Surprise update!

Warning: offensive words ahead.

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I sat on the track as I stretched my legs while watching Ore race Nerit and Chika. I haven't spoken much in school after my conversation with Hymn yesterday, and Kim didn't have the time to feel upset as she kept questioning my change in mood. What was I to say to her exactly?

The girls finally finished running laps, with Ore coming first, Nerit right behind her, and Chika coming in third. Ore and Nerit went over to their belongings at the side to grab each other a bottle of water. Chika, on the other hand, was called separately, and Mr. Akpan was giving feedback on what she was lacking.

"Nerit, are you up for another lap?" He questioned her, and she nodded. He looked at the girls before calling out, "Joy," a fair-skinned girl with a petite body figure, stepped out. "Let's see you both. At the sound of my whistle, one, two."

Phew!

And both sprinted off like they were up for a real competition. Chika made her way to me, accompanied by her best friend, Daniela. Both sat in front of me as they mirrored my warm-up routine. I traced my eyes to Nerit as she overtook Joy, and I sighed.

"I heard about her," I stated.

"Who?" Daniela questioned.

"Nerit," I clarified, looking at Daniela. "I heard about the awful article Danielle made about her."

"Oh, that," Daniela hissed like it wasn't a big deal. "Nemesis caught up with her. "

"Nemesis? What do you mean by that? That's an awful thing to say. She got fat-shamed in the worst way possible."

"Abegi!" Daniela brushed it off instantly. "Worst kini? Chika, tell her!"

"What happened to Nerit was karma in the form of Danielle," Chika leaned towards me. "You've just spent like a week in this school, so you don't know what's up."

"Do you know Shola from Ss3 commercial class, Chika's class?" Asked Daniela. I shook my head. "Chika, tell her."

"Shola got it hot-hot from Nerit," Chika began. "Anyone being told the story will feel pity towards Nerit, especially when they don't know what Nerit did."

"You're beating around the bush," I said impatiently. "Tell me the main thing."

"Be like our friend here, like gist," Daniela nudged her chin in my direction. "Chika, tell her."

"Being fat-shamed isn't the only body shaming there is. Shola got body shamed by Nerit daily."

"Thin shamed," Daniela added.

I scoffed, "Is that a thing?"

"So fat-shaming can be a thing, and skinny-shaming, or thin-shaming, according to Daniela, can't be?" Chika frowned deeply at me, and I curled to myself and kept quiet.

"Nerit is such a hypocrite," Chika snarled. "She kept on taunting Shola by calling her names like bone straight, toothpick, and so much more. The worst is that she kept saying these words in front of people whenever Shola decided to walk by or pass her. I'm in Shola's class. I firsthand witnessed how Nerit's comment broke her down.

"Shola couldn't leave her seat anymore," Chika continued, folding her arms. Even Daniela looked like she was contemplating whether she should end the discussion or not. "She comes to school right before assembly, and after that, she stays glued to her seat. She couldn't go to the restroom because the boys began calling her names like flat nyash or making other comments like dry bones shall rise again, these nasty comments were made by Nerit because she was always at the centre.

"The only thing that would make her leave her seat was when we had Data Processing and needed to be in the computer lab, or when it was closing hours and everyone was expected to go home. Many times she'd starve herself in school because she was too embarrassed to go to the cafeteria. Nerit will see this and laugh at her by saying she shouldn't fast before the breeze blows her away. I couldn't see her not eating because of annoying students who felt the best way to have fun was to make someone else's life miserable, so I took it upon myself to help get her snacks and drinks from the cafeteria while she paid me my money, of course. I wasn't running a charity organization.

"Danielle must have seen this because the next thing everyone knew was an article fat-shaming Nerit. Everyone making fun of Shola turned their attention to Nerit, and she became the subject of the same ridicule she'd mounted on Shola." Chika finally released her folded hands. "Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that what Danielle did was right, but she happened to be karma at that point."

"Come to think of it," Daniela turned to Chika, "wasn't Danielle's article about those who bullied others?"

