There was a double update, and this is the second update of it so if you didn't read the last chapter, just go back and do do, because this chapter will confuse tf out of you if you missed the last one. Kapish?

~DABI~

"Why would you even ask me that?" Aaron said to me.

I could hear the weight and edge to his voice.

It actually scared me. The way his voice suddenly dropped in decibels, the way his eyes looked like they were about to shoot deadly poison at me in no time. He actually looked very scary.

And that's what I didn't grab.

How he could seem so childish and playful and sweet when he was laughing and joking around, then look so sinister, deadly, and scary when he got like..... this.

It was so fast the way he had switched. Changed form, Chika would describe it so. It was like a light bulb switch. I had a feeling that would have been one of the reasons that those junior students were terrified of him the way they do. If I was a junior, I'd feel like I were walking around egg shells with him really. 

"Maybe, we should just skip that question, guys," Casper seemed to be in damage control mode.

"Why did you ask me that question, Dabi?" Aaron asked me again, completely ignoring Casper.

I didn't answer. I just did.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it the way you're thinking," Chika tried to tell Aaron.

"Why did you ask me that question, Dabi?" He looked at me, asked the third time.

"Aaron, can we just forget the stupid question?" Even Krisdana sounded tired.

"Dabi.." He snapped his fingers at my face, "Why did you ask me that? I want to know."

"Aaron, are you even listening to us? Forget it, please!" Chika came in.

"Why?" He wouldn't leave me alone. "I'm asking you a question and I know you can hear me, so tell me why you asked the question."

"Aaron-" Soma tried to call. 

"Don't bother, he can't hear you." Casper told Soma.

"What?" Soma was confused.

"He can't hear any of you." Casper said to everyone.

"What do you mean?" Chika asked him.

Casper looked at his best friend who would not stop staring at me, waiting for me to answer.

"When Aaron gets like this- overwhelmed with emotions- he sort of has selective hearing..." Casper explained to everyone.

Selective Hearing?

"He hears only what he wants to hear, and right now, all he wants to hear is Dabi's response, so no matter how much all of you scream and call him, it's all just background noise in his head." Casper elaborated.

I felt like I was on a hot seat.

"That's one thing about Aaron," Casper continued, "That's why it's nearly impossible to reason with him when he gets overwhelmed with emotions. Especially anger. You'll be wasting your time if you want to reason with him in that state."

The hell?

"But don't worry, he snaps out of it soon enough. He's not himself right now, but give him about ten to thirty seconds," He went on, "Most times when he gets in this kind of state, I just leave him alone completely."

Like you left him that day when he beat the demon out of that Ss2 boy, Casper?

I noticed everyone looked at me.

"You still remember that?" Casper looked at me.

My eyes bulged out of its sockets. "I didn't say that out loud, did I?"

Aaron suddenly sat up so fast without warning.

"Hah, okay." Chika seemed startled.

He knocked his fingers against the bar table about three or four times, something akin to frustration mixing up with his whole demeanour.

"I don't grab, what's he doing now?" Krisdana frowned in confusion.

Suddenly, he sprung onto his feet. A defensive sort of behaviour oozed off him, startling everyone else in the process.

Soma did not even wait for anyone. She was the first one to run away from Aaron's side.

"Is he, I don't know, back now?" Krisdana asked Casper, alarmed.

"She's not even responding to me," I heard Aaron muttering to himself. "She's just sitting there, looking at me," 

He's aware we had a whole ass conversation about him a few seconds ago, right?

"Yup." Casper whispered to everyone. "He's very back."

Or was he not aware?

Aaron looked around the table in more frustration.

 "Okay, you guys tell me!" He pointed at all of the others.

"Chi," Soma whimpered as she hid behind her, clearly still scared.

"Why does EVERYONE think that about me?" He asked them all.  "Is there something I do that creates that impression?" 

He couldn't be ignorant, I refused to believe it.

"Is there anything I do?" He looked from the sisters to Krisdana and finally to his friend, Casper.

Something was telling me that he took all those assumptions of him a bit too personal.

I almost regretted asking. Almost.

