DOUBLE UPDATES!!!! (Just gimme some minutes, the next update will be here soon)

These chapters are particularly sooo exciting to write 'cause I'd love to see how attentive y'all are! Let's see how much you can pick up from these characters!

Oh, and in my last chapter, who noticed my mention of Crestview International Academy from the new book that Iyanuoluwa-Temi will soon be bringing to Wattpad??????????
(I was screaming yesterday because she officially decided to make that character 'Kristin' the sibling of one of her main characters!! Love you, Tem Tem😫😫🔥🔥)

~DABI~

"So, this is how the Polygraph Lie Detector works, you attach all these to your thumbs and other parts of your body, and I connect it to Dabi's Laptop, and when you're asked a question, if you say the answer, it observes reactions from your body like your blood pressure, changes in breathing pattern, or sweating on your palms, to determine if you're saying the truth or telling a lie...."

I can't believe I had a chance to run away and I missed it.

Soma was the one elaborating to us how the Lie Detector worked. Aaron and Casper were looking at it like the thing were a biological specimen. Chika looked highly fascinated by it. The twins, who had long joined us and were seemingly 'back to normal' watched quietly, both girls, looking something in between impressed or amused.

"So, how are we supposed to be sure it's a hundred percent accurate?" Krisdana, however, seemed skeptical as she observed the things that Soma had displayed for us to see on the table.

The fact that Krisdana Moe actually ditched her cousin in a heartbeat to play this little game Soma had come up with was what I didn't understand. A part of me felt she was staying because she felt obligated to, especially after meeting the twin's baby brother, a few minutes ago.

She had bought the food she was supposed to buy, tossed it into the car that had her cousins inside, and didn't even bother to explain what was happening as she just dumped them to come sit with us.

Well. Ivandor, her cousin, eventually drove off without her. Nigga clearly didn't have the strength to be stressed. Figures, he looked like someone who didn't like to be bothered by a lot of things.

"Well, Kris.." Soma started to explain. "Of course, a lie detector is never a hundred percent accurate. But you have to be a professional, almost criminal liar to be able to beat it."

"Interesting." Ebere mused, seemed to be amused by Soma's statement.

"Yeah, but then what if you're saying the truth, and it says it's a lie?" Casper asked Soma.

Soma frowned. "That can't happen!"

"Yes, it can," Krisdana countered. "You said it determines a lie or truth from reactions our body gives like our blood pressure, changes in breathing pattern, or sweating on your palms -"

"It's the fact that she remembered everything Soma said in the exact order for me," Chika conspiringly whispered to Aaron.

"Nerd!" Aaron chuckled and conspiringly whispered back to Chika, play mocking Krisdana who just rolled her eyes at the goof.

"Exactly," It was Casper that took over from Krisdana. "Humans' breathing stops when they lie, and they also sweat a lot. And when they are put any form of tension or pressure, or panic, it can alter their blood pressure as well. Yeah?"

"Uh huh?" Soma nodded in agreement.

"But then, we don't always have these reactions from our body when we lie. We can have it right before going for a game..." He looked to Aaron, who nodded in agreement.

"For sure!" The boy gave a thumbs up.

"Or, even before one of Charlie Ba's tests...." Krisdana added, looking around everyone on the table and they also seemed to agree.

"Fact," Chika quipped. Agreed to that one.

 "And even before starting this game, the fact that we are going to be hooked to a machine that will know if we are lying is also enough to make us really nervous," Casper then elaborated. "Nervousness: A feeling that will trigger the same responses from our body when we lie."

"Exactly," Krisdana agreed. "So, how is the machine going to differentiate a lie from that innocent feeling of nervousness?"

Exactly.

"You see, that's the thing, Polygraphs work more with the measure of Anxiety, than ordinary nervousness," Soma answered.

I see.

 "There is a low possibility that you will feel anxiety when you're telling the truth. It's not impossible, but chances are that you most likely won't feel anxious the moment you say the truth. You'd feel relieved, to say. So, that is taken into consideration," Soma explained.

"That makes sense, oya let's start!" Aaron started to fondle with the stuff on the table like a child.

Soma slapped his hand.

"Ow," He massaged his wrists, "Your hand is painful, though."

