Things can always easily go south. It doesn't matter how full proof your plan is or how much time you've dedicated to seeing it through.

I think if things had gone as we all planned... Nothing would've gone wrong. No one would have ended up traumatized, broken, or dead.

◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈

Adam was so lost in thought that he could've easily missed CJ standing at his door. The races had been over hours ago and everyone looked exhausted and ready to call it a day. Adam was no exception.

"What're you-"

"Did you meet those Kaniru boys again?" CJ cut him off, going straight to the point.

Adam was shocked that CJ knew this. Moreover, what was his business? "Were you following me or what?" Adam asked instead.

"Did I not tell you to stir clear of them?"

"They asked to see me by 5 PM. Was I just supposed to ignore them?" Adam asked.

CJ didn't say anything as he thought about it for a while. "What did they want?" He finally asked.

Adam wasn't sure he knew the answer to that question himself. A part of him was relieved when he got there to only meet Oshio but a part of him had still been scared.

"They offered to...take care of Ahmed," Adam lied. It wasn't technically a lie since they had proposed it that afternoon but they had called him for a different purpose that evening.

The news seemed to interest CJ. He got off the wall he'd been leaning on, adjusted his sling bag, and looked around the hall full of people as if to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. "What do you mean by take care of Ahmed?" he lowered his voice now.

"I don't know, you tell me."

"And what did you tell them?" CJ asked and Adam looked confused because it almost seemed like CJ wouldn't be surprised or even worried if Adam had said yes.

"What do you think I said? I don't know what they want to do to him... And I can't be responsible for whatever it is," replied Adam, "I said no."

"And that was all?"

"Yeah."

CJ seemed to be trying to determine if Adam was telling the truth for a while before he looked disinterested and began walking away.

"What about their money?" Adam called out, making the other boy turn. "You can get it for them complete, right?" He sounded more worried than he knew he was.

"Worry about your own problems," CJ said and strutted down the hall afterward. Adam rolled his eyes before pushing the door to his room open.

Adam was welcomed by Kelvin's loud bass voice praising and hailing Zehan for his performance on the track that day. Zehan's smile slowly disappeared when Adam walked in. Adam didn't even want to look his way.

"Adam, your friend is a legend, I swear!" Kelvin was talking to Adam but he wasn't able to tell that Adam wasn't in the mood. "He's the GOAT!" He hailed. "Usain Bolt no do pass you, I swear."

Adam drowned out their roommate's loud voice and he noticed that the room was back to normal compared to how they'd left it after the fight. Zehan must've arranged it probably before Kelvin came in and started asking questions.

Adam still planned to tell Kasy the truth but at the moment, she saw Zehan as some sort of misunderstood hero in disguise and Adam released that that was the same way he'd seen him all these while until today.

Adam just needed to wait for the right time. The truth must come out.

• • •

F R I D A Y

It was a little past midnight and everyone was fast asleep after a long and stressful day. Or at least everyone except Sola and Ahmed who sat on the balcony smoking weed.

They knew that it was risky to smoke in the open like that but a huge part of them just didn't care. If they got caught then they'd find a way to deal with it. In the meantime, they just wanted to have a good time.

For most of the night, they had been smoking in silence but Sola didn't want to be alone with the thoughts in her head at that moment so she tried striking up a conversation.

"I say make I ask o," she started, pausing to take a drag and the smoke escaping as she spoke, "You don dey run things with Tari abi wetin?"

Without looking at her, Ahmed simply shrugged casually. Sola sensed that he didn't want to talk about it and just like every other thing he'd had with a girl, he was keeping it private, or at least he was trying to since the whole school was talking about Ahmed and Tari, but in hushed whispers of course. That alone made Sola realize that this was different from Ahmed's usual flings. She suspected that he might actually like Tari.

She nudged him playfully but he still didn't budge. "Talk na. E be like say you no want my blessing and approval." She grinned.

Ahmed used the corner of his eyes in eyeing her playfully. She wiggled her eyebrows and Ahmed chuckled, shaking his head. "You no tell me say you don turn to Jesus Christ wey de share blessings."

"Before nko." She took a drag and let it out of her nostrils. "Buh you don fall for her abi?"

"Sola, abeg..." He trailed and took a drag from his joint. He didn't want to talk about it but Sola had to try her luck.

