I finally did it! 😭🎉

The devil fought hard against this update but my God is GREATER! AMEN???

Abeg, you guys, no vex. The last month was torture, but out babies are back. What was the first thing you felt when you saw this update? 

Anyways, let's dive into this  chapter. Btw, read the chapter very carefully sha.🌝❤️

~ACHA~

"Man like Acha! Acha, my mannnn! Niggaaaa! This my sharp guy!"

That loud voice of hype could have been heard all the way from downstairs where all the racket of floor pounding music and noisy partying classmates dwelled and dominated.

I had just thrown the grey coat jacket over my shoulders and barely had time to stick my arms in when JJ Jarah, who had completely 'refuted' my existence for the past forever weeks, barged into my bedroom unannounced, shouting like the heavens had come down crashing onto earth.

My eyes had reverted its gaze back to the Vanity Mirror almost the same moment it landed on the boy, but the short time I had subconsciously acknowledged his presence was enough time for me to get a good view of his broadly grinning face that showcased a clean white set of 32 and large eyes of incompressible thrill.

In simpler words, JJ Jarah was on fire. His features stood out like so bright and clear, excitement rolling off him and ever evident in every hop in his large steps and careless swing of his arms in wild abandon. He was like a two year old on their first child on their first day in Wonder Coast.

Whatever reason this was so, I couldn't decipher for the life of me.

And, you know what? I wasn't even bother asking him why he suddenly all 'gucci' and 'bromance' with me, after weeks of ghosting me to shege. I didn't even bother. Who had that strength?

I simply made up my mind that it couldn't be me he was talking to.

Even if it was just the two of us in the entire space of my bedroom.

So, with a quick skim over my shoulder and a little disregarding scoff, I dismissed the excited kid. And like he wasn't even there, I started a debate within me to try to settle more pressing issues.

Like for one, was this white long sleeve turtle neck l was wearing better tucked into the matching white cameo trousers or would it look nicer if freed out? 

Either JJ didn't notice the standoffishness from me or he was pretending not to. Because he waltzed in further into my room, added in teenage boy swag into it too. Were his intentions to make me raise a brow at him, God knows. Because the way he bounced in here, oozing off such top level confidence with that ridiculously bogus bodega shirt of his, those khaki three quarters, and that hooded black cap on his head that would make any Nigerian mother instantly profile him as a professional kidnapper...

It was clear that he couldn't even care less even if my face was like rumpled paper.

As far as he was concerned, tonight, I was his bro again.

"You sef. You're still here dressing up and you don't even know the kind of crazy catastrophe that is happening downstairs!" He shouted, right before throwing himself onto my bed like a vagabond.

As much as I tried to ignore him, he did two things that gave me PTSD on the spot;

The first one was to alert me to 'something' going on downstairs, and with that, my mind went several fucking places, all of them hovering around something or anything that could have been in connection with my Aurora. And most definitely, the 'something' or 'anything' being far from good.

The second one was the way JJ threw himself on my bed like that, rolling and convulsing with excitement against every nook and cranny of the bed, not missing a single spot on the sheets. 

Bed that I took my time to make.

I simply couldn't believe this guy. After he had ignored me solidly for weeks upon weeks, he really believed that he could just barge in here and misbehave anyhow, picking up from where he left off, just like that.

And then, on top of everything, he was now scattering my bed?

"So, like, the party just started na. Everywhere don already scatter! Everybody is just mind blown because, guy, if you see the big solid car that Yure Adediji used to come and drop classmates off at the venue. It mad die! Everybody was just snapping him inside the car because bro, the guy and his drip madddd! Neat ride like this! Head boy was just there cruising inside Benz that is like twenty people's school fees!—"

"Tch." I sucked in my teeth as the annoyance washed over me briefly and I swear the action was a reflex.

Was that why he wanted to give me a heart attack just now? What nonsense.

"—So, now, it's like the thing vexed Ortega na. Sampson Ortega in your Class!" He didn't even care that I expressed such displeasure, snapping his fingers actively as though he wanted to remind me who he was talking about. As if I had amnesia and would suddenly forget one of the most prominent and loud Art boys of my class. "You know what Ortega now did?"