I'm a living witness.

"Really." Aaron turned to me, eyes wide in surprise, and the moment I realised I spoke out loud, my eyes bulged out of its sockets.

"The Polygraph lie detector cannot be accurate all the time," Soma successfully distracted me and Aaron from each other. "However, it is more likely that it may mistake a lie for a truth, than a truth for a lie."

"And besides, it's all just for fun, naw!" Chika cried. "Whether it's accurate or not, it's all fun!"

"It is accurate!" Soma swore. "Okay, lemme go first and show you guys! Someone ask me some questions so we can test run and check out the accuracy of this thing!"

The way Soma was so excited about playing the Truth Game with a Lie Detector, I wondered if she was totally sure about this.... 

Anything that had to do with being a hundred percent truthful had always been very scary to me... Especially since there was that eerie, lingering fear that my whole world is just a lie, and has been a lie for a long time and I can't just see it....?

And maybe if it was a lie, then, I didn't want to hear the truth.

And honestly, no one did. No one liked the truth. So, was Soma sure about this? Were we all sure about this?

"Connect it, Casper!" Soma seemed too excited. "You'll have to read out the results from Dabi's Laptop after you connect it to the Polygraph!"

She was yelling in excitement as she hooked the items and those things she had called 'pneumographs' around her body and her hands, and I just watched and had an overall bad feeling about this.

"I love how you expect me to work this thing by myself, but I got it!" Casper just laughed to himself, as he started some work on my laptop and the Polygraph, busily doing something I had no single idea about. Probably connecting them to my laptop.

"Okay, it's all set up! Who wants to ask Soma anything?" Casper asked us.

"Me." Ebere volunteered easily. "I'll ask Soma first."

"Why am I suddenly getting so nervous, oh my God!" Soma cried in mock agony.

"Relax, Soma, just say the truth and you'll be fine!" Chika was laughing.

"Okay, okay. I'm ready!" She kept prepping herself, "Ebere, just try to keep the questions in a manner that require Yes or No answers, so it's easier to determine!" 

"Oh, oh, oh!" Soma was still saying. "And remember, this is just a test run, you can just start with simple questions that aren't too deep, so we see how efficient this thing is, okay?"

"Don't give me orders." Ebere deadpanned.

"Sorry," Soma giggled, covered her mouth in embarrassment.

Ebere decided to start with the test runs, and Chika and Aaron watched between Soma, Casper, and the twins with all focus that it was almost funny. Krisdana basically observed.

"Easy stuff, right?" Ebere said. "Okay, umm... Is your name Somadina Kasarachi Best?"

Soma nodded easily. "Yes!"

Casper raised a thumbs up as he looked up from the Laptop screen to read the results. "That's true!"

Okay.

"Do you go to Castron High in Lekki, Lagos State?" Ebere threw another easy question.

"Yup! Yes, I do!" Soma chirped.

Another thumbs up from Casper indicated it was another truth.

"Guy!" Aaron slapped his hand over his mouth in absolute awe.

"It's a lie, ask another one!" Chika couldn't it too, and she and Aaron were almost climbing over each other to peer into the whole game even more.

A smile grazed Krisdana's lips as though she were impressed.

"Okay, umm...." Ebere shrugged. "Is your favourite colour, I don't know, pink?"

Soma frowned, confused. "No?"

"True." Casper quipped.

"That's your favourite colour, Ebere," Soma said. "My favourite colour is Turquoise!"

"Also another truth," Casper gave another thumbs up, and everyone laughed.

"Okay, wait wait wait, Soma!" An excited Chika came in, "I'll ask Soma next! Do you speak any Russian?"

There was a small laughter that came out from everyone's lips. Including Soma.

"Well..." Soma smiled. "Yes. I do speak Russian."

"LIE!" Aaron slammed on the table, disbelief all over him.

"Actually..." Casper alerted everyone, eyes, wide, on the screen like he could not believe what he was seeing. "She's..... telling the truth."

Woah.

"I speak over 50 different languages," Soma told everyone. "Russian, included!"

Aaron looked like a horror movie. It almost made me laugh.

"Funny how we've known each other since we were kids and I don't even know this about you," Casper chipped in.