"Last week Monday." I answered Aaron's question.

He seemed to stop. Everyone else did so. And all eyes were on me.

Aaron was the last to look at me, and when he looked directly at me, like that, it took everything in me to not cower away or back down.

"During the free period before Charlie Ba's class," I continued.

He kept his look on me, a raised eyebrow indicated his need for me to "kindly elaborate."

I did. I swallowed. But I did.

 "Well, you and Casper were moving from table to table, and randomly talking to everyone in class, and I saw you skip Charity and her friends on purpose, and it was clear in your face that you were disinterested in having a conversation with them."

"I wasn't disinterested," Aaron said.

Soma whispered something we didn't hear.

When she got everyone's attention, she had one hand up as though she wanted to alert us as subtly as she could, and her other hand was softly tapping the screen of my laptop, like she was looking at something.

"Aaron, I don't want you to get angry, but...." She fumbled on the keys a little more. "The lie Detector said you're lying."

"Jesus Christ, Soma," I heard one of the twins groan and face palm.

I fought the urge to smile.

So, I was right.

The look on Aaron's face was priceless. He looked shocked to say. Or did he forget we had a lie detector?

"So, you are lying," I pressed on, "So, you were disinterested. You did skip them on purpose."

"Okay, fine, maybe I did!" He threw his hands in the air, seeming to lose his cool as he expelled the truth.

There we go.

"But, you're thinking it for the wrong reasons, and that really hurts," Aaron said to me.

He didn't even sound angry now, he just sounded hurt. If I was crazy, I'd think he was about to start crying in front of all of us.

"Guy, just-"

Aaron cut Casper off to complete what he was saying to me.

" I'd NEVER ignore someone because of something as irrelevant as social segregation, that's just awful. I don't get why people would be thinking that about me, I'm not a terrible person, am I?" He said.

"So, why do you talk to some people, and flat out ignore the others like they're irrelevant?" I asked him.

"You must not talk to everybody, Dabeluchi. I think people personally have the freedom to talk to who they want to talk to, it's their life. "

Ebube shut me up.

I looked at her, and almost said, "What do you know? You live your sister's life, anyway." But, I didn't. That would be wrong.

"I get Aaron," She spoke.

His eyes seemed to light up in relief. Softened in appreciation as he looked at Ebube.

"Really?" A soft smile grazed his lips. "You do?"

It was almost as if he wasn't used to people getting him.

"Some people just feel more comfortable around a circle of people, than others," Ebube elaborated, "Of course, as an extrovert like Aaron, your circle will be much bigger. That why it seems like he may be talking to a lot of people and at the same time, not be talking to a lot of other people, and it could be misinterpreted the wrong way."

"In Charity's case, I think the term 'disinterested' is a bit too strong a term to describe Aaron's emotions at the time," Ebube continued, "Yes, you definitely cannot be 'interested' in talking to someone you don't want to talk to, but I feel the right word to use in the position he was in is 'discomfort'. Sort of like how some people get when they get socially awkward."

Aaron and Social Awkwardness? That didn't sound right.

"Am I right, Aaron?" Ebube looked at him. "Are my assumptions about you right?"

Aaron held his gaze on Ebube, appreciation and relief in his eyes, as they had now softened with that dainty smile on his face. "Yes."

Soma smiled. Looked at us from the Laptop to read the results. "That's true."

Oh, wow.

I nodded..... Somewhat felt bad for attacking him. 

Aaron, however, said not a word as he took his seat by me. He was just quiet. And it was too awkward.

I couldn't stop thinking about what Ebube said. A part of me wondered if she was speaking from her seemingly 'psychic' abilities or if she just... I don't know.... felt the same way Aaron felt.

Was that why she always went along with the flow? Her sister's flow? Was she just socially awkward and didn't know want else or how else to act, than to just camouflage into whatever we may want her to be. Or whatever her sister wanted her to be.

If that was it, then God, she must have been so..... Caged.

Ebube had to go next.... because Ebere told her to.

And what if she didn't want to go? I asked myself in my head. Would she just go with the flow because of her sister?

That alone was a basis for the next question I wanted to ask her. Maybe this would help her open up more, I guess.

