1.2K reads on TMBT already😥❤️And to think, I just started this book yesterday, I'm definately dreaming. Thank you so much for reading this book. I assure you won't regret it, it's going to be one hell of a ride!!! 😥❤️

Oh, and someone asked if TMBT can be read and understood as a stand- alone, and the answer is a big YES! Like I said this isn't a sequel of TLT, it's more like a spin off. It's like the TV shows 'Blackish' and 'Grownish' - even if they are connected, you don't need to watch Blackish to understand Grownish, and even if you never watched Blackish, you will totally still grab Grownish. Same thing with TLT and TMBT, iyeh?

Okay, so we start.....🥃🥃🥃🥃

~DABI~

"What were you doing in there?" Soma asked me, thick brows furrowed in curiosity, as she frowned inquisitively at me.

It had been about a minute or so since we both left the Diner, and decided to rather sit on the mahogany large bench - the one that was always positioned in front of the Gomery building. The one that gave a distanced, but clear view of the busy road that was just a few feet away.

"Where?" I was about asking Soma before it all came back to me like a flash.

The kitchen... The woman made of concrete...

I opened my mouth to answer Soma's question, but whatever words were about to proceed off them came to a halt. I paused, a sudden unfarmiliar interest connected me to the road side, successfully distracting me from Soma and whatever she was saying.

Cars moved to and fro, big cars, small cars, trucks, buses, all speedingly heading towards their destination, and for some reason that wasn't clear to me, I was fascinated by the scenery. Intensely fascinated.

I imagined car crashes and ghastly motor accidents.

"Lulu!" Soma screamed at me and her loud voice actually jolted me in shock.

Lulu - that was a name she fondly called me. A nickname she extracted from my actual full name. I wasn't sure why I wasn't interested in listening to her at the moment, but she damn right got my attention when she nudged a painful elbow into my wrists, her knob, painfully digging in between my ribs and nearly cracking it.

"Ow." I muttered, massaged my ribs, but she wasn't bothered at all.

"Ehen? So? Are you ready to answer me or should I press your neck?" Soma said, tucking in a little of her long, long black hair and blinking steadily at me steadily, as she peered those big brown eyes of hers into mine, awaiting my response.

She may have tucked in that hair of hers more than once for me to have noticed it, because I was just staring at her hair now. Couldn't stop staring at it and wondering, within me, how possible it was for a girl's natural hair to be that long at this part of the world.

Somadina Best had the longest hair I had seen live; It was very black, very straight, very silky and perfectly oiled and straightened neatly, letting it to go down, down, down, literally stopping an inch past her mid back. If she wasn't grinning widely, the first thing you'd noticed when you looked at her, was her long hair.

Yes, ofcourse, Soma was pretty too - almond shaped, large eyes, thick full eyebrows, and full lips that made her look like she was a distant relative of the Kardashians. Sure, she wasn't exactly drop dead georgeous enough to have you gasping for air, but she was beautiful enough to make you a tad bit envious...  And that hair of hers... that hair could have you green eyed as a snake.

As Soma batted her eyelids at me, patiently, waiting for me to speak, I only admired her hair more and more, wishing it was all mine.

I had half a mind to cut it.

"Hello?? Earth to Lulu! You can come back to earth now, Mami!" Soma vigorously snapped her fingers in my face, perfectly imitating an american accent - one she naturally didn't have. One she was easily an expert at imitating. Infact, sometimes, I felt she spoke that way involuntarily.

"Lulu Mami! Is it a staring contest that we're doing now, ehh? You don't want to talk to me? ME?!! Or we should start looking at each other like otondo??" Soma's eyeballs grew wider as she spoke - rather, yelled -  with such an exxagerrated tone.

I actually cringed. Soma's sparp toned, loud voice had a way of piercing into your brain and destroying cells. Granted, she always knew what to do to force anyone's attention on her completely - including me. Hell, including me.

"Lulu! Lulu! I asked you a question, Lulu!!" She was up in my face now, nearly screaming into it, shattering my brain cells more and more with such a sharp, piercing voice.

She didn't stop even when I winced. "You must answer me or I'll enter your face today!" She leaned in closer and I shifted back when her forehead collided and bumped into mine painfully, yet she didn't even care. She continued what she was doing

"What were you doing in the Diner Kitchen? Why did you go in there? Ehh? Answer me! Talk oo, Lulu! Talk to me oo! You must talk today!" Soma screamed into my face, shining large eyeballs into mine, refusing to give me any space whatsoever.

