"Hey," I say to Scott as he opens the door after a knock on his door.

"Hey, what's up, dude?" He responds, and I step in while he closes his door.

With a bottle of Skyy vodka on the table, I swerve to sit in his reading chair. I don't respond to Scott, but instead reach for a glass to pour some vodka into.

"Guy, that's for our sign-out party," He cautions me, but I ignore him and open the bottle.

I pour some into the glass and take a shot.

"I'll get a new one," I finally say, taking another shot and letting out a deep sigh.

He remarks, "It must be difficult for you to see Jeff that way."

"The worse it gets, I can't do anything," I respond, and now I'm taking my third shot.

I then buried my face in my hands on the table.

"Your father will sort things out, trust him," He admits, and I scoff. We hear a knock on the door before I had a chance to respond to him.

He rises from his bed and steps toward the door to open it.

"Guy, betraying your best friend is the last thing I..." I turned around when I heard Tracy's voice and looked up to see that she had already barged into the room.

For her to stop short of saying more, she must have seen me.

However, she was confronting Scott about betraying his best friend, who is me, according to what I overheard her say.

I look at the two who are in front of me near the door. While Scott maintains his gaze on the ground, Tracy is gazing into nothing else.

Scott's expression is so ashamed.

"What the hell is going on?" As I get to my feet, I break the silence.

"Hi, Mike." Tracy smiles phonily as she extends a greeting. "I didn't know you were here,"

"Then thank God I was here," I snidely reply. "Scott, why would you betray me? What have you done?" Scott looks at me when I ask him those questions.

"I don't know what she was talking about," He shrugs and I observe Tracy rolling her eyes.

"What the heck were you talking about Tracy?" Looking more serious, I demand.

"I'm sorry, Mike," She says. "You have done enough for me, and I can't lie to you...I can't deny that I just found out this guy has been stitching on you on your father's orders,"

"What!" I scream in disbelief while glaring at Scott.

"I'm sorry, I can explain," He pleads with his eyes. "It's not what you think,"

"So what is it then? "I'm all ears," I manage to reply before readjusting my seat and sulkily putting my hands over my face.

"He asked me to keep him updated on your whereabouts," He begins and I interrupt, going insane.

"And you agreed on that?" I interject. "You told him everything, including my desire to sell my whip," I asked.

He is unable to even speak when I add.

"Gosh!" I scream, my eyes filling with tears as I think back to how I used to wonder how Dad knew details about Ren and me while I was constantly confronting Tracy.

I'm so hurt that Scott could do this to me. "Wait! Were you the one who told Nicholas that I visited Ren's father in jail?'

"It was your father's idea," He replies, and I can't help but chuckle as I can't believe it despite the tears in my eyes.

"Why?" I question.

"He reasoned that if Nicholas kept threatening you with it, you'd distance yourself from Karen."

I shake my head in disbelief, recalling my father telling me earlier that my closest friend had betrayed me for money.

I'm so glad I didn't tell him about telling Ren the truth.

If Dad knew that, I shudder to think what he would have done to safeguard his reputation.

"How much has he paid you or what job offer has he promised you in exchange for betraying me?" I ask him. "I trust you, dude," 

"I'm sorry, I fell...into his...trap," He stutters to say, and I scoff loudly. His words infuriate me more than ever.

I reach for my phone on the table and slide to Instagram, then I go live. Some folks have already joined me, sending me some messages and stickers.

I begin to speak.

Hey guys!!! I would like to address the issue that has been going on in my family. First off, I want to apologize for the video I made a few months ago in which I made a positive impression of my father, Chief Wole Anderson. Chief Anderson is not who he claims he is and is not the right person to be the next governor of Lagos State. They say integrity is everything and the way we treat people irrespective of who they are matters a lot. My father had done so many awful things to people around him and the worse that is happening right now is that he is the one dealing drugs while he framed Jackson his PA for it. Jeffery is innocent, my father is the smuggler and I wish something can be done quickly about it. Thanks.

I ended the live video and disregarded any comments that might have been left.

