A very loooooong chapter. I apologize in advance.

~ADAM~

I had no place to go in mind when I left our class but I found myself looking around, eyes searching for one person;

Kunmi.

She wasn't in the love garden so I guessed she'd probably be in the cafeteria which I seriously doubted because she couldn't have possibly gone alone.

I climbed down the stairs and I found myself heading towards the cafeteria. The school's cafeteria was located behind the block of studios so I had to walk past them before getting there. I was almost in front of the music studio when my phone vibrated in my pocket and I brought it out only to see the name coz flashing on the screen.

Just know that if I should die now, It's Charles' handiwork. I pressed the red button at the same time I looked up and I nearly bumped into someone.

Kunmi.

Dèjá Vu.

Except that it was here. We've been here before. I found myself smiling as I remembered that time. So long ago. Who'd have thought that girl would come to mean this much to me?

I don't know how much but it was so much for me to keep thinking about her.

For me to want to be with her at every single moment.

For me to look for her when I should be heading to the Arts Studio.

For the first time, I felt like I could have another addiction apart from drawing, painting, sketching. Apart from Arts itself.

She could become my favorite Art.

From the look in her eyes and the small smile on her lips, I could tell that she was remembering that moment too and I felt my lips stretching into a more prolonged smile.

"Where are you going? She asked me as she took two steps back as if to break our almost too close proximity.

"I was looking for you," I replied in less than a heartbeat. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise and I almost laughed at how flushed she looked.

"Why?" Her voice came out in a whisper. "Did anything happen?"

"Nah. You weren't in class and you weren't with Aminah so I came down to look for you."

She looked at me strangely, her russet eyes almost rolled to their sockets. I heard a movement from behind her and I looked up to see Alex coming out of the music studio.

What was he doing in the music studio? The whole school thought he wasn't going to play music again.

He stopped short when he saw us and his eyes flickered from me to Kunmi, then to and fro again before he rested his eyes on me with his lips stretching upwards in something like a sardonic smile. Kunmi looked at me strangely when she noticed I was looking at something behind her before she turned back too.

Alex finally broke the stare down and he walked away but not before saying; see you around comrade.

"Comrade? Are you guys fighting a war together or something?"

"Trust me, I have no idea."

She replied, her voice coming out in a cackle. I looked back at Alex, he was now in front of the academic block. I think everyone has a story to tell, a little bit of a sad story and I think Alex has one of the saddest stories to tell. We were never friends. Hell! He wasn't the type to keep friends except for Gabriella but he mingled well with everybody and it was impossible not to know Alex. Impossible just like it's impossible to predict when tragedy would stick too.

"I should go now. Aminah must be waiting for me."

"She is busy!" Came my quick and instant answer and the few students near us even paused, wondering what was wrong with me and why I had to go shout like that.

"Okay, she's busy. I'll just go back to class and..."

She said slowly as if counting her words before she trailed off, wondering what was wrong with me.

Even I don't know. I have zero ideas but I knew I'd be damned if I allow her to return to class like this.

"I have something to show you."

I replied to her instead and I instantly knew where and what I wanted to show her. That even made my lips stretch into a thin smile.

"Break time is almost over."

"It won't take that long."

She did nothing for a while before she nodded slowly and almost hesitantly.

And we fell into steps as I led her to where I had in mind.

*********

"Oh My God! What is this place?"

She asked, her voice full of awe, pure awe as we entered the former Art studio that now served as a workshop for me. The air was kind of static and I could almost taste the smell of paintings on the wall.

She kept looking around, her face lighting up as they moved from one mural to the other and her face filled with more awe, much more awe as she took everything in and I made a mental note to make a sketch of her face like this.

"What's this place?"

She asked again and she turned back to look at me. I shrugged, turned on the light that illuminated the whole room making the murals more pronounced, more beautiful, more earthly.

"It's our former Art Studio," I replied her, moving away from the door and walking further into the room to stand in front of the first mural which happened to be a marketplace. I was in JSS2 when we stopped using this Arts Studio and for weeks, the space that used to be my former solace became just a space. I stopped coming here until one day, I came here to just do nothing and I found myself using old brushes and paints to make murals on the wall. Four years later, I have 12 murals on the wall, four on the four walls.