"I don't want to know." I made it clear to him.

"Ortega now came and gathered all of us na, come dey yarn us say he fresh pass Adediji!" JJ continued nonetheless, whether I liked it or not. "He was bragging and bragging that he had more than seven cars at home. That it's just because his parents don't allow him to bring them to school that we've not seen it."

What is all these?

"That the shoe he was even wearing sef at the party was not the original shoe he wanted to wear o. It's just his father did not allow him again," He was relentless. "My guy talk say 'im already order new shoe wey go arrive at your door step this night. Balenciaga o. The latest model. Not even any type of shoe. He said that he already ordered it to come directly to your house tonight, and that he would show us."

"JJ." I called his name warningly, my voice laced with a stern tone that came on its own.

"We think say na joke. We actually thought it was a joke!" The boy continued gisting, "The guy even flashed receipt of payment in our eyes, we said its fake debit alert because the figures were crazy! He said we will see na. The he already ordered it. That it was coming. Ortega wan baff up for the night na, he wanted to look neat and dire and prove he was bigger than Yure Adediji. He was just carrying his shoulders around and we were just waiting to see the Balenciaga na..."

At this point, I let JJ continue talking. One look at the mirror, and I came to the conclusion that the white turtleneck looked better freed out than tucked in. 

After that, I was going to wear my shoes and that would round up my dressing up. And, if JJ was still here, telling his little story by that time, I would just quietly leave him in this room to continue gisting with himself.

"Finally, the Balenciaga came na," He continued talking, "All man now gathered to see Ortega's new kicks. Everywhere was hot eh! Some guys followed him outside to inspect the thing, everyone was already hailing this guy. All of a sudden, Ortega said he wanted to be humble. That he didn't want to show himself too much by wearing such an expensive shoe. That he didn't even want to open the delivery and that he 'dashes' the shoes to the delivery man to take as his own. He called it 'a gesture of my generosity'—"

JJ threw himself onto my bed, laughing and rolling again, unable to even finish the story properly.

As pissed as I was, a corner of my lips twitched and I hated that I low-key found this story funny. 

If I wasn't so pissed with JJ, I'd have probably been laughing too.

"Guy, Nomso ran from where the Ballers were and said it's a lie! That everybody must see what is inside that delivery box this night or else he will bend, reverse, coil, and rumple!" He continued, and against my wish, a stifled chuckle left my mouth. "Acha, you will not even believe what was inside that box!"

I didn't act like it, but my ears were piqued to hear it. 

"White Canvas shoe!" He shouted and practically collapsed into a seizure on my bed, laughing and convulsing and belting out the loudest ringing and resounding laughter.

I held my breath. It was both a deliberate and reflex action, on God. I felt my whole body become rigid in all my attempts to hold that little ticking sensation that was building up at the back of my throat that was itching for release, a 'sensation' that I knew was going to come out an explosive laughter if I dared to make the mistake to 'lose guard'.

And the way JJ was laughing was not helping matters. He sounded like a dying pig.

"Do and come down, sha. You are missing a whole lot, my guy!" JJ dived into Part 2, jutting from the bed to rest his elbows on his knees, droopy eyes that filled with laughter in them as though he was drunk with it, steadied itself at me as he talked. "Man, classmates are turning the fuck up! You should see what's going on downstairs, my guy. You sef, you should step in there with your Man Like Acha sauce and shut down the entire place na!"

I chuckled under my breath, flattered.

"For real, you'd be no match for them o," He continued, as if he noticed what he said made me happy, "I ain't joking, bruv. And it would be so eventful and fun for me and you to rate classmates together. But it will be hard o, I won't lie. Guys are coming with mad drip, it's as of everybody is just doing competition. And our girls? Nah, they are giving times two! Acha, forget o, our set girls fine like mad!"

Aurora.

Aurora was the only person I wanted to see.

She had sent two pictures —not very generous of her —but I knew that nothing would and could even compare to seeing her in the flesh.

