IMPORTANT PRE-AUTHOR'S NOTE

Since this book is coming to a close, I'd like you guys to start asking me questions concerning the book so that I can compile and answer them at the end of the book. You can drop it in the comment section, or you can enter my DM to drop the question.

If you have been confused along the way, ask. If there is something about any of the character that isn't clear to you, ask. Any question whatsoever that has to do with the book or the series at large, ask. If it's about the book I'm writing next 😏, Ask as well. I'll answer the ones I can answer as soon as I am done with the book. There will be an entire "chapter" dedicated to answering questions, just like I did in "An Angel's Touch".

Hope you get me?

Also, if you haven't followed my Wattpad Instagram account (iyanu_temi) yo, you missing big time. Do follow it now 🔥🔥.

Now, Let's dive in!!🔥

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"𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝑰𝒇 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕."
_𝑫𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒆

𝕁𝔸𝕄𝔸𝕃

Taking a deep breath, I rose my fist up to the door to give it a knock but then, I immediately brought it down back feeling extremely unsure of myself

It's pretty late, he's probably asleep now. Let me just do this tomorrow. I told myself, trying to make excuses to quickly turn around and leave.

Stop making stupid excuses and knock on the damn door, Jamal. My subconscious queried, causing me to let out a deep sigh, raising my fist up again to knock the door.

I've been standing outside Khalil's door for the last ten minutes, contemplating whether to knock on the door and check up on him, or just let him be. On the ride home from school, he was extremely quiet, answering all questions monotonously and that really bothered me.

Which was why I needed to do this, check up on him and make sure he was alright.

So, ignoring whatever nerves was settled at the pit of my tummy, I knocked the door twice and waited for him to respond to me.

After what seemed like eternity, when I was just about to turn around and leave, the door opened and revealed Khalil, all sweaty and out of breath. I looked at him, my face all s scrunched up, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?" His hoarse voice jerked me out of whatever mind trip I was in and I looked up so that my eyes could meet his.

"Are you alright?" Was the first question I asked. He frowned back at me, his eyebrows raised in question.

"Why won't I be alright? Of course, I am." He replied, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly and I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"I don't know..." I drawled, gesturing to his body. "You look all banged up, uneasy and all. I just thought..." His low chuckle cut me off and I frowned, wondering what exactly was so funny.

"Jamal, I was doing sit ups, exercise. I'm actually fine." He quickly explained and my mouth went round in realization. That explains the extremely heavy breathing and the sweaty body.

"Right, sorry." I muttered and he nodded, still watching me. "Actually, I came here to check up on you, see if you are okay but I'm guessing you are. So, I'd just..."

"Do you want to come in just for a few?" His question interrupted me and I looked at him, surprise definitely written all over my face. Khalil chuckled. "As much as I hate to admit it, I need someone to talk to and you just seem to fit." He muttered that last part, making it obvious that he hates to admit it.

I chuckled, nodding quickly and he stepped aside, allowing me into his room and shutting the door behind him. I could smell the tension and bad energy in the air when I entered the room. Settling down, I took a better look at him. He looked stressed, disturbed, a lot of emotions running through his face. Immediately, I knew what  was troubling him.

"This has to do with everything going on social media about Tolani, isn't it?" I asked, rhetorically per say because I knew for a fact that it was the reason for his forlorn demeanor that has been going on for the past few days. He nodded nonetheless, still on his feet.

"I don't know if I'm overreacting by getting pissed..." He started but I quickly cut him off with a shake of my head.

"No, you have every right to be pissed. In fact, I am pissed and if I am pissed, you should be furious. But then, there is absolutely nothing we can do about what people post on the media." I told him and he nodded, sighing afterwards and moving to sit down beside me.

"Which is even what makes me more angry, the fact that there is nothing I can do about it." He stated, his voice having a sort of edge to it, showing that he was actually truly angry.

