I'm back!

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

Mr. Obi.

I refused to say that name aloud when the door opened to our dismay, believing that reality was simply my imagination.

"Krystian?" His questioning look was all I could see as he stepped into the office. I let go of Krystian's forearm and decided to face reality all by myself, as his curious gaze shifted to me. "Delphine?"

The sound of my name was enough proof that I was in a big mess. If everything went south, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for dragging Krystian into this. What was I thinking? I should be focusing on me and not Krystian.

"What are you both doing here?"

"Mr. Obi," Krystian called out. He appeared to be the only one in control of the space on our faces known as the mouth.

"We were about to head out after seeing no one in your office, sir." Krystian continued. Mr. Obi carefully closed the door and returned to his desk, his gaze never leaving us. He appeared to be on alert as he took a long glance around before sitting in his chair.

"Did you want something?" Mr. Obi asked. I looked at Krystian to see his unwavering expression.

"Kind of, sir," Krystian answered without hesitating. "Delphine heard about the CAT coming up and asked if she'd be exempted from it since she's the new girl, and I thought of bringing her here to ask you herself."

Me? CAT?

Mr. Obi's eyes shifted from Krystian to me. "You are no longer a new girl, Delphine. You've been at this school for more than three weeks, correct?"

"Yes sir,"

"Then you shouldn't worry about CAT." I wasn't sure what this cat was, but I was kind of glad Mr. Obi was buying it. "Besides, you are one of the smartest students in your class. I'm sure you'll have no problem."

"See?" I looked up at Krystian, who smiled down at me. "I told you you'd have no problem."

"Is that all?" I was mindful of Mr. Obi's presence and nodded quickly.

I muttered, "Thank you, sir," and Krystian responded, "Thank you, Mr. Obi."

We both turned and left Mr. Obi's office in the blink of an eye. I didn't realise I was holding my breath for so long until I heard the door close behind me. I closed my eyes to calm myself down, only to open them to see Krystian halfway down the lobby.

"Hey," Every strength was charged into my system, and I ran until I was able to grab him and block his path, preventing him from going any farther.

"The drive,"

Krystian looked at my outstretched hands and tilted his head to the side. "And why should I give my drive to you?"

"Can you stop being difficult, Krystian?"

Krystian snickered at that, then folded his arms. "I'm not giving you the drive."

"Why?"

"Because I risked everything to get that information." I strapped my waist and bit down on my bottom lips, to control myself.

"Krystian, I don't have time for this," I said, inhaling and exhaling several times. He had something I desperately wanted, and the only way I could acquire it was to be the bigger person and exchanging words with him doesn't make me the bigger person. "I need that drive so I could—"

Ding~

The alarm sounded, interrupting me. "That's the alarm; I'm off to class."

"We are literally in the same class!" But Krystian was already trailing down the lobby. I stood there, tapping my feet continuously on the ground with my hands still strapped to my waist. Was it a good idea to team up with Krystian of all people? I was starting to think this probably might not be the best of ideas.

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

I was unable to concentrate in class or during track practice. I kept looking towards the football field and Krystian. He would occasionally meet my eyes, followed by the most obnoxious smirk I'd ever seen on a guy's face. Yes, it was a horrible idea.

"Delphine, come here." I snapped out of my trance as Coach Akpan howled at me. Sighing, I jogged over to him.

"Yes, coach,"

"What's happening to my star runner?" Coach Akpan questioned, but in a low tone, so only I could hear. Many were staring at us, probably to see if I was in trouble or not.

"I'm sorry, coach,"

"I don't need apologies; I need dedication. Your head isn't on today's practice; it's obvious." Blame it on Krystian; I wanted to add but chose to stay quiet. "Put yourself in order before next Wednesday. Okay?"

"Yes, coach,"

"And where is Ore?!" The coach questioned in a loud voice as I jogged back to my spot.

"She's not feeling too well, coach," Nerit answered, followed by a little complaining from the coach about how nothing was going right during today's practice.

