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Dedicated to yompous my guyyy😌💗

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"MY BROTHER IS IN THIS FREAKING STORM."

❦︎

~[VICTORIA]~

Thunderstorm.

Thunderstorm.

Thunderstorm.

The alarm in my head was ringing; I was doing my best to tame whatever was brewing in me.

In, out, in, out, I breathed.

With my fingers clamped between my thighs, I tapped my feet on the floor. I had to control whatever it was that was coming. Because I was already feeling light-headed, my breath was hitching; But I could not let it happen again.

Not in this place, at least.

So, I continued with my breathing exercise, a bid to normalize my breath.

But the storm outside was still taking me places, places I did not want to be. Those places that I wanted to forget, discard them in the deepest pit of my mind.

Alas, I couldn't.

Thunderstorm.

That's how Mom died. That's how I caused her to die.

If I had just shut my big mouth that night...

The weight of guilt suppressed my chest even more.

She's dead because of you, those voices were at it again. For the second time that night, I wanted to scream, pull at my hair.

You sent your mother to her death, they didn't want to stop. Why wouldn't they stop? I needed them to stop.

But they were still there, in my head, shoving my reality down my throat; That reality that I knew I couldn't escape, yet I still tried to.

Leave me, I begged, please.

Then I heard the kitchen door fling open, my eyes remained fixed on the floor. And from the corner of my eyes, I noticed that Jason walked into the living room. His gaze fell on me, I felt it.

But I focused on calming my breath, rather than his prying eyes.

Just then, footsteps were heard from the stairs. I did not bother to look; My chest was still heavy.

I needed to breath.

Plus, I was sure it was Tracy and Charles.

All the more reason I had to keep myself in control, I could not afford to breakdown like that in front of them.

The doctor suspected panic attacks; The little research I had done suggested breathing exercises like I was doing. So, I faithfully continued.

I felt a dent beside, but I still did not raise my head. I was very close to shedding tears, it was just a blink away from spilling out my eyes, so I shut them. Tight.

"Ria?" It was Tracy that had taken the space beside me. "What's wrong?"

I squeezed my eyes tighter, shook my head. "Nothing. Just the cold."

Thanks to my afro, she could not see my face.

"Are you s-"

"I said it's the cold, Tracy." Her questions were irritating me somehow. I just wanted to get rid of that weight in my chest, she was making it worse.

"I'll get you a blanket then." She got up, I knew because I no longer felt that dent.

"Thank you." Was all I could mutter as her footsteps faded up the stairs.

By now, my breath was beginning to have rhythm again, my lungs opened up for air. That burden in my chest lightened, didn't leave, just got lighter.

I was able to breath with ease again.

So I lifted my hand and wiped a stray tear at the corner of my left eye. When I raised my head, two pairs of eyes were observing me; For a moment, I held my breath.

"Tori-"

"It's a cold. Tracy went to get me a blanket." I told Charles. Whether or not he was convinced, I didn't know. Because his eyes lingered on me, then he slowly nodded and looked away.

But Jason...

His eyes were still on me, scrutinizing me like a detective would a murder suspect.

What was his case this time?

Whatever it was, I wasn't the least bit ready for it. So, I looked away first. His gaze burned the side of my face for some moments before he relieved me by turning to Charles.

"Do you have any idea where your brother might have gone?" He asked the twin.

I looked back at them.

"What do you mean 'do I know where my brother might have gone?'" Chris eyed Jason like he had made the stupidest inquiry ever. "Wasn't he down here with you guys?"

"He was gone before we came down."

"So, you're telling me my brother is not in this house." Charles frowned, sat up straight.

"I've not searched," Jason told him, "but I looked out the window, his car is missing."

"My brother is out there in that storm." Charles rose up in urgency; His voice cracked like was holding back a sob.

"Bro," Jason stood too, "we have to be as calm as possible if we're to handle this properly."

"My. Brother. Is. In. That. Storm." Charles enunciated, like you would to a dumb child.

"Char? Jay? What's happening?" I heard Tracy asked. I turned to my right, she was hugging a green blanket, tightly. "What is happening?" She asked again, not as calm as before.

