I spent the rest of my time in my room, crying hard into my pillow, feeling like a huge fool. The guys went to the mall to pick their outfits, shoes, and mask for the Dinner/Mask party in the night. I couldn't go, so Tosin had helped, since we shared close to the same sizes.

They all came back to the room after that to console me. But, I didn't really pay them attention as I was more embarrassed than sad. They had tried to console me, but I didn't give them face at all. "Well, I guess you're not going to the Dinner Party then," Tosin had said after the others had left to go get dressed for the party. "I'll get dressed then and leave."

I didn't turn away from the wall I was facing, pulling my legs closer to myself as I formed a stronger curl. I wasn't ready to face anything or one.

After a while of silence and shuffling, Tosin spoke again. "Just know that if you don't come out now or attend this party, you have given him the upper hand. Proven him right, shown that you're wrong." She paused for a bit. There was shuffling again, then I heard clicking of heels on the floor walking towards the door. "I know you are way stronger than this. I know you're not one to let someone else's action or words define you or mare you. I know that whatever, no matter what it was, you'd never let yourself be fallen by folly." I heard the doorknob click, then a sigh. "Well, lastly, I know that you can never turn a good food down. They said its buffet oh." I heard her snicker as she walked out of the room.

I didn't want to laugh or joke at that point in time, but I found it really hard not to. Her last comment made me smile, seating up, when I was sure she was no longer in the room. I sat up to the emptiness of the room, smiling to myself. She was right, I can never say no to good food, and buffet? That was just icing on the cake. I went to check the dress she had picked for me. It was a long off shoulder red dress, with a long front-side slit to my mid-thigh, alongside a shining silver shoe and feather mask. I had undress and was about to go to the bathroom, so I could have my bath first, when the uncertainty crawled back in. I wasn't sure I was ready to face anyone. Khalid's actions began to crawl back in, making it feel like it had only happened a couple of seconds ago. All my confidence began to slip away, escaping. I couldn't help or hold the tears when they started slipping out, I felt so hurt and offended. I let myself cry, feeling at the hurt at a high rate, hugging my legs to my body. I wanted to scream out about how much I hated Khalid, so I did, I screamed to the room a numbers of time, until my eyes darted to the time. It was a couple of minutes after eight, I was getting late for the party. Tosin's words started resounding in my ears. "Yes, you are not one to be shamed and put down," I muttered to myself, after a while of trying to fight her words and simply wallow in my uncertainties. But, she knew what she was saying.

I dressed up. I didn't rush, I took my time, making sure I didn't forget anything. I finalized my look with perfume, spraying it from head to the tip of my gown. I wore a wide smile on my face as I walked out of the room. It was show time.

The passages were all empty, except for the suite staffs I kept seeing here and there.

I got to the hall just in time for dinner. The hall was in a pin-dropping silence when I got there, and the clicking of my heels didn't help at all. Most heads – almost all heads- turned to my direction. I felt so shy. I tried to look around for the guys as I quickened my pace, causing my shoe to click loudly in the hall. My feet we getting really clammy, I began to almost wish the floor could swallow me. Some people had looked away, while some were still taking their time to whisper to each other and stare at me. The situation made me dislike Khalid more.

I was about to quickly pick any seat and seat down, when I noticed someone waving me over. It was Tosin, she was seating with the guys. That made me smile. It was like all my worries vanished away when I saw them. I couldn't help but smile, they all looked lovely in their attires. The triplets, as usual, didn't fail us with their hijab fashion, they looked outstanding. I made my way to them, seating down.

"Feeling better?" Collins asked.

"A tad bit." I shrugged.

He nodded, ignoring my tautology. "Good."

It wasn't long at all, before we got the chance to go get our foods. They didn't make me feel awkward at all, not trying to raise any tensions and keeping it calm. We talked a lot, making jokes and laughing, while we ate. A slow paced song played at the background. The table had become a little quiet while some of us had resolved to using our phones, some had gone to the dance floor to dace – Toyosi and Soma being a perfect example. "Samuel had a huge fight with Khalid," Tosin whispered to me, as she was seating next to me. "So, I heard," she added with a smile as she stared ahead, making me follow her gaze when I looked at her. She was looking at him. He was alone at a table, looking at the dance floor with almost no expression on his face. "Heard he put Khalid in his place about how he acted to you, and they almost got physical."

I nodded.

"I think you should go talk to him." She nudged me.

My eyes widened. "What? Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. It just came out."

I nodded again, not knowing what to say.

"I don't think you owe him, because he was doing the right thing," she began. "But, I just feel you should." With that, she got up from the table, giving me a little tap on my shoulder as she walked away from the table, swaying her hip from side to side in her long black off-shoulder gown.

She left me speechless and in thought. I looked at Samuel again, he was looking at me when I looked at him. He smiled warmly, causing me to smile also. I mouthed 'Hey' to him. He replied with a smile. I didn't really know what to do anymore, so I looked away. When I glanced back at him, he had also looked away.

After a while of replaying Tosin's words in my head, I sighed to myself and decided it was about time. So, I stood up and made my way to Samuel. "Want to dance?" I asked straight up, not knowing exactly how to put it.

He nodded with a smile, "Sure."

I stretched my hands to him, which he took gently as we both made our way to the dance floor. He placed his hands on the small of my back, hesitating at first but relaxed after I gave him an affirmative nod. He took my right hand in his left, as we began swaying to the music slowly. It was awkward at first, but we both eased up and kept on dancing. He smelt really nice, I wanted to bury my head into the crook of his neck and never bring it out. And he was oh so comfortable.

I couldn't think with the lousy silence we were in, so I decided to speak up. "Thank you."

"For?" His voice was low, deep and calm, and was also ready close to my ear.

"Standing up for me." I shrugged.

"Just did what was right."

I unconsciously nodded, hitting my jaw a little against his shoulder. He chuckled. "Sorry," I mumbled with a smile, feeling embarrassed as I buried my face in the crook of his neck. He chuckled again, causing me to feel the vibration. I smiled to myself. "Still thank you though."

"It is a pleasure."

We both fell silent as we dance for a while, before Samuel spoke again. "Hope that isn't why you offered to dance with me, because you think you owe me or some sort."

That was actually why I had asked him to dance, but thinking about it at that point in time and how he made it sound, I figured it wasn't really a good idea to let him know that. So, I shook my head again, bumping his neck. "No," I replied

"Better."

"How are things with him?"

"With who?"

"Khalid."

He pulled back a bit, so he could see my face as he loosened his grip on my waist. "He isn't really used to being told the truth, so he isn't really handling it well, but he would get over it." He shrugged.

I nodded. "Hope you're good? Because, you guys were quite tight." I couldn't help being concerned.

He chuckled. "Worry not, he'll come around."

"If you say so." I shrugged.

We fell silent.

"Who hurt you?" he asked after a while of us simply swaying.

His words made me tense up a bit, but I quickly recovered as I stopped us both and pulled away. "Hurt me?" I asked with a frown.

He nodded. "When I heard the full story from your friend - Esse, it just wasn't sitting well with me. So, I came up with the conclusion that you were definitely hurt by someone."

"What full story?" I asked with a frown, feeling uncomfortable with the fact of him knowing about what happened with Joseph.

"About how things really went down with Khalid?" he asked more than said.

"Ah." I nodded, realizing he had said 'Who hurt you', not 'Why did joseph hurt you'. I smiled and shook my head. "It is nothing."

"Seeing the effect it has on you, I'm sure it is something."

I shook my head and was about to reply when a screech came from the podium, drawing everyone's attention. "It is time to announce the winner for our little game," Juwon announced with a wide grin.

Well, it was about to go down.