10

Hypothesis; if I feel guilty, all I have to do is remember that this is for a good cause.

My hand was still tingling as I sat in the passenger seat of Daniel's black Toyota. I wasn't a car person, but from the looks of this one I knew it was expensive. And he was driving me to class in it.

Releasing my lower lip from between my teeth, I faced Daniel. "You didn't have to do this."

"It's my fault the bartender did that. I shouldn't have flirted with her so much." He exhaled, his focus still planted on the road before us. Cars and buildings zoomed past making me wonder how fast this thing was going. From inside the car, it didn't seem too fast. Infact, it seemed like Daniel was trying to be careful with me in the car.

I relaxed back into my seat and studied my reddened palm. "Yeah, it's kinda your fault."

Daniel snorted and took a turn to the right, muttering incoherently under his breath. A beat of silence passed between us before I spoke again.

"How come I've never seen you with friends?"

His brows creased. "What do you mean? I have tons of friends."

It was typical for the popular guy to have a clique he'd flick with or at least a squad. I expected Daniel to have one too. However, ever since we've met, I'd only seen him alone. Save for the time Chanelle tricked me and him into meeting. But even then, those were his teammates.

I licked my lips because they were getting dry. "I've never met any of them."

"That's why you're coming to the basketball game tomorrow. I'll introduce you to them," he stated.

"So your teammates are your friends."

He smiled and turned to me for a brief second. "It's our secret to being the best in the league of colleges."

I furrowed my eyebrows. That wasn't possible. If Chanelle's document about him was correct then he had friends outside basketball, he liked parties and his body count was probably the size of the female population of the school. It's why he was so popular.

I wanted to ask him about all of this, just to clarify and be sure of everything I'd learnt about him from the books. But I doubted the question, "so how many females have you played body twister with?" would be adequate.

"Will there be a party after the game?" I asked instead.

Daniel lifted a shoulder and brought it down in a half shrug. "The team normally hosts one after every game but I might not be attending this one in particular. Why?"

There were so many questions ringing in my head. Chanelle had said he would never turn down the chance to party. Her exact words in the document.

"Nothing really, it's just, the team back in highschool would throw a party after their games. I wanted to know if it's the same here."

My words made Daniel smiled wider. "Typical freshman, eager to know the ways of college."

I wasn't eager to know the ways of college. I was eager to know his ways since apparently, everything Chanelle told me was a lie.

The rest of the drive was silent. At some point, Daniel put on some music, humming to the tune of 'our somg' by Anne Marie and Nial Horan. I had to admit, the view was cute. Nothing like what is expected.

A full grown man singing to a love song. Who'd have thought?

"We're here," Daniel announced, bringing the car to a stop in front of my department. He put off the engine with a twist of the key and turned to face me, leaning on the steering wheel. A teasing smile spread on his lips. "Do I get a goodbye kiss now?"

I air barfed, but that didn't stop the image of us kissing from burning itself into my brain. I peered out of my window and turned to gasp at him dramatically. "Are pigs flying now?"

While Daniel chuckled, I made my way out of his car and shut the door behind me. He brought the window down to reveal his pouting face. "Not even a 'thank you Daniel, you're my hero'?"

I snorted but began walking backwards. A smile stretched itself across my lips. "Thanks Daniel. I'll see you at your game tomorrow."

And with that, I turned away from his smiling figure and hurried to class.

I was beat by the time I got back to the hostel. Even Mrs Smith shot me a pitying glance when I'd passed her.

I practically flung my shoes across the room the second I walked through the door. Then I threw my bag onto the bed and crashed next to it face first. With the amount of assignments I had, I'd considered hitting the library straight after class but due to my exhaustion, that was impossible. I'd just have to shift everything till Saturday.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, when I drew it out and stared at the screen. There were two messages from Daniel.

From: Assface

Me and my friends.

He'd attached a picture of him and The guys from two days ago to the text. The dark haired guy who was the one taking the picture had a boyish smile decorating his lips as he looked into the camera. The other three guys behind were making goofy faces while Daniel tried to duck away from the picture entirely.

I smiled despite myself and read the next message.

From: Assface

That was the most coordinated picture the could take. They're a little too excited to meet you so please forgive the silliness.

His last statement had me biting my lip. In less than a week, Daniel and I had become something close to friends and now he was showing me into his social life. Was I supposed to tell Chanelle about this? And why did my heart clench when I remembered I had to report everything to Chanelle.