"Do you ever feel trapped for any reason?"

I expected the question to faze her a little, at least.

But no, her face was straight as a plain sheet. It was almost creepy.

"Elaborate." She only deadpanned.

"Like," I heeded, "Do you ever feel like you want to do or say certain things, but something just keeps stopping you from having that freedom?"

Ebube remained quiet.

It almost seemed like as time was ticking for her, she was busy planning a redemption scheme in her head. She just sat there, staring at me, saying nothing.

Then, I saw it.

That tiny smile. It was there, almost unseen if you didn't look hard enough. Almost forming and disappearing. Right there, right there, forming at the very corner of her plump, glossy lips.

That scared me. Scared the living daylight out of me.

Why was she smiling?

"Sure!" Her shrug was too non-chalant, too random. Too fake. "My answer is No."

What?

She looked so calm, but looked so confident in her answer. Like she had already bended time to know exactly how the results would come out. That kind of confidence.

It almost seemed like she knew before time that Soma was going to say...

"True."

Her smile seemed to communicate the words, "Perfect." Her eyes remained on me, unwavering. Everything; smile, confidence, composure, everything was intact.

I was starting to get too convinced that the twins were witches.

Ebube was clearly lying. It was SO obvious. So, why couldn't anyone else see that? And why did the Lie Detector say that her lie was the truth? 

"Do you think you can cheat a lie detector?" I asked Ebube.

It was like I was in 'desperate mode.'

Ebube didn't falter. "Probably."

"Yes or no, b," Soma said.

She shrugged, laughed a little under her breath.

"Yes." She answered. "Yes I can."

She got up from the 'hot seat' and started to remove everything attached to her body.

"Anyone can if they play your cards right."

 With that, she took her seat next to her twin. I watched her with that dainty smile on her face as she sat quietly, and placed hands, calmly, on the table.

I was really starting to get convinced she wasn't human.

I expected someone to press further on Ebube's response, but apparently, a distraction came when Krisdana's phone rang.

"Oh! It's Yure!" She told us, excused herself from the table.

"Aww," Soma mused for her.

"Hey, baby!" Krisdana's voice faded away as she left the table to get to her phone call.

"Wahala for who no get baby oo!" I was surprised to hear Aaron comment.... He seemed to be back on track again, I guess.

"He's the love of her life, I can tell," Soma made lovey-dovey eyes, "Her sweetheart. Her King-"

"Oshey lord and personal saviour!" Aaron joked, and everyone laughed.

I heard Casper laugh a little under his breath.  A laugh that almost sounded like a scoff.

I wouldn't have taken it much into seriousness, but I got skeptical the moment Krisdana returned and Casper was the one to volunteer to ask her the next question.

I could have sworn I noticed something flash in his eyes for just a second as he watched Krisdana gracefully take her seat. Something close to adoration lightened his eyes, but it happened so fast that I thought it was all in my head. And I'd be damned to think he actually liked Krisdana, it wasn't possible. He shouldn't like her..... I mean, she had a boyfriend already.

Then, out of the blue, Casper asked Krisdana, "Would you take back a cheating boyfriend?"

It sounded more like an attack than a question.

Even I felt attacked and that question had nothing to do with me. 

Krisdana seemed to get pale.

"Cas?" I heard Aaron whisper-call his best friend, but if Casper heard, he didn't act like he did.

Krisdana blinked, it was clear that she was taken off-guard by the question. But she stayed mute.

If I didn't know better, I'd think she was having difficulty answering. But nah, the entire set branded Krisdana and her boyfriend as goals. It was an inarguable fact.

"I would," Soma shrugged easily. Easing up the tension in the air with her bubbly and random answer.

Casper frowned at her answer. "Why would you do that?"

"Why wouldn't I take him back if I love him?" Soma innocently answered.

"Once a cheater, always a cheater," Casper told her, "C'mon, It's not a myth."

"That's not true," Soma countered. "Sometimes, people can make mistakes."

Casper laughed a little, shook his head at that, "Cheating is not a mistake, Soma, it's a choice."

