THIS IS A DOUBLE UPDATE AND THIS IS THE SECOND ONE OF THE TWO, SO IF YOU SKIPPED THE FIRST ONE, GO BACK OO, OR YOU'LL BE CONFUSED ASF!

Carry on if you're on track....

~DABI~

I couldn't believe Marcus was making me do this.

The intro of DTF by Ckay started and Marcus was urging me to come with him, holding me gently and stylishly bringing me to the stage as the strangers around us were blowing up our heads with the loudest screams and cheers I'd ever seen in my life.

Oh my God.

Marcus smiled encouragingly and as soon as the first verse started, he spinned me around, whispered a 'go' to me, and let me take the wheel first.

Hesitantly, I let myself loose, and let the slow tempo and rhythm of the song literally control my body and my movements. I had barely even started and Marcus' eyes told it all that he was already getting impressed. The talented dancer girl who was previously dancing stopped to watch me, a dainty smile on her lips like she was just observing and could tell my potential, and the kinky haired boy was just hailing with the others, with this carefree nonchalance.

See feelings get messy now...

Its the last thing that we need now...

Their reactions encouraged me as well as the cheers from the others and I decided to completely let myself free and immerse myself into the song, moving to every beat, every tempo, matching its soft rhythm, literally putting my entire being into it and giving off close to my best.

As expected, the crowd burst into a damn mad house. These people sounded like they were about to run mad.

I wasn't myself at this point, and I wasn't just dancing this song, the song was dancing me too. I hadn't been in Dance Class for a while, but this joy made up for the missed days. I actually didn't want the song to end.

Ouu, give it to me...

Nobody have to know that you give it to me...

It was at the second repetition of that part of the song that I felt a shadow behind me and I was quick to realise that Marcus had joined me, efficiently syncing my dance with me.

The crowd could have screamed Wonder Coast into an apocalypse. These people were CRAZY!

"You're doing great," Marcus said to me.

"And so are you," I genuinely complimented back.

He did surprise me, though. The first time we had danced together, I hadn't had a chance to appreciate him well enough, but I could proudly say he wasn't a bad dancer. Not even close.

It was at the chorus that the boy and girl who we had temporarily stole the show from joined me and Marcus and the crowd was nearly tearing off their clothes. We danced with these strangers and it felt like I had known them forever.

The talented dancer girl and I practically took sequence in choosing how the sync went. For a while, it would be me that the others were trying to sync, and other times, it was the girl, who called the shots. Our uniform was mind blowing and everyone could agree so, because the crowd may have doubled its size.

Some where in between the bridge of the song, I suddenly wondered why Marcus had taken off his face mask and changed his clothing to the same white top under a patterned shirt style fashion the other guy was wearing, as well as the same ripped jeans, and sneakers...

I was confused for a moment till until I also realised; Slimmer body, Kinky Afro hair--

This isn't Marcus.

I shrieked in panic for a moment, and he also looked very confused. Seconds was all it took for us to exchange back to our normal partners. I had accidentally swapped guys with the talented dancer girl.

Regardless of that unexpected swap, this was one of the most fun thing I had ever done in a long time, and I honestly did not want this song to end. Dancing with these strangers was a special kind of high, and adding Marcus to the equation sent me to a different kind of high.

I hated to sound so dramatic, but it actually felt like they were different sparks all around us and for a moment it was just the both of us, suspended in an air of magic and colours, all our ecstasy emitting off us in colourful hues of light that was sent into the atmosphere, filling the air around us with the most euphoric, most addicting energy. The energy that we produced together was insane!

I didn't even know when the song ended until it was me and Acha; his strong hand wrapped around my waist, and our faces so close, staring at each other and panting, physically exhausted, but it was like our mental frenzy was too intense for us to even feel it much.

He had taken off his mask by the time to breathe properly and the cheers were so intense this time around that I had to read his lips to understand what he was trying to say to me. He mouthed a 'wow!' and I mouthed back 'I know!', and it was in that moment of high that we both seemed to not be in control of our own actions, I noticed Marcus moving closer to me.

I knew what he was about to do.

However, before I had the chance to think of actually running away, there was an explosion of confetti that burst right through, startling the both of us, and pouring all over us as well. Our heads, our necks, our bodies, everywhere was covered in bits of confetti, and Marcus and I were laughing non-stop as a whole bunch of strangers were all over us, slapping both our hands in the most aggressive handshakes and high-fives, and to my own shock, I was handling the presence of these strangers lot better than I expected myself to.

I mean, couldn't even explain the rush of emotions I had felt in one night.

Just one night.

One night, and it felt like a thousand.