"MY BROTHER IS IN THIS FREAKING STORM."

I flinched, shrank into the the couch.

Jesus...

For the first time, I had witnessed Charles lose his cool, yell at someone.

And that someone happened to be Tracy.

I saw it, she fought that hurt that was about to show itself in her eyes, but I saw it. Instead, she quietly walked to me, wrapped the blanket around me and asked,

"What do we do?"

In as much as she was hurt, she was also trying to conceal her panic. She understood what Charles must have been feeling.

"I'm going to look for him. Anywhere. Everywhere." Charles made for the stairs, most likely to fetch his keys.

But Jason held onto his arm. "There's no way I'm letting you into that storm." He stated, and you'd just know that there was no room for arguments.

"But Chris-" He sniffed in air; pulled at his dreads. I noticed that his eyes were turning red.

"C-can't we just call him?" Just like Jason, Tracy was really trying to keep calm. But she was failing woefully, her fingers were trembling at her sides. Occasionally, she'd fold them into fists.

I looked at her and I just knew that if she didn't see any ray of hope soon, she'd snap. Lose it.

"I've tried." Jason's voice came out exhausted. "It's a storm, network cannot strive."

I watched the trio as they paced the length of the living room in worry for their friend and brother, nothing to hope on but the possibility that 'maybe he'd just return.'

And me?

So many questions were on my mind as I forced down bile that threatened to rise to my throat.

Was a storm about to take another person from my life?

No. Not again.

Am I cursed?

If so, who was next?

God, pl-

"It's ringing." Charles's hope-filled voice pierced through my thoughts, my eyes flickered to him. His phone was pressed against his ear as he anxiously awaited his brother's voice.

But his face dropped, shoulders sagged. "He's not picking. JAY, MY BROTHER IS NOT PICKING HIS CALL!"

"We should call your parents." Tracy told Charles. "They should know what to do."

"Y-yes." Charles tapped on his phone frantically. "I'll call Baba, he'll know how to handle-"

[Baba: Father.]

Someone swung the front door open. And that freaking kid in a Panda onesie casually strolled like we all weren't just about to have cardiac arrests because of him.

We stared at him, all our questions stuck in our throats.

"And why the hell are y'all looking at me like that?" He grimaced, eyeing us.

Was this boy for real?

"CHRIS, YOU WENT OUT IN A FREAKING STORM." Charles told his brother, like Chris didn't know what he did.

"It hadn't started when I left, abeg." Chris responded in nonchalance, moving from the door to have a seat beside me.

My eyes followed him all the way.

"And I didn't go out." He continued, relaxed his head on the couch and closed his eyes. "I was in the garage."

"Ehn?" Tracy expressed our disbelief for us.

"I said I was in the garage. I noticed the signs of the rain, so I took my car into the garage and stayed there." His eyes were still closed. "Whatever happens to your cars is your own wahala."

[Wahala: Problem.]

Four of us were still gaping at him when Charles let out,

"You're too petty, I swear."

"Don't stress me more than I already am, please." Chris opened his eyes, raised his head to look at his brother. "I just survived a storm."

Telling us that he needed something hot, he got up and made for the kitchen. But Charles grabbed him on his way, wrapped him in a hug.

"Iman, I swear, if you pull this stunt again, I'll kill you." I heard Charles mumble into his brother's neck.

"You love me too much to do that." Chris chuckled, patted his brother's back. "But if you don't want me to freeze, let me go get my hot drink, please."

They pulled out of their hug, Chris was back on his way to the kitchen.

I felt a smile pull at him lips as I watched him go, that fluffy tail of his onesie still cracked me up.

But I wasn't the only one all smiles. Tracy and Charles both heaved sighs of relief as they plopped down on the couches. Even Jason seemed to have found peace in the fact that his friend was okay.

°°°°°

We were seated on the floor again; This time, in the middle of the living room, we had formed a circle.

The boys had moved our snacks downstairs and Chris was complaining about how I had singlehandedly consumed more than half the doughnuts.

In my defense, it was covered in chocolate. Plus, Jason had eaten pretty much as many as I had.

