Hello, guys!

As promised, I'm here🤗❤️

How are we this morning??

And also, thank you for 38k reads, guys. We're 2k reads away from 40k!! I'd also use this medium to thank you all also for 186k reads in TLT, it shocks me when I still see the numbers moving, and the fact that the book will soon hit 200k is incredible!

~ACHA~

Hell.

Heaven.

Hell.

Heaven.

That was a summary of the next week for me in a nutshell. 

Dabeluchi and I had successfully been able to keep our 'pact' the whole of the entire week. The part where I had to go through out the rest of the day, not being with her was Hell, and then, the short while afterwards, where it was just me and her, and no classmates, was my Heaven.

In summary, this girl had me, Marcus Bruno Acha, literally whipped and worshipping at her feet.

And with my whole heart and mind, I succumbed to the mighty power of Dabeluchi Orji's  charm. 

Whole heartedly.

"I want chocolate." She quipped behind me, indirectly ordering her order for the both of us.

I felt her hands, soft tender small hands wrap softly around my waist from behind, in a soft hug, as she rested her head on my head, also indirectly insinuating that she was resting and waiting for me to order our snacks, and do all of the work.

I didn't mind.

Anything for Dabeluchi.

"We'll have two chocolate cake, please," I placed the order on her count and the nice lady by the counter smiled and got to it.

"Oh, no, now, I want vanilla!" Dabeluchi suddenly whined into my back, squeezing me at her demand, and I laughed at how adorable she sounded.

"We'll have vanilla then," I changed our order, on her count.

"Or wait, should I take Red Velvet instead?" She whined again, a bit of confusion laced in her tone as she started to change her mind again.

"Red Velvet?" I laughed, tried to look behind to the girl at my back as I asked once more to confirm. "You want Red Velvet instead?"

"Nah, sorry, let's revert back to Chocolate," She made up her mind, and went back to her position; holding onto me from behind, in a cute little tender hug.

I laughed, ordered accordingly, just how she wanted it.

"Chocolate," I placed the final order. "We'll both take chocolate cake, ma." 

The counter lady passed us a teasing, suspicious glance and laughed sweetly to herself a little, before getting to work, and packaging our chocolate cake for the both in tinfoil wraps.

"You do right about anything I want, don't you?" I heard Dabeluchi tease behind me as I grabbed our snacks in small paper bags and held it in my hand for the both of us.

I turned around to face her, her hands still all around my waist as beautiful eyes stared up at me, a warming glint in them that was for me.

"Really." I acted unaware, cupped a hand under her chin, and swept a bit of her braids away from her face, in order admire her beauty better.

Braids, lol. Dabeluchi surprised me by showing up tonight with braids. This obviously wasn't usual, and of course, she told me she would have done something different if she had a choice. Apparently, her friend, Soma had braided her hair for her just tonight, and while I insisted she stayed back at home since she was complaining about the pain, she adamantly insisted she wanted to come out and see me.

Nevertheless, braids or not, she still looked like a queen.

What Dabi looks like ✨ (This girl is undoubtedly beautiful, her class girls are just bitter😫🔥)

Virtually how she showed up tonight ♥️

"Yes, really," She blushed on my touch on her skin and giggled, a sweet contagious sound that made a small laugh leave with my next breath. "You never get mad when I waste your time, and you're always so patient with me, and always rushing to do literally everything I want for me."

How do you Sleep by Sam Smith was playing from a close distance, and Dabeluchi wouldn't let me go, or stop being so cute,

"Well, Aurora, I can't help it 'cause you're too adorable," I smiled at her, as my heart flustered at how much more beautiful she kept looking under this natural moonlight, every second.

She laughed, a laugh that was so genuine and rich. One that made my body tingle a little as warmness and happiness spread through it. Just hearing her was everything; it made me so happy that she was so happy, and at the same time, it made me feel so fuzzy and nice.

"Don't make this about me, Clyde, you're just a nice guy, admit it," She teased me.

"No, Aurora, I'm a bad boy," I played with her, and she laughed widely. So richly. And I couldn't help, but laugh along with her, and as we laughed, there was this pure energy between us that made just the two of us feel like we were alone, even when I knew we were in the counter of an outdoor snack vendor.

Being alone in a full room.

I didn't think that was even possible until I met Dabeluchi.

I have no words to describe it, but, being with this girl didn't just give my heart twists and turns, it seemed to also do an incredible amount of damage, good damage, to my entire mind, soul, and spirit. It was happy and warm with us, like it was just the two of us against the world, yet, the tension was also overwhelming. 

Too overwhelming.

As she held onto me, smiling ever so sweetly and looking up at me like I was just as much hold to her as she was to me, I had to gulp in a feat so many times, in order to keep my cool under the sweet, torturing sensation the tension between us raised.  

"You're so nice that sometimes I don't believe you're even human," Dabeluchi said to me.

I watched her as she spoke, my heart speeding up three times faster by the second as I only masked it all with a smile, as I admired this queen in front of me.

 "Humans shouldn't be as nice as you are," She said to me, pouted her lips adorably, poked a finger accusingly on my chest, "So, what if you aren't even human?"