So, when JJ started to talk about random class girls, I guess it was safe to say that I was hardly interested. To be honest, not even in the slightest.

"Guy, if you see Neche and Kamnele! Even Vanessa, that fine girl in Class B! In fact forget all those ones, Winnie Ezra mad pass! That girl is hot like two million people!" He was really into this, probably forgetting that only one girl was always on my mind. "That girl rolled guy's heads when she walked in, guy! See breast everywhere! I can just put my head inside there and sleep inside forever! E no go bad to die for breast!"

I glanced at JJ and scoffed lightly. It seemed to me like it still had not occurred to him that I was not much interested in those kind of talks anymore.

He was still talking when I walked to the edge of my room where the game equipment's were to get the new shoes that I had specifically prepared for the night.

"... Giwa Falade and her clique have not even arrived and everywhere is already so hot like Venus!" I shook my head at a rambling JJ as I sat on my desk seat and started on my laces. "Guys are waiting to see how Hassana, specifically, is going to turn up. You know the secret admirers has in this set, dem plenty. Her and that princess chic, Kelechi Uwa.—"

I froze.

For two whole seconds, I was sure that I was static in freeze mode.

It was like, on the mention of that name, an invisible charger cord wiped me at the back of my neck, probably tearing invisible marks from its brunt and sending a shock wave round my body.

A kind of shock wave that temporarily paralysed me.

It felt somewhat unfair, but every time I saw Kelechi Uwa, or even heard her name, or simply got reminded of her in any way or form, I felt so, so uncomfortable and dreadfully confused.

I couldn't stop thinking about everything that Kelechi confided in me about the other day.

I couldn't stop recalling all those words that I read from the computer screen. I hated that Kelechi felt I was the best person she could open light to about this to. All those truths and 'secrets' she showed me from that damn diary could not leave my head, no matter how much I tried. The contents of that diary...

We had a combined Social Studies Class with Jss1 D today. I saw a girl today for the first time. She had dreads and her uniforms were a bit bogus. But, she had the prettiest eyes...

Her name is Dabeluchi. But, we didn't speak. Or, at least, I said hi. But she did not respond to me...

There is something off about that Dabeluchi girl. I can't place it. There is a vibe about her that makes me a bit uncomfortable. But curious. Is it wrong that I want to get to the bottom of this?

All the contents of that damn diary. I couldn't stop thinking about everything. For days now, all that was on my head was how badly Aurora was going to take this. How this revelation was going to throw my Aurora off balance and how it was going to completely destabilize her if she ever found out about this.

That word 'Mental' seemed like a trigger. I have a trigger too. Dabeluchi and I are similar...

I hate seeing her. I really, really hate seeing that girl.......

I found out something today. It has to do with Dabeluchi's family. —

I felt like the worst person, keeping such a thing from her. She had the right to know. She had every right to know.  But come on, I was not in the right place to tell Aurora such a thing. 

And, especially after Kelechi had aggressively begged me not to.

"Acha!"

I had even forgotten that JJ was in the same room with me, until I heard his sharp voice call my name so loudly, snapping me back to earth with the urgency that was laced in it.

Large eyes of worry stared at me as I turned back to meet his face.

I heaved a short sigh. "What?"

My hands were already busy with the other lace of my other shoes, tying them quickly.

 "Ah. What happened?" He asked me, carefully.

There was no better adjective to describe it asides 'carefully'.

His tone was careful. There was less laughter in it and every excitement that shook his voice previously was dramatically reduced. He sounded calmer. More 'careful'.

Shoot me to even say, worried.

He sounded worried.

That surprised me a bit. JJ could be worried about something? Or Someone?

"Are you good, bro?" He asked me.

"Yeah." I answered.

"So, what was that?" He asked again.

"What was what?" I asked back.

He stared at me as I played dumb and I knew that he knew I knew what he was talking about.

"Nothing," I said with another sigh. "I just zoned out, J. It's nothing mega."

"Oh.." He didn't look like he was much convinced, but he didn't push it. Maybe he didn't even know how to. So, he added, "Okay."

