HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

So, guys, first off, thank you for 56+ k reads, and each day, we are closer to 60k!❤️❤️ Secondly, if you aren't aware, I am currently doing a collaboration with Donaldprince. And my characters and his' are having crossover that you do not want to miss! However, we are not currently in the same timeline, and for all those whom it may concern, Donald is currently  in the timeline of TLT where they left for that Sports Competition that was a week to their WASSCE- and now, it's okay if you don't remember it, because it wasn't detailed much in TLT, because Giwa didn't go for it....

But, remember, when Ivandor came back from a Sports Competition, and Giwa went to meet him in class where she tried to apologise and shii.... Yeah, that 'Sports Competition' is Nero Olympics that Donald I'd writing about now!✨

If you haven't read TLT, that's okay, we still have a mile to go from her before we can get to the NERO Sports Competition, and it's all going to be in the book 2 of TMBT, so stay tuned!❤️❤️❤️

~DABI~

So far, so good.

The night turned out to not be as disastrous as I expected it to be.

And soon after the Carol was over, The Sisters and I were all trooping out of the building that was the great Hall, and headed for Soma's car, with arms over each other in a waist hug as we laughed and laughed and laughed together, at the smallest, not-so-funny, but not-entirely-cringy jokes that Soma was telling us.

It really wasn't so bad.

The night was cold, and the environment was rowdy and full. People were here and there; Adults spoke with each other and I made myself believe they were teachers and parents, and considering there was a kid or two or more in mostly all of those kind of sects, I figured I wasn't wrong after all.

The most I could make out of the environment of Dowman Primary School is the number of street lights that were all around the entire place, and even if I couldn't get a day view of the place, I could tell that it should have been an elite School. I wasn't surprised, I mean, with the loud, prideful mouths the parents had back there in the hall, the school should have been something to brag about, right?

I did enjoy the night life theme the lighting gave the place. The entire surrounding around looked a bit like a country road, with the 'pedestrian walk' - at the two sides of the dark, coal tarred road path in between - filled up with a lot of neatly trimmed grasses. However, with those street lights, fancy, artificial Christmas trees, and expensive looking cars all littered around there, it was sure to give it a more modern theme.

Having that there had always been something so pretty and euphoric about night time, the entire place didn't fail to give the vibes. Everything felt right. And as Soma told a fancy story about Castles and thrones, the twins chipping in meaningless fillers into her story to act along, and Chika laughing her ass off at everything, I couldn't help, but smile at how happy everyone was tonight.

"Oh! That's Daddy!" Ebere squealed, once we had all spotted a car that looked just like the Twin's dad's range rover, and with a few excited words here and there, the girl and her twin had disappeared and ran towards the car.

I was happy for them tonight.

After Marvin had performed with his classmates tonight, Ebere, for one had not stopped smiling even for a second. We had all gone as a group to greet their Dad, and hold Marvin, and the man was so nice and offered us a ride back home. The twins' Dad was too nice, a strange contrast in demeanour to what his daughter gave off, and it often confused me. However, we had to politely reject the offer, because we didn't want to stress him much, and besides, Soma had her driver bring us here, and he had been waiting outside, in the car, since the beginning of the carol, just so he could take us back home - Or at least to Soma's home.

"First, Dad is letting us stay over at Soma's place for the night," Ebere announced as soon as she and Ebube got back to us.

"Oh, yay!" Soma squealed, "We're going to have a sleepover!"

Giggles sprinkled into the air.

"And, second," Ebube spoke next, getting our attention, "Ebere talked to Daddy about Marvin, and told him the truth..."

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

Ebere took it as a cue to further explain.

"He wasn't mad at me for lying," She told us, "Daddy never gets angry."

There was a silent sigh of relief amongst us all.

"But, he did feel really bad," She further explained.

There was a short look exchanged between the twins and I think Ebere was telling Ebube to take over.

She did.

"Daddy is withdrawing Marvin from Dowman next month," She told us.

"And you're okay with that, right?" Chika posed to Ebere, "Because, you know, that's what's right for him...."

Ebere simply nodded, almost defeated.

"Sure. I want the best for Marvin," She said, "And if this is a better option, then, I am fine with it."

"And what about that Aunty Candace?" Soma was the one who asked, "What is your Dad doing about that?"

"Daddy doesn't want to take the matter up." Ebere told us stiffly, almost grudgingly.

Ebube only sighed and took over again.

"He met her after the Carol, and told her that he hopes she realizes that what she did wasn't right, and hopes she sees that and redresses her ways," She explained to us.

Geez.

"I wish he sued." Ebere snorted with an eye roll.

I wish he did too.

"Honestly," I could still see the thirst for vengeance in Ebere's eyes as she stared far ahead, behind us, glaring heavily at something behind us, "That bitch deserves more than just a calm confrontation."

It was natural instincts to turn around.

And, simultaneously, we all did.

We carefully followed Ebere's eyes until it landed on one, out of a group of adults that were conversing close to one of the lighted, Christmas trees.

I couldn't see her face, but she was tall. Very tall. Quite slim, with an upright, confident posture. I wasn't sure how to grade her skin, having it was night time, but it would safe to say she was a dark skinned, more on the brown side. And with the way her arms folded as she nodded gently and properly to something someone in the group was saying, the way she she listened with her side profile hinting so much seriousness, like someone who seldom joked around, the entire aura she gave off, by barely standing, folding her arms, and saying nothing was harsh, like a slap. Her polished, no-nonsense demeanour was so harsh that it slapped you in the face even without having her do a thing.

She looked just like she had sounded back there.

That was why I didn't need a saint to tell me that was Aunty Candace.

Ebere was staring at her like she wished she could throw knives into her long neck.

And like Aunty Candace knew that there were eyes boring holes into the veins of her neck, she turned. Turned our direction, and looked at us directly.

Looked at me directly.

