NADIA

"You may now cross-examine the witness, Counsel."

The Judge's voice rang out immediately I took my seat beside the defendant and I watched as the prosecutor stood up from his side of the court and he crossed over, in slow strides to stand in front of the witness.

The witness.

"You said you got a report from a reliable source that the accused was dealing drugs, right?" He asked the witness in a very confident voice that almost irked me. He sounded too confident that he was going to prove me wrong.

And well, I was going to give him a rundown for his money.

"Yes, I..."

"And how did you conclude that your source was reliable?"

"He had evidence of him dealing with drugs, there was photo evidence of the accused using an injection..."

"And that was it? The photo evidence of him using an injection was enough to conclude that he was injecting opioids into his body?"

"No, we also confirmed..."

"The accused is diabetic," He interrupted the witness again before he started to turn slowly, making sure to meet my shocked eyes because I was shocked.

Diabetes? How was that possible? That was going to turn that all my arguments, it was going to nullify the argument I spent the whole night building.

"The accused is diabetic," He repeated loudly this time around before he walked back to the counsel's stand, picked a file I assumed to be medical reports of the accused's health and he handed it over to the clerk to pass to the judge.

"And his medical reports have it that he has been on insulin injection for the past three years and..."

"Objection my Lord," I was up on my feet before I could even help it, "He can't bring a new evidence in when..."

"It's not a new evidence, it's just a fact; a fact that was ignored by the prosecution." He interrupted me in a firm tone as if he was talking to an errant child as if he wasn't just talking about this.

And honestly, I was starting to feel like everything he had been saying was just beyond this.

I was sure it has to do with the whole AY case.

"Overruled," I heaved a loud sigh before sitting down while my brain was working overtime, trying to come up with ways to salvage the situation, "Counsel, you may continue the cross-examination."

"Your source, the accused best friend of 6 years, sent the picture of the accused injecting himself and he lied that he was injecting opioids into his body knowing fully well that it was an insulin injection, doesn't this big lie nullify every other thing your source must have told you."

I was out of my seat again before I knew it, "Objection."

"That's all," We said at the same time and he just walked away from the witness stand to take his seat beside the defendant while I was just fuming with rage.

What's this? How could he just overturn my whole evidence and argument with just a single fact, a fact that I shouldn't have missed in the first place?

I took my seat back, determined I was going to have mad come back in the next trial, I wasn't going to lose to him and even if I was going to lose, I wasn't going to let him win this easily either.

I kept glaring at him from where I sat but he wasn't even paying any heed to me, he wasn't paying any heed to anybody, he was just engrossed in reading whatever was on the file in front of him.

If cockiness was a person...

What was left was for the judge to say something, anything but there was nothing but a resounding silence in the courtroom and that made me and every other person in the courtroom turn towards the bench.

The Judge's head was already placed on the table in front of her and I needed no soothsayer to tell me that Annika had fallen asleep again.

"Annika!" Ife, the girl acting the clerk banged the table and the former jolted up with a start.

"The prosecution can now cross-examine the witness," She said drowsily and I knew it was just a matter of time before she doze off honestly. All the students in the courtroom were used to her so they just snickered.

I didn't even understand why she got to act the judge or why she was even studying law at all. She wasn't fit for the course and it wasn't that I don't like her or anything like that but Annika has a sleeping syndrome.

She could fall asleep anytime, any day, and anywhere.

Falling asleep during our mock trial wasn't even surprising. This was someone that fall asleep every day during class and she had even fallen asleep countless times during tests and exams.

I wasn't sure if the sleeping syndrome was a thing but then I was sure that Annika wasn't exactly okay.

"Annika, see me in my office and the case is adjourned," That was the HOD and almost immediately, people started filing out of the court.

I watched him pack his files, stand up, and start to walk out of the courtroom. I was out of my seat and following him before I even realized what I was doing.

It was like I was having an extreme out of the body movement today.