I tilt my head back and sniff, but a tear falls down my cheek.

"How does everyone feel right now, since everyone stumbled into his trap?" I remark sarcastically as I glare at Scott and Tracy who appear surprised and remain silent.

I get up and take the vodka bottle, sipping straight from it.

"Enough, Mike, you've already had three shots," I hear Scott say, but I keep drinking without stopping.

"Mike!!!" They both chorused, raising their voices at me.

I toss the bottle to the floor, and it shatters, spilling the rest of the vodka on the floor while they back away from the broken bottles.

"Fuck you," I snap at Scott and plan to leave because everything is becoming blurry to me.

I notice I lack stamina as soon as I take a step. I stumble and hit the broken pieces of the bottle with my palms.

While Scott and Tracy try to help me, I am in excruciating pain.

With my breathing slowing, I manage to scream, "Do not touch me."

"None of you should touch me," I add as I stand up.

Now that everything is blacked out, I was unable to see anything. I feel as though I am falling into a bottomless pit every time I take a step further.

"Mike!! Mike!" I keep hearing voices calling my name, and the deeper I go down the pit, the farther the voices get.

I eventually descend to the pit's floor. I struggle to stand up and dust myself off as I hear the birds singing and the trees swaying and creaking.

I look around and discover I'm in a jungle, which causes my brows to furrow in confusion. I don't know where this path in the jungle goes, it's just a narrow path.

A woodpecker is pecking on the tree, and ants are scurrying about.

I hear mocking laughter behind me and turning around out of fear, I see Scott and my father approaching from behind.

I'm glad they're coming to get me, but they come to a halt as soon as they see me and point their guns at me.

I hand out my arm and say, "It's me, Mike. I have no idea how I got here. Scott, it seems like your room has a deep hole that leads into this jungle," I mumble, but these two keep coming closer and still pointing at me without saying a word.

"What exactly are you doing?" They don't seem to recognize me at all, so I ask.

As they get nearer, I continue to move backward.

I turn and sprint forward, and as soon as I take a brief glance behind me, I can see that they are also pursuing me.

As I follow the narrow path, I pick up the pace, push myself, and move more quickly, my shoes banging against the ground.

I begin to hear their gunshots, which keep popping in my ear. I can't even look back, so I have my eyes tightly shut out of fear of falling. My breath creates clouds in the air as my heart beats.

And in a split second, I felt a sharp pierce into my right arm, which hurt like hell. I dropped to my knees while holding my arm as blood began to pour out of it.

I look back as I could hear feet away from me even though I can't see them.

When I turn around, I'm surprised to see a calm sea in front of me. When I see a lady on the boat, I get the impression that there is still a lot of hope.

My arm hurts and my calves are burning like crazy as I struggle to stand up, but I keep scurrying until I reach the seashore.

When I stumble again, this lady notices me and turns to look at me.

It's Ren, to my surprise.

She gets out of the boat and rushes over to me.

I manage to say, "Ren."

"Hey," She retorts removing the bandana from her head and tying it to my hurt arm causing me to groan in discomfort.

She then makes an effort to help me in getting to the water and boarding the boat.

"Are you alright?" She inquires, looking concerned as I wilt on the cabin.

I respond, breathing heavily, "Yeah." I continue, "We just have to leave here."

"There comes your father and Scott," Ren mentions, and I raise my head to confirm what she said.

"Fuck, there is no way I can ride this boat with my arms," I mutter and Ren gives me a sidelong glance.

She then darts behind the helm and begins riding the boat.

She speeds off as they start to fire their shot, and I gasp in disbelief.

"The last time I checked, you were afraid to ride this Ren," I say, and she smirks at me.

"Even if it means taking a boating course, I'll do anything to save you." She responds softly, her hair swishing in the breeze and I chuckle as happy as I am.

************************************

Hey, guys, I sincerely hope you are enjoying reading "New Flame,"

I appreciate you sticking with me on this adventure. It means a lot to me a lot.

Please remember to vote, comment, and share as you wait for the upcoming chapters.

Thanks❤❤❤