I shuddered. I visibly shook the moment this woman's eyes landed on me, and I felt chills run through me in one fast eerie ghostly motion.

It wasn't just how she looked to me like I was dust. Or how she stared right back into the fire in Ebere's eyes, the fire that could burn her down to a crisp right here and then, and did not show even, in the slightest bit that she was moved. No, that's not what shocked me the most.

It was her face.

The scar on her face.

It was bold and forgive me to say, horrifying to even look at. It was like a bunch of skin upon skin upon skin, botched up with stitches that bulged them out and made the scar lining from the side of her forehead, slashing across her cataract right eye that glared a grey, dull colour in the pupil, and going down, down, down, until some point below her lips.

It legit scattered me to see that she wasn't even perfect...

Chika, however, looked angry.

So, so angry the moment she saw the woman.

It was our first time of seeing her, and even if Chika was the one who advised Ebere to threaten the woman with the audio I recorded, and have Marvin perform tonight with his classmates, she hadn't seen the woman with her eyes yet.

Seeing her riled her up even more.

And without saying anything, Chika started storming off towards Aunty Candace.

It was Soma who held her back, scared still.

"What are you doing!" She asked Chika.

"I want to have a word with her." Chika answered, tore herself away from Soma, and marched even faster towards the mean woman.

Not like we had any other choice, but our legs raced after Chika, running up to catch up as she sprinted towards Aunty Candace.

"What's this really about? Some nonsense about giving back evil to the World, just as it gave you?" Chika verbally assaulted the startled woman who probably thought she was getting jumped, "Is that it? Really?"

"Excuse me, who is this little girl?" Aunty Candace tone sipped of abrupt irritation and undisguised disgust, as she stepped back from a raging Chika, and looked amongst her colleagues, casting questioning looks that hinted annoyance.

"Chika-" Soma tried to stop her once more, but Chika ignored her completely.

I wondered why Soma was trying to stop Chika.

This Aunty Candace needed to hear it.

And I understood Chika's point; It was easy to tell that a person like Aunty Candace, who, with her physical condition, in this terrible, judgemental society would have suffered prejudice and bullying in the hands of people? And being someone who knew how it felt to be treated like that, she still went ahead to cause that kind of pain to others.

It appalled me so much. Imagine a person knowing the pain their actions cause people, and still, don't mind putting people through it, just because they had suffered it before.

It was so cruel.

The World was cruel.

And the crazy thing was that, no one was perfect. Yet, everyone is on a quest to attack people whose flaws and imperfections are more visible than theirs....

"You should be ashamed of yourself," Chika told the older woman straight to her face.

Aunty Candace had backed up, a reaction of shock, confusion, and overwhelming embarrassment showering over her as it seemed that Chika was calling too much attention than necessary to the scene. 

Chika gladly didn't mind entertaining the crowd if it meant this woman would be brought to check.

"You're supposed to be a mentor for little children," She said to Aunty Candace, "Having the position you've acquired as the Head Teacher for all of Dowman's Nursery and Primary School, you have so much responsibility in your hands, and tell me, don't you find it embarrassing and a food for thought and redress that  a little girl like me is calling you out and openly reprimanding you for doing a TERRIBLE job?!"

The whispers around the place had quickly turned to noise.

The woman was stunned out of her mind.

"You treated a kid so poorly for years, just because he was disabled-"

Aunty Candace jumped, startled at Chika's audacity to expose everything so publicly - Something she knew was capable of making her lose her job.

Not surprisingly, the gaping crowd was aghast.

"-You did that, Aunty Candace," Chika firmly repeated, "How does that make you feel as a person? How do people like you sleep at night, having known that you're such a terrible human being?"

"I am not having this conversation with you." Aunty Candace had her voice low, but firm. ;Like she did not want any other person other than Chika hearing what she had to say about that.

I was shocked at her lack of remorse.

People like this existed?

"Well, I am not interested in a conversation with you; I am only interested in calling out injustice wherever I see it, and that is exactly what I'm going to do, so we don't have to talk, really, all you have to do is be quiet and listen." Chika deadpanned.

Collective gasps could we heard here and there.

"It is a shame, really," Chika continued, "How a grown woman like you could go as low as you did. It's a shame that anyone had to treat anyone differently for any reason whatsoever, regardless, and I just feel terrible for the children under your care, and I wonder what kind of example you set for the poor kids.-"

She paused for a moment and looked around her to the number of teachers and parents that were watching them, and she just shook her head with a sarcastic laugh.

"Meanwhile," A sick smile danced on Chika's face as she looked back to Aunty Candace, "If at all, you don't lose your job tonight, I hope you will forever will be haunted by the fact that a little girl, as you termed me, made everyone here tonight see you for who you truly are."

"Bitch," I heard Ebere bitterly mutter under her breath, and I knew she was referring to Aunty Candace.

The older woman definitely heard the twin.

But, what could she do?

"Merry Christmas in advance." Chika nodded the woman, briefly dismissed her with an up and down look, turned around and walked out in the midst of the storm she had created, having us have to try running to catch up to her before she walked on ahead too far.

*****

Soma insisted with everything in her body that we go down to the Karaoke bar down town, which was surprising because neither of us knew how to sing and neither did Soma herself.

Well, unless she was planning to surprise us.

I mean, as well as we knew the girl, she could have somehow learned how to, in just the few minutes we used to get ourselves here. She was full of surprises.

She was the one who suggested we get our heads out from all the storms of the night and have a break together, just us, the Sisters, and I wanted that.

Chika telling me that she feared I was cutting myself off from the group was a major factor that I was scared to say no to the idea when everyone was jolly about it. I didn't want to have to do anything that would cause problems for me and the Sisters. I needed them.

So, I agreed.

And besides, it has been a while. I wanted to spend some time with the Sisters, and probably make up for all the lost time I had thrown away with Marcus Acha, in the past.

