Hello, my lovely angels!  

PLEASE SLEEP AND READ THIS TOMMOROW O!😭♥️

Alright sha, so you know the drill from here. The song for the Chapter is Into You (Alex Ghenea Remix) by Ariana Grande and Mac Miller and I reckon that you guys will LOVE this one! I hope you do! Just imagine the song playing at the beginning of this chapter, because that was the same song I imagined playing!🥺✨

Without much further ado, let us get into the chapter now!

~DABI~

Christmas Lights.

Christmas Trees.

Glitter Mistletoes. 

Food and Drinks.

Sweet, ethereal Music.

My classmates had outdone themselves tonight, with such a stunning representation of the place.

Into You Remix by Ariana Grande and Mac Miller blasted in here from the Loud Speakers, shaking the grounds beneath me, and sending me into a realm of eternal Bliss, just the same way the stunningly beautiful atmosphere around me was doing.

I was in absolute awe as my eyes moved around the room, gazing in thrill from one place to the other, surveying the beauty that this living room I knew had turned into, and with every second that I looked from left to right, I got lost in the wonder that the place had become.

Flabbergasted, my irises sparkled with pleasure, brightening by every glisten and glow of the sparkling gold of the Christmas Lights, each string of gold, flashing beautifully as it, in decoration, was spread out across to every section of the room, every nook and cranny of the walls, and even hanging on all the fancy Christmas Trees that had the prettiest,  glitter-decorated mistletoes.

Just one mistletoe on each Christmas Tree, shining brightly like a star. Lights and decorations: simulations of snow mans with Christmas hats, gifts in wrapped boxes under the Christmas Tree, bouquets of bright yellow and red roses all around the lace decorated food and drinks table, every thing magical about Christmas that could be thought of,  they spread across the edges, corners and ends of the Large Living room in perfect arrangement.

The Lights, as usual, were my favourite. Gold, gold, and more gold. Its blinding shine radiated everywhere and even against the white walls, tinting it with the gold that illuminated the room.

The entire room was gold. And, I meant that literally.

Everywhere around me sparkled and shined various shades of it. So gold that I couldn't even see or tell the colour of my skin when I looked at my hand. Everything shimmered and shined and glowed in it's beauty.

It was like I was in a bubble of ethereality, surrounded by the very thing I had grown to love more than many other things, warm beautiful lights that turned the place into a euphoric bliss.

There was nothing more satisfying than being back here.

And I wasn't saying this because of the loveliness that was all about me. I said this because, once again, I was in Marcus Acha's home.

I missed this place.

I badly missed this place.

"Hey! I need some help with some light decorations over here!—" 

Startled in the slightest, I snapped back into reality and realization that I was not the only person in this place. 

With that realization came a number of bodies, their number in multiples, sliding past, brushing past, running past me in some sort of urgency, all of them keeping their hands busy with something.

Whether it be putting in some more Christmas Lights in the room and spreading them across the food tables, or,  dragging some Christmas Trees from outside the house and into the room, fixing them in spaces they could find or attaching Mistletoes to trees, working together in groups to shift the Sofas and couches in the rooms to the extreme ends for some space, just basically, running around the living room, or down and up the stairways leading to it, or in and out of the house, in general...

Everyone, asides me, was busy doing something.

And here I was, moping around.

Surprisingly still, nobody bothered me. 

Being a committee member meant that we were very active 'backstage'. 

This meant that while every other classmates were in their houses, still dressing up and doing their make up, getting ready and fly for the Night of their lives, we had to be here at least an hour earlier. We had to finish everything we were doing and come here quickly enough, because we were the ones setting up the arrangements for everything.

So, in one perfect dispensation of Team Work, the Committee members were moving to and fro the place.

The Ballers in the Committee— who agreed to be here on time — were helping to move the chairs and bring in other furniture into the room, carrying heavy bags of food and snack cartons. At one end, I saw Ayo and Jaja carrying a giant speaker all by themselves, just the two of them, jacking it up effortlessly and taking it towards the part of the room where the Giant Screen TV hung on the wall.

The Sisters were hardly seen here, but I had faintly remembered Soma saying something about them helping to get down more lights from upstairs, and I remembered her leaving with Aaron and Casper, whom had disappeared upstairs the whole entire time. I also remembered rejecting the offer to join, insisting that I would rather sit down here.

My intention was to quietly admire the entire room in peace, and I guess I did so to the extent that I forgot that my mates, girls and boys, were doing serious 'manual labour' around me while I was staring around in awe like 'Alice in Wonderland'.

"Sorry, excuse me..."

Some girls I recognized to be in Class B accidentally hit me, an apologetic look on her face when she accidentally hit me with her group of friends, and she and the drop dead gorgeous clique behind her cornered around me, muttering sorry softly while walking past and around me, giving a second or less of attention to me, as they respectfully walked on and away.

I couldn't stop my gaze as it followed behind the girls, and one of them, Faith Ojeh, who was holding a little bag, started pulling out some Mistletoes from it to share to the girls who spread out with the other girls in the room, fixing them onto trees, gisting and laughing while it.

"Pretty," I commented to myself, smiling impressively.

Everyone looked so good.

So, so good.

And for the first time in forever, I didn't feel inferiority complex because of it.

Or, rather, I hardly felt it enough for it to take away my peace.

Instead, what I felt was fascination. 

That was it. I was fascinated. Intrigued. It was a pleasure to see just how good and beautiful every other classmate who turned up looked. 

Right from the moment that they had walked in on us in the compound to usher us into the premises, I was awe struck by each and every of their stunning looks.

The girls, with their new hairs, fancy and eye catchy, their make up like something I had never seen before, but in a good way, and with a variety of new styles and new techniques, each one making their features look bolder or softer or more highlights or just completely different.

The boys, with their neat hair cuts, and some of them, showing off new piercings and tattoos I knew were fake, but still, looked cool. Their new shoes, shoes I was aware nearly cost a fortune, and just like the girls, paraded themselves in such awesome outfits that could have dropped any jaw. It was evident that these people, both boys and girls, meant business.

Everyone was dripping in fucking finesse. 

And the heat from their sauce thickened the air of the atmosphere.

On a normal day, it would have choked me unpleasantly. But, nah, tonight, it intrigued.

It didn't have me feeling any less of myself nor did it make me feel odd or like a stuck out sore thumb. It didn't make me start to single out every single part of my appearance, calling it out one by one, and naming at least one or two things wrong with it.

