I always had it in mind that they could leave me at any time, just like my father and... her. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it to be for that witch.

❦︎

~[VICTORIA]~

Data Processing was the last class of the day. Tracy opted for Catering Craft while some students went for whatever trade subject they had chosen to offer for the year, leaving only six students in this class.

Despite the fact that nobody seemed to be paying attention to his lecture, the teacher who had introduced himself as Mr. Goyit earlier kept rambling about Data Modelling.

I had revised the topic more than twice already, so I tuned his voice out of my head and my mind drifted into thoughts. If I had known, I would have paid attention to the teacher. My mind had dived into unpleasant places, resurfacing things that I desperately wanted to forget, recollecting the things that made Dad and I move to Lagos in the first place.

Mom and Dad arguing... because of me...

Them hurling hurtful words at each other... too hurtful...

Mom storming out of the house in rage... into a rainstorm...

Dad receiving a call that night about her accident...

Her dying two days after...

Those memories were mocking me. They were laughing in my face.

You killed your own mother! Voices screamed at me, shoving the bitterness of my reality down my throat. Killer! Murderer! You caused it! If I hadn't caused their argument, we would have had dinner together that night, Mom would not have driven through that rainstorm, she would still be al—

A tap on my shoulder was all it took to drag me back to reality. It dawned on me that I was shaking slightly and beads of sweat had formed on my forehead and nose, even my lips were quivering as I slowly opened my eyes.

"Are you okay?" I heard the teacher inquire and I slowly looked up at him. His eyes gave it away that he was worried, although, he tried to mask it under his angry expression. "I'm explaining a concept and you choose to close your eyes?"

The man that looked to be in his mid twenties adjusted his tie which was already hanging perfectly around his neck, offered me his white handkerchief. "I don't know why you're sweating but get rid of it."

I hesitantly took it from him, my hands shaking slightly, "Th-thank you, sir."

He did not respond. Either he didn't hear me or he chose to ignore me. Either way, I had already embarrassed myself and the way the other five students were staring nervously at me only helped to confirm it. They only looked away when Mr. Goyit cleared his throat in front of the class.

"You'll begin with your projects next week, I don't have the time to discuss it now so you'll get the details next week." He paused, raked his eyes throughout the class as if waiting for someone to counter him. "Now, get yourselves out of my lab."

They did not waste any time, it was literally a competition to get out the door. And I watched, baffled as to why they were so scared of him.

I gathered my stuff and went back to the classroom which was just a floor below. Quickly, shoving the rest of my books in my bag to avoid meeting Tracy again, I wasn't ready for another round of a conversation I wasn't interested in. I just wanted to go home and sleep.

I paused when I saw a shadow looming over my bag and I looked up to see eyes dark as night staring down at me. It was a light skinned boy, wearing a low cut hairstyle with perfect waves that I could only see bits of.

"Hey," he grinned, exposing a dimple on his right cheek. "It's really you, The Nigerian Einstein."

Obviously. "Yeah," I nodded, gave him a once over. "Can I help you?"

"No. Just wanted to get acquainted," he offered his hand for a handshake, his grin still on his face. "I'm Fidel."

I hesitated. Skeptical to... get acquainted. I did not recognize him and asides Tracy and Charles, I did not think any other person appreciated my presence in the school.

"I don't bite, I promise." He was still smiling, his hand still extended.

I took it, mustering a small smile. "Victoria." Said my name just for the sake of it.

"I know." He nodded as we broke the handshake. "...So, we'll see some other time, yeah?"

"Yeah." I nodded. We were having Data Processing together, weren't we?

We exchanged goodbyes and I watched him walk out the class, his grip tight on the strap of his red school bag.

After a few seconds of staring at the door he walked out of, I shrugged on my bag and made my way to the parking lot to wait for my dad, praying to meet neither Tracy, Charles and mostly not Jason on the way.

For the first time that day, something went as I wanted and I successfully got into Dad's awaiting Audi without meeting anyone from the trio.

"Good afternoon, Dad." I groaned as I strapped the seatbelt across the upper half of my body.

