I'm baaacckkkk🤸🏽‍♀️🤸🏽‍♀️🤸🏽‍♀️.

Shey you guys still love me?🥺

'Cause I love you all😭💖💖💖.

Alright, alright, let's start😂✨

(p.s: Veronica the gyal in the media😂💔 and a SZA song for the chapter in honor of the new album😭😭😭💖)

~~~~~~~
"We do whatever we want,
Go wherever we want,
Love however we want,
It don't matter "
~~~~~~~
- SZA
(Love Galore)

VERONICA

"Where are you going, Veronica?"

Shit.

When did the witch get to the living room?

"Khalid's," I replied briskly.

Vivian frowned and gave me a once over. "Dressed like that?"

I frowned back at her and crossed my arms. "And what's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"It's not exactly...casual."

"Casual, meaning?"

"Are you sure it's only Khalid's place your going to? Why doesn't he just come over here instead?"

I rolled my eyes and stayed silent.

Of course I'm not going to Khalid's.

Jovan wanted to hang out at the Mall today so I could meet some of his friends, and I've spent the last hour or so getting ready, which is probably why Vivian is suspicious.

"We already agreed that I'm coming over today. We might head out for ice-cream or something later on, so I didn't dress 'casual', as you put it," I said, making air quotes.

Vivian looked at me a bit more before sighing.

"I really shouldn't let you out the house in that outfit," she said, more to herself than to me, "but, okay. Since it's Khalid, you can go. Call Phineas if you need a ride later, he just left for football practice."

"Sure, whatever," I said, walking towards the door.

"By-"

I slammed the door shut, effectively ending whatever it was she wanted to say.

Opening my phone, I texted Jovan who was waiting for me outside the gate.

I left through the pedestrian gate and immediately spotted his car down the road.

He held the door open for me as I slipped in beside him.

"You look hot," he said, grinning a little.

"Really?"

"Mmm hmm," he hummed, looking at me from head to toe.

I was dressed in a long-sleeved, body-con top, tucked into a mini skirt, with fish-net tights and combat boots. I had a little make up on and my hair was loose and fluffy.

I felt my cheeks heat up as his eyes lingered on my thighs, before looking back up at my face.

"You look good, too," I complemented him back.

And he did. He really did.

He was wearing a black top underneath a black and white bomber jacket, with black cargo pants and his Converse sneakers.

He was wearing his diamond studs today and his hair was literal perfection.

Gawd, I'm so lucky.

"Of course I look good, girl," he said in an American accent, making us both laugh.

The driver had already started moving the car and I knew we would be in the mall in the next 15 minutes or so.

"Sorry I took so much time to come out. That dumb bitch delayed me."

"Who?"

"My dad's stupid wife, nau. Babe, I've told you about her like a thousand times."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, right," he said, tapping away at his phone.

"She kept asking me stupid, stupid questions," I rolled my eyes.

Jovan hummed, hands still on his phone.

"Then I had to tell her I was going to Khalid's place to hang out, 'cause that was the only excuse she'd buy-"

"-Hey, did I tell 'bout the party Sylvie in SS2 is hosting next weekend?" he asked, cutting me short.

I blinked. " Um...no?"

"Well, she's having a party and she invited me. You coming?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll sneak out again."

He smiled at me and looked back down at his device.

"So, anyway, as I was saying-"

"-It's an all-white party, though, so you'll have to wear something white."

"Sure," I said crisply, a little peeved at the way he cut me off.

"And make sure it's sexy too, so I can show you off," he added, winking.

I couldn't help the blush that creeped up into my cheeks at what he said.

But I was a still a little annoyed with him and just stared out of the window, noticing we were very close to the Mall.

"Weren't you telling me something, babe?" he asked after a couple seconds.

I turned to him again. "Well, yeah, I was-"

"-Ayy, we're here!"

Seriously?

I pursed my lips and folded my arms as the driver looked for a suitable parking spaced in the almost filled parking lot.

When he eventually did, Jovan and I got down and headed to the second entrance of the Mall.

The Mall was considerably packed, mostly with young people our age and older.

I noticed that, as usual, most of the girls glanced Jovan's way, only for their expressions to sour somewhat when they saw he was with me.

I inched closer to him and held his hand, lacing our fingers together with a small smirk on my face.

"Selfie, babe?" I asked, raising up my phone.

"Maybe later, we're almost at the Food Court."

"You told me 'later' last time," I huffed.

He looked down at me. "Just chill; we'll take as many pictures as you want, okay?"

"Okay," I said and I squeezed his hand briefly.

We only have two pictures together and I want us to have loads.

According to my Dad, taking a picture is  literally immortalizing a part of history as your own.

Growing up, he always had his camera on him, capturing moments even as small as breakfast each morning,  and while Phineas was the one who inherited his passion for photography, I still appreciate the importance he placed in pictures.

