The party was great!

Not.

I sighed from where I was leaning on a wall in the corner of the room, boredly scrolling through the thousands of comments on my YouTube channel, fans praising me for my voice, my looks, mouthing off how much money I had, who my father really was, my royal status, girls (and some guys), even openly asking me out.

Funny how these little things used to give me an obscene amount of vain joy. But they didn't this time around.

"Hey, do you wanna-"

I held up my hand, in a stop sign, at the girl approaching me, without even looking up from my phone, effectively stopping her from saying any more.

She scoffed, deflated, leaving me alone.

That was the twelfth girl tonight.

I groaned, rubbing my face, finally looking up from my phone.

Against my will, my eyes caught them, having the time of their lives on the dancefloor.

My heart broke into pieces just watching her dance in Kam's arms. So beautifully. So erotically... But I just couldn't look away.

They were so close together. Any closer and they'll become puzzle pieces.

Kam had his hands, firmly grabbing her hips and pulling her close and she had her arms around his neck, tousling his hair as they stared at each other while she basically just rubbed her body all over him. Twisting and grinding against him, to the beat of the music.

I couldn't describe the pain in my chest... It was a dull ache, increasing in intensity by the second until it felt like my heart was on fire and my lungs were about to burst.

My hand went to my throbbing chest, gripping tight at the unbearable pain, heartbeat losing it's usual rhythm as I tried and failed to get my shit together.

Fuck. I cursed through my teeth.

I watched him grab her ass, pulling her even closer into him and she smiled into his eyes as her seductive dancing continued. Her hips, rolling and grinding unto his front in that way that was slowly driving me mad.

He leaned down, pressing a deep kiss to her lips and I looked away, seething through my teeth.

Kam, with his track record of broken hearts.

Kam, who had gone through three girlfriends in the space of nine months without batting an eyelash.

Kam who couldn't keep her even if he tried.

Part of me was sure she was just another notch on his bedpost. He was a great guy, really, but he got bored easily. He would be over and done with her in a matter of time, and when he fucks up, the only girl my stupid heart decided to fall in love with for absolutely no reason at all, will be broken beyond repair.

But then again... Who was I to stake a claim on her? Sick and fucked up as I was? Denying my feelings for so long... But still... Still...

"You're such a goddamn pest! How do I get rid of you?!"

My breathing faltered, heartbeat, accelerating, recalling how I had spectacularly made a fool of myself earlier this afternoon. Confessing my love to someone that obviously wanted nothing to do with me.

Pest. Pest. Pest. Pest.

Deciding I needed some fresh air, I slipped out through the adjoining door, leaning against the wall of the house and taking a deep breath.

Breathe, Amir. Breathe.

"Don't you understand that I don't love you? That I can never?!"

I cussed angrily, wanting to get rid of that voice in my head. The look in her eyes as she took a knife to my heart and stabbed and stabbed.

Sighing, I walked to the empty swimming pool, sinking my sneaker-clad feet into the water.

It was quiet out here, but in my head, there was a raging war going on.

I gripped my hair tight, wanting the pain to distract me from the voices in my head.

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

What's wrong with me?

"Hey... Uh... Do you... Like... want a drink or anything? You look like you need one."

My eyes snapped open but I purposely ignored the feminine voice. Hoping she'd go away.

She didn't.

"Hellooo?" She waved her hand in front of my face, irking me all the more.

"Stop that!" I snapped, grabbing her hand to stop the annoying movement in front of my face, and glared into her eyes...

And froze...

Her eyes... Under the poor lightening, she had coffee brown eyes.

Coffee...

Exactly like Asa's.

Allah, I'm running mad!

I gulped, dropping her hand and looking away from her, focusing back on staring at the pool in front of me.

Maybe if I ignore her, she'd leave me alone.

No such luck.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw her take off her shoes, settling on the space beside me, legs, sinking into the water as she let her feet dangle in it... Almost playfully.

It was quiet for a while, except the sound of her fumbling for something inside her purse.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She asked, casually slipping a ten naira note to me.

Wait, what?!

I glanced at it, nearly having a whiplash.

Ten.... Where those even still in existence?

My lips twitched. "That's not a penny."

"I know, guy. Humour me, naw" She laughed.