It intrigued.

It just intrigued.

And, for once in my life, I loved the idea of having to admire the beauty and perfectness of others without feeling 'uncomfortable'.

"Oh, my God! Dabi, you look so gorgeous!"

Yet again startled, I whipped my head to my left, literally spinning my body around in 360 to turn to where I heard the scream of awe from a voice I faintly recognized.

"Dayum, girl! You pulled the fuck up tonight! Look at you, baby girl!" Ziba Gagare was screaming like a mad woman, jumping and fanning herself as she took me in, rather dramatically.

The set's social prefect and self acclaimed 'First position for craziness' and the dark hyperactive classmate had her entire eye balls bulging out of its sockets as she screamed profanities, completely awe struck and impressed by me and my appearance.

In no time, the entire small group of stunningly gorgeous girls that tagged along with Ziba was hyping me up, and all of them did so, with such exaggerated language and references.

"My goodness. The hair. The outfit. The drip. The sass!" One of them, Bertha, was snapping her fingers in rhythm to emphasize how much she was impressed, "Girl, it is giving Cardi B!"

"Well, thank you so mu—"

"I am telling you!" Fatimah chided Bertha on, so much excitement rolling off her body, "You guys had to see me screaming when I saw Dabi on Soma's Whatssap Status this evening!" She was practically rapping, like I wasn't even right there with them, "She was looking sooooo fire, I just HAD to see her in person! And imagine, she even looks times two better in person!"

"Amorley exaggerates some times, yeah?" Favor referred to Fatimah as she spoke to me, "But, on this case, I can swear Dabi, my best friend is not even whining you, you look stunning!" 

"Do you know how many haters you are going to cause sudden death by choking just by showing up so drop dead badass?" Bertha said to me, her voice in a tone of conspiracy and I couldn't hold myself further, I burst into laughter immediately.

Hands shot up to my mouth as I laughed hard into them. I actually laughed, because I was too overwhelmed to even know another way to react to such flattery from these girls. 

"It's so evident why Acha prides over you the way he does. God when, abeg," She didn't stop even when I was dying in laughter, and the entire group was just laughing with me. 

It didn't really occur to me, until recently, that even in the midst of the hardcore social rank system of Castron High, that there were genuinely harmless people who existed. I had never spoken to the most of these girls before, until now. And yet, here they were, being so nice to me.

Even in the heat of toxicity from Classmates and haters who were not even sensitive enough to respect tragedy or feel some empathy for me after what they knew about my family now, some people were not as terrible as the rest.

I barely knew Ziba on the surface and the rest: Bertha, Fatimah, and Favor were, all I knew about them was that they were among the calibre of girls from Class B whom fit high in the radar because they were 'beauty Queens'. Ironic, it even was, how I was getting so complimented by people as beautiful and perfect as them. 

"He really admires her, abi?" Fatimah's eyes were glowing with adoration like my love story meant the world to her, "He was posting her everywhere. Did you see the pictures of Dabi he sent to the Class Group Chat? Did you see all those sweet things he was writing about Dabi on his status? All those pictures? Ohhhhhh, my God! You two are goals. Aurora and Clyde is my fucking muse!"

"Marc posted me on his Status?" I did a double take hearing that. "And on the Class Group Chat?!" I was caught off-guard by such a revelation and I wanted to ask what people said and how they must have reacted to it, just to know what they did about it. But on second thought...

Who cares?

Really. I mean, whether there was hate or not, it was evident that there was a number of other people like these nice Class B girls that were all for me and Clyde. That, alone, consoled me a great deal.

"What? You didn't know?" Ziba exclaimed, "He was showing you off everywhere! Man's got no chills. He couldn't stop fawning over you everywhere. Whatssap. Stories. Even IG posts. Class Group Chat. The man is spreading the fucking word! Talmabout 'A Queen and more', the 'Love of my fucking Life', 'She looks like an Angel'; Girl, nigga is OBSESSED with you!"

That got me blushing so hard, so so hard. Smiling so hard that I may have hurt my face with how hard my lips had stretched them beyond their capacity. 

I had no idea that Marc was fawning over me all over his Social Media like that. I had absolutely no idea that he even did that. I mean, I should have expected that he would do something that extra because when I sent those pictures to him, he was practically running mad in my DMs.

The guy could not contain himself. He was head over heels, dying in my DMs, filled with so much awe at me. Thoroughly adoring me, like I was a precious stone, like I was Gold itself, like I was the best thing that could have ever happened to him. Marc was melting completely, and I could feel the heat of his admiration, even from the other side of the screen.

It was warming. The entire feeling of feeling so, so loved was a feeling so satisfying, it was beyond all comprehension. My heart was fluttering, even by the mere thought of him, and I couldn't have felt more at peace, right now.

"Speak of the Devil."

I was not sure who among the girls had said that, but in a space of seconds, there seemed to be sudden disorganization in the entire Living room. The kind of disorganisation that was comprised of whispers that morphed into noise and gravely divided attention; the entire room of Classmates was suddenly being so shaken up by a new presence, and with one look towards the source of all the 'confusion, I felt all my nerves stop for a moment.

A beautiful whiplash, it was. It was unexpected and almost an attack, but with the sudden happiness and excitement that brewed in me immediately after, I embraced it.

"MAN LIKE ACHA!"

Singlehandedly, he turned the entire room upside down.

Marcus Acha walked in here and dropped a bomb that blasted the room into utter chaos, confusion, and scatterdness. 

And, I am certain that you probably think that he walked in here, showing off some insane fashion style that has never been seen before. Or dropping jaws with some new air Jordan shoes or a mad new gold wrist watch from an expensive brand like Van Cleef and Arpels'. Far from the drip and sauce that you may believe was the cause of the 'uproar' made in the name of Marcus Acha, it was not even close. 

My boyfriend and Love of my life had the audacity to bounce his way from the spiralling stairway that led down to the Living Room, wearing nothing but a white singlet, some baggy pyjama trousers, black socks, and crocs.

"Blood of Jesus." 

That was me to myself and I.

He paused on the stairs as soon as he noticed the attention he got, a cheeky smile found its way to his pretty dark face, brightening the features of the Mini-god who looked like he was about to laugh his heart out at the chaos he had just caused.

