I am back, my babies!!!!! So, are we ready for this one? Because omoh, your eyes may born with tears, but hold yourself iyeh! We are on this ride together! One Love! 

And the song for the Chapter is Chainsmoker by Diamond White. I was listening to it while writing, so yeah, enjoy the song. It's up there in the Media! 

This chapter has a lot of Flashbacks sha, so stay tuned lmaoo. I seldom ever do this flashback thing. May God help me.

Without much talk, let's get into this one!

~DABI~

"Chika Stephanie Chioma, you have to be joking."

It was four of us staring at Chika in thorough disbelief, confusion marrying our faces as we heard what she had just said to us. 

Evidently, the shock was beyond what our words could elaborate and granted, we were short of it, mouths hanging open in complete speechlessness, as we moped at the light skinned girl before us who looked like she was not in the slightest, capping. 

She could not be serious.

Please, God, she just couldn't be.

We were done and over with those Dares and Pledges. Completely. Soma had insisted we cancelled them. We were through this those. We were so done with it that we had even forgotten for a moment that it existed. 

Painfully so, it was clear to all of us that a girl like Chika would have still gone along with it. But, that piece of info didn't stay with us enough to be cautious of that. So, we were completely taken off guard.

And it was not even funny.

I prayed Chika was joking.

Unfortunately, so far I observed, she did not seem to be. Her face mirrored the same look of confusion in it as she stared right back at us. The girl was just looking at us like she genuinely could not see or understand this 'shock' from our own point of view.

"I don't understand this," She said to us, "Why are we all acting like it never happened? Is there something I am missing?"

Jesus Christ. She was serious. Chika was actually dead serious about this. 

The classroom was hot.

It was boiling in temperature.

Ironically, it was the ending of November. The air was dry and the night was stack cold, and yet,  this classroom, for some reason, seemed hotter than Hell. And with each passing second, the temperature was rising and rising, heating up the growing tension in the room more and more. 

"Yes, Chika, we cancelled our Dares!" Soma exclaimed. She seemed to be on the verge of running mad, big eyes widened in horror at Chika.

"How many times have we cancelled Dares and Pledges and I still went through with them?" Chika retorted, asking Soma, "Why are you all being so surprised about this? I thought you all would be well aware that I was still going to go ahead with my dare?"

It was painful because Chika was not even wrong.

We should have been aware. It just did not click. We should have been aware, really.

"Look at this," The light skinned girl said, moving her weaves to the side to show to us something that we had long forgotten about.

The Tattoo at the back of her neck.

The very one that showed the moon and the Star. 

That took me like a lightening bolt because it had almost slipped my memory until I saw it again, and had it all come back to me. Way back in Ss2, Last year, Ebere had dared Chika to get that tattoo. Soma insisted the Moon and Star saying she was inspired off the old Disney Classic 'Twitches'.

All of a sudden, Soma had decided that she was not comfortable with the dare, having that Chika could get into trouble in School for it, so the dare was called off. Chika had gone ahead to get the Tattoo. We all knew about this. 

So, by right, we should have also known that Chika would have wanted to extend her dare from that night at Yure's party. Until she was satisfied that it was done. 

I was dreading the horror of all of this, dreading the implication of it all. I feared for what this meant. I was in absolute sheer terror. 

"We were mistaken about Aaron Godson," Chika said to us, "We thought that it would be easy to get him, but we thought so wrong....."

As Chika spoke, her voice subconsciously trailed off in my head and details of that very night started to replay in my head, bit by bit and I swallowed hard and painfully as I remembered it all: the set up, the arrangement of all of us as we sat in a circle, as we laughed, dared each other, and horrifyingly, every single detail of the conversation that even pushed Chika's dare.

I recalled it all. As Chika's voice trailed off in my head, muting in volume by the second, the laughter and high pitched screams of excitement from that night we all sat for the Dares and Pledges was loudening; I felt myself shifting from the focus of the present, felt my mind and body leaving this present as it went a walk back memory lane. 

I remembered that night, it was the Twins that were the most excited about my dare. I was supposed to kiss any guy in the set that they would pick and while I was dreading the entire thing, the Twins seemed more excited than ever. I remember Chika tried to protest on my behalf.

"I am not comfortable with that dare," Chika had said, "Since when did we start including boys in our Dares and Pledges?"

I was grateful that she had spoken up for me. 

"I mean, if Dabi doesn't want that, if she's uncomfortable, we could drop it though," Soma had said, remembering to put me in consideration after Chika had mentioned it. "Right, Dabi?"

I remember being very uncertain on how to react.

But Ebere Onuoha was already speaking before I had the chance to utter a word. 

"Is it Dabi that's uncomfortable with it, or is it you?" She had playfully jabbed at Chika. 

I was confused on hearing her say that. Of course, even Chika and Soma were. 

"Give Chika one night and she could literally make any guy in our set fall for her," Ebere had went on, "Inarguably, Chi Mama is in the top ten list of prettiest girls in SS3. She practically has half the boys in our set drooling over her. But, she's not ready for that shit. She's not ready for all the boy fun drama, yeah? Not for herself and not for any of us too. Abi, that's why you want to stop Dabi, ba?"

I was just sitting there as Ebere talked about me like I wasn't there. 

"Allow Dabi to have some fun," She said to Chika, "Is she saying she does not want to do it?"

I didn't say a word that night. I was just quietly watching everyone. 

"It's all up to Dabi," Soma had said, "And, don't talk like Chika likes to be a buzz kill, Ebere. You know she's naturally just not into all these stuff and that's fine."

"Oh, no, no, I understand that," The twin assured us, "Chika is not the kind of girl to be all seductress on a guy; I understand, really. That sort of shit terrifies her."

I had not still said anything in protest and with Ebere's tone of dismissal, I thought we were about to move on.

But, Chika suddenly spoke up, effectively halting that process. 

"'Terrifies'?" She raised a brow at Ebere, amusement lingering in her brown pupils, "It's the choice of words for me."

"Oh, come on, Chi, you literally cringe at anything romance and boys," The twin had said, "If I didn't know you the way I did, I would have concluded that you were androphobic or something."

That clearly took Chika off guard.

She backed up, a slight frown creased her forehead. "Excuse me?" 