I laughed. I actually really laughed.

"For all we know, I could all be in your head though," I continued the joke with her.

Dabeluchi's eyes widened in horror and I got scared.

Damn, she switched so fast.

"I'm joking!" I had to say immediately as I had quickly picked up that she didn't quite find the joke as funny as I intended it to be.

It seemed to take her a few seconds of her looking at me and studying my face, before she finally let it go.

And let me go.

"I'm now mad at you." She declared.

"C'mon," I laughed, tried to reach out to her.

"Don't touch me." She flung my hand away, and turned around so fast that her braids flipped in my face and stung my eyes. "I'm leaving, and if you like, don't run after me."

She was joking. Dabeluchi was joking. I could tell; her face was serious, but I knew she was joking.

Nonetheless, I knew I had to run after her as she ordered.

"Here's your extra package," The counter lady distracted me from behind. 

I frowned, confused at the paper bag she was "What for?"

"We're on a promo," She smiled at me. "Buy two, get one free."

"Oh?" I raised a brow in realization.

"Yeah," She didn't stop smiling. "So, that's an extra package for you and your girlfriend."

I was about to go, but I stopped. Turned back. Stared at her. Repeated her words. "My girlfriend."

She nodded, and sort of I instantly grabbed why she was all soft smiles and easy laughs at me and Dabeluchi all night. 

She thought Dabeluchi was my girlfriend.

Girlfriend.... Didn't sound so bad.

"Cool," I quipped, smiled back the nice lady, and grabbed the free package in gratitude.

She waved me a good bye, and I reciprocated the gesture, turned back to leave...

And froze in absolute dread....

Dabeluchi... 

Chills of fear ran through my body and my eyes were like an eagle's vision, scanning thoroughly, the farthest ends of the pedestrian walk where I had just seen her walking into, a few minutes ago.

But she...

She... Was nowhere to be found.

Dabeluchi was nowhere to be found; I couldn't see her anymore!

A thick hood covered me in that instant and an even thicker lump formed in my throat, threatening a massive heart attack.

"Dabeluchi!" I screamed out in horror to God knows who, turned so fast to the lady behind the counter who was taken aback by how hysteric I suddenly was, " Did you see her!? Did you see where she went?!"

"Wasn't she just here, I-"

"Fuck." I couldn't even wait for her to complete whatever she was saying, and without even wasting a second, I took to my heels, dashing out into the streets like a mad man, racing down and around the pedestrian walk, not giving a single damn about how insane I must have looked, as I went in search of Dabeluchi.

There I was, running around the entire walk, sliding past bodies, apologising to people whom I almost knocked down, and inquiring from everyone in sight if they had seen a girl with black braids and a blue coat, but everyone seemed to not have a clue about what I was talking about.

I didn't stop running and searching. I may have been doing this for barely two minutes or so, and I was very athletic, so I didn't get why I was panting so hard; I was shivering so hard: my hands, my legs, my whole body was shaking, like someone who was about to have a seizure on the spot, yet my legs wouldn't stop racing about the place, asking about, in search of her.

"God, where are you," Bat-out-of-hell scared as I was as I slumped down to the ground, pressing a hand onto my chest, as it seemed my heart would soon explode with such intense thundering thuds that I couldn't control. 

I looked around, surveying where I was and in seconds, I had recognised it to be the field space in front of the Crown Games Arcade. I had been here once with Dabi, and I was well aware of the distance between it, and the outdoor counters by the other side of the Street, so that was clear enough to me that I had walked, or ran quite a  distance.

"Where are you, Dabeluchi," I asked into the air as though somehow she could hear me wherever she was. I had to force myself back on my feet, so I pressed my hands onto the wet grass beneath me, and jumped back on my feet to get back on the road.

I had barely even taken two steps, and-

"Hi, bich."

I recognised the voice immediately I heard it behind me, and as the relief ran through out my body, I was just about to turn, and run towards her, when a shower of water came raining down on me, completely drenching my back.

Dabeluchi was standing there, right behind me, a nervous grin on her face, and a leaking water hose in her hands.

"Oops," She giggled into her hands, made sure to shoot more water onto my face, and had the audacity to even tease me afterwards, "But, see how you were just sitting down there; You looked like a ghost."

I stormed the girl.

No jokes, guys. I dived towards this girl like a jet.

"Stay away from me!" Dabeluchi was a laughing mess as she tried to run from me, but it was to no avail because she was too slow, and in a matter of seconds, I was holding her in a grip, and she was struggling with me, laughing, and struggling to get away.

"Leave me! Leave me alone oo! I'll shout and people will start coming o!" She kept screaming, as she writhed and thrashed in my hold,  the both of us laughing so hard, literally laughing our asses off, as we fell down together, onto the wet grass, rolling, rumbling, and struggling with each other - well, she, struggling with me, because she was thrashed around, it was practically useless, because I had already grabbed the hose from her, and literally started to 'baptize' her with all the water from it as she just kept screaming.

