That's Irene at the media 😊

IRENE

A smile touched my lips as I remembered what day it was. It was the twenty sixth day in the month of May, my boyfriend's birthday. My big baby was finally turning nineteen.

My excitement was obvious even in the way I blow dried my hair with the hair dryer. I did it with so much enthusiasm. I just had my bath and would be on my way to TY's in a bit. All of the guys would be meeting up there including Osaze. She was one of us again.

We were almost done with our WAEC exams, just a paper to go and we'll be free and not all of us would take NECO, just Kiki and Zion.

"Irene can I borrow your hair brush?" Ivy asked as she walked into my room in her school uniform.

"Yeah sure take it." I replied with a shrug as I did my skincare routine carefully.

"Ahhhh!" She screamed and I turned in panic.

"What is the matter?!"

"This is the first time you're letting me take your hair brush even though I come here almost everyday to ask. You'd always say your hairbrush is your personal belonging and it should not be shared. What happened today?"

I hissed loudly and turn to face my mirror continuing my skincare routine. "Are you taking it or not?"

"Oh it's because today is your boyfriend's birthday abi."

I shot her mock glare through my mirror. "Aunty drop my hair brush and get out of my room."

"My boss, don't get mad at me, I was just teasing." I rolled my eyes with a small smile on my lips and looked away. "Anyway where is the party holding?" She asked again and I sighed. The girl was a handful.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school now?" I asked and she scoffed, loudly.

"It's not like I'll be punished. The newly appointed punctuality prefect has a crush on me. And the labor prefect, he's head over heels for me. How about the head girl, she's a fan." She flipped her hair and took a pose like she was having a shoot.

Ivy had gained so much fame as she was trending on every blog while I took a well deserved break from modeling.

"Ivy you should go to school, you need to be of good conduct no matter the amount of fame you have or you could be homeschooled."

"Homeschooled!" She shrieked.

"Yes ma'am. Now get going, it's past eight." I responded dismissively.

"Alright, see you later!" She said and skipped out of my room.

My room door was pulled open again and I groaned loudly. "Shouldn't you already be out Ivy?"

"Did you say Ivy or Ivory?" I turned to the door immediately. It was Ivory. Exactly four months after the whole Mayowa issue and there had been changes in the home. Ivory was trying to work her way back into the music space again and it was harder than it should be because she was already pronounced dead.

Immediately after the incident with Mayowa, mum wanted to keep everything on a low but that wasn't successful because of Ivory who had been pronounced dead was suddenly walking on the surface of earth. The only option left was to let the general public know about everything that went down. We held a press conference.

The first few weeks were hard for mum and Ivory but with time, things began to fall into place and she was welcomed warmly into one of the biggest record labels in the country.

All in all, things have been going great and all that had happened was finally behind us.

"I didn't know you were the one," I said and she walked towards me. "That girl is just a lot to handle."

"She's just like you were when we were younger." She said and smiled.

"No ma'am. I was easier to handle." I replied in my defense.

She decided to let my statement go as she smiled. "I just came around to check up on you before I leave." She said adjusting her braids gently. I watched her with sheer admiration. How she was coming out of all that happened stronger was more than inspiring to me.

"Where are you going to?" I asked. "Aren't you supposed to come with me to TY's?" I asked again a small frown creasing my brows.

"I thought I told you," she started. I arched a brow letting her know that I wasn't getting it. She sighed loudly. "I have an appointment with Steph Dakoba, she's featuring me on one of the songs for her new album." She said and I nodded in realization.

"Yeah you told me, it's fine. Go have fun sis!" I would have really loved to have Ivory come with us to TY's place for the small party we were having but I knew better than to have her with us when she could be making music with Steph Dakoba. Steph Dakoba could be Ivory's ticket to finally owning her space in the musical world. The two time Grammy award winner could make you fall in love with anything as far as she puts it into music so Ivory going was great news.

Ivory smiled again as she walked to my door. "Send my good wishes to your boyfriend." I crimsoned at the sound of that.

"He's has a name you know!" I said pushing back the smile that was about to form on my face.

She snorted loudly chanting 'Irene has a boyfriend' in a singsong voice making me smile at my reflection. Honestly, I wouldn't train my family for anything in this world.

➪➪➪➪➪

"Irene you're finally here!" Kiki called out in excitement as she rushed towards me engulfing me in a hug. I returned the hug with the same enthusiasm she gave.

"Madam the madam, why did you take so much time?" Ola who sat on TY's laps asked throwing me a glance. I simply rolled my eyes as I went to greet the rest.

"Where is Desmond?" I asked Osaze.

"He- Oh there he is." She said and I whipped my head to where the door.

"Everything is set, let's head over to the garden." We planned a small surprise party for Theodore at the place he took me to for a date after I accepted his apology. We decided to pick that place because it was like a beautiful private Garden.

"How are you baby?" Desmond asked as he walked over to me placing a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"Can you stop doing that?" Zion asked with a mock frown on his face. "She has a boyfriend now so respect that fact."

Desmond turned to him with a smile. "It doesn't matter, she's still my little sweetheart." She said pulling my cheeks softly and I couldn't help but wonder how they were talking about me like I wasn't even present.

"Yeah, it's cute until it's your girlfriend that has the male best friend." Zion said rolling his eyes skidding away playfully. Desmond followed him probably with the aim of hitting him.

I heard a soft sigh beside me and I turned to Osaze who was staring at the empty space that Zion stood a while ago. "Hey Osaze." I said to her notifying her of my presence. She turned to me with a small smile.

"Are you fine?" I asked and she nodded.

"Sure, why would you even think I'm not fine." She said with a giggle. A fake one, might I add. Myself and the girl had become unbelievably close.

If anyone had told me that I would be as close to Osaze as I was, I would have probably laughed so hard that the person would've felt humiliated.

