Happy birthday in advance to onicabillz444

Enjoy🎂🎊❤️

˗ˏˋ༻ʚKrystian's Povɞ༺ˎˊ˗

I stayed at the Laxtre, a term derived from the 'Relax Centre'. It was a well-built and furnished open-covered area towards the back of the house. It included a concrete centre table, small wooden stools, a few soft couches, and a basket chair hanging in the corner.

I wasn't alone, knowing Hymn, Toyosi, and Ore were all studying. Let me rephrase that. Toyosi and Ore were busily studying alongside me, while Hymn was playing his guitar.

Toyosi had on a white crop top and blue jeans, Hymn wore a black buttoned-up shirt and brown tailored trousers, and Ore wore a flimsy grey dress with a loose hand that occasionally fell off her shoulder. I, coincidentally, was putting on a white sleeveless shirt and blue shorts to help with today's heat.

I flipped to a new page, allowing the cool evening breeze to do its magic. Suddenly, the loud sound of a pen hitting the table distracted me. I looked up, as did Hymn and Toyosi. Ore was enraged in front of us.

"Are you okay?" Toyosi enquired, reaching closer to Ore, who angrily shoved her hands away.

"Obviously not!" she snapped at Toyosi. Hymn and I exchanged looks before returning it to Ore. I had observed Ore wasn't in a good mood since she arrived this evening with Hymn and Toyosi, but I'd chosen not to comment on it.

"What is it?" I asked boredly, unsurprised by her reaction.

"I don't blame you," Ore attacked. "You obviously like Delphine, so you don't care if I'm hurt or not."

I uttered a little chuckle, ignoring Toyosi's tight expression. I reached for Ore's dress hand, which showed a naked shoulder, and positioned it properly. "Do I look caring now?"

"No!" I gave a smile before shaking my head. Without her stating it, I knew my actions had calmed her down a little.

"What about the slap?" Toyosi spoke up.

"Slap?" Hymn dropped his guitar. "You slapped someone."

"More like she got slapped." Hymn gazed at me like I'd grown a second head.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," Toyosi voiced out instead, holding her pen tightly. "Delphine slapped her."

"Can you believe it? That stupid girl slapped me—"

"What did you do?" Hymn asked calmly. I cast a glance at him. I wasn't sure what ticked when he stopped Ore from mentioning Delphine in such a manner, but something did. I wanted to be the one doing the protecting.

"What made you think I did something?" Ore objected, slightly irritated. When she realised Hymn was not going to back down, she exclaimed loudly. "All I did was say one or two about Danielle, and she slapped me!"

"Why would she slap you just because you commented about Danielle?" Toyosi asked, and I fell quiet. I did witness the incident between the two at the sports complex but wasn't sure why their confrontation escalated to that extent.

"I'm not a soothsayer, am I?" Ore responded sarcastically. "I just don't get why she always gets so triggered whenever she hears something ill about that girl."

Hymn picked up his guitar and played a note before writing something down on his music sheet. "When she came in new, all she wanted to know was about Danielle. I low-key find it strange."

"Low-key?" Ore scoffed, "More like high-key."

It wasn't unexpected to see them talk like this. Delphine was never discreet about her behaviours, no matter how hard she tried. It took a miracle for her to survive this long without anyone discovering her true identity and objective. Although it was entertaining to watch my friends struggle to figure out Delphine's strange interest in Danielle, I didn't want to throw Delphine under the bus.

"A student died at our school." I shut my book and stared at my friends. "How is it weird that a new student is trying to know about the former student who was once sitting in the seat she's occupying?"

Ore visibly shuddered, "Can you stop making it sound scary?"

"Krystian's right," Hymn replied, returning to his guitar. "Let's stop talking about the dead and the new girl and focus on studying for tomorrow's CAT."

"Says the guy not studying," Ore scowled, prompting Hymn and me to smile. Even though the situation was relatively calm, I couldn't help but notice Toyosi's stiff expression. I couldn't deny that I was drifting away from her without realising it. Perhaps I did know. Perhaps I had unwittingly chosen Delphine over her.

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

We'd left the Laxtre to my room long before the day got dark. I was busy surfing my WhatsApp while my friends were busy packing up their study supplies. I navigated to the status segment after getting a new status notification and noticed it was one from Delphine. 'Happy,' it read, which surprisingly kept me at ease way more than necessary.