"Argh! Stop!" She kept screaming as I drenched her with water, and she tried to shake my wrists in defence, succeeded in causing me to get water all over myself for a moment, but majorly, it was all on her.

"Do you know how scared I was, looking for you?" We were literally rolling on the ground as I scolded, and the girl was laughing, grabbed the water hose and attacked me with it, before I easily took it away from her, and countered her attack. At that point, we started playing like little children, pouring water from the hose all over ourselves, and laughing, turning the whole thing into a mini-battle.

In the end, it resulted to the both of us being so drenched with water, from head to toe.

Just the both of us.

Wet from head to toe.

Right in the middle of the field space of Crown Games Arcade.

"You know?" Dabeluchi sat next to me, arms wrapped around her body, and light smile on her face. "This is all your fault, though. You shouldn't be making such bad jokes that scare me."

I looked at her and a smirk formed on my lips as I laughed briefly at her accusation, "You play too damn much, Aurora."

"Oh, do I?" She responded sarcastically.

"Yes," I rolled my eyes. "I was so scared though; You nearly gave me a heart attack when I thought you were gone."

"Well, you're kinda stupid, should I tell you why?" She mused, having that sneaky smile on her face.

I mockingly looked her up and down and tried my hardest not to smile, "Why?"

"Because you could have just called," She waved her phone in my face, and common sense that I had lacked for so long as I was worried for her slapped me in the face.

"Stooo-peed," She teased me, softly tapping her phone on my forehead.

"Leave me alone!" I shoved her hand away playfully, and she couldn't stop laughing. I couldn't help, but laugh too...

And boy, my heart was still a beating mess.

Even after I had found her, my heart was still beating. Recovering from the previous shock of nearly losing Dabeluchi.

"I was actually really scared though," I had to tell her, "Please, don't play like that again.."

She didn't particularly respond, but I could still feel her presence by my side, and I knew she was looking at me.

"You really scared me..." I said.

"Why?" I finally heard her voice. Softer, this time, as though she voiced out a thought by accident.

"Why were you so scared?" She asked again, and this time, in a less hesitant tone as before.

Via my side, she was hugging her knees, resting her head on them, and looking tenderly at me, like she was waiting for an answer.

"I thought I lost you," I said to her.

And, my, God, it was so cold.

She still maintained her subtle position, hugging her knees, and tenderly staring, waiting for me to keep going, like she still didn't get it.

"I'm scared of losing you, Aurora," I elaborated.

I almost sounded like she and I were an item that was already signed, sealed, and delivered.

Like, we were official.

But, we hadn't even talked in that line, before. So, in all honesty, what were we?

Dabeluchi hadn't even responded to my revelation.

She didn't say anything back.

Just sat there, looking at me, absolutely mute.

And with the much I had known from her through out these last few days I had spent with her, I knew there was a truck load of things, going through her mind right now.

But she said nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

And then, I noticed....

"You're cold."

The way she was holding onto herself, and shivering ever so softly while being covered by her now wet coat told it all.

"You're cold," I repeated.

"I guess," She muttered, holding onto herself even more.

"We need to get you covered up," I decided immediately, getting up from the grass, and extending a hand to her to help her up from the ground, and she took it.

"Where are we going?" She asked me, as I pulled into her arm, her teeth clattering softly as she hugged her own body, with the other arm

"There's a mall just across the Street, we'll get you another jacket," I answered, "And then, afterwards, we will go inside the arcade and get some towels from their bathroom."

She nodded blindly, and just followed me, without arguing.

Together, we walked across the street, completely drenched, and soaked in water from head to toe.

We had stopped by at the mall, walked in and definitely had all eyes turn to look at the two of us, and I couldn't blame them for being so confused and shocked, because there was no reason for us to be so wet, when it wasn't even a rainy night.

I didn't even care about everyone who was staring, I just wanted to make sure Dabeluchi was warmer, so I quickly got her a jacket, paid for it, and got the both of us out of there.

"Wait." Dabeluchi stopped me, literally gripped my arm so tightly with both her arms, as soon as we were at the doorway entrance of the Arcade.

I stopped, looked back to her, and realised how disturbed she suddenly looked, and I had to ask, "Are you good?"

"Yes," She nodded a bit too fast as she quickly let go of me. A bit too quickly. "I'm fine; Didn't mean to stop you, let's go in."

She was lying. It was too clear.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. "Talk to me."

She looked hesitant.

"Aurora," I called her. "C'mon, you can tell me what the problem is."

"It's just..." She trailed off as she looked down to the ground. "There were so many people at the Mall. Not that I minded much, but I have a feeling they'll be even more people in there," She gestured to the entrance of the game arcade.

A smile appeared on my face, as I understood her completely..

I had learnt one fact about her, and that was the fact that she didn't like much attention. Most of the times we were together, she did a good job at ignoring every person's presence, but considering the both of us were this wet, we were bound to make heads turn.

"Aurora," I took her hand, looked her in the eyes. "It'll be fine, okay? Trust me."

She looked at me, stared at me with large, trusting eyes, and nodded softly.