"That Tari girl too dey do busy body sha," Sola went on. Her dislike for Tari wasn't a secret so Ahmed didn't look surprised or even interested in what she was saying at the moment. "Buh anything wey una, I sha dey happy for you 'cause las las I know say she no fit serve you breakfast, instead you go serve am."

Sola laughed at her joke but Ahmed only glanced at her and shook his head. She concluded that they were both too high to have a meaningful conversation.

Her phone came on as it began vibrating next to her on the floor. She looked down at the caller ID and her heart skipped for a second on realizing it was her uncle.

After giving it a little thought, she switched off her phone without answering the call.

She'd face him later.

That seemed to kill the mood for her so she got rid of her joint and rested her head on Ahmed's shoulder, joining him in staring into the night.

• • •

Kasy
I honestly don't know how to approach him.
5:45 AM

Adam
Who??
5:46 AM

Kasy
Zehan...
5:46 AM

Adam
I don't understand...
5:46 AM

Kasy
I need to apologize. We were wrong... I was wrong about everything.
5:47 AM

Kasy
And they were on the roof in the first place because of me.
5:47 AM

Adam
They were there because Zehan chased Ismael up there. It's not your fault.
5:48 AM

Kasy
That's not how I'm feeling. I just want to make things right. But I'm sure Zehan won't even look at me.
5:48 AM

Adam
Why are you working yourself up about this again?
5:48 AM

Kasy
Because Dele and I are the reason why everyone thinks he killed his brother!
5:48 AM

Kasy
What's up with you??
5:49 AM

Adam
Nothing.
5:49 AM

Kasy
You're acting very strange and inconsiderate, I swear. I thought you'd get where I'm coming from.
5:49 AM

Kasy
You've always been on his side, what changed?
5:49 AM

Adam
I wasn't on anybody's side...
5:50 AM

Kasy
Look... I just want to apologize and make things right. I'll get to this attitude of yours later.
5:51 AM

Adam
After what he did to you he doesn't deserve any fucking apology!!!
5:51 AM

Kasy
What do you mean?
5:51 AM

Kasy
???
5:52 AM

Kasy
Adam, what do you mean by what he did to me???
5:54 AM

Kasy
Adam???!
5:55 AM

Kasy
Why did you delete the message, I've already seen it.
5:55 AM

Kasy
You're seriously leaving me on read 😒
6:00 AM

• • •

One look at CJ and Sola knew that he was silently asking himself why he even agreed to their insane plan but if there was one thing that CJ couldn't resist then it was money-or at least anything that could give him money.

So Ahmed had given up his expensive Rolex-the same one he'd almost killed a junior student for stealing after CJ-the actual thief-had sold it to the boy. CJ wondered why that boy never reported him or at least told Ahmed the truth. Nonetheless, CJ smiled inwardly since he now had the opportunity to sell the same watch again.

Hopefully, he gets one of the Castron rich kids-maybe even one of those girls that had been following him around-to buy it five times what he'd sold it before. CJ would use part of the money to settle Kaniru and the rest, he would use to solve other problems like getting new footwear for the twins.

So CJ agreed. He began thinking of a Plan B in case he got caught. But hopefully, he wouldn't get caught. The job was easy enough and too brilliant for someone like Ahmed to come up with. He'd Sola the credit.

"You hear wetin I talk?" Ahmed asked, snapping CJ out of his thoughts.

CJ hadn't heard shit and they all knew it. "Sure," he mumbled anyway. He already knew all he needed to know.

"You have what you need?" Sola asked him. CJ patted his shoulder bag in response and she nodded. "Okay. Just hurry up. You said the chefs arrive at the kitchen by 7 so you still have like thirty minutes," she said, looking down at the time on her phone.

Meanwhile, Ahmed kept giving the boy a look that said, 'You better not mess this up.'

CJ left immediately after they were done talking and Ahmed turned to Sola, looking a little nervous and panicky. "You sure say this guy no go fuck up?"

"Omo..." Sola trailed, heaving a sigh, "the only thing be say, he might not have enough time. We overslept, we should've come out since."

"Nothing dey there, na something he fit do under five minutes."

"I pray so."

• • •

CJ was once again in the chef's uniform he'd stolen as he made his way towards the hotel kitchen with his special ingredient tied in nylon which he'd stuffed in the pocket of the apron on him.

The atmosphere was drop-pin quiet and that was a good sign. It meant none of the kitchen staff had reported for duty but that didn't mean they wouldn't anytime soon. If he did run into any of the staff, hopefully, his uniform would serve its purpose.