I walked away from Coach Akpan with a sullen expression. Getting compliments was something I loved, and I wasn't ready to shy away from that fact. Now, y'all could imagine how disheartening it was to get scolded by the coach, and worse, in public.

"Delphine, are you okay?" I looked ahead to see Chika making long strides towards me and Daniela, who was not far behind. My original plan was to do some warm-ups and probably clear my head, but their presence stopped that plan.

"Or is it because you are pregnant?"

"Chika!" my jaw dropped as Daniela snapped at her friend. "I no tell you make you announce am na."

What was this? "I'm not pregnant." I sat on the track and watched as coach Akpan instructed two of my fellow teammates to a race.

"You are not?"

"No!" It wasn't my intention to snap at Chika, but I couldn't help it. I'd tried hard to divert attention from me to Ore through my revenge, and I wasn't going to let Chika ruin it by reminding everyone of my alleged pregnancy.

"Abeg, forget her. Why are you looking like this, madam?" Daniela sat beside me, and Chika joined us on the ground seconds later.

I looked at the field closer to us instead of immediately answering Daniela. The football team was having practice. It seemed their coach had divided the football players into two teams. Krystian was currently dribbling the ball a guy on his team had passed to him, and he was doing it with ease while not breaking much sweat under the scorching sun.

"You for happy say Ore no show up for practice," Daniela obliviously pulled my attention away from the field. "Abi, Chika?"

"Right," Chika, no surprise, spoke next. "We are in what we call the Ore-free zone. And according to one astrologer like that, it only happens once every pink moon."

"Pink?" I couldn't help but let out a lopsided smile.

"You should know the things to say if you don't have the balls to finish them." We three looked up to see Nerit giving us a disapproving look. What was her deal?

"Or what?" Daniela took a defensive stance. I never had a problem with Nerit; she never gave me a reason to dislike her, even though Ore mostly hung out with her during practice. I was still guilty about what Danielle wrote about her, despite Daniela and Chika telling me how much Nerit deserved it.

"Will you be this brave once I tell Ore what you said about her?" Wow, snitch. Nerit tucked her thick arms beneath her busty chest. She scoffed as none of us said anything to her. "Thought so."

Nerit went away from us to join some other teammates, and I saw Daniela give her disdainful looks.

"Orobo," Daniela commented under her breath before letting out a long hiss. "If she likes, let her not go and drink slim tea."

"Just ignore her," I sighed. It's not like I didn't have anything to say to Nerit when she opened her mouth earlier. I wasn't afraid of Ore and her friends, and my reaction to whatever Ore had done to me was proof enough. However, I still felt bad on behalf of my twin sister.

"Goal!"

Chika, Daniela, and I flinched as we heard the loud cheer coming from the football field, and I was so sure we weren't the only ones. The boys on Krystian's team had run up to him to hug him and ruffle his hair for scoring a goal. Even Romeo could be seen fist-bombing the air, making me believe they were on the same team. I got ready to pull my eyes away from the field when Krystian's gaze met mine. It didn't last long, as another of his teammates playfully shoved him, causing him to break eye contact with me.

The alarm decided to go off at that moment, but no one on the track team dared to move, both boys and girls alike.

"Gather up everyone!" Coach Akpan yelled, forcing everyone to jog over to him. Coach Akpan was not pleased. He inspected us with his intense look, his expression harsh and disappointed. Coach Akpan's stare met mine, and I gulped. I was terrified of what he would say. He'd scolded me in private, which I could handle. I didn't want him to do the same in public.

"You all did badly today," Coach Akpan stated, his gaze softly landing on Nerit. "Except from you, Nerit. You were stable."

I heard Daniela hiss when Nerit said thank you.

"Rumour has it that the intrastate secondary school competition comes up next three weeks, which is said to be after your CAT," Coach Akpan continued. CAT? I still wasn't sure what that was. "Is this how you plan on winning Blossom High School and giving me that trophy?"

"We are sorry, coach!" Everyone on the team roared, gaining attention from non-track members.

