"The power of one, if fearless and focused, is formidable, but the power of many working together is better." -Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Hey, guys! I'm back with another update! Thank God I didn't leave y'all hanging for too long.🌚🌚

Anyway, I decided to drop this chapter today because it's my birthday.😌🌚 So, happy birthday to me.😌🥳🥳

This chapter is also dedicated to Tori!! The Writer of TLT and TMBT! It's also her birthday! Happy birthday, Tori.🥳🥳 Keep writing fire.🔥 lovetori_xo

Okay, with that said, y'all can read!

Enjoy!

•BOLU•

I brought my phone out of my bag and texted Kanyin. She was supposed to pick me up today and I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand why she was running late. I checked the time — five-fifty P.M. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to go home so badly before, until now. The pace of my heartbeat was twice as fast. No cap, I was scared.

Was it really the wind that pushed open that door?

I rested my head on the wall, closed my eyes, and tried to calm down. I exhaled. I did not bargain for this when I let Ore Jumai kiss me the first time. I certainly did not. Ore needed to tell Chidera as soon as possible so that my heart won’t fly out of my chest because of guilt.

Calm down, Bolu. Calm down, I told myself.

I placed my hand on my chest as it heaved up and down.

“Bolu, you’re still here?”

I jerked my head, opened my eyes, and turned to look at the person the voice belonged to.

“Sorry if I scared you,” Ashley said, her voice, low. A small smile tugged her lips.

“Huh?” I said, still shocked. Eyes wide, hands still on my chest.

“You should see your face right now,” she said again and began to giggle.

I exhaled. Shook my head. And smiled. It was just Ashley. For a while though, something in the back of my mind started suspecting she was the one that opened the door.

“I wasn’t here, sorry,” I said and chuckled nervously. “What’s up? Where are you coming from and going to?”

I did a mental face-palm.

Way to be so inconspicuous, Bolu. Real smooth, boss.

She giggled again. And I noticed it was cute. Before now, I’d only heard her do it once, that was when MJ shook her at the café. And looking back now, we’ve never actually had a real conversation.

“Nothing much is up.” She tugged at the hand of her tote bag. “I’m coming from the library. I was on my way home but I saw you outside and decided to say hi.” She grinned.

Her smile was charming too. It made me really look at her and I realized she was beautiful, really beautiful. And it's something I hadn't noticed before. Or maybe I didn't pay enough attention.

“Oh, I see.” I grinned back. “I thought you’d have gone with Chidera, though. She left earlier. . .” I trailed off at the last part when her facial expression hardened. Uh-oh.

“And so?”

I flinched at how sharp her voice came out.

“Um. . .I was just saying. Because. . ." I trailed off again when I saw her expression not becoming any less stoic.

"Must everyone always tag me with that girl?" She groaned. Threw her hands in the air.

This. This was what I wasn't able to understand about Ashley these past few days — the sudden change in behavior towards her best friend.

Or, wait. I do remember the looks she'd been giving Chidera for some time, before now. The way she looked at Chidera during her birthday party. The way she looked at her, that same night, in her room. And how, again, that same night, she'd kept to herself as Chidera lay on the bed like a starfish.

The signs had been there.

Nawa oh. I just dey see signs anyhow. Lmao.

But what exactly did Chidera do, apart from her incessant behavior, to make Ashley change so much towards her?

For a while, I actually thought Ashley enjoyed being Chidera's sidekick.

I stared at her, contemplating whether to ask further about it or just shut up. I was about to speak up when she beat me to it.

"I'm sorry, Bolu." She sighed. "Let's talk about something else." Her face lit up and the dark expression she'd had a few moments ago was gone. Gone like it was never there in the first place.

I nodded and smiled at her. "Yeah, sure."

"You were amazing at basketball today. Likeeee, so good!" She began.

As she talked and talked, her voice low and soft, I started wondering where the quiet Ashley I knew — supposedly — had gone to. Because she certainly wasn't the girl standing in front of me.

"You know, maybe you could show me the ropes sometime?" She looked up at me, a side smile appearing on her face.

"You think I'd be able to? I'm still learning myself," I replied.

"Come on, Bolu, you're amazing! You make basketball very inviting. The way you move with the ball, like you're dancing or something. I like it. I wanna play like that. So, you can teach me? I've always wanted to play basketball." She was still smiling.

Wawu!

I was still surprised. Because I didn't know who she was.

"You've always wanted to play basketball?" I asked, picking up her last statement. "What stopped you?"

She shrugged. "Stuffs. But never mind that. You'll teach me, yeah?" She raised her brows in anticipation for my answer.

