Dedicated to NaijaBae

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There were two police officers at the crime scene. One served as the head, and the other as his assistant, with a notepad and a camera around her neck. On the floor was a drawing of the precise position the body was in before being rushed out, as well as a message and a knife stained with the victim's blood. Outside the press club were the school's principal and guidance counsellor. The officers ordered them both not to intervene.

The police officer with the notepad had jotted down everything necessary for the inquiry. Name of the victim, age, class, weapon used, cause of death, and estimated time of death. After gathering everything they needed, the police exited the room to meet the principal, who was eagerly waiting for them outside. The young counsellor's surprised countenance, as well as the principal's anguish, were shown. This type of thing had never happened at Greenville High. This was not just going to be a horrible experience for the students; the school's reputation was also at stake.

"What is it, inspector?" the principal asked once the officers stepped out of the room.

"I need to interrogate each student in her class," said the inspector, while motioning for the female officer to take note.

"Interrogating the students without consent from their families-is that allowed?" The principal asked.

"You are the guidance counsellor, are you not?" The inspector questioned, his gaze shifting to the young lady standing next the principal, who nodded. "Then it's allowed."

Silence followed as the principal called the selected class's teacher.

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It's about your sister . . .

It had been nearly a week since Mrs. Emma informed me of my sister's death. I couldn't believe it then, and still couldn't believe it till this day. Danielle was a pleasant person with many ambitions for the future. I remembered my previous chat with her and how excited she was to meet me during the break so we could do a lot more TikTok videos together. According to her, we were twins and exceptionally beautiful, which would immediately result in likes and followers. I grinned a little, remembering her remarks.

. . . she committed suicide.

Someone with so many dreams and intentions couldn't just throw her life away. It was simply impossible. I cried so hard that Mrs. Emma had to go to the school authorities about allowing me to go home. After much deliberation and pity from the school board, I was asked to leave one week later. I had requested Seidi to help me with my belongings this morning, and she had hugged me warmly before letting me get into Mrs. Emma's car.

I wiped my eyes after noticing some passersby giving me strange looks. I was at the airport with my school bag on one shoulder, looking around for my older sister Deborah, affectionately called as Sis Debby by Danielle and myself.

"Make sure you don't think too much of the situation," Mrs. Emma had said, "and contact me often, okay?"

I sniffed and decided to find a place to sit when I spotted a familiar silhouette. "Sis Debby?"

The person turned a bit, giving me a clear view of their face. "Sis Debby!"

A few others turned to look at me, but I was only concerned with my sister, who was now looking in my direction. Wiping my eyes, I dashed over and grabbed her hard, wailing on her shoulder. Danielle and I were an inch taller than Debby, but it didn't appear that way because Debby was better endowed than my twin and I.

"Hey, don't cry." Debby tried to soothingly massage my shoulder to halt my uncontrollable crying, but it didn't work. Instead, I wailed more loudly. My heart broke when I saw my older sister and realised we'd never be whole as siblings.

"Come on," Debby murmured as she held me close to her. She went for my backpack and took it off my shoulders and hung it on hers. "Let's go home."

The ride home was silent. I spent the majority of my time staring out the window. I spotted my older sister looking at me, but she said nothing, which I appreciated. Debby blew the car horn, and the gateman opened the gate a few seconds later.

Home.

How much of a home could this be? We'd lost our parents at a young age, and now it was Danielle. What sort of misfortune was this? As Debby entered the car tent, I spotted a missing car.

"You sold it?" I questioned as I watched my sister remove her car keys from the ignition.

"Sold what?" She inquired. We both got down, and I opened the back seat to get my backpack.

"The other car," I replied, slinging my bag over my left shoulder. Debby shook her head as she glanced around for the car.

"No, Trust took it." She reached for my school bag again, but I stopped her.

"Trust's still here?" His name held a bitter taste in my mouth. This man had the biggest irony to his name because I never trusted him one bit. Neither Danielle nor I did.

Trust was my sister's boyfriend, who was currently operating my father's business on behalf of my older sister. My father owned a publishing company that was one of the largest in the country. Following his death, my sister was expected to take over. Debby was into makeup. She aspired to be the country's most successful cosmetics artist. She wasn't prepared to lead my father's firm and intended to leave the role to Danielle when she reached adulthood since she loved writing and would be content being surrounded by her passions, even though enjoying writing was very different from running a business.