I stood up, done with dressing, and went straight to the mirror, touching up strands of my hair twists to look netter and dusting imaginary dust off my shoulders to finish up properly. I had just grabbed the cologne bottle when JJ decided to 'entertain' me again.

"So, should I continue what I was saying?" He asked first

I turned to the question to look at JJ who was a few feet away from the Vanity Mirror where I stood in front of, sitting on my bed and looking at me like he needed approval or something.

It was clear that the atmosphere had dropped into more awkward cooling temperatures to the point that he did not even know if he should continue talking to me or get the fuck out of my sight. I guess, for the first time since he came here, he actually felt intimidated by my quietness. 

"Sh-Should I?" He asked me again. 

He really didn't need to be. He didn't need to feel so intimidated or uncomfortable all of a sudden. The boy just sat there, clearly nervous about something, rubbing the back of his neck, or the back of his palm, or playing with his foot, rubbing one against the other.

But wait...

It occurred to me only now that those side habits were more glaring and in my face that there had been there, but very subtly and barely unnoticeable, from the very moment that JJ had walked into this room.

I faintly remembered JJ massaging the bill of his cap more than necessary as he bounced in here. That was actually what had even made me notice it in the first place. And knowing JJ, he was the kind of person to jitter and touch things or tap his feet or hands against something when he was nervous about something.

And I mean, he laughed a bit too hard. Way too hard. It was absolutely ridiculous. Like a desperate act to mask an underlying feeling of tension within.

It was also clear that he did not have a specific story to tell when he came in here. He was jumping from Ortega to Classmates drip and to Winnie's breasts, probably hoping that one of it was going to get my attention and make be some conversation starter. 

The only thing that confused me was... Why?

Why would he be so nervous and scared? Am I a lion?

And, he had gone off weeks acting like he knew nothing of my existence, so why was he suddenly so interested in engaging me? For weeks, JJ had been tagging along with Sean to ghost me everywhere and practically doing everything that Sean was doing: blocking me on every Social Media and muting all my calls and texts. Completely shutting me out.

It was a norm for Sean. He shut people out and blocked them from reaching him every way and form when he was upset. And he had a reason to want to cut me have, but if JJ gave a shit, he'd have been bothered about the bridge built between his friends, instead of demarcating it even more.

This wasn't a 'I am also angry with you' thing, because I was certain more than ever that JJ cared little to nothing about what had transpired with me and Sean.

He just sensed a division between me and Sean and decided to simply pick sides with whom his loyalty belonged to more. 

The fact that people who were not even directly in my friends group, like Nana and Chido, and even Kelechi, were more concerned about my dying friendship than JJ himself.

That bit was clear. So, what was he now here for?

"You're annoying." I told JJ bluntly.

The boy cast a gaze onto the ground, a downcast look in his eyes. I hated that I felt some empathy watching him in my silence, especially when he felt absolutely nothing all these weeks.

I believe I heard him swallow, but I couldn't have been too sure, until his big head nodded slowly and two quiet words came out of his mouth in response. "I know."

I searched for what to say to reprimand, but instead of showing I was angry, all I wanted to so was talk with him and ask why he did that. And with the way he acted, clearly fidgeting with his fingers, practically starting a whole sequence on his khaki shorts as he fondled them between his fingers, in, out, and twist, I could tell he was remorseful.

So, why would I hold something against someone who seemed sorry?

I had no reason to. It felt cruel.

Wouldn't lie that I was annoyed with myself for giving in so easily, but, with a sigh, I found myself dragging the seat I was on, towards JJ. 

"Tell me the truth," I said. Shifted an inch closer. "Is that why you came here?"

I sat in front of him, with a space as small as a foot demarcating the both of us, and even with such close distance, he still didn't seem to find the courage to look up yet. His eyes were down, staring at whatever the hell it was he was staring at, around his shoes and my shoes.

"Yes..." He admitted.

"You know there's actually a good number of justified reasons for me to ask you to get the fuck out of my room right now and never come back," I said, my tone in