I was only able to catch up with him in the lobby because of his extremely long strides and I did the most stupid thing by almost jumping in front of him to block him from walking away.

My sudden appearance cut his movement short and for the briefest second, his eyes seemed to scan my entire body and face as if trying to decipher what exactly I was doing before his expression morphed back into that blank and impassive expression.

I've never seen him like this up close and I've never even had a one or one encounter with him except working together in groups where he hardly said a word of course.

He didn't say anything, he just kept staring at me as if he wasn't seeing me but rather through me to behind me.

He was looking at me as if I wasn't in front of him, as if I was just thin air.

The cockiness...

When I didn't say anything, he just started to sidestep me as if he wanted to walk away.

He was going to walk away.

"What was that about?"

He halted in his steps, expression growing even more bored and for a moment, he seemed to contemplate between walking away or replying to me.

"What?" He finally replied his voice even ruder that I almost hissed underneath my breath.

The lobby was the busiest and rowdiest place in the law faculty; students always sit here whenever they weren't in class. The lobby was huge, with seats and benches built in strategic positions making it just the ideal place to relax when you weren't in class. And right now wasn't an exclusion, there were lots of students in the lobby and I knew more than half of them were looking at us.

With him being one of the most loved students in our faculty and the whole Coven School of Art at large.

And me being one of the most hated students in our faculty and the whole Coven School of Art at large.

And we just happen to be right in the middle of the lobby.

Good.

"Your argument, that seemed more like a personal attack."

"Is it or is it just your guilty conscience speaking?" His reply was instantaneous and I found my eyes closing out of sheer exasperation.

I really didn't understand why I was being blamed for all of this.

"Guilty conscience? I don't think I need to explain this to you since you're a law..."

But he was already gone. I opened my eyes only to see that he was already walking out of the lobby which meant I just said the better part of my last statement to thin air...

The students close to where I was started snickering and I could hear the not-so whispers between them.

Oh my God, did she just get ignored?

Serves her right, finally someone to put her in her place.

She thinks bringing every other person down makes her mighty and all that.

I turned towards the direction of those voices just in time to catch the girl that had said that in the act. She was looking at me with obvious disdain that was quick to morph into that of fear when my eyes locked with hers and when I kept looking at her with a burning and intense look, she awkwardly tapped the girl beside her and I watched as they stood up and walked out of the lobby.

Maybe it was a good thing that they all felt another emotion other than the obvious hatred for me.

I looked around the lobby for a suitable seat where I can sit and wait for arguably my only friend, Tania so I could drive us back to the hostel. I met Tania back in 100l when we were doing our registration and out of all the girls I talked to and befriended then, she was the only person who had stuck with me. I could even call her a best friend because she was a keeper, a mentor, and a go-to person. She was always ready to accommodate all my excesses which even I could tell was a herculean task.

I soon found one and as I made my way towards the seat, I noticed that unlike before, the whispers and murmurs didn't quiet down to the barest minimum. The students don't have a problem talking shit about me right where I could hear it.

I guessed they were okay with me hearing as long as I don't know exactly who said what. And it was only after I'd sat down on the wooden bench that I remembered what it was all about.

It was all about Ayo, the school's golden boy, an elite student who threw the best and biggest parties and drive different latest and posh cars on campus.

There were rumors that he belonged to an unknown cult group on campus, something that was unbelievable because CSA frowns heavily on things like that.

But if Ayo could have dealt with and consumed drugs on the campus, then maybe the rumors about CSA having an unknown formidable cult group weren't exactly unbelievable.

I published an article on Ayo using hard drugs on campus after investigating my sources of course and now, he was facing the disciplinary committee. The punishment for using drugs on campus was expulsion but I was almost certain, just like every other student that he wasn't going to be expelled.

He was, after all, the only son of the major pioneer of the school.

But that didn't stop the entire student populace from openly hating on me more because to them, no one dared mess with their golden boy, their cheer giver, their money bag.

