"Ore's place?!"

It felt like the umpteenth time I'd mentioned that girl's name, and all Krystian did was check his phone to see how much time we had wasted. I refused to leave my location, despite the fact that the bolt driver was waiting for us.

"How could you move me from frying pan to fire?"

"Ore isn't that bad—"

"Oh please," I snarled. First Toyosi, and now Ore? When would he stop defending his friends? Krystian breathed out a sigh. He didn't appear happy, and I didn't mind. The night breeze was getting cooler, pushing me to wrap his jacket securely around my shoulder.

"Where do you want to go then?" Krystian leaned closer, invading my personal space. "My place?"

"Stop it," I said, putting him back into his former position. "What will I be doing sleeping in a guy's place?"

"Well . . ."

"Krystian, stop!" I snapped. I didn't want to hear the rotten thing his brain had cooked up. "I really can't go to Ore's place. We are going to kill ourselves before morning. Maybe I should just try Kim's."

Krystian nodded, "Go ahead."

I grabbed my phone and promptly dialled Kim's number. The first attempt to reach her failed, as did the second and third.

"Why isn't she answering her calls?"

"Probably because it's eleven, new girl," Krystian replied, though I had muttered to myself. "A normal Nigerian teen should be in bed by this time."

I refused to be insulted when he called me abnormal. It wasn't like he was far off the mark.

"You need to think fast," Krystian continued. "The bolt driver is still waiting."

I couldn't believe I was ready to agree to my demise. Why didn't I prepare a backup backup plan?

"Get ready to plan my funeral," I said before walking past him and towards the roadside.

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

I sat silently beside Krystian in the back of the moving car. He was too preoccupied with his phone to even spare a glance my way. I was perplexed, wondering why I had consented to this—why I had agreed to anything simply because he said so. A few minutes later, I heard a sigh, which reminded me of his presence once more.

"It took so much convincing, but she has finally agreed." I knew he meant Ore when he said 'she'.

"Ore agreed with you about bringing me over?" It sounded too good to be true.

"I must have left that part out."

Of course.

I stared out the window as the only way to regulate my emotions. I took deep breaths and let out a loud sigh, but none of the strategies were working as I swung my body to face Krystian.

"I might hate Toyosi a little bit more, but that doesn't mean I want to be in the same room with Ore!" I finally exploded.

"It's just one night, what can go wrong?"

"Murder,"

"You're joking, right?" I stayed mute. Did it seem like I was joking? I wasn't sure what his definition of a joke was, but I was completely serious. "You're going to be under her roof with workers all over the place. Why would she kill you under such an environment, especially when I'm the one bringing you there?"

I rolled my eyes. All this emotional blackmail and convincing wasn't going to work. "How about Hymn's place?"

"Hymn's a guy, what happened to your concept?"

Well, my heart doesn't beat funnily when I'm around him.

"Fine, but still prepare my funeral." Krystian wasn't laughing, and I wasn't kidding either. The journey eventually came to a halt before an immense gate, which I assumed was Ore's residence. Krystian opened the door to climb down, and I followed suit. I anticipated the driver to drive away, but he was creepy by remaining stuck in his seat and not moving the car.

"Wait," I held Krystian's arms before he could knock on the gate. "How sure are you that you're not leading me to my funeral?"

"Ore isn't that bad and I'm serious when I tell you this." He answered coldly.

"I slapped her," I tried to remind him what he must have forgotten. "And she hadn't retaliated ever since. Don't blame me for having these many thoughts."

Instead of trying to calm me, Krystian banged on the gate. I tried not to worry by reminding myself that I had nothing to fear in the first place. I was not sure why I was behaving terrified. I wasn't scared of Ore in the first place—

Thumb—thumb—thumb!

I could feel my heart racing when I heard the gate opening from the inside. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I watched the gate open, only to realise it was the security guard. I let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding as I saw the security guard address Krystian before allowing us to enter.

It was too early to relax, especially after seeing a silhouette of someone getting up from what appeared to be a comfortable sofa on the balcony.

It turned out to be Ore, which exacerbated the distress in my stomach. Despite his harsh demeanour towards me earlier, I felt Krystian's fingers wrap around mine as he gently held me, and I felt myself relax as we proceeded towards the balcony.

"What's she doing here?" Ore, dressed in a cotton brown pyjama and a fluffy pink hair band, moved two steps down the balcony stairs. "Get out."

"Ore—"

"Get out!" She snapped, disrupting Krystian in the process. I wondered if her parents were home because of the way she'd yelled, but that thought vanished as I met her fiery eyes.

"I told you I'd be coming,"

"You didn't say with her," Ore accused. "I'd informed my father that you'd be coming before he went upstairs to his room. You, not her."

