*Crawls out of the shadows and pushes hoodie off my head, chuckling nervously* Omooooo😂😭I no fit start to dey explain ni because matter go full ground like sand. I am so sorry for the delayed update. Adulthood is dealing with me and it's doing it bad.👍Anyhoo! I am here and I am here with a truckload of chaosssssssss😂🔥

So, let's just get to it!

Oh yeah, and before you start, this chapter got too long, so I had to divide it. Yes, there's a C.😂 But good news is that it's ready. So, before the day runs out, I will update it.

The song for this chapter is- I Don't Like You by Bloody Civilian.

Ngl, that beat just sets the mood, alongside the lyrics!

         ________________𖧷____________

                "𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒
                      𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒."

        ________________𖧷______________

            ~𝚂𝙷𝙰𝙺𝙸𝚁𝙰 𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙾𝙻𝙰 𝙼𝙰𝙻𝙸𝙺~

Rome wasn't built in a day but it sure as hell could be destroyed in one. Gathering the courage to walk away when the guy I loved chose another girl over me was very hard. Putting everything behind me was more difficult but nothing was as hard as moving on because it was very tricky.

On some days, I had it together.

On another, I was falling apart.

It was a herculean task picking up all that was left of my self-respect and building a life anywhere that wasn't with him. It was hard getting it all together and trying to protect my new reputation at all costs.

Blue Cove was supposed to be an escape from everything. It was the reason I came here, because, left to me when I was in that dark place, I wouldn't think twice about dropping out. Going back to school was the last thing on my mind.

But when Khalil spoke about the new school and persuaded me to give it a chance, I knew it was my one-way ticket to getting away from everything. In truth, it has been.

Until today.

I wasn't the most rational person on earth when anger kicks in. I was always so impulsive. I become another person entirely, and that's the reason I always try to maintain a calm composure. But, have you ever met that one person that was hell-bent on poking your nerves and pushing you over the edge until you shatter?

I knew Jasmine was a bitch, but I didn't know she was stupid too. Sure, it wouldn't cost a thing to be rational, but right now, rationality wasn't my strongest suit. Heck, I wanted nothing to do with it. Fuck being rational, because I wasn't about to walk away from this.

She started the fire, so she has to feel the heat and burn.

My steps were light, but they felt as though the invisible Hulk was traipsing through the surface of the tiled floor, which appeared to be crumbling beneath me. The material of my shirt suddenly felt so thin and the heat that coursed through my veins was burning through the fabric. It was as though it was making a melting sound like an object that was shrinking into a pit of steamy goo.

The heat that surged through me was concentrated into a huge fireball in the pit of my stomach, swirling within me like a tornado. I could taste the anger that consumed me. It was hot, metallic and poisonous, wreaking havoc within me and crushing every ounce of my sense of reasoning.

My eyes were burning so much that it felt like they had been replaced by a pair of lasers with how sharp they were as I ascended the staircase, ignoring the looks that were thrown my way. I couldn't even place their faces, because, somehow, they appeared so blurry, despite how enhanced my vision was.

It wasn't hard to figure out where she could be after she dropped my shit on everyone like a fucking bombshell, just the way she's about to land in the hospital like a bombshell.

Bandages don't fix bullet holes.

She doesn't know that, but that's okay. She'll learn.

The noisy hallway that was buzzing with the incessant chatters from Cove students reduced to a nerve-wracking silence like a graveyard when I strutted in. The noise dropped abruptly, sounding with a loud thud like a bag of rocks was dumped on the floor, emitting dust.

Time came to a standstill. It appeared like it seized the universe in a chokehold. The vast space was clouded with a sense of foreboding, thick with a cold silence that propelled a dramatic shift in the atmosphere, fluctuating the temperature between a petrifying coldness and a torturous heat.

The entirety of Cove seniors singled me out.

Their sharp, piercing gazes, which were filled with curiosity and unmistakable disgust, were narrowed on me and if I were any other person, I would have shrunk under the intensity of their gazes and crumbled into dust, but I was Shakira Niniola Malik and this Queen wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing her break. 

So, with my head held high, my spine and shoulders straightened, I stared back at them defiantly, looking them dead in the eye and daring them to say a word. 

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"That's what I thought," I said coldly, loud enough for them to hear. And then, my eyes darted breezily through the crowd, locking with hers. She looked like she had been waiting for me to notice her in the crowd.

There she was, the green-eyed bitch.

The rest of the students that hung around were incinerated to ashes when my eyes singled her out. I couldn't see their curious gazes anymore. I couldn't hear their murmurings anymore. At that point, she was the only person I could see and it felt like the rest of the world froze over.