The school allowed me to paint all I wanted. After all, they need me to work harder and even get better at drawing and painting.

"Wow. There are lots of amazing places in this school. God! This is beautiful. Whoever did this is talented. My God! I don't think I've ever been in a more beautiful place."

I turned to look at her again. She was now beside me and she was looking at the painting as if it was the single most fascinating thing in the world. And this particular painting wasn't even the best.

"I made them."

She turned to look at me from the mural, her russet eyes almost doubled their original size.

"No way."

She replied before turning to look at the painting again. When I said nothing, she turned to look at me again, her eyes full of disbelief.

"You drew this?"

I nodded.

"All these?"

She asked again, her tone incredulous as she looked around again, her eyes growing more huge.

"You drew all these? Wow."

Her lips formed a perfect O when she said wow and I found myself staring at them for a while before I looked at her eyes again and seriously, I don't think I've ever seen someone this surprised before.

"Yeah."

"Oh my God! Oh my God! This is too beautiful. Like What? Your talent is on another level."

I smiled. I was used to compliments like this but somehow, it hits differently, coming from her.

"God! This has to be my favorite place in this school. I want to come here every day."

She rattled on, like a child that had just been given her favorite ice cream and if I knew she'd be surprised like here, I'd have brought her here a long time ago.

She walked to the second mural; a river with kids bathing in it, to the third one; a pathway that leads to nowhere.

"Where does this leads to?"

She asked me and I was almost thrown off balance by the question.

"I don't know. I only drew this. I have no idea where it leads to."

"It has to lead to somewhere." She continued, turning to look at me. "When you were painting this, you must have had somewhere at the back of your mind."

I looked away from her piercing eyes to the painting. It was only a pathway with trees and flowers on either side of it. When I was painting this, did I have somewhere at the back of my mind? I wasn't sure. I don't remember but deep down, I wanted it to be a pathway that leads to somewhere safe, a happy place.

"I'm sure it must be a pathway that leads to somewhere good. Some sort of a happy place."

She said before she walked away to the next mural, excitement radiating from her. I stood for a while, transfixed because of her words.

What's this girl? How could she just look at my paintings and guess the hidden message that even I had forgotten?

A lyrics came to my mind then, a lyrics of a song that I don't remember the title or where I heard it from;

I walk a lonely road.
The only one that I have ever known.
Don't know where it goes
But it's home and I walk alone.

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me.
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes, I wish someone out there will find me
Till then, I walk alone.

I took a deep breath as I turned sideways to look at her again.

Could this be it?

She was at the fourth mural and another Oh My God escaped my lips. That was the last mural I made in this room. I had to cover the original painting that was in this spot because of this new one.

"This is too beautiful. Oh My God. How come you're this talented?"

I chuckled as I joined in front of the mural. It was a painting of the ocean at night with the waves crashing, the moon in a distance as if it was directly above the water and with stars overboard. It's one of my favorite paintings too even though I hated what gave birth to the idea of the mural.

Giiiiiiiiiing

We heard the sound of the bell in the distance and her excited look was immediately replaced by a sullen look.

"Now, we have to go. Too bad."

She took one long-lasting look at the painting before she turned towards the door and she started walking towards it. My left hand reached out to grab hers before I could stop myself and she stopped. She looked at where I grabbed her hand before she looked at me again, her expression conveying what and why?

I exhaled.

Why did I grab her hands?

Why was I stopping her from leaving?

"We have Geography right now."

I found myself saying and I've never sounded more stupid in my entire life. Kunmi nodded slowly, still puzzled by the fact I was still holding her hands and more puzzled as to why I was telling her a useless piece of information.

"It's a boring class, let's skip it."

Her eyes widened and she freed her hand from mine.

"No way. I'm not the type to skip a class."

Welcome to my kingdom. That's my favorite thing to do.

"Oh come on, there is always a first time for everything and besides, you'd probably enjoy looking at murals than listening in a Geography class."

She looked uncertain, her eyes darting from the murals to the door, then backward again. She looked like she might insist on going back to the class.

"Just this once."

I found myself saying and it took a while before she started nodding slowly.