He went through the door that the sign 'AUTHORIZED STAFF ONLY' on it and he was in the brightly lit, massive kitchen. He looked around and noticed the kitchen island on the far end of the room had a bowl and flour all over it. Walking towards it, he noticed the bag of sugar and butter as well. The mess looked fresh and seemed like someone was baking...

"Cupcakes!"

"Blood of Jesus!" CJ screamed, stumbling and turning swiftly to where the loud voice had come from. "What the hell?!"

The dark-skinned girl giggled softly, clearly amused with the situation. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She seemed sorry but she was too bright and bubbly to be convincing.

CJ stepped out of her way, wondering who she was or rather, where he'd seen her.

The girl smiled like she and CJ were besties. CJ only gave her a cautious look.

"I'm making cupcakes!" She announced again. "In case you were wondering..." She added, motioning to her work in progress on the kitchen island.

She was a student. Castron High. CJ finally remembered seeing her around. What he wanted to know was what she was doing there alone. Well, she said she was baking cupcakes so...

"Who let you in here?" CJ decided to use his supposed authority as a chef and find out what he needed to know.

This girl was still smiling. What exactly was making her so happy?

"SpongeBob!" She replied.

She's mental, CJ thought. No wonder.

"I'm joking!" She was giggling again. "You should've seen your face."

CJ didn't have time for this.

"SpongeBob is a cool guy though, I love him. He's the best," she went on, "you know SpongeBob, right? Well, of course, you do, who doesn't?"

CJ hated SpongeBob. He was always happy when there was absolutely nothing to be happy about. And now CJ thought of it, this girl was probably a descendant of SquarePants.

CJ gave her a dead look before sighing and proceeding to do what he'd come to do. He wasn't going to let Miss SquarePants waste any more of the time he didn't have.

He headed to the fridge and he could feel her eyes on him.

"I'm Soma, by the way," she called out behind him. CJ didn't care.

He could hear her saying something about how the chefs she'd met the previous were kind enough to give her permission to use the kitchen that morning and how her cupcake recipe was missing something but he was much more focused and frustrated on the fact that there wasn't a single pack or keg of orange juice in the fridge and there was no way he could know.

Where else would they store juice?

He was running out of time, kitchen staff could show up any minute.

He dug into the bush of curls on his head and scratched a nonexistent itch-something he did when he was panicking.

"Aren't you like...too young to be a chef?" He heard Soma ask but he didn't respond.

He turned and asked her instead, looking deadpan and serious, "How often are you here?"

Soma seemed thrown off guard by the question for a second but she still replied saying, "I drop my sometimes if I want to make something-"

"Lovely," he cut her off, "so the thing is, I'm supposed to get the orange juice for breakfast ready and I can't remember where they keep the ones for Castron High..."

"Oh," Soma furrowed her brows and giggled afterward.

"What?" CJ asked, seemingly annoyed.

"You're in the wrong kitchen," she said.

"You say what now?"

"The ballers are the ones who take that orange juice every morning before they workout and they like it very cold. So they store it in the fridge in the second kitchen. The fridge here is faulty."

Before Soma could finish making the last sentence, CJ had removed his apron and dropped it on the island so he could be able to run as fast as he could.

The second kitchen was on the other side of the hotel and as CJ ran, he felt stupid for assuming the juice would be in the first kitchen. And it was partly Ahmed's fault for telling him about the juice they served CH students in the morning but not where they kept them.

He got there and met chefs flooding in and out of the place, getting ready to start the day's work. He sighed heavily in defeat, giving up. It was an epic fail.

Being the person he was, CJ thought of what next. He wasn't giving Ahmed back the Rolex, never. The only option would be to lie to him-tell him that the job was done. When CH didn't show up to the match stoned, as planned, CJ would simply say he didn't know what went wrong. And Ahmed would assume they didn't take juice that morning. It was a brilliant plan.

While trying to catch his breath outside the kitchen, CJ remembered something...

The apron and the powdered magic mushrooms he was supposed to put in the juice. How could he forget?

He found himself racing back to the first kitchen again thinking of how the tire morning and plan were a complete fuck up.

And just like Deja Vu, he met chefs everywhere already. There's no way he could go in anymore so he just turned around and left. There was no way they'd know he was the one who left the apron there... Well, unless Miss SquarePants decided to run her mouth.