The bright lights that oozed from every bulb in the hallway suddenly felt like stage lights that were directed at her all at once, making her the centre of attention. 

Her shimmering lips were curled in a psychotic smirk. The twisted expression was like a reflection of the dark, maniacal twinkle that dimmed her green eyes, producing a clash between two colours—a void of obsidian black and menacing dark green. 

She swept her braids off her shoulder, and I was taken aback for a second because she didn't look sorry. Not in the slightest. The confidence that oozed off her stance was alarming. It had me wondering if she even understood the gravity of what she had done—the gravity of what she had done to my reputation.

The challenge and victory that swirled in her eyes got on my very last nerve. I looked at Jasmine Duru and I have never been consumed by hatred for anyone this much. The hatred engulfed me like a sizzling sensation. It swirled within me like a ball of tornado, waiting to be unleashed. And for once, I was terrified of my anger.

The anger that overwhelmed me acted like a catalyst for my next actions.

"YOU PSYCHOTIC BITCH!" 

Those three words shot through my mouth like a bunch of explosives. My voice was cold, sharp and thick with malice. It mirrored the rage that burned within me, but it didn't dispel it in any way. Instead, I was more aggravated.

Nothing ticked me off than the sickly smile on her face.

"Eiiii, blood go too flow for this hallway!"

"Honestly, this babe has no iota of shame!"

"Guy, do you get?"

"If I were her, I wouldn't even show my face at school for the rest of the session."

"She is such a coward!"

"Fine girls are not even exempted from chopping breakfast!"

"Bruh, na national cake!"

"Awww, if it isn't the Queen of the hour…" Her honeyed voice dripped with taunt, prickling me like a bunch of needles were being hauled at me all at once. She sashayed forward with that maniacal twinkle dancing around her eyes.

"What did you do?" I gritted, strutting forward. My fingers were rocking with so many tremors, and my heart suddenly palpitated hard. It triggered my sweat glands, watering them up. I allowed myself to believe that it was my anger that was making me feel weak. 

It's not because I am scared.

I am not scared.

I am just angry. 

I am not scared.

"Spacing out when the fun has barely begun? Ouuuuu, psychopath alert." She clicked her tongue and a creepy giggle rolled out of her mouth.

"I just showed the world who you really are." She answered me, punctuating her words with a casual shrug.

Her nonchalance about the havoc she just wreaked on my life was getting to me so badly, and with every passing second, the urge to smash her head against the wall intensified.

"How—" My voice came out so shaky. I had to suck in a breath to be able to get my words straight. "How the fuck did you even—" I paused abruptly, watching her tilt her head to the side with a sly smirk.

It was like a hard punch against my lungs, knocking my breath out of me and causing it to come out in the form of a wheeze. The realisation just descended upon me out of nowhere. It engulfed me and connecting the dots was as easy as breathing.

"... Jasmine once bragged about it in class that one of her cousins, Crystal, attends Pensworth. Keyword, bragged..."

"Of course, Crystal Ekong. Same bitchy traits. Now that I think about it, they both have similar features..."

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

"Crystal…" My voice trailed off quietly. There was an unnerving amount of resentment that lodged within me because of how strained my voice came out. The corners of my eyes burned so badly, and hot liquid pooled inside them. 

I tried. I tried so hard to conceal them. I tried to suck in a breath to hold the tears back, but the harder I tried, the harder it fought to get out of my grasp.

"Fuck!" A scream-like growl tore through my lips. 

"You wretch!" I screeched, striding forward, but she backed up, raising her hands in mock surrender.

"Careful, sweetheart. Your true colours are starting to show." She was enjoying this and she wasn't even trying to hide it. The mischief that danced around her malignant green eyes, matched the subtle spite in her voice.

"She's obviously sick."

"Look at how she is acting."

"I told y'all that she is mentally unstable, but no one was willing to listen."

I was drowning in their snide comments. They were like a magnified version of the voices that echoed in my head. 

"God," She clicked her tongue in distaste.

"She really doesn't like you that much. No one does, actually. She was so eager to spill every little detail. You should have seen her." Her stare was very blank. Her eyes which were so full of menace just now appeared so cold, displaying not even the slightest emotions.

Then, she chuckled.

"Does it hurt?" She asked, striding forward. She stopped a few feets away from me, cocking her head to the side.

"No, it doesn't."

Yes, it hurts and you know it does. That tiny voice crept in with subtlety.

"All I can see is how much of an attention-seeking bitch you are." I deadpanned, and she giggled.

"Oh, that's pretty convenient, coming from the same girl who's still clinging on to her ex-boyfriend, who ditched her for another girl!" She shot at me sarcastically with an eye roll.