"I'm asking because of Zion. Are you fine being around him all the time?" I asked, this time with concern.

"Asides the guilt and regret I feel, I'm fine." I did feel bad for her.

"Irene, Osaze. Hurry up!" TY called.

Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, we walked to the rest of the guys and got into the cars. Kiki, Zion, Desmond and I got into Desmond's car while Ola, TY and Osaze got into TY's car. In no time, we were at the garden.

After everything had been set, the guy went to hide behind the curtain-like leaves and I put a call across to Theodore as I took a seat at the entrance. He was about to receive the shock of his life.

Twenty minutes passed and I still didn't see Theodore. I was about giving up and returning to where the guys were when I heard his voice. "Babe, you called." He stated, I turned to him and it took the Grace of God for me not go to drop my facade. Theodore looked fresh out of an oven. In other words he looked breathtaking without even trying.

He had a white shirt on and an army green pair of shorts to go with. His hair was in a tight bun while little tendrils escaped making him look like a piece of cake. His sliver studded ears was the icing on the cake. I gave him a once over shamelessly and as my eyes scanned his face, I recognized the look he had on to be that of worry.

It's your birthday champ, smile!

I smacked myself inwardly when I remembered that he was here because of the tone in which I used to speak to him over the phone. When we got to the garden with the guys, I was asked to put a call across to him and act like I was angry.

"Come on, it'd be worth it in the end." Kiki said for the third time as I kept whining like a baby. I didn't want to do it. The poor boy would be worried for no good reason.

"She has a point Irene, I'd totally do it to TY if we were planning a surprise." Ola added and pouted at her boyfriend who arched his brows in confusion.

"Well fine!" I exhaled. It was not like I had a choice anyway. I grabbed my phone and dialed Theodore's number while watching the girls throwing me looks and gestures of sheer approval. Rolling my eyes at their enthusiasm, I walked to a silent place to make the call.

"Hi Princess." Theodore called in his rich alluring voice the moment he picked up the call. He didn't sound like he was pissed that I didn't wish him happy birthday. It was already about 11am. We planned it all out two weeks before now, that some of the guys would wish him a happy birthday while others wouldn't so as to kill any suspicions he might have had. Theodore was a smarty pants anyway, he could figure that we had something planned for him.

"Theodore, we need to talk urgently." I said my voice stoic. How I was able to do that was still a surprise to me.

"Theodore? What happened to babe? Princess what is the matter?" He asked worry evident in his voice.

"Come meet me at the garden where we had our first date. I'll be waiting and don't keep me waiting for long." I instructed and ended the call afterwards not giving him a chance to talk back. I needed to be mean as possible.

So seeing him standing fee meters away from me looking worried didn't come as a surprise. "Babe..." he drawled out as he watched me stare at him expressionlessly.

"Come with me," I spat and made my way towards the curtain nature had draped making the place an even better sight. Not hearing any footsteps behind me, I turned with a frown. "Are you coming or not?" I asked in feigned irritation.

He quickly followed me and when we got to the natural curtain, I pulled it away and walked in, Theodore behind me.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone shouted coming out of their hiding spots. It took a while for it to sink in my boyfriend's head. He turned to a smiling me and to the guys who were grinning from ear to ear.

"Wha- How? Oh my goodness, thanks guys." He said as a beautiful smile stretched across his lips.

"No you should thank Irene." Zion said and he turned to me looking down at me in the most intense way. I tensed a bit as he placed his hands on my cheeks, thumbs caressing slowly. I couldn't get used to his touch, it sends a different feeling up my spine every time.

I watched as he drank me in with his eyes making me feel more self conscious than I already was. Slowly, he pressed his forehead against mine and his smiled broadened as he whispered to me. "I love you so much, Demilade."

I ought to have gotten used to him telling me that but for some reason, it still made my heart race. "You have no idea how special you are." He continued, eyes penetrating mine.

"Um, this is getting awkward, can y'all do this later," Desmond whined and Zion seconded him.

"Yeah, don't be like TY and Ola." He said throwing TY a wink.

"Excuse me?" Ola yelled in annoyance.

While they were bickering, we were still in each other's arms drowning ourselves in the moment.

"Come on guys, let's enjoy the party!" Osaze said and the rest of the guys followed her and they began setting up what needed to be put in place. It was a picnic style party with varieties, ranging from food to drinks. It was going g to be lit!

After what felt like forever, Theodore finally turned to where the guys who already forgot about us were. "Come on baby, let's go."

As he took my hand in his and walked to the guys cheerfully, I couldn't help take myself on a walk down the memory lane to the day I went to the pool to sulk after I found out Theodore hadn't heard of me before. Looking back now, it all seemed funny and I didn't know when I laughed out loud.

Theodore and the guys turned to me with weary looks on their faces. "What's up?" Desmond asked.

"I love you." I said to Theodore, stood on my tiptoes and kissed him not caring that the guys were watching.

*

What's good guys? I know I've been away for the longest time and in my defense, in this short time that I've been away, I've written more exams than I have in my life.

I cringed severally while writing this chapter and for some reason I feel like I'm not giving it my best. I'd really love to know what y'all think of this chapter. We have just two more chapter to go for this book to end *finally* 😪 and there will be an epilogue, of course.

The next book in the series, Beyond the Reef will start next month. I'm not sure if it should be on New Year's Day or on my birthday but whichever one it is, it'll still be in January.

I know I have said a lot. Well the next chapter would be our babies leaving high school 😊

I honestly can't wait to end this book, it feels like it have been going on for a very very long time.

PS: I'm still writing exams oh, like I have an exam by noon but I decided to drop this one for y'all. Yeah you're welcome 😌

Alright, I'm out.

Word Count: 2407