Chika stopped to think, then clapped her hands as if an invisible light bulb were lit above her head. "Yes o. Look at Ade, for instance, that big-for-nothing who's always beating and making fun of Caleb because he's from a poor home. Shey Danielle wrote an article about him, revealing his address and what his parents do for a living."

Daniela nodded at Chika, then turned to me. "It turned out that Ade was even worse than Caleb, and he was just pretending to be rich so no one would look down on him."

"He doesn't have sense; he doesn't have a brain," Chika said, pointing at her temple. "Shey, if someone wants to pretend, their every action would be done low-key? Ade was just carrying himself around like he was the governor's son or something."

"Governor of the gutter," Daniela commented, and Chika laughed. I looked at both with a straight face, then cleared my throat.

"But why was Danielle having so much hate?" I asked. "If she'd targeted her articles on bullies, why was everyone so mad?"

"Well . . ." Daniela shrugged. "Verbal insults weren't known by every student in school. Only a few people in the area knew about it, just like she wasn't aware of Shola's case until later. But, you see, the articles she made were seen by the whole school. Well, aside from teachers. Many who saw most of her articles weren't aware of the full story because she never linked it to any story. So they ended up turning her into a bad person."

"Like the article, she wrote about Nerit," Chika continued once Daniela stopped. "She didn't once write Shola's name, nor did she link it to Shola. She just centred around her and her fatness. Same with Ade. She didn't link it to Caleb and just focused on Ade in her article. I don't even think the victims knew she was avenging them; they were just happy that those making their school life hell got what they deserved."

"Or maybe we are the ones overanalyzing things," Daniela said, stretching her back. "Maybe she didn't care about Shola or Caleb and thought Ade and Nerit were easy targets. I mean, she wrote about many that crossed her path in a bad way, abi?"

"Sha, that's true." Chika admitted, "Or we could be right because the coincidence was just too much. She must have written it to make them suffer for what they did to other students. And the ones that crossed her part—that's their headache. Someone who had sense would've stayed in their lane. You didn't see how most hated her on the team, but they were scared of crossing her path, so she won't write an article about them. The fear of Danielle was the beginning of wisdom."

"She isn't here to tell us if we're right or wrong." Daniela moved her attention to me. "The only one who was braved enough to cross her path on the team was Ore."

"I want to believe she must have written an article about Ore; there is no way she would've let Ore go just like that. Maybe the tragic stuff happened before she could release it." My gaze followed Nerit, who had won the little race she'd done with Joy, and was going to sit beside Ore. Ore, aware of my look, stared at me with evidence of annoyance on her face.

"We should stop talking about Danielle for now," I whispered.

"Right, it's giving me the chills," Daniela said, rubbing her arms rhythmically. "Are ghosts real?"

"Abeg e don do, na only me dey sleep for my room for night." Chika moved closer to me instead, saying, "I'm too mature to start sleeping between my parents."

Daniela laughed at Chika, then visibly gulped. I guess she was also scared by her own comment.

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I walked silently to the school gate with my backpack slouched on both shoulders. I wasn't sure what to do or how to react after listening to Daniela and Chika's narration. I felt confused and, at the same time, devastated. I wasn't sure what to believe at that point. It felt like I didn't know my own twin. Was Danielle a good person? Or was she not? I was so confused.

"Delphine!" I stopped on my track and whipped my body to face the opposite direction, only to see Kim running towards me. "Hey, where are you rushing to?"

It never occurred to me how fast-paced my steps were. I guess I wanted to leave the school compound as soon as possible.

"You just ignored me for what reason? I'm the one meant to be upset, not you." She pointed at her chest while sulking, and I felt bad. I made it look like she wasn't welcome after Hymn had told me that stuff. It wasn't just her; I had also ignored Romeo this morning, but he never took it personally. I guessed everyone was different.

"Sorry," I finally said. "I had a lot on my plate."

"All of a sudden?" She moved a step closer, worry enveloping her. "Family issues?"