As I stared at the stranger before me, I found myself nodding, agreeing to what she'd asked me. Even though she'd stylishly evaded my question.

"Yay, Cool!" She clapped her hands. "Can't wait! Thank you so much, Bolu."

I smiled. "You're welcome."

"Alright. I have to go now. I'll text you later." She waved at me.

I waved slowly at her retreating back. My lips formed a thin line as I dropped my hands, still staring at her. Trying to understand if I'd really just talked to the girl I just talked to.

This was a whole different Ashley.

And for some reason, this sudden change didn't settle well with me.

That thing at the back of my mind kept making me feel she was the one that opened the door. I mean, if she could pretend to be so quiet and now, she's all chatty, she could pretend not to know anything about the door. Or about. . .us.

But she just said she was coming from the library.

She could be lying. But was if she's not?

Surely, I was overthinking this thing.

I was still staring at her, well, it wasn't her anymore because she was already gone. I was staring into space.

"Hey, mama!"

I jumped out of my skin and yelled, “Jesus”, when I heard the voice.

“Calm down.”

My hands went to my chest again. “Ah, gosh, it’s just you, Ore.” I exhaled and looked at him.

“Who were you talking to just now?”

I nodded. “Oh, that was… wait, you didn’t just get here, did you?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “Actually, I waited a while for you… like, I wanted some time to pass before I came to meet you again. Because, you know, so that people wouldn’t notice…”

“Oh, I see…” I nodded slowly.

He took my left hand in both of his. That familiar warm feeling spread from my toes up to my cheeks, again, kicking whatever guilt I previously felt, and also the urge to go home quick, to the gut of my stomach. We were outside the school gates and it was even more dangerous than being inside, because apart from students catching us, adults might see us too. I remembered all that and started pulling away from him. He held on tighter.

“I—”

Well, he never completed his statement, because at that moment, an ash-coloured Toyota Highlander pulled up directly in front of us. That did it, we both pulled away from each other. Straight disentanglement.

I started walking away slowly, whistling as I did. But when I turned and saw that Ore hadn’t moved from his spot, I stopped and began to wonder what was going on. I walked back to him out of curiosity.

He just stood there, staring at the car. The expression on his face, unreadable. I was about to tap him when the car's occupant decided it was time to grace us with their presence.

As she got down from the car, I couldn't help but stare at her slim figure. She was dressed in blue jeans and a black, long-sleeved, turtle-neck top. A brown scarf was wrapped around her head like a hijab. On her feet were white and black Nike Jordans. She looked just about Kanyin's age. Or, maybe slightly older.

I inhaled her perfume from where I stood — yes, it was that strong — and she smelled of vanilla and cocoa. Sounds weird, yeah? But that's what my nose perceived.

She closed the door behind her.

Took off her black sunshades. Her eyes moved from Ore — whose facial expression was more hardened — to me and then back to Ore.

She was the definition of a melanin beauty. Need I say more?

Nah, I think y'all get it at this point.

She smiled. "Hey, little brother."

Little brother?

Little...

Wait, what?

"What are you—"

"You're his sister?" I couldn't help but blurt out, unintentionally cutting Ore off, and pointing back and forth at both of them. For some reason, I was shocked. Or maybe it was because they had no resemblance at all.

She turned to look at me again, slowly, graciously. Accessing me like I was something that needed to be checked out. I suddenly felt weak and uncomfortable.

Finally, she spoke, "Yes, I am." She walked closer to me, stretched out an arm. "The name's Aisha."

Shyly, still in shock, I shook her hand. "Boluwaji."

"Nice to meet you, Bolu. I can call you Bolu, right?" She smiled again.

I nodded.

"Nice," she said.

"Oh, for the love of God, Aisha. Please cut the crap! What do you want?" Ore said. Well, it was in-between yelling and just saying. If that makes any sense.

"Chill, bro. Don't you want me to meet your newest chick? Or rather, my in-law?" She smirked. Similar to something that Ore would do.

When she said that, I blushed. Cringed a little at the images that formed in my head.

Nope, Bolu. You're definitely not thinking about marriage now. Stop, STOP!

"Shut up! That's not. . .we aren't. . . it's not like. . ." He sighed and massaged his temples.

My stomach twisted when I realized he also couldn't define our relationship.

"Like I said, chill, bro."

"No, you chill! Tell me what the eff you're doing here!" He pointed a finger towards the floor, glaring daggers at her.

Okay, Ore wasn't too happy to see his sister. And I wonder why.