Emphasis on placed, as in past tense.

Since Mum left, I swear I can count the number of times I've seen him with his camera on one hand.

He probably abandon photography for the sake of that bitch he married.

I scoffed out loud, then lost my footing, tripping just a little as Jovan let go of my hand and began walking ahead of me.

We were in the Food Court already; EARFQUAKE by Tyler, The Creator playing in the background, mixing in with the general human noise and blending with the permeating scents and aromas from the different restaurants and stands.

The Mall's Food Court has everything, but it is basically divided into sections.

The first section is for Cafés, Juice Bars, Tea Shoppes and Boba stands.

The second section is for Bakeries, Confectioneries, Ice-cream stands and Fro-yo Bars.

The third section- my personal favourite -is for the Fast Food joints like KFC, McDonald's, Burger King and Roast Okuko.

The fourth section- my least favourite -is for all the 'healthy' food joints like Subway and Smoothies-R-Us.

The fifth section is for the traditional Nigerian restaurants and the Indian, Chinese, Thai, Korean and Arabian restaurants.

The sixth section is for all the boujee restaurants where you have to make reservations two weeks ahead and you could probably blow your full salary on a plate of appetisers.

"They said they'd be sitting outside of Crumbles . I think I can see them," Jovan said, pointing ahead.

Crumbles is one of the Cafés in the first section, practically unmissable because of their sign; a huge bread crumb (or at least I think that's what it is) with a cute smiley face that looks as if it's beckoning you over.

"Yooo!"

Jovan has spotted his guys.

He jogged over to them and I followed behind in a more orderly fashion.

The two of them stood up and I was slightly taken aback by how tall and huge they were, although not entirely.

When we were in our talking stage, Jovan told me that he got pushed up two years in Primary school, but then had to repeat the class for another two years, which meant he's about a year or two older than most of us in our set.

So him being friends with these monster truck looking guys isn't exactly odd.

They greeted one another in a series of guy hugs and handshakes, joking and hailing one another as they did so.

I stood aside and watched them, musing over the fact that I've only ever had one true friend for the majority of my life.

Jovan suddenly held me by the small of my back and pushed me forward a bit.

I gasped internally at the brief yet electrifying contact.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Veronica. Babe, meet Kola and Edwin."

Edwin was first to stretch out his hand, a casual smirk on his face. I noticed the small yet obvious lion tattoo on the inside of his wrist, above which rested  a Cartier wristwatch.

He was light-skinned and good-looking in a Tiktok kind of way, like he was five seconds away from making a thirst-trap.

Kola had the same tattoo on his wrist, but instead of a watch, he opted for wrist bands.

He was a slight shade darker than Jovan's golden-brown complexion and quite handsome. I liked the way the way the cap he wore matched the rest of his outfit stylishly.

But still, as fine as they were, neither of them could compare to my baby.

"Damn, Jo, you didn't tell us she was this fine," Kola said as we let go of each other's hands.

"For real, guy, she's hot as fuck," Edwin told him.

Jovan shrugged and looked down at me with an almost triumphant look in his eye.

I'm sure I was as red as a tomato, because I feel my face flaming.

We sat down as Edwin went to counter to order us iced coffees and muffins.

I thanked him when he placed mine in front of me and the guys immediately launched into a conversation.

Pulling my phone out, I decided to check up on Khalid.

He told me during the week that Mr. Ovo had chosen him to work on the music for the annual End of Session play, and that's what he'd be doing for most of this weekend.

I was surprised at this, because if there's one thing I know about my best friend, it's that he's shy and painfully so, but at the same time I'm excited he's putting himself out there and using those talents of his.

He also told me that he'd gotten Archie, one of our brothers' friends, to install a text-to-speech/speech-to-text software on all his devices, so he could scan the script for the play into his laptop and convert it to an audio book easily.

It also meant we could chat on WhatsApp with actual texts and not mostly voice notes.

He wasn't online, so I sent a couple stickers and a quick "How's it going?" text, setting my phone down so I could start on my muffins and coffee.

By the time I was done, the boys were still guffawing amongst themselves, and Jovan hadn't spared me as much as a glance.

I tried to hold his hand on the table, but he moved it away, pointing it at Kola as the three of them laughed at something Edwin just said.

Getting extremely bored, I looked round at the crowds of people in this section of the Food Court, which were mostly coffee addicted teens and young adults.

My eyes roamed to the direction Jovan and I came from and they caught something that made me gasp.

The Arcade.

I can't believe I passed it without noticing.

Although, in my defense, I usually don't come in through that side of the Mall.

I stared and stared at the bright, neon sign till the urge to get up and go check it out became too overwhelming.

"Uh, babe," I tapped Jovan. "Babe? Jovan?"

