on.

"But, Elyon and I had a really deep talk last week and I haven't stopped thinking of how she might actually be right, how Faizal might actually also be right because he said the exact same thing."

"And you are scared to know the real truth." She more of stated than asked but I nodded anyway. Skye drawled a deep breath and swallowed.

"Well, that makes two of us." She said, shocking me. I looked at her and she was staring ahead.

"Because if they are actually right," She paused, turning to face me with her green eyes bustling with so many emotions. "Then we spent almost half of our entire childhood hating, loathing and shit-talking someone that probably didn't deserve it. Our own Family." She paused again, making the burden on my shoulder bigger and bigger.

"And that's scary as hell."

☆☆☆☆

"We need to talk." I said to Khalil immediately I got to the court just behind our house.

After my parents had left for the airport, I summoned up the courage to go and talk with Khalil, to trash everything once and for all. He wasn't in his room when I checked and Venus had told me she saw his shooting hoops at the back. So, I made my way there and there he was, shooting hoops like Venus had said.

I knew he heard me, but he didn't stop bouncing the ball and shooting it into the net.

"Khalil, we need to talk." I repeated, my voice louder now but he still didn't stop playing, outrightly ignoring me. It was annoying but this had to be done and I wasn't leaving this place till we were done trashing this out.

"Look, I just want to know the truth. I want to know what actually happened that day." I said. That made him stop shooting. He held the ball in his hands and turned around to face me, his expression stoic and apathetic.

"Oh now, you want to know the truth?" He asked, sarcasm dripping from his tone. He scoffed when I didn't respond. "You are five years too late, cousin." He answered, going back to shooting hoops. I sighed.

"I had no idea something different had happened that day. I was unconscious! I was in comma for an entire week and when I woke up, you were gone." Khalil stopped shooting and turned to me abruptly, his eyes flashing.

"And you felt the idle thing for you to do is to tell everyone that I had left you to die!" He snapped, moving closer to me till he was breathing the same air as me. I couldn't help but be a little scared but I had to keep a straight face.

"That was what I saw!" I countered back. "I called for your help and you just stood there by the door and watched me till I became unconscious. Tell me, dear cousin, how that scenario could have been explained in any other way."

"The least you could have done is to give me a bloody benefit of doubt." He retorted, pushing me slightly against my chest but not hard enough to tip me over. If he was getting physical then he was being triggered. Too bad, so was I.

"A benefit of doubt!" I let out a hysteric humourless laugh and then scoffed. "You cracked two of my ribs, gave me a concussion and made me unconscious for three days. You scarred me while we were growing up, there is really no way I could have given you a benefit of doubt!"

"I am your family! I might have been an asshole to you while growing up and I might have done a lot of shit to you because I was just craving attention but I will never leave you die, Jamal!" He shoved me again, harder this time. The pain and hurt in his tone was evident.

This was the most emotion I have seen from Khalil and it shook me to my core

"I'll never do that to my enemy, not to talk of my family!" He said, eyes not leaving mine. Tongue tied, I stated back at him and we began to engage in a stare down. I didn't even know how long we stood there staring at each other but the next thing I felt was someone coming in between Khalil and I.

"Both of you should knock it off." Elyon's voice pierced through our stare down and I looked at her.

Her hands were placed on my chest and Khalil's, pulling us apart. I felt Skye's presence behind me before she held my hand and pulled me away. Venus was standing aloof, watching us with confusion written all over her face. I watched as Elyon spoke to Khalil, telling him to calm down. Sighing, I became exhausted about this entire thing, tired of this continuous charade.

"All I want to know is the truth. Let's end all these" I said after a moment of silence. Khalil looked away from Elyon and at me, his expression still stoic. Then he began to shake his head.

"I'm not going to make this easy for you by just laying it all on your lap, Jamal." The hurt in his voice had not debilitated.

"Believe it or not, you also scarred me too. You made me the villain to everyone. Just when I thought I could come here and become friends with your friends, everyone already had a negative knowledge about me. You have no fucking idea how that felt." He paused, a scoff like laugh escaping his lips. The guilt that washed over me came like a tidal wave.

"You want to know exactly what happened that day? Ask your parents, because only they know what I went through, what I did for you to be okay." He concluded, walking away from Elyon to where his basket ball was. Skye looked at me, the guilt in her eyes not missed. I looked at Elyon and she shrugged, walking towards Khalil as he tried to make his way pass us.

Sighing in defeat, I called him. "Khalil..." I was cut off when his phone began to ring. He stopped short and retrieved it from his pocket. I didn't miss the way his eyes lit immediately he saw the caller ID.

"Tolani?" He called, the hope in his voice extremely glaring. My eyes widened, and I exchanged a look with Skye who looked just as confused as I was. His expression went from excited to confused in a minute.

"Who is this?" He asked the caller, frowning. "Yes, I'm Khalil, who are you and why are you with Tolani's phone?" He asked the caller. Elyon folded her hands around herself, nervousness oozing from her.

"What!" Khalil yelled, putting all of us on the edge. "How... Where... Okay! I'll be there shortly!" He hung up, the dread in his face causing a chill to run down my spine.

What is going on?

"What's going on?" Elyon asked him, taking the words right out of my mouth. Khalil looked at her, then at me, then back his phone, the fear in his features making me even more terrified.

"Tolani is in the hospital. She's in a critical condition."

A/N

We are getting close!

I'm so sorry for not updating since. NYSC just placed our names in the Senate list and I just finished registration. Please help me pray that I get posted to a good state oo 😭😭💔💔.

Jamal finally made a move to ask Khalil for his truth. But Khalil is way too hurt and pained to tell Jamal too easily. Khalil has always been one not to show so much emotion but this was just to let you guys know that Khalil isn't a robot. He pretended to not care about how his Cousin's were treating him when it was actually eating him up on the inside 😪💔.

What happened that day is way deeper than a misunderstanding and I bet you, Jamal owes Khalil wat more than an apology. You will know what I mean soon.

Tolani is in the hospital. Did she go through with the abortion? 😳😰.

I don't know when next I'll update, probably next Sunday or Monday. Things we get clearer and clearer from there. Don't forget to VOTE! COMMENT! SHARE! I'll see you when I see you ❤️😘.