Black Pride

12.

The seven days of Ayo's detention soon passed quickly. She and Jeremy were getting closer in their friendship. But Jeremy noticed that Ayo was much closer to Kevin than to him. They all usually met at the gazebo in the fields to talk and spend time with each other.

Ayo had introduced Jeremy to Kevin and Brie and was surprised that they had already known him before. Gwen had fallen sick two days ago to a sawdust allergy. She had inhaled sawdust at a nearby carpenter's workshop on their way back to their dorm that fateful day. She was taken to the school clinic and would be discharged the following week.

Elizabeth had been living an extravagant lifestyle on campus; she was well known for hosting and attending parties almost every time. Brie had rebuilt her robot look-alike and had stored it up for future uses. Jeremy didn't really fit into the group as well as Ayo thought he would. Sarah, the girl who was so smart that she argued with whoever she saw was wrong, had invited them to a book club and that was their topic of discussion as they gathered in the gazebo.

Jeremy sat outside the gazebo, playing 'Call of duty' on his phone. The gazebo was built in such a way that it had no doors but only large windows to allow air in. "I really think we should go for this book club stuff, it'll be nice to meet fellow great minds, right Jerry?" Kevin asked and sneered. Jeremy frowned and didn't answer him. Kevin had been picking on him since the first day Ayo had introduced them.

"Kevin, please leave Jeremy out of this; he's not really a book person. His interest is mainly in games," Ayo said as she put her hands on Kevin's shoulder. Jeremy looked back. Ayo had made it sound like he was a dummy and not smart at books. Brie chuckled out loudly.

"We gotta go. Besides, Josh would be there too, and I think he looks kinda cute," Brie said and immediately bit her lips. Since she saw Josh in their computer storage house, Brie had begun to talk about how she would eventually make him hers.

Now Ayo didn't understand what Brie saw in Josh. Josh was a nerd. Always being bullied by others and laughed at because he was one of the few who came to the University each day with a well pressed shirt neatly tucked into equally well ironed trousers, and well polished shoes. He also wore a tie! Ayo didn't think Josh looked that cute at all.

"The way I see it, it's gonna be a mash up of great intellectual minds. Will Jerry be able to fit in?" came Kevin's voice again. He was standing now, with his hands on his chin, giving the impression of a worried person.

Brie nodded in approval. "We gotta do something about Jer," she said. Jeremy hated those two names they shortened his to, 'Jer' and 'Jerry'. Couldn't they just say his name in full?

Ayo came over to Jeremy and snatched his phone from his hands. "We'll help him, we'll start by taking some measures, like no phones till the day comes," she said and kept his phone in her pocket. Jeremy sighed. If that was what Ayo wanted, then fine.

"Oh, it's time for our last lectures," Kevin said as a notification popped up on his wristwatch. They quickly dispersed and went for their various lectures. Jeremy unrolled his right sock and brought out another phone. "I'll show them," he thought as he walked briskly away.

~~~

Ayo woke up the next morning and yawned heavily. It was a Tuesday. Elizabeth was standing over her. She sighed. "What did Elizabeth want?" she thought to herself.

When Elizabeth saw that Ayo had woken up, she hissed and walked away. Ayo rolled her eyes. Brie was typing on her laptop. "Morning Brie, morning Liz," Ayo started but stopped when Elizabeth shot her a murderous look. Even though Elizabeth could manage to allow Brie to call her 'Liz', she would hear none of it from Ayo. Gwen was still in the clinic. Brie looked at Ayo and shook her head playfully before continuing with her typing. She was trying to reprogram the codes for her robot. Ayo closed her eyes, she wanted to go back to sleep.

"I'm throwing a party this Saturday. You can come if you want," Elizabeth said as she slung a silver handbag over her shoulder.

Brie gave a low chuckle. "We'll be there," she said without asking about Ayo's opinion.

Ayo raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to be at her party?" She asked and frowned deeply. She didn't want to have anything to do with Elizabeth.

"Duhh, you should be grateful that I'm giving you a chance to taste what wealth means," Elizabeth said rudely and walked towards the door of their room. She was dressed in an armless silver top and light blue jeans and had on white high heels. Ayo rolled her eyes in consternation.

"Oh and by the way Brie, thank your brother for accepting the invitation. You know he's quite a rare fish to catch," Elizabeth looked at Ayo as she said, and after chuckling, went out, closing their door very softly.

Ayo sat up and looked at Brie. "Why would Kevin want to go to her party?" She asked Brie in surprise.

Brie looked at Ayo and laughed. "He's got his own life to live," she said as she tried to reach for her phone which was on the window. Ayo sat down on her bed in silence.

Brie dialed a number. It rang on for a while but the person at the receiving end did not pick it up. "Like I said, he's got his life to live," she said as she stared at Ayo and kept her phone back on the window.

Ayo decided to forget about the issue. Afterall, she was still going to the party. She picked up a sketch pad from her bag and began to draw. Her drawings were far from perfect, but at least they were something.

~~~

Jeremy frowned as he passed the basketball to Kevin. The university had opened up slots for students who wanted to try out and be on the school's main basketball team that evening. Kevin, by scoring ten points had managed to prove himself worthy on the field and had made into the accepted slot just as the coach was rounding up the training sessions. That was the highest score of any tryout so far. Jeremy sighed as he sat on the edge of the cemented curb and watched the other students cheer Kevin. "So rude," Jeremy thought and stood up to go.