"We won't spend much time in there; we'll just grab some towels, and leave," I told her. Looked back into her eyes as I made my promise, "Cross my heart."

She eased up, and walked in with me.

Together, we stepped into the entrance, and got ourselves into hallway that led to first arcade room. All the way, as we walked down the empty narrow halls with bright tube lights at the ceilings, silver tiled covered walls, vinyl floors, and metal railings by the left side, I held Dabeluchi's hand. Just so she could be as comfortable as possible.

We'd be out of here in no time.

I took a step onto the stairway to the arcade room first, and helped her up, and she blushed involuntarily, and followed my lead.

And God, we were so wet that as we walked, we literally left water puddle footprints on their poor floors. Hopefully, they don't kick us out of here.

"Here we are-"

I had barely even taken two steps in, and Dabeluchi rushed past me like wind, flashing with the speed of light as she dashed out of the arcade room, and started running downstairs.

What the-

Alarmed, I ran after her.

"What's the problem?" I asked, seriously concerned as I easily grabbed a hold of her on the stairs, seconds after she just ran away from me.

At this point, she looked hysteric. Like she had seen a ghost. The girl was shaking, literally vibrating. Eyes wide in horror, her voice wavering and trembling as she tried to make out accurate words for me to hear, but she kept mumbling all sorts of things that didn't make enough sense for me to even pick one by one, and perhaps patch it all up.

"You.. I.. Them.. We.. There... Two..." Dabeluchi sounded like she was malfunctioning, and it scared me. She was literally shaking, her hands were vibrating in mine, and when I realised that she was too horrified by something she saw, to even make a proper statement, I decided to look for myself.

"I'm going in," I told her. "Promise you won't leave me."

She nodded vigorously.

I went into the arcade to check whatever she saw.

Nothing.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

It was still the same ol' retro themed Arcade I always knew. With the disturbingly dim blue lighting of the place, that hovered all over the arcade machines by the corners, and the busy players all around the entire room.

So... What did she see..?

What did Dabeluchi see?

I was about to come back to question her, but that was when I got a glimpse of it by accident.

Or Them.

It did nothing much to bother me particularly, but they were one of Dabeluchi's biggest fears.

Classmates.

Our CH classmates.

"It's okay, we got this," I got back to Dabeluchi. "Stay down, okay? Veil yourself with the hoodie of the jacket, they won't notice us. We'll just walk by the side ends, and head straight for the bathrooms by the end."

"It's risky," I could barely even hear Dabeluchi with that so-strangled tone she answered me with.

"They can't see you if you keep your head down," I told her. 

"What about you?" She asked hesitantly.

"I got this," I told her.

Again, she trusted me, and with both our hearts beating with a dangerous intensity, we walked into the Arcade room. Dabeluchi had her head down, and hoodie over her head, and I shielded myself skilfully behind strangers, as I walked somewhat by her, sneakily avoiding being noticed by even anyone close to that particular Arcade Machine where precisely two of our classmates, were, chilling, laughing, and having their fun.

Dabeluchi and I were like certified criminals, and we were pulling this off quite spectacularly.

Until, we weren't.

"Hey, Acha?" One of the classmates screamed; It was the girl.

We froze. Dabeluchi and I froze.

"ACHA!" The girl seemed to scream louder in realisation and conformation, "OMG! I KNEW IT WAS YOU!"

I looked to Dabeluchi that instant, as dread filled me to the brim, and only one thing was on my mind. Only one decision left to make for the both of us.

One..

Two..

Three..

 "Run."

We ran like we were possessed.

That was sure enough to cause a level of chaos, because I held onto Dabi to run along with my pace, and I felt bad for everyone who was in my way, because I pushed them all.

And that female classmates needed to be a mad woman because she was literally running after us too, and I swore I was losing my mind.

Unfortunately, I knew her too well to be one of the most sporty and athletic girls in our set, and a star in track alongside the Onuoha Twins, so I knew just how fast she was at running. Furthermore, as though we were cursed tonight, this girl literally zoomed, flashed towards us with the speed of light...

.... Successfully cornering me and Dabeluchi.

Dabeluchi gulped audibly, stepped back and hid behind me, adjusting the hoodie to cover her face more as she drooped her head further down, shielding her face from this female classmate who had caught up to us, with a playful grin on her face.

"So, why are we running?" The girl was panting and laughing, feet jogging excitedly in front of me and Dabeluchi; I felt this was all fun and games for her. "Whoosh! That was one hell of a work out!"

Dabeluchi hid her entire frame behind me, and I kept my composure, faced this female classmate who wouldn't leave us alone tonight.

"Prissy Waje." I called her full name. Cleared my throat and forced myself to act natural. Sized the brown skinned, slim girl confidently from her permed low-cut, to her slightly oversized, somewhat fashionable jean dungaree. "Well, I didn't expect to see you here."

And what's worse? I knew this girl Prissy Waje to be one of the most 'current on gist' girls in our set. She was also INSANELY popular, but generally didn't seem like a bad person, however, I couldn't be too confident that if she looked behind me, and recognized Dabi from the hood, that she wouldn't tell her friends. And her friends were Giwa and co - The girls in our set that were termed as the Alpha female clique.