Soma took the mic from there, innocently oblivious to the fact that Chika may have taken the slightest offence in what Ebere had said. 

"It means Fear of Men, Chi Mama," The tall girl informed Chika, "Ignore Ebere, biko. Let's continue with our Dares and Pledges."

"I know what it mean," Chika said to Soma, before turning to Ebere to ask, "You think I am afraid of Men?"

"Intimidated would be a better term," Ebere answered easily, "Fear is not a strong enough term for it. You are a fearless person, Chi. And, no, I am not saying you are intimidated by Men, pe se. I am only saying that if I didn't know you, I'd have probably thought that."

Chika's face, I remember, was straight as a mother fucker.

She didn't look angry. She didn't look happy either. She was just very neutral. Calm. Very, very 'normal'. Like she did not have much emotions in her in relation to what Ebere was saying. 

Albeit, with the slight narrowing of her eyes and the subtle movements of her mouth, accompanied with the slight, very slight twitching of her lids, I knew that she was dead on disturbed. 

I had confirmed it when she refused to move on, but stayed on the matter. 

"So," She looked dead at Ebere, "What energy do I give off would make someone who doesn't know me to think that I am intimidated by men?"

Ebere looked startled by the question. The shifting and movement of her pouted lips made it clear to me that she was amused too, but was not sure if it was safe enough to laugh.

"Ah, Chi!" A careless chuckle left her lips, "Are you really taking this seriously? Chill, babe. I was just joking, really."

"No, I genuinely want to know," Chika insisted. 

"Nothing, nothing," Ebere tried to assure her, her lips stretching into an embarrassed smile.

"Just talk, Ebere." Chika pressed on. 

"It's just," She started, "It's just how you're always doing so hard. It could come off like you are just trying to prove yourself all the time."

Chika raised a brow in disbelief of what she was hearing. "Prove myself?"

"Babe," Ebere actually laughed a little, "You have over six boxing bags and over ten different gloves in this your bedroom.  You are into male and female mixed fight clubs, and I have seen the kind of people you love to challenge - the ones that are always twice your size, look physically stronger too, possibly walk into the ring with knuckle rings and knives, and 98% of the time, they are Men. You work out for hours and hours in a day without proper rest, like hard-core workout with heavy weights that a girl your age shouldn't even dare to lift; you are constantly pushing yourself farther than what should be your limit. Someone will think that you are training for the fourth World War."

"And somehow, that interprets to being intimidated by men?" Chika questioned.

"Possibly, to an outsider," Ebere answered, "It could look like you are intimidated, but on a low-key. That could be why you want to prove yourself and everyone else otherwise."

The silence in the room was enough to kill. 

I remember how eerie it felt, how it seemed like Ebere had stopped time with her ideology. 

"Jesus Christ," Ebere was alarmed by the silence she had caused, looking around the circle hysterically, "This one you people are looking at me like this, it's not that deep o." 

Chika's silence begged to differ. Her silence was threatening.

"You really don't have to ponder on this if it's not true, Chi,-"

Ebere was trying to say to Chika when the latter cut her short in mid-sentence.

"Outsiders don't think that, Ebere," She said to the Twin, "You do."

Ebere backed up. Studied Chika carefully.

"Chi, are you angry about what I said?" She asked her. 

Chika chuckled humourlessly.

A laugh that I remembered raised the hair on my skin.

"Why would I be?" She asked Ebere back.

"Because, for one, that laugh was fake as fuck," Ebere answered, "And you sound a bit defensive."

"You just insinuated that I am intimidated by men, when it is clear that I am not. Of course, I will be on the defence." Chika had responded. 

"I didn't say you were intimidated or afraid or whatever, Chi. I am just saying that with the extreme levels you push yourself to go sometimes, one may think you are trying to prove a point. People only try to prove a point when they are challenged. People feel challenged when they are intimidated by something."

Once again, Ebere had stilled the air. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, she had thickened the tension on the room. 

Chika said nothing. With that neutral look on her face, she looked directly into Ebere's eyes, never breaking eye contact for a second. With each gaze, the air was hotter.

"Can we not fight, please?" Soma had come in, her voice soft and pleading.  Hesitant and careful.

"I am not fighting with Ebere." Chika had said calmly. 

"We still have our Dares and Pledges pending," Soma had told us, "So far, we have only given Dabi's dare."

"I want to propose one." Chika said, eyes on Ebere.

"For me?" Ebere touched a hand to her chest.

"No," Chika responded, quietly folded her arms, face straight and plain as she looked still at the twin, "For me."

"You can't dare yourself," Soma tried to protest, "It's against the rules of Dares and Pledges."

"I will seduce a guy in our set tonight at Yure's party," Chika carried on nonetheless, "And I will make out with him too."

"Are you sure, Chika?" Soma asked warily.

"Why? You think I am 'terrified' too?" She asked Soma back.

"No, I just don't feel you would be comfortable doing that," Soma had said.

"Nothing dey there." Chika said, scoffed humourlessly. 

I couldn't even lie that I was not stunned in the course of the entire conversation.

"I can't dare myself, ba?" Chika went on, "So, y'all can go ahead and pick whichever guy from the set that it should be. No wams."

Soma's eyes had sparked with excitement, interest piquing in them.

"Ebere should pick." Chika said to the twin, "Pick any guy you think will be so 'intimidating' for me. Do the honours, my gee."

Ebere seemed to be surprised by the offer. She didn't even waste time getting on it.

"Okay na," She laughed softly, looked around the circle to ask, "On what category do I pick?"

"I recommend someone who will have the decency to not kiss and tell," Soma suggested.

Only then did I hear Ebube put her mouth in the matter.

"There are only two guys in our set who we trust that much," She had said.

"So?" Chika asked, "Which one of the two is it going to be?"

We all had one person out of the two in mind. 

And so therefore, the dare was sealed with a pledge. 

We thought it was all fun and games. We thought that there was no big deal to it. It was just going to be one night. One night alone and we would be done with all of this shit.

But, look at us today. Tongue tied. Confused. Wary of the fact there was a guy out there who could literally die for Chika in vain.

"Chika, do you even understand how awful Aaron is going to feel?"

Soma's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, bringing me back to earth with the question that she asked Chika.