Ore's eyes were anything but inviting. I'd never been terrified of Ore, but now that I was in her territory, anything could happen. "I should go."

"Maybe you should," she fired.

Krystian's fingers wrapped firmly around mine, stopping further movements from me. "Come on, it's past eleven, and she can't go home at this hour. It's either here or Hymn's."

"No way Hymn is going to let her into his house," she snarled, glaring at Krystian.

"I'd texted him earlier," Krystian shrugged. "He's still awake because he's expecting me."

This was news to me. I was as perplexed as Ore.

"Maybe I should just tell him—"

"Stop!" Ore exclaimed, reaching her arms as if to prevent Krystian from carrying out his plan. "Why would you think of taking her to Hymn's?"

"You are refusing to house her for the night; what would you have me do?" Krystian questioned innocently, causing Ore to do the most atypical thing I'd ever seen her do: pout.

Closing her eyes and lifting both hands in exasperation, Ore shouted. "Fine! She can stay!"

Krystian and I shared a gaze. He smiled, but I didn't. Why should I smile? To him, it was like sleeping at a friend's place. To me? It was like walking into the lion's den.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Krystian commented, leaving my side and heading over to Ore before pecking her on the forehead. A tiny gesture that made it quite uncomfortable to witness. "I have to go."

"Wait, what?" Ore and I said at the same time, our eyes strained on the human known as our mutual friend.

"What do you mean by you're going?"

"Don't tell me that you are leaving her with me." Ore pointed at me with disdain, but I was too invested in Krystian to even care.

"I'd informed Hymn that I'd be staying at his place. I simply came here for Delphine."

"So this is what betrayal feels like," I whispered to myself, frowning at Krystian. Krystian had the opposite reaction, with a cheeky smirk on his face.

"Ore, Delphine isn't that bad," which earned him an eye-roll from Ore. "And Delphine, Ore is far better than you think."

"Don't patronise me," Ore snarled, before turning on her heels and heading in.

"You have to go with her," Krystian said, moving to stand beside me. "It's getting late, and the driver is still waiting."

Here I thought the driver was just being a creep, but it turned out he was only waiting for Krystian.

"Just go, you've done your worst today." I refused to look at him as I headed to my doom. Toyosi might have kept that nonsensical purse in my bag, but Ore did start it by putting that pregnancy test tube in my bag.

Ore was sitting on one of the white sofas, refusing to look at me as I entered the living room. I also saw four ladies I guessed were workers, standing at a distance.

"Try to make yourself invisible," she said, before rising from the chair and proceeding to the stairs. I wasn't sure what I should do. I wasn't sure if I should follow her up the stairs or stay where I was.

I did the former, moving over to the stairs and cautiously heading up behind Ore. She didn't yell for me to go back down, so I felt I must be doing what she wanted. It wasn't like I couldn't match her attitude towards me, just that I couldn't do that in her territory.

We got to what I assumed was her room. She pushed open the door, and we both stepped inside. With an angry sigh, Ore turned to me, disgusted. She stared at my shoulder, followed by a scoff. "Seeing that you have his jacket on you, it seems you must mean something to him."

I was once reminded of Krystian's denim jacket and held it securely. "Thank you for having me."

"Don't thank me," she folded both hands beneath her chest. After a few seconds, she plopped down on her comfortable bed. "Also, don't expect me to share this with you. You're sleeping on the floor."

I looked down at the hard tiled floor, then at the centre furry carpet, where her huge bed was. Maybe if I slept in the small spot on the hairy carpet, I wouldn't feel it so much.

"Things you should know, no snoring, no talking in your sleep, no sleepwalking, no rolling, no giving creepy sounds, no going to the bathroom often . . ."  My brows furrowed as her list went on and on. "Do any of that and you'll be thrown to the couch down the stairs. Capeesh?"

Although the sofa downstairs sounded more inviting, I chose not to get on her bad side. I kept on repeating to myself that I was in her territory.

"I sleep with the lights on," I was reminded of her presence once again. "Have any problem with that, then that's your business. Goodnight."

I watched her crawl into her bed and place the deep red blanket over herself. I was relieved she didn't bring up the slap since I wasn't sure how I'd react if she did. I wanted to go as far away from her as possible, so I gazed at the tiled floor and regretted my life's choices before lying down.

I tried several times but couldn't fall asleep. First, the light in her room was extremely bright, and second, the chilly tiled floor, along with the freezing air flowing from the air conditioner, was not helping.

I heard Ore tossing and turning, so I knew she wasn't fast asleep. A disgruntled moan permeated the room, prompting me to respond. "Can't sleep?"

