Guys, this update was supposed to come yesterday.

You know what happened, lol? I was about to come here and type and then... I saw the votes on chapter five.

All the vibe left my body in seconds.

100 plus reads, and about twenty something votes. Fam, I was absolutely drained and seconds was all it took for me to lose every vibe, energy, and strength to update again.

I appreciate your engagement tbh, I absolutely love the fact that you read this book, but please, voting is also very encouraging. You don't understand this, voting can go a long way to encourage and discourage a writer. I can come here, all pumped to dish out double updates or even triple for you guys and I see the votes and just shut down.

Please, vote. If you like a chapter, I don't see why you won't vote.

A part of me feels this would still be ignored and at the end of the day, I'll come here to see 200 reads and probably 10 votes or something, this time around. But okay😥

I just thank God I was able to finish this chapter in time to post today, and to be honest, if not for the comments, I don't know when next I would have updated. So, if you commented or voted, God bless you, you're the reason this update is here❤️

~ACHA~

"Hottest girl in the building?"

One of the guys popped the question, and I noticed that Sean who, with me, was full into the thriving conversation with the other boys, had his smile gone, face, visibly dropped in unamusement, brow raised, clearly unimpressed, the moment he saw JJ, rolling some weed.

I almost face palmed.

Weed. Sean absolutely hated it - and my goodness, the guy just didn't know how to hide his irritation.

I almost asked him if seeing JJ do things like this - smoking weed, for example - was even supposed to be new to him.

"Alfa." Another guy answered the first guy. "Alfa, hands down! That girl fine die!"

And so brethren, that was how it happened.

That was how I ended up, alongside with Sean , mixing up with the infamous notorious boys of our set, drinking the night away, inhaling over and over, the stench of cigarettes and alcohol, and involving in a verbal rating and ranking session for all the girls, present in the party.

How did Sean and I get to know guys like this? Long ass story.

To be honest, in a way, I had no detailed explanation for it. All I knew was that somehow, JJ's closeness with this rebellion of rule breakers and termed 'terrorists' of the set, had eventually started to slowly rub off on me and Sean.

JJ, as he always declared he wanted to be called, was someone that Sean and I had known for years now, and I kid you not when I say that we have known this nigga way back, even before he started to speak.

JJ's full name? Jeffery Jarah Jarah.

And we all practically grew up together.

However, JJ was always two years younger than us, but as far and as long as we had known the guy, he always had a flair for trying out things that were too 'explicit' for his age - one of the problems our parents and his parents, always had with him.

JJ started watching pornography before he was in primary school.

JJ smoked his first cigarette in primary two. Oh yes. Sean and I were ten, and he was just barely clocking eight years old, at the time.

He started involving himself in petty robbery at the age of ten.

He had been in and out of Juvenile detention before he even became a teenager.

At age thirteen, he stole his own father's Mazda car and attempted to drive it to school. Of course, he had ended up in an accident, and would have ended up in juvi again if not for the fact that he almost lost his life.

And then in SS1, JJ befriended Kaniru George - the set's infamous drug dealer and bully.

Now, today, all thanks to our very own JJ, peep Sean and I, sitting, mingling, and guffawing in the very midst of Kaniru's bad boys - even if at his absence, for now.

And no, we weren't particularly close to them, but I had to admit it that the amount of time we spent with these guys, was quite unhealthy.

"I'd totally tap that Kisha chick, she on fire tonight!" JJ was the one who had publicly announced his probable conquest and even though the guys kept hailing him on, I couldn't help but feel like he sounded absolutely ridiculous.

"Will you shut up your mouth? Tap what?" It was Sean who attacked JJ immediately, didn't even waste time to communicate his thoughts, and even though it was laughed off, I knew Sean was not joking.

Funny how some girls in our set didn't even realise that they were older than this JJ who knew how to run his mouth... But in their defence, you couldn't know JJ was only barely turning 15 just by looking at him.

While Sean had a baby-like attractiveness that made you want to 'aww' when you looked at his dark, dimple punctuated face, JJ, rather, looked like the stoner that he was.