"I just felt I should be there." A forced reply had to come out of me.

That was when she stopped, moved back, away from my face, and a confused frown married her chocolate dark face.

"Why, though? Who told you to-" Her voice trailed off in my head when her scarred hand touched mine, in the middle of her talking.

I froze, eyes widened, as I stared at the scary looking scar that wickedly discoloured and permanently imprinted a large mark that traced from Soma's wrist, down to the middle of her forearm.

That scar scared me and I didn't understand why.

For as long as I had known this girl called Somadina Best, she had ALWAYS had that scar, yet it was difficult getting used to seeing such a thing on her skin. Many times, my mind had subconsciously made me forget she had that scar, so everytime I saw it again, it felt like a new shock.

I hated seeing it.

It reminded me of my wrists....

I fundled with the blue wrist band on my left hand and the orange one on my right and hoped I never got to show anyone my ugly wrists.

I wasn't that confident. No, not like Soma was.

Soma had always been too confident. Too loud. Too carefree. I always wondered how she was okay with that scar visible to the eyes of the whole world, but she really didn't care.

I remembered that scar from a long time ago. Long before our paths crossed once more Secondary school. Way back, back, back to the days of my primary school.

Our  primary school.

So, yeah.. Soma and I used to be classmates in primary school. I remember her. She doesn't remember me..... and I couldn't blame her for that really.

For some reason, I remembered so much from my childhood. So much. Literally everything - even things I forced myself to forget, but to no avail. It felt like those horrific memories were forever imprinted on me... Sometimes, even taking up space for new ones? I don't know.

But I remembered a lot from childhood - especially Primary School. Especially Somadina Best. However, Soma was too popular back then to have even noticed my existence.

I was always that quiet, strange kid, who didn't have friends and always looked for the most isolated part of the class to hide herself.

Fortunately, I never got bullied.

Maybe I was too invincible for that? Maybe. I had zero friends and I wasn't even interested in having any. I hated being around people, I always did... I still do, but ofcourse to an extent.

Well, until they came. First, the people who only lived in my head. My friends, I called them. They changed my life... In good and in terrible ways, they did.

Soma was very popular in my class in Primary school. Infact, she was the queen. Back then, things were different. You didn't need the most expensive items, neither did you have to know the most reputable people, all you needed to do to amass popularity was to simply keep yourself constantly updated with Disney Channel. Disney Freaks - that was what I knew them to be.

And Soma was one of them. She always had the fanciest 'Hannah Montana' school bags, pretty and glittering pink 'Highschool musical' writing materials, multiple Hannah Montana Quiz books that the whole class would cry and worship her to even get to touch it, as well as her dozens of Alex Russo and Jonas Brothers Sticker books too. So, you see, it was too easy for her to be queen that year.

She was always bubbly and playful. She had always been that way. Nice to everyone, jovial and cheerful, basically the life and joy of the whole class. Everyone loved her. She loved everyone.

Then one day, Soma didn't show up in class.

It was unusual. The entire class felt her absence. Infact, I had never remembered the class being more quiet on any other day. Worse still, Soma didn't show up the next day and the next day and the next day after that. She ended up not coming to school the whole entire week.

When she showed up a week after, she was visibly slimmer - like she had literally been starved of food. We were told she fell terribly sick and I understood that. What I didn't understand, however, was why there was a freaking large bandage wrapped all around her left hand.

Soma never spoke about it... Well, until secondary school. She had opened up about it some months ago, and told us it was a drastic oil burn from Primary school. That was all we knew. That was all she told us.

I wasn't a dumbass. I knew there was more to it than a regular oil burn.

Whatever the fuck it was... That scar scared the daylights out of me.

"Dabeluchi Aurora Orji!" Soma screamed my full name. "The next time you zone out of this conversation, I will slap your neck!!"

Her scarred hand was up, setting high in the air getting ready to descend on me in a tight slap. Her face was straight in mock anger, but I knew she wasn't angry. Definately not. Not at all... but I knew she wasn't joking either. I knew Soma would legit slap my neck, leave a hand print on it, and laugh it off like it was nothing. I didn't want that.

"Lulu!"