"I don't think we can ever know everything that Somadina Best can do," Ebere made that clear.

"Seconded," Ebube came in. "Somadina Best; the one girl that can do anything or learn any skill without any form of tutorials whatever."

"Actually, I use Duolingo, but you can say that," Soma giggled.

"You're like a jack of all trades, that's dope." Krisdana couldn't help, but comment.

Soma covered her face, shy. "Oh, stop! You flatter me!"

"At least, I have a French tutor from now on," Aaron declared, paused for a moment, then looked to Soma. "Wait.. you speak French too, right?"

"Oui," Soma nodded vibrantly. "Je parle francaise et je peux vous donner des cours."

"Look, I don't know what the hell you just said, but that was so cool!" Aaron clearly couldn't contain his excitement.

A small laugh escaped my lips. One that Aaron heard, and the boy looked over his shoulder to throw me a little smile.

I still didn't understand why he was being so nice to me. But, I didn't return the smile.

Needless to say, it wasn't seeming so bad here. Slowly.

"Okay, okay, why don't we try testing on someone else? Casper?" Krisdana suggested.

The boy was fast to jump into Soma's place, and Soma replaced him on his previous job on the Laptop.

"Let's go!" Soma clapped.

"Okay! Casper!" Kris was ready, warming up and everything. "Is your name azumabugazruzakresdgtrdfjsukamwbdlwkwolkx?"

"Wait, what?" Someone said, and Aaron alongside the rest of us... Including me.... were actually laughing at the question.

I was shocked at how easily Casper kept his composure. As much as he wanted to laugh too, his general reaction to the question managed to not go past that smirk that was fixed on his face.

The light skin boy cleared his throat to answer, fought back a laugh. "Yes. That's my name."

"For sho!" Aaron quipped for his friend, and both of them sniggered, and gave each other a high five.

"It's an obvious lie," Soma told us all, shaking her head at both boys. "The polygraph lines hit the top of the screen; a clear indication of a straight up lie."

We didn't even need the Polygraph to confirm that one for us.

"Well, your polygraph is wrong, because that's Casper's real name for a fact!" Aaron kept joking around.

"Tell them, my bruvha!" Casper easily backed his guy up.

I took a moment to wonder what the deal with these boys was. I couldn't exactly crack their code. I mean, they seemed so jovial and fun and happy on the outside, but ever since what I had witnessed the whole scenario with them and those Ss2 boys, there was that lingering eerie, demeanour to them that scared the crap out of me. One that made me wonder if there was not something really, really not right about them.

I wish I could just find out what was off about Aaron and Casper.

And that's when it hit me. A smile grazed upon my lips, and stretched far and wide, as the realization hit me;

We were playing a Truth Game after all. And we had a polygraph to confirm our every word and ensure we speak the truth and nothing but the truth...... Right?

That just simply meant that I had the power right now to find out whatever, anything, everything that I wanted to know about these boys, with the confidence that they would not be able to tell a lie and get away with it.

I took my time to glance all across the room. From Aaron and Casper. To Chika. To Krisdana. To Soma. And to the twins..... specifically Ebube.... I realised that this may just be a once in a lifetime opportunity to find out everything that had always plagued a question in my head about them.

In a sick way, I was now very much invested in this little game Soma brought about.

"You look like you want to go next, Dabi," Krisdana announced my presence to the whole table.

I froze. She caught me smiling.

"Oh! Dabi should go next!" Soma was very happy to urge me on.

"Come and take a seat, baby girl. It's your call," Chika smiled at me and patted on the empty 'hot seat'.

I didn't know how to feel about this. But, I mean, if I agreed to play this game with them, and find out everything I wanted to know, then I should have expected to also be hooked to that machine eventually to be asked questions as well.

"I'll ask her," Krisdana volunteered, as Soma connected those things around my body, and around my fingers.

It felt so..... weird. Like, thick thread was tied lightly around my fingers, and something that felt like seatbelts were strapped around my body, loosely.

"Alright, are you ready?" Krisdana asked me.

"I guess so," I muttered. Only God knows if she heard me.

