/CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT/

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тιмє тσ тнє gσσ∂ σℓ∂ ∂αуѕ, ωнєи συя мσммα ѕαиg υѕ тσ ѕℓєєρ,
вυт иσω ωє ѕтяєѕѕє∂ συт.
ⓣⓦⓔⓝⓣⓨ ⓞⓝⓔ ⓟⓘⓛⓞⓣ.

(Dedication: TIMI and TOMI 😭😭🤧💚💚💚🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺)

(NB: I noticed the fact that I don't have an updating schedule has made me so laid-back and relaxed, therefore I'm going to be setting an updating schedule: Wednesdays and Sundays, but that doesn't mean that there can't be a pop-up update. Thanks so much Wattpadis! 🌺)

NOT EDITED!

~CHASE~

"What happened to your wrist?"

I asked Lily who sat by me, my eyes didn't leave her wrist. I kept staring at it. The cut was really familiar, it wasn't just a cut one could get from an injury. The cut was straight, neat and deep, though it was already healed and almost faded, I could still recognize it because it left a scar. She suddenly redrew her hands which were laying on her laps and kept it behind her. I smiled inwardly at that act because I had already seen it.

"What happened to it?" I looked up now, taking a look at her bewildered expression. She opened her mouth but nothing came out of it, while I awaited an answer. I was really curious, I really wanted to know what was wrong with her and if she truly slit her wrist, although she looked like someone who couldn't, with her innocent look, I could even bet that she was part of those who had phobia for blood.

Perhaps someone slitted her wrist_ I thought, doubting it anyways.

"I fell into a. . ." She trailed off, more likely she was looking for the perfect lie to throw at me but I couldn't be bamboozled. I definitely knew a cut when I saw one

"Into a what?" I asked, waiting to hear the lie she was probably cooking up.

"A sewer," she rushed her words but I heard her anyway. "I fell into a sewer."

I smiled and averted my gaze away from her because her lie was really ridiculous, how could one fall into a sewer and have a neat cut on both hands?! That's wholly impossible. She couldn't even come up with a better lie, I mean she was lying to someone who had about approximately a hundred cuts on his skin. That person was me.

"Bullshit!" I muttered, but I guess she heard me anyways because I could feel her eyes on me. "That's bullshit Lily," I told her audibly, staring at pink, Rayo and Jonathan as they swam in the pool.

"I recognize a cut when I see one."

I told her, still not looking at her and she didn't say anything in response, she was silent. That silence confirmed the truth I needed. she cut herself, but that wasn't just a cut, it was a deep cut, which meant that she tried to bleed her veins and drain it of blood still she would be white and cold, in layman term; she tried committing suicide.

"You bled yourself, right?" I asked her, smiling, turned my gaze to her and saw her shocked expression.

I was right!

She didn't say anything, her lips were quivering, tears were beginning to form in her eyes. . .her eyes held emotions. At that moment she looked vulnerable, fragile, asthenic and sad. I stopped smiling and started to wonder what could be wrong with her, what? I only knew her to be a loner, someone who slept a lot in class, but I never knew why she was like that and why she could had tried to commit suicide. I didn't know why, but I felt a tiny bit of emotion as I stared at my face.

I saw tears slid down her eyes as she quickly took her bag and hoodie. She stood up and started to jog away from the backyard. I stood up also on reflex, jogging after her and I was able to catch up with her in the sitting room. I held her arm back and turned her towards me and her face was a mess, tears made her face wet, catarrh running out from her nose. I didn't know what to do as I watched her cry, I didn't have experience in trying to console people, I didn't even know the words to say to her to make her stop crying.

What should I do?!

She kept on crying, sniffing in the mucus that escaped through her nose. I began to wonder if I awoke a memory that she probably didn't want to remember just like I also didn't like to be remembered about her. At that moment, I don't know why but I dragged her towards me and enveloped her in a hug.

Her body trembled against mine while I hugged her. Her tears coming out in muffles as she cried against my stomach, I could even feel my hoodie dampening from her tears but I cared less because I just wanted her to stop crying. I patted her back slowly, trying to calm her down and it worked because I couldn't hear the sound of her cry again.