I knew about her conflict with Ore, but I never knew why. I recalled stopping the game and almost moving to the track to make sure Delphine was okay. Looking back, I couldn't help but laugh at my foolishness. My friend was slapped, but I was concerned about the person who did the slapping. It was amusing. Knowing Delphine, I assumed she was beating herself up while devising more strange conspiracy theories in response to her fight with Ore, but I guess something or someone made her feel better.

Someone . . .

"What are you looking at?" Toyosi approached me on the bed and snatched my phone without warning. "Delphine."

I could sense the disappointment in her tone but chose not to act on it. "Don't grab my phone without my permission."

She was taken aback as I reclaimed my phone and pocketed it. Hymn and Ore were completely unaware of what was going on, as they continued to pack their belongings.

"You never had a problem with me taking your phone, Krystian." She was right. I paid little to no attention to my friends invading my privacy when it came to my phone, but that was before Delphine.

"People change; change is constant." Hymn turned. I guess they weren't oblivious, just decided not to interfere. "You both need to stop looking at our phones without permission."

"Why?" Ore peered at him in close proximity. "Do you have someone you are seeing? Krystian, I can understand, because for some insane weird reason, he seems to like Delphine, but—"

"And you are okay with him liking her?" Toyosi fired, trying to control her emotions but failing miserably. "I thought you didn't like her."

Ore shrugged and zipped her backpack. "I can't stop these two blockheads on who to be friends with. Irrespective of her being friends with Krystian, she shouldn't cross my path."

Hymn and I exchanged glances, aware of how heated the argument was becoming. It wouldn't have been a topic if Toyosi hadn't brought it up. I turned to Toyosi, who was staring at her feet with a slight grimace.

"We should get going," she replied, her voice icy and just above a whisper, as she rose from my bed and placed her backpack over her shoulder.

"Why are you in a hurry?" Ore scoffed jokingly, "It's not like you have any curfew to begin with—"

"Just let's go!" We all flinched at Toyosi's change of character. This was not typical of her, and she was fully aware of it.

"Toyosi," Hymn drew closer, worrying about her. "Are you okay?"

I watched my best friend close her eyes and exhale. "The test and everything must be getting to me," she said, opening her eyes and smiling slightly at Ore. "I'm sorry for snapping at you."

Ore remained silent. She was clearly offended by Toyosi's passionate reaction. She got up, hung her bag and marched out of the room. Hymn did not pursue her, which was understandable. He waited to see if Toyosi was all right before leaving the room, his hands over her shoulder. Of course, neither said farewell to me, but I opted not to focus on that.

I dug into my pocket and pulled my phone out. Moving on to my contacts, I clicked on the name that appeared to be my highest priority right now. I wasn't being a bad friend; I just knew Ore's rage would pass soon, and Toyosi . . .

"Why are you calling me this late?" the voice interrupted my thoughts.

Exactly, why was I calling? "It's just past eight."

"Exactly," there was a pause, "Late."

Lying on my bed, I glanced at the ceiling, oblivious to the slight upward curl at the tip of my mouth. "Are you okay?"

Delphine did not answer at first, allowing me to examine my thoughts. I cared; that was already established. Was I into her? Probably not. "If this is about what happened between Ore and me, I don't want to hear it."

"Why?" A little chuckle escaped my lips. Acting cocky was not something I wanted to do; it was a habit that developed spontaneously. "Does my comfort make you weak?"

"Krystian . . ." Delphine let out a frustrated sigh, which elicited a full laugh from me.

"You seem happy now? Someone must have made you feel better." Was I being defensive? My remarks and tone sounded edgy and out of character, and all I wanted to do was bury my phone six feet under.

"Are you okay?" A little shuffle came from Delphine's path. "You don't sound like you."

No, I don't . . .

It was best to end the phone and pretend the entire conversation never occurred. Thinking back, I wasn't sure what made me call her in the first place.

"Good night, Delphine."

"Wait," her voice said, preventing me from removing the phone from my ear. "It was Seidi, my best friend; she made me feel better."

Was this a typical feeling? Hearing her speak those words made my chest lighten up, and with that, I knew I was doomed.

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

It's not too late to wish y'all a happy new month!

I knew I said this chapter was going to be a long one... But it turned out I was talking about the chapter after this.🚶🏾

So here's a new chapter in Krystian's pov. What are your thoughts on it?

Till next time ✨