CRUSH

APOLOGIES AND FINAL DECISION.

I take a deep breath before standing up. It's now or never I whisper before going to the other class. It's currently break time and the boys have gone to play, the classes are almost completely empty and I have decided that now is the time to settle our fight, I still can't believe all what I said to them yesterday.

"So what's up?" I say loudly to semiat and hephzy. Semiat looks at me before glancing at Esther who's busy talking to favour, she hasn't noticed my presence yet. "Everything's fine. What about you? Are you okay now?" She asks me and I nod hesitantly. "Are you guys free now?" I think we need to talk, about everything" they both nod at this. I walk over to Esther's seat and she immediately notices me. The smile on her face falters and she stops talking. Favour also looks at me "what do you want?" Favour asks and I hiss. "Water and garri" "make eba for your wedding day" he completes and I laugh. "I want to talk to Esther so can you excuse us?" I ask him but he shakes his head. "We're busy jare come back later" "see this one o, I was simply informing you not asking for your permission so abeg (please) go away from this place demon" he shakes his head again. "I'm not going anywhere o"

"Why are you even here now? The other boys are playing ball but you're here talking with a girl, ashawo oshi (stupid prostitute)" I say and we all burst into laughter. "Eshe o (thank you) but I still won't leave this place for you" I'm already getting frustrated so I face Esther instead. "Tell him to go so we can talk about yesterday" I fold my hands and favour just stares at her as we both wait for her reply. She looks between the two of us for some seconds "favour oya go, we want to discuss something" she finally says and I stick my tongue out at him. He frowns but she just shoves his shoulder playfully making him smile again. He gets up from the chair and walks away but not before hitting the back of my head and making me yelp in pain. He runs out of the class and I have to implore all the patience in me so that I won't run after him.

"So about yesterday" Esther starts and I stop rubbing the back of my neck. Hephzy and semiat have already gathered around us and they're sitting down on Esther's locker. "Look I know I overreacted yesterday and I shouldn't have talked that way, I'm sorry" I say meaning every word I said. "I know you guys are just trying to help me but I think you guys should respect my decisions too. I'm trying, I really am. I also want to get over this crush but it's not easy for me, if I need your help in any way I'll definitely tell you" I add. Hephzy is the first to talk "we forgive you jare, we know you can't survive without us and you'll be miserable if we don't" we all burst into laughter. "Yes o, who am I without you guys?" I say jokingly. "I forgive you too, I'll be mature as your older sister" semiat told me and I scoffed "oshe mature madam, thank you sha" I replied. Esther was the only one who remained quiet.

"Do you really want to get over jack?" Esther asked staring at me and I frowned. "Of course I do, why would I want to keep liking someone who doesn't like me?" I asked her. She nodded at my answer "I think the best way to get over him is to find someone else, it will wash away your feelings for him" I understood what she meant but I still don't think that's the best option. "I don't think that one will work jare. What if I just use one innocent boy as a substitute when I don't really like him, it will be like I'm using him" I tell them. "That's true o, the boy will nah chop breakfast when you lose interest" semiat said.

"I'll just focus on school for now. If I find someone else that'll be nice but if not then I'll just leave it. I'm not ready to put effort into looking for someone else. To be honest a part of me doesn't want to get over him. I've liked him for so long that it hurts to even think of leaving it all but I know it's for the best. I can't keep mopping over someone who doesn't feel the same, that's not me at all"I tell them truthfully and Esther sighs. "I totally get it, I can't imagine having to get over favour for any reason whatsoever" she tells and I see hephzy and semiat nod too. "all that one is settled now. Let's focus on studying for next week's second test" hephzy says and we all agree. We spent the rest of the break time discussing about movies and of course hephzy mentioned some things about festus.

After school closed for the day, my mum came to pick me up as usual. During the drive home I couldn't stop thinking about everything that happened so far. I thought of the first time I met jack, the several times I stared at him, the way he used to make me feel. I thought about everything and I felt sad. The fact that I had to forget all of that made me sad but no matter how hard it would be, I just had to do it. I will get over him, I will forget all those false memories and I will move on. No matter how difficult it is, I know that my friends are always here to help me and that's all that matters to me. I smile to myself as I remember this.

THE END.