It was another Friday but this one was a special one for Rachael since it was just a day before her birthday, and she was looking forward to her outing with Diane and her friends.

After she had exchanged apologies with Rita and Vincent the other day at the cafeteria, they had all gone back to the good all times, but she didn't tell Rita nor Vincent about her little outing with Diane, since she didn't want them to start acting over protective of her again. School closed earlier on Fridays so she had enough time to spend after lectures.

The bell was rung for closing time just after the last teacher for the day had gone out of Rachael's class, so most of her classmates were preparing to leave the classroom, including Vincent and her.

"So, tomorrow right. Your big day," Vincent said as he was getting some of his notebooks inside his school bag.

"Yes, I can't wait," Rachael squealed in excitement.

"I'm sure it's going to be a memorable day. You would be turning seventeen right?"

"Yeah. I'm really getting old," Rachael said with a chuckle.

Vincent laughed before saying, "You talk like you are going to be a hundred years old tomorrow."

"I'm definitely heading towards that, just gradually," Rachael said humorously.

"Let's hear something else please," Vincent replied and she laughed.

"See you tomorrow Rachael," Vincent said before leaving the classroom.

Rachael walked alone towards the basketball court, where she was supposed to meet up with Diane.

"Tell me you are ready for this ride," Diane happily said to Rachael as she got close to where she was.

"I am," Rachael replied with a smile.

"Let's get in the car then, my driver is waiting," Diane said and led Rachael into the car.

"We are stopping at my place first, so you can change from your school uniform. Hope you didn't forget to come with your clothes, just as I asked you to?" Diane said as the car started moving.

"I came with a dress, it's right here in my schoolbag," Rachael said and pointed at her schoolbag.

"Alright, and your driver, hope he wouldn't freak out when he comes to pick you up and doesn't see you?" Diane inquired.

"I already told him this morning not to come pick me up," Rachael replied.

"Alright, that's good," Diane said to her and then got into pressing her phone.

They soon got to Diane's place and they immediately went into the house to get changed. Rachael quickly put on her green dress and waited for Diane who was meticulously applying some lipstick on her lips.

"I'm ready, let's go," she said to Rachael when she was done with her lips and they both went back into the car.

"Kehinde please make a stop first at Lisa's place and then at Sophia's place before going to the spar," Diane said to her driver.

"I know I didn't tell you about this earlier but I hope it's okay with you if I make some few videos and take some pictures during our journey. It's for my YouTube channel," Diane said with puppy eyes.

"Um, it's alright," Rachael said and Diane immediately hugged her tightly.

"Thank you so much," Diane said.

"You're welcome."

Lisa and Sophia later joined them in the car and they were soon heading to the spar.

"Alright, I'm starting now," Diane said, holding her iPhone up.

"Hey guys, welcome to my YouTube channel. I have a special guest with me here and you wouldn't believe who she is," Diane started delightfully.

"I'm with the daughter of Mrs. Sylvia Davidson and for those of you who are current, you would know that Mrs. Davidson is definitely an icon in the fashion industry. So well, you might be asking why I'm making this video, tomorrow is the birthday of our guest and we are on our way to get her dolled up for her big day. Rachael please say hi to our viewers." Diane moved her phone to Rachael's face.

"Hi," Rachael said as she looked into the screen of the phone before her.

"She is shy, I know," Diane said and laughed lightly after focusing the phone back to herself.

"Alright, that's enough for now," Diane said after she was done with the short video. She later went ahead to take some pictures with the girls.

They arrived at the Spar and walked into the building where they were received by the receptionist.

"We would want a complete body massage and also a manicure and pedicure session for our friend here," Diane explained to the lady.

"Alright. We would have someone come in to take care of her. You can come with me." The lady walked them into a smaller room.

A team of three ladies came in to attend to Rachael. They first began with the massage, and Diane made videos and took pictures all through the process.

"How do you feel?" she asked Rachael when they were done with the massage.

"I feel really good, this is nice," Rachael said, relishing the good feeling.

"I don't expect less. This is one of the best places where you can get a good body treat in Lagos," Diane said.

"Have you decided on the color you would use for your nails?" Lisa asked Rachael.