The name of the Karaoke Bar was La Vida Loca, and we had walked into Peru Remix with Ed Sheeran, and two boys were already on the grand stage there, dancing and singing the song in a slightly off beat tone, whilst having the entire bar shaking with applauses and screams.

I wondered why Soma chose this place.

It was reeking with the stench and alcohol, and with the way I cringed with each step in and the others seemed unbothered and lost in the night, I started to ask myself if it was just my sense of smell messing with me.

And there was so much noise in here. It was slightly dark, with a few hands thrashing in the air and bodies jumping from their seats and I couldn't make out the faces of anyone because of the slightly dull purple and blue flashes of light that illuminated everywhere, and Jesus Christ, that DISCO! There was one disco in the whole place, and it served as a chandelier - It was not only large, but it was illuminating the entire place with all sorts of lights, which was majorly purple and blue, occasionally red, orange, gold and silver.

On a norm, I loved places that were lighted this way. But I wasn't sure what it was about this one that was so uncomfortable... It almost blinded me. The multiple lights, plus the unbearable noise of everyone, plus the idiots on stage, were starting to give me a headache.

"Here," Soma found us all a table, after greeting an unbelievable amount of people whom I had never seen before, "I love this seat area! See? The view from here is divine!"

The Sisters were saying something that I had muffled from my hearing as I looked around me, settling into the seat that Soma insisted was the best.

It sure did give a good view of the stage. Even if almost all the seats her were almost identical. It was one large round table, and a bunch of seats, circling them, and then, there was that grand stage, in front; It was slightly mounted above the floor, with a few steps leading up to it, it's floors, shiny and reflecting light upon its grey surface. Literally sparking.

Again, I wonder why Soma brought us here.

"Give a minute, Sisters!" The tall girl announced to us all, before running off like a little child towards the counter at the other corner of the room.

Soma was gone in no time, disappearing through the thick crowd of people, hovering all around, and leaving the rest of us, and it seemed like Chika and the twins were down with this, because in no time, the girls were singing and vibing to 'Holy Father' by Mayorkun as some girl with multi-coloured braids was performing it on stage.

I was forcing myself to have fun too.

"Wanna eat anything?" Chika nudged me, smiling warmly at me as though she could sense my detachment.

I smiled at her, grateful that someone could notice my slight discomfort, and politely, I shook my head.

"You look uncomfortable," Chika said to me, "Is it the noise?"

"Sort of," I told her, "And the lights are giving me a headache too."

"You could step out for a while," She advised, "Hopefully, Soma shouldn't keep us here for too long. If she does, I'll let her know we have to go, okay?"

"Thank you," I appreciated the gesture.

Well, I should have known things in life didn't come that easily.

Why do I speak like this?

Because in the next two minutes, Somadina Best came rushing back to the table, literally hopping around with so much excitement and exhilaration in her bones, that it started to scare me more than it should have excited me, as it did her.

"You will NEVER believe who I saw!" She danced around our table as she announced to all of us.

In cue, a dark shadow hued over our table, and I swallowed hard when two painfully familiar faces popped out into our view, exuding such welcoming and undiluted joy through the biggest grins that married their bright faces.

"God, no," I muttered to myself, as my brain started to decide the personas.

These boys were literally, and I mean, literally shaking our table without even touching it; It seemed like their energy was so vigorous, undiluted, and loud that not only was our table felt the impact, but heads started to turn our direction from all over the bar.

"Aaron and Casper?" Chika looked visibly surprised to see them as well.

I wasn't just surprised, I was beyond uncomfortable. Not just because I never have been used to having them around much, and plus, the fact that something about Aaron Godson had never really sat well with me since day one.

But also...

Casper Bassey was my neighbour.

And since I had done what I had done to Delilah, and had long ran away from home to escape the consequences of my actions.... There was just this highly disturbing part of me that felt like Casper may know a bit more than he should know.

Maybe even a bit more than I knew.

I mean, my absence from home had withdrawn me from being updated on how things were at the moment.

Casper must have known those things by now.

And in all honesty, it almost started to seem like a deliberate action of confrontation.

Like a set up?

"And what brings you guys here?" An oblivious Chika asked the boys.

The question had to be asked.

Casper didn't answer that question.

Aaron barely gave him the chance to. The taller boy was actively shoving that Camry camera in our faces as he shouted and made noises in the name of hyping us all on video.

"-And these are the gorgeous Igbo Sisters! The incredibly beautiful and stunning Igbo Sisters! Just look at them looking all bling bling!-"

I tried to hide my face so I wouldn't show in Aaron's stupid camera.

"Yah man! These babes run out School oo! Na Dem dey burn down CH oo, you never see anything!" Aaron didn't stop with the hypes and while the Sisters were dying with laughter, I just wanted him to disappear.

God.

"No other like them! The real odogwus! You never see woman who be odogwu before???" Casper followed suite from his pal who was making sure to give each and everyone of us a spotlight - including me - and I hid my face from his camera as hard as I could.

"Would you guys shut up and get that camera out of our faces?" Ebere mock sassed the boys.

Unfortunately, Aaron and Casper were too much into worshipping is to even think of stopping for a second.

"And what the hell is up with those shirts you guys have on? You look like you just came out of a freak accident!" Soma made fun of them, while laughing her ass of.

"Exactly, what's that, abeg?" Ebere attacked the over active boys after Soma did, "Why did you rip the arms of your shirts like that? I hope both of you are not mad."

"Seconded," Even Ebube couldn't contain herself and her own laughter.

I noticed their shirts and mentally face palmed.

Aaron and Casper had on similar looking orange shirts that had it's short sleeves, slashed in three horizontal lines.

Both of them wore the exact same type of shirt and had the exact same slashes on them, and I was certain it wasn't the design of the shirt.

What was wrong with these boys?