"A foolish choice is a mistake." Soma pressed on. 

"That's not true." Casper sounded too certain.

"Uh huh, it is!" Soma went on, "Let's see it this way; It's like when you trust the wrong person, you say "I made a mistake trusting him or her", you chose to trust that person, didn't you? But it was still a mistake."

"I agree to disagree because it's different with cheaters." Casper stood his ground.

Soma frowned. "How?"

Casper answered, "With your example, you didn't know trusting this person was wrong, that's what makes it a mistake. But a cheater knows their actions are wrong, and they are well aware that they will harm someone else with their actions - someone they claim to love-  and they still go ahead and do it regardless. You can't call that a mistake."

"Okay fine," Soma shrugged, "Fine, they made a stupid choice. So what?"

"It's to your own expense." Casper said. "And I strongly believe that if someone ever deliberately decides to harm you for no reason, then they do not deserve a second chance."

"No," Soma said. "If God had that mentality, we wouldn't be alive."

"Well, Somadina, that's what makes us man, and makes God God, don't you think?" Casper countered.

Krisdana looked very uncomfortable.

"We're humans." Soma said, "We do stupid shit sometimes, and sometimes, even on purpose. Sometimes we can really hurt people we care about, that doesn't mean we deserve to be iced out from the person's life for the rest of our lives, that sounds so cruel."

"I'll take your word, we're all humans," Casper agreed on that fact, "However, there's only to an extent everyone can take. If you really can't stand getting hurt a second time, why put yourself in a situation where you know there is a possibility that they will do it again, and you will get hurt again?

"But..." Soma stuttered. "What if they don't do it again?

"What if they do? Casper asked back. Looked at her. "What happens then? What will you do?"

Soma seemed quiet..... Too quiet.

"My answer is no."

That was Krisdana.

Soma blinked. "What?"

Krisdana was still hooked to the Lie Detector, and she was answering the question that was posed to her.

"No," She sounded a bit too certain. "No, I won't take back a cheating boyfriend."

Without waiting for Soma to even read her results, she unhooked everything that was attached to her and went to take her seat, quietly.

It was very breezy, but it was starting to get hot in here.

And when my turn came next, I got worried.

Ebere asked me; Have you ever lied to your friends about something very important?

Her question was a whiplash.

I see Ebere Onuoha came to a slipper fight with knives and guns.

And what scared me the most was that I knew it was an outright attack, but I wasn't sure which angle.

Was she trying to confirm that things were wrong at home?

Or was this just about Marcus Acha?

Or... Both?

I swallowed, anyways, and hoped I could lie my way out of this, successfully, and with the amount of things that rushed in and out of my mind, I almost forgot the question I was asked.

"No," I answered. "No, I haven't lied."

"Lulu?" Soma peered softly.

Yeah?

"The Lie Detector says that's a lie," Soma said bluntly.

The awkwardness in the air spiked in intensity.

I refused to look at their faces.

Funny how I was hooked to that thing right now and it was supposed to detect my heartbeats. I could hear my own heartbeats. I could feel my own palms sweating. I could feel my blood running cold, coursing through my veins like a electric current.

"Can I ask one?" Casper raised a hand.

And my senses got into more confusion and instability.

Jesus. JESUS!!! WHAT DOES HE WANT TO ASK ME!? WHAT! WHAT! WHAT!

"Dabi," He called my name. "Do you think you need any mental help?"

Blood rose to my head.

More blood.

More blood.

More and more blood.

All I could see was red.

"Excuse me?" I narrowed my eyes at him, sat up on my seat.

There was a screeching in my head.

"What did you just ask me?" I asked, glared at him, dared him to repeat himself.

He seemed confused. So, did everyone else. They seemed to be looking amongst themselves.

"Casper..." I said, looked directly at him. "What did you just ask me?"

I was a ticking time bomb at the moment, I knew it was just a matter of time before I charged him.

"I just asked, do you think you need any help?" Casper replied, it almost seemed like he was counting his words, carefully.

"That's not what you said," I shook my head as the anger started to burn inside me, heating the blood in my head even more.

That's not what you said.

That's not what you said.

