Surprise??❤️

So, hey, guys. So, it came to my notice that you guys didn't know there was a second book for this book?

I'm surprised and confused, because I had been resounding that over and over for so long in so many of my author's note. Including my major author's note. You guys should be reading Authors note, naw!😫😫 There's actually so much information there that we like to pass across and if you keep missing all of them, omohhh!

I don't even know how to say this oo, but we have barely scratched the surface of this entire book oo! I mean, like, there is SO much happening that I couldn't group it into one book, I had to divide into two and pray to God that everything enters the two books. That's how much shit is happening in this entire book in general.

So, basically, truth be told, in this first book, we sure have come well past the middle of the book, and are heading about 20-30 more chapters before this one ends, but if I were to  add up the entire TMBT from the beginning to the end-est end, I'm sorry guys, but we are barely quarter way through this story! This first book is basically just paving a way for the second book, and that is why I beg you all to read in between the lines because if you're the type that skips parts of a book, you will be so lost in that second book. There is literally no breathing space and it's just blow after blow after blow.

I've warned you guys sha. Pele oo. Carry on with your reading 😂❤️

~DABI~

If there was anything the entirety of Last Night showed me, it was that I was not the only person in the world who was capable of going through so much things I could not contain.

This world wasn't as sweet and dainty as we wish it could be. So many people are suffering. And maybe not from abusive fathers, toxic homes, and unbearable social lives, but as many more as they could come, and most especially, existential crisis was not a myth.

There are too many broken people in this world, and they all have to deal with too many broken things.

And sometimes, these things were inevitable. I always wondered if they were even necessary. But then, even if I couldn't crack the code of its necessity, there was one thing I started to figure out, and that was that maybe, nothing in this world was entirely coincidental, and the universe deliberately may have placed certain people together, just for the sole purpose of healing one another from their open wounds and invisible scars.

It felt good to make the Twins happy last night.

It felt really good.

We had so, so much fun together last night, and if anything, I was happy that I had agreed to stay back with them at Soma's place. I did need that much fun, and especially with them.

I also felt very open minded since yesterday night. I felt like I still had much more to learn, and not just about the twins, but also about Chika and Soma too. It felt so-

"Jesus!" I jumped, absolutely startled as my phone ringing so loudly,

Damn that iPhone ringtone.

The stupid thing had startled me this morning alone, and it long started to get so, so annoying!

However, the moment I grabbed up my phone and immediately I saw who had texted, all form of irritation left me and my system immediately.

It was Clyde.

A smile formed on my face and soon transgressed into blushing and giggling as I knew exactly why this nigga was ringing me up for the one millionth time this morning.

"I promise you, Marc, I am not kidnapped or dead, I am just in Soma's bedroom," Was the first thing I said to him the moment that I had picked the call and threw myself onto Soma's fluffy, Minnie mouse king sized bed.

Wherever he was was absolutely and ridiculously noisy, yet, I heard him respond by laughing softly over the phone and even through the device, a simple sound from him such as his laughter was enough to resonate through me and cause a tingly, sweet feeling to move through me and spread all through my whole body, and I just couldn't believe how much I was blushing into space as I laid on the bed and pressed the phone to my ears.

"Aurora," He called me over the phone and I absolutely melted, pressed one of Soma's orange, heart shaped throw pillow onto myself and giggled for no absolute reason into it.

"Yeah...?" I barely made a sound that sounded like the word as I bit playfully into my lips to hold myself together.

It was funny and mysterious to me how we had talked so many times already over the phone this morning, and yet, each time, I was more happy to hear him, and I still got so happy and overwhelmed doing so.

After Dowman's Carol and our little sleepover at Soma's house last night, I was way too tired, so I didn't bother bothering Marcus to come pick me, especially since it was a good minutes into midnight, and I could not go through the stress of having to escape with him without being seen.

It was wrong however how I forgot to switch on my phone and call Marc at least to let him know that I wouldn't be coming back and I was going to be staying over at Soma's place, because as he had told me the next morning when I finally called, he and his Mum nearly had a heart attack when I hadn't called him back that night.

Marcus wasn't even mad, he was just extremely relieved.

And since then, he had called me so many times.

 "What do you want from me, Clyde?" I asked the boy.

"Oh, nothing," He said to me, his voice being as clear and pronounced as crystal, even though his environment was so noisy, "I believe you are safe, love. And I'm not missing you at all, that's why I called."

I laughed.

I really really burst out laughing, and just couldn't stop for such a long time.