And just like other times that I had seen them outside School for casual outings, they were cloning their outfits again. Not only did they have on the same shirts, but both boys also wore the same camouflage khaki shorts, with the only thing differentiating their looks being the bucket bat that Aaron had decide to string on around his neck, while his pal flaunted that curly blonde hair on his head.

"It's what's new in vogue," Aaron spoke, and I knew he was talking about those nonsense he and Casper did with both their sleeves.

"But, y'all won't understand, you're not current sha," He joked around, throwing stray bullets into the air for all of us to catch our subs.

Ebere backed up in a comic reaction of shock.

"Na so," Chika scoffed in sarcastic amusement at the boys, "Teach us to be current then, you sultans of current!" She threw back at Aaron in particular.

"Hmm," I commented, casually observing the two and ruling off all thought that came to me.

I mean, I would have summed it all up as playful flirting if they weren't being too silly.

Aaron, rather, threw his head back and laughed out loud.

"Oh, you want to know what's new in vogue? Yeah, Chi?" The brown skinned boy chortled playfully at Chika, turned to Casper with a harsh, playful nudge on his shoulder, and said, "My bruv, are you seeing this? Our girls want to bamba oo?"

There was a deafening explosion of laughter on our table.

Even I couldn't help it; The corner of my lips - against my will - tickled me as I got the humour.

"Actually," Casper decided to be serious and tell us the truth, "Aaron messed up his shirt on the way, so I decided to do same to mine, so he wouldn't feel ashamed. The boy's a cry baby."

The Sisters awe-ed, and Aaron playfully shoved his friend.

It was a sweet gesture and all, what I didn't understand, however, l was how one could do that to their shirt. However, I wouldn't lie, every time these boys showed up in my life, they always found a way to show me that they weren't so bad.

"And, I'm surprised you guys made it, I didn't think enough people would have gotten the message on the group chat about our meeting-"

I lost my breath as Aaron was talking.

Our meeting?

What meeting?

"What are you talking about? What meeting?" Chika was the one who asked.

Aaron and Casper were quick to answer.

"Don't tell me it was a coincidence you ended up here," Casper said, looked from Soma who was standing with him to the rest of the group on the table, "We were supposed to have a meeting tonight, and this was supposed to be our chill zone afterward."

"We?" Ebere raised a brow.

"Everyone who's in the planning committee for Shade's Birthday party that was supposed to be tomorrow?" Aaron told her.

"It was an impromptu thing," Casper elaborated, "I wasn't sure for the longest time where we were heading with things since it was literally just a day to the D-Day and no preparation had been made. I called for an emergency meeting this evening, and we made a concluding decision. We decided that there would be no party anymore. I know, total bummer, right? But, oh well, we still have the Christmas party to look forward to next month, so all isn't lost yet."

"So..." Ebube was the one who spoke, "Are you saying that our classmates are here?"

My heart dropped with that obvious question.

"Just a few of us," Aaron said, "It was an impromptu message, so a lot of people didn't see it. Only few were able to turn up, so after the meeting, we left one last message on the group chat, closed it down and removed everyone afterwards."

My heart got back up, and began to beat like a drum.

How many people from School were here? How many?

"Come on, guys!" Aaron hollered behind him to a CROWD!

It was like an attack of bees on a predator.

Before my eyes, a number of faces whom I recognized well to be from Castron High were storming us like a tsunami, crowding all around us. Over active bodies rubbed against us as everyone was busy exchanging loud and excited welcomes and greetings, guys and girls, shaking the entire table and threatening the foundation of the ground beneath is, as they filled themselves in a disorganized fashion, actively jumping into the seats on our tables.

Jesus Christ.

It shocked me how people from Castron High could be so effortlessly free, like there was no bone of Social Anxiety in their body. And these were people whom on a norm would never really speak to me in School. Those were people who cherry picked whom to speak to and whom not to. The kind of people that our set had termed 'Worthy'.

And worst case scenario?

Most of them were boys.

That made me the most uncomfortable.

Two, amongst the few girls that showed up had squeezed in into joining me and Chika, and amongst everyone who chatted amongst themselves and exchanged pleasantries as well, the two girls - Krisdana Moe and Ziba Gagare - were the only ones who managed to give me more attention than most others who barely said hi and whipped their heads away from me in an unbothered head turn.

Whether they were intentionally being dismissive towards me or not, I couldn't quite tell. Everyone on this table, unlike me, was incredibly and disturbingly social. So, it was typical that they already knew that I wasn't one to give them back much energy, so they bothered me not.

I wanted to be hopeful, at least, that that was the case.

And not that fact that they thought I was weird or something.

"I love the hair do!" Krisdana was fawning over me, "And those edges are almost as flawless as my skin!"

"See our set's best dancer oo!" Ziba was praising too, "Babe, you wouldn't mind us hitting that stage and showing those people there what real dancers look like, abi?"

I would mind, Ziba. I would mind.

A smile was involuntarily on my face and I couldn't help but feel appreciated, even in the midst of my discomfort. These girls were always so nice to me for no reason, and even if Ziba was an angel to a lot of people in our set, Krisdana didn't quite have a reputation for being a sweetheart.

Quickly, the Sisters easily engaged them and along with the blossoms and bubbles of noises all over the table, all the chit chatting and laughing, and flirting, and teasing that was all over the place, we started to even divert attention from the poor girls on stage.

Castron High students didn't even know how to disguise their madness in public. God.

It got even worse when suddenly the music on stage switched up to the instrumentals of an old familiar song, and immediately, the whole table shook with a mad explosion of craziness and my classmates were screaming and applauding with all their hearts in anticipation.

I wanted to ask what was going on and what the sudden noise was all about and immediately, a girl from our table - Ella was her name, and she was our set's chapel prefect - screamed out even louder than the roof crumbling noise the table made, "I LOVE THIS SONG!"