"I know, her parents have gotten their due punishment at least, but the hypocricy of people in this country is just sickening. What will #justicefortolani do, now that she's gone?!" He chocked out. It was obvious that he was trying not to snap, but he was getting there and I honestly didn't want him stressing over this.

"Hey..." I brought my hand to his shoulder, feeling it rise and fall beneath my palm due to his heavy breathing. He turned to look at him, his eyes blazing. "You need to calm down." I whispered carefully to him, trying to pick my words one by one so that I wouldn't tick him off and cause him to lash out at me.

"Tolani wouldn't have wanted these." He muttered softly, looking away. "Tolani wouldn't want anyone to use her name to make sales or become popular. Tolani wouldn't have wanted that."

"And Tolani wouldn't have wanted you to worry so much about something that will definitely still blow over." I said and he looked back at me. Taking a deep breath, I continued, even though I had absolutely no idea what to say.

"I can't say I relate to what you are feeling exactly. Tolani was someone you cared so much about and I know that whatever is going on around social media won't hurt me as much as it hurts you. But Tolani wouldn't want you to mop around. These guys will stop talking and it won't matter anymore because they never cared about Tolani.-

But you cared about her, you loved her, you still do and you know that she's at peace right now, free from the hypocricy of human beings. So, maybe you should be happy that she's free from all these even if we would have wanted all these to happen another way. But, don't miss out on the fun of your last moments in highschool because of something you really can't control." I concluded and there was silence, with Khalil looking at me weirdly. I sighed, knowing for a fact that I had just uttered a bunch of nonsense.

Is this how it feels to be like Somadina? Smart but not Smart? I asked myself.

"All I just said makes absolutely no sense, right?" I asked, turning to look at Khalil just in time to see his lips quirk up in a small smile.

"Actually, it made a little bit of sense." He put his thumb and index finger to emphasize on the little, and I chuckled. "Tolani is at peace, she wouldn't want us to keep mopping over a very temporary situation. She'd even be pissed at me if I miss out on the fun of High school " He summarized what I had said in like three paragraphs all in two lines, punctuating it with a chuckle.

"It sounds way better coming from you." I stated and he smirked.

"That's because I smarter." He boasted and I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah right. You wish." I murmured more to myself than to him but he heard either ways and laughed, nudging me with his elbow. After the laughter subsided, we settled in a comfortable silence, the air now free of any negative energy and tension.

"Have you asked Elyon to prom, yet?" He asked, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade. I shot him a confused look, my eyebrows raised in question.

Do I have to as my girlfriend to prom? I asked myself. I mean, she's my girlfriend. I added swiftly in my mind.

"Why would I ask my girlfriend out to Prom?" I asked him and he shot him a bemused look. "She's my girlfriend after all, we are supposed to go together on a norms." I added, shrugging afterwards. Immediately, I felt a slap at the back of my head, directly against my neck.

Khalil had slapped me.

"What the hell, guy!" I snapped, taking my hand to rub the spot he had slapped me.

"Dude! Are you daft!" He yelled at me, reaching to slap me again but I ducked, flashing his a glare.

"What is the matter with you!" I countered back, standing up to look at him.

"You're stupid, fam." He stated and I looked on in confusion. "Girls, girlfriend or not, like to asked to Prom. And not just any type of asking, they want over the top Prom-posals!" He stated. All my antennas were on full alert immediately, my eyes widening in realization.

No wonder she loved TJ's prom-posals to Esosa in school today.

"Fuck! You are right." I muttered. "What do I do?! I mean, I don't know any over the top prom-posals. How do I impress her? Elyon definitely has high standards o!" I was lamenting, pacing, fidgeting.

Did it get hotter in here?

"Calm down." Khalil said, standing up to put both hands on my shoulder, telling me to take deep breaths. "I think I know how to help you." My gave lit up at that.

"Really?"

"But first," he drawled. "Do y'all have Christmas lights in the basement?"