That's not he said.

That's not what he-

I stopped when I noticed Aaron who was sitting beside me mutter something that sounded like "Jehovah" as he seemed to move slightly away from me.

"Dabi, what's going on? Are you okay?" Chika asked me, alarm and concern evident in her tone.

"I asked if you needed any help," Casper repeated, urgency, hinting at it's slightest in his time.

"If I needed any mental health?" I corrected him. "Why are you changing your words?"

"Dabi, he didn't say mental health, he just said help-" Someone was trying to say to me.

Blood got to my head, splattered, sent all my sanity to oblivion.

My fists came down, slamming brutally on the bar table, and startling everybody. "I KNOW WHAT I HEARD! I'M NOT CRAZY!"

"Jesus Christ, Dabi!" Chika's voice rose in more alarm.

The entire outside Café seemed to be looking at us, watching us, watching me like I had gone mad.

"I'm not crazy! He knows what he said! Why are you changing your words, Casper?" I screamed at all of them. Screamed at Casper.

Murmurs and noises filled the place. All the grown ups were making comments here and there, basically complaining, I couldn't make out one word anyone was saying, but I knew it wasn't good.

Casper raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I swear, I didn't-"

"Stop LYING!" I screamed at him.

"Dabi!" Chika called me.

"WHY IS HE LYING!" I screamed even louder, not giving a shit about the horror on their faces.

There was so much noise in the whole Café by now. So much noise. It was like a mad house, a busy market, and the more I screamed and screamed, I kept trying to shout above it all, above all the noise.

"You think I need mental help, Casper? You think I'm crazy!? The only crazy person here is YOU! YOU'RE CRAZY! YOU SIT BACK THERE AT HOME WATCHING EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS AND YOU DONT SAY SHIT! YOU DONT DO SHIT! AND I'M THE CRAZY ONE!? YOU ARE CRAZY, CASPER BASSEY! YOU'RE THE CRAZY ONE, NOT ME!"

I watched everyone on the table - the Sisters, Krisdana, Aaron and Casper -  scream in terror, and disperse in shock and horror as the bar table with all of Soma's polygraphs, my laptop, and all the snacks and drinks, flipped right over in front of them, nearly hitting Casper down if he hadn't sprinted as quickly as he did.

I looked to my own hands....

And wondered where that strength came from.

I was the one who flipped that table over.

And oh boy, chaos broke out in the Café, as the people - mostly adults - around, started to shout at me, scream at me, in fact.

I didn't understand why I didn't care. All I wanted to do was tear Casper apart.

The others went to fix the mess I created; they tried to carry the table back up, pick everything up from the floor, sweep all the popcorn littered, and mop all the drinks that had spilled. While some people around, like the Kristin lady who Aaron and Casper had crashed her little birthday celebration, helped them with tidying up, the others from the inside of the Café were rushing outside to see what the cause of all the noise was.

Chika rushed to hold me down.

"Dabi, you have to stay calm, okay?" She said to me.

I was angry. I was still angry.  In fact, as I looked at Casper as he helped the others try to sweep off the ground, I still wanted to charge him.

"Dabi," Chika called me. "Just breathe. It's okay. It's okay."

"He knows what he said!" I was still trying to convince Chika.

"It's okay, I understand! Just breathe okay?" Chika nodded, tried to calm the storm within me.

I don't even  know how she always did that. Calmed me down all the time.

********

I sat down quietly, on the floor, by the protector of the Outside Café, hugging my knees, sinking into the sadness that the night was turning out to be.

It was an hour past 7pm and the others were still inside.... Cleaning up my mess.

I do shit, and at the end of the day, my friends always have to fix up my mess.

Only how much more shit do I need to do before these girls dump my pathetic, pathetic ass.

I watched the pretty streetlights on the sides of the road, as they illuminated light in the darkness, and I watched the busy cars on the road that went to and fro, thinking for a moment how the roads of Lagos always seemed so busy.

I imagined car crashes and ghastly motor accide-

"Hi, Lulu."

A calm, soft voice pulled me away from my thoughts.

