Dedicated to sheistiara_. Thank you for what you did on WhatsApp♥️♥️. They're both going to have sense from this chapter.

~Adam~

"I'm glad you guys are here, I just want to start undoing my braids."

Was the first thing Sophia said to Kunle and I when she opened the door for us and she did not wait for us to reply before she started walking into the house. I exchanged a knowing glance with Kunle who only shrugged.

"And how is that a good thing that we're here?"

She paused in the foyer at Kunle's words and she turned, looked at him over as if he just asked the most stupid question ever.

"Because you guys are going to help me with the hair. Do I really have to spell that out?"

She replied with a bored tone and a even more bored expression, her hands touching her hair. Then she walked away to her room, leaving us to find out way around, that's if we could.

"Is this the part where we turn back and return to where we came from?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, at his words.

"I don't know about you and I'm not ready to return to where I came from."

I walked into the sitting room and I heard his laugher 10 seconds lather. That was how long it took for him to get his own joke.

The sitting room would passed for a very large hall in another contest. Brown sofas arranged in a semi circle, a flat screen TV almost covering the entire left wall. Chandeliers hanging down from the roof and the portraits on the walls, it looked like all the free walls was adorned with family portraits. Well, Sophia was always framing her personal pictures and hanging them. Now, the sitting room looked more like a gallery.

Sophia was watching one fashion show when we got to her room. She was sitting on the Sofa in front of her TV and hugging one huge packet of chin chin to her chest.

"Shouldn't you at least welcome us?"

She paused her munching and she looked at us briefly.

"As per you guys are??"

"Your best friends."

"I can denounce you guys if you want then."

"Come on babe, you don't have to be so mean."

Kunle replied her and he attempted to grab the packet of chin chin from her but she slapped his hands away.

"Behave yourself, my brother is around."

I was about to sit down but I found myself standing up. Kunle was almost frozen on the place where he sat.

"Your brother is around?"

He asked, echoing her words dumbly.

Sophia just nodded, her eyes still fixed on the TV.

"Yes, he's around so you guys should just sit down in one corner and bahave yourself."

Oh wow. I sat down back beside Kunle, careful not to relax too much because her brother could just enter the room. We've known Stephen for as long as we've known Sophia. He was even an SS3 student when we were in JSS1. He was cool, nice and all that but when it came to his sisters, he has to be the most protective brother I've ever seen. He looked at us as if he was waiting for us to mess up with Sophia so he'd punch the living day light out of us.

"You guys should keep the door open."

Came a deep baritone voice that could only belong to one person from down the hallway and I stood up automatically, Kunle stood up too and Sophia just looked at the both of us before bursting into laughter.

"Look at you, husbands to be, acting like a jelly fish because of Stephen."

I shook my head before sitting down again.

"Let's just open the door to be on a safer side."

Kunle suggested and he actually started walking towards the door but Sophia beat him to it.

"Don't worry, I'll get it."

She walked to the door and instead of opening, she locked it and she even removed the keys. I stood up again.

"Kunle??"

Came the older guy's voice again and it seemed to be a little bit angered.

"We...." Kunle swallowed what was must be an imaginary lump and I'd have laughed if I didn't know the guy we were talking about. He had always been a very tough guy even back then when he was in school and now, that he was in Army School, he'd probably kill us if anything should go wrong. He once locked up Stephanie's ex-boyfriend in their basement for two days without food. Apparently, the guy maltreated her or something. The guy was half dead, half alive when they finally got him out of the basement.

"Sophia, just open the door. Do you want your brother...."

"What's the point of locking it? He'd probably break it down with one fist if anything should go wrong."

Sophia said nonchalantly and Kunle sat down automatically. I looked at the wooden door, my mind conjuring up images of Stephen breaking down the door.

"Stephen, don't worry, they'll be on their best behaviors today." But she went back to open it anyway.

The older guy mumbled something I did not hear and it was only when he did not say anything afterwards that I was able to sit down and to relax.

"So, are you guys interested in helping me with my hair or should I call Ste..."

