"An apology is the super glue of life. It can repair just about anything."
~Lynn Johnston

• • •

The next morning before school, I talk to my mum about what I found out and what I was planning to do.

"I knew it!" My mum yells happily, "There was no way Abel would do something like that to you, you mean too much to him."

She sighs loudly and places her hands on her hips, "A mother's intuition is rarely ever wrong Keziah."

I squint my eyes in confusion at her, "You literally could have mentioned something to me ages ago mum."

She clicks her tongue at me and goes back to her cooking, "A lesson is never learned until you it experience it yourself, isn't that right Jamal?"

I scrunch my eyebrows in puzzlement until I notice my father walk in. He must have been coming down the stairs which my mum can see from behind the sink while it's hidden from the dining table which is where I am.

My dad places a kiss on my mums cheek before walking over to me, "You look less depressed this morning." He states simply.

I roll my eyes at him, "Gee dad, thanks."

"Jamal, she found out that Abel didn't actually cheat isn't that wonderful!" My mum exclaims happily.

"Ah I see. I'm guessing you're back together then?" My dad asks.

My shoulders slump slightly before responding, "No not yet but that's my aim."

"That boy was subjected to your glares and ignoring for no reason then right? Poor guy." My dad shakes his head at me while acting disappointed.

I roll my eyes and act nonchalant about it all but inside I'm actually rolling with guilt. Maybe I'll even have to beg for his forgiveness.

"At least now you know not to jump to conclusions Keziah." My mum adds.

All three of my brothers head down the stairs making me remember that Omari when to Abel's house last night.

"Omari, you never told me how Abel was." I say to him.

He takes a seat across from me and puts himself some cereal, "I saw him like once but the whole time I was there, he was playing the guitar and singing some song. Zane said he's been like this since Christmas and pretty much only comes out to eat. You did a number on the guy but it wasn't even his fault."

I groan loudly and roll my lip in between my teeth feeling even worse than I already do.

"Wait a minute." Marcel starts, "You're telling me I almost punched the guy for no reason?" He asks incredulously.

I nod my head slowly.

"I'm staying out of all your problems from now on." Marcel shakes his head and grabs Nolan by the hand, "Come on Nolan, Keziah isn't our friend right now."

Nolan follows after Marcel, "She's my friend because she's my sister." He says innocently.

"That's what you think bud."

Omari heads after them while I get a ride from Rolo. Yeah I know that doesn't make sense since Marcel can drive but I want to talk to him about the plan again.

Once I get to school, I go about my normal classes in the morning with a little bit more pep since it's definitely possible Abel and I will be alright again. It also helps that Noah's cracking jokes again which helps lifts my spirits. I mentioned to him about everything that's been going on and his response was 'oof'. Not exactly helpful but I'll take what I can get.

When my morning lessons finish, I head straight for Abel's locker intending to put my plan into action. I chose this day specifically because I know his last morning class is on the other side of the school far away from his locker while mine is in the same hallway. This means I practically have all the time in the world to sort it out.

On my way there, I run into Carter who stops me by putting his arm in front of me. He really needs to stop doing that.

"Really Carter?" I ask dryly.

He scratches the back of his head shyly, "I uh, I just wanted to say hi." He rocks back and forth on his heels and looks everywhere except at me.

I narrow my eyes at his suspicious behaviour but then I remember that he told me the reason behind his asshole ish behaviour.

I sigh loudly, "Hello Carter. Now, can I go please?"

He stepped aside and I walk straight past him. It's definitely going to take some getting used to that he wants to be my friend.

I shake my head and go back to my task at hand.

I walk quickly to Abel's locker feeling like a woman on a mission. Which I technically am I guess.

I unlock the little door and take out the object from my bag. I place it in Abel's locker right at the front standing nice and clear and dash round the corner waiting for his arrival.

Basically, I made him a large 3D red origami heart and filled it with Hershey kisses. On the front of it in black calligraphy says 'Abel I'm sorry'. I know you're thinking that's pretty basic but it's only step 1 in my 3 step master plan.

I'm still waiting for a few minutes when Rani and Ana walk up to me.

"How did it go?" Asks Rani.

"Ssshhhh!" I yell at her, "He could be here any second."

"I'm guessing he hasn't seen it then Rani." Adds Ana.

"You know you clearly have a thing for lockers and origami. You did something similar for his birthday remember?" Rani points out.

I raise my eyebrows and shrug, "Huh. I guess I do."

"Oh look he's coming!" Exclaims Ana.

My eyes drift back to the locker where Abel has appeared alongside Raphael, Rolo and Israel.

It was Rolos job to make sure Abel actually went to his locker at lunch because I know sometimes he chooses not too and I couldn't let that happen.