"I want to see improvement by next week."

"Yes, coach!" Our zeal caused him to relax a little.

"Someone, tell Ore to see me in my office Monday morning after assembly." We watched him let out a sigh. "You can go home."

That was like music to the rest of my teammates' ears, as they dispersed right after the coach had left us. I wasn't planning to go home immediately; I wasn't planning to go back to a house where a sister chose to listen to her boyfriend over her blood.

I grumbled and turned, intending to lie on the floor till three, when a movement caught my peripheral vision. It was Krystian, and he was preparing to hang his backpack while walking to the sports complex exit. I hurriedly stood up and raced to get my backpack before heading in his direction.

"Krystian, wait up!" my high octave surprised even me as I ran to catch up with him before he could head into the school's main building.

Krystian paused and turned, both hands wrapped around the strap of his backpack, towering over me. He seemed confused at first as he looked over my shoulder, possibly wondering how I ran all the way from the track field within seconds.

"Yes? Enola Holmes." He pulled his gaze down to my face with a puzzled look.

"Can you stop with the name-calling?"

"Do you prefer new girl?"

I groaned. I wanted to tell him off so badly. Even Mr. Obi admitted that I was no longer the new girl, judging that I'd been in this school for weeks now, but Krystian wasn't ready for that discourse.

"The drive," I said, stretching out my palms towards him. I preferred not to beat around the bush when it came to Krystian.

"Oh," he mumbled with furrowed brows.

"Oh?" I was a bit stunned. "Do not tell me you forgot I'm supposed to have the drive."

"You weren't supposed to have anything," Krystian let go of the straps of his backpack, then shoved both hands in his pocket. "If you are going to see the contents in my drive, then I'll have to be there."

I was unfazed by his reaction. I half expected him to say something along those lines. He'd risked everything to get the teachers' and Toyosi's student's records, just so he could prove me wrong. Checking the records alongside me just so he could have an insight into what both files contained wasn't a surprise.

"Fine," I forced out. I wanted this conversation to be over because it was already drawing the attention of wandering students.

"Your place or mine?"

"Sorry?"

"You heard me,"

I did hear him, but I didn't understand him. "What do you mean by my place or yours?"

"It's just a simple question that demands a simple answer, new girl," he shrugged.

"What happened to the computer room?" I demanded sharply.

Krystian gave out a muffled laugh, then shrugged for the second time. "Last time I checked, it's closing hours. Who would want to open the computer lab for you?"

Krystian had a point, but his place? Really? The reason I was already scrapping my place was because of the incident that happened last night. Bringing a boy home after being accused by both my sister and Trust kind of felt like I was already confirming their suspicions.

"Your place," I chewed on my lips and closed both eyes as I spoke my response. I could not believe I had agreed to this.

"Great choice." I opened my eyes slowly to catch Krystian staring at me fondly. What was his deal? "Let's go."

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

I exhaled as Krystian's driver drove us past the front gate and under a car tent. Surprised? Same here. I never knew I'd ever be in the same car with Krystian. But I guessed desperate situations called for desperate measures.

The driver got out of the car and headed to God knows where leaving me with Krystian in the car. My attention wasn't on Krystian, though, but on the enormous house in front of me. I wasn't keen on visiting a place I wasn't familiar with; now I had to bother about his parents.

"What's in your head, new girl?" Krystian inquired in an uninterested tone while gathering his belongings.

"I'm just wondering how I'll switch on my 'home-trained girl that doesn't hate your son' mode when I see your parents." I couldn't believe I had responded. Krystian gave a little laugh, causing me to look at him. "Is it funny?"

"Very," he responded, grasping the car door handle as he opened it. "I'm a hundred per cent sure my dad's not home because of his shooting schedule, and my mum's a probability."

I bit my lower lip, rethinking my decision to come over to his place instead of proposing we look at the drive in the computer room on Monday.

"You coming, new girl?" But I was already here, so I might just as well go on with it to the end.