"You're crazy, you totally missed me," I teased him.

"No, I didn't," He laughed and defended with obvious sarcasm, "Look, Aurora, I most definitely have not been thinking about you non stop all morning. And I also most definitely not been so damn desperate to see you or hear your voice that I couldn't stop calling like a bastard. Nope. Not me. Who? Definitely not this guy!"

"Sure thing, whatever helps you sleep at night," I laughed at him, "And while you were not missing me, I actually have been having the time of my life without you."

"Wow," He laughed too, "It's not like I care, but fill me in."

"Well, I already told you last night that I looked fire last night and you didn't see," I told him.

"I'm not in tears, I promise you," Marcus answered me back.

I held back an explosion of laughter.

"And, also as I had mentioned before, The Sisters left me all alone in Soma's room because I told them I wasn't coming for Saturday Lessons till the second class, and that means you won't see me in Ms. Owunam's class today, so boo you."

"Boo you, because I'm not pained at all. I'm totally not going to cry myself to sleep the whole of Owunam's class. Definitely not this guy!" Marcus fired back at me and I broke into laughter at how personal he sounded.

This was fun. This was really fun.

Not only was it so fun for us to have these weird ass conversations over the phone over and over, something about laughing with him always made me so happy.

"So..." He drawled on the line and I imagined him softly biting on his lips as though he was about to ask me something which I suppose he was doing, "We never really finished that boyfriend/girlfriend conversation from the other day..."

"I don't recall such conversation with you," I teased the guy, expecting him to continue.

My village people were clearly after me, because he didn't.

"So, we're showing up for Dance Class today, right?" He asked me instead, "It's being a while."

"We only missed for two days, mumu," I said, "And of course, I have to be there today because we are recording, and I'm the lead dancer, so-"

"Oh, for that online contest you were prepping everyone for," He cut me off.

I was shocked he remembered. 

I had chipped it into a conversation with him at the beginning of the week that our dance class had joined for an online contest, and for that reason, I had to show up everyday for the entire week because Yukerya asked me to teach the choreography; We only had the conversation once so I didn't expect him to remember the details of it.

He really did listen to everything about me and my life.

"Yes, actually, for that," I answered, "So, yeah, of course since we are recording today, and I have to be there. We could go together, abi."

"I'd like that-" He was responding.

"What's that?" I cut him off, when the noise on the background became ridiculously disturbing, "Where are you? It's so noisy there.."

It was like he was inside a festival or a concert, I could feel the vibration of the noise wherever he was, even from my own phone.

It was too damn much.

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you," Marcus said to me.

I waited to hear.

"I'm in School," He revealed.

"School?" I frowned in confusion, "Why is it so noisy there? What's happening?"

"Shade Onam's birthday," He answered me.

"I see," I understood immediately.

"Yup," He cued, "The entire block is going crazy and everyone's all around the girl. Our set 'mates are literally going all bonkers, throwing confetti all around the place, and screaming at the top of their lungs. I've never seen them this excited since we resumed; It's a whole mad house in here."

"Mad oo," I tried to sound interested.

He only laughed and changed the topic, picking up the hint immediately.

"So," He said, "I'm seeing you this evening at Dance, abi?"

"Defs, just give me a call when you get there, I'll probably stay here in Soma's place after Saturday Lessons until it's time. See you!"

"See you, love," He said back to me, sniggering softly.

I hung up the call first.

"Now, where did Soma say she kept that nose rings card...." I hummed to myself as I skimmed through the various stuff in her cupboard.

"Check the Jewelry box," I remembered her words clearly, "And when you see it, you can take one of my school bags - the Fairly off parents one to be precised - and put it in there, so you could just bring the bag to School at once."

"Oh." I stood up to jump to action, and found the box in no time.

One overall look through it and I realised I did not have the strength to search through it.

So, I threw the entire jewelry box into the bag, zipped it up and waited for hours to run by, so I could be on my way to that God Forsaken school.

As I laid down on Soma's bed and started to skim through various dance videos on YouTube, happy and jolly watching each of them one by one, I started to feel like everything seemed so cool and calm and easy, and there were suddenly no worries for me....

Omoh.

If only I knew that today had a lot in stall for us.

I should have figured something was wrong when I arrived in School, and informed Soma, and she asked me not to come inside the School Block yet.

She specifically asked me to wait, somewhere far away, in the Senior School Restaurant, until she and the other Sisters met me there.