As soon as Abel opens his locker, a clear look of confusion adorns his face. He takes out the heart and looks inside before showing everyone else around him. He looks around as if searching for me and I quickly duck behind the wall dragging Rani and Ana with me.

I peek around the corner again to find Abel still looking in this direction. As soon as he spots me, he breaks into a large smile that completely transforms his face. After being without that smile for so long, my heart literally melts at the sight of it.

Sadly, he starts heading towards me which is not what I want yet. So I turn on my heel and fast walk with Rani and Ana leaving him behind.

"What are you doing?! He clearly wants to talk to you now!" Exclaims Rani.

"I have a three step plan stupid! Do you even listen when I speak?" I shake my head and continue walking.

I take a peek over my shoulder and see that Abel has stopped following me and looks even more confused than before.

I didn't actually intend for him to see me so points definitely deducted on my sleuthing skills.

"Oh yeah!" Rani says.

"You're going to have him eating from the palm of your hand once again by tonight Kez. That boy clearly still adores you." Ana nods at me.

I link our arms together and pull them close, "I hope so ladies. And by the way, where's Evelyn?"

"Had an essay to compete for next lesson. You know she's always doing everything last minute. I don't know how she copes." Ana states.

"It's simple. She just doesn't care that much." Rani says with a shrug.

Instead of going to the common room, we head to the cafeteria to make sure Abel won't find me. I do not intend to speak to him properly until tonight so he'll just have to wait. It has me feeling both nervous and excited. It's been so long since I've been in his arms and I've missed him.

I've missed him so much.

• • •

So my next step of the plan involves the help from several people. I personally think it's fantastic but I could be biased since it's my idea and all.

Right now, Rolo, Israel and Raphael are distracting Abel while Rani, Ana and Evelyn have to get his keys.

Asking Raphael for help was kind of awkward because of our last encounter but he quickly mentioned that he's not angry at me and that he was just looking out for Abel. He admittedly said he went about it the wrong way and apologised before talking about how he's glad I'm trying to patch things up. So basically everything is alright between us now. But I have a feeling Ana had a long talk with him because I saw her give him a nod when he finished his speech.

Anyway, the idea is for the boys to distract Abel and get him to leave his bag while they talk to him or something while the girls search his bag for his keys. I'm not entirely sure if it's going to go down as smoothly as I'm thinking but one can only hope.

I'm waiting by the door of Abel's car when Rani, Ana and Evelyn come running towards me.

"We got it!" Yells Rani while waving Abel's bag in her hand.

"Why do you have his bag!" I hiss, "I specifically told you to just get his keys! He's going to notice his bag missing!"

They all glance at each other before looking at me, "Well you see the thing is, the guys couldn't get him to drop his bag." Starts Ana.

"So Rolo practically ripped it off his back and threw it at us before telling us to go." Continues Evelyn.

"So basically you don't have long before Abel comes storming out here so I'd get a move on." Rani says nonchalantly.

My eyes widen largely while I give all three of them incredulous looks, "You could have lead with that!"

They just shrug at me. They're honestly so ridiculous sometimes it hurts.

I quickly dig out Abel's car keys and open the drivers door before taking out a small box from my bag. Inside the box is a thin wooden stick with three Polaroid pictures of us clipped on. Along with that are jelly snakes that I've so creatively shaped into cute little love hearts. I purposely put pictures of us to remind Abel of our relationship. You know just in case he decides I'm not worth it anymore.

The box is red with a black bow on it and I've also written in calligraphy 'I was wrong'.

So all my three gifts all make sense when you put them together.

I place the box on the drivers seat when Rani starts yelling at me.

"Hurry up Keziah! He's coming!"

I look to the right and Abel is in fact storming this way with an irritated look on his face.

"Uh oh." Says Evelyn.

"Don't just stand there and 'uh oh'. Let's go!" I yell.

We all take off in the direction of Ranis car laughing as we watch him fade into the distance. He may be irritated now but not for long once he finds out why we did that.

Ana bursts into laughter suddenly, "How many times are you honestly going to run from Abel Keziah?"

"I know, he's probably tired of it." I sigh loudly and lean my head against the window, "Can't say that I blame him."

"I wouldn't worry so much Kez." Evelyn starts, "Israel says that Abel has still been talking about you despite it all. And when they go to his house, he's always wearing that stupid shirt you got him."

A soft look takes over my face as a giddy smile appears, "He's too cute isn't he. Ugh I feel even worse."

"Well at least you're making up for it. That counts for something." Says Ana. What a positive child.

Rani heads towards my house before anyone else, "You sure you don't want help?" Asks Evelyn.

