"We're all but bits and pieces of a puzzle put together, in harmony with the stars; we make the earth complete, and in extension, the universe."
- Ifebode.

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This chapter is dedicated to Donald Uzoka. DonaldUzoka Live on forever in our hearts.❤️

And thank you guys for 16k+. God bless you.❤️✨

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•ORE•

Because what I saw in those photos...just about shredded me to pieces.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" I cussed repeatedly as I scrolled through the photos, my eyes getting wider every second. "Oh, God!"

"Omo..." Fawaz said and looked at me. Then he turned to Josh. "Guy, you were right oh. I never thought...omo..." He stared at me again. The other guys exchanged looks with each other for about two seconds before their gazes landed on me.

"You were cheating on Chidera?" Oche said, his brows furrowed in confusion. "And with your seatmate, Bolu?" He ran his hands through his bushy hair. "Or are those pictures wrong?"

"I gotta admit," Fikayo said, "I am utterly shocked." I was surprised to see he hadn't walked ahead of us like he usually did. He let out a humorless chuckle. "All the more reason to leave this God-forsaken country." He scoffed, shook his head, and walked away.

With the whispers in the background, and the hostel guys saying those things and wearing facial expressions of disappointment and betrayal, all I could think about was where Bolu and Chidera were.

I had to find both of them; or at least, one of them. I checked my watch. It was just a few minutes before assembly would start. And Bolu must have arrived. Chidera, too, since she was the timekeeper. I was guessing they had both seen it, and would be mad furious at me. I just...just had to find either of them. God, this was a huge mess.

"Guy!" Jeremy said with gritted teeth, snapping me out of my reverie. Looked me dead in the eyes. "Sheybi I told you something like this would happen? Satisfied now?"

I hated the tone Jeremy was using to talk to me. It sounded a lot like the tone my dad used when he was disappointed at me- which was practically all the time.

I hated that Jeremy's tone reminded me of my dad's right now. I hated that Jeremy, my best friend, was mad at me, even though he was right to be mad at me. Everyone was. It made a lump form in my throat.

Swallowing the lump, I opened my mouth to speak. "Has anyone seen Bolu or Chidera?" My eyes searched around for either of them, down to end of the hallway.

The boys stared at me, shaking their heads. Not to tell me no, though. It was more like they could not believe I was asking them that question. Right now.

"Gee," Jeremy said, "Of course. We keep them in our pockets. And obviously, we did not just arrive together a few minutes ago."

"Guy now..." I said, my voice sounding like remorse and desperation. I raised my brows at the other guys, silently re-asking them my question. But when all the response I got was more silence and heads shaking in disappointment, I got pissed, sort of, exhaled and walked away from them.

They made a path for me to walk through, the whispers of my classmates still present in the background. But I paid no mind to them as I texted Bolu on WhatsApp.

Me: Hey, Bolu.

Only one tick showed, which meant she was offline. Shit. I walked even faster, took a turn to the right, and started down the stairs, not caring if it was a few seconds to the assembly and I was, as the freaking Head Boy, supposed to be present.

I dialed her number. It rang for a while but there was no response. I dialed it again, and it told me the number you're trying to call is not reachable at the moment. I tried it again. Thought about calling one of her friends, too, but deciding against it. Because they'd all most likely be mad at me.

I kept going down the stairs until, like my legs could read my mind, I had walked to the garden where, looking back now, it all started between me and Bolu.

My eyes scanned the place as my hands simultaneously scrolled through my contact list, searching for Chidera's number. I couldn't help but feel the tug at my heartstrings as two candid memories from this place invaded my mind.

Finally finding Chidera's number, I dialed it. It rang but, as expected, she did not pick. Texted her, Call Me, on WhatsApp; no reply. Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair, turned around, because I just knew that Bolu wasn't in this garden. Maybe she was in the chemistry lab.

I made my way back into the building. Walked straight to the laboratory. Immediately I entered, I saw the chemistry teacher opening the door that led to the small office.