"Um." He cleared his throat embarrassingly, awkwardly massaging the ripped muscles on his arm as he surveyed everyone with laughter in his eyes, and I knew he was seconds away from letting it all out in wild abandon.

"This boy," I muttered to myself, chucking as I face palmed.

With one move, the boy just ran a smooth hand through his hair, looking like a kid caught doing wrong as he combed those fingers through the twists of his neck-length hair. 

I giggled too, laughing at how absolutely adorable he looked.

Him, being so embarrassed was the cutest thing ever. The boy looked like an overgrown baby.

One look at him and I could easily tell that he had not even thought about dressing up for this event. I mean, Casper had to make the Committee Members come an hour early to his house for preparation, and here Marcus was, bouncing in here in his 'comfort wear', undressed and unbothered, absolutely non-chalant of the fact that he, just like the rest of us, should have been fully dressed up and busy with preparations by now.

It was funny, really. Instead of him to be preparing for the party, he found it more necessary to confine himself in the cages of his room, dressed in house clothes, reacting to photos of me, fawning all over Social Media in my name, and completely disregarding the fact that he was also an important member of the committee too. 

"Man Like Acha, we hail thee o! You never even dress, wehdone boss!"

One of the guys had shouted and the entire party, along with Marc, broke into a laughter, and easily, he let loose, laughing his heart out with everyone who was practically descending on him.

Marc was laughing so hard that he doubled over slightly and it was so funny to watch. I was laughing along, even before I realized it so.  

"Wait. Wait. Lemme explain,—"

His words were cut short by a number of people playfully shutting him down while feigning aggression and anger, telling him to 'Shut up' and that made him laugh even harder, with the level of impatience and ridiculousness of everyone around here.

But, of course, it was all jokes.

Everyone here loved Marc. Not as much as I did, at least, enough to overlook that he showed lack of seriousness to the time schedule for the Committee Members that was set. 

It was a chaos, yes, but it was all some form of 'cruise'. And Marc knew. That was why he easily laughed along with them and no one was taking anything particularly that serious. It was warming to watch Marc's interaction with Classmates often times because it showed just how much he was adored by the set and it was the most wholesome thing to see. 

I was so caught up in all of this, the fun and playful reprimanding of Classmates on Marc's head, that I had momentarily made myself 'lose guard' and in the midst of me, ugly-laughing so wildly, I had not taken note of the fact that Marc's head had turned to the right and his eyes, like a needle to a bulls eye, landed directly on a target.

To be more specific, that 'target' was me.

And, for a second, I felt my soul leave my body.

"Iykg.—" I choked, and I mean, choked on my laughter, spit finding its way to my trachea.

I nearly died. For a second or two, I think my tragedy would been 'death by choking' because I saw my life flash before my eyes in those little space of seconds.

With a cough, maybe once or twice, I set myself back straight ,and straightened the spine of my back as I looked back to him, keeping back the eye contact that 'took' me off guard and nearly 'took' my life along with it. 

However, in less than a second after our eyes met, his lips stretched into the warmest, sweetest grin, a warming smile that moved waves of peace and tranquillity, and of course, a bit of fire into my soul. 

I smiled back. I couldn't help it. Watching him smile so lovingly, the corners of his eyes crinkling with happiness, his eyes glowing like a bright star under the warm light of gold around us. He was so handsome, like a mini-God. He even looked twice as handsome when he smiled like that. So true. So real. A smile filled with all shades of adoration and admiration.

Goodness me! I could see and feel the joy and excitement in his heart from where I stood, its energy maddening and fiery. Overwhelming so.

This was one of my favourite things about me and him. The way we knew how to feel so alone in a full room. It seemed to me that Marc was literally the only man in the whole room.

I was certain he most definitely felt the exact same way too.

"Aww. So romantic!" A stray classmate had cooed, and a chorus of 'Aww' followed that statement like an evil spirit, the entire population moaning on our behalf and on cue.

I blushed so, so hard, embarrassed and overwhelmed by all this attention and cooing, yet only then did it hit me that it was most likely that Marc only even came down here to see me.

I mean, as a matter of fact, it didn't waste him any time to track me, seconds after he had come here. I had a strong feeling that he came here, because he probably found out somehow that I was here, and the moment he arrived here, he spotted me easily in the crowd. The only thing that stopped him from acting as so, initially, was all the distraction from Classmates with their shouting and exaggerated mock anger. 

I confirmed that theory when Marc's body moved on the steps, an indication that he was about to walk somewhere. Towards me, I supposed. That was what it looked like.

Hm. No such luck.

Marc's eyes were on no one else, but me, and it was obvious who he was coming for. However, the moment one foot extended to the next step on the stairs, a crowd of growling set boys stormed the stairs like Soldiers in a war zone, cornering my boyfriend and blocking his path of movement, stopping him right on his tracks while being excessively dramatic and ridiculous about it.

"Common will you go back inside, my friend!"

"You never dress finish. You haven't worn cloth and you want to come and do Love Garden!"

"Oshey Adam and Eve! Common go back inside jhoor! See head like Coconut Yam!"

I died.

I died laughing.

The entire room was scattered. Laughter was everywhere, from left to right, all angles, and everyone was choking on it, doubling over, convulsing, shaking, dying with me and Marc himself as these crazy boys in my set gathered my boyfriend like they wanted to beat him up.

"Oh God. Why do you guys play like this na?—" Marc was laughing as he tried to push himself further into the boys who were restricting his way.

"You still want to pass?" One of them had shouted, "We will just gang you here. Oya, Man Like Acha, be going back upstairs!"

I was laughing so hard and even with the crowd around Marc, he was adamant. He was laughing back with them, but he was still adamant. The guy was refusing to give up and it did fuel the laughter even more and more.

In the heat of everything, his eyes went back to mine and I signalled a message with my eyes. 

"Go back upstairs and dress up first."

That was my message to him in an eye signal, and with the way his shoulders had dropped with subtle disappointment, but eyes, agreeing with compromise, I knew he caught the message in my eyes perfectly.

"Go," I mouthed sweetly, waving slightly at him, a subtle good bye that had an an underlying 'I will see you again' beneath it, assuring him that we had all night to be with each other, and hoping that that settled him for the meantime. 

I guess it did. After Marc smiled back, compromisingly, at me, in response to my wave, he playfully shoved two out of the set boys who were in his face and business, right before disappearing from sight.  