Danielle was underage and unable to run the company, and Debby was uninterested because she wanted to pursue her passion into a career, so she opted to delegate responsibility to her boyfriend, that was when Trust entered the picture. Trust was not someone my twin and I trusted, especially when we discovered him making hidden phone calls to his side chicks

It hurt to witness our older sister being exploited by a man because she came from an affluent family, so Danielle and I vowed to prove it. Knowing that my twin and I were unto him, he decided to be more cautious, making it more difficult to obtain proof. That aside, I assumed he'd be out of the picture now because Danielle had spoken to me on Mrs. Emma's phone for the last two weeks, assuring me that Debby and Trust had had a major misunderstanding, but I guess I was mistaken.

"Of course," Debby stated. I rested my hands on my temple. I had a lot on my mind right now, to start thinking about Trust. I didn't plan on staying here for long. I'd return to school anyway, so I wouldn't feel like Trust was living with us.

We got into the house. It was really silent. I walked slowly down the little steps at the living room's entrance before continuing to the TV stand. It featured a picture of my sisters and me. It was taken when Danielle and I were in Primary 1 and my older sister had recently been admitted to Jss1.

"Delphine . . ." Debby dragged, but I sniffled and turned to the stairs. I knew she was following after to see whether I was all right-if only I was.

I carefully climbed the stairs to the lobby, which led to the rooms. There was my room, but it was the door opposite that drew my attention. I approached it gently and grabbed the doorknob before pulling the door open. The door squeaked, sending me down memory lane. Danielle despised the sound and had often requested that Debby get someone to fix it. She'd complained about how she couldn't leave her room quietly without anyone noticing due of the stupid noise. Debby, on the other hand, was generally preoccupied with something else, which made her forget about getting someone to fix the door. She either had a client who needed their makeup done or had a date with Trust.

I took a step deeper into the room as a sob escaped my lips. My gaze scanned the room, and I envisioned Danielle using her Apple laptop. She claimed to be a member of the press club, despite the fact that everyone else declined to join. And every time she had a holiday, she sought to plan her club schedule for when school started.

I proceeded to her reading table, where her laptop was closed and set in the centre of the table. Her books were neatly piled, and her pens and pencils were stored in a clear bag. On her reading table was a photo of the two of us. We'd taken a selfie with her phone, and she'd smiled enthusiastically. She had it framed and has had it on her desk ever since. A tear rolled down my cheeks, which I hastily wiped away.

"What happened to her?" I coughed. I turned to see my sister holding herself and gazing down at her feet. She had been striving to be strong all along because of me.

"I guess Danielle was having hard times at school," Debby said, her voice unsure. "She'd looked so cheerful that I never imagined her going through so much pain. Why did she have to do that?"

I sat down on my twin bed. I understood what Debby meant. But I still couldn't believe Danielle had committed suicide. I knew deep down that she didn't.

"Didn't they investigate the matter?" I enquired, my tone just above a whisper. I considered it a miracle that Debby heard me. I was weak; the notion of my twin sister no longer being alive made me feel as if something important had been taken from my body.

"They did last week." Debby moved over and sat beside me on Danielle's bed. "Everything led to her wanting to commit suicide."

"But . . ." I trailed off, fully turning to my sister. "It was just a week. Who runs an investigation for one week and then concludes?"

"She wrote on her death note about ending it all, Delphine. She was tired of the world." I saw the tear escape Debby's left eye. "Please, I'm trying to find closure, and that's why I want to bury her as soon as possible. Danielle wouldn't want this. So I beg: let's lay her to rest."

I watched my sister and chewed my lower lip before staring ahead of her. I wasn't looking at anything particularly interesting; I just couldn't bear how damaged Debby was. "When's the burial?"

"This Saturday," Debby exhaled, let go of me, and hugged herself. I finally mustered the courage to meet her gaze. "After that, you'll stay a week to clear your head and go back to school."

I nodded softly, not saying anything. Debby sighed and returned her attention to me after looking around the room. "I should go prepare something for you to eat; make sure you shower and come downstairs."