And on my part, I didn't have the energy to argue with her, nor ask what the hell was going on, so I agreed easily, did as she said, walked right into the School restaurant that had just a countable number of classmates scattered around it's big and mighty space, picked one out of the various empty glass tables around,  sat alone, lonely and anxious, and waited.

And just waited and waited. Rocked myself gently, beneath that glass seat under me, and just... Waited.

My only companions were the red and white theme patterned walls of the elegant school restaurant, and the sweet smelling savour and aroma of well cooked jollof rice and some baked food that slapped me all the way from the counter.

I wasn't complaining.

Besides, I liked being away from my classmates. There was always something very uncomfortable about being alone in School, without the Sisters by my side. I knew none of the names of the few girls and boys from my class that were in this restaurant with me, I figured the were not much pronounced in my set, therefore wouldn't have the power to harm me, yet, there was that small part of me that felt a tad bit unprotected.

Still, even if Soma didn't tell me to wait here for her here, I wouldn't have carried myself involuntarily to walk into that Ss3 Block - that cursed den of hungry lions that housed my flesh eating classmates.

Although...

I still couldn't help but wonder what it was that Soma desperately didn't want me to find out yet.

And with that, my anxiety grew.

And grew.

And grew.

And grew.

Until Somadina Best showed up.

However, she was alone.

She said she was going to come over with the other Sisters, and yet, she wasn't with Chika nor the Twins. It was just her.

And she was acting so, so weird.

Incredibly weird.

The girl walked into the restaurant so calmly - which was off, because Soma really walked with an excited and vibrant bounce in her step, every damn where she went.

It was strange to watch this new demeanour really.

With her hands joined humbly together in front of her, clasping that bell in them, and holding onto the knob so it wouldn't shake and cause a noise, her head, looked downward in awkward shame, and mouth squeezed into a thin line of confusion and embarrassment, the tall girl took gentle, slow steps towards my table.

And God knows how she was able to locate my table when, for all I knew, her head had been down since she walked into this place.

I wanted to call out to her. I really did. But something in me told me to let her be, and let her do her thing.

So, I said nothing until she got to the table.

I said nothing as she took a seat from the same table with me, dropped the bell gently on it as she sat, and did nothing, but stare blankly at it.

I said nothing.

She said nothing.

Both of us decided to say nothing.

And that was how we stayed quiet for a thousand centuries.

"Soma." I called out to her when I had the courage.

Somadina Best jumped as though a snake was crawling up her shoulder, shaking our table and nearly falling off it of not for the grace of God.

She was that stunned and taken off guard, just by the gentle call of her name from my mouth.

"Relax," I said calmly, as she quickly seemed to realize it wasn't an apocalypse, but just me - plain, ol' Dabeluchi.

"You started me," She gave a relief sigh, and she drew off imaginary sweat off her forehead and flung it into the air.

"Sorry," I muttered, waited for her to adjust before I said anything more.

Soma swallowed, multiple times, and sighed over and over, in an attempt to put herself together, in one piece.

Then, she looked at me.

Big brown innocent, but scared eyes stared at me.

"Hi, Lulu." She said, and followed up with a rather weak smile, "How are you?"

"I'm good, and I know you're not," I answered.

Soma squeezed her lips into a tiny pout and stayed nothing to me.

"I'm fine," She said to me, "I'm just a bit confused."

"Why's that?" I asked her.

Soma sighed again. A sigh so big that her chest heaved up and down, and afterwards, her hands came down gently onto the table to rest.

"Can I ask you something...?" She looked back to me, "And promise you'll be a hundred percent honest with me."

I was suddenly a bit nervous.

But I wanted to hear whatever Soma was going to ask and understand why the hell she was acting this way, so I promptly nodded to assure her I would be honest with her question.

Soma went straight to the point.

"How drunk was I last night?" She asked me.

Huh?

"Drunk?" I frowned in confusion, "I wasn't aware of you were drunk, but you were very active last night after we came back from the Karaoke Bar, but you're always active, so I didn't equate it to you being drunk, I just thought you were being yourself... But, I don't know.... Did you drink anything?"

Soma looked puzzle.

"I remember taking a few... I mean, I was basically eating and drinking everything I was seeing there," She said to me.

I was aware of that.

"And then, I vaguely remember dancing to Ckay with Ziba, and sharing cake with Ghadafi and some of the Media guys-" She stopped there and frowned as a new, seemingly unpleasant memory slipped in.

"Oh, and I also recall somehow laying down somewhere wet?" She put a thumb on her chin and looked up into space, as she tried to remember more, "It's weird because it felt like it was a pool, and I know there're no pools in or near that Karaoke Bar-"

She paused there.