"Just this once."

She repeated and I heaved a sigh of relief. Deep down, I knew it was going to be more than once.

She moved back to stare at the painting of the black ocean again, awe, pure awe in her eyes.

There were long chairs and desks in the room, one of the benches we used to use when this Art studio was still in use and I found myself dragging one and positioning it right in front of the mural. I sat down because with the way she was looking at the ocean, I doubted she was going to stop looking at it even if we should stay here for a whole day.

"This feels surreal. I feel like I'm right at the ocean now. I can hear the waves crashing. I love this painting."

She rattled on, her voice still full of excitement and I smiled, wondering what her reaction would be if she should see the Art room at home. It was dad gift to me on my 15th birthday and much more than the car, the money, the expensive trips, that room was the best gift he had given me.

"So, you painted this from a picture, right?"

She asked, joining me on the bench so we were staring at the mural together and I shook my head.

"Not exactly, I painted it from a mental picture."

"Wow! You're a god and that means, you've been to the ocean at night, right? This view was real, not imagined."

"Yes. I've been to the ocean at night."

It was just once and it was a spontaneous decision. I was the only one at home. Dad had traveled to Canada to sign a deal, mom had traveled to Abuja to attend a wedding and I was supposed to be in Charles' or Kunle's place but I did not want to leave home. I was afraid of being in the company of another person because I kept hearing the sound of dad's angry voice as he lashed out at mom that morning and then sounds,

Sounds of him hitting her.

His belt

His blows

They were the only things I could hear and I wanted to draw something but I had no idea what. One minute, I was staring at my black canvas, the next minute, I was wearing my hoodie and climbing down the stairs and the next minute, the driver was driving me to the ocean while he occasionally stole glances at me in the rearview mirror, probably wondering why I had to wake him up because I wanted to see the ocean at 11 pm.

I'd sat by the shore, watching the ocean, listening to the waves crash, watching the moon and the stars for hours. It was the most spontaneous thing I've ever done because I wanted to paint and I felt I was probably mad until one older guy joined me and he started taking pictures of the ocean with his camera.

I thought I was the only mad one.

And for a very long time, I thought about the guy, what his name could be, what could have prompted him to come to the ocean that late, if he was a student or if he was working, if he loved things like the ocean, the moon, if he was a lonely soul walking an empty road. I thought about who he could be.

This was a guy I wouldn't be able to recognize if I should see him tomorrow and the only thing he'd said to me that night was; it's a beautiful view, the ocean at night. His accent, a blend of Hausa, Yoruba, and even American. I kept what his history was.

"That must be nice. The ocean at night. Good! So you are going to become a full-time artist in the future, right?"

She asked and I nearly chuckled. I've never thought about that. I love drawing but as a life's work? I'm Dad's only child. His companies need a successor. And even though dad supported my drawing more than anyone else. He had never seen it as just a mere hobby but it was my life.

"I don't know," I answered her honestly. "I love drawing but I have other obligations."

She frowned and I wondered if she was going to push it. I beat her to whatever it was she was going to say by asking her something else.

"You? What's your dream?"

"Dream." She muttered slowly and she looked away from me, her eyes sweeping over the mural now and for a moment, I could picture her in the picture.

"Like you, I don't know too. I'd probably end up working in my dad's company or something."

I nodded. I thought she liked music from the way she spoke about it the last time but then, how many kids venture into music these days?

"So, do you play any instrument? You are a music student so you have to know how to play an instrument or at least be genuinely interested in knowing how to."

I repositioned myself on the bench so I was now sitting sideways, facing her. It was better anyway, looking at her face than looking at the mural, and any other painting.

She said nothing for a while and she looked conflicted. It looked like she was going through an internal battle, probably debating whether to tell me something or not.

"Well, I play the piano. Used to play the piano. It was a hobby."

"So, you stopped playing?"

I asked her, feeling the need to because it sounded so much like there is a backstory to it.

"Hmmmmm."

Came her reply, without her lips moving. It sounded more like a question than an answer and I wanted to probe but decided not to because of her expression. I could always ask her later.

"You said you liked listening to music. What kind of music do you listen to?"

