19 OLD FRIENDS

It wasn't surprising of me to cut the kiss short making it a mere peck on the lips. My eyes were left wide open while Jay's eyes had been expressionless. I'd muttered an inaudible "Goodnight" before standing up from the couch and running up the stairs. I'd felt his eyes follow me all the way up.

I'd woken up the next day contemplating on whether the kiss was a dream or not and in as much as I knew it was most likely not a dream, I wished it was. I'd wished that I could just stay in my room and never come out. My thought had been interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Good morning" I greeted Mrs. Jacobs after I'd unlocked the door. She was already dressed up for work and that made me wonder what the time was. I must've overslept.

"Good morning, sweetheart" she replied as she put on her earrings. "I have to leave early for work today so I need you guys to go to the market and get the things you'll need for school. I can't go with you. I'll leave some money with Jay"

"Okay," I said before I even realized what she'd said. Before I could say any other thing, she'd walked down the hallway.

I'd least expected Jay to act like nothing had happened. Asides from the fact that he had huge eye bags beneath his eyes and he was strangely cheerful, everything was normal. I'd felt relieved but shocked.

I didn't dare bring it up. And thankfully, he hadn't brought it up either.

"Can't wait for school to start" Sebastian mumbled but we'd all heard him clearly.

"I am absolutely not looking forward to it" Jay chipped in with a grin before turning back to the two pots in front of him. Whatever he had been cooking smelled good. "What about you, Rachael?"

"Oh, I'm definitely looking forward to school" I swung my legs back and forth while sitting on the kitchen counter watching Sebastian wash the dishes and Jay cook.

"Why?" Jay creased his eyebrows with a pout making me grin.

"Because I'm tired of sitting here and eating your horrible spaghetti. No offense" I replied with all intention of offending him.

Sebastian chuckled softly and Jay dramatically put his hand on his chest with his mouth wide open. "Ouch!"

"Don't mind her, she doesn't even know how to cook anything" Sebastian emphasized on the last word and even shook his head slowly to add more effect.

"You don't need to tell me, I know. I wonder how she was even able to find her way to this kitchen" Jay added. Now it was my mouth that was left open.

"I'm still here, you know" I said, looking from Jay to Sebastian. "And for your information, I can cook" I retorted.

"Keep saying it till you believe it, darling" Sebastian mocked and they both laughed. I couldn't believe they had ganged up on me. Or at least I'd felt that way. I'd then understood the quote boys will be boys. To think that Sebastian would normally lick his plate clean after eating my noodles. Not that I only knew how to prepare noodles but....

After Jay had served us breakfast which was his overrated spaghetti that he'd spent nearly the whole morning preparing, we had our baths and we were ready to go to the market.

"There's nothing great about your spaghetti, don't let your head grow too much, it's big enough as it is" I'd told Jay after we'd gotten into a cab because Sebastian wouldn't stop hyping Jay's cooking and my eyes were already hurting from rolling them so I had to say something.

"Ouch! That's the second time this morning, get ready for my comeback" Jay said to me while Sebastian laughed as usual. I simply had a wicked smirk on my face.

"The only thing you'd be coming back from is the toilet 'cause in no time, that concussion you cooked up will mess up your stomach" I replied.

"May I remind you that you also ate the spaghetti" Jay raised his eyebrows at me while watching my speechless state.

"Well, I didn't want to hurt your feelings by rejecting your food so I just ate a little" I shrugged and looked out the window so he wouldn't see my reaction.

"Rachael, you ate two plates" Sebastian deadpanned like it was a world known fact.

"So?" I asked in a duh tone like I wasn't just caught in a lie and Jay and Sebastian laughed at me. I could see the taxi driver smirking while looking at us through the rear view mirror. "I don't think this is the way to the market..." I said after a while of looking out the window and noticing we weren't heading towards the main market.

"We are not going to the market. Do you use taxis in going to market?" Jay asked with a light chuckle.

"Then where are we going?" I raised my eyebrows at the amused look on his face.

"You need to understand that fresh boys like us..." he gestured to Sebastian and himself, "...don't go to local markets, we go to supermarkets and shopping malls" I had no idea when I'd burst into a fit of laughter.

"Why is she laughing?" I heard Sebastian ask.

"Is she alright?" I heard Jay ask too when I didn't stop laughing after sixty seconds. When I looked up at them, they had confused looks on their faces and I just couldn't help but laugh the more. The tax driver must've even thought I escaped from a mental hospital — which wasn't a total lie.

Surprisingly, I was laughing till the vehicle came to a halt meaning we'd arrived at our destination.

Fresh boys. What a joke.

We had ended up spending nearly an hour inside the mall and we'd still hadn't bought anything reasonable. Before coming, I'd made up my mind that I only needed a bag pack and nothing else but by the time we'd walked round the mall, I could mention a thousand things I wanted to take home with me.

"I like the white one" I replied Jay when he'd asked what colour of the bag I wanted to take.