"Man, that's all I remember," She looked back to me, "Everything else that happened after Nova Igwe paid for our food, I don't seem to remember at all, and since I woke up this morning, it's being like a foggy dream I can't remember anymore..."

Woah.

"I suppose I was drunk," She admitted, "But, I'm just worried as to how drunk I may have been..."

She did look worried.

Very worried.

Too worried for it to even make sense to me.

"Lulu..." She called me, fear and panic evident in her eyes, "Lulu, tell me, did I—"

I watched her pause her words and swallow a third time, and I did same.

"Did I say anything strange last Night?" She asked me.

"Uh..." I scratched my head, "Nothing that I can recall."

"Please tell me the truth," She urged, "I most likely did, I know I must have."

"I'm serious, Soma, you didn't-"

"What of in my sleep?" She asked, rephrased, "Did I say anything in my sleep? Did I say anything in my sleep, Dabi??"

It suddenly came to me like a flash.

"Yes," I answered promptly, "But, it wasn't anything strange, you were just saying-"

"Saying what!" She screamed, nearly fell into my face, desperate to hear.

I was taken aback for a while. It showed on my face.

"Sorry," Soma realised, apologized, and moved back to rest back against her chair, "What was I saying?" She asked again, rather calmly.

"You were talking about how people are confined to stereotypes that are made about them," I told her.

She looked at me like she waited for more.

"You started by talking about how much you loved Noble, and how it makes you feel bad that we were skeptical about him. You said you didn't want anyone to judge you for loving him...." I said again.

Soma looked surprised.

"I..." Long eyelashes blinked at me, "I said that?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Well, I didn't know I felt that way," She muttered to herself.

We were quiet for a while. Both of us.

"Continue," Soma urged me.

"Well, you talked about us all specifically," I told her, "All bordering about being bound to stereotypes..."

And nearly told everyone I was with Marcus Acha, but we won't being that up, Soma.

"And did I.. Did I talk about myself?" Soma asked me, eyes wide, showing so much interest to know.

I tried to recall.

"I don't think so," I told her the truth.

She seemed to relax just a little bit.

"But," I said, her ears perked, "You also insinuated that Chika may be in love, lest I forget."

"I figured I must have said something about Chika and Aaron too," Soma spoke again, to herself.

I heard.

"That explains a whole lot," She came to the realization of something.

"Whole lot of what?" I asked.

Soma filled me in on everything.

"Okay, so I woke up this morning to an awful headache, and had to rush to my Mum's room to get some painkillers for it...." Soma started.

I nodded for her to continue.

"And when I got back, I noticed that Chika was missing." Soma said to me.

I swallowed.

"And?" I urged her on.

"I called her," Soma told me, "And turns out she was fine and just decided to go home earlier in the morning because her sister called."

"Okay," I relaxed.

"Then, yadi yadi yada, we got to School; It's Shade's birthday so we made a lot of noise, threw confetti, and turned the whole block into a mad house-"

I was informed. Continue, Soma.

"Then, all of a sudden, from nowhere, Chika walked into the class."

Soma said that like it was a bombshell.

I honestly didn't get the point.

"I cannot begin to explain how incredibly short, and sinfully provocative her skirt was-"

That one caught me off guard.

"What?" My mouth dropped.

"Lulu, it gets worse," Soma assured me.

Now, I couldn't imagine how.

Chika was very particular about her dressing. And skirts? I was well aware of how much she absolutely hated those. Not to talk of wearing one that looked the way Soma described to a place like School.

"And then, Casper Bassey calls out to her," Soma continued, "And yelled out to the entire class that Aaron thought she was hot."

My head was hot.

"And, you know what Chika said back to him..?" Soma raised a brow, daring me to ask her what.

I did. I asked, "What?"

Soma told me.

"Chika asked Aaron to meet her after class."

I nearly fell off my table.

"I'm telling you, Lulu! Immediately, after class, Chika disappeared! Her phone is switched off and I know she's out with Aaron, because he's no where to be found too!"

This was too much for me. It was too much to actually be true.

"That... Doesn't sound like something Chi would do," I said to Soma.

"Like Lulu, at first, I thought that Chika was abducted by aliens," Soma said, "But, after putting two and two together, and realizing that I was most likely drunk last night, I figured I may have said something in my sleep to Chika that I couldn't remember...."

"Is that why you came here to me privately?" I had to ask.

Soma snapped out of her reverie.