Out from another crowd of 'fans' appeared the Kinky haired boy, pulling along with him the talented dancer girl that from earlier, and on seeing them, I felt ease, as though they weren't even strangers and I had known them for the longest of time.

However, when they got too close, a part of me became reluctant, and the boy in particular had rushed over to us, a big grin on his dark skinned face, and one hell of a rush of excitement and urgency.

"Tell me I didn't just see that!" The boy looked like he had witnessed one of the most shocking scenarios in his life.

He's talking about the dance.

"You saw it, bro!" Marcus proudly responded, playing along with the other guy's madness.

You were in it, bro.

"You're so good, really. Like, you girls just literally carried that whole stage and murdered it! How did you even-"

This boy was talking to me, complimenting me and I was just staring at him, as he talked.

He was actually close enough for me to take note of every detail of him. Dark skin, comparably close to that of Marcus', but Marcus was taller by about an inch or so. He was presentably handsome, not entirely breath taking or your stereotypical 'hot and handsome' boy from the movies, but he looked very good. And of course that kinky afro on his head gave him a signature. All in all, this guy possessed this aura around him that made me feel comfortable... As though I could be free with him.

"All the credit goes to the ladies, really, they took the whole show!" Marcus didn't hesitate to give me all the glory.

"Oh, they schooled us like mad!" The guy slapped his hand in a loud handshake that made me actually flinch.

"Agreed."

A new voice like that of liquid gold was heard.

The talented dancer girl stepped up to stand by the boy's side, holding onto his arm like he belonged to her, and shocking me with how much more beauty she emanated close up.

She almost looked mixed up close, and I was trying to decipher for a moment if she just had a unique type of light skin or if she was actually just mixed. An impressed smile formed at the corner of her pink, full lips, giving her gorgeous face with a stunning glow. And for a moment I found it hard to decide which was prettier; Her face or her hair -I hadn't even noticed the platinum blonde tips of her full natural hair until she was close up.

The Kinky haired boy had blessed her with a kiss on the cheek, one that made it cleat that he immensely adored her.

She was pretty. Too pretty.

And too close to me.

Unsure of how to react, I stepped back, hid behind Marcus for cover, hesitantly twitching back a smile at the two strangers, and trying not to look like an obvious social coward.

"Both of you were so good," The girl spoke, a sweet sounding tone to her warm voice. "And believe me, I don't get impressed by dancers so easily."

Same.

"That's a major accomplishment on our side, I must say," Marcus came with a smooth response, and there was a short moment of uniformed laughter, before he took both their hands in a casual handshake.

I stood there behind Marcus........ He noticed.

"I'm Marc by the way," He easily introduced himself to the duo, before gesturing towards me, and adding, "Meet Aurora, she's my-"

"Dabi." I cleared my throat as I cut him off, stepped out behind him hesitantly. "My name is Dabi. Hi."

"You are so talented, Dabi!" The girl blessed me with a smile and a compliment.

I stared blankly at her for a second or two, then nodded to the compliment.

"Likewise." Was my simple response.

"I'm Dawn," She said to me, she was talking to me like she was trying to get me to be open with her, making sure to smile ever so warmly.

"Dawn." I repeated her name.

"Yes, Dawn," She giggled. "And this over here is..." She gestured towards the Kinky haired boy who preferred to step up confidently, adjusting an imaginary collar around his neck, and audibly introducing himself to us.

"Ansel." His hands were out for a handshake with me. "Call me Ansel, please."

Dawn laughed and I wondered what was so funny. Her laughter, although brief was highly contagious and I was able to retort a stiff smile. However, Ansel's hands were long brought down before it occurred to me that I didn't shake it.

"Y'all wanna grab some food with us? " Drinks? Snacks?" Marcus suggested, and they were all keen to the idea.

"Well, we have the time," Dawn said.

"Yeah, and that was one hell of a work out on that stage," Ansel said, "And we need to restore some more energy for the next one, right babe?" He smirked playfully at Dawn who just rolled her eyes at him, and weakly punched him on the shoulder.

"And is okay with you too, Aurora?" Marcus made sure to double confirm with me.

I smiled at the little, sweet gesture, and thought to myself; It wouldn't hurt to make new friends, now would it?

And that was how it all happened.

That was how Marcus and I spent the rest of the night at Wonder Coast chilling with Dawn and Ansel, our newly made dancer friends.

I must say, it wasn't half bad at all. I didn't expect to have so much fun with people I had never met before, but Dawn and Ansel were seeming to prove me wrong. Of course, Marcus and Ansel were the first ones to bond as they both had a liking to basketball, and Dawn seemed like she was doing everything she possibly could to make me laugh..... It worked.

