• 14 •

EVA

"Hey! We never got to talk about how you met Omar. "

I stilled, my spoon of ice cream stopping halfway to my mouth. I lifted my head and saw Axel watching me expectantly. He just wasn't going to let it go, was he?

Sighing, I shoved the ice cream into my mouth, contemplating on the best way to answer him.

I could lie and tell him that we met at my old school back in Lagos, but that would only attract more questions, which meant cooking up more lies. I wasn't a very good liar.

Why not just go with the truth? I asked myself.

"We met at the orphanage. But he wasn't raised there like me. He got—" I stopped, realizing I was saying too much, then tried again. "He came in when he was like.... fourteeen and I was twelve at the time. I've known him five years. "

"What orphanage? " He frowned.

"What other orphanage would I be talking about, Axel? " I looked down at the tub of ice cream in front of me. My stomach wouldn't welcome food, that's why I'd opted for it.

"You grew up at an orphan