"That, and I was just scared I said things I shouldn't have," She told me.

I was curious to know whatever it was Soma was so scared to let out?

But okay. We'll let that pass.

"Look, Lulu," She said to me, looked at me and placed a gentle hand on mine and for a moment, I flinged, ever so slightly, when I saw that ugly scar that lined Soma's left hand, right from her forearm and down, down to the wrist.

Once in a while, I forgot she had that. Even after I had seen it, just the night before, when she used that particular hand to draw on her notepad, right before dozing off to bed.

I swallowed, "Yeah?"

She may have noticed my reaction to her scar, and on realization, her hands came down, away from mine.

Awkwardly, she decided to carry on with what she wanted to say.

"I know you and Chika talked last night, about, yunno..." She started off.

She was talking about the conversation I had with Chika before we left to Dowman's Carol.

"And I just wanted you to know that no one's intentions are for you to feel pressured, okay?" Soma assured me, "The truth is, Chika is just scared of our bond breaking, and so am I. And it's easier for me to not be confused about why you're straying away because I already know what's taking your time away from us, and I try to understand that...."

"Yeah.." I muttered.

"But Chika doesn't know," Soma said to me, "And therefore, she doesn't understand why it seems like you're pulling away. She feels you are straying from the group for a reason she doesn't understand. To her, it may seem like, you don't want to be friends anymore and are just slowly drifting..."

"I would never," I swore.

"I know," Soma nodded me in assurance, brightness in her big brown eyes, "I mean, and upon all that, that fight had to erupt like that, over something I know has to do with Miranda Archibong - It'd almost seem like you stand more on the sides of outsiders, than your own friends.."

"It's a long story," I told Soma.

"I know that," She assured me with a smile, "I know there's a reasonable explanation for it, just as much as I know the reasonable explanation as to why you're always gone off, when you're with us—"

I frowned in confusion when she stopped abruptly.

All of a sudden, it seemed like Soma seemed to have been caught halfway in speech, by something, and her distraction aroused my curiosity.

"Soma?" I called her name, but when she didn't budge for the next three seconds, I instinctively followed the direction her eyes were set afar off, to see and understand what was going on.

At the entrance of the Restaurant, there were a larger group of classmates, trooping in together, and carrying alongside with them, a disturbing amount of noise, and an even more overwhelming weight of chillness had stilled the room, as they all dominated a full table, haphazardly and roughly stealing seats from other tables when the table the were occupying had ran out of them.

I knew it.

For the longest time, I had started to wonder if it was all in my head everytime I saw Soma cast that aghast look in her eyes, that look that showed a tremendous amount of fear, panic and everything negative, on that particular group of boys that half the population of the set, and school at large were absolutely terrified of.

It was Kaniru George, and his clan of hooligans.

However, Ajiroghene - the set's female bully - was surprisingly on that table with them, but her, hanging out with them was not what surprised me because they were buds for as much as I knew...

I just thought the girl was supposed to be in Prison. It had been rumoured that she was taken away dome time during the week to Sato Maximum Prison, so I was just innocently confused as to what and how she was out, and here having lunch, with those terrorizing, wicked drug dealers.

I looked away from them.

So did Soma.

And like nothing happened, Soma just went right back to continue what she was saying, killing every bit of concern she had for Kaniru, his boys, and Ajiro the next minute.

"Lulu, I don't want you to feel pressured, okay?" She squeezed gently on my hands, as she spoke to me, "Never stop doing anything that makes you happy, and distracts you from every other thing that threatens your peace..."

I nodded gently.

"That's one thing that I have learned from SpongeBob," She chirped like a happy, little bird, "And I do mean it, Lulu. Do what makes you happy. Do what gives you peace, for you, and no one else, and if it means, being with Marcus, then of course, you know I'll always be supportive..."

"Thank you," I meant it.

"And always remember, it's okay to have secrets, Lulu," Soma said to me, "Everyone has them, and that's fine. Always just remember to set priorities, you know, and that means if you feel, if whatever you're keeping from anyone, is in any way, becoming detrimental to friendships and relationships you care about, then maybe, it should be addressed."

Chika said the exact same thing to me.

Or maybe something like that.

However, there was something about the way that Soma said it, that didn't line up with how Chika said it.

Some almost seemed like Soma was talking more to herself, than to me.

In fact, the entirety of what she was saying to me, seemed like she wasn't addressing me at all....

It was creepy.

"Are you..." I watched the girl's weird reactions, "Are you okay, Soma?"