 "You too! Well, what a surprise!" Prissy was so happy to see me. Of course, I talked to her more than the other girls of Giwa's clique because the both of us were high held sports icons in Castron High, and we shared the same field a lot of times.

"And geez, you are so wet!" She was fast to pick it up.

"Well, I can see that," I cracked the fakest smile ever.

She laughed, and weakly punched my arm, "Well, I was just stopping by with a friend, to chill a little."

I looked back behind her, to her 'friend' who she had come with, and there at the arcade machine at the distance, not particularly interested to walk over here and bug me like Prissy was doing, was Yure Adediji, another very significant human in our set, and popularly the set's well respected head boy.

"I see," I responded, wishing for our conversation to be over as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Yure who lazily balanced himself on a couch chair by the machine, stretched his very long legs out, and only nodded a greeting to me from the distance and I nodded back to him, unintentionally dismissively.

"Yeah, we were working all day with Yure's song covers and all, and I couldn't come out with any of the other girls, since Shade is super busy, Giwa is on a date tonight, and Hassana is-"

God in Heaven.

There was a fake smile on my face as I mentally face palmed, and wondered how much longer it would take for Prissy to, yunno, get lost.

I didn't even understand why she felt the need to explain herself so much, and I didn't honestly care.

"So, Yure and I decided to have a break, and just come here and-" She was still talking to me, and I forced mighty patience upon myself.

"So, you know," She was still talking, "We just decided to catch some arcade fun and-"

Jesus Christ, Prissy; I really don't care.

"You know what?" I cut her off in mid sentence, making sure to sound as polite as possible, so she doesn't feel bad that I was dismissing her. "Prissy, all you're saying is cool and all, but I have to go now, alright? So-"

"Oh, I see you!" She instantly cut me off as she noticed Dabeluchi's frame behind me, asked in excitement as she got even closer to us, "Who's the girl you're hiding, na?"

I could imagine Dabeluchi losing her damn mind at this point, and judging by how frozen she remained, like a mannequin right there, behind me, I knew she was losing her shit. The last thing I wanted to do was arouse suspicion of any kind, so in as much as I wanted to start running again, I stood my ground, and forced myself to look as 'normal' and unfazed as possible. 

However, I opened my damn mouth to ask the most unbelievable question, "Which girl?"

Prissy looked at me like I was speaking Korean.

Of course, she was confused to nonsense. How couldn't she be?

I knew there was a girl behind me. She knew there was a girl behind me. We both knew there was a girl behind me, and we both also knew that we both knew that there was a girl behind me.

And above all, it was the way I asked such an incredibly stupid question, with the most unfazed voice for me. I looked at Prissy like I damn knew what I said and I meant it. If care wasn't taken, she would have been the one even getting confused, and wondering to herself if she was seeing things now.

"There is a girl..." She looked at me like she was crazy, picked her words carefully, "Behind you."

"There's no one behind me, Prissy, I don't know what you're talking about." I didn't skip a beat while responding and that confused her even more.

"Marcus Acha," Her eyes widened in something akin to horror as her voice seemed to shake with just a little fear, "I swear it that there's a hooded girl behind you."

 I stared at her, as though she was talking gibberish.

She apparently seemed to go off.

"What the hell, there's someone behind you-" Prissy exclaimed, made an attempt to step up, look behind, and drag Dabeluchi into sight.

That's where things went haywire.

And Fast.

Dabeluchi screamed, hopped like an insect around Prissy's outstretched arm, and grabbed me from behind, pressing her head hard against my back, and mumbling things to herself. I mean it, the girl was there, actively having a whole ass conversation in whispers with my back as Prissy looked shocked as hell.

I feared that at this point Prissy would be able to connect all the dots and figure it out. Only one person was capable of acting that way, and if she was smart enough, she should have guessed it.

"Is everything okay?" She asked us, worry sipping into her confusion.

"Yes," I actively started to cover up as Dabeluchi cried into my back and tried to squeeze the day lights out of me. "She's just shy, that's all."

"But you said that no one was behind you, why did you lie?" She questioned.

Jesus Christ.

"I get it now, I get what's happening now, it's so obvious," Prissy seemed to understand quickly. Her face cleared up in realization, and there was a terrifying assurance in her eyes that made me very worried.

"What do you mean? What do you get?" I dared to ask.

She shook her head, not in disappointment, but more in understanding. Her big brown eyes registered immense empathy and kindness.

"It's okay, really, you don't have to be so embarrassed," She said to me, "At the end of the day, we don't choose who we fall in love with; your secret is safe with me, Acha."

I stared at Prissy, unsure of how to react.

"I'm not embarrassed," I started by clearing up.

"Sorry, I guess I may have used the wrong term," She corrected herself apologetically, "What I'm trying to say is that I won't let anyone know; Most especially our classmates."

"Thank you," I told Prissy, as relief washed over me, and I was just about to turn my head back to Dabeluchi behind me, and tell her it was okay, and that Prissy understood.