I was trying not to raise my voice or anything, but he was honestly acting like I was a gust of wind, still talking to the guys as I tapped on his arm.

"Jovan!"

"Guy, I think your babe is calling you," Kola said, laughing with Edwin.

"What?" Jovan all but snapped, his facial expression clearly showing that I'd disturbed him.

I blinked.

Seriously?

"I'm heading to the Arcade over there," I told him, pointing.

"And you need my permission?" he asked, his tone flecked with sarcasm.

The guys kept laughing as if he'd cracked one funny joke, and I just got up and walked away in a huff.

I half-expected him to call me back, to apologise somewhat, but when I looked back briefly, he was still laughing and joking with the guys like nothing happened.

Oh wow.

There was a dull ache gnawing at my heart as I walked over to the Arcade.

I couldn't pin any explanation to the way Jovan just acted, and that stung badly.

Did he think it was funny to diss me like that?

Or....did I do something to piss him off?

I looked back again, the table where we sat now a good distance away but still visible, and saw that he was still chatting away happily.

Feeling peeved, I walked right into the Arcade, immediately taken aback by how much larger it seemed compared to when I last came.

Then I remembered why I hadn't been coming in the first place; it had been shut down sometime last year for renovation. That probably meant they bought the adjoining store space and expanded.

Instead of buying tokens at the front counter as usual, I got a card and loaded some money into it. That way I could renew it any time I come back.

I looked around the place, taking in the darkness that was lit by the lights from various games and boards and the LED lights on the edges of the ceiling and the floor.

I couldn't help the small smile that crept across my face as I began walking slowly.

This place held so many memories.

Khalid and I would come here on weekends with our brothers all the time.

Heck, it was where we met, 7 years ago.

I still remember it like it happened yesterday.

"Phineas!" I whined as my brother took yet another turn on the Dragon Ball game. "I want to play!"

He sighed, shaking his curly auburn hair out of his eyes. "Go play something else and leave me alone, Ron."

I stomped my feet indignantly, folding my arms.

"Don't tell me your going to throw a tantrum now," he said, eyes still fixed on the machine's screen.

"I'm not!"

"Sure."

I was about to say something when another boy came up to me and Phineas.

He looked about my brother's age but leaner and taller, with a golden-brown complexion and thick, jet-black hair.

"So you're the one who beat my high score," he said, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his black hoodie.

Phineas cast him a glance and smirked.

"Had to return the favour since you beat mine last time."

Black hoodie boy raised a brow and soon they were talking about the game and power moves and combos and blah blah blah.

I stayed at first, shuffling from one foot to the other, before leaving in a huff.

Phineas didn't even call me back.

Not that I cared.

I walked round aimlessly, the braids Mum had made for me with my natural hair tickling my shoulders and back.

She had dropped off us, given Phineas some change for tokens and snacks, telling us she would be in the Art shop in search of new horsehair paintbrushes.

Of course, she'd be back hours later laden with half the store in her hands.

I'm beginning to wish I'd have just followed her.

" -R-D-A..."

Someone's voice interrupted my internal dialogue and I looked towards my left.

There was a boy standing, eyes fixed on the neon sign on the wall.

He had the same complexion and hair as the boy Phineas was now gaming with.

"...C-R-"

"-what are you doing?" I interjected, coming to stand beside him.

He turned to me, piercing black eyes staring into my soul.

He didn't answer my question.

"Where you trying to spell that?" I pointed at the sign.

He looked down, a small flush colouring his cheeks. "Yes."

"Oh."

There was a pause, a silence and a question formed in my mind and soon made it's way out my mouth.

"Are you dysmorphic?"

"What?"

"Dysmorphic. I heard it on TV. It's when you can't read well or something."

His lip twitched and he blinked.

"The term you're looking for is dyslexic, and yes, I am," he said, a cool accent laced through his words.

"Wow. I've never met a dyslexic person before," I said in genuine awe, then stuck my hand out. "My name is Veronica."

He looked at me briefly before shaking my hand. "I'm Khalid."

"Khalid," I sounded. "I like it."

He smiled and it lit up his almost stoic expression. "I like your hair and your braces."

My left hand instinctively went up to cover my mouth.

"No way, they're ugly."

He shook his head. "They fit you."

He said it plainly, like it was fact.

I was shrugged and dropped my hand.

"It says ARCADE, by the way," I told him, referring to the sign.

He nodded. "I reasoned that it did 'cause we're obvious in an arcade, I just wanted to spell it out for myself."

"You talk like a grown-up," I said before I could stop myself.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Nope. You just sound really smart."

He blinked, looking a bit confused, like he hadn't expect me to say that at all.

"Are you here alone?" he asked.

"No, I came with my brother," I said, pointing back with my thumb.

"Me too"

"Is he wearing a black hoodie?"

"Yes?"