It was Bang Bang by Ariana Grande, and I was surprised that everyone on our table, collectively loved the song that much to want to bring the whole building down.

"CAN SOMEONE PASS ME THAT MICROPHONE?!" Our set's halfcaste beauty, Krisdana Moe jumped up from the table, screaming and waving into the air, and there were collective screams, hoots, and praises thrown at her by classmates who were impressed by her boldness and vibes.

This level of boldness. I could never.

Ella, the Chapel Prefect who had screamed her love for the song from earlier, didn't waste time to jump to her feet, concurring with Krisdana, and exchanging a cool high five with her, as both of them stood up, flaunting teamwork goals and heading for the microphone.

 That seemed to even impress more classmates, and having that guys like Gadhafi and Nomso could not contain it, they were nearly shaking the joints of the table in madness.

Krisdana and Ella walked, no raced towards the stage in such confidence and boldness that my mouth hung open in shock.

"...She got a body like an hour glass, but I could give it to you all the time!"

I was stunned. Visibly appalled and shocked by the level of attack and Christ, power that voice literally used to storm the beginning of that song, like it was a damn battle.

"Jesus Christ," Someone on the table had even voiced out, unable to contain themselves.

Even the loud applauses and screaming and cheering from my classmates and the entire bar at large could not down the soulful aggression and rhythmical power in Krisdana Moe's voice.

I was taken off guard, completely knocked out senseless at how effortlessly and professionally Krisdana sang; The girl just went on and on and on,  opening her mouth and letting the most unbelievable sounds fly out, hitting pitches so high without any stress, and belting out Jessie J's part of the song with fire and one hell of an attitude, practically moving with her own sound, not only feeling the mighty vibes she exuded, but also blowing everyone else's minds with it.

And boy, was she a performer. And an effortless one at that. The way she moved her hands to every beat, throwing style and swag into it, and made sure to carry Ella along, singing to her like it was a friendly 'The Voice Battle', and doing random things that would cause the crowd to grow wild like throwing kisses in the air, and playfully sassing her opponent, Ella, as she sang.

"...She might'a let you hold her hand to School, but I'ma show you how to graduate.....!"

Unlike Krisdana, Ella's tone was softer, and seemingly naturally higher, like she was dropping in a little teaser of Ariana Grande, showing off pitch and control, and then, adding a touch of Simi to add that sweet and soft African sound to the flavour. And the slim girl, like she was trying to keep up with Krisdana's energy had taken a random shawl from a total stranger, teased the crowd by shaking her behind a little, before dancing around the stage, and dramatically cat-walking  round the bar with that shawl adorned around her like a queen, as she sang. 

"Ella's voice makes me want to cry!" Some else had passed on a comment.

I had to give it to the girls. The teamwork was mad, and they didn't just wow the crowd with their voices, they entertained too. Their harmony was in sync, perfect beautiful sync as Krisdana took the lower notes and Ella took the higher, both girls blending in so well, like they had rehearsed this thing over a hundred times; They girls were basically playing with each other, laughing and having the time of their lives while belting out the most INSANE vocals!

"No, no, I can't rap in front of all these people!" Ziba, the set's social prefect, whom I had known to be so loud and social and carefree, was struggling and pleading with classmates who were begging her to climb the stage and take Nicki Minaj's part.

"C'mon, Ziba!" Everyone was basically on her neck.

I was shocked at Ziba's reluctance. The girl was blushing and covering her face with both hands as she shook her head, adamantly pleading with everyone.

Even the Sisters were urging the girl on and a part of me felt she wanted to do this-

"It's Myx Moscato, it's frizz in a bottle, It's Nicki full bottle, it's oh, oh-"

I backed up. Okay, Megan Thee Stallion.

Ziba was up with mic, and a dozen classmates surrounding her and urging her on, and instantly, that shy girl persona that I was certain she did not have ever, was gone, and replaced with the girl I knew - The mad, carefree Social Prefect.

The Bar was on fire, as the girl spat Nicki's lines without stuttering, exuding off her a massive amount of confidence that nobody was ready for.

Where do these people get their confidence from?

"It's me, Ella and Krissy, if they test me, they sorry..." She was already on stage with Krisdana and Ella, and easily blending in with their vibes as they helped her up and took her in.

These girls rocked that stage.

I couldn't believe how much I was suddenly enjoying myself.

Their co-ordination even got better as a trio, and as though they had gone over this before, they blended perfectly with each other and carried the entire Bar, and I was certain that until this day, this La Vida Loca place may not have seen a better performance.

I was suddenly proud to be a student of Castron High.

"Alright, people, I'm going home!" Krisdana announced out of the blue, right after the 'mic drop' performance that she, Ella, and Ziba had given everyone, and literally dropping the microphone without care or regard onto the ground,  she sashayed down from the stage, as alluring and glamorous as ever.

It was like the entire table emptied out because of her, and instantly, all the guys were standing and running to stop her from leaving, whining and complaining, asking why she had to leave so early and asking her to stay longer with everyone.

Apparently, no one wanted her to go just yet.

Even I wanted her to stay.

I liked Krisdana.

"I'm sorry, everyone, I know I'm a force to reckoned with and you all are madly obsessed with everything that had to do with me," Krisdana flipped her hair in the faces as she jokingly bragged to the mass of CH boys all hovering hopelessly over her.

"But all jokes apart," The half-caste girl classically took her hand away from some dramatic guy who kissed it royally, "Forget all these fresh girl tinz I'm doing, if I am not back home before 10pm, my brother is going to skin me alive."

"Tell your brother you're with us! Tell him you want to chill with the big boys!" One of the guys cried out loud, and I scoffed, and raised a brow at that.

Of course, the other guys who had known Krisdana's brother and understood just how brutal his tenure as a prefect was for them, back when he was in Castron High, chorused a terrified "Hah! Abeg oo!" in unison.