Kunle grabbed the cutting comb before she could even complete the sentence and I was laughing before I could stop myself.

"But Kunle, why are you this scared of Stephen? He's just a sweet brother, really."

"Sweet? You think your brother is sweet?"

"Yeah. He's the sweetest."

Hours later, Sophia was now sitting on the floor with her back against the sofa. We just finished rewatching fast and furious and like always, Kunle and I were arguing about who was better, Dwayne or Vin Diesel. I actually preferred Vin Diesel to the Rock but Kunle would have none of that.

"I know you'd never agree. Sophia, who do you is better?"

The girl in question looked up from the phone she had been pressing ever since we started watching the film and she looked at us as if Kunle just asked her the most stupid question ever.

"Lee min ho."

She finally answered with a nonchalant shrug and a smile on her face. I shook my head, Kunmi was definitely right, this babe was just too weird for her own good.

Thinking about Kunmi..

I smiled at that thought. I've been at Caleb's for three days but I haven't gotten the chance to see her. It's been a week since we spoke but it already felt like a year. I would've gone over to her house but for some strange reason, that seemed like a bad idea.

I was startled back to the present when someone smacked the back of my head.

"Look at you! We've been calling your name since eternity and you're just smiling to yourself. You've got it pretty bad."

I grabbed the back of my head wondering how someone as tiny as Sophia could hit someone that badly.

"Instead of using your fists, can't you just use your mouth?"

"We used it but then, you were just too busy fantasizing about a girl that you blocked us out."

"She's not even here and he's smiling to himself like that."

"As in. We should have taken a picture."

"This is really epic though. Adam is now all grown."

"We did not see it coming."

"At all."

They were both talking to themselves, talking about me as if I wasn't here or as if I was mute or deaf.

"Guys, I'm here and I can hear the both of you."

They looked away from each other and Sophia picked her right ear.

"Sorry, pretty boy, we thought you were lost again."

I looked away, tried to focus on the TV but then, I couldn't even concentrate.

"So, how's Kunmi?"

Sophia asked again and I looked away from the TV to her, my hand moving to the back of my neck and messaging softly.

"She's fine, I guess."

I instinctively moved back at the rate at which she sat up.

"You guess? You guess? Wait, ain't you staying in the house beside hers and you're still guessing?"

Her voice increased by a notch and I couldn't even tell if she was really annoyed with me or she was just overreacting.

"You know what? Let me call her. She should come over."

She started pressing her phone and I exchanged a glance with Kunle. Sophia showing this level of interest to someone was completely baffling. She wouldn't be doing stuffs like this if she doesn't genuinely like that person and with the way she talks about Kunmi and the way she interacts with her, I was starting to think that she probably genuinely likes her. That was a first because I could count the number of people Sophia liked in our school on one hand.

"Aminah wanted an hangout, this could count as one. You should call her."

Now, that should be the definition of baffling. I looked at Kunle who looked evn more surprised and lost before he gathered himself and he nodded slowly.

"She's with Kunmi. They should just come together."

Sophia nodded in reply and I watched as she dialed Kunmi's number. She picked up at the second ring but the excited voice on the other side wasn't hers, it was Aminah's.

"Sophia???"

"Hi. Where is Kunmi?"

"She went to the kitchen to get something. Should I take the phone to her?"

"No. The guys are here and we were wondering if you guys would be able to come over."

"Of course."

Her loud and overly excited voice nearly pierced my ear drums and while I mentally cringed, Kunle just smiled and he shook his head.

Talk about being lovestruck.

"We'll be there in a couple of minutes."

Sophia pressed the red button without saying another word.

Typical typical Sophia.

"Oh, that reminds me, Gabriella is coming. I hope you guys don't mind."

"Of course not but would it be okay with your mom? We should probably go out or something."

Her hands stilled on her phone's screen at Kunle's words before she started typing away again.

"She isn't home at the moment but it's okay, she won't mind."