I turned to Soma, who was just walking out of the outside Café to join me on the ground by the protector, where I sat, not minding the stares from people inside who already thought I was a psychopath.

"You don't seem to be having much fun," Soma said softly, scooting in close to me, and nudging me playfully. "How are you?"

"Not good." I hugged my knees more, couldn't look at her. Focused on the stoned grounds we were sitting on.

There  was a silence between us.

I knew this whole game was a bad idea.

I looked back at the others in there. All of them who were covering for my ass.

"Everything will be fine," Soma assured me, blinking softly, adorably at me. "Chika apologised to the Café owners. Krisdana, the twins and I already volunteered to buy them a new table. Aaron and Casper aren't pissed about all the popcorn we wasted, even if it means they have to lose 5k, they said they just want you to be okay."

I said nothing. Hugged my knees even more.

I wasn't even sure what bothered me more; Guilt or this damn cold. There was so much breeze here, it was disturbing.

"Casper particularly was really worried though," she told me.

"I just wish I didn't come here." I muttered, she heard.

"Maybe, you shouldn't be here," Soma only said.

I turned to her. Offended. "Excuse me?"

Soma actually laughed. I let her explain what she meant by that.

"Remember when you were asked if you liked a certain someone?" She asked me.

"Yeah?" I answered.

When Krisdana asked me if I liked Marcus Acha, I remembered clearly. I said no.

"You know I didn't read the results, right?" Soma said to me.

True. She didn't.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Wanna know why?" Soma asked me. Big, adorable eyes peered into mine.

"Yeah."

"Well.." She said. "That's because the moment you said no, your breathing stopped, and the lie detector picked it up."

Goosebumps formed on my skin... I didn't know why.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked Soma.

Soma smiled at me, a certain, yet warming look in her eyes as she told me the truth.

"You lied, Dabeluchi," She said to me.

I did?

"Your own even lie took your breath away." She told me.

I didn't even know what to say.

"And it only means one thing, Lulu. You like Marcus Acha." Soma revealed. Hit the nail on the head.

I said nothing.... But fought a war of emotions that stemmed in my whole system on that revelation.

"And I know he is Clyde, don't ask me how," Soma told me.

I swallowed. "Did you know I was lying to you?"

"I'm not witches like the twins," Soma joked, "But, Lulu, I can tell when you lie. It's too obvious."

Then, why did she play along?

"I think you should consider that Dance Fare," She said. "I mean, the one he has invited you to spend time with him in. Who knows? Maybe you may have the chance to make better memories of tonight."

"But..." I looked to the others inside. "How will I tell the sisters I'm hanging out with Marcus? You guys hate him."

Soma shrugged. "See, Lulu. I won't stop you at a chance of love, if I see it. Everyone needs to have a have a chance at it, so I say go. Don't bother about the sisters, I'll cover up for you."

"I don't know what to say," I told Soma.

"Then, say nothing," Soma smiled at me. "Just go."

Maybe, I should...?

Soma smiled at me, encouragingly. A smile that gave me courage.

There and then, we both heard it..... From a distance.

The sound of festival music, the beautiful kind of old music that was all drums and local bead instruments, thundering loudly from a distance. The elated screams of people from that distance was even enough to make me wish I was there, right now.

This would be fun.

"Do you hear that, Lulu Bear," Soma asked me, "They're calling to you!"

I actually laughed. Genuinely. Butterflies were in my stomach.

"C'mon, Dabi," She smiled at me. "Wonder Coast is waiting for you and Marcus Acha."

I AM SOOOOO HAPPY, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHYYY!!!! 

Y'all should thank Soma, Dabi wouldn't have gone anywhere if not for her! All those weapons that have been fashioning against Dacha have quenched today oo! Can I get an amen???

Lol, about the game. What are your theories? 

What were you able to decipher from Aaron in the last two chapters?

What about Casper?

Lol, I started to have a crush on both boys as I was writing those chapters (Smiley face, tear drop emojis)

And then, Ebube? Do you think Ebube lied back there?

And about Dabi's outburst? Did it surprise you? If yes or no, give answers!

Oh well, see you guys some other time!!!!