The two boys stood frozen in the headmaster's office, confusion shadowing their faces. The news felt heavier than the morning heat. JAMB—the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board exam—was now only a week away. For millions of students across the country, it was the gateway to higher education. For Jason and Ayo, it was an abrupt storm cloud on a day they thought would be calm.
"But sir, I thought the exam was next month," Jason said, the hint of panic slipping through his usual player-boy charm. If the girls who adored him could see him now, they might wonder where their smooth-talking hero had gone.
"Why are we writing it next week? Why would they postpone it?" he asked again.
"Eh? Why would they postpone it? You think they created the board for you?" Headmaster Tunde's voice cracked with sarcasm, each word sharp enough to sting. "That's the news. You two can leave now. Advising you would be a waste of time—you know what to do."
Still, they lingered, as if silence might somehow change the decision.
"Are you deaf?" The headmaster's glare sent them toward the door.
Just like that, their morning was ruined.
By the time they returned to their lecture room, the class was over. Ten minutes remained until the next period, so they dropped into their seats, their thoughts as unsettled as the air before rain.
Jason leaned back, draping an arm around his girlfriend, Felica—the baby slay queen of the tutorial. Slim, busty, and effortlessly stylish, she had the kind of beauty that turned heads in the hallway. Her glossy nails tapped against her phone screen in a rhythm that said she was too important for the silence around her.
But Jason's eyes weren't on her. They drifted to the window, where sunlight painted the courtyard in gold.
Arike stood there—talking to someone.
Arike was not the kind of girl who lit up a room with beauty. She was quietly striking in her own way, her presence rooted in calm intellect rather than glitter. Reserved, deliberate, always thinking two steps ahead, she was the sort of girl who looked out for the future even when others were lost in the moment. Her thoughts were like a well-kept library, her words few but measured.
Jason's smirk was slow, deliberate. Trouble had just clocked in for the day. He tilted his head toward Ayo, voice low but sharp enough to cut. "No be your babe be dat?"
Ayo turned. His chest tightened.
And standing beside her—of course—was Yinka.
Rich. Handsome. Effortlessly charming. Intelligent enough to ace any exam without breaking a sweat. The kind of guy teachers liked and girlfriends found dangerously hard to ignore.
Jason watched Ayo's reaction the way a cat watches a cornered mouse. He wasn't rooting for Yinka or Ayo; he just liked seeing the game play out. Drama was oxygen to him.
Jason murmured something to Felica, kissed her on the cheek, and rose from his seat. He strolled toward the back of the room where Anthony sat.
Anthony wasn't just a friend—he was the kind of guy whose name carried weight in every corner of the tutorial. Tall, broad-shouldered, with eyes that could turn warm one second and cold as steel the next. He had the slow smile of someone who knew exactly how dangerous he could be.
Around him, three of his boys lounged like shadows—laughing low, their attention snapping toward anyone who came too close.
Jason leaned over. "Guy, you see wetin dey happen outside?" His grin was sharp, almost conspiratorial.
Anthony followed his gaze. His expression barely shifted, but his eyes narrowed—calculating. "Make we go see am," he said, voice low but carrying that quiet authority that made people move without thinking.
They stepped out into the sunlight, crossing the courtyard like they owned it.
Ayo was already on the move, his pace brisk as he closed the gap between himself and Arike.
"Babe, what's up?" he said, licking his pink lips in the way he did before leaning in for a kiss.
Arike didn't meet his eyes. "Oh, hi. Sorry, please—I'm coming. I just need to get something."
"Okay, let me follow you," Ayo replied, trying to keep his voice steady.
Jason and Anthony hung back, the scene unfolding before them like theatre.
"Hey, Yinka. What are you doing here? I thought you usually study at this time," Ayo said, his tone casual but loaded.
"Yeah, I was on my way to get something with Arike," Yinka replied smoothly, as though the tension hanging in the air didn't exist.