I had half a mind to go upstairs because of him though, but after I analysed how doing that would have reeked of desperation, I stayed put and refused to do anything that would bring further attention to myself and cause my dark face to turn red once more.

For a moment, I had nothing else to do, and I started to look glance nonstop at my watch, counting the few minutes I knew was left before the main party commenced, and surveying the entire room from one place to the other looking for what to do to keep myself busy, while at waiting.

"Are you looking for your friends?" A random passer-by classmate had stopped to ask me.

I almost asked them back if it was that obvious that I was starting to feel alone, and in the slightest, awkward. 

"Hm," I answered positively with a nod, and the girl who was talking to me, smiled understandingly, almost like she could understand what it was like to be an 'introvert', and immediately, she jutted her jaw towards a direction, pointing out something to me.

Or someone.

I followed the direction she urged me towards and easily, I was able to trace whom she was trying to get my attention to, walking down the stairs and making their way towards the Living Room.

My eyes brightened up immediately and my heart warmed, the way one would feel when you saw someone who naturally made your happy. I could tell right off the bat, from that quiet aura around her, the subtle foot steps that landed gently against the steps as she came down, like she did not want to harm the stairs. The way she didn't look up as she walked, but seemed to watch her own feet, counting her steps, as she daintily came down.

And, surprisingly so, once again, Ebube Onuoha was alone.

I quickly came to the conclusion that this girl had a secret agenda.

It almost seemed to me these days like she was deliberately trying to distance herself and do something, and one of the time I saw what she was up to while at it, it was on top of a boy's matter. 

Now, here she was again, alone, without Ebere or the rest of the Sisters.

With the way that she walked with her eyes down, practically 'petting' the stairs with her feet as she came down from it, I was definite that she was up to something.

"That girl sure does live a secret life." I said to myself.

Having that she came down here alone, I was certain she didn't want anyone tagging along and cutting whatever motive she had going on, short. So, I did not bother to walk up to her or anything. I just stood there and watched her as she took the last step down, and like she knew exactly where she was intending on being, with eyes still tracing the ground, a look full of intent and some determination in her eyes, she made her way towards the Zobo and Punch Dispensers at the corner of the room. 

"Hm," I cocked my head to the side, observing quietly as she got to the other side of the room, and I frowned in confusion when I saw the twin make a stop at the Zobo Dispenser, lingering around it oddly, and anyone who  could spare about a second or two of their time to look at her would have been able to tell that something was clearly suspicious about her.

Something was too suspicious.

The way she lingered there, moving around conspiringly in little circles around the dispenser, pacing around in a discreet, not-so-discreet manner, it was evident that something was clearly off.

Ebube completely threw me off when she started to do something insanely weird.

I saw her. I could see her clearly, so I was no mistaken on what I believed it was that she was doing. 

It started with her picking up a random cup from a tray on the table of food, snacks and drinks by the Dispenser, and after looking left and right of her, ensuring that nobody was looking, she put the cup under the tap of the dispenser, filled it up to about half of it.

Carefully, she sipped from it for about a second or two, and that's when shit started to get weird.

Really, really weird...

Ebube tilted the cup slightly and drip, drip, some Zobo poured  into her hands.

"Eh?" I had frowned again, confused at such madness.

Matter of factly, she had only but started. Ebube Onuoha decided to completely finish me tonight. And, I was not even ready for it.

The babe started to sprinkle fresh red Zobo on her blue dress. 

"Jesus Christ." I muttered in shock.

She was serious about it. She was sprinkling Zobo all over the bottom part of her dress, and doing it with such determination and efficiency, making sure to sprinkle some more to missed spots, and I stared at her with eyes, wide in absolute terror, as I watched those dots of red mark their spots on a dress that looked so fucking good on Ebube.

What was she doing? And why the fuck was she doing it?!

"Is she alright upstairs?" I asked like someone would have had an answer to that.

Immediately, my legs were in a breeze, walking towards the potentially crazy twin by the Zobo Dispenser. At that point, I didn't want to see more. I just wanted to make sure everything was going alright with her. So, with quickness, I slided in between bodies all around me in obstruction, pacing towards her.

"Ebube." 

I may have called more sharply than I intended to, but I could not help it. 

By the time that I had reached her, she was back to drinking some more cold Zobo, acting like nothing happened, even if I could clearly see that she still had those red dot stains of sprinkled Zobo on her blue dress.

A blue beautiful dress that she had literally just ruined for life for reasons best known to her.

"Dabi?" She turned to me on the call of her name, casually acknowledging me with a warm smile. She didn't even blink or act unnatural. "Hi."

I stared back at her, confused a bit, reflexively dropping my gaze from her pretty face and down to her blue dress, counting all the tiny and multiple dot stains on her dress, completely stupefied. 

Ebube looked back at me, calmly. Her face was in peaceful harmony, like she could not even see that I was in a near panic, or if she may have noticed, felt no reason to be alarmed by it.

That confused me even more. Did she think I did not see what she just did?

"Why?" I asked her, eyes stuck on her now ruined dress, "I don't understand, Ebube. I was just standing over there with Ziba and some B girls, and I was practically watching you—"

"Really?" She cut me off in mid sentence, her eyes lighting up subtly, but in what seemed like pleasant surprise rather than shock or a look of being caught off guard, "You mean you have been here in the Living Room all along, Dabi?"

"You guys left me here," I reminded her. "So, where else could I have been?"

"I am aware," She said to me, "I just didn't see you when I came down here, so I wondered.—"

How could she have seen anybody when she kept her eyes on the ground all the way?

It was evident she didn't want to see anybody at all.

"—And, when I came down here, I was literally walking around everywhere here, asking around and looking for you." 

"It's a lie." I immediately countered.

Her brows raised in question.

"It's a lie, abeg. Ebube, you weren't walking around or asking around for me. You were not looking for me," I said to her, adamant with what I know and believed I observed off her, "You were literally on your own when you walked down here and you damn right looked like you wanted to be on our own." 

Right?

I mean, that was what I saw. Right?

She had not only looked like she wanted to be on her own, she also seemed to have had some kind of 'secret agenda' too. She looked like the last thing she wanted was to have someone tagging along with her. With the way she was suspiciously hanging around the dispensers, right before sprinkling Zobo on her dress, was a giveaway to that fact.

Right?

Right.

So, what was she saying now?

"No, Ebube, you..." I still tried to protest.