However, I'd give this to the guy - JJ was actually built like a god. He had well defined muscles that were almost too prominent for a 'kid' his age. He was also graced with a basketballer's height, a model's face, clear brown skin, and a perfect set of white teeth, which surprised me because I always wondered how his teeth could be so white even with the unhealthy pattern of his smoking habit.

"Don't you think you've had enough of that, man?" Sean raised an annoyed brow at JJ when he started to rolling another joint.

JJ only threw his head back and laughed. Sean didn't laugh, Didn't even make an attempt to smile or act like he was the least bit impressed. And what did JJ do? Well, he still ended up still smoking his shit anyway.

If I was being honest with myself, JJ's friendship with these wayward boys didn't exactly sit well with me. I mean, the boys were actually cool, and to an extent, fun to be around when they weren't going too far with their antics and pranks. Majorly, we had bonded with them over Basketball, but even with all that, one fact about them always always unsettled me.

They were drug dealers.

If that wasn't clear enough, I didn't do drugs.

Infact, that was where I drew the line.

I wasn't quite sure where Sean stood with them on the issue of drugs. Sure, he didn't do drugs too, and in many ways that surprised me, Sean was actually a very grounded human being. But asides his personal and inward hatred for weed specifically, I knew he didn't particularly care if a person was into drugs or any other similar shit like that, in general.

So, I didn't fully understand why he was always hot and cold with Kaniru's boys. I mean, sometimes he'd be cool with them, and sometimes, he just wasn't.

A part of me felt that Sean hated to see JJ going astray so easily, since he was literally like a little brother to us, so once in a while, he drew his line with the boys.

Another part deep down in me honestly felt like Sean was a bit jealous of JJ's closeness to the boys. He didn't hate the boys, not at all, he may actually have also felt they were cool people. I felt he only started to have issues with the boys when it started to look like like JJ was placing more importance on them over us... or specifically, over him. That explained his usual switches in his attitude towards them.

Like I said before, Sean could get unnecessarily possessive over a lot of things. I didn't even know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

That's why deep down in me, I knew that if he saw that video, he was most likely to handle things in the most drastic way possible.

And that couldn't happen.

"Oh, hell no, I didn't just hear you crown that jumpy blabbermouth yellow bitch the best looking girl in this party."

I didn't recognise the voice of the female who had just unapologetically walked into our gathering with a friend, just as one of the guys was still talking about Hassana Alfa.

Maranathans. The two of them were Maranatha girls.

And with just one look, I instantly recognised them both, the shorter one on ponytail, and the bigger one with the huge afro, to be the same girls who had started the 'twerk down' that caused commotion, just some minutes ago.

"Dead it, boys." The afro girl spoke casually, pulling out a cigar stick for one of the guys, Jagun, to light for her, "Your little CH girls are no match for we, Maranathans." She puffed smoke into the air, as she lighted her friend's stick.

Well, the guys were quite quick to admit them in and before I knew it, they were easily flowing with them and sparking an easy connection.

"What about you, Marc? What do you think?" Afro girl directed the question to me.

I looked at her once and knew what she was doing. I became even more certain when she started coming over my way.

"Who'd you rather?" She got even closer to me, smirk intact, bent to lean in close, and I lost my breath for a second when I felt her hands on my thighs, and the boys around me were a hooting mess by now.

Afro girl didn't even care about the attention she was bringing to herself.

"CH girls...?" She smiled, made sure I got a view of her cleavage in that position, nearly choking me with a breath that reeked of cigarettes, "Or Maranatha girls?"

She was hitting on me.

As flattering a fact that was.. How do I get myself out of this?

Well, I actually didn't. With the excessive noise the guys were making on watching the scene, something in me felt all pumped up and high.

And that was how I decided to play along with this girl.

A smirk crept on my lips and I bit my lower lip slightly, matching her flirty look, head, tilted to the side. "Why do I feel like I shouldn't dare to give you an answer you won't like?"

Her smirk turned into a teasing smile, and when those eyes of hers' lit up, it almost felt like I could see every bad thought through them.

"Oya, Kiki and Sydney, it af do. Let's bounce!" Someone had called out to the Maranatha girls, and I recognised the new voice to belong to one of the ghetto girls in our set.