"You look exhausted. Was it that bad?" Dad chuckled. Somehow, my tired state managed to amuse him.

"Let's just say it was... eventful." I found the strength to smile and Dad squeezed my hand gently.

"It'll get better." He assured me.

I heaved a sigh, placed my head on the headrest and closed my eyes, internally praying that what he said comes to pass.

°°°°°

~[JASON]~

Mr. Ben, our Photography teacher, was busy spewing something I had no idea about in the studio. I was fumbling with the camera in my hand, the indistinct chatter of the students behind me invading my sense of hearing.

"ATTENTION!" The teacher roared, effectively earning the attention of all the students.

The class fell silent and he sighed, readjusting his black tie. "We have a project to attend to," he cleared his throat, shoving his hands in the pockets of his black slacks. "You'll be grouped in fours and you will have to take a photoshoot using one of your classmates as a model." He casually checked his watch but his face fell in disappointment."There will be themes assigned but we don't have time for that, we'll get to that next week. Till then."

With that, he left the studio, rushing out, giving chance for noise to erupt from different corners of the class; everyone was excited about the project for some reason I could not understand.

I rolled my eyes, hanging my bag on one shoulder. I ignored the greetings of some people on my way out of class, I did not have the strength for their false comments.

Tracy was nowhere to be found when I got to our classroom, Charles was not in his class either.

Sometimes, they both just disappeared to God knows where without informing anyone.

I decided to head home and give them a call once I hit the road.

I shuffled through the contents of my bag for my car key/remote as I approached the exit of the SS3 block, zipped it up when I found the key and started making my way toward the far end of the parking lot where I parked my car but my eyes caught something... someone.

It was the witch herself. Victoria Kanayo, my biggest rival in the entire universe and beyond. The mere knowledge of her existence annoyed and scared me at the same time. No matter how hard I tried, no matter the effort I invested, she always beat me every year. That too, narrowly. I was always this close to winning but she always ended up with that trophy every single time.

I must admit, seeing her walk into the class scared the living day lights out of me, so much so that I even had to hide my face in shame for a while. Yes, I was ashamed of myself. Imagine coming in contact with the person that had beaten you in every competition for two years straight.

Worst part was that my friends, my own friends, had accommodated her without batting an eyelid. They let her into our circle just like that. I felt... threatened.

She was a threat to my academic dominance, and she also had my own friends by her side. Just great.

I always had it in mind that they could leave me at any time, just like my father and... her. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it to be for that witch.

She was better than me, that was the bitter truth and maybe she moved all the way from Abuja just to show me that she could beat me in my own territory.

I watched as the car zoomed off and I hoped that she would never return, but I knew I was kidding myself, only just hoping.

I shook my head and continued my walk towards my car, scrunching my face to prevent the bright rays of sunlight from getting into my eyes. I quickly hopped in my white Tesla once I reached its location in the parking lot. I sighed, thankful that the sun did not roast me while I was exposed to it.

I ignited the engine and it roared to life, vibrating. Mentally patting myself on the shoulder for parking military style, I maneuvered out of the parking lot easily, drove through the silver gates of the school.

Billie Eillish's and Khalid's Lovely was booming through the speakers of the car as I slipped into the street.

I brought the car to a stop at a red light, watching as cars zoomed past the lane in front of me. To my right, there seemed to be a party going on in the eatery that was there. I sighted two kids–a boy and a girl–happily munching on cotton candies as they laughed with each other. They were both wearing birthday caps and concluded that the party that was holding must have been because of them. A banner that read 'Happy Birthday to Taiwo and Kenny' confirmed my thoughts.

They're twins, I realized.

Twins...

She left, the voice in my head reminded me, annoying the crap out of me. I wanted it to stop but it didn't, that crazy voice in my head was persistent. They'll all leave, just like her.

I shook my head, covering my ears in a bid to block it out. No! I shut my eyes tight. God, the voice gets a better part of me every time.