She asked, a bit of fake cheer now injected into her tone and even though I was curious about the backstory, I still felt bad for bringing it up and dampening her mood like this.

"All sorts of music. Soul feeding music. As long as it's good music, I'm good. If it has a deep meaning, I'm even better."

"Oh wow. Soul feeding music? But ain't all music soul-feeding? I mean, all music always has an undertone. I dislike Naira Marley, hate him even but look at the opening line of one of his songs Ole everybody, Eni Ile mon ba sha ni barrow. Truer words have never been saying. It just reflects our how society and how the world is at large."

I nodded, getting her point. I understand where she was coming from.

"Imagine the EFCC chairman stole all that money and they are always quick to parol yahoo guys. We live in a very weird society. In the long run, Naira was right."

"You sound like you like him."

Her nose scrunched up immediately.

"Hell no. I'm more inclined towards Burna Boy, I think no one does Africa as he does. Probably why he is called the Giant of Africa."

"He must be your favorite then."

She turned sideways so she was mimicking my position and we were now facing each other.

"Nah, my favorite is Wizkid. Nobody comes close, nobody. His voice, his lyrics, his style. I'm just a sucker for him."

She replied with a dreamy voice and expression and I made a mental note not to say anything negative against Wizkid in the nearest future. Not like, I could think of anything negative to say in the first place.

We continued talking, about music, about trivial things, the most trivial things. I learned that her favorite female musician was Rihanna and I couldn't help but to notice this kind of relaxed air around her when she talked about music and how excited she was to tell me her favorite songs, her face lighting up more and more as she talked and the more she talked, the more I wanted to know about her. It felt surreal, listening to her talk, her light skin lighting up even more and her facial features getting more highlighted in front of a mural of the dark ocean so when my phone vibrated in my pocket and I brought it out to see a message from Kunle;

Guy, where you dey now?

I looked up at her to see her now looking at the mural again, a little smile on her face. I wore a smile of my own as I typed my reply;

Somewhere close to heaven.

*********
~KUNMI~

We were sitting in the love garden, our sitting arrangement a little bit messed up because I was sitting with Sophia and Aminah. Aminah was sitting in the middle with Sophia and me on either side of her with Adam and Kunle sitting directly opposite us.

Adam and Kunle were supposed to be playing a video game and I wondered why and how every minute I looked up, he was looking at me and he still wouldn't look away, a little smile on his face as if he was seeing something else. I'd be the one to look away in the long run, feeling too self-conscious and wondering why he was staring. It was just two days ago when he had shown me his Art Room, with murals covering all the walls and God! I've never seen things more beautiful. They looked too beautiful, too real to be paintings. When I look at him, it's hard to believe that he is that talented. Like, those murals were too good to be true. And how much time we'd spent in the former studio, just talking, just talking. I don't remember the last time I'd talked that long with someone

But he wasn't just someone,

He was Adam.

I was lost in my thoughts, feeling something close to euphoria as I remembered every detail of two days ago when someone shrieked beside me and I nearly fell off the chair.

"Oh My God, Oh My God!"

The person rattled on, her voice full of awe and pure enthusiasm. It took me a while to realize that the person was Aminah but what could be so fascinating on her phone was that she was screaming like that.

"Oh My God! What's this?"

She continued rambling and I started to feel like she was panicking and not excited.

"What's that?"

Asked a worried Kunle who hurriedly dropped his phone on the bench and he walked to us so he could stand behind her. Adams did the same.

"It's Sophia."

Aminah continued and I hissed, partly in relief, partly in slight annoyance. What could Sophia have done on the phone that could make Aminah have screamed like that?

"It's Sophia."

She continued and she brightened her phone's screen so we could see what had fascinated her like that. Sophia on the other hand seemed undeterred by all her screaming. It's like she knew exactly why she was screaming like that.

We peered closer so we would see the object of fascination and while I did not scream or shriek, my mouth did drop open in a small surprised O. There it was, Sophia's picture on Fenty's page, shoulders completely bare, lips painted in the deepest shade of red and lipstick in between her lips.

Oh wow. I looked up at Sophia and she was drinking from her water bottle with a little smile playing on her face and she was also looking at the picture.