"Then, he's back there gaming with my brother."

Khalid turned to look backwards and nodded again.

I smiled and nudged his arm softly.

"Want to find a game to play?"

He raised and dropped his shoulders in a shrug.

"Sure."

......

After spending about 45 minutes on the pin ball machine, I decided to head back to Jovan and the boys.

I was still a bit sore about the way he acted, but he was my ride home anyway.

I loaded the tickets I'd won into my card at the front desk for another day, and then I walked over to the door, only to see someone I recognised about to enter.

"Tsema?" I said before I could stop myself.

She looked up and smiled.

"Veronica. Hi," she said, in her melodic sing-song voice, taking off her headphones and putting them round her neck, as she stepped back to let me through.

"Hi," I responded, passing through the door.

She was dressed in a green spaghetti-strapped maxi dress with black and white Vans on her feet and multiple crystal jewelry adorning her neck and wrists.

I suddenly felt uncomfortable in my small skirt and fish-net tights.

"Um...been shopping?" I said, gesturing to the cardboard box beneath her arm.

"Oh, yeah. I'm here with my brother. I had to pick up a new mic and he needed some guitar stuff, so I said lemme come and chill here for a bit."

"Nice."

"Who'd you come with?"

"Jovan, actually," I said, pointing towards the table.

I looked in that direction as well, only to see Jovan sitting alone at the table.

He turned his head and our eyes met.

I faced Tsema again.

"Oh, that's nice," she said rather emotionlessly.

"It's not like a date or anything, he just wanted me to meet some of his friends," I added.

Her brows knitted slightly. "Some of his friends, huh?"

"Yeah," I said slowly, trying to gauge her expression. "Just two of them actua-"

"-Veronica, I have to tell you something," she cut me off, eyes filled with suppressed urgency.

I frowned.

"Is there something wrong?"

"There's just something you need to know. It's about Jovan"

I was about to respond when I felt arms wrap around my waist and smelt BOSS cologne.

I knew it was Jovan before he even spoke.

"Hey, babe," he said sweetly, pending me gently on the cheek.

He had an easy grin on his face and even winked when I looked up at him.

"Hey, Tsems," he acknowledged her.

The urgency in her eyes and tone completely disappeared as she smiled and said clearly; "Hey, Jovan."

She turned to me again, looking me straight in the eye. "We'll talk later, okay?"

"Okay," I barely finished saying before she walked past me to enter the Arcade.

"Let's go," Jovan said, pressing his lips against my clothed right shoulder. "The guys are getting takeout from one of the Chinese restaurants, then we can go see a movie."

I shrugged him off. "Why? Won't I just bother you guys?"

He turned me to face him, still holding my waist tenderly.

I glared at him and he pouted.

"I'm really sorry about how I behaved, babe. I swear I'm such an asshole sometimes."

I tried to maintain the hard glare I was giving him, but he leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips and I couldn't help but smile giddily.

"We good?" he asked.

"Buy me ice-cream and then we'll be great," I said and he chuckled.

"Whatever you want," he kissed me again after saying this.

I was surprised at this sudden and rather unusual display of affection, but I didn't mind it one bit.

In fact, I wished he did it more.

I want the whole world to know of what we have.

He slung his arm over my shoulders as we started walking back to the Food Court.

"So, uh, what were you and Tsema discussing before I got there?"

"She was about to tell me something about you,actually," I told him, holding his hand that hung over my shoulder.

He chuckled humourlessly. "Of course she was."

I glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"Look, babe, Tsemaye is not the dope person you think she is. She's a liar and hella manipulative," he stated plainly.

I tented my brows, processing the information.

"Why'd you think I broke up with her? I couldn't stand her toxicity," he added.

I found it incredibly hard to believe. Tsema was one of those people who came off as honest and trustworthy at first glance, the kind who possessed a calm, quiet yet infectious charisma.

"She probably wanted to feed you with some shit story about me," Jovan continued. "Don't listen to anything she says, babe, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I'm serious, Veronica. Whatever she tries to tell you is pure lies."

"Okay, okay, I get it," I said, squeezing his hand.

"Good," he said and kissed the side of my head. "I'd hate for anything to ruin this."

My heart swelled and I gave him a quick side-hug.

"Me too."

Awwn.....*vomits*

Soooo, we witnessed more Chronicles of Sister Vero😂💔

7-year-old Veronica and Khalid though🥺💖 I absolutely adore those two and their friendship dynamic✨

Thoughts on Oga Jovan?

How about Tsema?

Will we ever find out what she wanted to tell Veronica?👀

Btw, kids, never lie to your parents/guardian about your whereabouts.

And if you have to sneak to see someone, well, you probably shouldn't be seeing them.

Lemme stop here😂💔.

Vote, comment and share as usual.

Love y'all💖💖💖💖