They'll go. It's just a matter of time. The voice continued. One by one, they'll leave until you're alone in your pathetic li—

The sound of horns beeping from different directions dragged me back to reality. I opened my eyes, looked up and saw that the traffic light had now turned green. I was panting like I ran a long distance race and there were beads of sweat on my forehead despite the fact that the AC was on and functioning normally.

I jerked when the sound of horns from the angry road users continued, people passing by me on the other lane were clearly irritated.

With shaky hands, I reignited the car and continued driving, hoping not to have an accident with the rate at which my hands were trembling on the steering wheel.

Focus, Jason, Focus. I sucked in a deep breath. Focus.

I sustained my breathing exercise, desperate not to get myself into an accident. I drove extra careful, not going above speed limit like I usually would.

My breath was slowly coming back to normal and I released a sigh of relief, not only because my breath was no longer hyper but also because I was near home. I could sight the tall gate of the estate from that distance.

The estate security let me in once I had given them the toll card that I had received that morning when I was headed for school, most estates in Ikoyi Hills did that.

I parked in the garage and turned off the engine. With a tired sigh, I clambered out of the car and walked straight into our white painted house, not minding the gardener who was trying to have a conversation with me for some reason.

"Chibuike," Mom addressed me by my middle name as usual. I looked at her, she was smiling weakly. Her smile did not reach her eyes, it was empty... forced even. It had been that way since she left... since they left.

Her white skin which used to be very vibrant was starting to wrinkle and she was only in her early forties, there were even steaks of grey hair on her head now.

Maybe she should have remained in the US, moving to Nigeria with the man whom I used to call my father really did not turn out as expected.

She was seated on the black three sitter couch, her feet partially buried in the white fluffy rug over the white tiles. "Welcome."

"Good afternoon, Mom." I greeted, not bothering to return her smile. I stared into her eyes grey like mine, something was bothering her and she was trying to hide it.

"Thank you." Her weak smile was still plastered to her face. "Your lunch is on the dining table. Freshen up and come and eat."

"Okay," I drawled. And then I realized that she was meant to be at work at that time of the day. It was only fifteen minutes past four, I had confirmed from the watch on my wrist. She only returned from the office by six. So, I asked, "You didn't go to work?"

"I did," she looked away, avoiding my gaze. The golden figurines on the shelf near the sixty-four-inch TV had suddenly become fascinating in her eyes. "I just— I just needed some rest. I got really dizzy, almost collapsed, so I returned home." She explained, but she was still not meeting my eyes.

"Hmm." I did not believe her but I decided not to push it. She's an adult, I thought. She deserves her privacy. It was a bid to convince myself that it was nothing serious, although, there was a funny feeling settled in my chest.

I past the dining room which would have been the same with the living room if there wasn't a huge, transparent table right in the middle of the room with chairs covered in black leather surrounding it.

I saw the lunch Mom had told about there on the table and peeked through the transparent cover of the flasks, it was egusi and swallow–specifically fufu–with what looked like assorted meat garnishing it.

I'm not eating this, I said to myself, shaking my head. Although, I made a mental note to come back and have the soup, just the soup. I did not like fufu.

I walked into the kitchen, past the grey marble top counter to a door at the extreme end of the kitchen. It was the door to the basement, which was now my room.

The door creaked as the hinges moved to reveal my room, more like an apartment.

Navy-blue walls with a white ceiling and I had my bed at the top left corner of the room from the door with a plasma TV at the bottom left corner opposite my bed and a black couch against the wall, between my bed and the TV. On the top right side of the room was my study table with different kinds of stationery placed on it and at the bottom right was where I set up a mini studio for photography.

The studio had a green screen background with a camera mounted on a tripod in front of it. There were lights positioned in strategic angles to focus on whatever the subject was.

I exhaled heavily, making my way to the bathroom Mom had to get built in the basement–my room–for a cold shower.

I came out of the bathroom after a few minutes, my white towel loosely tied around my waist. The beads of water rolling down my body tickled me slightly.

I was about to skim through my wardrobe for clothes when my phone began to ring. I walked over to my study desk, where I had abandoned my phone to pick it up. Tracy's name flashed across the screen. Oh crap! I mentally chastised myself for forgetting to call her.