"Wow. Sophia. When did this happen? You did not even tell us!"

Kunle exclaimed, his tone full of awe and grudging respect.

"Guys, this is the main deal. Don't scream."

Aminah talked-shrieked again and we all stopped talking as she slide her phone's screen to the next picture.

At first, all I could see was girls pressed together in some sort of hug, bare shoulders and lips painted in different colors, eyes painted in different colors too until I stared intently at them and I could start to make out their faces.

Kosi Queen Dike.

What? I peered even closer but it was impossible to mistake her for someone else, not with her skin color, dark cocoa color, and that face. God! She looked like a child, a pretty child with that face and that glistening skin. The God when skin. Black skin never looked more beautiful.

I looked away from her face to the face of the next person beside her and I blinked, once, twice, convinced that I was seeing things now but it was really who I thought it was.

Shade Onam.

Wait, what?

She was impossible to miss even if you wanted to. Her eyes sold her out. Green, shades of green and her skin, her clear, too clear dark skin. I'd probably see my reflection if I stare at her skin too much. But wait, Sophia did a photoshoot with the likes of Shade Onam?

I looked away from the green-eyed African beauty to Sophia herself, our queen weirdo, and then, to the person beside her, Tolani.

Tolani.

She was arguably the most slender of them all with the hunched blade of her shoulder extremely visible and her chocolate skin and perfect lips.

But wait again, Sophia did a photoshoot for Fenty with Kosi and Tolani and even Shade!!! Oh my God!

Big girl ni babe yii oo.

"Oh My God! Oh My God." Aminah started rabbling again and I could tell that she too was just done taking in the intricate details of the picture. It looked almost too good to be true.

"So Sophia, you did a photoshoot with these people, with Shade Onam, with Kosi, with Tolani. God!! My sweet Lord. Oh my God."

She kept rabbling on and on and then she sat up straighter.

"That means you met them in real life?"

She shouted as if it just dawned on her and I couldn't help but burst into laughter. Even Sophia started laughing and it did not sound like a jeer something, if anything, it sounded real. Kunle patted his girlfriend's back and said;

"Babe, calm down oo."

"God! It's just a campaign shoot for Fenty. It's nothing extraordinary."

Sophia finally talked, shrugging it off as of it was the most common thing but even I could detect the pride in her voice.

"It's everything extraordinary. Girl! Oh my God! Tell us about the shoot. How was it? Is Kosi's face real? Shade's eyes, are they green? Tolani did her lips, right? Oh my God! Tell me all the details."

Aminah rabbled on, all in one breath and she grabbed Sophia's hand by her elbow. I half expected Sophia to shrug her off but she just smiled and she relaxed on the bench.

"They're real. All of them. It's their natural features and the shoot was fine. I enjoyed it. Kosi made it even more enjoyable with her bubbly personality. She has this kind of positive energy that you can't just ignore. And we all bonded and talked. Yeah, it was fun."

Sophia answered, her expression kind of dreamy as if she was remembering that exact day.

"Oh My God! My Kosi."

Aminah muttered more to herself as she slide to the next picture which happened to be Kosi's one.

"Oh My God! My Kosi. She looks like a child. I feel like putting her in my pocket."

Eh eh. Aminah is going mad oo.

She stared at the picture for a while before she slide it to the next picture. It was Shade's and I noticed that her lips were coated in green lipstick, just like her eyes and her name, shades of green.

"My Shade."

She croaked out before she pressed the phone to her chest and I shook my head.

I repeat this girl is going mad.

She removed the phone from her chest and slide it to the next picture.

"This Tolani's lips can't be natural. It's too beautiful and perfect."

Sophia scoffed, her lips twisting up as if in disgust.

"Well, that's the only good thing about her."

My mouth dropped open.

"Haba na. Sophia. How can you say that about someone's child? O wrong now."

Kunle chided but I could tell that he was trying hard not to laugh.

"Well, she's good in bed too so I guess that makes it two things."

"Haha. Sophia."

That was Adam and we all looked up to see that he had returned to where he sat before. Only God knows when he left.

"I did not lie now."

"And how would you know? Have you guys... You've not..."

Kunle trailed off and I burst into laughter at what he was about to say.