"What is happening?"

I released Lily from the hug, turned around and saw Pink standing by the stanchion which was next to the entrance of the parlor. She had her brows creased up in confusion as she walked towards us, with a towel by her waist, she was wet and I could tell that she'd just left the pool.

"Why is she crying?" she asked with a look of concern and I looked at Lily who's gaze was on the floor sniffing and playing with the bag and hoodie in her hand. "Chase, why is she crying?"

The tone at which pink asked that question really showed that she was concerned, but I knew they didn't speak, and I was very much aware that pink didn't really like Lily for reasons unknown to me.

"I really. . ."

I was cut off by a ringing tone. I looked around wondering where it could be coming from, then I saw Lily fumbling with her bag, then she brought out her phone from it, apparently her phone was the one ringing.

"Hello," her low voice was shaking as she picked up the call. ". . . Okay. . . I'm coming." Then she hung up the phone and kept it into her bag. She didn't say anything, she just kept staring at the tiled floor. "My_ ri_ ride is. . .here," she stuttered and walked out of the door and I followed her.

Still, I didn't know why I followed her!

I followed her outside the gate, Wondering what could be in her mind. There was a Jeep waiting outside the gate already and I definitely knew it was her ride. She stood by me without saying anything and I didn't either.

"I should get going now," she said.

I nodded and told her, "Sorry."

Why did I say that? I didn't know. she looked at me probably ruminating about the reason I told her sorry, most Especially since she didn't fall or stumble.

She smiled and shook her head.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Chase. You were just curious. Also it's all in the past now, it all happened when I was in JSS3," she said, her voice low as usual.

What happened in JSS3?_ I wanted to ask, but decided not to invade her past since it could bring back memories that she wouldn't want, also I wouldn't like that if someone should try it with me, asking me questions that awoke memories that I desperately want to bury hundred foot underground. So, I didn't press further.

"uhmm."

I hummed and we didn't say anything again.

"Your hoodie," she stretched forward my hoodie towards me but I shook my head, told her to keep it and she just smiled and entered into the Jeep, before I entered into my compound back.

I walked into the house, and I just couldn't stop thinking about Lily and why she was almost at the verge of committing suicide.

". . .also it's all in the past now, it all happened when I was in JSS3."

"Chase?"

I heard my name so I turned around and saw Pink seated on a chair by the dining table. I walked towards her and took my seat near her, releasing a breath I didn't know I held. There was silence for sometime until she spoke again.

"What happened to Lily?" she asked with concern edged in her voice.

I looked at her. "I thought you didn't like her?" I asked.

"I don't hate her either," she said, taking her gaze down to the mahogany table. "It's just. . ." she heaved and didn't say anything again.

"Why don't you talk to her then?" I asked the question that I'd been itching to Know. "Why does everyone in school ignore her? Why do y'all act like she ain't human? Why is she being trampled upon?"

Pink didn't say anything while her gaze remained fixated at the table.

"We never hated her chase," she started, her gaze still low. "It was the other way around."

Okay, I was confused now. "What do you mean? She hated you all?"

"I don't know about that, Chase. But, When she joined us in JSS1, I. . .I still remember that day. How she was smiling in front of the class as the teacher introduced her, how she waved at everyone, grinning widely like she had no problems."

"So what went wrong?"

"That's where I'm heading to," She exhaled, then continued. "It - her bullying all started on that same day of resumption, it was the day Tayo had also resumed. They were seat partners."

She paused, looked at me, as if to confirm if I was still listening. I smiled and told her; "I'm listening."

"Thing is, once Tayo was introduced, everyone wanted to be his friend because of his status, so they were ready to do according to his will - including me, that. . .that was the day I began to crush on him. He wasn't nice and everyone knew that on his first day of resumption, but we all wanted to be friends with a 'cool kid', we were even jealous that Lily was his seat partner. . ."

"So is that why y'all began to bully her? Because of Tayo?"

"No!" pink was quick to counter. "Actually, Tayo was the first to bully her on the first day of resumption, because. . . she touched him."