"I most definitely won't let Kelechi know you're cheating on her too; you have my word for it."

I frowned at Prissy's final statement, absolutely stupefied. 

And that was when it started to unfold and become clearer to me what Prissy was thinking the whole entire time.

She thought I was cheating on Kelechi? Hold up, she thought I was dating Kelechi?

I felt Dabeluchi's hands loosen ever so slightly on me.... 

"Kelechi?" I looked at Prissy. "We aren't together."

Prissy frowned, confused. "Really."

"Yes," I nodded, absolutely certain.

"Well, there're inside rumours though," Prissy enlightened me. "After Saturday Lessons last week, everyone's been making memes on Whatssap Status, I'm surprised you missed on that."

I'm surprised too. I mean, I couldn't fault myself since most of my free time had been dedicated to Dabeluchi lately.

"So, then, may I know who she is, if she isn't some other girl?" Prissy had pressed on, and I wondered why on Earth she was so interested in knowing.

"She's my cousin," I told her, felt my heat tear to pieces to have to lie like that.

It felt like I just denied Dabeluchi, and it tore me to pieces. Destroyed me. However, what was I even denying pe se? We weren't even official.... What are we?

"And," I continued, thousands of knifes slashing my heart through as I had to keep up with my lie, "She doesn't go to our school."

"Oh, wow," Prissy said.

 "Long distance cousin, actually," I told her. "Yeah, so, she comes from a very far country, and well, she isn't very familiar with strangers, that's why she's very shy."

"Aww," Prissy mused, absolutely buying it. And I must say, either she was pretending to believe me ort she wasn't very smart, because the entire build up to this lie was absolutely rubbish.

"So, what's her name?" She asked.

I won't lie, that question took me quite off-guard.

However, I acted fast. My eyes took half a second to scan my surroundings like a computer, and after catching a glimpse of a food menu pasted on the wall, and some little kids who sat around with some Samsung galaxy tabs, I answered her in a heart beat.

"Menu tabs."

"Menu Tabs." Prissy repeated.

"Menu tabs." I said it again.

"Your cousin's name is Menu Tabs." She blinked at me.

"That's exactly what I heard myself say." I responded.

She stared back at me for a few more seconds, and a little more, and then a little more....

Then, she laughed awkwardly. A fake, painful laugh. It was clear I had succeeded in making myself look like an total idiot in front of her, and she was a bit too nice to dismiss me abruptly.

"Okay, then, you and Menu tabs have fun, bye." She stepped away from us, and left me and Dabeluchi alone. 

"Thank God," I muttered, held on to Dabeluchi and disappeared into the bathroom with her.

However, I noticed how suddenly quiet Dabeluchi suddenly got.

As we dried ourselves, she barely said anything to me, only answered 'yes' every time I asked if she was okay, and barely made eye contact. She basically worked at her own pace, and I helped her out occasionally, but she stopped me and told me she could do it herself, so I respected that, left her, waited, while holding her soaking wet jacket, and the drier jacket hoodie I had bought, for her.

"Menu Tab?" She looked at me, as soon as we stepped out of the arcade. 

I felt she was teasing me, but she wasn't laughing or anything. She just had a basic, straight face as she 'mocked' me, I guess.

"I panicked, okay?" I laughed, "Would you have thought of something better?"

She didn't answer me, lol.

She just blinked, looked away, and stared into space, unamused and definitely uninterested in bickering with me.

I stopped walking abruptly. 

She was forced to stop too.

"What's the problem?" I asked her, concerned. 

Her switch of moods was incredible. Too fast. She was too unpredictable.

"Nothing." She answered, looked down from me, vaguely looking sad.

"Are you sure?" I took her hand, looked at her even if she refused to make eye contact.

She stayed quiet for a longer while, looked like she was debating with herself if she should speak or keep it to herself. I watched her, gently kept urging her, "C'mon, talk to me."

Dabeluchi had the courage to look up at me, and her eyes were softened, a lot more softened like she was about to break down in tears in front of me.

"Aurora.." I felt my heart break into messy pieces.

"Everyone in School thinks that you and Kelechi are together." She finally voiced it out. "I really don't like it."

Watching her so vulnerable tore me to pieces, and I didn't even know when I just wrapped my hands all around her, holding onto her so tight, and ever so dearly.

She stayed in my hold, resting, or... Crying?

"Aurora," I looked at her, cupped her hands in my hands, "You know that's not true. We both know that it's not true."

"But everyone else does," She whined in a soft voice, a soft voice that was shaking with misery.

It was like I could see all her insecurities right now, like they were all pouring out in front of me, tearing me apart just the same way it did her.

"We both know what the truth is," I told her. "That should matter, right?"

What was the truth?

What are we?

Dabeluchi nodded softly in understanding, like my assurance was all she needed for consolation and conformation. I kissed her on the forehead,  and held onto her for so long, and all the way, both our hearts were beating with intensity. I felt mine, and I sure felt hers too.

On her request, we left the arcade and any place that was even close to it, and also on her request, found a safer, more hidden spot at a water park, finding solace in the silence between us as we just sat by the river, together, and stared at the beautiful surface that was flickering like glitter.