"Ode ni e Kunle."

Sophia answered, her voice full of laughter and since I met Sophia, I've never seen her this relaxed. So full of life, so full of energy, so full of radiating energy and light. There are three shades to Sophia now, stucked up Sophia, bitchy Sophia, and this new grant Sophia. I wonder which one was real or if she was just a blend of all the three and if there were other shades to her.

"Then how do you know?" Kunle asked her, his right hand now on her left shoulder and giving her some sort of message.

"70% of the boys at the Agency said so and besides I walked into her in compromising positions with at least 6 different guys so...."

"Come on Sophia, it's can't be that bad na."

"Kunle, it is that bad. That babe doesn't even try to hide that fact. She's not only proud and sucked up, but she's also a slut too. She's even an ugly self. I feel like removing her stupid and ugly face from that picture. God! I hate that girl. I can't believe I had to smile with her."

Now only God knows what Aunty Tolani did to Aunty Sophia like this.

"And what's this weird-looking thing?"

Aminah screamed and I was momentarily defeated. Oluwa oo. What now?

She was looking at another picture now. It was still the girls, except the fact that another girl had joined them and Aminah wasn't wrong, she was weird-looking.

While the other girls looked all chic, the lipstick perfect on their lips, the new girl used a deep brown lipstick and she was so black that the color practically merged with her skin. And she was bald too and her eyes looked kinda eerie, almost dead. She looked like someone they were about to offer to Ogun except that there was no calabash on her head and she wasn't kneeling.

Now, who's this weird-looking human being?

Sophia burst into laughter, her head thrown back as if this was all a joke to her.

"Haba na. Aminah, you guys should look carefully, she's a known face oo and a loved figure at that. If I should say her name now, you'd be surprised."

Forget the fact that Sophia did a campaign shoot with all these popular faces and forget the weird-looking human being, what's more, weird was the fact that Sophia was relaxed and she was answering Aminah. She was even gesticulating! Ehn!

I peered closer at the picture of a weird-looking girl. She looked familiar but I just couldn't place her face. Aminah shook her head.

"The face looks familiar but then, who is she?"

"Okay okay, I'll tell you now. Don't scream."

Sophia said, a small smile playing on her lips and Aminah turned to her, full concentration as if the next thing Sophia was going to say would have a direct impact on her life.

"Tamra Ocean Wright."

"Tamara Ocean Wright"

Aminah repeated dumbly as if the name made no sense to her. The name made no sense to me too but it sounded so familiar.

"Do you mean this is Tamara Wright?"

Aminah finally shouted and she practically flew out of where she sat. I caught sight of Adam who was sitting across us, arms sprawled on the backrest of the reflection bench, a bored expression on his face and he was looking at Aminah like she just walked out of a mental asylum.

"Babe, calm down oo."

Kunle said again. He was still standing behind our bench and he used his hand to nudge her back to her position. Aminah's mouth was slightly open and her expression was dazed because of Tamara Wright but then, Tamara Wright??

"You're in the same picture frame with all these famous people, Kosi, Shade, a whole Shade and, even Tamara??? And this weird-looking girl doesn't even look like Tamara Wright at all! What the fuck happened to her? Is she now bald? But then, this is Tamara, oh my God! My Olawa."

She said again, in one breath and she hugged her phone to her chest muttering my Olawa all over again. Kunle shook his head and he returned to his seat.

"But I thought her name is Tamara, how did she become Olawa again?"

He asked just as he sat down beside Adam who still looked bored and genuinely not interested in the conversation.

"Don't tell me you don't know Tamara Wright?"

Aminah asked, sitting up straighter.

"Of course, I know her. It's impossible not to know her. Her picture and her mother's keep surfacing on the internet and their names, it's just everywhere you go."

I looked at the picture, at the lips, the black lips, and the face of the girl. As Kunle said, it's impossible not to know Tamara Wright. She's the only daughter of Gina Wright, the woman at the very top of Nollywood's ladder, and Tamara gained fame as a child because well, her mother was popular, then we started seeing her in films, playing the younger versions of her mother and she became a household name when she reprised the role of Olawa in that popular teen series, Girls College. And now, people like her more than her mother.