• • •

"It was nothing!" Adam told Kasy for the umpteenth time.

"You're lying!" Kasy retorted. "Tell me what you meant by everything Zehan had done to me."

Adam sighed, stopping to face Kasy. "I just meant the way he's been treating you since he came back and everything," he lied and wondered why he did so. Why was he still keeping what Zehan had done from Kasy? At that point, Adam wasn't even sure he could ever bring himself to tell Kasy the truth anymore.

And to make things worse, Casper Bassey appeared out of nowhere, stopping Kasy from saying what she wanted to say.

"Hey!" He sounded and looked cheerful. "What's up? How're you?" He directed the questions to Kasy.

"I'm fine," she said, looking tense. Adam knew she wasn't fine. People were still staring at her when she stepped and she'd been worrying about how she'd face her dad when they went home the next day. Adam was thankful for the fact that people like Annika and Dele had stood for Kasy, if not, people would've been doing a lot more than staring.

"I texted you," said Casper, "I was just checking in..."

"You did?" Kasy feigned surprise, "I didn't get it," she lied and Adam didn't blame her. Chatting with the fake Casper Bassey had basically ruined her social and moral life, who's to say what the real one would do?

Casper opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted by Soma.

"Heyy!!!" She screamed, jumping in carrying two white cardboard boxes stacked up against each other and smiling like she was contesting for Miss Universe. "Who wants to try my cupcakes? I made them this morning, they're really good and I have different flavors with lots of sprinkles."

She went on to open the box on top and the cupcakes looked irresistible. Casper wasn't eating anything right before the football match but Kasy and Adam helped themselves to one cupcake each. They thanked Soma and she hopped off to the nearest person.

Casper looked like he wanted to talk but the referee was already blowing the whistle for the match to start so he had to go.

"Ew... The icing is too much," Adam said, examining the snack in his hand. "You want?" He offered it to Kasy and she gladly took it.

• • •

"Whatever happens today determines our fate."

"No pressure, huh?" Dele said sarcastically, tying his shoelace.

Annika continued, "I'm just saying, we did good in the races yesterday even though you and Zehan ghosted for a while-"

"We still made it in time-"

"Still doesn't explain why you disappeared into thin air in the first place," Annika snapped, eyeing the deputy head boy. She hated being interrupted. Even by Dele.

Dele looked up from his shoe. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Well, I don't care," she said dismissively, "what matters now is this football match. We go big or go home."

"Las las, we'll still go home, so..." Enock said, laughing at his own joke. But he immediately switched to a straight face and looked away when Annika turned to him with a glare.

Annika was the only one standing while her friends were sprawled out on the green carpet grass of the football pitch, looking like they didn't have any care in the world. Annika couldn't understand it.

"Babes, chillax, everything go dey alright," Ahmed cooed, smiling coyly.

Annika squinted her eyes at him. "How can you be so sure?" She asked him. "And aren't you guys supposed to be warming up or something. I can see Ivandor Fejaun and the other players taking laps around the pitch and you guys are just sitting here- In fact, where the hell is Zehan?" Annika said all in one breath before looking around the place for the sports prefect.

Annika was still looking around when someone obstructed her view yelling, "Cupcakes!"

"Excuse me?"

Soma displayed her pearly white teeth, opening her box of cupcakes for Annika to see. "I made cupcakes! Want some?"

Annika looked into the box and although she had her arms folded, playing hard to get, she was visibly swallowing saliva just by the mere sight of the pastries.

Ahmed and Enock were already on their feet before Annika could say anything and they dived into the cupcakes without invitation.

"You know say doctor say make I dey chop cake," Ahmed said as a silly excuse to take two extra cupcakes, "whether na vanilla o or velvet or even banana cake sef, I dey chop am. It's good for my health."

Soma only laughed and let him have his way. Dele and Sola took one each as well but Annika didn't.

Soma left with the remaining cupcakes and the next thing Annika knew, Dele was bringing a half-eaten cupcake close to her mouth. Annika turned away from the cake.

"I know you want it, stop pretending." Dele chuckled.

"You're always looking for a reason to feed me. Get that thing away from me."

Dele sighed, feigning a sad face out of nowhere. "If you don't have a bite I'll be sad... And angry and that'll affect my performance on the field. We might even lose."

Annika glared at him. "Desmond, lose that match and Newland won't contain both of us again."