"Stop yelling," I pleaded with her.

"Stop ignoring me!" She retorted, forcefully poked a finger to my forehead. I winced at the sharp pain and remained quiet.

"Lulu, I left you for barely two minutes and you were already causing a whole hell of commotion and now you won't even talk to me. I'll wound you oo!"

I silently prayed she wouldn't poke me or scream at my face again.

"Who told you to go in there?" She asked me.

I didn't waste time answering. "The voices."

I froze the moment it slipped out of my mouth.

"Voices?" Soma's accent sipped in again as she frowned at me in total confusion.

Shit.

I immediately regretted saying that.

Ofcourse, Soma was looking at me like I had grown horns on my head and I wanted to scream and tell her it was a joke.

However, she surprised me when her facial expression suddenly relaxed and easily morphed from confused shock to something more sober... More understanding?

"I understand you, Lulu." She said quietly, twitched her lips in a small, little smile.

"You.. you do?" I blinked at her, stunned.

She nodded, grinning at me and showing me pearly set of white teeth. "Yup!"

I couldn't tell if she was serious.

"I used to have imaginary friends too in primary school," she told me.

"Oh," I replied. I couldn't say I knew, I knew she had too many friends, she wouldn't have needed imaginary ones too, right?

"Sometimes, I talked to them...." She continued, didn't stop grinning into space as though a memory brushed her mind.

Her long legs wouldn't stop playing with the rough tarmack. She leaned in close, and whispered into my ears, "And sometimes, they talked back."

Something in me sparked. Eyes lit up instantly.

Sometimes, they talked back...

"It's crazy, because I actually used to hear their voices loud and clear, but no one would ever believe me," Soma told me.

I actually used to hear their voices loud and clear. Her words wouldn't stop replaying in my head.

The voices... I wanted to say. Were they friendly? Or encouraging? Or were they just mean and plain nasty?

Did they ever make you want to harm yourself? Or harm others? Or did they constantly remind you of things that depress you?

Did they love you sometimes? And hate you some other times?

I wanted to ask Soma how those voices were to her...  I wanted to know if they were the same with the ones in my head.

"It sort of reminds me of 'Invisible Brad'," Soma laughed all of a sudden. A short, cute, brief laughter that fascinated me.

"Who?" My eyebrows burrowed at her.

"Invisible Brad.." she repeated, looked at me funny on realising that I was oblivious to what she was talking about.

"Invisible Brad? You don't know Invisible Brad? From Henry Danger??" She said this like it was an abomination to not know what she was talking about.

"No." I shook my head and Soma nearly had a heart attack.

No, I didn't know Invisible Brad. However, I was certain of this 'Henry Danger'. Why? Because Soma never shut up about that particular TV show from Nickelodeon. And as expected, she went on immediately to give me a whole lecture on this Invisible Man character and I had accidentally tuned her out half the conversation.

You see.. Soma had stopped watching Disney sometime at the beginning of junior school, because her favorite actresses had all gone. She turned all that energy on Nickelodeon, and if she was a freak for Disney before, she was a psychopath for Nickelodeon now.

Old habits die hard, they say. Soma knew everything that had to do with Disney and Nickelodeon, or any kid show the world ever created. I guess some people never just grow out of some things, right? Atleast, she was happy with her life.

"..so, basically you hear him, but you don't see him," Soma was still talking.

We were still talking about Invisible Brad?

".. but with time, I got to realise that you don't need imaginary friends to make your world better. You can do that yourself." She said to me.

I wanted to understand where she was going. I wanted to get her point.

"Life is beautiful, Lulu!" Soma smiled at me. "It has it's ups and downs, but it sure is a wonderful world in the end. You just have to believe that and it'll be true for you, no matter what."

I don't believe that. I can't... Not with everything going on in my life.

"Like SpongeBob, for example!" She chirped like a bird. "He imagines his world as one big ball of Sunshine, even if it isn't... And look how happy he always is."

I knew about SpongeBob from Soma too. I hadn't seen the show, but Soma made us understand how he positioned his entire mind to make himself see the world differently from everyone else. Like it was an imagery of flowers, sunshine and rainbows, when really it's nothing close.

I didn't see how that was possible in reality. That's the difference between real life and ordinary bullshit cartoons. Things aren't that easy... Especially when you're living in a fucked up reality like mine.