"Chill a sec, Ajiro!" Afro girl had called out, intent on staying with me a while longer, and Ajiro had already picked up the other ponytail girl.

"I'll text you, handsome," Afro girl circled her long nails on my chest.

And how will you get my number?

"I have my ways," She replied, and I pretended not to be shocked at the fact that she had replied my thoughts. Okay.

"The name's Victoria," Afro girl didn't stop drawing circles on my chest. "Friends call me Kiki.." She added, leaned in close to whisper into my ears, "But you can call me baby."

"Kiki oo!" One of the girls called out.

Afro girl winked at me, before leaving with ponytail girl and Ajiro.

I could finally breathe when she was gone.

"Brahhhhh!" Sean shouted, "She was TOTALLY hitting on you!"

That was how the showers of praises from the boys began.

"Acha, you're the man!"

"No other like you oo, boss!"

"Ladies Magnet!"

"Gimme some of that charm, man!"

"Man like Acha!"

I liked it.

Kill me if you may, I loved the praise. As a matter of fact, I didn't even want them to stop.

"Nah, but for real, she's pretty though.." Sean nudged me, couldn't stop being so happy.

"Her friend is finer, abeg!" Another guy said.

"She's got more ass than her friend, who fine face epp!" JJ cackled loudly, and the entire sofa was shaking as the boys broke into a fit of hysteric laughing.

"You guys, you guys, you guys..." JJ was calling back attention to himself, "I know a chick hotter than both girls combined!"

Interesting.

"Have you SEEN Affah's new Benz?!!" He roughly shook the shoulders of the Affah guy by his right - a lanky boy who was smiling like he just won a trophy, while the boys were hailing his new ride.

"Man, man, man, look! No backing down! I've already told Kaniru oo, when he shows up, we're jacking that ride tonight! We're going to cruise, guy! We're going to shut down Lagos, Fam!" JJ was still rapping, and all the other boys were quickly and easily agreeing to the plan.

Sean stopped smiling.

"I don't get." He said his mind.

Everyone turned to Sean and I prayed something would touch him to shut up.. but no. No such luck.

"Are you guys mad?" Sean looked just as irritated as he sounded. Face, plain as a clean sheet.

The boys were frowning now in confusion, some, starting to even look defensive already, but my guy didn't give a fuck. Not at all. He continued talking, even if I wished he stopped.

"You, JJ. See that your mouth you're opening to shout  'cruise cruise'," He faced a confused as hell JJ.

"Guy, chill na.." I tried to stop him from talking.

"Fimisile," He flung my hand away, faced JJ head on, "You want to shut down Lagos with a car. Shotgun. How old are you?" Sean spat plainly.

"Nigga, watch your mouth." One of the guys with a red cap warned Sean.

"Come and beat me." Sean challenged, without even sparing him a glance.

I leaned back on the sofa, giving up on Sean and sighing in exhaustion as I watched the madness that was about to unfold.

"I think we should calm down small..." JJ was quick to rush into the escalating atmosphere.

I knew why Sean was suddenly acting up. JJ may have been smart enough to pick up the hint too.

"Sean, you can come with us.." He said subtly, and I couldn't help but pick up that slight soft look of respect that JJ, no matter what, had for Sean.

I heard Sean mutter a stubborn 'I don't want', but I doubted anyone else heard it too.

"And besides.." JJ continued, " Affah is the one driving, not me."

Sean frowned, still unimpressed. "So? How old is he?"

"Nigga, the same age as you," Affah's deep defensive voice cut in and I saw the skinny boy thoroughly looking over Sean with annoyance.

"Exactly, mumu." Sean responded immediately. Affah backed up. Mumu?

"We're both seventeen, that's still doesn't change the fact that it's under-aged driving." Sean said.

And that still doesn't change the fact that you don't care, Sean.

He wouldn't care about this kind of thing on a norm. I was a 100% sure he just did not want JJ leaving off with these guys tonight. And I knew Sean, he was ready to stress this on and do whatever he could, as far as JJ did not get to leave this party with these guys.