I saw something between the line of guilt and indignation in Chika's face, but it was ever so subtle.

"You guys are the ones that made me want to do this," She accused us, "I wouldn't have cared this much about doing this."

"We didn't ask you to string him along, Chika," Ebere said.

"I didn't expect it to drag on this long," She said.

For a moment, I saw a torn look on her face. That look of distress and guilt, it deepened on her face, reddening the lightness of her skin ever so slightly.

That was when I knew that this whole thing was tearing Chika apart more than she let out.

She was breaking by the thought of what this all could imply, yet she acted like she wasn't. 

"I didn't expect this to drag on this long." She said again, her voice firmer, as though she wanted to use the firmness of her tone to prove to contradict what her facial expression was trying to give off. 

Pity.

I felt pity.

It was pitiful to watch her this way.

Did she always have to pretend to be so tough skinned?

"Aaron is our friend..."Ebere said, her voice in audible whispers.

"Why are you trying to make me feel so terrible?" She asked Ebere, her voice had a hint of annoyance in it as she looked at all of us, one after the other.

I could see it all in her eyes, the fear in them that was all masked with anger as she berated us.

"Why are you guys trying to guilt trip me, like you did not have a hand in this too?" She asked us. We were silent, watching her quietly and tongue tied, "Did you think about the fact that Aaron was our friend when you all let me go ahead with the dare?"

The silence in the room was so toxic. The air was hard to breathe. How we were able to still stand in all of this, I did not even know. I just didn't know. 

Ebere broke that silence.

"Chika, we..." Her voice cracked slightly, ever so slightly. She had stopped talking for a few seconds, gathering enough time to find back her voice as she said, "Chika, we didn't expect Aaron Godson to fall in love with you."

That destabilized Chika.

She must have had the self control of a soldier because she hardly showed it, but I could see it. For some reason, I could see it, with every subtle movement of her body language that gave off the contrary of what she wanted to prove. 

She took in a deep breath. Like that was what she needed to gain back her composure. Slowly, with steps that I could count the space of three seconds in between, she walked towards the front desk, took the seat, sat, and stared quietly into space for what seemed like an eternity.

Her face told little to no emotion. Really. I could read almost nothing off the look on her face. She was so neutral. So calm. Almost seeming undisturbed. Too chill for this situation, to say the least. I wished I could know what was on her mind. 

She just sat there.

And watched space quietly, untriggered. 

"Chi?"

Someone had to call her.

I was happy when Ebube did. We needed to remind her that we were still all here. 

Chika looked up at the twin, eyes as undisturbed as ever, the most casual look on her face. 

"Hm?"

We stared at her.

She stood up, even more casually swiping off dust off her elbows, stuffed a hand in one of her pockets as she raised a brow at us and tilted her head as though she was looking at us in observation.

"Let's go," She said, "It's already almost 7pm, and soon, Casper is going to be calling us to leave."

Was she mad?

Chika started walking towards the door while we were stuck on our feet.

"We aren't done with our conversation, Chika."

Ebere made that clear behind the girl who was walking away like nothing happened. 

Chika stopped, looked at us over a shoulder. "What conversation?"

"The one about Aaron being in love with you," Ebere answered. 

"There is nothing to talk about there." She responded.

"Yes, there is," Ebere said behind her.

Chika turned around to us, her face impassive.

"Aaron is not in love with me," She said to us, "He can't be in love with me."

That was not true. It couldn't have been. I saw how he had looked at her back there. That guy was whipped for her. Completely wrapped around her like a motherfucker. He was gone!

But Chika declared otherwise, so assuredly.

It was the certainty in her voice for me.

How could someone talk so much nonsense but still sound so confident and sure. What superpower was this?

"Don't say something like that again," She said to us, her voice in a subtly warning tone, "Aaron can't be in love with me. It's just not possible. I don't know what is up with him, but it's not love. It can't be love, because that shit doesn't exist. Aaron is what, 17 or 18? What the fuck does he know about Love anyway?"

"Chika," Soma even sounded shocked to hear her talk this way.

"What on earth even gives you guys the impression that he loves me?" Chika continued, "Why would you even say a thing like that? How would you know?"

"You can tell when a guy loves a girl, Chika," 

I...

I was the one who spoke.

Shockingly.

Chika looked surprised too, in the slightest. Her look shifted to me, and I looked back at her, certain of what I just said.

"You can tell when a guy loves a girl," I repeated again, "It's obvious as day."

"How?" Chika challenged me with the question, a note of sarcasm in her tone as she listed, "Sweet gestures, ba? Sweet words? Gifts?—"

"His eyes." I cut her off, answering in a heartbeat. 

The shift of emotions in Chika's eyes were enough for me to know how much of an effect my answer had on her. 

Like in the slightest, she knew what I was talking about. But she hated the fact that she may have thought that I was right.

"Eyes never lie, Chika," I said to her. "Lips can. Eyes cannot."

Her jawbone clenched as she looked away. 

I knew I hit a spot.

"I saw the way he looked at you, Chika," I said, "I saw how pure and real his intentions were for you. I saw you as the world in his eyes. And from experience, there is no way a guy could look at you that way and you would miss it. You saw that look in his eyes too, Chika. So, why are you trying so hard to fight it?"

For a moment, I felt I was softening her up. Finally, I was getting her to open up. Her eyes were softening, and by each second it seemed like I could see, through her eyes, something in her heart break, and I smiled softly at her, encouraging her to accept the love she was running from.

She broke out of my spell the last minute. 

"No," She shook her head, "I am sorry, but I can't believe that." She could not even keep eye contact anymore. She shook her head adamantly, vigorously, looking everywhere else but at me. Awfully avoiding my never wavering gaze. 

She knew I was having an effect on her. She knew I was saying the truth. And she hated it. 

"Lies. Lies. Lies. They all seem like that at first, but it's all lies and deceit," She said to us, shaking her head so hard it started to look like she was assuring herself than us, "No.—" For the shortest seconds, her voice cracked, the firmness in them loosening and a softer, adder tone prevailed as she adamantly refused to see from my point of view. "No, no, no, no, no. no, no, no....."

She just kept repeating that, over and over.

It broke me.

I wanted to hug her.