"The Sisters will be down soon," She said to me, calmly cutting me off again, "Turns out the Christmas party is starting even earlier than anticipated." She beamed with a bright smile as she said that, shifting from one foot to the other adorably.

She acted so normal.

I started to wonder if it wasn't me that was the one that imagined things.

But...

But...

"Y-Your dress..." I pressed still, the words drawling from my mouth, without much confidence.

If truly, I was mistaken by what I saw, then how could it be explained that those red Zobo stains were still much glaring on her blue dress?

"Oh these?" Ebube sparked with cute laughter, looking down to her stained dress and laughing it off, "Little Freak Accident happened with the Zobo Dispensers upstairs. But, don't worry, I am totally fine. Nothing can dull my shine tonight, abi?"

God, abeg.

"Freak Accident," I repeated exactly what I heard her say, just to be sure I heard her correctly.

"Mm hm," She nodded, confirming what I believed I heard her say, "Some of the boys were messing around with the Dispensers instead of bringing it down stairs for decorations. And boom, that's how my fine dress got ruined even before the party even started."

But...

"Are you sure?" I had to ask.

Whatever compelled me to, I was not even sure.

"Positive," She laughed, "Why wouldn't I be sure of what happened to my own dress?"

"But, I saw your ruining it yourself." I said to her.

Her eyes lit up with amusement of some sort, as though she couldn't believe what I just said.

It was a look that challenged my own sanity.

So, I got defensive.

"I saw you," I insisted. "You walked in here, took that cup you're holding, fetched Zobo and started to pour it on your dress with your own hands."

Jesus, I sounded so crazy.

I didn't even realize how stupid that sounded until it came out of my mouth.

Obviously, Ebube was even surprised by what she just heard me say.

"You saw me," She raised a brow in more amusement, "Pouring Zobo on my own dress." Even the way she put it, it sounded like something a lost werey would come up with.

The entire thing was starting to sound so dumb already.

"Dabi, why would I pour something as crucial as Zobo on my own party dress?" She asked me, her voice had a free tone of laughter laced in it.

And me? I couldn't have felt more stupid. 

"Well..." I stammered uncomfortably, rubbed the back of my neck as with every second that passed, the stupidity in what I thought I observed off Ebube was getting clearer and coming more to light in my eyes, "Maybe, I saw wrong."

For a second, a look of empathy flashed in her irises, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"Aww, it's okay," She said to me, her voice soft with understanding, "Don't feel somehow, eh?"

The discomfort that was written all over my face was cracking into an awkward smile as I barely laughed nervously, shifting from one foot to the other like it was going to ease the little humiliation I felt. 

"Sure," I said to Ebube.

What was I even thinking in the first place?

It made a whole lot of sense that she would have walked in here, looking for me, than she, creeping around the place suspiciously, and sprinkling Zobo on her dress.

So, that meant I was mistaken...

"Ebere insisted that I change my dress," She told me, her voice tingling with a little excitement that confused me, "But, I mean, it's alright; I can pull of the night with a stained dress and still survive." A tiny, playful nudge from her forced a little chuckle off me. "Bah?"

"Bah." I answered,  twitched a brief smile upon my face, as both our bodies leaned back at the same time, relaxing the small of our backs against the large mahogany table behind us that filled up with fancy decorated food and drinks.

For a moment, there was a silent between us.

And, I began to realise how much it seemed like I had little to discuss with Ebube Onuoha.

Shockingly, almost nothing.

It only took that moment of silence, however, for me to be stricken by how many words she could say on her own. She seldom said two words when Ebere was not there. And, the only time asides now that I had seen her speak as much was because of 'man'.

To think of it, I didn't even think I heard her say a word the entire night of the preparation in Soma's house. All she did was sit there and let Soma put colours of make up on her face...

Surprisingly, it seemed like all that make up, or rather, most of it had even cleared off.

Because when I glanced at her face, even though her full pot-shaped lips were still shining with nude gloss, I couldn't see the eye shadow that Soma had spent hours blending on her lids. 

Ebube still looked gorgeous anyway. Even if most of her pretty make up was gone and her blue dress was stained with Zobo by some reckless and careless set boys.

I saw her fetch another cup of Zobo, and just when I thought she was going to start doing something that would throw me off guard again, she brought the the paper cup to her lips and drew in a little sip from it. 

"Dabi?"

I turned to her at the call of my name,

"Yes?"

And, cleared my throat on impulse when she said.

"Can I ask you something?"

Hm.

For some reason, I swallowed hard.

"Sure."

My voice was surprisingly levelled, even if what she said made me a tad bit nervous.

"What's up?" I further asked, pressing on.

Ebube gulped down her cup at one go, dropped the Zobo-stained cup back on the jam-packed food table, and went straight to the point.

"I know Miranda told you some things about me and my Sister."

Throat dry, I responded bluntly, "Yeah. She did."

"Stuff that made you doubt our loyalty, bah?" She turned to me, with raised brows, waiting for me to give a response before they could drop.

Having that I had blown up at the twins the same day that Miranda fed me all that bullshit, I was not surprised that it was still in Ebube's mind.

"Do you still believe her?" She asked me.

Her question was well-constructed.

It was as though she knew that I had originally doubted them, and wanted to know if there was any chance that things had changed. She knew that I had been suspicious of their motives in our friendship, initially. But who could have blamed me for believing Miranda for a second?

Everything that Miranda said linked with what the Twins had done with me.

Especially when she had said that the Twins had made her be someone else for a guy she liked: Change her uniforms, her life style, her rank in the Hierarchy, and at the end of the day, the motive was not to get him, it was to destroy her. These things linked to what they had made me go through in the beginning because of Marcus Acha  - Until Chika put an end to it.

But, with all I have seen so far, I was certain that neither Ebere or Ebube wanted my downfall.

I mean, why would they? And what would they gain?

Miranda wanted to make me believe that version of the twins she cooked up in her head: Sneaky, manipulative, wicked, and thirsty for ruining innocent and vulnerable people's lives.

But, no. It was Miranda herself who was all those things. Not the Twins. She proved it so, after the way she tried to ruin us by exposing Soma's secret and implicating me falsely in the process. She was the evil person, and not the Twins. I agreed that the Onuoha Twins were not perfect and they had their flaws, here and there. But one thing I was certain about them was that they were the most loyal people you would ever meet.

And, boy, would they fight on your behalf like wounded tigers.

I had my answer for Ebube.