Dawn also had me rolling when referred to Marcus and Ansel as 'barbaric cave men' when the two boys had joined cash to order Suya for 3k, and ravaged the thing like hungry beasts.

Ironically, she was the same one who had more than willingly finished off all that was left of my junkies when I was too shy to eat them in front of them by the Wonder Food Cart.

Our final stop was at the Hawaii themed bar. We all had walked in together to About Love by Marina, and Dawn didn't stop to compliment the beauty of the swimming pool that neighboured the bar. While Ansel made jokes, Marcus didn't seem too impressed by the pool. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he had a better looking pool in his home.

"Why don't you ladies wait here while we get some more ice cream?" It was Ansel who suggested, he and Marcus proudly posing together, hands crossing over their chests, and smirks on their faces, feigning an almost childish macho vibe that we found adorable.

How these boys clicked so easily.

"Sure, sure, do all the work for us," Dawn playfully waved them off like pestering bugs.

"Yeah, what she said," I fought back a smile to shrug as nonchalantly as possible.

The morons had disappeared into the back of the bar in no time, leaving me and Dawn alone together by the round table counter.

It was until they were gone that it dawned on me that I was alone with Dawn and that awkward social part of me was fighting to take control. Meanwhile, as a debate was going on in my head on how to spark a conversation with Dawn and kill the awkwardness, the pretty, light skinned angel was busy peacefully sipping a bottle of Fanta through a straw.

"So.. Um..."

Well, that was me, stuttering pathetically.

Dawn stopped sipping, paused, looked up and beamed light brown pretty eyes at me, either surprised or anticipating whatever I wanted to say to her. Or both.

I looked down on the table, nervously played with my fingers on the desk whilst trying to act as 'in control' as possible, forcing confidence into my tone as I asked, "Yeah, how long have you been dancing?"

She looked like she wasn't sure how to answer the question. Perfectly carved eyebrows knitted together as she seemed to ponder on my question for a while.

"A really, really long time," She answered.

A corner of my lip lifted in a little smile. "Cool."

"I mean, it's a really broad question," She was still saying. "I've been dancing basically all my life..."

She talked with so much interest, I just watched her plainly.

She went on to tell me she was the Dance Team Leader at our school, and I realized we had no dance team at Castron High. I mean, even if we did, I definitely wouldn't be a leader. Not when people like Krisdana and Ziba existed in the set.

"..So, I've been at this for so long that it's hard to determine when exactly I even started." She said.

"I understand that perfectly, believe me," I told her. "And it's kind of obvious you were doing this longer than you even remember, you're phenomenal."

"And what about you, girl!" Dawn threw the compliment back to me, her tone rising with it. "You're just as great. When did you start?"

"I actually got enrolled into an official dance class at 9," I said. "But, I feel I've been at it my whole life."

"Well, I can't disagree," Dawn said.

I smiled. Genuinely.

I like this girl.

I mean, I don't like a lot of people, but I really like this girl.

"Marcus says you both go to Castron High?" Dawn popped it up as she switched to her hamburger and I started on my cocktail.

When did Marcus even tell them that?

"It's true," I said. Sipped. Waited for her response.

"Ohhhhhh! How's it like there? Tell me everything! " She seemed so interested to know, stared at ne with a mouth filled with Hamburger.

Horrible. Castron is horrible.

"Ts'okay." I sipped on more cocktail.

"So, you know Casper Bassey? He goes there, Kizito has talked about him!" She said.

"I have no idea who Kizito is." I told her.

"Oh.." She realized. "Right."

"But, I know Casper." I responded. As a matter of fact, he called me crazy today.

"Well, Ansel and I go to Crestview International Academy," Dawn continued. "I'm sure you've heard of the School by now."

A smile crept on my face on recalling a conversation with Marcus from earlier.

"Most definitely," I said. "Wow, so..." Sipped again. "So, you go to the new girl?"

I can't even begin to express in words the level of confusion I traced on Dawn's face. It was priceless.

I mischievously sipped on more cocktail. I know what I said.

"Never mind." I started on my fries, smile lingering like a sly bitch on my face.

There was a second or two of silence before-

"So, you and Marc, are you dating?" Dawn asked out of the blue.

I choked on my cocktail.

"Woah, are you okay?" She instantly looked alarmed, rushed to hand me a glass of water.

"Yeah, yeah," I coughed, drank, coughed, and drank again a couple more times.

"So, I'm guessing that reaction means you two don't have a label," Dawn said in realization.

I gave her a thumbs up as I gulped on more water.

"Relatable," Dawn said. "As a matter of fact, Ansel and I are on a date type of thing too."