I really did. I could completely understand how she felt right now. The way she adamantly wanted to push out the glaring truth. The way she repeated her words, as though the more she said it to herself, the easier it would help her believe it. I could completely relate. I wanted to hug Chika. I wanted to hug her so so bad. 

"I understand the wary that comes with trusting people," Ebube said to Chika, "But, Chi,  Aaron is an amazing guy. He wouldn't be a deceitful person in love."

"They are all amazing in the beginning," Chika said.

"What are you saying, Chi? Are we still talking about Aaron Godson here?" Ebere asked her, a frown on her face that hinted out some frustration and confusion in a mix.

I wanted to tell her to calm down. That they were looking at this from a more literal view and Chika was not. 

Chika looked up to us and for the first time since we started this conversation, her face was red. Much redder than I remember it being from the last time that she had made eye contact with me. Her eyes were a subtle shade of pink, but no tears dropped, just her lids trembling as she blinked more times than necessary. Like she had a LOT to hold back in. It was awful to watch. 

"They are all amazing at first," She said, her voice firm, a contrast to the red hue on her face that looked like she was on the verge of breaking like glass, "Their eyes will say they love you, their lips will remind you every day," Her last word lost a bit of firmness, her voice shook, trembled with that last word, and in the slightest, I saw Chika's lips quivering, shaking as she spoke, her eyes turning a darker shade of red, still dry with no tears, her whole body seemingly trembling as she forced herself to remain.... Strong.

Like the 'tough girl' she was. 

"They will open the door for you, buy you flowers, treat you like a queen, spoil you with gifts and compliments and the sweetest words, show you affection, adoration, Love,"

Each word shook more than the last, her voice trembling by each beat, piercing my soul with how weak and frail they seemed to get by each word. How shaky, tired, and unstable they sounded. The shaking of her voice matched the trembling of her eyes, moistening up the rims of it, wetting her lashes, as her eyes moved in a lost motion, breaking by the second, but never letting the tears run down.

"Love," She repeated her last word again, laughed bitterly at it, and I closed my eyes, winced at the goosebumps that formed on my skin on how cold she sounded in heartbreak. 

I didn't know which was worse; That, or the way that last word came out. By now, her voice was so beat down, broken down to the point that all it sounded like was a whimper.

It was just a whimper. 

A soft, weak whimper.

Everything she said at this point sounded like the whimper of a suffering soul.

"They will make you feel like you are a Queen. They will worship you like a god, and treat you like you are a gem, and when they have managed to grip you down in their hold, when they manage to wrap you into their love, cage you into their spell, to the point that you are so hung on them and cannot even think of leaving, they press you down without mercy and leave you suffocating for breath. They take advantage of all the Love you have ever given them and take away all the fucking joy that you have ever had and you are left c-c-c-crying every f-fucking night and s-screaming for help, but no one cares and the people that once said they loved you are the same fucking people treating you like shit, gas lighting you into feeling like the awful person when you want to leave them for messing up, losing their temper with you at the slightest things, hitting you.—"

My heart stopped.

My heart fucking stopped.

Her words came out in one breath. Her eyes were watery, but tears never dropped. Her voice was shrieking, trembling, her body, shaking as she practically choked and convulsed on her own words.

Chika was breaking.

Dangerously.

Chika was fucking breaking. 

"—And then, what's all of the suffering and staying in such an abusive atmosphere for? When at the end of the day, all your kids will just end up growing up fucking damaged and broken, emotionally and mentally traumatized, forced to watch you fucking suffer every fucking day of their fucking lives!"

Whiplash.

I felt a whip lash.

"But, you can't even do anything more than sit there and watch your entire family fall apart," She said, her voice void of any firmness in it, shrill and weak, a soft tone to it, her body quaking as her shaking got more aggressive; the self control she had before that made her keep her composure was slightly weakening.

"You want to leave, but you can't, because everyone gives you fucking reasons why you should stay with a man who treats you like shit. They keep saying you can handle it, so you tell yourself that bloody lie too. You keep up with his fucking bullshit every goddamn day and stay strong for the kids," She choked on her own words, sucked in a shaky breath, "Strong for the Kids... Fucking Hell. Like we don't know that you always cry yourself to sleep every night..."

My God.

I felt so.... Triggered.

And so did Chika.

Anger suddenly prevailed in her tone. She was shaking in anger, yet breaking, nearly on the verge of tears that I never could see really drop. 

"And you just stay there and let him keep treating you like shit, leaving you in scars, and leaving the family in ruins of trauma, and you keep letting him! You let him and let him and let him and FUCKING LET HIM UNTIL YOU DO LOSE CONTROL OF YOUR OWN LIFE, AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, HE GETS YOUR FUCKING REMAINS LYING SIX FUCKING FOOT UNDER!"

Chika burst through like a volcano, quaking in tears that ran down like a river.

She let it all out. I watched Chika, a girl I thought her skin was tough like steel and heart fierce like a lion, crying, utterly defeated, her walls breaking down like glass as she let everything that she seemed to hold in, pour down like rain.

Her face was drenched in tears, her body shaking, quaking, trembling, and convulsing, as she broke down all the defences she had, crying like a little child before us. She couldn't even find the strength to stand. This girl lifted weights twice her size, but she could not even stand on her own two feet in all her tears. Her legs shook, her body trembled. 

"Oh my God, Chika..." 

Ebere was the first one amongst us who was strong enough to recover quickly from the shock of watching Chika break this way. 

Chika weight fell on Ebere when the twin embraced her, her wails and choking sobs. 

"I miss Mummy," She cried in Ebere's arms, her breath shaking as her voice trembled, "I... I miss my mummy..."

It felt like broken pieces of glass were digging into my heart.

Watching her cry for her mother tore my heart into thousands of pieces. 

I miss my Mummy too.

So, I understood Chika's pain. And, watching her cry like that hurt me more than it should have. Like she had pent us so damn much and finally getting to pour it all out was even too much for her. A feeling too strong for her to keep in control.

She could barely even support herself as she cried on Ebere. Balance was suddenly the hardest thing; her arms gave up and her legs could barely support her. She was like a fallen angel on Ebere, falling in weightless into the twins arms as she cried in her hold, completely letting herself lose and breaking all her defences. 