"At first, I was skeptical," I told her truthfully, she looked like she expected that answer: Understanding. "But... Not anymore." 

A glow, like a ray of hope, flashed in her pretty eyes.

"Really?" She asked me.

I wondered for a moment why she needed this closure.

"Yes," I answered nonetheless. "I know that neither you nor Ebere would do anything to harm me." 

Her eyes lit up even more, the glow brighter. Like that was all she needed to hear.

"Thank you," She said to me. "I wouldn't do anything to harm you, Dabeluchi."

Smiling at the warm reassurance, I nodded my head to show her I believed her completely.

"Thank you," I retorted appreciatively.  

Silence ensued between us once more, the kind that reminded me that Ebube and I did have almost nothing to talk about, one on one. But, the second time it came, it was bit more comfortable than the last one.

We just leaned back, watching the entirety of the place in all our silence, and doing something that I started to believe was a thing with the both of us: Observing.

Maybe we did have something to talk about.

We could have started from the fancy food on the table and the organized arrangement of it, how they seemed to keep the little baskets together in shapes of triangles, a bouquet of flowers, filling the space in the middle for its decoration.

Or how it was meant to be a 'Christmas Party' we would be getting into the next few minutes, but not one single Christmas song had been played.

Or why Ballooning Spiders don't have wings and can still fly.

Or why the Past tense of 'Catch' is caught and the past tense of 'Patch' is not 'Paught.'

"So, let's talk about Wild animals. I believe that there is no difference between a flying a flying Cockroach and a Dragon..."

The rest of the words I was meaning to say seemed to die down in my throat the moment I turned to Ebube and grasped that her attention was far from the nonsense I was about to say.

Way far too gone. 

Infact, she had transferred herself into another realm, far far away from this place.

With eyes fixed ahead, Ebube stared without breaking. I could pick up easily the slight hint of awe in her eyes, like she was looking at something that was pleasant too look at. Like Diamonds, sort of. But with that slight wince that flashed through her eyes in mini-seconds, it was evident that with that 'awe' came some pain.

Sort of like looking at Diamonds still. But in a scenario where its shimmer and shine was so magnificent and overwhelming that it actually hurt to look at it. 

To say 'I couldn't help it' was an understatement.

Instinctively, my eyes followed hers like a spell had been cast upon me, tracing the line of direction her eyes were fixed on, and moving with it carefully until it landed on the bulls eye.

"Hm," I made a sound, lips curving downward in impression, "Mad."

Dazzled, I acknowledged what it was. 

Or rather, who it was.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that I knew right off the bat who was the only guy that was capable of making Ebube swoon that easily, so it was easy for me to single him out from the little group, of about six or even class boys, who gathered rowdily at the top of the stairs, discussing something in some kind of conspiracy. 

Either that or he just seemed to stand out above the other boys around him.

By him? Come on, at this point, this bit was obvious.

Hm. That boy, Nana Obi.

Our set boys knew how to 'baff up'. And by this, I meant that they were specially talented in showing up to events with their 'bling bling' and 'drip drip'.

Everyone on the stairs there was showing off mad swag and effortless smooth, blessing the place with their cool presence, rolling up the sleeves of their costly brand shirts to show off their new expensive wristwatches, cracking their necks in demonic positions to show off fancy men necklaces, new tattoos and newer piercings, making sure to extend their legs to the other steps as they leaned on the protectors to make sure that their fancy new kicks were in display too...

And there was Nana, just being 'there'.

Ironically, the quiet kid stood out the most.

He talked the least, and most of the time that the other boys shouted at the top of their lungs in all excitement and caricature, he stood there, with arms folded, back rested against the line of the protector, and bored, almost sleepy, but listening eyes, watching them quietly.

And when he did talk, the other boys seemed to quieten down and give him all ears. His gestures were soft and gentle, and I supposed that his tone of voice was exactly the same: Straight to the point, but tender, and charismatic enough, easy for people to understand and nod in agreement to.

Whatever it was they were talking about seemed important.

Having that half the boys in that circle looked like the same ones who worked with Nana in the Media in School, I was able to get a glimpse of what was actually going on, and why that seemed to be his own forte.

Like he practically was the boss over there.

Their Oga.

Clearly, he was not 'bossing' too.  He was absolutely serving!

And you know one thing that made me wonder about the guy, he always stood out in the most effortless, yet eye-catching way. He looked like he put some effort, but at the same time, didn't put some effort. He made his casual look fancy, and his fancy look casual.

What did I mean?

Nana Obi wore a purple and white varsity jacket over a plain white shirt, and some joggers that were an illumination of two colours, white mixed in with a tint of baby clue, and the feet of the curly haired boy was cloud in new sneakers, sparkling white and glaring ever so bright even in this gold lighting.

It was a look that, for certain, had Ebube in a bottle, and with the way she openly swooned over the boy who was a solid distance away from her, that bit was clear as day.

Just because Nana is absolutely beautiful 🥺✨

It was funny, really, how I was just quietly standing there with Ebube, not interrupting her for even a second as she stared wonders, sulking sweetly in her hopeless crush on the boy.

Truthfully, I didn't even want to interrupt her at all.

So, I didn't.

Together, we were, a silence stayed between us. In that solitude, I felt somewhat happy for her. It was funny, because I was feeling happy over something that had not even hatched.

Or 'haught'.

But, something about someone else feeling this thing called 'Love' made me feel so good.

In other words, I was comfortable in our silence. Very comfortable. And in it, it seemed like everything other sound around us had doubled in the intensity of its decibels. From the talking and noise making of busy classmates walking to, fro, and around us to the cool afro RnB music that played everywhere in the room, its sweet harmony and rhythm cooling the atmosphere of the room, having me tap peacefully and subconsciously to it.

Funnier still, it seemed like right now...

This song was literally made for Ebube and her cute little crush right now.

Everybody seems to think that we'll be good together oh... 🎶

Everybody don dey talk say make you be my lover oh.... 🎶

Cheesy, I thought as I hummed to myself.

Looking over my shoulder to the twin by my right, I smiled with a suggestion.

"Why don't you just go say Hi."

Ebube snapped that shit.

The babe whipped her head to me so fast that she may dislocated a joint in there. I was almost certain I heard a solid 'crack' sound.

"Yeah," I insisted, looked dead at her eyes of terror and horror. "You should go and talk to Nana, Ebube." 