I picked the call, bracing up for the nagging that was about to hit me.

"Jason Chibuike Ugonna!" Tracy sounded like a mother who just caught her child stealing from the cookie jar. "What's with you? Why are you like this? Ehn?"

"I—"

"Charles and I were looking for you! We were worried." She interrupted me. "You should have called us at least."

"Tee, I forgot." She finally let me explain. "I did not know where to look for you guys."

"But you should have called." She was still upset; I could hear her heavy breathing on the other side of the call.

"I'm sorry," I breathed. " I won't leave like that again, I promise."

"It's fine, Jay," she giggled, suddenly going from upset to joyous. It confused me sometimes how she switched emotions just like that. "We'll see tomorrow, yeah?"

"Of course." I chuckled. She hung up the call and I sighed in relief, grateful that she did not bring the heavens down with her banter.

I was about to put my phone down when it buzzed again, this time, with a notification. I checked to see a notification from Twitter's trending page, I would have ignored it if a certain name hadn't caught my attention.

Ebenezer Ugonna announces the date of his wedding...

My grip on my phone tightened. Anger spread through my veins, taking over my senses. The bastard. Was he really going to be happy in the end? He ruined my family and is beginning his' now?

Wait... Is that why Mom missed work?

That's why she could not meet my eyes.

In spite of myself, I viewed the picture. The dark-skinned demon was actually smiling, showcasing his ugly set of teeth as his arms were wrapped around a light-skinned girl, it was obvious her complexion was not achieved naturally.

Dammit! I didn't like the effect the news had on me. He doesn't deserve to be happy, not after putting my family through hell.

I stormed out of the room, still in my towel. "Mom!" I called out, waking into the kitchen. She did not respond and I shouted again, "Mom!" My voice was ten times louder, booming throughout the kitchen.

"Chibuike, what is it?" I found Mom seated at the dining room, she was quick to hide the phone in her hand. She looked around, adjusting in her seat. "Won't you eat? And why are you out like this?"

"You've seen this, right?" I almost shoved my phone in her face. "That's why you missed work today, isn't it?"

"Chi—"

"How long will you suffer, Mom?" My chest was heaving up and down. "How long?" My voice was almost a whisper. "After all these years, you still care? After what he did to us?"

Mom really deserved better. She had refused to move on, she still wanted that man. It was making her miserable and it was the most painful thing to watch. She didn't get all dizzy at work as she said, I was sure it was just a flimsy lie. She must have been moping around the house because Ebenezer Ugonna announced that he was tying the knot with another woman.

"Chi—"

"You know what? I give up. If you don't want to be free, I can't force you, now, can I?" I looked her dead in the eyes, tears brimmed in them. I sighed, "Think of yourself for once, Mom."

With that, I left my dining room, headed back to my room. I shut my door with so much force that I felt the floor vibrate beneath me. Mom's concern for the idiot had me annoyed to the core.

She deserves happiness, not him.

Did life really have to be that unfair? A man completely shatters a family and he gets to build another one?

I needed to calm down. Breath, Jason, breath. I took in sniffs of air, counting from ten to one.

I wasn't sure what I felt. I was upset Mom still wouldn't let go, but somewhere deep in me I still hoped that he'd show up one day, tell us it was all a big misunderstanding, he'd come and be the father he used to be.

But it's been two years now and we only see him on TV. Slowly, my hatred for him began to overshadow that tiny part that wanted him to come back. So out of the great contempt in my heart, I said to myself, to hell with Ebenezer Ugonna.

•
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A/N

Not really feeling this chapter... But, oh well. I'll definitely come back to edit it.

We saw a tiny glimpse of the love of my life. Fidel, he seemed cool, nice and whatever but don't let it fool you, he's crazy.

And we finally saw things from Jason's POV! He's a messed up dude, really. You've not seen anything to prove that yet but you will soon.

Theories on why Jason's father left? And who is she that he was talking about? Lemme hear your thoughts.

Anyways, you know the drill. Vote and comment, please!

Next update: Wednesday, 1pm.