As if on cue, someone opened the door and Gabriella walked in, followed by Alex. I was surprised to see him but he was even more surprised to see us with the way his mouth hung slightly opened and the way his eyes narrowed at Kunle and Sophia position. Sophia was sitting on the floor directly in front of Kunle with her head resting on his left thigh. I looked away from the duo to Alex but his expression was once again impassive and almost bored. Gab smiled and waved at us while Alex just nodded curtly at us before they both sat down on the empty couch adjacent ours.

"You did not tell me you were coming with your boyfriend."

"Shey Alex? He had nowhere else to go so I brought him along."

"You should have kept him outside."

I chuckled at her words and Kunle tugged hard at one of her braids and she yelped, moving away from him.

"Why do you guys always talk about me as if I'm an object?"

"You were the one who tagged along without an invite. Bear the insults, my dear."

The guy in question just murmured to himself and his eyes still remained on Sophia and Kunle, expression impassive.

Now, that's something.

***********
~KUNMI~

Aminah practically dragged me out of the house so we'd come to Sophia's. She practically laughed and jumped through the entire walk to Sophia's house. I've never seen someone this excited just because they were going to a friend's house, that was if Sophia could even count as her friend. We entered the house with my heart in my throat. I had gone to the kitchen to get water for Aminah and when I returned, she was no longer lying on the bed where I had left her but she now in front of my vanity and applying makeup.

"Are you going somewhere?"

I had asked, staring at her strangely because she just got here like two hours ago and she was supposed to be sleeping over.

"Yes, we're going somewhere. Sophia called and she wants us to come over. The boys are there too."

The boys were there? That would mean one thing, Adam was there too.

I was still thinking of what to say when Aminah started to walk out of the bedroom, looking all dressed up and chic in a knee length Jean and a round neck top.

"We should hurry before they start doing all the fun thing without us."

I stood there, almost paralyzed. Adam was going to be there? We haven't seen each other in what? A week? It felt like a year or even more than. It was during the past one week that I realized how much I had gotten used to him, to his smiles, his intense eyes, his pretty face, just everything about him that it was so weird not seeing him, not talking to him.

I found myself doing things that were totally unlike me, things like rereading that good-night message he sent weeks ago which made me look a little stupid but one minute, I'd be doing one thing and the next minute, I'd be reading message again and again. As if reading the message over and over again wasn't enough, I've thought about him for the better part of the one week to the point that I started to think it was unhealthy, thinking about someone else that much other than myself.

It's been a week but I missed him a little bit too much.

Sophia said to ignore him for what? A month? I'd have probably turned to dust by then.

But now, he was in this house? I don't think I've ever felt so nervous in my life. Aminah, oblivious to my extreme discomfort just kept smiling to herself as she pressed the doorbell and I had to swallow the hundredth imaginary lump in my throat since Aminah told me we were to come here.

The door opened to reveal the blank face 9f a very fair young lady who would probably be their maid or one of their maids judging from the fact that she had a uniform on.

"Good evening. We're Sophia's friends."

The only indication that she heard what Aminah said was that she moved back a little and she gestured for us to follow her. Aminah was still beaming to herself as we stepped in and I wished I could feel even half of her excitement.

The whole interior of the house from the foyer screamed exquisite. The sitting room was big, big enough to pass for an event hall and I doubted it was possible for it to get filled up at once. They were too many pictures on the wall and I could see Sophia in almost all the pictures.

I did not get to really look around because the maid was almost running instead of walking. She led us up the fleet of curbed stairs to an hallway and she pointed to a door. I'd have known that it was Sophia's room anyway.

She hung a danger sign on the door.

Aminah knocked, still overly excited about this whole thing. She was about to turn the knob when we heard another door being opened down the hallway. We both turned simultaneously to the direction to see an older male version of Sophia. He was shirtless, his ripped body and biceps made it sinful to look at and I found myself looking away while Aminah openly gawked, her right palm covering her mouth. The guy only gave us a brief nod before he disappeared down the hallway.

"Oh my God! Did you see that hot chocolate?"

She asked, turning to me, eyes huge and I just shook my head.