☆☆☆☆

"I honestly don't think this is a good idea." I told Khalil as we stood in the middle of the park, just few walks down my house, tugging gently on the collar of the white shirt I had under a tux.

"You look just fine." He replied, brushing invisible dust off my shoulder pads. "Now, stop whining and take your position, Elyon would be here any minute and you need to be ready, take her by surprise." He said, and I sighed.

While I had gone to call Elyon to come to the park about seven minutes ago, Khalil was helping me set up and decorate the park with Christmas lights, you know, the ones people put on trees, around their houses on Christmas day. Then he made me wear a tux I wore for his elder sister's wedding three years ago, a tux that didn't even size me anymore.

And here I was, standing in the middle of the park with my cousin, wearing an extremely tight tux that seemed to be cutting blood circulation to my brain and holding a bouquet of flowers, which happened to be my mum's wedding flower.

I felt extremely and utterly ridiculous.

"I feel ridiculous." I voiced out my thoughts and Khalil chuckled, obviously not taking me serious. "I'm serious. I'm standing in the middle of the park, preparing to ask my girlfriend to prom in a tight tux and my mum's wedding bouquet. None of this makes any sense."

"You are just feeling nervous." Khalil stated matter-of-factly. "It's not even obvious the tux is tight and the bouquet looks good as new. She probably won't take the bouquet to her house so you can still take it back. Better don't stress yourself."

I was about to argue back when I began to hear footsteps approaching, indicating that Elyon was near by.

"Oya, Oya!" Khalil whispered harshly, pushing me away from where I was standing so that I could stand at a corner and watch. "You stay here, make sure she digests everything for like ten seconds before you step out and pop the big question."

"Khalil, I'm not proposing." I replied with an eyes roll.

"You better act like you are, and drop the attitude, I'm saving your ass. If you don't do this, another guy would be taking your girlfriend to prom in the next one and a half weeks." He chided and I rolled my eyes again, but nodded my head.

With him now standing behind me, we both turned around just in time to see Elyon make her way to the park, walking with an aura only she could carry. I smiled when she stopped short, taking into her surrounding, watching as her lips stretched in a smile when her eyes came in contact with the lights and decorations.

She was loving it. That was a very good sign.

"It's go time." Khalil whispered to me, gently pushing me to walk up to behind her. I nodded, making small steps towards her from behind. I was already getting the confidence, feeling less agitated.

Well, that was until she started laughing, like the entire scenario was funny to her.

Oh boy...

"I can tell my that laugh that I did a little too much." I muttered softly, causing her to turn around to look at me, then bursting into a fit of laughter. Like, she was legit almost tipping over, falling on the floor and rolling on the bare group laughing.

The ridiculousness I was feeling earlier came rushing back immediately.

"Oh. My. God." Elyon said between laughter, looking at me like I was straight out of a comic show. "What the hell are you wearing!?" She asked, gesturing to my cloths and I sighed, feeling extremely stupid for following Khalil's dead beat of an advice.

Speak of the devil...

The idiot came out of hiding laughing hysterically, holding his phone up to capture every moment of my misery.

The fucker did all these on purpose.

"You really did all these on purpose, abi?" I fired at him. "You allowed me make a fool of myself in front of my girlfriend. Weldon, Khalil. Weldon." I said with a slumped shoulder, while Khalil and Elyon laughed at my expense.

"This is definitely going on the class WhatsApp group chat and our Instagram page." Khalil muttered, though loud enough for me to hear him. Elyon's laugh increased when my eyes bulged out like saucers, taking quick steps towards Khalil who had seen me coming and was already running.

"You had better delete that video right now!!" I yelled, running after him quite uncomfortably because of the tight tux.

"You know won't." He hollered back at me as he ran out of the park.

"You better lock your door tonight and every other night, because I'm coming for you." I yelled and his laugh echoed till he was out of my sight, leaving me and Elyon alone in the park. I turned to look at her, and she was standing at her spot, her lips tugged in a smile.