I couldn't fight the smile anymore forming on my lips and I chuckled quietly.

Her eyes widened in pleasant shock at me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

Her face melted into a warm smile. "Glory be to God. It laughs."

I gave her a questioning look and she laughed, nudging me. "I said, humour me."

I gave her my full attention now. She had long faux locs, all the way to her waist... Just like Asa's... But the similarities ended there. Dark chocolate skin, full breasted, an open, extroverted smile.

"God knows if you had continued ignoring me, I'd have packed my shit and left. I'm not going to waste my precious time on things that have no soul."

Things that have no soul... Slowly, that was who I was becoming.

A soulless person.

"Here's your money back." I slid the ten naira note back to her.

She glanced at it for a moment. "Keep it. For goodluck."

I wanted to laugh at her statement.

So she was the kind of person that believed in goodluck and omens and 'signs from the universe.'

Definitely not my type of person.

It was quiet between us for while. She was humming to herself and wading peacefully in the water.

I felt my heart slow down it's earlier erratic pace, the longer I stayed away from that she-devil on the dancefloor.

Peace... I felt peace.

Just hanging around Asa, breathing her air... Being in the same building with her ruined my sanity. Sometimes, I couldn't recognise myself when I'm around her. The things I say. The shit I do.

I suddenly remembered how I had acted earlier this afternoon, further irking the shit out of her.

"You let him fuck you!" I had accused, jealousy, curdling my blood, muddling into stupidity.

I rubbed my face, sighing. This isn't love. This is obsession... Madness.

"On second thoughts, I think I need my ten naira back?" The feminine voice pierced through my thoughts again.

I looked at her skeptically now. "You want a ten naira back?"

In all my life, I don't think I've ever held a ten naira note in my hands.

"Yes. I need change to get back home. Those conductors will tear me apart if I give them this hundred naira." She waved a faded, ancient looking hundred naira note in my face.

I regarded her in amazement. "Y... You mean... You use the public bus?"

"Duh?" She said in a mocking voice. "What, you think I came here in a freaking Lamborghini?"

Yes?

I mean... Isn't that normal for kids here in Offshore?

She must have read the look on my face because she facepalmed herself. "Oh my fucking God. I just remembered I'm at a party for rich kids."

She said it like she wasn't one of us.

"Okay, which Senator is your father?" She asked, folding her hands, dark-dark eyes, challenging me.

"Huh?" I was honestly confused.

"Like, who's your father? Go on! This is where you start mouthing off how rich you are and how your father is friends with Otedola and freaking Dangote."

She wasn't done.

"And how you travel to Dubai every weekend and take family trips to fucking Nebraska. And sip cocktails and martinis on billion naira yachts and how you don't have to worry about a thing because mummy and daddy dearest will never let you starve. Go on. Do it!"

My eyes flashed in annoyance. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, but don't judge me within two minutes of meeting me. That's very annoying."

It was stupid and fucking heartless of people to just rattle off a stereotype about the rich. Especially when all I've ever wanted was a family that loved me right, not a diamond watch or expensive jets.

I didn't like this girl.

It was quiet between us for about ten seconds, before she spoke again. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have went on like that." Her voice, repentant. "It's really hard to control my mouth the moment I open it. My brother says that all the time... That I need to tame my tongue."

I didn't say anything, just stared at the pool in front of me, our reflection, distorted in the water.

She sighed, playing with her fingers. "All the rich kids I've met lived up to that stereotype. Immediately telling me who exactly they know and when I don't have my own stories to tell about flashy lifestyles, I get hated on and looked down upon."

I blinked. "People do that?"

She sighed. "You can't imagine... But you're not doing it so it's safe to say you're not like the rest."

I sighed at this. Leaning back and looking at the night sky. Stars dotted the sky, making it look like a superior hand had hung silver lights unto a velvety dark blanket for our pleasure.

The girl shifted closer to me. Her eyes curious. "But really... Who are you? What top ranking governor are you claiming as your father?"

The fucking Sultan of Sokoto.

One of the richest, most powerful kings in the country.

I cringed, remembering my father back home, just realizing how fucked up my personal life really was.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Was what I said in the end.

She was looking at me with a new found interest, her mouth, forming a shocked 'O' and she gave me a once over, as if she was just seeing me... Really seeing me for the first time.