"You have a boyfriend."

"Doesn't matter. I can always admire other guys."

"Aminah, I can hear you."

Came Kunle's voice from the other side of the door and she giggled before she turned the knob and we entered.

"So boyfriend, are you jealous or something along that line?"

Was the first thing she said when we entered and one minute, she was standing beside me and the next minute, she was sitting beside Kunle with her arms wrapped around him. How she even saw him in that short seconds was baffling.

"Baby Kay. Oh my God! I've missed you."

Sophia shrieked and the next thing I saw was that she was hugging me or rather crushing me.

God! Omode yii tun ti beere.

She pulled back with a smile on her face and I found myself smiling back.

"You have a very nice room."

I replied in all honesty because her room looked all posh, it was painted in white, a very huge bed, a very large portrait of her and another girl on the wall behind her bed, thousand of makeup lining her vanity and then, she had her own set of couches and a very huge TV. There was a door slightly opened on the wall directly opposite the room's door and I could tell that it was her walk in closet. And again, the numbers of teddy bears on her bed? I never even saw her as someone who would have a teddy bear not to talk of teddy bearssssssss but then, Sophia was synonymous to surprises.

"I was fishing for I missed you too but then, it's okay, I know you do."

I shook my head. What I was just thinking.

"Come, that's Adam."

She grabbed my hand before I could say a word and she practically dragged me to where he sat or rather sprawled on the couch, his right hand stretched on the backrest of the couch. I sat down, my heart beating louder and faster, out of its own volition. I dared a glance at him and he was looking at me as if there was some sort of mystery yet to be solved on my face. On its own volition, my mouth opened and it mouthed hi. Adam's reply was an open teeth smile, his face full of light and boy, he was pretty.

Too pretty.

Isn't it a sin for a boy to look this pretty?

"I feel like a proud mother hen right now."

Sophia said and we both looked up at her. She winked at me before she walked to the other side of the room and she disappeared into her walk in closest. When she came out after a minute, she had worn a shirt over the sport bra she was wearing. The buttons were still left undone so wearing it was practically useless anyway.

"This shirt looks oddly familiar."

Kunle said when Sophia walked fully into the circle with a fake microphone in her hand.

"That's because it's yours."

The girl in question replied nonchalantly and she sat down on the floor right in front of Kunle and Aminah.

"It's mine? You borrowed it without asking?"

"I stole it, bro."

She replied with a smile and Kunle looked like he wanted to say something but he gave up. He shook his head and his right hand rested on Sophia's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

It looked so natural, so ordinary but something still looked off, as if something was missing.

I just felt really bad that you'd assume something that bad about me.

I heaved a sigh and I looked away from the duo to Aminah who was well, busy taking selfies.

"Since I'm the host and you guys are here, should I sing for you guys?"

Kunle and Adam screamed No that I was momentarily deafened by the intensity of their voices.

"Anything but you singing, Sophia. Don't do that to this gathering."

Kunle's voice was almost pleading and I frowned, wondering what it was all about.

"Kunle, you hurt my feelings. Don't you want the world to see my talent?"

"More like abomination."

Adam muttered beside me but Sophia heard him anyway because she glared at him.

"My house, my rules and I insist, I'm singing."

"Sophia, don't ruin......"

She started singing anyway. It sounded so much like Proud Corazon from Coco but it couldn't be because the moment she opened her mouth and the lyrics flowed out, I realized what the boys were going on about. She wasn't only tone deaf, she was tone mute, tone blind, to sum it all up, she was tone dead.

I just stared at her, stupefied because it couldn't possibly be Sophia that was singing this way but it was her and she continued singing, undeterred by our expressions till she got to the last word in the song.

"You finally embarrassed our friendship."

"Let's just keep this within this circle."

"I'm going to wake the two of you on your birthday with my beautiful voice."

"She said beautiful. I'm dead. Beau wetin?"

"Kunle, shut up."

She chastised softly and the three of them started laughing, probably remembering the times Sophia had forced them to listen to her dead voice.