"Something like that," I said to her as we headed for the gate. "Don't you have a car to come pick you up or something?" This was the first time we were leaving school together. She was always staying behind on her debate club issues.

"I'm taking an Uber. Let me. . . ." She trailed, as she brought out her phone to probably book one. "What about you?"

"I'll be taking okada," I said, forcing Kim to look at me with dread.

"Okada? As in bike?"

I nodded, but that seemed the worst, judging from her expression. "Are you insane? What if you fall and die?"

"That's not how bikes work," we both turned to see Romeo, walking over to us with both hands in his pocket and his one-hand school bag, slung over to his back. "But you won't know that because you haven't tasted life yet."

"Why's he always jumping into our conversation?" Kim whispered, then boldly turned to Romeo, who was now standing with us. "Just because I'm not poor and ratchet doesn't mean I haven't tasted life."

"Hey Kim, that's a horrible thing to say."

"Don't sweat it; I'm not offended. Daddy's girl got it easy." He then directed his focus to me. I wasn't sure what to do with these two. Their bickering was getting out of hand.

"Where's the bike? Let's get on it together." I stared at Kim with bewilderment, and so did Romeo. "If you can do it, I can do it too."

"Who you wan impress?" Romeo laughed like Kim had just said the funniest thing. "Bye, Delphine," he waved over his shoulder and then turned to continue his journey to the school gate, with some female students and some of his male friends calling out his name in a 'hi' gesture.

"He's the worst," Kim said under her breath.

"So are you still taking the bike with me or . . . ?" I questioned.

Kim looked at me like I'd lost it. "God no."

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Since Kim and I were talking as before because I didn't want her to read too much about my mood, I decided to accompany her to the sports complex to watch our class boys play football as it was a free period. Girls seated on the bleachers kept chanting Krystian's name, as he was somewhat the star player on the field. He'd held onto the ball the longest and had scored the most goals so far.

"He's going to score again." Kim kept tapping my lap excitedly. "Just watch."

And I did just that. I watched as a boy set his foot out in an attempt to take the ball from Krystian, but instead tripped Krystian by accident, sending him flying and rolling on the green grass.

"God!" Everyone exclaimed and stood up from their seats, excluding me. I was shocked as well, but I could react differently than others. The game automatically stopped as every boy on the field, including Romeo, moved closer to inspect Krystian.

"Krystian!" I turned on time to witness the owner of that screeching sound, Toyosi. She rushed over and pushed the boy who had caused this to Krystian aggressively on the ground, and then kneeled to look at Krystian's ankle. Her blazing eyes met the poor boy who had caused this, and it looked like she was some lioness ready to fight for the one she cared about. Every niceness in her was totally gone now.

"Hymn!" Toyosi scanned the bleachers from where she was on the field. I watched as she nervously bit on her fingernails. "Hymn!" Her eyes met mine, and though it was only for a few seconds, it got me agape and sent me to my feet.

"Hymn!" I stared at Toyosi in disbelief. My mouth ran dry as many scenarios kept creeping into my head. Why didn't I ponder on those words earlier and try to connect some dots? I felt weak at the possibility of Toyosi having a motive—a motive clearer than Ore's.

"Hymn!" Kim quickly moved to the back and tapped Hymn, who had his head lowered and earphones playing loud music in his ears. He pulled out one and looked at Kim.

"Yes?"

"Krystian, Toyosi, look!" She couldn't come up with a decent sentence and just pointed at the field. Hymn turned his attention to the field and immediately panicked as he saw his best friend lying on the field in great pain. He jumped out of his chair and raced to the field as he and some boys helped Krystian up, with Toyosi trailing behind them with worry.

My eyes moved to Romeo, who had both hands on his waist as he watched them take Krystian to the nurse's office. When he caught me staring, he shook his head and shrugged. That was the end of the game. No one could continue as the atmosphere got ruined. Everyone kept worrying if Krystian would be alright.

"I hope he's fine." Kim especially couldn't stop talking about him. "Should we go visit him? Delphine? Delphine!"

"What?" I looked at her with stunned eyes.