I held her gaze steadily and when her swirling eyes of coffee darkness found mine, lingered a bit, I gasped, feeling a zap of electricity shooting up my spine.

What. Was. That?

It looked like she felt the same thing, looking away, successfully breaking our gaze on each other.

"Sorry," she blushed, playing with the end of her faux loc.

It was quiet again for a while.

"You make it sound like you're not one of us." I said quietly, when I found my voice again.

"I'm not." She said easily. "I'm not one of you guys, but for the first time in my life, I get to attend a rich kid's house party in freaking Offshore. I can check that off my bucket list."

"How did you get invited, then?"

She shrugged. "My friend happens to be connected. He brought me along snd I thought it'd be a great way to promote my music, but so far, all I've encountered are shitless drunks. And I've not even stepped foot in the house yet."

Music?

I turned to her now, giving her my full attention. "You sing?"

Her face lit up. "Yes..." She deflated immediately. "Well... I'm thinking of giving up on the whole thing for now... I'm not getting anywhere and it's draining the heck out of me."

"I want to listen to your music." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

She gaped at me in shock, like she never expected me to say something like that.

I kept het gaze, evenly. And then, she shrugged, digging into her Chanel purse and bringing out her headphones and phone, a Samsung. The latest model for that matter.

Definitely not a poor man's kid, then.

Who is this girl?

"It's not that good." She told me, offering me her headphones.

"I'll be the judge of that." I decided, placing the devices in my ears.

She tapped swiftly on her phone, looking up to grin at me, counting down with her fingers.

Three. Two. One.

I didn't know what to expect... But definitely not this.... This.

Her voice was a beautiful mix of Ariana, Bebe Rhexa and Mariah Carey, hitting some of the highest notes I ever thought any human could hit. Celine Dione came close... But this girl... Killed it!

My eyes turned to her and I gazed at her in appreciation. She was hitting notes that most musicians would fix with auto tone. Her voice, a sharp high-pitch quality to it that literally made my heart skip beats.

And her genre... I don't even think it exists yet.

Now, I see why she was struggling to promote her music.

Labels wanted musicians who fit into the mainstream market. And the mainstream market wanted Afropop, Hip hop, trap.

Her genre was more like indie, electric,  soul mix. It literally touched my soul and shattered my heart to pieces.

And that voice... Holy shit!

Her lyrics were deep. Dripping in maturity and soul.

If the world won't sing your praise
The stars will worship your existence.
The hourglass of time will honour our race.
And create sandcastles for us out of its essence.

She hit the chorus and I felt my heart rise to my throat, expecting a break in her voice. None came.

We are the children of night,
Creatures of sin.
When we speak the language of the cosmos
The stars sigh in unison.

Each verse, as sick as the last.

Don't be misguided, holy one
Listen hard, listen well, to these things I'm about to say,
That heaven is beautifully overrated
And hell is here to stay.

By the time the song came to an end, I was stunned, coming to the realization that such raw talent was sitting in front of me. I nearly felt intimidated.

And I never get intimidated.

"So?" She perked up, asking me, curiously. "Is it good?"

"It's perfect."

"You don't mean that." She said, disbelief in her eyes, looking away from me and shoving her phone back into her purse.

"Then you don't know me. I only say things I mean."

She did that thing again where she stopped and looked at me, peered really, as if searching for bullshit.

I held her gaze for a while, slowly taking in her exaggerated beauty, her locs, falling in front of her eyes, so that most of her face was hidden behind her hair. A fascinating darkness in her eyes that made me think of crowded bars and darkened rooms.

I suddenly wondered what kind of person she really was. Kind? Adventurous? Wild? Attentive?

She was pretty... But in a darker, more seductive way. Her beauty lied in the dark allure about her, it jumped at you and reeled you in.

It took a few minutes to realize I was piercingly staring at her in that manner that made most people uncomfortable.

She was trying to avoid my eyes again.

She cleared her throat to say something but at that exact moment, Jemi bursted through the doors.

A/n

Thoughts pls??

Rihanna_Adedeji, u're catching my drift abt the girl he met, abi??🤭😉🤫

Thank you all for reading. Pls Leave a vote if u like🥺