Again, my eyes quickly scanned the environment; Bolu was nowhere in sight. A mobile board stood at the far end of the lab, forming a cubicle big enough to hide someone behind it, so, not wanting to leave any unturned stones, I practically ran there. Craned my neck to see behind the board. Was disappointed when the cubicle hid a junior student instead. Of course, it was a girl. She had her head on the table, and the school sweater she wore was used as a blanket to cover her whole head.

I figured she was sleeping, so I quietly walked away from the cubicle and out of the lab. Went back and up the stairs to the SSS3 block. Seconds later, just as I got to the entrance into the hallway, the bell for assembly rang, and I heard Chidera's voice yell, "Assembly time!"

The vibrance and excitement her voice usually held each time she rang the bell had lowered since the incident with Ashley, but now, it was even worse- loud, clear, and without emotion. And I was pretty sure the whole school could tell the difference.

I slowed my pace. No, I stopped walking. Because just then, she turned, and her eyes caught mine. She looked just like she'd looked these past few days. Plain Jane-or, in her case, plain Chidera.

Up until now, I honestly thought I would be bold enough to face her. I mean, the truth was out, after all. But I proved myself wrong when I felt my stomach tighten, and my body, on its own accord, began to turn around.

Probably to run away like the coward I was. I took one step and, in spite of the rest of our classmates walking in front of and behind me to get to the assembly, I heard her clearly call my name from where she stood, on the other side of the hallway, "Oreoluwa Jumai."

Everybody stopped then. Waiting to see the drama unfold. Plus, it dawned on me that I had even forgotten how my full name sounded from Chidera's mouth.

Because it had been so long since she'd called me that. And though, I admit, it was cringe sometimes when she called me sweet names as her boyfriend, dare I say that I would rather have her call me that right now, than have her repeat my name the way she just did. Like it was venom.

Somewhere deep inside me, I wanted to just keep walking. Pretend like I didn't know she was there or I had not seen her. And foolishly, I attempted it. Took another step. But just as I did, she called my name again. I winced at the sound. Halted, then turned around.

Everything that happened next, happened in a flash. She was walking towards me, and in two blinks of my eyes, she was standing in front of me. One minute I was trying to act casual, use my charm, call her babe, and the next, she was lifting her hand and her palm was connecting with my face. The crowd around us went, "Whoaaaa!"

Chidera Odikanwa just slapped me.

Wow.

It took me a couple of seconds to process the slap and another couple of seconds to react. And the only reaction I had was to hold my face-tilted to one side- in my hand. Because, I swear, I saw stars. The whole constellation in the freaking Milky Way.

Jesus.

I managed to compose myself and face her again. As expected, she was not smiling. The look on her face could send me to hell and back a thousand times.

It was such a shock seeing this part of Chidera. So very different from the person that was my girlfriend. Different from the nice and condescending person that I called my babe. The girl in front of me was Andromeda full of rage, and ready to bite my head off.

For the first time in my life, I was scared out of my wits of Chidera. Omo.

Then she finally spoke. "I want to hear it from you, Ore. Tell me."

I moved my hand to the back of my neck and began massaging it. "I...babe-"

"Don't you dare call me that!" she snapped, cutting me off. "We're on a full name basis now; so, Oreoluwa Jumai, I want to hear you say it."

She wanted to hear me say what, exactly? The truth? But it was already out there. Did she want to hear exactly how I would have told her if the truth hadn't come out this way?

Because honestly, I had no idea how I would have sounded. I never knew how I was going to break the news to her. And although I never wanted her to find out this way, the worst way possible, it was a relief that fate spilled the truth without me having to say it. Because either way, it would have broken her. And also, because, again, I was a coward.

"I..." I started, but trailed off, since I still could not make up sensible words.

She rolled her eyes, and in one swift movement, grabbed the collar of my shirt. I flinched, my eyes wide, staring down at her as she said, "Tell me, Ore! Say it with your mouth."

"I swear, I didn't want you to find out this way. I...I..." I stuttered, out of appropriate words to say.

Through her eyes, I knew something died in her that very moment, as if I had just shattered any hope she had left of me saying the opposite of what she'd asked me. Of maybe saying the whole thing was fake and the pictures were photo-shopped.