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

I entered Krystian's home. It was more of a mansion, but I didn't express my awe. The interior decorating complemented the living room's colour scheme and the off-white paint used on the walls. I stared down at the comfy grey sofa and watched how it welcomed me to sit on it, but I kept my cool.

There was no sign of life in the living room other than Krystian and me. I was astonished, to say the least. I imagined his home to be crowded with workers rushing around to complete their chores.

"You can have a seat on the couch." I turned to Krystian and saw him point to a two-seater sofa. "I'll be back."

Krystian turned and went up the steps. I was alone in the living room, trying to process the fact that I was at an A-list celebrity's home. I wouldn't describe myself as someone who got excited about prominent individuals, but that didn't mean I wasn't surprised.

Rather than sitting on the sofa as directed, I moved to the portraits lined up against the wall. They were huge and, of course, begging for attention. I smiled slightly as I saw the first portrait I chose to focus on. It was Henry Williams' wedding photo with his wife. Henry Williams had his wife wrapped in his arms. They seemed overjoyed as they peered at the camera, large smiles on their faces.

The second portrait was, unsurprisingly, a photo shoot. Mrs. Williams was clothed in a stunning red flowing gown, with Henry Williams behind her. Mrs. Williams appeared to be pregnant, judging from her distended belly. And Henry Williams wrapped his protective arms around her stomach.

The final portrait was smaller in size, and I couldn't help but smile when I looked at it. It was a small infant, covered in a fluffy white blanket. The photo was taken when the baby was clearly yawning, with his eyes tightly shut, mouth widely opened, and hands balled into little fists.

"Cute,"

"I see you've made yourself at home." I jumped and turned to see Krystian descending the stairs. He slowly walked up to me until he was right in front of me. "To your luck, my mum's not home. So you can deactivate the switch you haven't turned on yet."

Krystian turned and was leading the way to the dining room. I noticed his change of clothes and wet hair. At least one of us had the liberty of freshening up. "I was thinking of asking you to come upstairs to my room, but I figured you wouldn't."

I paused and watched Krystian; at the same time, he pulled out a dining chair and sat on it. "Why on earth would I go up to a boy's room, alone, for that matter?" I pulled my backpack and leaned it at the foot of the dining chair I was planning on sitting on, which was beside Krystian's.

I noticed the corner of his lips twitch up as he opened his Apple laptop, which greeted us with a password. I couldn't tell what his password was because he typed it so quickly.

"What if . . ." Krystian murmured, skillfully twirling the thumb drive with his index and middle fingers. "Toyosi's file doesn't tally with the ones sent to Mr. Obi by the teachers; what would you do about it?"

"Confront her," I answered without missing a beat.

Krystian scoffed, his eyes meeting mine. "You can't just go about confronting people the way you did to me. One of them might end up filing a restraining order against you. You should be lucky I'm this nice."

Nice? More like annoying. "I don't care if she's your friend, Krystian. I don't care about how much you want to protect her either. But if her student's record doesn't tally with the teacher's file, it only means that she has a bigger motive going through back doors to get good grades."

"She was once in the top four; that's a good grade."

"Then ask your friend why she became Oliver Twist." I fired back, then took a deep breath. "I said what I said. If her grades don't tally, then she's got a bigger motive."

"You talk about motive," Krystian fully turned to me. "To kill your sister?" I refused to answer. "I'm sure you've created a motive for me as well, right?"

"I do not create!" I bit my lips in embarrassment. "I mean . . . I just concluded with what I could work with."

"So . . . create." I really wanted to bash my head on the dining table. Krystian chuckled briefly before returning his attention to the laptop. "I don't like this."

I watched him connect the drive to his laptop, and within seconds, a box of downloaded files appeared on his screen. It contained every file that he had downloaded from Mr. Obi's laptop. He used the mouse skillfully, clicking on the teacher's file, then his name rather than Toyosi's.

"I'll let you know if the teacher's file matches my student's record, and then we'll go ahead to confirm Toyosi's." I had no objections to that. He started with Maths. "I had the highest scores in Maths, both in tests and exams, and the score matches with the teacher's file."

