MALE FACTOR [BxB]

Chapter 8

Zuriel didn't mention a word to Stephanie after leaving Mrs Jeffrey's office. She knew for sure that Stephanie would be mad at her, as Stephanie already seemed angry.

Zuriel didn't want to make the situation worse by saying something that could further upset Stephanie.

"What happened?" Zuriel asked Stephanie as they walked down to their class after break was over.

"We're going to bring Timi and Jason back together" Stephanie said.

"Wait they're fighting?" Zuriel asked obliviously, Stephanie rolled her eyes.

Stephanie and Zuriel approached Jason and Timi, who were standing on opposite ends of the classroom. They took each boy by the arm and led them to a chair, sitting them down side by side. Stephanie and Zuriel stood in front of them, waiting for the two boys to start talking to each other.

"What do you want?" Jason asked them, slowly licking his ice cream.

"You guys should stop fighting" Zuriel said confidently, as if she knew exactly what she was talking about.

"We're not fighting" Timi said.

"Wait they're not fighting?" Zuriel asked Stephanie.

"They are!!!" Stephanie facepalmed.

Jason and Timi exchanged words, pretending that nothing happened and hoping that the girls would leave them alone. Their efforts to downplay the situation did not work, and Stephanie insisted that they work out their differences between themselves.

Both their egos got in the way and they struggled to find common ground, both unwilling to admit fault or take responsibility for their actions. As a result, their conversation quickly devolved into a tense standoff, with neither of them willing to speak or listen to the other.

Stephanie gave up trying to mediate the situation between Jason and Timi and decided to leave Zuriel with them.

"You guys should just talk to each other, you're friends, you shouldn't be fighting" Zuriel said and, without warning, grabbed the ice cream pouch pack out of Jason's hands, taking it for herself. Without a word, she turned and walked away, leaving Jason behind. As he watched her go, Jason turned to look at Timi, wanting to share his frustration. He remembered that they were not on speaking terms, so he was left to wallow in his shame and misery alone. Jason sighed and slumped back in his chair, feeling defeated and isolated.

Timi knew that he needed to make things right with Jason, but he didn't know how to go about it, uncertain of how to bridge the gap between them.

Moyo called out to Timi from outside the class, signaling him to leave for seventh period. Timi glanced up and, upon spotting Moyo, promptly stood up and walked away, making their way to the physics lab. He left Jason behind in the classroom. This sudden departure hurt Jason deeply, as he thought they were about to make progress in reconciling their friendship. He watched sadly as Timi walked away, feeling rejected and alone.

As the school day came to a close, Lekan went to SSS2 block in search of Chika. When he found Chika, Lekan called out to him, demanding that he came with him. Chika tried to make an excuse, but Lekan was not interested in listening. With no teacher present to back him up, and most of his classmates having already gone home, Chika had no choice but to follow Lekan, feeling powerless and resentful. Chika couldn't help but wonder what Lekan had in store for him and whether he would be able to escape his fate.

"Run to my class store room now and start sweeping" Lekan shouted.

Chika was hoping to see Jason in the classroom so that he could let him go, but everyone had already gone home. Feeling scared and alone, Chika entered the store room and started sweeping, his hopes for solitude were quickly dashed when Lekan entered the room and locked the door behind him. Chika froze, his heart racing as he realized that he was trapped with Lekan, with no one to protect him or intervene on his behalf. He tried to stay calm, wondering whether he would be able to escape this situation unscathed.