She needed a hug all along.

Chika just needed a hug.

"Chika..." Soma and the rest of us were surrounding her, pulling in into one group hug as she broke down in tears that tore my soul and spirit in half, wails that shattered me miserably.

I wished I was brave enough to step up before she could completely break like this.

Suddenly, I felt so horrible for not doing so. I understood her pain for than ever. I felt a connection to her that I knew the other Sisters could not relate much to. I should have hugged her first. I should have. I really should have.

"Nobody deserves to stay in an abusive home," Ebere said.

Only Chika's voice was heard, sobbing. Softly, I felt hands on my skin, rubbing in a comforting manner and at one look at it and at that scar on it, I knew it was Soma.

For the first time ever, I did not even feel threatened by the scar on Soma's left hand.

I only felt warm that she felt the need to comfort me too. 

"And, nobody deserves to never experience or accept Love because of trauma," Soma said.

I knew she was talking to Chika.

But, I also felt like I needed that advice too. 

"It's difficult," I spoke. 

For me. And for Chika.

Her sobs were soft, hands buried in her hands as she breathed deeply and cried silently now.

"Growing up in a home where all you ever saw was bitterness, violence, hate, and tears, it is so hard to adjust to the concept of Love," I said in elaboration, "Not just for people. For even yourself." I looked at Chika who met eyes with me, reddened eyes softened at me and I smiled weakly at her for encouragement, just to let her know that I understood her. 

She always understood me. I knew she felt relieved and happy to have that reciprocated too. 

"But, Chi, it's not impossible," I said to her, "I am still growing in Love and learning. I know that you can do same too. It's hard, and it will take time, but it will come and it will be beautiful."

"And, maybe it has already come," Soma said to her, "Maybe, Chi Bear." She teased slightly to lighten the atmosphere, nudging Chika playfully. 

Chika's face was hot red, yet I saw the corner of her lips lift in a little smile. It worked. Soma's teasing did make her feel better. I was happy about that.

"Abi o," Ebere hit her and Chika's laughed softly with those stains of tears on her lids, sniffing and wiping a side of her face with her hand, "Mrs Godson." Giggles erupted from Soma and Ebube, and Chika laughed softly, wiping her tears even more, and I smiled sweetly. 

"God, I can't believe I cried like that," Chika said, wiping the tears that fell down her face, sniffing as her nose was now runny. She breathed in and out deeply, wiped her tears again, and laughed in embarrassment, wiped again, "I can't believe I cried like that."

"You are human, b," Soma said to her, "It's okay to cry."

"Thank you," Chika said to us, looked to me in particular, repeated in gratitude, "Thank you."

Her eyes were still red from the crying. Her lids were still wet too. Her face was still like a tomato. But with our help, with us, surrounding her like this, she could find her strength to pick herself back up.

"Chi, just bear in mind that not all guys are the same," Ebere said, "Sure, some are cunt licking assholes—"

"Ebere!" Soma called her out.

"—Babe. It's just facts, some of them are bullshit," The twin was unapologetic, "But as much as I want them all to lick dust and suck my dick..." She sighed, looked like she had some second thoughts on her statement, "I can't deny that there are some good guys out there."

"Unfortunately, my mum missed out on one of those," Chika said with a sigh.

Once again, there was silence in the class. The atmosphere was suddenly hard again and I wasn't sure if that was Chika's intention.

I just didn't want her to cry again. That shit hurt me. I didn't know if I could stand Chika breaking into tears again. 

"He was a bastard, you know?" She told us, a sickened smile on her face as she even thought about him, "All he ever did was drink to stupor and turn Mum into a punching bag. The fool murdered her in cold blood, and guess what?"

She looked at us, smile on her face as she looked at all of us, waiting for something.

"Guess na," She urged us.

"We don't know, Chi," Soma softly answered.

"The Coward ran away and left us." She told us.

"Oh." Ebere said.

Ebube seemed to hold her breath for a moment. 

That seemed to have hit them hard. 

"Uncle Donald is my Mum's younger brother, and he took us in after everything. Aunty TemTem welcomed us in, like a mother," She told us.

"He hasn't been found?" I asked.

"I wish," Chika scoffed bitterly.

"You want to see the man that killed your mother?" I asked Chika.

"More than anything else, Dabz," Chika told me, anger heavy in her tone, "I have a shit load I would like to say to the motherfucker."

Is it necessary? I wanted to ask. 

My utmost wish was for my father to disappear from existence. I didn't care if he was alive or dead, I just did not ever want to see that wicked man.

So, I did not understand why else Chika would have wanted to see her father. 

I couldn't help, but ask.

"Why?"

Chika looked to me and I wondered if I was asking too much. Her eyes were still red and even if she was not crying anymore, I could see that anger and indignation was heavy, more than ever, in them. I looked back at her, waited until she was ready to reply me. 

"That man was the most sexist human being I have ever known."

That...

That explained so many things.

Including why Chika would have wanted to stand and defy every damn thing that he must have ever stood for.

"I mean, I was too little at a point to full understand many things that he did really, but I always found myself asking questions innocently concerning some things he said that even my little brain did not seem to find right..."

We were sitting together and listening as Chika talked. 

"Personally, I feel I was a girl child that was wired a bit differently from stereotype, so he always found the need to adjust some aspects of my life. For example, during my childhood, we used to live in this deep ghetto place in Lekki East, yeah? And while the other girls my age were playing games like Tinko Tinko and Mr Macaroni, I always joined the boys who were a year or two older than me to kick empty coke bottles by the roads all in the name of 'playing football'...."

I quickly got the mental and vivid image in my head.

In my imagination, I saw Little Chika in the midst of older pre teen boys, barefoot in dirty clothes, running around and kicking empty coke bottles around the road sides.

"I found stuff like that more interesting for me," Chika explained, "I would rather play football on the ghetto streets of Lekki East, chase and scream after busses and bike drivers, and play-wrestle and role-play WWE with the other boys than boring clapping games. That was how my little mid reasoned and well, Daddy didn't fancy that for a 'girl'."

She sounded so chill telling us this, but I know that the walk down memory lane, every thought she had about her father made her angrier than she could explain.

Anyone could have understood why.