"God, you are pathetic," I whispered, my voice grating with nerves, expressing my disdain for her.

"No, you are pathetic!" She couldn't keep it together anymore. She snapped, and she snapped really hard.

I watched her eyes darken with rage and something else I couldn't decipher. I struck a nerve. It was glaring, how triggered she was, judging by the kind of speed she moved at towards me.

"You are the pathetic one, Shakira. He has had his fill of you. He dumped you for another girl. Get over it and stop acting like a sick little bitch!" She fired, and I could have sworn I saw a vein threatening to pop in her neck. 

I would have found it amusing if it were a different circumstance, but all it did was leave me befuddled because she was the one trying to get on my nerves and she was the one getting so aggravated.

And suddenly, I just wanted to pry on her triggers. There was a sick amount of satisfaction it brought me to watch her break, and the thought of watching her lose her cool was so appealing. It had a smile crawling up to my lips.

It didn't sit well with her, just like I had predicted. But, she was just as determined as I was. In her own case, she wanted to see me break.

"You know," She began, sweeping her braids off her shoulder.

"I keep wondering what made you think Alvin Horsfall would ever settle for a self-absorbed, soulless tramp like you. You must have been delusional, honey." Her voice was thick with contempt, coated with a hint of disbelief.

I stared at her for a while and I found myself squinting my eyes at her disbelief, shaking my head in disgust.

"First, it was my phone. Now, you are digging into my business when it clearly doesn't concern you. I think you are obsessed with me. More than you like to think or admit." I said without mincing words and her eyes flashed with fury.

I didn't allow that to stop me.

"Is this how low you are willing to go?" I arched a brow at her.

"Do you always stoop so low and toss yourself in the mud to get rid of everyone you see as a threat?" My voice came out very cold and edgy. I wasn't screaming at the top of my lungs, but the sheer disgust I had abhorred towards her was very clear in my tone.

The look in her eyes faltered for a second but it was very hard to pin down the vulnerability that took up residence in her now-dark green orbs. 

"You? A threat?" She chuckled in disbelief.

"You do not even amount to a speck of dust in my eyes!" She yelled.

"Yet, you are putting this much effort into tearing me down." I retorted in a bored tone.

"You are nothing, Shakira. I am trying to understand why he chose you!" Her voice thundered throughout the length and breadth of the hallway, intensifying the dark cloud that loomed in the air. 

The pure, undiluted venom that dripped off each word took me off guard but what left me more puzzled was the sizzling emphasis she laid on that one word. He. 

Did she have something with Alvin?

I wouldn't be surprised if she did, that Nigga has fucked nearly every girl I know.

I was suddenly tongue-tied because I was more interested in what she had to say.

"You come into my school and you think I am going to sit back and watch you take everything that belongs to me?" She posed the question to me, watching me intently with a storm brewing in her eyes.

"THIS IS MY SCHOOL!" The resonance of her voice felt like an abrupt surge of lightning, threatening to split my eardrums into pieces. 

"NOT YOURS!" She fired, emphasising it even more as she closed in on me, jabbing her index finger at my chest.

I  was awfully calm. Dangerously calm, even.

"You have no fucking place here!"

"Preach, sisturrrrrr!"

"No truer words, abeg!"

"This is my world. I control everything. You do not get to waltz in here with an invisible crown and have everything wrapped around your stupid little pinkie!" Her eyes were flaming with anger, her veins threatening to pop. She was all riled up and rattled.

She sniggered.

"You call yourself a Queen but you couldn't even take the heat of a breakup and you had to run like a fucking coward!" She spat, her words laced with so much venom.

Then, she went silent for a while. Our eyes were locked in a heated stare-down. The tension that mounted in the air got heavier. The air was charged with so many emotions that felt like an impending sense of doom, waiting to erupt and consume every one of us.

"Shakira Niniola Malik, I will ruin you and that's a promise." I would have loved to call her bluff and say she was kidding but the chilling coldness engraved in her eyes and the conviction that was etched in every word she uttered was enough to prove me wrong.

"If you know what's good for you…" Her voice trailed off in an unnerving whisper as she kept her eyes trained on me.

"You are going to pack your shit and you will get the hell out of Blue Cove because you have no idea how far I am willing to go with this, how far I am willing to go to get rid of you." Her words came out in a deadpan.

She inched forward and her dark, dark seductive perfume oozed off her, wrapping me all up in its sinisterly-
sensuous glory. The maniacal glint in her eyes seemed to have doubled up in folds, syncing with the eeriness of her aura.

It came off so strong, so suffocating and so dark.