Dele laughed wholeheartedly. "Why did you call me Desmond?" He asked, a little surprised but flattered that she still remembered his middle name. "Abegi, take cake and eat." He slammed the cupcake on her lips and started running, laughing like a ten-year-old that had just pulled a successful prank.

Annika caught the cake before it could fall to the ground. She thought of running after Dele but whistles were already going off and non-players were being asked to leave the pitch.

So her mouth was pretty much already covered in icing, Annika decided she might as well eat the damn cake. Besides, it was strawberry, his favorite flavor.

• • •

"Where is that girl sharing cupcakes?!"

Timi and Amira's chitchat was interrupted by Tari as they both turned to her, cupcakes in hand.

"I don't know where she went," Timi replied. "The cupcakes are really dope though." Timi took another bite and nodded his head in approval.

"I know! I already had one and I want moreee!" Tari cried, "Where the hell is she?"

Timi shrugged nonchalantly. Tari turned to Amira who had just finished her cake. She turned back to Timi and she smiled mischievously on noticing a large chunk of his cake was remaining.

Timi saw the look in her eyes and he began backing away, knowing what she was about to do.

"Give me that cake," she growled.

"No!" Timi yelled before he started running.

Tari jumped on him and tackled him for the cake. They ran around the tracks just as the match was about to start.

• • •

The football match had started and twenty minutes into the game, both teams seemed to be at loggerheads. One could say they both had chances of scoring any minute.

But things became nasty when Dele began seeing five different Ivandor Fejauns on the pitch.

"Dele, what the fuck..." he mumbled to himself, blinking a couple of times and even rubbing his eyes as he stood steady, ready to defend.

Asides from the fact that Dele felt very lightheaded, soon, all he could see were clouds. If you'd asked him, he was pretty much flying. That made him close his eyes and want to sleep. He felt so relaxed. More relaxed than he'd ever been. But strangely, that wasn't the first time he'd felt that way...

If he could remember cleared, he felt that peaceful whenever he got... high?

It couldn't be.

"Dele, watch the ball!" Zehan's voice roared and echoed in anger, snapping Dele back to reality. But when he opened his eyes, he only saw the ball flying over his head and other players running towards him...or the ball? He was confused at that point.

Long story short, the ball got past the defense and headed straight for the goalpost.

Now normally, Newland wouldn't have to worry because they trusted Kelvin, their goalkeeper but the unimaginable happened.

While Castron High went up in jubilation at their first goal, Newland Secondary's goalkeeper was sitting on the floor, laughing as the ball went into the net.

At this point, no one needed to tell Kendrick that something was wrong somewhere. He immediately asked for a time out to know what was happening.

"Dele's bum bum is so big in that jersey," Kasy whispered to Adam and started laughing. Adam turned to her, looking shocked. They'd just scored against them and she was staring at bum bum and laughing?

CJ who had been watching the match stood on his feet when he noticed Ahmed was doing a Shaku Shaku dance while Uncle Ken addressed them. Something was wrong.

After a few rounds of "What is going on?" Kendrick didn't have a choice but to let them back to the field since they didn't have any time left.

Some parents had started arriving at the venue and one could only imagine Kenneth Kanayo's face when he located his daughter and found her yelling, "Dele has big bum bum!"

Adam tried covering her mouth but it didn't stop her from giggling like a lunatic. Kasy's dad didn't even know what to see at first. He simply took the empty seat next to her and presented the ice cream he'd brought along. Kasy gasped on seeing it.

The first half was almost over and thankfully, Castron High hadn't scored any other goal yet but two players from the Newland team had already been given the yellow card. Castron High students were having the time of their lives watching the fiasco on the pitch.

In the heat of the game, the ball was passed to Enock, and instead of doing the needful, he crouched down picked up the ball-while everyone who was in their right profanities at him-gave the ball a kiss, and hugged it to himself.

The referee kept blowing his whistle but Enock didn't seem to notice the chaos everywhere as a result of his actions. Meanwhile Kelvin the goalkeeper was still laughing as he sat on the floor.

That was how the first half ended.

• • •

"My hand glowing..." Timi gasped, staring at his glowing hands in awe. "It's...purple...and blue...and...and...indigo!" He said slowly.

"Indigo..." Amira repeated, laughing. "In...di...go!" And they both start laughing, managing to not fall off their seat.

"Timiebi!"