"Thank you," Dabeluchi said out of the blue.

I smiled at her, "For?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, thank you too," I said to her.

She scoffed softly, "What for?"

I breathed a laugh, and took her hand, held it in mine. "For giving me a chance."

She smiled back, and said to me, "And I don't regret it at all. Marcus Acha."

I held onto her hand and as she stayed lost, watching the river with this calm look in her eyes, a look in her eyes that made me know that at this moment, all she felt was total peace and tranquillity, and I was happy for her.

Our hands were more of a sight to me.

As I watched it together, all I thought was Art.

I just wanted to keep holding her forever, I didn't want to let go.

God, what was she doing to me?

Everything about her blew my mind. Her raw beauty, her entire demeanour that made you just want to hold her and hug her when you gave a second chance to look, and her eyes, her naturally emotionless eyes that when you looked at it more than once, you almost teared up at how much of the insecurities and sadness that lied in there, she made my heart melt like butter for her, and God, I felt it was high time I asked myself one question about this girl, "What was she going through?" Why did my heart break so much whenever I saw her?

As though fate wanted me to get to the bottom of it, my hands travelled to our hands that were still together. Art. How they fitted perfectly in mine. How small, but perfect they were. How they looked like they belonged in no one else's hands, but mine..... And that was when my observance peaked, and I noticed it.

A lump formed in my throat, and it felt like I had wind knocked right out me.

"Aurora, what's this?" I screamed as I held her hand in my hand, looked at it closer to ensure I wasn't seeing things. I grabbed her other hand without permission, looked at it, and saw the exact same thing, and chills ran through my entire body. 

I hadn't noticed it before now, and I wondered why. How could I have been so unobservant to something like that?

Dabeluchi turned tome immediately, alarm and dread in her eyes as she tore her hand away from mine, and hid them in shame.

"Those scars..." I already saw them, I saw it all on her wrists. I swallowed metal, as my voice came out in strangled, disbelieving whispers, to ask, "Do you cut, Aurora?"

She tore her face down, away from me, her lips and hands were quivering, as she was shaking, hiding her wrists, like it was killing her that someone had seen that.

Dabeluchi cuts herself...

She cuts..

What on earth was so terrible that caused her to develop such a toxic habit?

"Can you please just forget about it." She said to me, hid her wrists and couldn't look at me.

"You can't expect me to just act like I didn't find out about this now, Aurora, I can't ignore this." I said to her, tried to come closer, but she shifted away.

"Just leave it, it's nothing." She kept saying. Looking away from me. Moving away from me. Hiding from me.

"Nothing?" My eyes widened in shock of what she was saying.

"Yes, nothing."

"It can't be nothing."

"Leave it alone." 

"You can talk to me, Aurora."

"Leave it alone."

"C'mon, Aurora-"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" 

I was stunned to silence, following Dabeluchi's sudden explosion in my face.

And right before me, this girl started the most shocking meltdown I had ever seen in my life.

She initially looked shocked at her own outburst Shocked or terrified.  Her hands and whole body were trembling even harder than before, literally shivering in horror, like she was fighting demons within her. Thousand of them. Strangled moans left her as incoherent sounds, and that was the most heart wrenching thing to watch. Her soft wails in all the turbulence she was feeling tore me to pieces, and I knew I had to be patient with her.

I didn't touch her or disturb her. I let her have her breakdown in peace.

And when she seemed to calm down slightly, when her shaking, her wailing, her trembling toned down to an extent, I held her.

I held her in a warm embrace and let her shake and tremble in my arms.

I was hurting just as much as she was hurting, and I didn't even know what she was going through. I didn't push it; Seeing her the way she was, it was unsafe to even make her talk about it.

After all, she had told me times without number that being with me made her forget her bitter reality - whatever it was. And I completely understood because it was the same with me. So, why make her this depressed when this was the only chance for her to forget them? When she wanted to talk to me at her own accord, she would.

"I'm thirsty," She told me.

"Gomery is just across the street, we can get a drink there." I said.

"You get the drink," She decided. "I'll stay here."

"I can't leave you alone here," I said.

"Please." She said as she hugged herself. "I'll be fine, I don't want to go in there."

It took me a lot, but for her sake, I did as she wanted.

All the while, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Dabeluchi cuts herself.

~DABI~

I can't believe someone found out.

I had always had on my wrist bands because the last thing I wanted was for anyone to know that I.... Self harmed. I had taken off the wrist bands because they were too wet and itchy, and I thought I had done a good job at hiding my wrists, but one moment of absent mindedness, one moment, and Marcus saw my wrists.

I really hoped this wouldn't change things between us. I hoped he wouldn't start seeing me differently.... But with all the affection and support he had shown me, with the way he hugged me to himself even after finding out, it went a long way to make me know and understand that no matter what, he was still with me.

He was a good person.

Marcus Acha was a really good person.

And honestly, I couldn't explain what I was feeling for him.

What are we anyway?

