Serendipity [BoyxBoy]

Chapter Seventeen

William (named after the member of The Black Eyed Peas and not Shakespeare) was the head boy of St. Pere Guttman of Paos Secondary School, Benin City and the school administration took great pride in him.

He'd won Obafemi Awolowo Essay Contest and Coca-Cola National Spelling Bee. Will was the one who took the solo during the Fela Kuti Choir Festival and he'd won their school a blue laurel, he also shot a buzzer-beater at the Milo Basketball Competition, leading Pere Guttman's to a national victory.

Will was the school's star boy, a fine cut gem among pebbles. Some teachers had even remarked that they wished they had sons like him. He was that bright.

So when the report came in that William (named after the member of The Black Eyed Peas and not Shakespeare) was bullying his immediate junior, the school administration shoved the file at the bottom of their cabinets.

After all, it was William and he brought the school so much joy that there was no way he could possibly do any wrong.

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The ride back home was a quiet one.
Uvo, tired from all the barking, whining and struggling he did that day, lay quietly in the back seat, watching the houses zip by. A quiet electro-pop song was playing on the radio at a low volume, Irekan made no move to increase it. He didn't even look like he was listening.

Nosa ran a hand over the clean leather of his seat. Whatever made him cry in the waiting room of the Veterinary clinic left him drained; physically and emotionally. He wanted nothing more than to take a nice shower, curl up in bed and sleep for as long as he could until his mum decided to wake him up for morning mass. He wanted to sleep and forget about the crying, the yearning in his heart... the picture in the glove compartment.

But he was with Irekan and, like always, Irekan wanted to talk. At least, he wanted to want to talk.

Nosa glanced at Irekan. His eyes were tired and more dark than Nosa had ever seen them. Even when Irekan had had a busy day doing school work, assignments and wrangling his dogs, he still had light in his eyes and a smile on his face, no matter how small. Now Irekan looked as anxious as Nosa felt ninety percent of the time; he fidgeted in his seat, his nails scraping against the steering wheel, his left leg bouncing like he wanted to open the door, jump right out of the car and run. It was clear that whatever was on his mind was thoroughly bothering him and he felt like he had to talk about it-Irekan always felt like he had to talk about it.

Which is why it didn't surprise Nosa when Irekan opened his mouth and said, "Hey, Nosa?"

Nosa looked out the window, biting down on his lower lip to keep from cursing out loud. He didn't like talking. "Mhmm?"

"You know when I said 'we?'" Irekan asked. "When I said we used to play a game with the pile of clothes..."

Nosa closed his eyes. The picture he found in the glove compartment flashed behind his eyes. Irekan and Irekan. "Irekan..."

"I-we..." Irekan began then trailed off. "I... when we moved to the USA, I-I was terrified."

"You don't have to say anything," Nosa said but the words came out a mere whisper.

Conversations like this were too real-too much. If they crossed this boundary, they would never be able to go back to how they were now and Nosa didn't want that. He liked the way they were; two dudes who watched anime and shared music, just pals without all the sticky secrets and raw truths that came with lasting relationships. He didn't want to know about Irekan's past, neither did he want Irekan to know his. They were fine the way they were.