"Nope." I say popping the 'p'. "It has to be my own sweat and blood."

Rani begins to drive off just before Ana sticks her head out of the window, "Tell us how it goes!"

As soon as I get in, I drop my belongings and head towards the kitchen to get started. My final step of the plan is making him a double layered red velvet cake smothered in icing with 'Please forgive me?' In small chocolate flakes on top.

Red velvet cake usually takes me about 2 hours so this is going to take a while.

I start by collecting all my necessary ingredients before measuring each one out into their own bowls. After this, I start mixing the various ingredients together to begin the cake.

As I'm doing this, the front door opens, "I'm home!" Marcel Shouts.

"No one cares!" I respond back.

Nolan runs straight towards me and wraps his arms around my leg, "What are you doing?" He asks.

"I'm making a cake Nolan."

"Can I help?"

I have to think about this for a second because Nolan always makes a mess and it's possible that he could make a mistake some how ruining the cake as a whole. But if I don't he'll whine and whine and whine and can I be bothered for that?

"Yes you can. Go and wash your hands first." I decided to go with the least annoying option as you can see.

I'm mixing the ingredients when Marcel comes up to me, "Save me a slice will you?"

"It's not for you Marce."

"Then who's it for?"

"Abel."

"Ooo making a cake for your boyfriend." He says I'm a high falsetto voice. "I thought you guys weren't even together anymore."

Sighing loudly I respond to him, "I don't know what we are right now but this is an apology cake so can you leave me alone while I'm making it?"

"No can do sis. I'm going to sit on this counter and watch."

Ignoring him I say hello to Omari and then get back to work.

I'm just about to add the red food colouring when Nolan walks in, "I'm back!" He yells excitedly.

"Great now you can add the food colouring."

I lift him up and pass him the red liquid while instructing him to only add a few drops. Once he does that, I mix once again.

Nolan and I are working well together until Marcel starts looking for trouble.

He started breaking up pieces of tissue, stuffing them into a straw and blowing it at us.

"Marcel stop!" I shout in annoyance.

"Why?" He asks.

"Because you're distracting us!"

"I don't care." He says with a shrug.

Nolan walks up to him and rips the straw from his hand before blowing the remaining pieces directly at his face, "Now you see how it feels."

I burst into laughter and point my finger at Marcel, "Serves you right."

"Whatever, I was bored anyway." Marcel finally leaves us along and trudges up to his room allowing us to finish the cake properly.

After baking the two layers and leaving them to cool, I apply the the buttercream frosting with the help of Nolan. Once I put them together, I start writing the question down in the chocolate flakes.

"Why does that say please forgive me?" Asks Nolan.

"Because I'm saying sorry to Abel for not being nice."

"Why weren't you nice to him? He's always nice to you Keziah."

Even the 6 year old is telling me off.

"Because I thought something happened when it didn't. So I'm going to apologise."

"Good, you should. Tristan and Tati were telling me that Abel has been sad and he hasn't been playing with them so much. Is that because of you?"

"Yeah I think so bud."

"Well you and Abel need to be boyfriend and girlfriend again so everyone can be happier. Even you will be happier again."

Nolan jumps down from the counter and walks away from me.

Sometimes, he has so much insight at such a young age. But other times he's just silly.

I quickly put the cake in one of those white cake boxes before heading upstairs to beg Marcel to drive me.

"Please please please please please pleaseeeee!" I exclaim.

"No. Learn how to drive." He responds in a land tone.

"I'm not 17 yet!" I shout.

"Not my problem."

"Ugh!"

I leave his room and head downstairs intending to walk there if I have to.

I make it a few steps down the driveway when Marcel walks out, "Are you coming or what?"

I do a mental happy dance before rushing to my side of the car before he could change his mind.

I'm finally going to talk to Abel properly for the first time in 3 weeks. That's if he even wants to. I've never had a boyfriend before or encountered an issue like this so it's all new territory for me. Despite that, I'm determined to make things right again. I'll take full responsibility for everything and apologise as much as I need to. This guilt I've been feeling is awful and I hate to think what Abel's been feeling. I'm a horrible person, how could I do this to him?

I brush away these negative thoughts intending to make sure everything goes as planned.

"Okay, we're here. I'll be back around 10 to pick you up but if you're not outside I'm driving away. I'm not waiting. I'm not even going to tell you when I'm coming. If you're not outside when I arrive, I'm leaving and you'll have to find your way home."

I pull the dirtiest face and aim it at him, "You're definitely not winning any brother of the year award anytime soon."

"Never wanted one. Not get out of my car."

As soon as I step out, he speeds away almost knocking me out in the process.

I follow the path that leads to Abel's front door. I take a few deep breathes and knock.

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