I was about to come in, and tell everyone to just let it be, and forget about this whole thing as all it seemed to be doing was making a mountain of things.

I was just about to open my mouth when I felt mad chills run through my body.

I saw her first through the corner of my eyes and the suffocating gravity of her stalking stare on me, set me on the edge.... I kept my composure, as best as I could, didn't move or change my leaning position on the couch.

Casually, I turned to look her back square, straight into those plain, stalking eyes of hers.

And.... What the bloody fuck?

~DABI~

"This will be a night to never forget."

Chika's driver had just parked the car in a gigantic spaced compound, that had a magnificient building, mounted in the middle - one I believed was Yure's famous house. The music could already be heard, blaring wildly from even the outside and I could feel every vibration of the bass, right in my goddamn bones, reminding me and making it even more clear to me that indeed, classmates were really inside that huge house, polluting it with vanity.

"You should have stayed back home. You don't belong here."

I had forced my focus away from the voice that only I could hear. And Chika, who was the one that appeared like my guardian angel, saving me from the evil grasps of the demons in my head, placed a warm hand on my shoulder - one that made me feel a whole lot better. Made me feel like I belonged somewhere indeed.

"Relax, Dabs, It's okay." she had smiled at me. Her calm tone went a long way to ease the frail bitch in my chest that was thrashing wildly, and in a way, saved me from the repeated torture that was yet arising in my head.

"This will be a night to never forget." She reassured me, and I smiled. Genuinely.

"Roger that!" Soma nearly deafened me, screaming, as she hopped out of the car, squealing and 'wee-inng' like the little child in a tall girl's body that she was.

The twins rather chose to look more posh and sophisticated, so they stepped down from the car dramatically, hands on akimbo, popping their gum at the exact same time, like they rehearsed this shit.

Together, with the same identical observing eyes, they slowly scanned through every visible feature of the mansion and it's vast, pretty compound. A hint of approval, so identical, flashed across their eyes, satisfied, approving smiles grazed the corners of their lips, as they absolutely admired the ambiguosity and magnificence of this paradise we just stepped into.

They weren't exaggerating with all the hype around Yure's house . Even from the outro, it looked like it should have belonged to a British royal family. The main building looked like a castle - a long, gold and white coloured castle, decorated with excess water fountains, with the biggest one, flowing into a clear blue pool that looked too regal to be in existence.

Fancy beach chairs and furniture, cars and even more cars were decorated all around the diamond tiled grounds of the compound, and especially at the pool side. Coupled with the solar street lights all around the place, that shone and blended a beautiful mix of blue and white, creating a warming feel for the place, I could say it felt like a mini heaven in here.

"Woahhhhhh!" Soma's eyes were wide with pleasant, pleasant shock. She squealed, tugged excitedly on my sleeves. "It feels like I'm in Atlantis!"

"Atlantis, kwa!" Chika laughed heartily.

"Yes, yes." Baby-like eyes widened even more on Chika. "You know? Atlantis?" Here comes Soma's unneeded elaboration and over-exaggerated gestures and hand movements, "The beautiful city under water-"

Under Water? Soma's comparing Yure's mansion to a sea?

"It's like the heaven for disney animation!" Soma was explaining it all, beaming wide excited eyes at me and talking about it like it was ultimate paradise.

As much as I didn't want to, I really thought nothing was capable of making me - I actually laughed.

"Alright, Princess Ariel," Ebere hooked an arm under Somas', deciding to join in the taller girl's madness.

"Let's royally grace into our mermaid castle home, Shall we?" Ebube hooked Soma's other arm as she completed word for Ebere, and I wasn't quite sure if she was just making reference to The Little Mermaid or just indirectly claiming possession of Yure's house already.

"Sisters, you're not okay!" Chika laughed at the girls, and we all ended up laughing together, as we walked into the building.

It suddenly didn't feel so bad for me after having a few laughs with the girls, and listening to Soma tell us about her favourite animation sea homes, giving the most reference to a 'pineapple under the sea'.

However, that relief was short lived.

"Mad cruise!" Ebere quipped as soon as we stepped feet into the living room - the main party zone. I heard Ebube saying something to second her twin's sharp