"Mind your business,"

I pressed my lips as a way to stop myself from speaking out of place. "I'm trying to, but your turning isn't helping."

"Maybe if you weren't in my room, I'd be sleeping soundly!" She sat upright to glare at me.

"You should've let me sleep at Hymn's place then."

"What are you? A prostitute?"

"Ore!" I sat upright with a warning look. Forget that I was in her territory; I just couldn't watch her insult me.

"I wouldn't be surprised," she went on, "based on the pregnancy test strip and all—"

"That you kept in my bag!"

"I did not!" We were both fuming in anger, and I knew it could only take a miracle for her yelling not to wake anyone. "What are you doing at our school? Ss3 for that matter. How many strings did you pull?"

"That's rich coming from someone rich," Ore scoffed, leaning against the headrest.

"Just because I decided to let that slap go only because Hymn said so, doesn't mean I won't do worse if you cross my line again. I'll repeat this: watch your back, new girl, that's if you don't want to go under." And with that, she flung her blanket at me before getting up and going to her closet to fetch a new one, which she wrapped around herself as she laid back on the bed.

I glanced at the heavy blanket in surprise before returning my gaze to Ore, who was attempting to sleep. I had no idea how to feel at the moment. Angered by her comments to me, or grateful for the blanket she threw at me.

Trying not to read too much meaning into her action, I moved over to the warm, furry carpet and lay on it while covering myself with the deep red blanket.

Guess I won't die tonight.

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

I let out a suppressed moan, stretching my hands sideways. I liked the cherry fragrance first thing in the morning. It enhanced the already brand-new day. Wait, cherry?

I had nothing of such fragrance in my room, and the last time I remembered, my bed wasn't as hard as— It all came rushing in, followed by a sense of dread as reality set in. I opened my eyes quickly, only to see Ore in her pyjamas from the night before, sitting in front of what appeared to be her makeup desk, wearing a face mask.

I slowly sat up, my back sore from sleeping on the hard floor for so long. Still staring at Ore, I couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't woken me up. I mean, knowing her kind of person, she seemed like the type that would've poured me water for sleeping in.

Krystian's words about Ore slowly crept into my head, and I had to shake it off. There was no way I could be having second thoughts about her.

"Good morning," I murmured. Ore peered at me in the mirror but remained mute. I got up despite her lack of response and gently folded her blanket. "Thanks for the duvet."

"Can you stop talking to me and go already?"

She finally turned, witnessing the frown on my face. She wouldn't tell me twice as I began gathering my stuff and Krystian's jacket. I left her room without saying a word, erasing any thought of her ever being a bit better than I could've imagined. She hated me, and the feeling was mutual.

"Who are you?" I came to a complete stop on my track and looked at the man in front of me. He wasn't a stranger to the world, knowing how his face was all over the place, advertising his soon-to-be-released album.

"Good morning sir," I greeted politely, holding the jacket securely as I witnessed his calculating look.

"I know you," he tilted his head slightly. "You are the girl from my daughter's school. The one that had a misunderstanding with her." It was nice to hear him use the word misunderstanding instead of bluntly accusing me of lying. "What are you doing here?"

I knew he was genuinely curious, but his question was putting me in a tight spot. "I slept over, sir."

"Slept over?" We both turned to face the staircase when we heard footsteps. Ore was wearing the same clothes she had in her room but without the face mask. "Didn't know you were friends with my daughter."

"Friends?" it was Ore's turn to act confused, as she moved to her father and hugged him. "Morning Dad."

"Morning, monkey." I snickered at the pet name, which earned me a glare from Ore. "She said she slept over."

"Oh. . . ." Ore dragged, "She's my . . ." she trailed once more as she tried searching for an excuse. ". . . new friend."

I was shocked by her statement and beat my chest a couple of times to regain composure.

"You've both reconciled?" Ore stifled a nod, which earned a bright smile from her father. "I'm proud of you."

Despite my hatred for Ore, I couldn't help but envy her current situation, which included her father's involvement in her life.

"You're going out this early, Dad?" At that point, I became aware of the rapper's stylish attire.

"The shoot, remember?" Her father responded. "But not without breakfast. Let's have breakfast, with you included."

His invite was a bit shocking, and I couldn't help but hesitate.

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," Ore stated robotically as she proceeded towards the dining room with her father. "Come have breakfast with us, friend."

Although she didn't mean the things flowing out of her tongue, I found myself approaching the table.

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

Hi everyone... So I was supposed to update on Easter Sunday, but half the chapter got wiped out cause I forgot to save it... But it's here now.

So what do you think about this chapter in general?

Don't forget to vote, comment, and share with those who love this sort of genre...

Bye!