Black Pride

21.

Ayo pushed the trolley with all their goods in it to the counter. They had stayed a little late because of the long queue of students who each wanted to buy all the things on their list without considering the other. Ayo heaved a sigh of relief. They had managed to stand in their spot and counter those who wanted to cut corners. She looked around. Aliyah was still quietly following her like she had been doing since. Gwen who had been the blabber mouth with her stories and her loud voice was nowhere to be found. Ayo gasped.

"GWEN!" Ayo shouted but got no reply. Aliyah, startled by Ayo's sudden outburst shrieked as her whole body shook.

"Oh sorry Aliyah, I didn't mean to frighten you, why don't you stay here and hold this while I go look for Gwen," Ayo said and dashed off in the direction where they had come out from.

Aliyah nodded and moved forward to where their trolley was. She smiled at the boy who stood behind the counter and quickly looked at her feet. She could feel the boy's eyes piercing at her direction and that made her very uncomfortable.

"Aliyah?" the boy asked, intending to start a conversation between the both of them.

Aliyah looked up and nodded with a sheepish smile.

"I'm Daniel," he said.

Aliyah just nodded her head without looking up at him. She wished Ayo and Gwen would come out quickly.

"I like your purse," he said in a desperate bid to get a conversation going.

"Thank you," Aliyah mumbled, still looking at her shoes. After a while, the boy left his position and walked away. Aliyah heaved a sigh of relief and looked around hoping to spot Ayo and Gwen.

Aliyah smiled as she caught a glimpse of a girl with reddish brown long hair and started smiling happily when the figure came into view, but as she came nearer, she saw that it was not Gwen, but another girl. Aliyah sighed.

"Uhm, do you need help packing that?" The boy at the counter asked.

Aliyah looked up and saw that it was Daniel, the same boy who had been trying to have a conversation with her. "Oh dear me, we haven't paid for these," Aliyah said.

Daniel chuckled. "Oh, I thought you knew, I met your friends earlier and they paid, they also told me to tell you to come outside to meet them," he said, whilst trying to move from behind the counter where he was to where she was standing.

Aliyah looked at him worriedly. "Did Ayo and Gwen really leave her here? Was Daniel telling the truth? Would she really see Ayo and Gwen outside like Daniel had said?" She thought to herself as she carried the grocery bags and her purse and walked outside.

When she got outside, she looked around but didn't see Ayo or Gwen. "Oh no, what will I do now?" She asked no one in particular. It was already dark outside. "I better start going if I want to make it in time," she said and began walking as fast as she could.

"ROOOAAAAAARRRR!!!" she heard a sound coming from behind her and jumped in surprise. She tried to make a run for it but her hand was firmly gripped by Gwen. She looked back and started panting.

Ayo and Gwen burst into laughter.

"You startled me," Aliyah said, breathing heavily.

Ayo hugged her and patted her head. "Gee, sorry, we didn't think you would be that scared," she said. Gwen jumped into the hug too but Ayo broke free immediately as she knew Gwen could hug someone tight.

"So, what do you think?" Ayo said and turned around, she was wearing a lion onesie that she had bought from the store.

"It's nice, very nice," Aliyah said and clapped happily.

"Oh, we even got one for you too," Gwen said as she brought out a crocodile onesie from the nylon Aliyah was holding. "There you go," Gwen said and handed it to Aliyah who collected it joyfully.

"Try it on," Ayo said as she gestured to the onesie.

"Here? Now? With people around?" Aliyah asked and looked at both Gwen and Ayo.

"You don't need to remove your clothes, just wear it on top of it okay," Ayo said as she and Gwen helped Aliyah put it on.

"Now we look like the perfect trio," Gwen said as she shook Aliyah on the shoulder vigorously.

"Okay, now let's go back to our dormitories," Ayo urged them and they all started running towards the direction of the East Bay.

~~~

Elizabeth scoffed and looked at the three girls in front of her.

Ayo frowned as she froze on the spot she stood when she saw that Elizabeth was in the elevator they were supposed to take. She, Gwen and Aliyah had already reached the dormitory by the time and Elizabeth was the first face they saw when they opened the elevator door.

"Let's take the stairs," she said and pulling Gwen and Aliyah along, made for the stairs. Elizabeth quickly yanked Gwen's hand out of Ayo's and pulled Gwen into the elevator with her.

Ayo frowned angrily and pulled both Gwen and Elizabeth out of the elevator.

"Oh dear," Aliyah muttered as she took a step back.

"Who do you think you are to lay your filthy hands on me?" Elizabeth said as she twirled her blonde hair in her finger.

"I didn't mean to, I just wanted to get Gwen out of there because she was with me," Ayo retorted in self-defense and pulled Gwen towards her.

"Well, she is now with me," Elizabeth snarled and pulled Gwen to her side.

Ayo gritted her teeth and looked at Gwen.

"Huh?? What? Why are you looking at me like I have to make a big choice or something?" Gwen asked without thinking, looking at Ayo, then at Elizabeth. "Oh, I guess I have to make a big choice," she said when it finally dawned on her.

Gwen gulped. "What was she going to do?"

"Gwen, I'm your friend okay, come with me," Elizabeth said, trying to convince Gwen to leave Ayo.

"SHE'S NOT YOUR FRIEND. WHY WOULD SHE WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND? WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND?" Ayo yelled at Elizabeth and pulled Gwen out of her grip.

Elizabeth kept quiet and looked away. She headed for the staircase, but stopped and turned to look at Ayo. "You can take the elevator, i...," she fumbled with her words but gave up and began to climb the stairs.

Everywhere was silent for a while before Ayo entered the elevator and pushed the button for it to go up. Aliyah meekly entered the elevator, carrying their bags.

Ayo looked at Gwen who still stood outside. "Hop in Gwen, before the door closes," she said and beckoned to Gwen to come in.

Gwen shook her head. "You were really mean to Lizzie," she said and darted off after Elizabeth.

Ayo watched her as the elevator door closed. She turned to Aliyah. "Was I too harsh?" she asked.

"Uhm, well," Aliyah began to mumble but was interrupted by Ayo.

"I see"