He then clicked on other subjects, but there was no error whatsoever. He confirmed that the teacher's file matched that of his student's record. Now back to the main deal. . . .

Toyosi's.

Krystian decided to look at the teacher's file since we knew Toyosi was in the top three in all subjects and the top two in Government.

"This can't be right," I heard him mumble before pulling out a pair of glasses from his grey joggers and putting them on. "I'm clearly seeing it right."

"You wear glasses?" I couldn't help but comment. Krystian pulled his glasses away and shoved them in his pocket.

"And is that a crime?"

"Of course not. Just that I haven't seen you with one." I said it with all honesty.

"That's because I wear contacts at school," he said, turning and pointing at his laptop screen. "This isn't right."

"What?" I tried looking up what he was seeing on his screen.

"Every subject," Krystian began, and as if to prove his words, he began clicking on every subject they had offered last term. "Toyosi had the fourth highest grade point."

And he was correct. Krystian placed first in each subject, followed by my sister, then Romeo, then Toyosi, and finally, Kim and Ore, who outperformed each other in several subjects.

"Danielle was right," I whispered, then turned to Krystian. "Your friend did go through the back doors."

Krystian's jaw ticked. "This can't be right; you need to confirm it from your sister's student record. Toyosi isn't grade-obsessed enough to go that far in changing her grades."

I frowned deeply at him. "Danielle doesn't lie. Why on earth would she lie?"

"Because she'd always been a bitter person?" Wow. I couldn't just sit there and watch him utter horrible things about my sister. "Look. This grade change on Toyosi's student record, if genuine, affects not just your sister's grade but also Romeo's. If this is true, it means that either Mr. Obi was involved or Toyosi sneaked into his office and upgraded her grades, which is highly unlikely. Do you see why it doesn't make sense?"

I still believed Danielle wasn't lying. She had no reason to be. "You want me to find Danielle's student's record, right?"

"Find?" Krystian pulled out his drive, automatically making the files disappear on his screen. "It's not lost."

Krystian moved over to a programme that had the school's name on it. "This is the school's portal. Every student is assigned a login and personal dashboard; that way, they can see their results for each class, school fees, and the next session's activities. You probably don't have a login yet because you're the new girl. Once you get one, you'll also be assigned the freedom to have your password changed to one you can easily remember. It can be accessed with your phone or laptop as long as there's an Internet connection."

"So can we access it to find Danielle's?"

"We don't have her password, remember?"

I bit my inner cheek and strained my eyes at the school portal that was demanding Krystian put in his password so it would take us to his student's dashboard. "I have one in mind."

I slid his laptop to my front and entered the password I was certain of. The same password Danielle and I used for everything.

𝙸𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝.

I was dumbfounded by the incorrect notification. Danielle didn't use our birthdays, so what was it?

"You have to look for her password," Krystian said, closing his laptop.

"But what's the point?" I demanded. "It's general knowledge that Danielle and Romeo dropped in grade, and Toyosi surpassed them. Of course, it won't tally with the teacher's file, which means your friend used the back door."

"Blinded knowledge." I blinked, confused. "Everyone assumed they had decreased in grades because Toyosi was in the top three in all subjects and the top two in Government. Find the password, go into her student portal, and see whether it matches. If it doesn't add up, I will let you confront her. If it adds up, it's probably a mistake by the teachers."

"I doubt every teacher would make a mistake." Krystian gave me an icy stare. "Fine. I will. Ss2 third term result, right?"

"Right," he answered grimly. I sighed and looked at the clock; it would be four o'clock soon.

"I should get going." I got up and reached for my bag.

"Want me to drop you off?"

"Stop acting gentlemanly." My statement made him smile a bit. I hung my bag. The meeting at his place went better than I'd expected. We didn't rip each other's throats, and I was glad of that. "Bye, Krystian."

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

I strolled through the house's opened gate after four o'clock. It was widely known that schools in our neighbourhood closed at two p.m. every Friday's. But getting home around four p.m. wasn't a bad time for my sister or her ever-loving boyfriend to jump at me.