"Here." He was back with a bottle of H2o, and a kiss on my forehead.

I smiled, I couldn't help it. Being with him lifted a huge burden off my shoulders.

"Thank you." I took the bottle and drank from it, gulped down the entire bottle like a camel.

And I noticed he was quiet.

"Now, what's up with you?" I asked him, paused on my drinking.

He covered his mood up by laughing briefly, and shaking his head, "Nothing, Aurora. Drink up, and be satisfied, okay?"

It was clear that something was wrong with him.

The way he was before he walked into Gomery, and the way he was now that he had walked out, was different. He looked bothered, pissed in the slightest, there was a small glint of annoyance in his eyes, and his jaw bone occasionally clenched. Yet, he tried to make his moment about me, tried to ensure I was okay, when something clearly pissed him off in there.

"I'll be fine, Aurora," He promised, forced a genuine smile amidst it all. "I just want you to be okay."

"You can't expect to care so much about me, and I won't do same for you," I told him, and he was quiet.

"Now, will you talk?" I pushed on.

Unlike me, he didn't even blow up in my face, even if I was certain he wanted me to stop asking.

"I just saw someone in there that I didn't want to see," Was all he told me.

"Who?" I asked.

"Ivandor Fejaun," He answered.

I frowned. I knew Ivandor, and he was our classmate and the School's Sports Prefect. So, what did her have to do with Marcus' sudden change of mood?

"What happened? Did you get into a fight with him?" I asked him.

"No," He laughed briefly, shook his head no, "He was on a date."

I frowned. "So?"

"Aurora, we can talk about this another time, okay?" He softly said to me. "Remember what we've agreed on already, this is our only chance to sweep all the shit going on in our lives under the rug, so let's just avoid any conversation that'll depress us, okay?"

I completely understood. And agreed.

"Yeah," I said, "And we've had more than enough classmates ruin the night for us. So, from this second onward, no depressive talks, and none about School or Classmates either, agreed?"

The brown eyes mini-god smiled his million dollar smile at me and nodded in agreement, pulling me in to rest on his chest. "Agreed. It's just us."

It took a moment of us, just staring peacefully into the river, with my head resting on his chest, and his arms, holding me dearly, before I asked him one question.

"What are we?"

He was quiet for a moment, seeming to ponder on my question.

"We are... Aurora and Clyde." He answered, humour in his tone.

I laughed. I actually laughed. I couldn't believe it. One minute ago, I was just having a mental break down, and the next minute, Marc was making me laugh.

"I'm serious though," I punched his arm weakly. "What are we?"

He laughed too, turned to me with that torturing sexy smirk, and threw my question back to me, "Well, what do you want us to be?"

"Does everything always have to be about what I want?" I teased back.

"Defs," He shrugged, waiting for me to answer, as he watched me, trapping me in eye contact with those beautiful big brown eyes.

"Well, I don't know," I answered with a shrug too.

"I'm not sure myself," He said, "But, what I do know is that I like you a lot."

My heart dropped for a moment at his revelation, and that was the moment he saw to pick up my hands to play with them.

"In fact," He made me cheese as he fondled my fingers playfully and softly, "I actually more than like you."

There were butterflies swarming all around my stomach.

"Likewise." I only responded.

"Likewise?" He raised a smooth teasing brow at me. "What happened to saying 'I like you too'?"

I blushed, involuntarily.

"Well, I do," I admitted, "Actually, I more than like you too."

"Oh really." He played with me, moved an inch closer, rubbing me off air at such close proximity, as he kept on with his teasing, tucked a bit of my braids behind my ears, and whispered to me, "So, when a boy and a girl more than like each other, what happens next?"

"You tell me," I challenged him. Shocking myself with my confidence.

Usually, when he got like this, I shy-ed away. I chickened out, basically. But, this time, I wanted him to do whatever he wanted to do. Yes, my heart was beating so hard, and a potential stroke was threatening, but damn it, I liked the fire and the burn, I loved everything I felt right now, and I didn't want to stop it.

"Go on," I dared Marcus.

He seemed impressed at how bold I was tonight, and he couldn't help but show it from how he looked at me.

"Are you sure?" He asked me one last time, softly bit on his lower lip.

"Yes," I said. I meant it.

Marc moved closer...

And closer...

And closer...

And closer...

......

And the rest was history.

Okay nu na😅🙏

And who else is just amazed at how far Dabi and Acha have gone? I mean I'm the writer, but it just moves me each time I think about it. Remember the first time they met? And how they were practically strangers; Marc didn't even know her name, and Dabi bit his shoulder, and threatened him with a scissors?😂 And now, just look at these kids. Their progress has just been so warming though, and they have got to be my favourite love story to write so far. How can you guys describe Dacha in your own opinions?

Honestly, life is so unpredictable. You'll never even know your soulmate is going to come into your life, it just happens like boom! And you're like, "Wow, we've gone so far!" Omoh.

Anywho, I'm gone for now sha, and working on the other chapters for you. Next update is Friday (7-9pm; Nigerian Time) But look out, I will most likely drop some surprise updates sha!🌝♥️