Timi turned around to see his parents and Tamara staring at him like he'd lost his mind.

"Mummy!" He exclaimed, grinning. There was noise everywhere since it was halftime and the band was playing coupled with the fact that were a couple of high, nosy students on the loose.

"Timiebi, what are you doing? Are you okay?" Mrs. Disemi asked, looking from her son to Amira who was seated next to him, laughing for no reason.

"And where is your sister?" Mr. Disemi asked, a scowl on his face. He knew coming was a big mistake.

"My hand is glowing!" Was Timi's response as he held up his hands for his family to see.

His parents looked at each other, confused. They were about to speak until Tamara who was behind them called their attention to what was happening on the football pitch.

"Is that Tari?"

Mr. and Mrs. Disemi turned to see a girl-who was hopefully not their daughter-in the middle of the field, twerking for the students who now seemed to be cheering her on.

"Indigo!" Timi yelled again and laughed.

Mrs. Disemi did the sign of the cross.

• • •

Kendrick had summoned CJ to the football pitch as the second half would soon begin so as he was making his way over there, someone pulled his shirt from behind.

He turned around to meet Miss SquarePants. He couldn't remember what she said her actual name was and he didn't have her time at the moment. But unlike when they'd met in the morning, she was very touchy now and even more giggly too.

"What?"

"Mr chef! I just wanted to thank you for that flavour I stole from you..." Soma threw her head back, laughing.

CJ was confused. "What're you talking about?"

"You know..." She drawled, hitting his chest and laughing, "...the powdered nutmeg I found in your apron... Or was that just a secret ingredient." She giggled, CJ's eyes went wide in realization. "You left your apron behind and my cupcake was missing something... So I was snooping around," she giggled like something was funny, "and I found the secret ingredient in your apron. It smelt so niceeee! They kinda looked like the powdered nutmeg that-"

"You idiot," CJ whispered, looking horrified by the discovery, "those were powdered magic mushrooms! They make you as high as a kite!" He whisper-yelled. "And you used all of it?!"

Soma grinned, nodding, "Mhm hmmm!"

"Oh my God..."

"Don't worry, Mr chef. Your secret ingredient is safe with me. Even the Krusty Krab has a secret formula, it's no biggie-"

"Shut up!" CJ snapped. "How many people ate the cupcakes?"

Soma looked up to the sky, looking like she was in thought. "Me, the sisters, of course, not the ballers though, they refused to eat before the game... Then some of my classmates and probably all the Newland folks, they loved it!"

CJ sighed. Miss SquarePants had ruined him. Glaring into those big beautiful eyes of hers, he didn't even know what to say or do to her.

"You better not tell anyone about my involvement in this or I swear, I'll hunt you down and put you in a long-lasting coma," CJ made his attempt at a threat and Soma only giggled.

He decided she wasn't worth wasting any more time on. The damage had already been done.

Someone tapped CJ on the shoulder and when he turned around, Annika was standing there, a sly smile on her lips.

Before he knew it, she grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards the band. "I feel like dancing!" She said over the noise in a singsong voice.

"What?" CJ's face turned red. He looked around to see if anyone was watching them but everyone around seemed to either be too distracted or too high. He did sight Tamara trying to end Tari's twerking session.

"Sola dozed off and I need someone to dance with me!" She whined like a child.

When Annika had gotten close enough to the drummers. She turned to face CJ, wrapping her hand around his neck and swaying her body slowly...to the fast beat of the drums. It looked crazy and CJ didn't even know what to do. He was transfixed. Staring at her face alone which was a few inches away from his made him uncomfortable so there was no way he was going along with this...putting his hand on her waist. He couldn't do it.

"Fine boy," Annika muttered and CJ wasn't sure he'd heard right.

She was high too, no doubt. But unlike others, Annika generally seemed relaxed but not herself. Annika Malan would never do something like this.

"CJ...pretty boy," she repeated. CJ heard it this time and it made him blush and his lips parted in a grin.

His heart was beating too fast now.

Until someone smacked the back of his head.

"What are you doing?" Ms. Isong asked him. "You're needed on the field. You'll be playing in the second half."

• • •

"Uncle Ken, this is a big mistake, I can't play football," Adam said to Kendrick but he wasn't having any of it.

"Are you high," Kendrick asked Adam, standing in akimbo.

"No,"

"Then you can play."

