A Loner's Journey Through Lemonade Making

Chapter 42|Lemonade Expiry Date: 1st Term

Trigger Warning: Eating Disorder
•

Week 11 finally began.

Need I mention how much pressure I was under? Mr. Obadina was always on our necks as prefects to do outstandingly well academically, especially the Head Prefects. My performance in our first mock had been good enough for him to praise, yet I wanted to do better. Perhaps I was an overachiever.

I admired how well Joju and Leilah handled pressure. They were so relaxed about everything and despite all their responsibilities as Head Prefects, neither their schoolwork nor social lives suffered.

Turned out Joju was right—everyone had gone, was going and would go through shit. We were meeting our breaking points one at a time. First me, then Kari.

☆

Kari was a firecracker.

She was light.

She was of bubbles and bubblegum, of flame and fire, of grace and grandeur.

She was everything I was not. She was the South Pole, I was the North Pole, and we attracted each other, just like magnets.

Everything had happened so slowly yet so quickly. How had I not noticed? Well, I'd been in my own world, thinking I was the only one who was going through a rough patch. That was my problem: thinking I was the only one with problems.

It started in week 9. The withdrawal. The rare laughter. The darkening. She suddenly became cold. She laughed less, spoke less. Most times, she slept throughout classes and when she didn't, she went to the restroom and stayed there the entire period.

Then she went back to the warm, bubbly Kari we were used to. But not for long.

That sudden switch made me wonder if both of us were not who people thought we were. What if we were different people inside? What if that was why we connected so easily?

☆

When exams started, everyone was trying to sit up and buckle up. Academically, Kari was not exactly the brightest of us. Socially, she used to be the sun, but it seemed that sun had set, never to rise again. Even after sundown, I expected her to channel what was left of her energy into studying.

She did not.

Mr. Ali had scheduled a revision class the day before his paper. We attended solely because he was the type to give clues on what sort of questions to expect in these revision classes.

I sat by the wall, trying my best not to blink so I wouldn't fall asleep. Kari sat in front of me. I could hear her sobbing and sniffing. It was loud. Suddenly, she put her head out of the window and gagged, then vomited. Everyone turned to her. I got up immediately, but she ran out before I could hold her.

Mr. Ali scoffed. "What's wrong with Kariebi today?" He allowed some seconds of chatter. "Silence!" He thundered. "Let's continue."

I remained standing.

I was unsettled.

It was not the first time Kari would suddenly throw up. She hadn't been eating much so I couldn't say it was an upset stomach. And she was wild, she and Banji.

What if...what is she was pregnant?

Even the word came as a whisper in my mind, probably because it was ridiculous. And her tummy was even flatter than usual.

Ten minutes passed with Kari's seat unoccupied. Somehow all this was normal, but today's own seemed...worse. Stranger.

I stopped thinking and spoke up. "Sir. Sir, m-may I be excused?"