I laughed. It was really funny. Because she touched him?

"That sounds like bullshit!"

"Do I look like I'm lying, Chase?" she deadpanned raising her head up. "He yelled at her, called her name's, threw her bag away from her desk, told her she should never come near him again because she irritated him and she stinked. To cut the story short that was the origin of why Lily is being called trash."

"Still, that doesn't mean you should hate her or dislike her." I told her but she just smiled and shook her head.

"We all didn't know what we were doing then, everyone wanted to be in Tayo's good book, while I. . .I wanted him to just at least notice me."

"At the expense of someone else's emotion."

"But, what could I have done?!"

She raised her voice a little, taking me by surprise, then silence engulfed the whole room, aside from the sound of her uneven breathing. I Didn't know what to believe, whether to believe what Pink had said or how I'd perceived things to be.

"So that's why she's being bullied? Because you all wanted to get into Tayo's good book?" I asked.

"I didn't bully her, I never did."

"But you watched, you watched her get bullied when you could have stopped it."

"I know. . . I know i should have done something, but I was stupid. I just wanted to be in Tayo's good book also."

"So it was all about Tayo? The villain?"

"Tayo isn't a villain," she said with lots of emotions laced with her voice, and I smiled because the Tayo that I knew was indubitably like that. "Tayo, he is nice, he just has problems."

"Are you even Listening to yourself right now?" I had to ask, because I couldn't even believe what was coming out of my own sister's mouth. Was she that blinded by her crush on him that she couldn't see how his dehumanizing act almost caused a girl her life, but took away her self-confidence. "Pink, you know you're defending a bully?"

"Please Chase, Tayo has problems," she said repeatedly. "Sure, blame me all you want, I'm as guilty as the other's but. . .I later tried to be friends with her."

I snickered. "Out of pity." She didn't talk, nor say anything in reply as she just bowed down her head.

Babies. Their act towards Lily was childish, trampling on her just because they wanted to please a fellow classmate was just barbaric and uncalled for.

"Why was she crying then?" she asked, not raising her head up.

I rolled my eyes, still angry at her for defending Tayo even when he was clearly at fault, but then my guilt pricked me, because I had done way worse than Tayo. So, I answered, saying; "It's nothing."

"You can't tell me it's nothing Chase, that girl was crying."

"What happened in JSS3?" I asked the question that I was curious about even though I knew I shouldn't have, I couldn't help but ask.

"What do you mean?" she asked, bringing her gaze to my face.

"Do you know what happened in JSS3?"

I asked again. Pink didn't reply, and her gaze fell back to the table, she looked sad? nervous? Antsy? Traumatized?. . .I couldn't exactly say but she sure was sad. The air around us thickened and once again silence took over the whole room.

"It was during PE," she started, killing the silence between us. "I was at the field when I noticed that Lily wasn't there with us, so. . .so I decided to go check her in class, though I knew she wouldn't answer me, I just wanted to try my luck. I walked into the class and she wasn't there. . ."

She trailed off, trying to catch her breath while I listened carefully to what she had to say.

"I decided to go check her at the music studio, because. . . because I knew she loved going there," she continued. "I went over to the music studio and it was empty, and just when I was about to leave, I saw her."

"Where?"

"In the music lab," she answered, her gaze still on the table.

"What was she doing there?" I asked.

"It wasn't what she was doing there. . . chase," She said, looking up and I was shocked when I saw her eyes, they were red and teary, just one blink and the tears would had streamed down. "It was what I met. . ."

"Pink, are you Okay?" I asked when I saw her lips quaking.

"I'm not okay, Chase." she said, and just when she blinked the tears poured down from her eyes like a waterfall.

"Pink. . ."

"I saw her," she continued. "She was. . . She was laying lifelessly in a pool of her own blood!"

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

We haven't gotten anywhere guys😪

There's still a lot of drama and suspense ooo.

Also Chase hugged Lily 🤗🤗🤗🤗

Who is shipping?

#CHILY OR #CHEYI

I WON'T SAY WHO I'M SHIPPING 🤭

Thanks so much Wattpadis, please don't forget to vote and comment. 🥺

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