But they don't even know if am your spec oh... 🎶

I don't even know if I take your breath away... 🎶

She seemed to be still caught off-guard by what I just said to her, and I didn't even hold back or budge. Certainly, she was shocked that I had caught on so easily. But, come on, it is not hard to tell what's up after watching how much she practically stared the guy down like he was jewels in the Savannah.  

"I saw you the other day," I told her easily, laughing softly at the cute memory. "The other day you talked to him. I have never seen you talk that plenty ever in my life, babe."

"You..." Her eyebrows had furrowed a bit, the space between them creasing as she came to terms with what she just heard me say, "You... Saw me talk to Nana?"

I nodded in confirmation. "And, he could tell you apart, Ebube. He called you directly by your name."

Her face had relaxed, switching from the shock that was registered on it a few seconds ago to some sot of sweet relief. The corners of her lips twitched and, boy, I saw the smile before it even appeared on her face. 

It was the sweetest, and the most fascinating thing to watch. How fast her mood changed. How bright her smile was. And, she looked so beautiful when she smiled like that: Pure, sweet, and absolutely adorable. I couldn't even begin to imagine the things in her head. 

You don't even know my wildest dreams... 🎶

"Is that something?" She asked me, her eyes beaming with hope, "That he can tell me apart from Ebere?"

She was so adorable. It was like everything she was going to do from now on, depended on what I say in answer. It was like she needed some validation to what she already had in mind.

This side of her surprised me...

Soft. Tender. Like a baby. So much anticipation, hope, and childlike anticipation rolled off her.

"Considering you and Ebere look like clones of each other and nobody outside our circle has been able to tell who from who, Nana has to be pretty observant to be able to tell the difference." I confidently told her.

She could have exploded from happiness.

"Specifically," I had to add, "Observant of you."

The look in her eyes...

Jesus Christ, it absolutely melted my soul.

I could see the pure joy and heightened relief in her eyes, her body was literally shaking from it.

"I thought so too," She said to me, beaming like a ball of light.

Maybe it is all just chemistry... 🎶

"So, what are you waiting for, Ebube?" I asked the girl, playfully nudged her - a soft push that elicited the sweetest chuckle off her. "Go. Go and talk to your Nnaemeka na."

Ebube giggled, burying her face into her hands. I laughed too, surprised to be seeing her like this. So brutally and mercilessly whipped. 

"You saw her it went last time," She muffled into her hands, embarrassed, "I don't want to humiliate myself in front of him again, Dabi. I seem to babble a lot of rubbish when it's him."

"So?" I teased her, "Who knows? Maybe that is what will end up getting him to be head over heels las las."

"Nah, you're playing," She laughed out loud, dismissing me with a playful wave.

"No, no, babe, I'm serious," I assured her. "Go and fight for the man's heart. I mean, you have an opportunity now, so don't miss out on it. I am rooting for you sha."

But I know, I... 🎶

Kind of maybe really do like you... 🎶

Maybe me and you, we can try to... 🎶

Do this love something... 🎶

Maybe there's something eh... 🎶

Ebube seemed to silently ponder on what I said with a smile on her face.

After all, she had the final decision to either sit back or push 'this' further.

Those eyes of hope and happiness traced its way back up to Nana, who seemed to be wrapping up his conversation with the boys who surrounded him. She moved her shoulders, as though she was preparing herself, and there and then, I was certain of what her decision was. 

I opened, but barely had the chance to speak before a painfully curt and familiar voice cut into the moment, piercing my back like a sharp, ice stick.

"Alas!" It said, "You both are a prepossessing sight this evening."

God, abeg.

Immediately, I hooked an arm under Ebubes', startling her slightly, but that was the least of my worries.

My first instinct was to walk away like I heard nothing. I hadn't even looked behind to her at all. So, if I walked away quietly, there would be no evidence that I even heard her speak to me and Ebube just now. Good? Good.

"Oh, hi, Uwa boo!" Ebube had to greet the witch, blowing my cover. "Woah, you look so stunning.—"

"—On second thought, maybe we should go and talk to that guy together, bah?" I cut Ebube off in mid-hype, ignoring the sound of protest from Kelechi Uwa, whom behind me, I knew was aware that I was trying to get away from her.

If I was not so keen on avoiding her right now, I would have questioned Ebube right now and right here when Kelechi became here friend.

I remembered when this nonsense started. The very first day I saw Kelechi laughing with my friends like they were 'paddies' was that day of the Hang Out, and Ebube who barely acknowledged anyone outside the Sisters Clique was even on pet name grounds: Uwa Boo?

"God forbid." I said out loud, and with one large step, I attempted to step across the insect.

Unfortunately, the little crawling thing was fast to corner me.

"You, especially, Dabeluchi," She said in a hurry, narrowing my path and blocking the road for me to walk away from her as she stepped up in front of me, "You look amazing." A little smile from one side of her lips indicated to me that she was just here for trouble.

So, I stopped.

I stopped right there and raised my eyes up until they squared Kelechi Uwa in those eyes of hers that glowed like diamonds and pearls.

Clearly, I knew what she was doing.

Kelechi Uwa had showed up in my face, glowing rare melanin and giving Greek goddess. I had never seen her skin shine as beautifully dark as it did right now as she flaunted it in front of me, literally glossing and glimming, and bringing out every sparkling feature of her: From her surreal and incomprehensible eyes of beauty to that bright, Jesus, bright yellow dress she wore. One that was a stunning contrast to her dark, dark skin.

In other words, she looked so beautiful.

Too Beautiful.

I think I started crying.

Out of pain.

Her plan worked. I mean, she literally looked like she was competing with the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite, for her damn spot, and it worked in perfection. Total perfection. This, was the perfect way to throw me off that high level confidence I had mustered the entire time here and plunge me back into a well of low self esteem and inferiority complex. 

Kels Stanners, see na!🤧✨

My Goodness, I hated this girl.

And the evil witch was smiling in front of me.

Like we were supposed to be fucking friends.

I think hot tears were already at the lids of my eyes, but I held them in with all I had. The last thing I wanted to do was cry because of her. She had made me cry enough in this life. The last thing I was going to do was give her the satisfaction of doing it in front of her.

So, what I did? I pretended to be unaffected by her.

"Fancy seeing you here," I said to her, forced a smile onto my face that anyone could have told was the fakest ever, "You have never come to any CH party in your life, so what changed today?"

