Everything I Broke

And your Phone Number

You can guess that the rivalry between me and Lucy didn't stop, even after a dozen of fistfights. I was so obsessed with winning, that I spent all of my summer break trying to figure out how I would win the war between Lucy and me, and earn the respect of my classmates or even better, their fear (Please don't ask me what was going on with me at that time; I have no idea). Then I realised something. Lucy wasn't close to anyone, except some other white guy she was sitting with at lunch.

I needed exactly two days to find out who he was. Kosmar Fer, Lucy's brother and an online player of Dungeons and Dragons. That was all I needed to know. His social media was private, but then Morgan introduced me to Annika.

"600 rands sweetheart. And your phone number."

"550 rands without my phone number. Talking in school is more than enough." The first was all of my money, and the second was all of my social battery.

"Fine. But only for you. And don't you ever think that I won't get your phone number." Then she winked at me. I remember being so confused. I was so innocent and so deep in the closet; it was fucking ridiculous.

Annika took all of my money, and a day later I had the name of Kosmar's team in Dungeons and Dragons. I thought I had to do the rest by myself, but then everyone in the team got hacked. To this day Annika hasn't admitted she was behind that, even though everyone knows it.

That wasn't enough to bother Lucy, of course. It needed one more thing. Morgan talked to the headmaster, and the official school D&D club was created. Kosmar wasn't allowed to participate due to some stupid excuse we made up, after spending a whole afternoon searching stupid articles on the internet. "He posts too many photos on Facebook. He has too many friends as well! We can't trust a person like that."

Innocent agreed. John agreed. Sanele was confused as hell but agreed.

Then we created a few rumours about Kosmar and Lucy, and soon enough, they started spreading. Lucy did not tolerate that kind of stuff. You will think I am exaggerating, but we did start a war between the whole school. Let me explain.

I have already mentioned that Lucy was feared. The rumours were ridiculously many, and no one wanted to go against her. Until we started a rumour that she was scared of the dark. It was something Annika found when she dug through Kosmar's messages.

Innocent cut the power one day, and Lucy had an anxiety attack. I felt bad, and I think we deserved it when she burnt down the club a few days later. I won't try to make excuses as to why it wasn't my fault, but I will say I threatened Irene, the girl that bothered Lucy the most. We ended up fighting, and wouldn't you know it, I got two weeks of detention.

Not that Lucy didn't slap me (she told me I was being a hypocrite), but I deserved that as well.

After all of that, I lied low for the rest of the school year. I got into many fights with Irene but ignored everyone else, including Morgan and Annika, that had grown a bit closer to me. Just a bit.

In general, I got so many detentions that year that I nearly got expelled. Thankfully, I only had to go to a therapist due to my anger issues. One thing about her: Chipo Malaka is a fucking stupid name. If I was named like that, I would change my name and then move to a tiny Greek island and die.

"Naira! What a beautiful name!" Was the first thing she told me (of course she was jealous; I would be too if I was named Chipo). She was weird as hell, but I was still feeling guilty and didn't complain. "Do you want to talk about why you were sent here?" I sighed.

"I got into three fistfights and destroyed both school property and private property. Oh, and attempted murder, but that was an accident." To my surprise, she didn't act like my mother. I couldn't read her face, but I think she was used to this kind of stuff.

"Let's start with the fistfights. Did you fight with the same person all three times?"

"Yes, Irene."

"Okay, so why did you two fight?"

"I wanted revenge," I said. She looked at me with curiosity. I paused for a bit since I didn't know if I should tell her the whole truth. "She was being a bitch." I decided. "She was making fun of a girl because she had an anxiety attack in school."

"That's nice of you."

"I hate Irene."

"Hate is a strong word, isn't it?"

"I don't care."

"Okay. Do you want to tell me about that girl that had an anxiety attack? Are you two friends?"

"No," I said. I hoped she wouldn't push it any further.

"Does that girl happen to be named Lucy Fer? The girl you fought with a bunch of times as well?" I paused. Shit, shit, shit. "I won't talk about it for now, but we will have one or two sessions together the next year."

"Fine."

"Oh, and Naira?"

"Yes?" I asked. I had a bad feeling.

"Try not to fight so often. Your nose is going to need a plastic surgery if you keep going like that."

"Fuck off." That was the only thing I managed to say before leaving.