She brightened up so, so easily. Like an explosion of glitter and bubbles and candy.

"Oh, perfect timing, the twins are here!" She jumped up from her seat, grabbing the School bell from the table, "I am starving, and those fresh chocolate brownies are calling my name! I'll get brownies for everyone!" And before, I knew it, the tall girl was up on her feet, hopping and jumping like a cartoon character towards the restaurant counter.

"Well, she looks excited," I was closely startled by the new voice, but after getting a view of Ebere and Ebube, settling into the table that Soma just vacated, with me, I calmed.

"We have a class in the next five minutes - not that I care much - but, I believe we're in the wrong venue," Ebere made that note.

"Hmm." I barely hummed.

"And you know who else is?" She raised a brow to me as she settled in and took Soma's bag away from me, and opened it's zipper without any heads up, surfing through it, without no permission.

"Chika." Ebube told me.

"I was told," I said to them, glanced at Soma who was jumping at the counter and pointing to the heart shaped, large donuts, and conversing with the counter lady, using hyped and exaggerated gestures.

It was a typical  'Soma behavior', but for some reason, I found it rather odd, watching her.

I couldn't pin it down.

I wasn't even aware that Ebere had dumped Soma's bag back onto my lap, until I had felt something fall right out of it and onto the ground, making a sound that even some people from two tables away could have heard.

It was Soma's Jewelry Box.

The one I had brought to School.

And unfortunately, the box had falled open, spilling out all the jewelries in it onto the ground, and having people turn their heads to look the girl who came to School with a box full of necklaces, bracelets, and nose rings.

Way to go, Ebere.

"Sorry." It was Ebube who had the decency to apologise for what her sister did, and after, shortly dismissing me and my mess to handle, it became clear to me that she was not going to proceed to help me pick them up.

I stood up from the seats and bent down to start to pick them up one by one, starting with the card of nose rings that Soma had specifically given me, and going on to throw in trinkets and ear rings.

The last set of bracelets caught my eyes.

"Wow," I couldn't help, but note.

It looked like it was made of fine pearls and sparkling diamonds, the kind that may have cost a whole fortune, the kind that looked like it was so rare that seeing it at this part of the world should have been a miracle.

It looked so expensive.

I wouldn't particularly say that I was surprised that Soma owned something like this, having that naturally, her parents were stupid, stinking rich, and her bedroom for one was Disney Wonderland reinvented, but this was just so beautiful.

It looked familiar too.

"The best Joyce," I read out the words inscribed onto the bracelet, as it was a customized one.

Instantly, I had a flash memory from way back, a few months ago, back then around September when we went to that party that Yure Adediji hosted, I had seen that bracelet around Soma's wrist.

But, soon after, after she had sealed her Dare and Pledges commitment, and we were getting ready for Chika to get on ahead with her dare with Madman, I wasn't sure I had seen that bracelet on Soma's wrist again.

It was gone.

Well, that is if I am remembering the events of that night, correctly?-

"No fucking way am I seeing correctly."

I froze at the voice, as a second hand gripped onto the expensive bracelet that exact same moment, and I got confused as I stared at that plump, slightly rough looking hands, certain it couldn't have been Soma's hand, or the hand of anyone I knew for that matter.

My eyes slowly trailed upwards, curious to see who it was that cursed and held onto the jewelry with such strong grip.

"Ajiro?" I stared eye to eye with the girl, our hands gripped onto the bracelet, and I trembled at the fiery, aggressive look in her eyes.

She looked so angry.

I was confused.

She looked really angry. She held onto that bracelet like she was holding onto a kidney, her kidney that I had stolen from her, looking at me like I was a filthy, piece of shit.

I was so, so confused.

Not knowing what I was doing, I felt my lips spread apart, and heard the two letter signature words come out of my mouth, and onto Ajiro's hard, angry face, "Hi-"

The entire restaurant grew wild with screams and shouts and it took me a moment to understand what had caused the uproar, because meanwhile, I was too busy flying into the air, like a rag doll.

No shit.

I was flying into the air and didn't even realize that it was Ajiro that had picked me up, threw me into the air, until I had slammed into the wall behind me, nearly cracking my back in half and wincing in unbearable pain that I could not even begin to explain.

"So, it was you all along! It was YOU!?" Ajiro was screaming at me and the entire restaurant was an explosion of noise and chaos.

I felt tears stinging my eyes, and I wasn't sure why I was spilling out tears? Was it the pain in my back? Or the fact that I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!?