Her grip on my collar loosened and her hands dropped to her sides. "Once again, I was that stupid girl."

Tears ran down her eyes then. In torrents. Her lips began quivering and within a few seconds, it resonated through her whole body. She shut her eyes for about two seconds, and when she opened them, they were bloodshot.

Guilt washed over me; the kind I had never experienced before. I realized that I hated to see Chidera like this. She was so nice to me and this was what I did to repay her? Yes, I agree, she was imposing, impulsive, clingy, a chatterbox, unstable, and annoying sometimes, but she was anything but bad. She really didn't deserve this.

It ached my heart to see her this way, so I reached out to her; an attempt to comfort her. She took two steps away from me, shaking her head. I tried again and she backed further away from me, shaking her head harder this time.

"Don't. Touch. Me."

"But..." I reached out again and she screamed. I almost went deaf.

"Don't freaking touch me, Oreoluwa Jumai! Or I swear, I'll bite your hands off! Don't even try to touch me!"

Letting my hands fall slowly to my sides, I stood rooted to my spot. Feeling like the terrible person I was. I'd broken hearts before, but I never knew I could break a girl like this. Didn't know I was capable of such atrocity.

She wiped her eyes, took a step towards me. "And in all these, do you know what hurts the most?"

I didn't think this was a question she wanted me to answer, so, I kept mute.

"You know what hurts the most?" she asked again. "Not the fact that you cheated with Bolu, not that at all. I think I saw it coming, but just chose to ignore it." She shrugged.

An alarm went off in my head. She knew?

"Yes, I knew," she answered as if reading my thoughts. Or maybe she just saw the shock on my face. "Only a bat wouldn't have known you both had some sort of chemistry. I just didn't want to believe it, that's all. But I knew- heck, admitting this to myself in front of you is pathetic and..." She laughed dryly. "What actually hurt me most is the fact that you never for once loved me. You never did!"

"But I do love..."

"Oh, shut up!" she screamed. "No more lies. I've been fooled enough. You never loved me despite all the love and attention I gave you. Despite the fact that I would do any freaking thing for you- I swear I would have done anything for you, even if it meant..." She shook her head, the smile that overtook her face akin to regret. "The only thing I ever wanted was for someone to love me, adore me; but I guess I don't deserve love anyway." She closed her eyes, as if remembering a painful memory. Slowly cupped her hands over her mouth, making muffled sounds, as another round of tears ran down her face.

I was about to touch her, tell her that even though I didn't love her the way she wanted me to, I really did care about her.

Tell her that I did not want to hurt her and was the reason I kept the truth from her in the first place.

But I hesitated before she would bite my hands off. And besides, I knew she wasn't even going to believe me. So, I just kept standing, staring at her as she sobbed out her broken heart.

"I blame me too, you know," she removed her hands from her mouth, swallowed and spoke. "I put you first so much that I lost my best friend, lmao." She took in short breaths, her chest heaving up and down. "And the funniest thing is, even now, I don't hate you. I don't think I ever will. I'm still very much in love with you." She sniffed. Swallowed. "But I've learned now that my love can never be reiterated, ever."

My head jerked then, and I was going to tell her that it wasn't true. That she wasn't unloved. But I didn't even have the chance to. Because immediately she said that, she ran off.

And even after a teacher finally came to disperse the crowd, telling everyone to get a move on to the almost-finished assembly, I still stood in my spot, staring at where Chidera had just left, mulling over everything she had told me and all the words I couldn't say to her.

So much for being Ore Jumai.

Hi, guys.

This chapter made me sad.😪 And I hope it met your expectations. I'm not sure it met mine, though. Because I still feel like I have to edit it.😪

Anyway, let me know your thoughts on it. Blow up this place with comments! 😂

Anyway sha. Shout-out to my baby _atangemem_ and the rest of y'all who pestered me for an update. I love you guys.❤️ Take butterfly. 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

I hope it goes round, though. But if it doesn't, let me know. So I can get more from Emstores.😂❤️

Okay, guys. Take care. And see you whenever I see you.

God bless you.❤️

~ Ife. 🦋❤️✨