Kelechi bubbled. Literally. She giggled and shrugged her shoulders, daintily keeping that wine glass in her hands in between her two fingers, as she answered me.

"There is a first time for everything, correct?" She said to me.

With a painful smile on my face, I tried to understand why she was still talking to me.

"Correct." I answered, with gritted teeth. I felt my cheeks tearing at its ends and I only smiled even harder.

 "Well, I thought I might just come here and see how things work, and since Emeka and Dozie have a big hand in the Media and Sound System..." She looked for a moment behind her, I hated that I followed reflexively, just in time to catch Chiedozie Ihenna, at one end of the room.

He was...

He was watching us?

Chido was sitting on the large sofa, literally watching me and Kelechi, and the moment that I looked behind Kelechi to make eye contact with him, he maintained my gaze for about three seconds. Before slowly averting it and bringing it down to the phone in his hands.

Weird.

What on earth were the two of them up to?

"...Maybe I could blend it a little and, I don't know, 'groove' a little." Kelechi told me and I lifted a brow at her and the nonsense she just said.

"Groove." I repeated her word for word.

"It means 'to dance'," She felt the need to elaborate.

"I know what it means," I made it clear. "I am just surprised that someone in this day and age would use such a verb."

"Well, my little sister tells me that I am an old lady in a teenager's body," She told me, her voice laced with amusement and a little chuckle rolling off with her word.

My face was in a deadpan.

She stopped laughing when she realized that nobody was laughing with her.

I stared blankly at her for a few more seconds. Then, without a word, turned around to start walking away in the middle of 'this'.

No such luck.

Again, Kelechi cornered me. This time, even more desperately. She literally nearly crashed right into me, boob to boob, startling the shit out of me.

"Dabeluchi, please wait.—"

Her voice was a shriek. It was so void of every curt and properness she was previously using to talk to me before and replaced by a fearful plea. The switch shocked me, slapped me even, and I didn't stop because she asked me to, but because I was so caught off guard by all these 'drama'.

It started to become a confident notion for me to stand on. That Kelechi had an agenda coming here to talk to me. And she wouldn't let me leave until that had been fulfilled.

"I know a lot of things are probably going on right now in your head," She said to me. "I am aware that you probably already have your assumptions of the kind of person I am already, and believe me, I did not want it to get this far. The last thing I wanted was for everyone to judge you for your family problems, but things got terribly out of hand. If only you would let me explain.—"

I knew it.

I fucking knew it!

The agitation in her voice, the desperate plea for a listening ear, the fear in her entire demeanour, it was evident as day; Kelechi Uwa was guilty of everything that I feared she was.

The sneaky, slimy manipulative bitch.

"I can see right through you," I said to her face. "You are not sorry, you just want to gather sympathy from me. Because you think if you are able to successfully trick me into believing you are not such a terrible person, it will be easier for you to bite at me when I am less expecting."

Kelechi looked absolutely frustrated. "Dabi, no..."

"Well, I won't fall for it," I made it clear to her. "I know exactly what you are doing. I don't know what you stand to gain from it, but I know what you are doing: Lurking behind the shadows and making my life a living hell, causing rifts between me and Marc, and now, attempting to wash my dirty linen in public. Fuck off Kelechi Uwa. You can gather your crocodile tears and rain them on someone who will give a shit."

I attempted to brush past her, but she grabbed onto my hand, gripping my wrists desperately.

Halting on my tracks, I passed a death glare to my hands, staring dangerously at Kelechi's filthy ones wrapped around mine, and with a heaviness within me, I transferred that lightening look to Kelechi's defeated face.

It was a silent warning to 'get her hands off me'.

She was smart, so she caught the message. A lost look lingered in her eyes as she stared at me. They looked empty, lifeless, so it was definite that she was lying through her teeth. The little tears she forced to brim at the sides of her eyes did not do much to convince me.

"You know what I find the most disturbing?" I told her, a look of disgust on my face. "You have a guy that I am certain would do anything for you to be his'..."

I looked behind her once more.

Chido Ihenna.

"And, here you are, wasting his time on my life," I said to her, fought the urge to spit in bitterness. "Jobless wicked fool. I wonder what he even sees in such a terrible human being like you."

Kelechi didn't even argue or fight or protest.

She didn't even look like she had the strength to. She looked so destroyed and the joy I felt knew no bounds. She had spent so much time, energy, and everything making me feel so bad this entire term, and I didn't even mind making her feel as awful as I possibly could.

The doors of the Living Room tore open in an instant and with a loud shout followed a crowd of Classmates bursting through, all of them, screaming at the top of their lungs as they launched themselves into the room like cannonballs. 

The Christmas Party just started.

The start of a wonderful Night for everyone had literally just begun.

And while Kelechi Uwa was sulking in silent frustration and brewing tears, I was smiling in thorough satisfaction.

"Oh, and Kelechi...?" I mentioned, just right before leaving. "You have no idea what I could possibly do to people who try to push me to my limit..."

She stared at me. Her lips parted slightly as though she wanted to say something, but her words? She could barely find. She shut her mouth right back when nothing came out of them.

"I pray the Lord your soul to keep."

With that, I turned around and walked out on the Witch.

She was not a mad woman. So, definitely, she didn't follow me.

Ebube was long gone from my side by the time I was done with Kelechi. And after a quick survey of the crowd that suddenly filled up the place, I was sure I wasn't going to find her anywhere.

Not saying a word to anyone, I headed upstairs with quick, hurried steps. 

My aim was to find the Sisters and blend into my comfort zone before this place got too packed with too many people I couldn't stand. 

I didn't find them. The Sisters, I mean. I didn't even see them. Well, at least, not in that instant.

I saw something else instead. Something that threw me off balance. Something that paralyzed me completely and drew the hardest, most uncomfortable goosebumps on my skin.

"God forbid." I stepped back on the sight of it, nearly stumbling over my own foot if not for the strong hold against the wall. A grip that supported me on my feet.

I couldn't believe my eyes. 

My jaw could not undrop.

Worse still, 'they' were too into it to even notice that someone had walked right in on the both of them.

Chika Chioma...

Just as she had pledged to.

...Heavily and thoroughly making out with Aaron Godson.

Sorry to cut it short here, but Omoh, the chapter was getting too long biko nu! I am just happy I was able to trim everything down to this one chapter. How was your reading experience??

And which part of the chapter was your favourite part??

Anyways, Good Night, people! Bye!