Then Tracy had insisted that we played twenty questions. There'd be five rounds, each of us would ask a question that we'd all have to answer.

None of us saw any harm in the idea, so we proceeded.

"What's your most embarrassing nickname?" Tracy dropped the first question.

I didn't have any, save for the one dad used to call me when I was younger.

Winki.

They laughed when I told them that, I'd be damned if I said I wasn't embarrassed. Apparently, that was how I pronounced 'Vicky' when I first started talking.

But it wasn't anywhere close to being as embarrassing as Charles's.

"It's Yoyo." He had told us. His mom still called him that as a short form for his middle name, Yohance.

Well, if that isn't hilarious.

Then Tracy decided that she'd call him that from then onwards. Yoyo, not Char anymore.

Dude got all red in embarrassment.

We went on and on, asking and answering funny and irrelevant questions. Until, Chris started with his madness.

"What exactly is going on between you two?"

That question was definitely not directed at Jason and I.

Briefly, Tracy and Charles exchanged worried glances.

"Chr-"

"I think they should know." Charles interrupted Tracy, smiled reassuringly at her.

"We should know what?"

That was Jason this time, even his interest was piqued.

"We like each other." Charles dropped, not meeting any of our eyes, his eyes roamed the space enclosed by our little circle. "Like we have feelings for each other."

"OMG, we're soo shocked." Chris spoke, his usual sarcasm laced his voice. "That tension, whatever caused it was more than mere feelings for each other."

But unlike Chris, I was surprised. I didn't see that news coming. I had simply related their distance to a simple misunderstanding, not freaking romantic attraction.

And from the looks on Jason's face, he was also caught off guard, even more shocked than I was.

"What really happened between you guys?" Chris repeated his question.

"We-"

"We kissed." Tracy abruptly took over from Charles, cleared her throat. Her eyes were everywhere but on us. "We kissed twice, so it's kinda awkward now."

"On the-"

"Yes, on the lips, Ria." Tracy answered the question I didn't even realize I was about to ask.

On the lips...

Wow...

"So, what is it between you both now?" Chris did not seem the least bit fazed, the guy legit looked like he had a million and one questions for them. "Are y'all dating?"

"No." They both replied. Slightly, their moods dampened.

"What? Is this a forbidden love kinda thing?" Chris looked between both of them in utmost confusion, brows furrowed.

"My dad would kill me." Tracy let out a heavy breath after that statement. "And I don't want to lie to his face."

"I see." Chris nodded, exhaled. "But y'all know this would be hella awkward, right?"

"OMG, I am soo shocked." Charles mimicked his brother's sarcasm, eyed him with his lips puckered.

"We'll work it out." Tracy told us, wistfulness to her tone.

"You must work it out." Chris made his correction, laughed to himself.

"Oh, Chris." Tracy shook her head, giggled. "What am I going to do with your stubborn ass?"

"Y'all know you love me like that." Chris smirked, his chest swollen in confidence.

And I watched how Tracy and Charles mockingly denied any form of affection towards Chris. Their childish banter, it was wholesome to behold.

And then there was Jason, silently listening to them too. It was unusual, that life that was now in his eyes, they were now all but empty.

Happiness, gratitude, love. I saw all that in his grey orbs. He looked at them like he wouldn't want to be anywhere else except with them, like they were his home.

He smiled softly, shook his head at their antics. The boy was completely at peace at that moment.

And that was when it struck me, how much Jason Ugonna adored his friends.

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A/N

Finally done with the damn sleepover 🙂. Just one night gave me about seventy and half migraines.

Again, THANKS FOR 2K!!! 😩💕💕💕

So, the next chapter... hmmm🙂.

Thoughts on Tracy's and Charles's matter? FYI, there's still a shocker ahead😗.

I don't want to talk too much sha, so see you in the next chapter 🙃.

And oh! I have an IG account. Would y'all like to see snippets?👀 Or I should keep them to myself?

Well, just incase you want to follow, it's _vickyraee. (Just one underscore.) I'll take actions based on what y'all's responses are🙂🤝.

So, stay safe,
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