She thinks Marcus and I are on a date. Wow.

"Oh, and we wanted to check out Abeola's Magic Show before we leave, are you in?" She asked me.

Magic Show in Nigeria? Isn't that Juju?

"Oh, the boys are here!" Dawn clapped her hands together in anticipation.

I looked behind me to see Marcus and Ansel walking back, holding each in their hands, two small buckets of ice cream that made me wonder; Who exactly was finishing all that?

The two boys were already in a thriving discussion as they walked over to us, and I couldn't help but smile as I watched them. They had already clicked so well as though they had been friends before now, and it was the purest thing to watch.

Ansel was saying something to Marcus and Marcus was laughing so hard. And watching Marcus look so genuinely happy like that, with that rich smile on his face and happy eyes that were gold, I honestly had no elaborate definition or explanation for what I felt for him.

I noticed a lingering smile on Dawn's face as she stared at them too.... Or at Ansel.

"We still have one more place to go. Abeolas'? Dawn said to Ansel as soon as both boys reached us.

Marcus had kissed me at the top of my head - an action that surprised me- as he and Ansel set up the ice cream that they had bought for us, neatly, on the table.

I almost said thank you.

"Oh, the Magic Show?" Marcus hands hadn't even left the curves of my shoulders as he took his seat by me, and started pouring a colourless drink into a glass.

"Magic show in Nigeria?" Ansel's eyes nearly bulged out of its sockets. "That no be juju?"

Exactly what I thought.

Marcus only laughed and shook his head, and Dawn visibly rolled her eyes in a fake show of annoyance.

"So, Aurora," He turned to me. "Do you want us to go with Ans and Dee for the Magic Show?"

Do I?

"I'll pass on that one," I answered. "But I don't want to stop anyone, Dawn seems to really want to go."

"Aww, it's okay," Dawn brushed it off. "I'll just go with Ansel, you and Marc can continue on your date, okay?"

My God... Date..?

Something twinkled in Marcus' eyes.

"Date." He repeated, turned to me. I avoided his gaze.

"It was nice meeting you: Marc and Dabi, you guys are wicked awesome," Ansel said to us.

"Yeah.." Dawn agreed. Smiled specifically at me. "Especially you, Dabi."

I smiled back. "Thank you."

"So, I guess it's to hope we all meet again some other time," Marcus spread his arms out in a gesture of farewell. "Maybe on our next dance performance, aye?"

Ansel's lips stretched into a full grin. "You got it, my brother!" And both boys slapped their hands in a loud handshake that nearly took my soul out of me.... Again.

Boys and aggression.

Dawn and Ansel left us soon after and as I watched their retreating backs, hands holding one to another, and the close, intimate proximity they gave each other, I was almost curious to know their story.

They weren't so terrible to be around after all.

Not so long after the duo had left Marcus and I, I heard that Stormy had finally showed up to Wonder Coast.

The entire place was a commotion on her arrival as of course, Stormy's performance was the highlight of the night, and some people who wanted to leave already were just waiting on her arrival.

And indeed, the girl had showed up fashionably late, surprising everyone with a sophisticated, yet trendy mix fashion, rocking a long grey tartan blazer that had the same material she had picked up for her headband, and using it as a jacket cover for the alarmingly short tube top dress that stopped way above her knees. She had to top it all of by wearing white sneakers.

She got people talking about her outfit before her performance even started. She always had a way of making a statement; be it her hair, or her long nails, her music or her dressing. She always gave people something to talk about.

After her performance of 'Go', Marcus wanted us to go meet her for my sake, but the moment I looked at where she should have been, there on that Wonder Stage, and saw a large mass of people, already storming her and getting autographs, pictures, videos, and etcetera, I held myself back.

I would have sucked it all up, and just went ahead.... But things started to go haywire.

It started when I saw Shade Onam's limousine arriving, and the entire place started to quake and shake with the thunderous screams of fans.

I should have figured that big stars like Stormy and Shade Onam MUST be friends!

And you know the twist? Since Shade Onam - famous super model and teen star - attended Castron High and was one of the girls of Giwa Falade's alpha female clique, I figured the girls that were coming out of that clique were the queens of my school.

I lost courage to even go there.

How many more people from School were even in Wonder Coast to even start with?

And how many people from School would have seen me with Marcus?

How would the Sisters sense it that I was out hanging out with the one boy that they had all grown to dislike so much?

Was I overthinking everything?

In the middle of the turbulence going on in my mind, I saw the last person I wanted to see.....

There she was, stepping down from the stage, laughing and talking with Aaron Godson, holding onto his arm and....

Wait.... What? How... Did they even...?

"Chika?" My eyes bulged out of its sockets. "CHIKA!"