"But-"

"But nothing," Kendrick cut him off, "take Dele's position." He walked out of the pitch just as the whistle was heard.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine-"

"I didn't ask you," Adam snapped at Zehan who was standing a few feet away.

"You're not the only one who was forced to replace the other players, Olumide. CJ is here too. So stop acting like a little bitch and see this through. We're going to lose anyway so the least you can do is to stop whining and move your legs to at least pretend like you know what you're doing," Zehan spat back before walking off to take his place.

Adam rolled his eyes. He took in a deep breath afterward and silently prayed the ball didn't hit his face...or penis.

Whistle, kick, action. The second half started pretty heatedly as the Castron High players maneuvered their way past the JJCs Newland had replaced the high players with.

The first goal was scored in ten minutes.

Zehan kept wondering who had sent those idiots to get high that day of all days because he was the only one doing something on the field.

Zehan managed to get hold of the ball from one of the Castron High players but he needed to pass it. The nearest person open was Adam. So Zehan yelled his name before kicking the ball towards him.

Adam panicked and caught the ball with his hands instead.

The whistle went off.

• • •

The time was past 2 PM and all the Newland parents that had come to watch the Olympics finale had a scowl on their faces after Newland had lost in both the male and female matches.

Newland Boys 0 - 4 Castron Boys

Newland Girls 1 - 2 Castron Girls

At that point, it was already clear who was going to win the Olympics. So as the anchor announced over the microphone, "Remember that this evening will be an awards ceremony where we will give out prizes and announce the results!" many Newland students weren't particularly looking forward to it.

The football pitch was now crowded with people-majorly CH students-stood talking or dancing to the beat of the band that was now louder than before.

Kasy pulled her through the crowd, whining and asking him to walk faster as they roamed the large football pitch. Kenneth wondered where he was being pulled to.

"Dele! Dele!" Kasy yelled his name once she sighted him. She dragged her father to where he was and Dele still looked like he couldn't understand anything that was happening around him but he smiled politely at Kasy's father nonetheless.

"Daddy, meet the love of my life," Kasy said, laughing.

Dele joined her and Kenneth just watched them, speechless. He sighed, waiting for them to be done. He didn't know what was wrong with Kasy but maybe she just needed to sleep. It was probably the stress.

Dele kept laughing until he stumbled into the crowd and disappeared, leaving Kasy with her father. Kasy resorted to stroking her father's beards and smiling at him.

"The love of my life left me," she giggled. She looked and sounded tired now.

Kenneth stopped her from pulling his beards anymore and looked sternly at her. "I thought you were no longer friends with Akindele."

"We're...in love."

Kenneth sighed. "You need to stay away from him, you hear me?"

Kasy only giggled despite her father's dead serious demeanor.

How many times did you laugh while reading this chapter?

What was your favorite moment?

So, guys, we have just fifteen chapters left for this book to end. Yeah, just fifteen.

We have two more chapters to go for Adam and Sola's part to end and simultaneously, the crossover with Too Many Broken Things by lovetori_xo will come to an end as well. Chapters 46 and 47 might be updated at once since it's one chapter split in two.

Secondly, I've been thinking of creating a WhatsApp group chat for this book and its readers (and possibly my future books) but I would like to be fully active if I do so and I don't know if I can do that now. But tell me what you think.

Now, in the spirit of promoting Nigerian writers and Nigerian literature here on Wattpad and creating awareness for ourselves, there are a couple of profiles I'd like you all to follow and engage in.

OfficialProjectPen is currently hosting a contest, the first of its kind and I'm a judge. Check them out and keep up with all their fun activities.

WritersNetwork is home for writers. I'm an admin here and we have a very active WhatsApp group chat if you're looking to connect with other writers and bibliophiles. Keep an eye on the page as well 'cause a contest of their own is coming up soon.

Lastly, TheGreenCommunity has just opened doors for the first-ever Naija on Wattpad contest (reminds me of Naija on Netflix, lol) and we're talking about writing a whole new book and cash prizes are involved. Yeah, you read right, real money. Anyway, I may or may not be participating but I'd love to see y'all there.

I'll also use the opportunity to give a shout-out to ambassadorsAF and AmbassadorsNG who have both so kindly featured The Things We Do and my other book on their profile.

So if you believe that Nigerian writers are good at what they do and deserve the recognition they're most times deprived of, please engage with these profiles, and let's keep encouraging ourselves. Daalu nu.