Well, if their golden boy didn't have dirty secrets to keep, CovenView wouldn't have messed with him.

And his case was what led to the case we were currently trying in the mock court. That was how it works in Coven, most of our mock trial cases were based on what has happened or what is happening in the school; students cheating, students breaking a rule or two were things that all formed the basis for our mock trials.

"Look who's here," A familiar voice that could only belong to one person screamed from the entrance and I found myself face-palming.

God! What's this girl?

"If this isn't the first female president of CovenView," Tania screamed as she made her way towards where I sat and successfully announced my presence to the people that didn't know I was here.

Tania must have a microphone somewhere in her system because I didn't understand how and why someone like Tania, with her petite status, could make the kind of noises she makes.

Tania was short, probably one of the shortest girls you'd ever see and she also has one of the smallest statures with a body and a face that could pass for a JSS1 student instead of a final year creative writing student.

"My President, Namaste," She curtseyed in that popular Indian style immediately she got to my front and I had to cover my face in my palms while smiling too much.

"Look at this," She plopped down heavily on the seat beside me and I removed my hands from my face to see that she was practically shoving her phone at my face so I could see what was on the screen, "Isn't this too pretty?" She asked me, her voice dripping with pure excitement and pride.

Oh, God. It was the same article and picture we've both been doing and fawning over for more than a week now. It was the article where CovenView had been mentioned among the top five school magazines in Africa, no 1 in Nigeria, and the top 12 in the world right after I was elected as the president. The mention was a huge feat for me and the whole CSA at large and of course, the mentions didn't end without a spot-on on the president.

Me.

But the student body of CSA wasn't even talking about that, not because they didn't know what this means for CSA but because they didn't want the success of CovenView attributed to me because well, sexism was still very much alive.

And then, AY's case just happened at the same time. It was the perfect excuse.

But Tania wouldn't stop celebrating it as if it was her win. She had been sending the pictures and links to the articles published on Times since they were published to me every single day with thousands of hype-up messages.

Someone seriously needs to tell Tania to calm down for me.

"Isn't this gorgeous?" She asked me again and I really had to nod.

"Of course, it's gorgeous."

"Whoever isn't celebrating this must have a loose screw in their heads," She yelled the last part and I facepalmed again.

God, where did they bring this girl from again?

"They should be done with Ayo's final hearing by now, right?" I wasn't sure if that was a question or a statement but I found myself glancing at the time on my wristwatch.

It was 1:54 pm and the hearing started at 10 am.

They should be done.

They should be long done by now.

"It's just for formalities, you know that, right? He'll most likely be suspended for a semester or so. His parents are one of the main sponsors of CSA, they wouldn't want to expel him."

I didn't know if that was supposed to make me feel better. I didn't even know why I needed to feel better.

He committed a crime that has expulsion specified as its punishment but we all knew he was going to get away with probably just a warning or a suspension because of his parents' influence.

The whole Coven wasn't excluded from how far influence could go in disrupting the order of things.

"A pleasant afternoon to the entire student and both administrative body of Coven School of Art," That usual female voice echoed through the entire length of the lobby, and the whole faculty from the speaker right at the entrance of faculty and everywhere became dead silent.

I knew we weren't only hearing her at our faculty, the whole CSA was listening to the voice from the speakers right now because CSA has speakers all over the school so we could be communicated to at the same time.

And I knew this could only be one thing; the result of Ayo's hearing.

Tania clamped her hand over mine as if to support me and once again, I didn't understand why I needed to be supported.

I wasn't the one on the hot seat.

I wasn't the one that committed a crime.

"After much and thorough deliberations, the school authorities have come to a unanimous decision on the case of Ayo Makinde, a 400l student who has been caught and proved to have consumed hard drugs on numerous occasions on the school premises..."

By now, everywhere was deadly quiet and everyone was listening with rapt attention to the voice over the speaker.