"Not yet," she replied

"What is the color of the dress you would be putting on?" Diane asked her.

"I don't know that yet. I would be getting the dress very early tomorrow morning," Rachael replied.

"Okay then, you should just go with nude for the nails," Diane suggested.

"Nude then," Rachael agreed. After some time, one of the ladies came back to take care of her manicure and pedicure, while Diane continued with her videos and pictures as the lady worked on Rachael's nails.

"All done," the lady said when she finished.

"Wow! This is beautiful." Rachael admired her now shiny finger and toe nails.

"This looks pretty, let me take a picture of it." Diane immediately took a picture of Rachael's nails.

A lady walked in with Rachael's bill and Diane offered to pay for it.

"Diane please, you don't have to. I can handle this. My mum had made provisions for everything concerning my birthday," Rachael said, insisting on footing her bill.

"Come on, see it as my birthday gift to you. Remember I brought up the idea and besides, I can handle it," Diane said to her before slipping out her card from her purse and handing it over to the cashier.

"Thank you so much, you're so kind," Rachael said to her.

"You're welcome," Diane said.

"Your receipt ma," the cashier said, handing over Rachael's receipt to her. Rachael thanked the lady and took it from her.

"Our next stop is at the hair saloon. I really wished your birthday fell on the holidays so you would have fixed your hair but the proprietor wouldn't allow that in school," Diane murmured.

"Maybe I should just pack the hair up tomorrow," Rachael suggested.

"What! You are not doing that while I'm in charge, you're definitely going to get braids with attachment," Diane said, shunning out Rachael's suggestion.

"Alright then, braids seems nice," Rachael agreed with Diane.

"They actually have a saloon around here, should be upstairs I think. Let me go and confirm from the receptionist," Diane said before walking over the receptionist. She exchanged some few words with her before coming back to meet her friends.

"She said we should take the stairs," Diane said, pointing to the stairs and they all walked towards it. They soon found themselves at a hair saloon and were immediately attended to.

"My friend wants braids with attachment," Diane quickly explained to the lady attending to them.

"Alright, I would get someone to take care of her. You can all sit and wait here while I assign your friend to someone," the lady said as she directed Diane, Lisa and Sophia to a couch.

Rachael got assigned to a guy who washed her hair and dried it with a hand drier before she was handed over to a lady who started with making her braids.

Once again, Diane went over to take pictures and videos for her YouTube channel.

The lady was done with Rachael's hair in about an hour. Rachael stood up and took a look at her new hair that was made with a black attachment and fell below her shoulders, and she was satisfied with her new look.

"Jeez! You're not even in your birthday dress yet and you're looking so beautiful," Lisa commented.

"Thanks Lisa." Rachael smiled at Lisa.

Once again, Diane paid for the bills before they left the place.

"My driver should be here anytime soon, I just called him. We should take some pictures as we wait. What do you think?" Diane said to the girls and they agreed on her suggestion.

They were all going over the pictures they had taken when they heard a car honk from the car park and discovered that it was Diane's driver.

"Let's go," Diane said to them and they all walked towards the car.

"I can find my way home from here," Rachael said to Diane as she saw no need for her to go with them.

"Oh yeah about that, I was thinking we could like have a small party for you at my place before you finally leave for yours," Diane said to Rachael.

Rachael looked at her wristwatch. "Um, I need to be at home by eight."

"Okay, I would make sure we don't keep you till then," Diane said. "Now let's get in, we don't have all day," she urged them and they got into the car.

"What are you up to?" Rachael asked as she peeked into Diane's phone. She could see some of the pictures and videos Diane had taken.

"I'm trying to add all the videos and pictures up and edit it before I can upload it to my channel," Diane explained.

"Okay," Rachael said and Diane continued with editing for her channel.

After a while of driving, they finally got to Diane's place and they all got out of the car.

"Let the party begin!" Diane shouted before going over to the stereo to play a Nigerian Hip Hop song and in a matter of seconds, the whole house had gotten so loud you could hardly hear what the next person was saying.
The girls started dancing wildly to the song while Rachael just stood awkwardly and watched them.

"Come on, shake that body," Lisa urged her and Rachael managed to follow her lead and danced along.