"Aurora, are you okay-"

I ran.

I didn't even wait for Marcus to complete whatever he was saying, I picked my race and didn't stop.

It was pointless because all I heard was two large sprints behind me and strong hands were gripping around my body to hold me in place.

"We need to leave this place!" I pleaded as he wouldn't let me go amidst all my struggling.

"Why?" He asked me, holding me in place in a way that I couldn't move.

"I'll explain later," I nearly cried. "Let's get out of here first!"

All the while, I kept praying in my heart...

I hope no one from School saw me and Marcus.

*****

"Why are you running away from your friends?" Marcus asked me.

He had listened to me and we soon found a lonely arena by the Coast where we walked together, down to where he said he knew the bus would be parked and waiting.

It was just us here, and Playing Games by Summer Walker playing from a distance as we both walked, taking gentle steps as though we both were low-key reluctant to get to the bus and part ways for the night.

"Aurora?" He called my name again.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Are you going to tell me why you're hiding from your friends?" He asked again.

"I just don't want them to know I'm hanging out with you." I told him the truth.

His movement stopped for a split second as though he was slapped to sheer speechlessness.

"Jesus." I heard him mutter. "That stung."

"I didn't mean it like that," I said. "It's just... They won't understand. They don't really trust you much, that's all."

"You said Soma made you come here," He said.

"She's the only one who knows," I said. "The others don't think the best of you, especially since all the drama going on in our names in School."

He stayed quiet, and I didn't look at him, but at the ground we walked on. I did wonder what was going on in his mind.

"C'mon, don't feel bad," I said to him, nudged him slightly to talk.

"No, no, I'm chill," He said, sort of laughed softly under his breath. "I understand, I don't blame them for anything, really."

Marcus and I spending time together seemed to be something that everyone was so against. It was like everyone was out to destroy this friendship from thriving, for one reason or the other. Being with him tonight gave me so much peace, and at the same time, gave me anxiety.

How?

I couldn't explain it. But I wanted to do this again.

A part of me still had questions to ask; Petty ones like why he left me on read, and more pressuring ones like why he even wanted to spend time with me so much. Why me?

It sounded too good to be true.

But tonight was so perfect. And Magical. It felt like a dream. A dream I never wanted to wake up from. A dream where I actually forgot about reality and lived in it, died in it.

I didn't want to wake up from this.

"So..." Marcus stopped walking to step up in front of me, hold my hands and look at me with those brown oceans he called eyes.

I didn't even step back.

"So...." He played gently with my hands, caressing them softly with his thumbs as he looked at me. The way he looked at me. Thoroughly. "When do I get to see you again?"

There was this sudden nervousness that almost made me quiver, and I dropped down to stare at our hands tangled together. Art.

"You'll see me in school," I answered him, a shy tone that shocked me came out of me.

Marcus chuckled softly, a brief sound that beautifully resonated through me.

"Stop playing with me, Aurora," He said.

"But, I'm not," I couldn't even believe how much I was smiling right now.

"I can't talk to you in School." He said.

His words were like a blow to me and my eyes shot up in shock at them.

Why can't he talk to me in School? Was he embarrassed to?

"Your friends.." He reminded me. "You said they don't like me, so for your sake, I'll keep my distance in School."

"Oh," I remembered.

"So?" He looked at me, waited for an answer.

"I guess I will need some time to make them understand you," I said.

"Yeah, and while you're at that..." He played with my hands again. "I will still get to see you, right?"

I smiled, teasingly.

"You have my number, Clyde," I told him. "We always have after School if you really want to..."

He smiled. "Awesome."

So much for one lovely night.

Marcus and I were going to part ways that night after the bus had arrived and dropped us all at our stops, and all the way through the ride, as our destinations came closer, I felt like a part of me was dying and dying slowly as it started to embrace the reality of the night really coming to an end.

I rested a head on his shoulder and was silent through out the ride, sad that it was all about to end.

And before he left, he had planted a warm kiss on my forehead and wished me good night. I watched his back as he left, my soul bleeding and bleeding as he disappeared more and more into the night.

I watched....

And watched...

And watched...

And watched...

Until he was gone.

And when he was gone, I spent the rest of the entire night crying my eyes out.

I just had to listen to Moon River as I wrote the ending and I got too emotional....

Thoughts? Tell me everything going on in your mind!😌♥️

Oh, and Dawn and Ansel are from Almost Unfixable by Iyanuoluwa-Temi and if you're not reading that book, omo you're not current oo!!😫😫💔

Stormy is from a future book that Stardust_Wendy will soon write! Y'all anticipate!

See you during the week!♥️