"When he caught me, he beat me," She said so normally, "He would tell me that I was not behaving like a lady, and things like Soccer and Wrestling and rough playing was not meant for girls. He would use his belt on me every time thinking that it would 'correct' me, but I was always stubborn as hell, and I would still repeat what I thought was an 'offence' and come back to more beating."

Wow...

"I was barely six years old, and my little brain could not understand why he was so against me having fun," She told us.

I could only imagine...

Little Chika, being genuinely confused as to why a girl shouldn't do all those things. Why her Dad always beat her for just having her own fun.

How dare he even hit them too? As awful as my father was, he never touched us. 

That did not make him any less of a horrible person. Stephen and I were just lucky because the man barely gave a shit about our presence. Sometimes, it slipped his mind that he even had children. I could never forget the day that my own father had the guts to ask what my name was. His own child. He cared so little to the point that he didn't know our names. At least I could bet that Chika's father knew her name. 

"'Don't slouch' he would say. 'Girls are not supposed to sit like that'. I preffered my hair short and simple and he insisted that girls were ugly on short hair. Long hair was more feminine. It would look better on me," She told us, "You know, I was actually too young to understand if there was anything wrong with all of this. I was too young to even understand the red flags around my father. Even when I watched him hit mum, I didn't know that it was not supposed to be a 'norm'. What did I know really? I was like six?"

I related so bad that I almost cried.

I vividly remembered too, those time that I did not understand that abuse was not supposed to be the 'norm'. It took me not too long after to understand that something was wrong with my family. I knew it was the same for Chika, too. 

"I remember this one time I got into a fight with in School," Chika told us, "With a boy..."

She took in a deep breath as she remembered this part of her life, carried on telling the story afterward. 

"He got so furious at me for fighting in School, and freaked even harder when he found out it was a boy I fought with," She told us, "He said 'Chika, you shouldn't ever fight with boys! Do you know dangerous that is? What if you got yourself hurt'—" She laughed humourlessly as she shook her head at the memory, continued, "I told him 'I didn't get hurt, Dad. I beat him'."

Wow.

"The man was flabbergasted, to sat the least," She told us, "I told him that I had won the fight. We fought, him and me, but I won. I told him. But, I don't think he ever believed me. At the time, I didn't understand why."

Soma's hands found hers, holding in a comforting manner. We all quietly just listened.

"As a kid, I was forced to eventually understand that there was something wrong with Daddy, and that it was not right for him to hit Mummy for any reason. Slowly, I started to see him as the villain he was. I started to hate him, slowly. His temper was quick and abrupt, and every time he did shit, he came back more remorseful than the last, begging my Mum's forgiveness as if it was the end of the world for him.—"

She had stopped there, biting back on her lips and I knew that pain was brewing again.

Please, don't cry. I prayed within me for her. It hurt so much.

Chika swallowed hard, breathed in deeply, and out, and I joined Soma to rub softly against her other shoulder. Anything to calm her down. 

"She forgave him every time," She told us, "But at what cost. The vicious cycle of brutality continued over and over again. A year or so before I entered Castron High, I was nine turning ten at the time. I remember waking up from sleep that Saturday evening to screaming. Loud torturing screaming. I also heard breaking of glass, slamming of furniture, body against wall, blows, blows, so many blows, but what traumatized me the most was Mum's screaming.—"

I felt so attacked. So triggered. My eyes shut in reflex, like that was going to do anything to stop me from visualizing everything that Chika was saying, just the way she was saying it to us, imagining every single thing, the way it had happened.

How she had been jolted up from sleep from those loud awful sounds.

How her Mum's screaming was the worst and most traumatizing out of all. Chaos rose and the house was falling apart as her father slammed his wife around, angrily, like an animal, lashing out on her without control, beating, punching, slapping, throwing her around the bedroom as she screamed and screamed and screamed at the top of her lungs.

Her siblings crying in their little corridor passage and Chika walking in on them, seeing them hugging one another and shaking in tears, crying their eyes out as that monster ravaged their mother. Neither of them, able to do anything about it.

Chika told the story and I envisioned it all. How she broke in front of them. She, being the oldest, the Ada, and watching her siblings crying and wailing on each other, hearing her Mother screaming, wincing every time powerful blows connected to her face or body, each time their little house seemed to shake slightly when she fell onto the ground with a loud thud, and yet, the mad man she called her father did not stop.

The image was clear as crystal in my head and as Chika told her every move, I saw it all, imagined it all. Like I was even there with her. I felt it that relatedly.

I imagined it all. How she reigned in rage at it all. The beating. Her younger siblings, crying and shaking uncontrollably, her mother screaming, her anger boiling by the second, her hands shaking, closing tightly into fists; the only thing in her mind was vengeance. 

So, in all her rage, in all her uncontrollable, blood thirsty anger, she growled and ran towards their bed room, livid, shaking in fury. She had pushed the door open with all her might, screaming at the mad man that was her father, screaming at the top of her lungs.

The little girl of nine aggressively shouting at her father as he beat her mother to a bloody pulp.

"LEAVE MUMMY ALONE!" She had screamed at him, her head hot in rage, eyes blurry with burning tears, "STOP BEATING MUMMY! LEAVE HER ALONE!"

He didn't stop. He wouldn't. She screamed and screamed, but the man was so blinded by whatever rage that overwhelmed him, and pouring it out on the woman who had little to no strength to fight back or escape. 

"I SAID, LEAVE MUMMY ALONE!" She had screamed again, running and charging towards the man in a fit of rage, running to attack him. To fight him.

Nine year old Chika was charging her father, a grown man three times her size, head first. 

"I got the beating of my life that day," Chika told us, her lips quivering at the memory, "Never in my life have I been beaten up the way that man beat me that day."

Tears brimmed in my eyes, but I held them for her sake. 

Chika said the first time, he flinged her into the wardrobe.

She refused to give up and charged him again, angrier, and he threw her into the TV decoders. 

She charged again, with more power, more anger, but he flinged her to the cupboard.

Her frustration pulled tears out of her eyes. The pain from her back slamming against the sharp edge of the cupboard hitting her back caused the tears to roll uncontrollably, and yet, she stood up again, still not giving up, rushing to throw kicks and punches at the man, but with one hold and a push, she was flying into the air, landing 'thwap' on the ground, on her butt. 