Diane who had left them soon came back with a bottle of red wine while Cyril trailed at her back. Cyril eventually walked over to Rachael when he saw her dancing next to Lisa.

He tapped her lightly on her shoulder. "Hi Rachael."

"Hi, Cyril right?" Rachael said his name out for confirmation.

"Yes. It's nice to see you again," he said as he took in how different she looked from the last time they had met.

"Me too." Rachael stopped dancing and concentrated on Cyril who was on a tank top and shorts.

"Tomorrow is your birthday right?" Cyril asked.

"Yes it is."

"That's nice. I would really like to know you better. Hope you don't mind?" Cyril said.

"It's alright."

"Okay. I feel I should start with a little introduction. You already know my name, I'm a student at Trinity High School, here in Lagos. I love spaghetti and love playing the guitar too," Cyril said.

"Wow! We already have two things in common. My favorite dish is spaghetti and I also play the guitar too." Rachael's eyes were now glistening with excitement as she spoke.

"Really! It's really good to know that we have at least something in common. It's a good sign." Cyril winked.

"You already know I attend the same school with Diane, although I'm in the science class while she is the art class," Rachael said.

"Yes, I'm aware. I'm also a science student," he replied.

"This is for you," Diane said to them as she appeared from their back and handed over a glass of wine each to Rachael and Cyril.

"Hope my cousin is not bugging you?" she asked Rachael.

"No he is not, we're actually having a good time," Rachael said with a chuckle and took a sip from her wine.

"Wait, is this alcoholic?" Rachael asked Diane with arched brows as she perceived alcohol when she took a sip of her drink.

"It's just a little quantity, insignificant if you would ask me," Diane replied.

"Is it not like harmful to take anything alcoholic?" Rachael asked Diane and she burst into laughter, with Cyril joining her soon.

"It's not as serious as you see it. Like I said, it has only a small percentage of alcohol in it, you can take a look." Diane lifted up the bottle to Rachael. "It has just ten percent of alcohol in it," she said with her eyes and fingers on the part of the wine label where the alcohol percentage was written.

"I don't want to look like the bad girl here but I tried looking for a nonalcoholic wine in the cellar, but it seems like we've run out of those." Diane shrugged.

"It's alright, I get you," Rachael said, feeling awkward already.

"I would just leave the both of you so you can continue with your talk," Diane said to Rachael and Cyril before leaving them.

"I'm just noticing your hair now. I'm guessing you made it newly," Cyril said.

"Yes, I just made it today," Rachael replied.

"It's really beautiful, just like you," Cyril adoringly said and Rachael couldn't help but blush, it strangely reminded her of the times Vincent had complimented her hair.

"Thank you."

"You really don't like the idea of taking alcohol." Cyril's eyes were on Rachael's still full glass of wine.

"Yeah, I'm not comfortable with it," Rachael truthfully said, taking a distasteful glance at the red wine in her glass.

"You don't have to drink it if you don't like it," Cyril told her.

"I know," Rachael said and looked at her wristwatch.

"It's almost seven, I need to get moving if I want to get home before eight," Rachael said with a worried look, she didn't want her dad bombarding her with questions as to why she was home late.

"That's sad, I was really enjoying our little talk," Cyril said.

"We would have time to talk more," Rachael told him.

"Can I please get your number?" he asked.

"Yeah sure," Rachael said and called out her number to him while he imputed it into his phone.

"Thank you so much," he said after he was done.

"You're welcome," Rachael replied and her phone started ringing the next moment.

"That would be me calling you," Cyril said.

"Okay, I would save it. I should go and tell Diane that I'm leaving," Rachael said to him.

"Alright." Cyril nodded.

Rachael walked over to Diane who was still dancing wildly with her friends, swaying her butt back and forth.

"Hey Diane, thank you for everything today. I need to start heading home now," Rachael said to Diane, as she, Sophia and Lisa stopped dancing when they saw her.

"Too bad that you have to go so soon," Diane mumbled.

"Yeah, I don't want my dad getting worried over me," Rachael said.

"You're such a daddy's girl. Take care of yourself, can't wait to be at your party tomorrow," Diane said before pulling Rachael into a hug. Lisa and Sophia also hugged Rachael goodbye before she left the house.

                              ~•~