"I want the white one too" he said to the attendant while I was still being indecisive. All the colours looked to good to me.

"Wait, wait, wait. Lemme have the blue one" I said to the attendant who was about to get the white leather bag pack out of the glass showcase.

Jay gave me a questioning look before tuning to the female attendant, "I'll also have the blue one"

Was he really bent on getting the same bag with me? There was only one way to find out. "You know what, the black one is the best"

"Yes, you're right. Let's have the black ones" Jay told the young lady who was already glaring at the both of us with annoyance but there was nothing she could do. We were patronizing them after all. I smiled to myself knowing that Jay would even take a pink bag as long as I chose it. Wouldn't he?

"Em... I think the pink—"

"Rachael, take the black bag and let's go, now" Sebastian commanded out of frustration. He had already chosen his green bag a long time ago and was only waiting for us to decide.

The attendant handed us the  black bags without hesitation probably hoping I wouldn't change my mind again. The bags were the exact replica of each other making me wonder how we were going to differentiate them.

After we'd left the store, we went further into the grocery section and got some necessary items which consisted mostly of snacks. While in the middle of the toiletries aisle, Jay excused himself saying he needed to go to the restroom.

"Why is he so cheerful today?" I asked Sebastian who was looking at a banana toothpaste.

"I don't know, I should be asking you that question" Sebastian shrugged before turning back to the toothpaste shelf. "We should really get this toothpaste, this one is strawberry flavour" he said, raising a red coloured toothpaste in the air.

I didn't reply because I had my attention on the pregnant woman who was struggling to push her overloaded cart and also stop her son from bringing down an entire shelf. "Mommy, what is this?" the little boy who looked around six years of age picked up a pack of sanitary pads from the bottom shelf. His mom took the pad away and returned it to the shelf before pulling him by the arm and they left the aisle.

After awhile, Jay had returned with something in his hands. He'd approached me and handed me the polythene bag while I looked as confused as ever but I still took it from him out of curiosity.

Lo, and behold, it was a brand new phone. An Infinix Note 6 to be precise. "At least now I know I'm not owing you a birthday gift" he said still looking at my shocked expression.

"Where did you get the money to buy this?" I asked him. Sebastian had left the toothpaste he had been admiring and immediately rushed over.

"I have my own money. Savings..." Jay trailed off. "I would've bought an iPhone but I can't afford it"

"Thanks a lot" I wasn't going to reject the gift because I'd happened to need it. I couldn't have been more grateful to Jay.

After we'd gotten everything we needed, we left the shopping mall with Sebastian complaining that we should've bought the fruit-flavoured toothpaste but Jay and I had agreed that no one wanted to use a toothpaste that tasted like banana or any other fruit for that matter.

We walked at a very fast pace with the yellow and red nylon bags in our hands. The mall was filled with people and our aim was simply to get outside and find a cab or tricycle.

I was startled when someone griped my hand from behind and I was immediately forced to stop and turn around.

"Tunde," I wouldn't say I was all that surprised to see him because anyone could come to the mall.

"Rachael, it's good to see you" he said with a croaky voice. He had changed a lot. And not in a good way. "You look really good"

I wished I could say the same about him but I couldn't. Tunde looked very skinny and his eyes were bloodshot. His hair was in a mess. I'd wanted to ask if he was well but I thought against it. "Thank you" I replied him before I remembered that Sebastian and Jay were right behind me. "Uhm... Jay, this is my classmate and good friend, Tunde" I said and they shook hands. Jay gave Tunde a suspicious look while Tunde had the who the hell is this dude? look on his face.

"Well, I have to go. But you need to come to this party that Yvonne is throwing. It's her birthday party" Tunde said to me. When he realised I had no idea who Yvonne was, he explained further, "Yvonne is a new student that will be joining us this term but I met her over the summer lesson. She's a nice person"

"Okay, I'll give you my number so you can send the details" I heard Jay say and before I could oppose he had already given Tunde his number. After that, all I could do was wave Tunde goodbye since I was literally dragged out by Jay. "How well do you know that guy?" Jay asked me as soon as we'd gotten into the cab.

"Not very well but he's a nice person" I replied, "Why are you asking?"

"No, just forget it" said Jay.

"He looks really different though" Sebastian chipped in.

"Why did you ask, Jay?" I wanted to know why Jay would ask if I knew him well. Did he not trust him?

"I was asking because that guy is a drug addict" he said like he'd just stated a fact. I was a little shocked and I found that theory unbelievable. Tunde was no drug addict, although he currently looked like one, he knew better.

"Wait, what makes you say that?" I asked Jay.

"I've seen people like him in South Africa" Jay replied. "He was so uncomfortable and uneasy when we shook hands. I could tell that he's high on something" he mumbled.

I didn't know what to say. I could only pray Jay wasn't right. But it had only been two months.

"Why did you give him your number? You're not planning on going to that party, are you?" Jay seemed to be amused by the question.

And his reply wasn't something I expected to hear; "We're definitely going to that party"