The room was blurry now, and as my eyes steadied over and tried my hardest to make out the large form of the girl who had thrown me into the wall, I could hear the twins' voices, amongst many others, screaming at the top of their lungs, shouting at someone whom I figured must have been Ajiroghene, but what I didn't understand was why neither of them could come close to me and help me up yet.

Why?

Were they afraid?

And if they were, would they really let their fears make them leave me to bear this alone?

"IMAGINE THIS GIRL OO!" Ajiro was screaming, throwing more accusations at me. Accusations that I knew not head from tail.

"KANIRU, COME AND SEE SOMETHING, ABEG!" She was screaming out to him and the other guys and my heart may have failed multiple times, over and over.

I was on the floor, head bent to the ground and tears spilling out of my eyes as I heard footsteps of a group that I envisioned to be Kaniru and the others, marching my way, and the tears couldn't stop pouring.

God, what was happening?

I couldn't make much out of what was happening anymore, but what I did know was that I was on the floor and those herd of terrorists were marching towards me, while Ajiroghene herself was showering more accusations at me, something on the line of me, being 'the thief'.

Me? A thief??

What did they mean by that?

What did I do?

What have I done?

What were they accusing me of?

Have they mistakined me for Someone else?

What the fuck is going on!?

I

was a drowning, drowsy mess as stronger hands picked me up, and the next thing I knew, the only thing that was pinning me to the wall was the gravel-rough, strong hands that gripped so tightly around my neck.

"You get mind."

It was the voice of a boy - A rough textured voice that sounded lazy and threatening at the same time, and even if I couldn't inhale it at its fullest, the harsh smell of sulphur and burnt rubber - a disgusting smell I suspected was drugs.

It was Kaniru George, himself.

"You get mind." He repeated with a grunt, a harder more demonic look in his angry, no, livid eyes.

Like a reflex action, my hands jumped   to the hands around my neck. It was just one hand, and it curving so perfectly around my neck, well enough to restrict every air flow that was passing in or passing out, and seconds after catching the red, venomous eyes of the devil himself, a sharp, disturbingly sinister look that harboured the dirtiest sins, my vision blurred into something close to nothingness.

"Please..." I begged in pain, hopeless, "I didn't steal anything-"

I had never experienced such pain before. This pain was unbearable.

Not only was my chest heaving up and down, in a desperate, hopeless attempt to fill air into my lungs, but the grip on my neck itself was a pain I couldn't explain. I was suffocating, struggling for air, and then, crying in pain because Kaniru was basically pressing his hard fingers into the sides of my neck, like he wanted to dig in through my skin and connect his fingers together.

Is this what it felt like to be strangled?

"Do you even know what you've done?" A mock filled voice of another guy, spoke to me from the other side, "Abi, you know we can just end you here and nothing will happen?" He laughed heartily. Laughed so heartily and if I wasn't busy trying to stay alive, I would have wondered what a psychopath he must be.

"JJ, this isn't a laughing matter." Kaniru's hand on my neck didn't loosen for one second as he growled at the psychopath.

Hearing that name riled me up so bad for so many damn reasons, and if I wasn't thinking of how to not die in Kaniru's hands, I would have spat on that JJ boy.

"What pushed you?" I heard Kaniru whisper to me in a deadly tone.

I wanted to tell him I didn't know what he was talking about, but I couldn't utter a single word. My mouth hung open like a fish suffocating out of water, and I felt the world around me going blank.

"What pushed you?" He repeated again, lower, more deadly, whispered so close to my ears that I could feel the heat from his mouth against my ears and neck, "It was you that night, wasn't it? It was you that night of Yure's party? It was you!"

I was slowly drifting into unconsciousness.

"I don't understand," He scoffed bitterly, "I was suspecting someone from your silly group, but it didn't occur to me to lower myself to the thought of you!-"

I wheezed, counting the seconds to my last breath.

"I don't understand how you could have possibly had the guts, it doesn't make any sense to me. To make such a big ass move like that, Oluwa, I should have been applauding you if not for the fact that all I want to do right now is strangle you with my bare hands!"

I was shocked I wasn't dead from suffocation yet.

What on earth was Kaniru George talking about?

Did Soma do something that they were accusing me of?

But what is it that Soma could have possibly done to them to cause them to be this angry? How does it have such a strong connection with that bracelet Ajiro picked up from me, such a strong connection to make them a hundred percent certain that I could be blamed for whatever it was, just because I had the bracelet?

For God's sake! What connection does a girl like Somadina Best have with boys like Kaniru George and his clan!?