Aisha sighed. "Thought you'd, at least, be glad to see me."

He laughed humorlessly. "Why the heck would you ever think that?"

"Because, normally, little brothers are happy to see their big sisters."

Ore rolled, like really rolled his eyes.

I giggled. This was a funny scene.

"See," Aisha gestured towards me, "even Bolu finds it cute."

Ore rolled his eyes again. I giggled — again. Tried to keep a straight face when Ore looked at me. It was amazing to find out that someone could annoy Ore Jumai like he did me.

Ore sighed. "Just tell me what you want."

"You want me to say it when she's here?" Aisha asked, nodding towards me, raising her brows.

I widened my eyes, suddenly feeling like I was intruding on their privacy.  I started praying for Kanyin to come quickly. So that I would be relieved of the soon-to-come awkwardness. At the same time, I wondered what I was intruding on.

Ore scratched the back of his neck. "Well. . ."

God answered my prayers. Kanyin's car pulled up in front of Aisha's. My cue to escape.

"My ride is here. Gotta, um, bounce." I gestured my thumb towards the direction of Kanyin's car, laughing nervously. "It was really nice to meet you, Aisha. Bye, Ore." I glanced at him. He put his fingers beside his face, signaling he was gonna call me later.

"Likewise. Bye." Aisha smiled and waved at me.

I waved back and with hastened steps, walked to Kanyin's car. Opened the door, sat down and slammed it. It was loud and showed how nervous I was.

"Osheyyy, Ronda Rousey. Bosslady. Break my door, you hear?" Kanyin said as she put the key in its hole and turned on the ignition.

As if she's never slammed the bonnet of her car before. Even worse than this.

"Na you dey slam door pass," I muttered. Because, yes, I was still scared of my sister.

"At least I slam with style. But you? Tueh!" She pulled out of where she parked.

I furrowed my brows. "Slam with style? Nawa oh. So, they slam with style now?"

What will I not hear from Kanyin's mouth, Father Lord?

"You don't know abourrit, guy." She shook her head, chuckling.

I rolled my eyes and decided to drop it because Kanyin was always crazy. I think I've mentioned it before.

"Why'd you come so late for me, anyway?" I asked her as I tucked in my seat belt and crossed my arms.

"Well, you had Heat today, didn't you?"

"Yeah. And we didn't finish so late na. We finished before four-thirty or five, I think."

"You see?" She said.

"That's not the point. You still could have come earlier."

"Lower your voice, bruh," she said. "We're working on a project in my department. After my normal tutorial classes, I stayed back so I could do some more work, okay? Chill abeg."

I sighed, sank deeper in my seat and pouted. "Yes ma."

"Good girl." She laughed at my facial expression. "Why were you outside, though?"

"Huh?"

"Why were you outside? I noticed you were outside of your school gates. Why?"

"Because. . .I wanted to?" Yes, it came out like a question. And no, I wasn't doing my best to hide how nervous I was because of Kanyin's harmless question.

"I don't know why you'd lie for something as small as this," she said and burst out laughing.

"I'm not lying," I lied.

"I hear you oh." She inched forward and turned on the car's mp3 player. Connected her phone to it and increased the volume. The song was slow and solemn. I didn't know who sang it — I couldn't remember — but it eased my nerves and made me relax.

That was when I knew I was still tensed and stressed out because of  today's activities.

I exhaled.

As relaxed as I was though, I still couldn't kill the feeling of dread that came with the door-opening memory. And somehow, I kept linking it to Ashley.

It didn't exactly make much sense because she said she'd been coming from the library.

But then, would the library be open for several hours of non-academic activities?

And would any student actually want to go and read after so many hours of sports?

I sighed. I actually blame Ore for this.

Closing my eyes as I placed my head on the chair's headrest, I silently hoped that Ore would fix this as soon as possible. I hoped that nothing would escalate.

But then, again, things — most times — never turn out the way we hope they turn out.

That's a wrap! 🌚

Short chapter, yeah?

Yeah, I know.

Could have been longer but nah, didn't work out that way this time around. Hehe.

Anyway, what do y'all think about it?

What's gonna happen next?

Am I the only one sensing big wahalurrr on the way?

Well, all I can say is hehehehehehe.🌚🌚

Somehow, we're getting closer to the end of this book. Maybe. Maybe not.🌚

Aisha don show face again. Wetin dey sup?😂

Okay, enough talk!

See y'all in the next update.

Thanks for 8k+ reads.🥺💕 It honestly feels like a dream. Fr. I love you guys. God bless you.💕❤️

Peace out.

~ Ife.💕❤️