Anthony's voice cut in—calm, deep, and heavy with authority. "Yinka. Come." It wasn't a request.
Yinka hesitated for only a moment before stepping toward him. But before he could move far, Arike's hand caught his wrist. "See you later, Ayo. Please don't follow me—it's just here."
She left with Yinka, disappearing toward the gate.
Ayo stood rooted to the spot, his mind reeling. Wasn't this the same girl who had whispered I love you just last night?
Jason stepped closer, his smirk faint but satisfied. Anthony's gaze stayed on Yinka's retreating figure, like a predator marking prey for later.
"Nah, you fuck up," Anthony said finally. "You for don beat that Yinka guy." His tone was casual, but his eyes still carried that cold calculation—already deciding whether this was a problem worth fixing… or exploiting.
But Ayo barely heard him. His mind was already somewhere else—replaying every ignored warning, every late class, every time Arike had reminded him to take his future seriously.
Maybe this wasn't a sudden problem. Maybe it was a crack that had been growing all along,
Ayo stood there, lost in a storm of thoughts, when it struck him — he'd seen this same strange tension last week.
He had ignored it then, brushing it aside as the tutorial closed for the day, too eager to get to the court.
But now, it was different. Now, the weight in the air was pressing on his chest.
And then, as if on cue, Arike appeared.
She didn't linger, just like she said she wouldn't.
Her steps were quick, almost impatient.
Without thinking, Ayo left his friends behind and walked toward her at the tutorial gate.
Before he even knew the details of her mood, the words tumbled from his lips — an apology, raw and unguarded.
It was the kind of apology that stripped a man of his pride.
Anthony and Jason exchanged a look, their eyes speaking the same silent truth — their friend, one of the most handsome guys in the tutorial, was bowing like a pitiful dog.
"Oya babe, I'm sorry, okay? I'll be serious now. I'll stop coming late for tutorial.
I'll even do my best to attend UNILAG,"
he said, his voice heavy with a strange mix of desperation and hope.
But somewhere in those words was a bitter irony — promising to get into one of the best universities in Nigeria without the slightest preparation.
From the side, Yinka watched with quiet satisfaction, as though he had just claimed victory in a battle no one else knew was happening.
"Ayo… what's this now?" Arike's voice was firm but carried something heavier.
"Even before you started begging, I already had something to tell you. It's not just about today."
Anthony and Jason, who had been treating the scene like casual entertainment, straightened in their seats.
They could sense the air shifting.
What was about to unfold was no longer a petty quarrel — it was the slow, painful undoing of a bond.
Ayo's friends watched, torn between standing up to stop him or letting him dig his own grave.
To them, it looked as though she had cast some kind of spell over him.
And maybe she had — because only a man under a spell would still fight for someone he had already given the world to.
He remembered every sacrifice.
Selling his iPhone XR to upgrade to a 12 — for her.
Borrowing from his mother to finish the payment, weaving a thousand excuses just to make it happen.
Three months of labor work to pay her tuition.
And still, here they stood.
Arike was no baddie, but she wasn't ordinary either.
Not every simple girl keeps her demands light, and not every "slay queen" bleeds her man dry.
But Ayo feared losing her more than he feared losing his dignity.
Four years they had been together, from secondary school till now.
Four years that could have built a small business with the money he had spent.
Four years he couldn't imagine throwing away.
But sometimes, the inevitable arrives no matter how tightly you hold on.
She tried to pull him aside, to talk in private.
But Ayo — blinded by panic — refused to be soothed.
Her patience frayed, and her voice rose.
"Okay! I am done, Ayo!" Arike yelled.
"Happy now? I'm done!"
The girls at the back exchanged looks of disgust, their whispers curling through the air like smoke.
"What do you mean you're done, Arike?" Ayo's voice cracked, his eyes glassy.
"Have you forgotten? You said we'd spend the rest of our lives together. Remember?"
Her expression hardened.