And Yure's party?

The only thing that I could connect in the slightest to Soma and these boys were our Dares and Pledges.

But still...

We were careful to not cross the line with anything we dared each other to do, and the dare that was passed on to Soma was not one capable of causing this much rage that Kaniru, Ajiro, and the others were literally fuming with.

Unless there was something else Soma wasn't telling us that she did that night.

That is, asides her Dares and Pledges that we knew of.

"Stop! Stop! STOP! STOP! STOP!"

I couldn't see by now, as everywhere was clouded with darkness and dots and voices, including the loudest one that kept screaming to stop, above all the noise, started to slowly, slowly volume down and down and down-

"She didn't do anything! SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! STOP! LEAVE HER!"

I could recognize that voice even in death; It was Somadina Best.

And never in my life, had I ever heard her sound this terrified before. I could feel the terror in her voice, even in my dying state.

"DABELUCHI DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, IT WAS ME! IT WAS ALL ME! IT WAS ME AT THE PARTY, NOT HER! DABELUCHI DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!"

Kaniru's hand left me in one fast motion and I dropped to the ground, wheezing and sucking in lumps of air into my system, breathing in and out and in and out as fast as I could, trying to regain back into my system all the air I was deprived of.

Even while in that state, I couldn't help but not get over the startling fact that one, Soma, for the first time in a long time, called me for my full name, and two, Soma let out a curse word roll out of her mouth with so much ease and comfort - Something she almost never did.

I would like to blame it on the tension.

But how would you explain it then, how when I forced my head to go up, in my state of ragged breathing, blurred and dotted vision, and that crunched position I laid on the floor, holding myself around my ribs, how would you explain it so that when I looked up to Somadina....

She looked different.

It wasn't just the fear that looked like it was consuming her whole. No, it wasn't just that. Soma looked different, and in a way that was hard to explain it. I couldn't pin it down, but for some reason, it looked like that playful, carefree, Soma-natural aura that was always all around that tall overactive girl was gone.

It was like some supernatural change I couldn't define. Soma looked like a more drowning, more hopeless, more damaged version of herself. She was being driven by so much fear, and may I even say, anger I couldn't understand, one that completely overwhelmed her, to the extent that she even looked different.

"It was me," She burst right into tears, tears that poured out of eyes that were too dark, too dull, too vague to belong to Somadina Best.

"Leave Dabeluchi alone, she didn't do anything. I did it; It was me," She kept saying to them, standing and bracing herself for the absolute worst, lips quivering in terror, as she tasted her own tears.

Soma, what on earth did you do....?

"It was me. It was me. It was me. It was me.-"

Soma kept repeating over and over and over, crouched over with hands rested against her thighs for support, and more tears, staining the ground.

I couldn't tell if it was real or in my head, but it was like the entire restaurant was on a stand still for her, and there was silence, as deafening as ever, swallowing the entire place for the space of a second.

And that second felt like an eternity.

I was on the floor, struggling in between breathing and understanding what Soma was trying to confess...

The restaurant, fuller now with probably more students who came to watch the scene, had everyone standing still and watching the tall girl have the most intense mental breakdown yet...

And when I thought I would never see them again, there were the twins, standing there, just standing there and watching me, with the most worried expression on their faces...

I only wondered for how long they were there, and forced myself to not think hard on it because I felt like I was starting to get angry at them for standing there to watch me while I suffered.

At most, I wanted to know one thing.

"What did you do, Soma?" I forced my voice out to ask, but I doubted she heard me.

Or did she?

She raised her head up like she felt someone may have said something to her, and thereby, we locked out eyes together in one, unbreakable contact.

It took me a lot to not wince at how bloodshot her tear filled eyes looked, and I held her gaze, hoping to hear what she had to say.

But Soma didn't answer my question.

She didn't.

We just stared at each other.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!"

I jumped, startled, as a furious Charlie Ba stormed into the restaurant, and there was a chaos as students who were all littered around,  tried to disperse with the speed of light.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS! WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE? DON'T YOU HAVE CLASSES? WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE!-"

Everywhere was suddenly so rowdy as students were running all around, trying to leave the scene to avoid being implicated.

Well...

I think Somadina saw an opportunity and took it.

By the time, I looked away from the running students, and a furious Physics teacher, in an attempt to get back eye contact with her...

The girl was nowhere to be found.

Breath in, breath out.....

Now, say EVERYTHING on your mind right now!

For now, I have to go. I wrote this chapter while on a journey, and now, I feel like throwing up.😃❤️