I stepped into the living room and saw my sister and her boyfriend laughing at something on television. I closed the door, attracting their attention, and my sister turned to acknowledge my presence.

"Delphine—"

"I had extra lessons at school today," I quickly said, watching my big sister looking miserable. I could tell she wasn't herself and wanted to talk to me like we used to.

"That's fine, no problem." She sat upright, trying to force a smile on her worried face. "I made your favourite."

"Not hungry." I ignored how empty my tummy felt. Krystian hadn't offered me anything, and I was glad he hadn't. I didn't trust him enough to eat anything at his place. "I ate on my way here, sister Debby."

I turned and hurriedly climbed the flight of stairs. If I had stayed there one more second, I would have felt bad about what I had said to her yesterday. I locked my door and went to bed. I sat down and hid my face in my hands. I did not want to feel guilty. I wanted her to understand that I didn't agree with her words. Those words also hurt like hell.

I took out my phone and proceeded to my Gmail. Seidi still hasn't responded to my last email. I truly hoped she was fine. I slipped under my reading table to charge my phone before considering taking off my sportswear, but I paused when I recalled I needed to check for something: Danielle's password. I first searched my place, knowing she usually kept things like sticky notes in my room to remind her of certain things, but I found nothing.

I got out of my room to go check Danielle's room instead. The door made a squeaky sound as I opened it, and I knew Debby was aware I was in there. I stood behind Danielle's closed door. The last two times I was here, this room had made me choke, and now wasn't an exception.

You need to be strong, my subconscious said to me. A strong girl isn't meant to act vulnerable.

I stayed behind the closed doors for a few seconds. I needed to prepare my mind before doing anything. I walked away from the door once I was certain I was ready to begin my search. I sat at Danielle's reading table before bringing her Apple laptop closer to me and opening it. Her battery was still fully charged. I navigated to her programmes and saw the identical school portal as Krystian. I clicked on it and was greeted with a password. I tried our birthdays again, hoping it was an error from Krystian's PC, but was met with yet another incorrect notification.

What was it? I kept raking my brain continuously, nonstop, for something that was related to Danielle and me as individuals and as twins. But every single attempt brought in an incorrect notification. Where was I to start searching for something relating to Danielle's password? Where exactly.

I stood up, went to the wardrobe, and reached for her gigantic purple luggage. Perhaps I might begin by inspecting each pocket on her clothing. There must be a small crushed paper hidden somewhere.

I opened her purple luggage and began pulling out heaps of clothes and placing them on the bed. I wanted to begin with this before focusing on her neatly organised clothes in her wardrobe. When there were only a few sets of clothes left in the luggage, I grabbed the light box and tipped it upside down to remove the remaining clothes all at once.

"There," I groaned, moving the box away and beginning my search, only to discover a large brown envelope on top of the pile of clothes. Curiosity overcame me as I took hold of the large brown envelope and cautiously opened it.

It was not empty; there was something inside. I sat cross-legged on the empty part of Danielle's bed. I pushed my hands into the envelope and pulled out the contents. With creased brows, I inspected what I had on my hands.

There were photographs. Five sets of pictures were somewhat difficult to view. It wasn't because the photos were of poor quality; in fact, the photographer appeared to be rather good. The lightning made it difficult to see. It was dark red in two photos, dark blue in one, and almost completely black in the last two. The photographs appeared to be something I could point out if I looked closely enough, so I chose to do just that.

My jaw fell as I brought one of the dark red pictures closer to my face to look at what was on it, and what I saw made me question my decision in some aspects. How could I possibly unsee this?

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

Hi everyone! Miss me? Or should I mind my business???

What do you think about this chapter? About Krystian and Delphine, and what they've found so far?

What do you think Delphine found in those pictures? Any hint whatsoever?

And about Debby, do you think Delphine is acting difficult towards her?"

Comment your thoughts, vote and also share.

Till next time, adios.