"I said that… but let me put it plainly — you're broke, Ayo. And worse, you have no plan for your life.
I can't be with a man who doesn't have backup.
I've thought about this for a long time, and yes — this is the right thing.
I can't just keep dating you because you're handsome.
And fuck all of you bitches staring at me like that,"
she added, throwing daggers at the girls behind her.
Ayo reached for her hand, pulling her close for a kiss — the same trick that always melted her anger.
But this time, she wrenched her hand free.
Anthony and Jason, sensing this was no longer a game, rose from their seats.
Their steps toward the scene were slow, deliberate.
Yinka grabbed Ayo's arm, trying to pull him away from her.
That was his mistake.
Anthony — the kind of man who didn't just step into trouble, but dove into it headfirst — appeared out of nowhere. The GOAT of the season. The unshaken lion in the tutorial jungle.
Before anyone could even process it, his fist landed square on Yinka's "noble" face with a sickening thwack. It wasn't a slap, wasn't a push — it was the kind of punch that rewrote your life choices.
Jason and Felica were still clinging to Ayo, trying to calm the storm in his chest. But Ayo's eyes were empty. Broken. Shattered. They couldn't understand it — not fully. For them, Arike's rejection was just another girl saying no. For Ayo, it was the first time she'd ever gone silent about their relationship. Every other fight had been loud, ugly, and filled with insults. But this? This was cold. This was final.
Anthony, twenty-one years old and already the hero in every man's book, wasn't the type to judge without thought. And he sure as hell wasn't the type to forgive anyone who hurt his friends. He wasn't charming or tall like the other guys. But when it came to taking charge, he didn't need height — he had presence. And presence was everything.
He had already marked Yinka, after the boy dared to refuse one of his orders. This punch wasn't just anger. It was payback dressed in justice.
"What's your business, eh?" Anthony barked, his voice sharp enough to cut the air. "Wetin concern you? He spend money on her, yes? She be his girlfriend, yes? He fit touch her if he want — she no complain. So who made you police?"
Yinka staggered back, holding his ruined face like a man trying to keep his dignity from leaking out through his nose. But dignity was gone. Pathetic was all that was left.
As Anthony took a step forward, arm drawing back for another shot — doing what Ayo couldn't bring himself to do — when Tayo jumped in, grabbing him by the shoulders.
"Boss, abeg. E don do," Tayo pleaded, half-grinning as he hailed him.
The commotion was too loud to ignore. The masters — the tutorial's so-called teachers — began emerging from their offices, wearing that tired, irritated look of people who knew their job wasn't really to teach, but to keep the chaos contained.
The air in the room was thick — part fear, part respect, and part something dangerous,
But as the masters stepped onto the field, their mere presence was enough to scatter the crowd. The heat of the moment dissolved into uneasy silence. One by one, everyone drifted back to their classes, swallowing the chaos like it had never happened.
Six draining hours followed — six hours of lectures that felt like chains, each second dragging heavier than the last. For Ayo, it wasn't just the weight of the school day pressing on him. His soul was carrying more than any timetable could account for.
First, the blow of an exam he had no hope of passing — suddenly brought forward like a guillotine. Then, the deeper wound: the girl he had chased for what felt like a lifetime tearing away from him without warning.
By the time the final bell freed them, it was already four o'clock. The sun had begun its slow descent, and the shadows on the ground stretched long and thin. For most, it was just time to go home. For Ayo, it was time to prepare.
The underground basketball tournament awaited. The air in his chest was heavy, but he couldn't skip it — not with Jason counting on him. And maybe, just maybe, there was more to it than loyalty.
One million naira. That was the prize. Foolish as it sounded, he had already imagined using that money to impress Arike, to win her back, even if it meant bribing her with gifts until her silence broke. He told himself it was love, but somewhere deep down, he knew it was desperation.
With only four hours left until the match, the question loomed:
How does a shattered heart play a winning game?
To be continued…