The others had their eyes on me. Watching so eagerly, and I found it difficult to even make eye contact with anyone. The only person that I had accidentally looked directly at was Chika, and she gave a warming, reassuring smile that everything was going to be fine.

Hopefully.

"Alright, Dabi," Krisdana went right to it. My heart was beating. Badly.

Three...

Two..

One...

"Are you dating Marcus Acha?"

That question caught me totally off-guard.

I looked to Krisdana's pretty face, hoping I didn't hear her question correctly.

She couldn't have asked me that.

But the 'reaction' from everyone else on hearing the question made me confirm the reality that indeed, that question was posed to me.

Aaron and Casper basically just looked like they were waiting for an answer. A small confused frown married Chika's face showing something in between discomfort, confusion, and irritation. The twins looked as basic as a rock. Not the least bit ecstatic. Soma looked surprised.

Krisdana didn't expect me to say I was dating Marcus Acha, did she? I knew the rumours were aggressive, but people didn't really think we were dating, right? How many more people thought that I was dating him?

"C'mon, Dabi. Answer." That was Ebere, a straight look in her eyes as she deadpanned.

"No." I told them. "No, we aren't dating. Not even close."

"Dabi's telling the truth!" Soma was quick to inform everyone, as she looked at the results from the laptop screen.

Thank God. Thank God that thing didn't frame me.

"Wait, for real? They're not together?" Aaron seemed to be in disbelief, himself. "Well, that's a shocker."

"Oh, big shocker," Casper agreed.

"I thought you were dating him," Krisdana said to me, "But, oh well. CH and rumours, I should have known."

Was she indirectly confirming that there was a new rumour going around that I was actually dating Marcus Acha?

"But, are you two like having a thing or something?" Krisdana pressed on.

I swallowed. Hard. Yet, answered. "No. Nothing of the sort."

Soma seemed to look confused as she stared at the screen where she was supposed to be reading the results from, and I got worried.

My heart started to thump and I started getting overly conscious of the things Soma had attached round my body and my fingers, wondering if the spiritual thing was picking up these minor details of panic that was starting to build up in me.

Why was Soma wasting time to read the results? Was it something to be worried about?

"This is weird..." Soma muttered, narrowing her eyes as she got her face closer to take a better look at the laptop screen.

"What's that?" Aaron asked.

"It's like there's a balance between a lie and a truth." Soma told us.

What?

"Like it's uncertain?" Krisdana asked.

"Yeah," Soma nodded, "Like, Dabi isn't even sure of her answer."

Oh, boy.

I avoided all the gazes on me. Looked everywhere, but at the faces that stared at me.

I didn't know how they expected me to have an explanation. Because I didn't.

"What if it's because she's had one too many encounters with him, though?" Chika said, "Maybe that's what's causing the confusion. Maybe that's why Dabi cannot exactly decipher or explain to he mind in clear details what's really going on with she and Acha?"

"They've been put in some pretty implicating circumstances though," Soma agreed.

"Or, Dabz......" Chika looked to me, a raised eyebrow that showed her inquisitiveness. "You and Acha have something going on? Is there something you'd like to tell us?"

I knew it took all of Chika's energy to not vomit as she said that, or rather asked that.

The last thing that the Sisters would want to hear is that there was something going on with me and Acha...... Luckily, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. I don't know why that Lie Detector says it's uncertain, because I was sure there was not a thing.

Right?

"But you like him, though?" Krisdana smirked at me, teasing.

I inhaled Nitrogen gas. It had to be Nitrogen, because that shit wasn't oxygen.

"No." I answered barely.

"Then, why the hell won't everyone leave y'all the fuck alone!" Krisdana ranted all of a sudden, causing laughs to be heard.

I fail to understand too.

However, in the middle of the laughter caused by Krisdana's rants....

I noticed something.

Soma had not read the results of my answer.

Yet, her eyes seemed to be staring something down on the screen like she was absolutely and completely stunned. Dumbfounded. Stupefied.

I didn't ask why. And luckily, no one else did.

"Alright, alright! Maybe, someone else should go." Soma seemed to be trying to pave a distraction away from me for some reason.

I only wondered what she saw on that screen that made her so agitated. But, I was glad she was pulling attention away from me. Sitting on that seat with