"Look, guys," Krisdana said to them, "I know it's not new news that my brother is a mad man, that guy will legit find me wherever I am, storm into this place, burn this whole building down and wipe all of us off existence if I'm even a minute late oo!"

Krisdana didn't even need to do much explaining for the boys to get the gist and after a few more grumbling here and there, a group of them, headed by Casper Bassey, volunteered to help walk her out of the Bar.

Meanwhile, the table started to dissipate slowly, with everyone standing up and fixing themselves up into cliques and groups, fitting into one without stress and socializing, and that was when all the thrill and rush I felt some minutes ago disappeared and my social anxiety started to come alive once more...

"Dabz." Chika held my hand, "Let's tell Soma we want to go home. You're not comfortable..."

Soma had long gone to get us some drinks, and the twins had volunteered to help her, and since it was just me and Chika, I figured I could be honest with her.

But then...

If I opened my mouth to say I was uncomfortable, then, Chika wouldn't just make me leave, she would also make the other Sisters leave as well. I didn't want to be the one subjecting the others to leave.

And watching them - Soma and the Twins- all happy at the counter, chatting at free will with classmates, and having the time of their lives, it became even harder for me to have the audacity to ruin all the fun.

How could I be the one to ruin all the fun?

"I'll stay." I decided. "I'll stay a little longer."

"Are you sure?" Chika raised a brow to me.

"Yes," I nodded in assurance.

It took a while for Chika to believe me.

"And maybe, we should think of going there to get whatever it was that Soma and The twins were going to get-" She hinted to me, and involuntarily, my head turned back to get a glimpse of the girls again.

They had already formed a little group amongst them, and Soma and the twins had mixed in so effortlessly and well, with Soma actively thriving and joining in the conversation, and the twins throwing their heads back to laugh occasionally.

"They seem to have forgotten what they were supposed to do," Chika laughed in amusement, and gestured for me to follow her, and I did without arguments.

We got to the counter where the group of our classmates that included the Sisters neighbored us, and as Chika conversed with the girl behind the counter, I deliberately tried to ignore all the incessant giggling and chit-chatting coming from my nearby classmates, and the mechanism proved to be effective..

Well, until Chika was about to pay.

She was in the moment of exchanging cash in hand for our tray of drinks, and all of a sudden, Soma, whom I could have sworn had no idea that we were there the whole entire time, ordering, jumped, screamed, and rushed out to stop Chika by grabbing her arm tightly, in an overly dramatic manner.

An action that confused me.

An action that probably confused Chika more.

And most horridly...

An action that turned the entire group of classmates that hovered around Soma and the twins and their entire attention, to me and Chika.

"No, no, drop those!" Soma squealed, oblivious to the attention she had called onto us.

Meanwhile, I couldn't get over the fact that they were all staring at us. All of them - a group that compromised of a quarter of the Ballers who were known to be loud and social, a half of the guys from the Set's media department who were known to be incredibly talented, and a number of well known and recognized 'cool girls' from Class B who were respected for their flamboyant lifestyles and no nonsense attitudes.

All of them had paused and stopped all communication following Soma's distraction, and thereby, giving me and Chika all the centre of attraction.

 "I already ordered special drinks for us," Soma whispered into Chika's ears, or at least, she intended to but failed, because I heard every single thing, "They have a lot of spiked drinks here, and I don't want us to take anything strong. Especially the twins, you know they hate alcohol!-"

Everything that was said afterward, either by Soma, Chika, the twins, or anyone else in the group was muted by me, and as mouths moved everywhere, here and there, and smiles of familiarity filled the air, I looked away to avoid eye contact with any of the classmates, who were doing everything, but minding their business, and sucking it all up as my social anxiety and pessimism was trying to get the worst of me.

I hated Social groups.

"-Actually, Dabi and I want to get on ahead and be on our way now, she's hungry and---"

I froze up for a single second in the mention of my name by Chika.

"What?" Escaped my lips barely as I jerked myself back into earth.

Everyone suddenly had a special interest in singling me out in one look, one by one.

"Right, Dabi?" Chika nudged me and I cast her a glance, before looking back to my moping classmates.

I understood what she was trying to do, and I was grateful. She wanted to take me out of there.

"Well... Yeah." I nodded.

Chika was quick to hook her arm under mine, and-

"Oh, if she's hungry, I can take care of that."

It was one of the guys who said that, and instinctively, Chika and I had stopped.

"I was just talking about handling dinner tonight for everyone," The same guy was still talking, "Bills' on me, lol."

That was when we turned around to see who was talking.

"Nova?" Chika laughed, "That won't be necessary, we may leave soon."

It was Nova Igwe, a boy in our set who was famous for being a sweetheart to everyone who existed. One who was well known to be very good friends with girls like Krisdana, as well as guys like Ivandor Fejaun, and our set's head boy, Yure.

"I insist," The light skinned boy modestly tried to persuade, "I mean, I'm on a random acts of kindness streak, so I want to pay for everyone's food, it's no big deal."

He, out of the very many guys, was the only one who didn't just mope at me, but had the decency to bless me with a warming smile.

"Leave the church boy to do his thing!" Someone, another guy, had shouted, clearly elated that someone was offering to sponsor his meal, and following on, there was a chorus of praise from all angles, all thrown at Nova, who basically laughed them all off like it was nothing.

"I still don't understand why we can't have Shade's party just because Giwa Falade said it shouldn't hold," One of the girls there made a comment that seemed more begrudging than she may have intended it to.

Some girls around her who clearly showed their distaste for the set's proclaimed queen bee, Giwa Falade, did not waste time to agree with her, and for a moment, I was genuinely confused as to why girls like them would openly try to mingle with Giwa Falade and her friends if they actually, truly didn't like her as much as they pretended to. 

But, then, I remembered this was Castron High.