"Now, what are you thinking?" I asked, an automatic smile spreading across my lips as I moved closer to her.

"You actually look really nice in a tux." She said, her voice still have hints of mockery and I scoffed out a laughter.

"Don't patronize me." I told her, getting to her front and she laughed, drawing close and wrapping her hands around my middle, burying her face in my chest. I chuckled, wrapping my hands around her, drawing her even closer to flush against my body.

"Weird boy." She mumbled against my chest and my chuckles turned into full blown laughter.

☆☆☆☆

"It could have gone so much better." I muttered softly, drawing a breath as I stared at the dark sky with barely any stars. Elyon chuckled beside me, leaning closer and locking her arm with mine.

"It could have." She drawled, agreeing. "But I wouldn't have gotten to see something so epic like what happened." She'd added, ending a chuckle. I flashed her a mock glare which made her laugh even louder, snuggling closer to me.

We were seated on one of the iron chairs in the park, few minutes after I had embarrassed myself. I had taken off the suit, at least the jacket because I couldn't be pantless. Elyon wasn't in a hurry to get back home and neither was I. So, we decided to stay out here for a while, enjoying the midnight fresh air.

There is nothing as amazing as midnight fresh air. Like, it's so chill and refreshy.

I noticed that Elyon had suddenly gone quiet and I looked at her. She was staring ahead, her forehead creased. I knew that look. That was the look she was always having whenever she's deep in thoughts.

"Something is on your mind." I said, jerking her out of whatever reverie she was in. She leaned away from me slightly so that she could look at me.

"What makes you so sure?" She asked and I smirked.

"You are doing that thing again. Where you forehead creases every single time you are deep in thoughts." I told her, taking my right hand up to her face and gently tapping my index finger against her forehead, causing her to laugh softly while I smile.

"Touchè."

"So what is on your mind?" I asked, "Talk to me." I urged her and she sighed, nodding.

"Before you called me out, my parents had just finished speaking to me... About where I'd want to go after highschool." She stopped, watching me. I nodded, urging her to go on while trying to understand what this was all about.

"I'm not exactly sure yet, but I think I want to study outside Nigeria." She stated and I paused, digesting what she had just said, the implication of her words settling in my mind.

"Oh." Was all I could mutter.

"That's not the reply I was hoping to get." She said, flashing a rather strained smile that told me that she was a bit disappointed.

"Oh, no. I honestly didn't mean it to sound that way, I promise." I quickly countered, shaking my head my head. "I was only that way because, you have started making plans and I haven't even thought about my plans yet. I feel so unserious." I teased and she laughed, the tension from earlier dissipating.

I did feel unserious. She was already thinking about university, the future, but I haven't even thought about graduation. She was already planning but I had absolutely nothing. Especially since both our decisions for tertiary education will more or less determine where we stand as a couple.

The talk I've been avoiding was about to happen and I had to face the fact that we won't be in high school forever.

"I understand that we really haven't talked about these things, giving the events of the past few months." She started, turning on her seat so she could face me completely. "If my parents had not brought it up, I really wouldn't have thought about it myself." She said and I nodded in understanding.

The past few months haven't been friendly to any of us.

"Do you still want to study Law? I mean you go the cut off for any Nigerian University." I stated and she nodded.

"Yeah, that was my initial plan. Until I started getting a change of mind when I realized that in as much as Law deals with helping people too, it won't do me the much justice I want. So, I opted for Psychology." She revealed. I widened my eyes in surprise because I honestly didn't see that coming.

But then, I shouldn't be too surprised. It's Elyon after all.

"Psychology?" I asked again to confirm and she nodded, her lips stretching in a smile. " That's huge, that's amazing. It actually does justice to everything you stand for." I said and she laughed, nodding again.