She started to shake in tears, frustrated that the man was so difficult to take down, convulsing in her tears, but summoning all of that anger and frustration into getting up from the ground, wiping the blood that was smeared on her face and further going to charge the man again....

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

"Jesus." Soma commented, pulling me out of my reverie for a moment.

I thought so too. How could a child be so fearless? So determined. She was literally just nine years old. What kind of child was that?

All I could see in my memory was a strong willed little girl called Chika. An even stronger girl now. I could see that fire burning in her even at that tender age. I got chills.

"Stop hitting her!" She had screamed at him as she charged him over and over, in vain, "Stop hitting her, Papa! Stop! Stop! STOP! STOP! STOP HITTING HER!"

As she told the story, my heartbeat was speeding up. Like I was there with her. Like I could feel every damn emotion she felt.

Nine year old Chika was brought to the ground, wounded, breathing hard as she screamed at her father with all her might.

"Is it because you are stronger than her?!" She had screamed at her father, "Is it because you are stronger than her that you are beating her?! Is it because I am small? One day, I will grow up! I WILL GROW UP ONE DAY AND BE STRONGER THAN YOU! THEN, I WILL FIGHT FOR MUMMY! I WILL FIGHT YOU AND I WILL BEAT YOU, DADDY!—"

As Chika told us all of this, I felt my heart beating out of control. 

I didn't even realise that my hands were shaking until Chika's hands held mine. They were on her shoulder. Her hand was shaking too. Both our hands. Yet, she still felt the need to make sure I was okay. 

"He laughed," She told us, "He laughed at my face."

I felt so angry...

So, so angry.

The only image I had of her father at that point was the face of my own father. Birds of the same fucking feathers. Psychopaths. 

"Do you really think that even if you grow up, you can take down a man?" Chika's father had said to her, "Do you think a woman is powerful enough to bring down a whole man?!"

"YES!" She had screamed back at the man.

He laughed her to absolute shit.

He laughed so hard that she had no idea how to even feel. She felt stupid. Like a joke. She felt like a food standing before her father as he laughed out to his heart's content. Suddenly, the woman he was hitting, her mother, was not even a priority anymore. All he suddenly wanted to do was make Chika understand how stupid she was being. 

"Let me tell you all women can do," He had said to her, "They cry about the stupidest things. Things that men would easily take and stand strong. Like men. They complain over the easiest tasks. Why? Because they are not strong enough to take harder ones like men do. Give them even a quarter of what we do, and watch them break like sticks. Frail, pathetic, worthless things that live such an easy life, but are so selfish, wicked and inconsiderate to not be satisfied by it, but rather blow the top and wreck in anger that they are 'mistreated'. When all they ever do is sit there, get flowers, have the door opened for them, have men pat their backs and worship them at the littlest efforts. Weak and incompetent, that is what you all are!"

I cringed. I cringed so hard. I saw the look on the Sisters faces. They were all so, so annoyed.

With the way Chika narrated to us, it was clear as day that that thing he said was a major eye opener in her life. It wrecked her. Marred her. Judging through the way she was so fierce in her fight for women empowerment, I saw that it also made her who she was. 

But that wasn't even 'the push'.

"That's not true!" Nine year old Chika had screamed at her father.

What the man had said to her after was what triggered Chika Chioma to this day. 

"Then, go ahead and prove it. Prove it to me, Chika, that a woman is more than everything I just said. I dare you."

It all made so much sense to me now. Everything did.

"Those were his last words to me," She told us, her voice was a sort of whimper, "Neighbours came to help us and Mum was in an awful condition. He ran away while they rushed her to a hospital... She didn't make it."

It was understandable who those three words stuck to her till this very day. 

It all made sense. 

"I feel like such an awful person," Soma said with a tone of regret, "If I knew how much you were triggered by Dares, I wouldn't have invented Dares and Pledges."

"Don't say that, Soma, you didn't know," Chika said to her immediately, "I am the one who took it upon myself, and as much as I hate the fact that I am so pushed to go beyond my limits, pushed to never give up, when challenged..... I am started to feel that, in my case, it may be doing me more good than harm."

I mean....

"I hate coming to terms that I am 'incapable' of something," Chika told us, "Especially when people expect that my incapability is tied down to the fact that I am female."

"It's okay to want to try on challenges and break stereotypes sometimes," Soma said.

"True, but each time I hear those words 'I dare you', and I feel that maddening urge to 'dare', to prove my darers wrong, it almost seems to me like I am not only breaking the stereotype like I ought to, but also, putting myself in some sort of battle or challenge to prove a point to myself against my father."

"Chika, you are the bravest girl I know. You don't have to prove anything to anyone for them to see that," Soma said to her. 

"Thank you," Chika said to her, gratitude and a warm softness in her eyes.

However, I knew it would take more than just words of encouragement.

More than that to break Chika out of this thing that has seemed to be a trigger or push to her till this day. 

"I wish it didn't have to get to this," Chika said, I knew she was talking about the Dare with Aaron, "I just wish it did not have to get to this point." There was a note of guilt in her voice. It was in a monotone and regret laced in it evidently.

She looked at Ebere, and I could see it in her eyes that she didn't mean for any of this to happen. The softness that was in her eyes before she broke into those awful tears were back as she looked at the twin and said, "You were right. Aaron is our friend. He's always been a good friend to us. Has always been, Sisters. Helped us multiple times, even when things got awful for Dabi.-"

My heart stopped there.

She was right. He had helped a lot. He had helped me a lot. I clearly remembered all the times he and Casper took it as a mission to stand up for me, whether publicly in class or in the Media, shutting down our classmates when they came at me.

The last tweet he made on my name still multiplied in retweets till this very day, gathering thousands and thousands of supporters, and as much as I tended to forget this, he was one of the reasons why classmates had not had the courage to have my head on a plate yet.

 "I shouldn't string him along like this," Chika said, "If anyone deserves this, it shouldn't be him. It's way beyond wrong. to do this."

There was that thickness again in the air as it seemed as though we all were just pondering on what Chika said, realising just how bad things could get if Aaron ever found out.

