The door shut behind them and Romola tried to keep the waterworks from flowing but her cheeks were stained with unending tears.

"Well, I tried." Mrs Adekunmi's cheeks lifted in a small sad smile.

"All I ever wanted was to do what my mother couldn't do and now I can't."

The course adviser pulled her away from the reception to the small passageway in front of the staircase. "You have bigger problems than that. You can always apply to another school. Maybe not now. In a few years or do an OND. Your biggest problems are the pictures that are floating around the internet. At this point, I think you're better off doing anything other than accounting or law because I can assure you that this case won't end quietly."

"Miss Ibikunle," The council secretary's voice called. The man joined them, wearing a stern look.

She wiped the tears off her face with the back of her palm and faced him with a semi-composed look. "Yes sir?"

"May I speak with you privately?"

"Alright, Romola. Please, see me in my office before you leave school today." The woman set a lingering gaze on the secretary before she left.

"Good." The man smiled.

Romola thought she saw his eyes drop to her breasts. She folded her arms across her chest.

He held her shoulder and led her towards the staircase at a slow pace. "I hate to see little girls suffer from irresponsible decisions of reckless young men."

Romola had no reply for him. She would have blamed Yetunde for the publication of the nudes but everyone else seemed to blame Olumide. He had set his social media pages to private so she couldn't even reach him and curse him like he deserved. Was he so irritated by who she really was that he would rather destroy her than give her a chance to explain herself. Her throat burnt with unshed tears. She squeezed the leg her father had bruised then scarred with his matchet, and focused more on her physical than emotional pain.

"Yes. Other members of the council feel the same too. We were willing to rule in your favour." He paused. "We still can, if you would help us with one tiny thing."

"What thing, sir?"

The man's fingers brushed the back of buttocks and she froze.

"You see, my dear. Your ehm, dance moves were not inherently bad in themselves. They just happened to be displayed to the wrong person. We, three of us, are willing to overturn our decision if you dance for us."

Romola faced the man head on. "I don't understand."

"Meet us at this hotel next week Saturday." The man stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a card. He handed her the business card. "Just come and perform a little show for us by 8pm and we will handle your case. We will even make the evidence disappear."

"Sir, I can't."

The man's smile moulded into anger. "Stop behaving like a silly virgin."

"Sir, this isn't right."

"Be there by eight. Don't tell anyone expect you want your rustication to be public knowledge." The man pressed the card into her hands. His smile returned as he cupped her chin and locked her eyes with his. "This is for your own good. Trust me. I'm older and wiser."

"B... But" The tears came again. This time, her body protested with tremors of disgust.

"But nothing, my dear. You think yours is the first case of sexual indecency we are dealing with? All that thing that happened inside was just for show. Come and perform for us and watch your problems disappear."

&&&

"So wait. All of these tears is because the man asked you to dance for him?"

"Three of them." Romola's head remained buried in between her legs. She was crouched on Bukky's sofa relating the day's event to her friend.

"Shebi, it's just dance."

"You know it's not just that." Romola snapped.

Bukky rolled her eyes and sat beside Romola. "Can you blame me? I don't go to school so, I don't know how your lecturers behave."

Romola yelled. "My life is over and it's all Yetunde's fault."

"What are these tears for? You won't dance for the men? What then will you do with your life? If you think I will let you sit in my house like a free-loader, you have to be joking."

"So what do I do?"

"The man offered to clear up all the evidence if you ask me, that's a good deal. They will clear your name and you will still go to school. What else are you looking for?"

"I can't show off my body to such men."

"Which body?" Bukky barked, pinching Romola's skin. "This thing is now public commodity. You better wise up. I don't understand your obsession with school where people will see you as damaged goods. If only Nkechi was not so strict. I would've released my own nudes too. I see a business opportunity in your hands. Who knows if these men will connect you to higher men?

"How can you say that?"

"How can I say what? The truth? You keep blaming Yetunde and Olumide for everything but how far as that got you? What about the part you played in all these by telling lies? If you hadn't lied in the first place, she would have nothing to use against you. Stop wallowing in self-pity and take hold of your life."

Romola stared up at the ceiling as Bukky's words hit the centre of her being. She whispered. "So, what do I do?"

"You do what you've always done."

"Lie?"

"You dance Romola. You dance like you have never danced before."