"I know right. Studying Human behavior and mind. I checked online because the field is rather broad and I decided to go into counselling psychology, just like Mrs Tiana. I want to help people and I am convinced, but..."

"But the only place you can actually study it is outside this country." I finished for her, my gaze unwavering from hers and she nodded.

"Yeah...and I'm not sure what that means for us." She muttered. I sighed, turning around to sit right so that I could look at dark sky again. My hands moved to where Elyon's own were resting against her thigh and I took it, lacing my fingers between hers. I heard her take a shaky breath.

Maybe this was why I have always wanted to study two courses.

"I was talking to Mateo before everything went downhill between us and I was telling him of my passion to study both Architecture and Arts in the university..."

"But there is really no university that allows you to study two courses in Nigeria." She stated and I nodded, turning my head to look at her with a ghost of a smile playing on my lips.

"Exactly my point." I told her. I knew it had clicked when her eyes widened and a wide grin spread across her lips.

"So, you might be going abroad too?" She asked to confirm and I shrugged, then nodded, smiling.

"I spoke to my Dad and he said he was going to link me up with Mrs Tiana's husband, who surprisingly happened to also be a close friend of his back in the day. You know, he's also a big shot artist and all." I said and Elyon chuckled in utter delight, leaning closer to me.

"So we might actually make this work." I muttered. Suddenly, Elyon shot up with a worried expression all over her face.

"What if our abroad are different?" She asked frantically and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. She was overthinking things already. "What if you are in Australia and I am in the UK. That's so far apart! What if..."

I rolled my eyes, leaning my head down a bit to drop a small peck against her lips. The idea was just to shut her up but I didn't expect her to respond to the kiss immediately. And just like that, I was a goner.

Woman yaff turn our boy to mush... My subconscious sighed.

She shifted on the seat, getting into a comfortable position,  parting her lips just as I tilted my head to deepen the kiss, my hand coming to rest at the side of her face. A small moan escaped her lips as my tongue met hers, twirling against each other and coursing tidal waves of emotions to run down to the tip of my toes, our lips still moving slowly, tenderly, passionately against each other.

It's been a while since I had the chance to actually kiss her this way.

Slow...

Filled with so much emotions...

Intensely intimate...

Innocent, yet extremely sensual...

This level of intimacy

Elyon moved her hand to rest against my thigh, arching her back so that she was even closer to me. We went from slow and gentle to slow open mouth kisses, setting my heart on fire. I wove my fingers through her hair, drawing her face impossible closer to mine, my teeth tugging against her bottom lips gently. She sighed against my lips and I pulled back a bit, tugging her lips again before I completely pulled back.

"So Melodramatic..." I muttered softly and she chuckled softly, flashing me a mock disdainful look.

"Coming from someone that acted the way he did for the last three months, I think I'm just fine." She shot back and I let out a dramatic gasp, placing my free hand on my chest.

"Touchè." I muttered and she laughed, resting her head against my chest. I sighed in satisfaction, wrapping my hands around her and pulling her to myself.

I'd never trade this for anything.

No, not for anything whatsoever.

A/N

My babies 🥺🥺❤️❤️. They make me feel so single tho.

Now, you know why Jamal went all out for the prom-posal🤣🤣. Khalil is a very mean person, see what he did na. Just made Jamal embarrass himself like that 🤣💔. Nna Ehn, it was pretty funny tho.

So, I looked at everything left for the book and we have approximately three to four chapters left to end this book 🥺❤️. OMG, this is so overwhelming though. It's amazing and still emotional. The entire series is coming to an end.😭😭. I'm so emotional. Don't worry, there will be time to say your final good byes.

Book Recommendation: Have you read "Her Letters to No one." By Royally_Blossom ?? Mehn, you are missing o. You should really check it out. Vote and Comment as well, it's a good read.

I'll see you guys soon. Don't forget to VOTE! COMMENT!! SHARE!!! 😘😘

Variety Night!

PROM!!

GRADUATION!!!