Thinking about it almost took my breath away. It would kill him. Legit. The guy could die. I wished there was a way that we could keep this under the rock forever. Just so that he would never ever know. Just so it never ever comes to light. Bury it like it wasn't even there. 

"Do you like him back, Chi Ma?" Soma asked Chika.

Chika hesitated in her answer.

"Because like Dabi said, there is no way that you don't know he is in love with you," Soma said, chipping me in lightly, "So? Do you like him back?" She asked so softly.

Like her life was depending on that answer.

I concurred. It felt as though all our lives were depending on that answer too.

I mean, if Chika liked Aaron back, it would make it easier. She would just go ahead with him, date him, and go along with it all, without having to 'deceive' him. Even if it would be like all these 'It all started with a bet' kind of love stories, at least, along the line she fell for him, and while they went on with their love story without having getting Aaron hurt, we would just quietly never ever speak of this dare ever again.

No would ever know.

No one, asides us, knows.

Ba?

"Chika, do you like Aaron?" Ebere had to ask again when she failed to answer Soma.

A heavy sigh left her. Her single answer stilled the room, chilled it completely for us all. 

"No."

Oh, Jesus.

"I'm sorry," Chika whispered, her voice breaking slightly as she looked away from all of us. She sounded like she was sad that she had to disappoint us like that, "I just don't like him. I'm so sorry." 

We may have been holding our breaths right now because we felt like we hit a dead end.

Silence ensued. For the longest time between us.

"So, what are we going to do?" Ebube broke it, asking. 

We looked at each other, like somehow one of us would be hit with an idea. We all could see the same thing in each other's eyes: Panic. It seemed as though things were at the tips of our tongues, but we could not even bring ourselves to let it out.

"Chika..."

Soma was the first one who gathered her moral.

"I think you should tell Aaron the truth."

Ebere Onuoha nearly ran mad. 

"Somadina, are you fucking crazy?!" She exclaimed at her, eyes widened in shock that the taller girl could even suggest such a thing, "You want Chika to tell Aaron that we dared her to make out with him and all along, that's why she has been with him?"

The twin was going crazy at even the thought of it. 

"Are you even hearing yourself, b? Are you hearing how it's sounding? How can she tell Aaron that kind of thing?" Ebere was nearly shouting at Soma at this point.

Soma looked torn, but she shook her head, adamant on her decision.

"I know this sounds like a feat, Ebere, but telling the truth is always the right thing to do!" She argued back to the twin. 

"Soma, some truths are meant to carry you to the fucking grave!" Ebere was shouting at this point.

My heart...

It was beating.

It was beating so fast.

"Aaron can NEVER find out about this!" Ebere rained her mind, "He cannot find out about this shit, abeg. Do you even know what that implies? He's going to to hate us. Casper will never speak to us again. You are going to really take the risk of losing our friends just for 'the truth'?"

"Chika can't keep lying to Aaron!" Soma defended her point still, her voice and body language told a lot of distress, "It's wrong! It's wrong! It's wrong! You don't lie to people you care about!"

"At what damn cost then?!" Ebere was getting in her face now, her voice louder.

Chika just sat there, quietly. She said not a word. Ebube was just as quiet. And so was I. I felt I needed to say something. To let Ebere and Soma know that they didn't have to make things worse for Chika by screaming at each other on what the right or wrong thing to so was.

"You think it is easy for me to stand the fact that Aaron could be hurt? Or that he would never want to speak to us again? Casper and I have been family friends even before I came to CH, and you think its easy for me to take a move that would risk our friendship forever?" Soma asked a panic-raging Ebere, "Babe, I know what the cost is, and we should not run from it. We are not cowards. We have to say the truth, no matter the cost. We can't make Chika keep lying to Aaron!"

"We don't have to make her lie," Ebere said, her voice in a rush, as though she was setting a compromise. She was hurriedly snapping her fingers like an idea was coming to her, speaking quickly to the snapping of her fingers, "We can just, um, we can just tell Chika to break up with him, yeah? She can just tell him that she is not feeling whatever they have anymore. She can just end things as though it was natural, hm? Isn't that better?"

"Ebere," Soma was even appalled by her idea. Shock was an understatement. "That is so cruel."

"Letting him know a thing like this isn't any better," Ebere countered.

"It is unfortunate then, because nothing stays hidden under the sun," Soma said, "He could still find out still, and that would make things even ten times worse."

"We will fucking burn all the evidence then!" Ebere screamed, "Delete every proof there is out there of anything that has to do with Dares and Pledges! Burn it all! Destroy it!"

I seconded that.

I hated myself for doing so, but I seconded everything Ebere was saying. 

"Who else has seen the Dares and Pledges asides us?" Ebere asked Soma.

Exactly.

"Dabi's old phone that contained it has spoilt, abi? No other gadget in the world has our Dares and Pledges list, so tell me, how the FUCK is Aaron going to know that we dared Chika that night? How will he know if no one tells him? Is he a witch?!"There is literally no way that Aaron is going to find out that the only reason Chika is stringing him along is because we dared her to make out with him on the night of Yure's party.—"

Jesus.

The classroom stilled.

Pin drop silence prevailed, Ebere's shouting halting mid way.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus.

We straightened up as it only occurred to us, just now. The noise from the Hallway, it just occurred to us. It was so loud that anyone's voice could have drowned in it. It was a perfect indicator that classmates were no longer outside and they had now dominated the Hallways, all of them walking down in one noisy fashion.

I wondered to myself, how long were we screaming about the Dares and Pledges while classmates were outside, roaming the Hallways?

But, no....

That was not even the worst part.

Not even fucking close.

Right there, at the foot of the door of Classroom C....

Casper Bassey stood. 

Jesus.

Hold yourself guys. Stay there. Are we alright?

Quick question; What would you have done in Chika's shoes? Would you have told Aaron the truth? Or in Ebere's words 'Let the break up look natural'? Or would you just quietly ghost him? Or keep stringing him along out of pity? Comment!

And btw, Chika though!🥺  My God, the girl is so strong, It brings tears to my eyes. I cried a little when she broke down on Ebere and started saying 'I miss Mummy'.🥺 Shit killed me. Also cried at the scene where her nine year old self was trying to fight her father for her mother. That babe though.❤️🔥

Anyways, I guess I will see you guys soon! Bye for now!❤️