"Oh. She was that Olawa girl. Olawa Olakitan in that popular Tv Series. The series sparked lots of conversations on how society always overlooks what teenagers are going through."

"Of course. My Olawa. She's so beautiful."

Aminah rabbled on again and from her screen, I could tell that she was now scrolling through Tamara's Instagram page, going through every picture and liking them.

After her role as Olawa Olakitan, she got even bigger roles and she eventually landed a role in Aesthetic, some sort of dark ancient American film that fetched her an Oscar nomination, and she, at 18 became the first Nigerian to be nominated for an Oscar award. Her popularity tripled because of that. She's adored by all and sundry and her success is, mind-blowing but she still gets the most backlash, after all, people felt she got everything on a platter of gold courtesy of her mother being a very popular face.

"You guys would be surprised to hear that the girl is a psycho real life. No, she's more of a witch than a psycho."

Sophia's words piqued Aminah's interest again and she turned to look at her.

"But she looks like an Angel in all her pictures and how she nailed all her roles. Forget her look in this shoot you guys did. She's..."

"...a psycho. As I said, the shoot was memorable and I had a nice time. We all bonded well and we talked courtesy of Kosi whose energy, my God, that girl's energy is out of this world. I'm not the type to like someone just because I spend a couple of hours with them but with Kosi, it's even felt like I've known her since forever. But not to digress..... "

She changed her position so that she was now facing Aminah and again, I had to wonder what's up with this girl.

"...but your Tamara did not say anything until we were done with the shoot and the creative director was telling us something. Your Tamara was sitting beside him, then, all of her sudden, she got up, went to a corner in the studio, grabbed a flower vase, return to where we were and she broke it on his head before walking out."

Aminah's mouth dropped open and I mirrored her expression before I burst into laughter. Broke a vase on someone's head? She doesn't look like she can kill a fly but she broke a vase on someone's head. Oh, come on.

"She broke the flower vase on his head? Is she mad or something?"

"Exactly. That was how she ruined a perfectly fine shoot for us. We did this shoot like two months ago and now, it just got released."

I looked at the picture on Aminah's screen. It was Tamara Wright with her mother, all bright smiles, all perfect bodies and poses, all perfect net worth and connection. She even made it to Africa's 30 under 30 at age 14 and yet, I wonder if there was more to all her perfect life.

"See, I don't care if she's a psycho or not. You are in the same picture frame with all these popular faces. God! I just like you more. In my head, you're already my best friend. Take me along with you the next time you have this kind of shoot, I want to meet Shade Onam and my Kosi too, hmm, hmm?"

Aminah asked, voice overly excited, shooting puppy eyes at Sophia, her left hand intertwined around Sophia's right elbow and I held my breath. I was sure Kunle held his too as we waited for Sophia's reply which I was sure was going to be to shrug her hands off and to tell her off rudely so when Sophia answered by smiling, full smile with her teeth showing.

"Of course, It's no problem. I'll call you."

That was her answer without any sarcasm and she even patted Aminah's hand that was wrapped around her elbow.

My mouth dropped open.

What just happened?

Oluwa, wetin dey happen??????

Longest chapter. It's actually enough to be split into three chapters. I should have divided it but then, I was like, let me just make it a chapter. I apologize again. E be things.

What's Sophia planning again like this?? 😭😭😭💔💔💔

And hope you guys recognized your favorite characters in this chapter, Kosi from When Golden Souls Collide!!!!!!, Shade Onam from Those little things!!!!!! and Aunty Tolani from Eye of the Storm!!!!!! Those books 😩😩😩😩♥️♥️♥️ No words! 😩😩😩♥️♥️ If you haven't read them or if you're not following the stories, I don't think you're on Wattpad. Those books ♥️♥️♥️😩😩Temi, Dheenmah, and Tori, thank you for lending me your babies ♥️♥️♥️♥️

And then Tamara Ocean Wright from where????? Who can guess the answer??? I'll send a Lambo to that person.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter sha? Forgive the fact that it was long. God! I cannot even voice out the word count.

See you when I see you. My fingers are aching.

Looooooove you guys ♥️♥️♥️♥️🤗🤗🤗