"Eunice," Nova, although playfully, had called out the name of the girl who had indirectly dissed Giwa, "It's a lot more complicated than you're putting it." And I wasn't even surprised that he was defending Giwa Falade. Nova was easily one of the few guys in our set that our queen bee genuinely treated like a human being.

"Sorry I wasted so much time," Soma was saying to me and Chika soon after she had detached herself from the group of classmates, "I wanted to talk to Nova one on one, and before I knew what was happening, the entire place was surrounded by classmates."

"Somadina Best went to inquire from Nova Igwe, her boyfriend's younger brother, of the whereabouts of the love of her life," Ebere who had joined us to walk back to our table, did not waste time reporting the details to us, "Can you just imagine?"

"Well, I was worried," Soma defence came in a soft whiney voice, "I just wanted to ask Nova how Noble was doing since I hadn't heard from him all week."

"You haven't heard from your boyfriend all week?" Chika questioned Soma.

"Well, it is a long distance relationship," Soma said, "He is half way across the world in China, and time difference is mad mad. We talk as much as we can, really."

 Soma did not answer Chika's question.

"Soma hasn't heard from Noble all week," Ebere answered for her instead.

"We video called Monday this week," Soma argued, "But there was so much distraction, so it was short, but he promised he'd call back."

"What kind of distractions?" Chika asked her.

"So much," Soma said, "His room is always really full, and his roommates are extremely noisy, and the girls were screaming and making a lot of noise and-"

"Girls?" I exclaimed, shocking myself by sounding a lot more shocked than I intended to.

Soma whipped her head to me like a doll, beaming large, innocent eyes at me.

"His room mates are girls?" Chika took over, pulling Soma's attention from me.

"No," Soma shook her head, "They just come to visit."

Blood of Jesus.

"So, girls came to visit his room...." Chika decided to break this down well and understand properly, "And he was on a video call with you, and had to cut it, because they were too noisy...?"

Soma nodded innocently. "Yes."

"Soma..." It was Ebube who made a low, pitiful sound that sounded like Soma's name.

"And did he eventually call you back as he said he would?" Chika dared to ask.

"No.." Soma shook her head, a bit softly and sadly like a thought came to her. However, she brightened up quickly, "But, look, I understand, Noble is an aspiring software engineer, and he is really busy with School work. I am certain he will reach out to me when he has time..."

We said nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

I was certain however that all the other Sisters were thinking the exact same thing, taking mental notes of how suspicious the vibes Noble was giving off was, but we said nothing. Even in our silence, there was that overwhelming awkwardness that took all the peace away, and I would have declared Soma mad if she didn't feel it so and get the hint that we simply did not trust Noble Igwe.

If she felt it, she sure did a good job at pretending otherwise.

Somadina Best was ever jolly and walking with a bounce in her step as we settled down on our table that was now a full loud house of classmates, and happily, she was sharing the drinks that she had bought for us to us.

I was curious to know if Soma was really clueless or just pretending to be.

For the mean time, I needed some time alone.

So, to not make it look too weird, I picked up a random paper cup from the table, and whispered something to Chika, stood up and left to the farthest punch dispenser from the table.

As I stood there, at that somewhat secluded part of the Bar, where no one would bug me much, I stared at the lively table full of classmates from a distance, watched how Nova Igwe and a few ballers led by Aaron and Casper initiated a fun toast where everyone literally came together in the middle of the boy's hands, tapping their paper cups of drinks together in cheers, and I just absorbed their energy from my distance... Energy that even the Sisters could easily give off, back to them.

Honestly, some of them, didn't truly seem like bad people...

But, unfortunately, I wasn't sure if I could ever really fit in with people like those.

I looked away from them, and didn't look back again, and I wasn't sure how long, but I stood there, by the punch dispenser for quite an amount of time.

"You do know the dispensers here only serve strong drinks...?"

I jumped, startled by the new voice that had joined me, and involuntarily, turned back to see Casper Bassey, walking towards the machine with a grin on his face that beamed at me for only a single second, before focusing back on the dispenser.

Was he talking to me?

He stuffed his cup under the tube, and pressed the button on the machine, watching his cup fill up as he spoke again, saying, "You don't appeal to me like one who drinks, Dabi."

Why was he talking to me?

"I mean, unless you became a thug overnight," He laughed as his own joke, before sipping from the cup and I just watched him, wondering if he was mad.

After taking his time to  drink up half of his cup, he gleamed bright eyes at me, and pursed his lips inquisitively, tilting his head to the side as he studied my demeanour for a second or two.

"Tell me the truth, why are you isolating yourself from the rest of the group?" The boy asked me directly.

"Nothing." Was all I said. Turned away from him and avoided eye contact.

I heard him throw down the rest of his drink in one gulp, and the sound of something running into a cup indicated to me that he was fetching a new one.

"You know I can tell you're lying, yeah?" I heard him say, but I ignored him and hoped he'd go away.

Having him so close to me made me feel naked.

Again, this boy was my neighbour, and if anyone had tea about me and my messed up family, or had details surrounding what I had done to Delilah, it was only him.

A part of him wanted to ask questions...

Like, what happened after I left? What did my father do? What the hell was my home like at the very moment we speak? I wanted to ask so much, but I couldn't bring myself to say a thing.

"Leave me alone." I told him off instead.

Casper smiled at me, raised his hands in a soft gesture of surrender, as he took a step back and said to me, "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to get in your personal space."

That statement threatened me more than I think he intended it to.

"I just want to be alone," I told him, softer, "Where's Aaron anyway? Y'all can find yourselves and leave me alone, abeg."

"Aaron seems occupied," Casper laughed to himself as he jutted his jaw to the counter, and against my will, my eyes followed the direction of his gestures, and I caught sight of Aaron Godson...

But, he was with Chika Chioma. 