"Call my bluff, and I will be glad to watch you burn." Those words rolled off her tongue, sounding so silky and threatening at the same time. 

Jasmine cast me a blank stare, and took a step backwards, smirking. She proceeded to walk past me. Like a giant wave of the tsunami, the anger I had been struggling to conceal resurfaced, sucking me in with all its heat and terrifying rage.

With the speed of light, my hands swiftly yanked her backwards by her braids. I pulled at it. Hard. And she let out an ear-splitting screech.

"Jesus!"

"Ewoooo!"

"What sort of a demonic girl is this?"

"Leave her alone, nau!"

"Let me go!" She screamed.

I stared ahead with a dead look, my fist wrapped tightly around her braids.

"You do not walk out on me. I am not done talking. Do you want to play dirty? Fine, let's do that." I said through gritted teeth.

"Someone get this bitch away from me!" She screamed.

My eyes drifted to hers, and I watched the discomfort that dented her face. I didn't bat an eyelid because, somehow, I wasn't contented with just that. I wanted to hit her hard where it hurts.

The murmurs in the crowd increased and through the corner of my eyes, I saw someone try to pry her out of my hands.

"Take one more step and watch me wipe the wall with her motherfucking face!" I bellowed harshly. 

The harshness in my voice magnified how audacious I sounded. I tugged her backwards, abruptly, but she had latched a tight grip on my shirt and the force at which I yanked her hair sent both of us crashing to the floor. 

I SAW RED.

FIERY, BRIGHT AND SCORCHING RED!

All that anger.

All that rage.

All that pain.

The ties that held them together, keeping them suppressed snapped and tore into shreds, unleashing the monster her actions triggered. My body hummed with nerves, my stomach churned heavily with hatred as the overwhelming urge to rip her apart filled every inch of my being.

My weight was crushing her against the surface of the tiled floor, and my palms descended on her face heavily, raining slaps on her. My fingers scratched everywhere they could find, yanking her hair through my blurred vision while she screamed beneath me, flailing her legs in the air.

The entire hallway was thrown into pandemonium, echoing with the frightened voices of our schoolmates.

"Wahala, wahala, wahala!"

"Someone should separate them now!"

"Blood of Jesus!"

"She'll kill this girl o!"

"You wretched bitch!" I screeched. 

My anger consumed me, making it so hard for me to see anything anymore. Hot tears streamed down my face, and the profanities that exited my lips sounded so rushed and shaky. My heart thudded loudly against my chest, hurting me with each strangled breath I took.

"DIE! YOU STUPID BITCH!"

I scratched, pulled and tugged.

Her aggressive hold on my hair didn't deter me from ripping some of her braids off her scalp, and stuffing them in her mouth, choking her with it. Her fingernails dug into my neck, eliciting a scream from me and my palm connected harshly with her face.

I was like a scorned, vicious animal, whose only aim was to rip its victim to shreds. 

"Fuck! Jesus Christ!"

"Guy, get your girl out of here!"

I screeched when I was yanked off her abruptly, kicking my legs in the air with tears streaming down my face. All my attempts to reach forward and destroy the stupid bitch was halted because of the masculine arms wrapped firmly around my waist.

"Let me go!" I screamed.

"Let me out! Now!"

"I am not leaving here until she is dead! Fucking let me go!"

"I have—" I wheezed, trying to get some air out through my nostrils but it felt like my lungs were tightening up. My eyes were filled with tears that wouldn't stop streaming down my face. 

The noise in the hallway got louder, echoing incessantly in my ears. 

"Reina!"

"Reina, calm down! It's me! It's Stefan!"

A frustrated scream tore through my lips, thick with loud sobs.

"Let me out! Now!" 

"I am going to wring her tiny little neck!" I raved on like a lunatic but my protests fell on deaf ears as I was being hauled away from the chaotic hallway, struggling to catch a glimpse of the green-eyed bitch. My sobs were drawn into hiccups, lodging a lump in my throat.

"I have got you, baby. I have got you."

A/N

*Slurps dragon blood noisily*
Giddem!😂 Come on nauuu, I can't be the only one that's happy about what's going on rn. Truth be told, Jasmine deserves it! Ahn ahnnnnn!😂

Love me a girl who can be so classy and be an Agbero the next!😂🔥 E dey always gimme joy!

I had to add the part where Kira and Zee spoke about Crystal Ekong.🌚 The bitchy cousin. She was the one that filled her in. Did y'all see this one coming abi I should mind my business?

Bruhhh!😂

Okay, okay. That's enough. You know how we roll, guys. Don't forget to vote, comment and share.✨ Scatter the comments section with your thoughts!

Next part coming up soon.

Adiós.✨

Love, Didi.♥️