Throwing all the thoughts to the back of my mind, I decided to keep this one away from Chanelle. Besides, she wanted to know about Daniel and I not his friends. I sat up and typed a quick reply to Daniel's message.

To; Assface

"The best team in the league of universities".

Seconds after I pressed send, a knock came from the door. My smile fell and I got up wondering who it could be. Probably Chanelle. Did she have some magical power that told her the exact time to ruin moments?

I walked to the door and threw it open, my jaw hitting the ground instantly when I saw who it was. And it wasn't Chanelle.

"Mom?"

The first thing I noticed about my mom was her hair; it was gone. Like, her head was shaved to the point that it reflected the light shining above her.

Her already petite form looked way more petite than it did a week ago when I'd just left home. Dark circles framed her eyes and she had wrinkles on her forehead. The worst part; she wasn't even forty yet.

Slowly, her thin dark lips stretched into a smile and her left eye twitched. "Noah." Her voice sounded like a painful groan. The way it always did. It irked me more than it scared me.

I was used to her being like this. Back at home she'd sit on the brown faded sofa we had and not move a muscle. Just stare at the wall like she was watching her life on a screen.it used to terrify me until it didn't. Right now, all I wanted was for her to leave.

My gaze darkened. "How did you get here mom?"

A strangled laugh left her lips followed by a hacking cough. I stepped back and she brought the dip of her elbow up to cover her mouth as she coughed. When she was done, she looked up, eyes almost lifeless. She smiled again. "I drove." Straightening her posture and tucking her shaking hands into the pockets of her purple sweater, she spoke again. "Aren't you going to let me in?"

"You're not supposed to be here, Mom." My voice was sharp, exactly how I wanted it to be.

I didn't know what worried me more. The fact that she drove here probably on the high she always was, or the fact that she was here. In my hostel which was a two-hour drive away from our house.

"I'm your mother, Noah," she reminded me.

I resisted the urge to snort in her face. She'd lost that right when she picked Xanax over me. "You want something," I seethed, my grip on the doorknob tightening. "What is it?"

My mother laughed like I'd told a hilarious joke. "Just one week in college and you're already putting on your big girl pants."

I bit the inside of my cheek. I wouldn't let her get to me. She did this everytime she wasn't to high or drunk to speak. She turned her anger on me and blamed me for everything that had happened to our family. But this time, I wouldn't succumb to her tricks.

Our gazes locked onto each other, challenging the other person to break it first. Mom did, when she smiled at a group of girls walking past. I licked my lips and drew in a breath.

"I need more money, Noah," she finally said, her dark gaze drifting back to mine.

Something in my tightened. I knew this was what she wanted, but I'd given her a chance to prove me wrong. Guess a part of me just wished for something that was long lost.

Through gritted teeth, I replied, "I don't have any money."

"Don't lie to me!" she snapped. Her voice echoed down the hall making us both fall silent. Only our heaving breaths saturated the air between us. After a moment, mom chuckled and lowered her voice. "I know you hate me, Onyinyechi, but I really need this money." I hated it when she used my Nigerian name. It felt like she was trying to hit my weak spot. And oh did she get it each time.

"So you can buy more of what kept you in this..." I swept my stare over her appearance for punctuation. "Condition?"

"It's just a few thousand bucks, I'll repay you by Monday." Lie. She used the exact same lines every single time but she never actually did.

I knew it was a bad idea, but I couldn't let Carol or Cherry see my mom here, so I gave in. "How much exactly?"

For a second, she smiled and licked her dried lips. "Four thousand."

My eyes went wide but my chest constricted. "Four thousand? How did--"

"I'll pay you back by Monday, please, Noah."

I grumbled under my breath. Mom never have me money anymore, so I had to find a way to survive ony own. She knew I had savings and she knew I wouldn't sit idle. She knew I'd find a way to get more money for her to take. I just needed to find a way to get her off my back.

But four thousand was too much.

"I'll get you two five hundred by tomorrow."

Mom frowned casting a sharp glance around us before finding my gaze. "That's not enough."

"It will be," I hissed. Frankly, I wanted to curse at her. I wanted to tell her how disappointed I was. I wanted to yell and scream and show her the way she'd wrecked me. But I couldn't. I doubted she'd even care.

After a long pause, she huffed. "Fine then. I'll wait for you to send me the money," she said and began walking away.

That was it. No thank you or how are you even getting all this money I keep taking from you. Nothing.

But she did turn after taking a few steps. "Try to call from time to time, you never check in on me anymore."