Both of them were laughing by the counter and basically, having the time of their lives, and while Chika seemed to be the one talking with gestures as though she were telling a story, Aaron was there, listening carefully, looking at her like she was the most beautiful girl in the whole world.

It was weird to watch..

So, I looked away and said nothing.

I just wanted to go home and hug Marcus already.

Casper had said that only a few of the party planning committee members had shown up tonight, and well certain that Marcus Acha was one of the guys who were always included in things like these, it became certain that he didn't show up, and probably wasn't going to.

I yawned, tired, so tired and bored.

"Way to tell me to fuck off," Casper laughed at that, luckily deciding to respect my space as he took a turn back, and I inwardly praised the Lord.

"Oh, and Dabi..?" He called out behind him, before leaving, "Everything is safe with me, don't forget that." He left and I was terrified to ask him what he meant by that.

We eventually left before the rest of our classmates, but not because I had insisted, but because Soma started acting so, so weird.

I heard she was rolling around in a small pool of spilled Tequila, and not only did her breath smell so terrible, but she kept burping, laughing, and making strange comments about everything and everyone - Like telling Aaron he had a twin, and telling Casper that his hair looked like cotton candy...?

And while she was saying something about Ebube that I wasn't catching on, the Sisters were trying to get her into the car, and she was laughing and 'wee-ing' as though she was on a jet ski or sky diving, and what I would never forget was what she said to me when they had successfully gotten her into the car and we had gotten ahead on our way.

Soma stared at me for an awful amount of time, a small smile on her face and the drowsiest eyes, trying its hardest to keep staring, and suddenly, out of the blue, she laughed, burped and said to me, "Lulu, you're so pretty. I wanna kiss you!" in a forged American accent.

We got home - Soma's home- and while in the middle of treating ourselves with ice cream from Soma's dispenser, and serving ourselves with the little shot cups that Soma usually kept in her drawer, the tall girl hopped towards Ebere, and blew out Nutri-C into the poor girl's face from brown paper, and without a care, she fell to the floor, laughing.

I was worried for her, because I couldn't comprehend such attitude, but it seemed Chika and the Twins were more understanding, helped Soma change up and tucked her into bed and everything.

And after a long silence between us all, as we all tucked ourselves comfortably into Soma's huge sized bed, and I was about to call it a night.

My eyes started feeling drowsy as I slowly drifted into oblivion, and I was slowly, ever so slowly losing consciousness -

"Can I say something?"

My eyes shot open at the soft sound of a voice that came right in the middle of the silence of the night.

It sounded like Soma. It was Soma.

But she sounded tired... Asleep...

"It's about how I feel..." She said again, softly still, a cute yawn and a faint humming sound following her sentence and that was enough to make it clear to me that she was asleep.

Soma was sleep talking.

"It's about Noble..." She whispered in her sleep, and there was that short reminder of our little conversation about Soma's boyfriend earlier tonight.

I wanted to hear this. 

"I just feel..." Soma trailed off and there was soft snoring for a few seconds, so I thought she dozed off, but she gasped soon after and continued, "I feel bad sometimes that my friends don't like him....."

I was shocked. 

Mostly because Soma didn't act like she was bothered about how we felt concerning her and Noble.

"I love you guys, and I know you will love Noble if you get to really know him..." She was still talking, "And I am aware he isn't perfect, but don't judge me for loving him..."

I didn't know why, but my heart broke a little hearing that.

"Please, don't judge me for anything I do..." Soma whispered, and dozed off again for a few seconds.

Is this how Soma really felt the entire time we were talking about Noble? She had acted so unfazed.... And having she was asleep and talking, I didn't need a saint to tell me that she was unconsciously speaking her mind. Her own subconscious was betraying her.

"I believe everyone should be allowed to love who they want to love..." She trailed off again, and with a low mumble, added, "Right, Lulu?"

My heart stopped for a moment thinking of the possibilities of Soma exposing me and Marc right here in her sleep.

I wondered, like me, if anyone else was also awake.

"Even Chika..." She chirped even in her sleep, "I saw how Aaron was looking at her and that was the sweetest thing ever.... But I feel Chika is restraining herself..."

I waited to hear more.

"It's not her fault," Soma was saying, "There's this thing about being bound to people's stereotypes of your character that can prevent a person from doing something they truly want to, just because they're scared of what people may say and how much they'd judge them...."

I had a feeling I knew what Soma was talking about. People knew Chika to be one of the most fiery women activists in our set, and subconsciously, people had stereotyped Chika to be one who 'didn't need a man'. In as much as this meant nothing to her on a norm, subconsciously, we all were tied to certain stereotype people have of our character, and are afraid to do anything that will cause controversy and make people misunderstand us.

Like, as Soma was implying, Chika stopping herself from going for Aaron as she believed she wanted to.

"But it can be scary," Soma sounded like she could understand, "Having people see you in a negative different light just because you did something differently from what they expected... Like Billie Eilish, for example.... The amount of backlash she received that year, for deciding to change her own dressing style was crazy...."

Well, yeah..

"Sometimes, I get scared too, you know..." Soma said and stopped there.

I waited to hear more, but I heard soft snoring soon after and concluded that Soma had probably dozed off again. 

And this time, it was for the whole night.

Somadina didn't speak another word.

However, I pondered on her words for almost half an hour, wondering just how much more the girl may have had in mind to say.

It was crazy because I believed I was the only one awake to hear her. The other Sisters were long asleep, drifted into sleep, probably even longer before Soma started to sleep talk.

I was the only one who heard everything that Soma said.

.... Or so I thought.

Quick question? Who else do you think was awake?🌝

Oh, and for whom it may concern, we're at the part of this book where a few big reveals  could be coming up. Just a few, I promise. And if you don't want to be too stunned, you should read in between the lines sha😌❤️

All in all, I liked this chapter so much. Thoughts?

Oh, and quick question, I've always been so curious to know; How does this book make you feel??