"Why are we here again?" I had to ask her.

"Lulu," Soma's shoulders dropped. "You've asked me this question about six times already."

I looked at her.

I have?

"Chika asked us to meet here, so she, me, you, and the twins can all decide our theme outfits for Yure's party tommorrow, why do you forget things so easily?" Soma said.

I blinked, confused. She noticed. Nearly fell off her bench in shock.

"Yure. Yure Adediji, Headboy of our set?" Soma was nearly fainting at my silence, holding a hand to her chest and looking at me with wide eyes.

"I know who Yure is, Soma." I nearly groaned.

Who didn't?

"Ahh Mami oo!" She gave a sigh of relief, waved her hands in the air in a fake gesture of relief. "I don't know what to expect from you again oo, Lulu!"

"I never agreed to stay for the meeting, did I?" I asked her.

"We all did. That's why I picked you up from your house," Soma replied.

My heart knotted, constricted, and squeezed out blood when I thought about ... home.

Maybe that was why I escaped with Soma. I didn't want to stay in that suffocating atmosphere any longer.

But I knew I had to go soon. I had to go back home. I had no other choice. I couldn't leave Mum all alone - not with those.. those monsters.

"I don't want to go to that party," I confessed.

I heard it was a sleep over house party. I wouldn't want to leave Mum alone the entire night. I dreaded the thought of it.

Soma looked at me like I was absolutely crazy.

"When was the last time you opened the group chat? When was the last time you even opened Whatssap at all? The party talk has literally been everywhere. Highlight of the week, babe. Party before we start our big final year - Ss3, everyone's looking forward to it, you can't miss it, Lulu," She rapped.

Soma didn't understand. She didn't know. Figures.

"I don't.. I can't go.." I stuttered, my voice coming off as whispers.

Soma clearly heard. However, she barely regarded me for a single second and looked away, and began to busily type something into her phone.

"I'll text Chika and tell her we'll all be in her house tommorow evening for the dress up..." She completely dismissed my denial ".. and don't stress about the meeting today. I'll text you the dets and the twins will help pick up your 'fit for you, okay?"

I was about to plead in opposition when Soma suddenly jumped up from her seat. I rose up with her involuntarily, alarmed, nearly cowaring back as her insane tall height towered over me.

Before I could even ask what she was up to, she was already laughing and running after an innocent little child of about four to five, walking into the building with her parents.

I watched, how she raced after the kid, who nontheless, was crying, screaming and running away from Soma, who apparently was laughing and having her own childish fun, chasing and scaring the poor, innocent kid.

It was strangely fun to watch.

Eventually, the mum had picked up her kid and glared at Soma, who was still laughing her ass off. Clearly, they weren't pleased, yet she found it funny. When I laughed a little, I realised it was funny to watch too.

I wondered what kind of people I grew to love. Soma Best was one crackhead out of five - she was one girl who could cause a person so much discomfort and disturbance, for her own playful pleasure.

Yes, she could be annoying. Yes, she could be too extra too... but she could be the sweetest confidiant too, and she was my friend. She had always been. She always would be.

And I knew, I knew too well that nothing I was going to say would change her mind. I was going to Yure's party, whether I liked it or not. I easily made up my mind to just be back for Mum as soon as possible.

I had to be back home for Mum.

God, home. I thought about going home and a painful lump blocked my throat, threatened to choke mr off oxygen. And as expected, immediately Soma left me, all my joy was gone.

All of it. I felt all the burden and misery that had left me temporarily on her presence, falling back on me, hovering around me first, before covering my head to toe, like a black cloth.

I thought about going home once more, and my whole body shut down. My senses distorted, stopped effective function, and my system threatened to give.

I was alive, but I was dead.

Well.....

What do you thinking is wrong with home. It may be more drastic than you think though, but I'd love to see you all guess.

How do you percieve Soma? What do you think about the scar? And do you think you may have a clue on why she is faithfully and loyally devoted to her cartoons and kid shows??? I genuinely feel that people like Soma are the kind that Dabi needs, no one else can handle her better 😂I just can't wait for you to meet the rest of the gang, those girls aren't normal😂❤️

In the next chapter, we'll be taking a sneak peek at Dabi's home. I hope y'all are ready for this oo. It will be very .... infuriating. I'll be updating in the night, like I promised, double updates today, sooo, bye for now❤️❤️