"Because CSA is a school that's deeply rooted in good morals and upbringing and we believe that our students must be responsible adults who are going to abide by all the rules and regulations of whatever society they found themselves in and that our students must be good and proud ambassadors of Coven's motto, the school authorities have come to this unanimous decision that Ayo Makinde will be ultimately expelled from CSA..."

What?

What?

What?

Tania's hold tightened on me.

"And from this moment henceforth, he ceases to be a student of this prestigious learning center and he must vacate the school premises unfailingly in the next 24 hours. CSA is a school that..."

I blocked out every other thing she was saying as the whole lobby turned upside down. Students were yelling at the top of their voices, expressing their bitter displeasure, some were cursing and calling me out loud but I just remained frozen on my seat.

What just happened?

Did Ayo Makinde of the prestigious and wealthy and influential Makinde family, one of the top sponsors of Coven, did he just get expelled?

Coven couldn't risk losing that kind of financial aid; I was sure of that; so what exactly was going on?

"Did Ayo just get expelled?" Tania voiced out my thought in a bewildered tone while I just sat there, frozen with shock.

What was going on?

"I think we should get out of here for now," She whispered close to my ears and she started to tug me up hastily.

That was when I realized what was going on; I realized how the students were closing upon us, me as if they were thirsty for blood as if they could really beat me up here for daring to get their golden boy expelled.

I wanted to scream that he got expelled because he broke a rule but my brain was too busy trying to believe that just happened.

Did he really just get expelled or was there something else going on? He wasn't supposed to be expelled because of his parents. I didn't even know that the school will take the case up; I thought they were going to overlook it and when they decided that he should face the disciplinary committee, I thought that was just a front, a cover to pretend they'd treat someone like Ayo the way they'd treat any other student in CSA.

But now, he had gotten expelled.

I couldn't help but think that something was going on.

Tania was by now, pulling me out of the lobby so we could get to my car and drive to the hostel and go to the safety of my blood and even though the students around were all looking at me with disdain, as if they could lunge for me at any minute, none of them any move to come closer to me.

They might hate me to death right now but the fear of CovenView was still there.

They didn't do anything, they just kept staring at me with open disdain until I was forcefully yanked away from Tania and my body was practically shoved against the nearest wall.

There were collective gasps all over the lobby.

My body registered the initial shock of bewilderment and alarm and pain of being shoved that hard against the wall before the panic of what was going on started to set in.

Ayo's fanatics were already at it.

Except that it wasn't one of his fanatics, it was Ayo himself towering over me with his huge frame and he was looking at me with a glance so murderous and vivid with rage as if it was taking all of his self-restraint not to reach for my neck and snap it into two.

I nearly lost my breath.

"What are you doing?"

And he smiled.

A small, barely invisible maniacally smile touched his lips and I felt my heart drop.

"Are you satisfied now?" He asked me, still holding my wrist in dead grip against the wall, "I begged you; I pleaded with you to let it go," His voice didn't sound as angry as it did earlier, if anything, it just sounded broken, bruised, sad, damaged.

"I begged you to just overlook it, not to write that..." He sounded like he was close to tears making me even more puzzled because I wasn't even sure what to feel; what to think.

"I guess you've gotten what you want now," The maniac smile was back on his face and he leaned closer to whisper to my ears, "Don't ever think that this is the end."

He dropped my hands and strutted off, the student parting way for him, and Tania was beside me in no minutes.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly and I nodded, even though I wasn't exactly sure if I was okay.

Or not.

And well, here is this first chapter and the very beginning of our newest babies' story.

How was the first chapter? Did you like Nadia? And can you try to guess how far what happened here will go in building the plot of this book?

My God! I'm so nervous 😭😭 I don't know why 😂😂😭😭❤ I'm still trying to understand why I'm this nervous since this is not even my first book 😭😭❤

Anyway, see you in the next chapter where we'll get to meet one of our Male leads(You already know who if you're on my IG.