I wasn't sure I'd have the hunger to eat anything, but I nodded. Debby patted my shoulder twice before standing up and exiting the room. I was alone in my sister's room, and all I wanted to do was go down on her bed and snuggle myself to sleep, but that would bother Debby. I wanted to express how I felt. I wanted to cry, shout, and rip things apart, but couldn't. I had to conceal it because I cared about my sister's feelings? I stood up because I knew I couldn't sit still forever, and I exited the room with a heavy heart.

When I arrived in my room, I went straight to my wardrobe. My phone case sat on top of it. I removed the package and opened it to get my phone and charger. I left the box on the floor and went to the extension under my reading table to plug in my phone charger. Mrs. Emma would be concerned. Though I was sure Debby would call her, I wanted to contact her so I could speak with Seidi.

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My shower was long, but that was because I spent the majority of it in memory lane. I remembered the insane things Danielle and I had done over the years, and I couldn't shake the feeling that she was waiting for me to come home so she could open a joint TikTok account. Someone who was so delighted over the smallest thing, such as TikTok, couldn't commit suicide with a message claiming that she wanted to end everything. End what exactly? Danielle was happy.

I walked out of the room wearing washed blue shorts and an orange t-shirt. I could detect the delightful aroma of my sister's cooking. That should have made my stomach churn, but it didn't. I was convinced I couldn't take more than three spoonfuls of what she was dishing.

When I got to the dining room, I came to a complete stop. If I had the slightest desire for three spoons earlier, I had none now. Trust, my sister's boyfriend, sat close to the edge of the dining table. He was on his phone at first and didn't glance at me, but when he spotted my presence, he did.

"Danielle," he called his crooked smile making me frown. Debby, of course, was in the kitchen, unaware of this heartwarming interaction.

"It's Delphine," I said with gritted teeth. "You still haven't gotten the name right."

I groaned to keep my frustration at bay and moved to the dining chair, far away from him. Danielle and I weren't quite alike. Danielle and I looked extremely different despite the fact that we were of the same height and had nearly identical body features. When it came to likeness, I incline towards my father's visuals, whereas Danielle's visuals favoured Mum's. Regardless of these disparities, Trust couldn't even get our names correctly. He was just outrageous. What did Debby perceive in him? He'd been living with my sisters like a freeloader, but he couldn't use his brain to predict that I'd be named something other than Danielle.

"Oh, you both look alike." I shook my head and focused on the table mat instead. It was better that than to answer the likes of him.

"Hey," Debby walked in with plates and set them in front of me, then Trust, and last at the edge of the table, where she sat. On the table, there were already glasses, a fruit juice pack, and a water jug. "How are you feeling now?"

"Getting there," I couldn't say I was fine because I wasn't, and I had no idea when or if I would ever be fine.

"You are here for, er . . ." Trust trailed. "Danielle, right? Too bad she committed suicide."

My left hand gripped the fork, and my right gripped the table knife. "She was a brilliant kid."

"Can you speak about my sister with respect?" My voice got harsher than intended. Debby watched the both of us, then sighed.

"He didn't mean it in any bad way, Delphine," Debby said, rubbing her temple. "Trust called her brilliant."

I desperately wanted to groan out loud. How much did she love this man that she couldn't notice his flaws? He was in her blind spot. If this was how love felt, then I refuse to fall in love. I glanced at Trust, who was holding Debby's hand on the table.

"When will you be going back to school?" Trust asked. I refused to look at him and instead focused on the jollof rice, fried plantains, and omelette.

"Why?" I asked, my eyes still on my food. "Want me gone? Last time I checked, this is my house, not yours."

"Delphine-"

"Gone?" Trust laughed, interrupting my sister. "Trust me, I want the opposite. I want you to stay, at least for your sister."

I cautiously looked up at Trust, who had his eyes on mine, but his hand was lovingly wrapped around Debby's left hand. See how I mentioned his name was an irony? I couldn't trust him since there was nothing about him that was worthy of trust.

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We've got to see Debby and her boyfriend, Trust. What do you think about these characters' personalities? Is Debby moving on too soon by accepting Danielle's death and wanting closure? Or is she trying to be strong for Delphine? How about Trust? Is Delphine being too hard and judgemental towards him? Or is it too early to Judge?

What do you think about the second chapter in general?

I'll be updating twice weekly.

The first fourteen chapters of MITC are ready, but updating twice weekly helps with editing the already-written chapters.

I was planning to update twice today but chose not to announce it just in case I disappoint y'all, lol. Expect another update this week.😘

Bye✨