"Are you also worried about him?" She questioned.

I wasn't; I was thinking about Toyosi, but I nodded nonetheless. "I hope he's alright."

I was amazed at Kim's concern. We walked into the class and moved to our seats. Everyone couldn't stop talking about Krystian and the boy who had accidentally tripped him. For the first time, everyone was spending the class' free period in class and not in the sports complex.

"Maybe we should go visit him." My brows furrowed at Toyosi's reaction. She wasn't the sweet Toyosi she'd been portraying ever since I'd gotten here; she was different.

"Maybe go to the cafeteria to buy a drink for him first . . ."

That girl was hated by everyone, including you, Toyosi. I'm pretty sure you wanted her gone, just like everyone else; Ore's words wouldn't leave my head.

". . . and maybe you can get him something too, like snacks, but what kinds?" I felt a tap on my lap. "Delphine, are you even listening to me?"

I pulled myself out of every thought in my head. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I said we should go visit Krystian." With the way Toyosi reacted? I didn't think it was wise to let anyone who wasn't an Elite visit him now.

"Maybe you should just talk to him when he comes back to class," I said to her instead. "There might be someone trying to get him better, and his friends are already a distraction. There is no need to have more."

Kim was reasoning my words when the door to the classroom opened. Everyone expected to see Krystian, but instead, a furious Mr. Obi walked in. The class was silent as his scrutinising gaze fell on everyone present in the room.

"What happened to Krystian Williams, your classmate?" Though he asked no specific person, we all knew he needed answers to that question. "Who caused that accident on him?!"

Half the class pointed at the boy sitting at the extreme, beside the front windows. Mr. Obi directed his gaze to the boy in question and sighed with his hands strapped tightly around his waist.

"Nosa," Mr. Obi began, looking at the boy with blazing eyes. "What did you do to your classmate? Why were you careless enough to cause him to injure himself?"

"Sir, it was an accident," I found myself saying after noticing the fright in the boy's eyes. Kim was pinching me to stop, but I ignored her. "Everyone was having fun; it wasn't intentional."

"Go and tell that to the principal who had called to scold me in her office." He turned to me, then rested his gaze on everyone else. "What is wrong with this class? Other classes study and do classwork amongst themselves during their free periods, but mine are trying to be the next Messi and Ronaldo while training for Ivy League cheerleaders."

Some students laughed, "It's not funny!" Mr. Obi stopped whatever snicker was building up. "At the end of the day, I'm the one getting scolded for all your bad behaviour." His attention turned to Nosa. "Just make sure he's fine, all of you!"

And he turned and stormed out of the class. My classmates' voices began to rise as there was no adult supervision in class.

"Nosa, why couldn't you be careful?" Kim got up and challenged Nosa.

"Kim." I tried holding her elbow, but she pulled it away from my hold. "Calm down."

"No!" She snapped, turning to me. "Now he has put us in trouble because he couldn't play safe."

"You know nothing about football, right?" Romeo commented from his seat at the back, his eyes on Kim.

"Hey, stay out of it," she said, turning to him. "For once, mind your business."

"You are making that hard," he scoffed, folding his arms.

"Look, Kim, it was an accident. No one is to be blamed." I said to her. "If it wasn't Nosa, it could've been someone else. And if it wasn't Krystian, it could've been another person rolling on the floor. Football is a rough game, and they all signed up for it when they changed their uniforms to sportswear just to play. Including Krystian."

"You're victim-blaming?"

"Please don't use that word anyhow." I tried to refrain myself from getting mad at her. "No one's a victim here. I'm sure he's only going to have a little sprain, that's all."

"If it was a little sprain, would Mr. Obi be that angry?" She snapped. I watched her place her backpack under her locker.

"Where are you going?" I asked her as she made her way out of her desk.

"To see Krystian," and she was off.

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Poor Krystian 😂
Anyways, what do you think about this chapter? It's a surprise one so I hope you enjoyed it.

Who's watching the Afcon final? Let's support our country👍🏾

Till next time✨