"Someone else should sing, Gab?"

She stretched the microphone towards Gab who glanced at the figure beside her, Alex. He hasn't said a word since we got her and I had even forgotten he was there. He just sat there, almost broodingly, his eyes fixed on the microphone Sophia was stretching to Gab.

"I'm not singing."

She ended up replying in a very small voice that sounded so unlike her and it seemed Sophia realized something at the point because she glanced at Alex, almost apologetically before she dropped the microphone on her thighs.

"We should...."

"Why are you not singing?"

Alex asked Gab, interrupting Aminah, his voice dark and deep just like him. It gave me an unsettling feeling.

"Because I don't feel like."

"You've not felt like singing in 10 months now, at least whenever I'm there, isn't that weird."

Oh. Now, what's that? And it seemed to be something because everyone in the room looked uncomfortable except Alex who remained as impassive as ever.

"Alex....."

"We should play a game."

Aminah suggested and everybody in the room was quick to agree with her, except Gab and Alex anyway who seemed to have gone to another world entirely. Eventually, we agreed on a game, TRUTHS, in which everybody has to say something about every other person in the room but after Sophia saying something like that would be a disaster, Aminah ended up modifying it and we only had to say something, what we think about the person sitting beside us. Aminah started, followed by Kunle to Sophia. Since it was going that way, I would have to say something about the person sitting to my right, which was Adam.

Oh wow.

"I hate you."

Sophia said to Gab when it got to her turn and her cousin just rolled her eyes.

"I mean, you got the brain, the beauty, the voice and all the good genes. You just made me the bad sheep of the family. It's hard to like you."

"Aww, I love you too, my baby girl."

Was Gab's reply and Sophia just snorted, her lips pressed into a thin line to stop her smiling face from being too obvious.

"You're easily the strongest person I know even though I still think you're a little bit hard on yourself."

Gab said softly to Alex who only remained impassive and then, he was saying something about me to me but I couldn't hear because it was my turn to say something, anything to Adam.

I opened my mouth, closed it again because it refused to form words and it was then that I realized that I had nothing to say.

Actually, I had thousands of things to say. It just doesn't add up because I was to say a sentence or two or three about him.

"Baby Kay, we're waiting for you."

I cleared my throat noiselessly, still thinking of the perfect words to say. I swallowed an imaginary lump for the umpteenth time.

"You're easily the best person I've met."

The words were out before I realized what I just said. I just said that? I closed my eyes, willing the game to continue but no one said anything afterwards, basically Adam said nothing because it was his turn to say something to Aminah.

I felt his eyes on me and I willed myself not to look up but I did and yes, he was looking at me, his eyes was fixed on mine and there were a lot of things going on there, much more than the intense look he always had in his eyes, there were a thousands of other
emotions I couldn't even start to decipher.

He eventually looked away, his breaths almost uneven and he looked like he was battling some sort of internal turmoil that made him run his hand through his hair.

Was it because of what I said?

Did I perhaps say something wrong?

Eventually, he said something I did not hear to Aminah and the rest of the evening, loud talks, shared jokes and laughters and all that. I was more of an onlooker than a performer but I was enjoying every minute of it.

"Alex, do you like Kunmi? You've been looking at her ever since."

I startled and I looked up at Aminah's words. Alex' eyebrow was raised and in a split moment, he looked away from me to Aminah, that sinister smile on his lips.

"Is there a rule that says I can't like her?

Ohh. What? What's this king weirdo saying now?

Gab was pressing her phone as if a normal conversation was going on, Sophia was looking at Alex as if he was a walking piece of shit, Aminah looked stunned, almost startled, Kunle was looking at Alex and Adam simultaneously and Adam just sat down beside me, his eyes trained on Alex, a calm and neutral look on his face.

Oh, what's this suffocating atmosphere.

"Of course not, you'd look good together."

Gab chuckled to herself, eyes still fixed on her phone and Sophia had transfered her look to Aminah now.

I rolled my eyes, my brain not wrapping around Aminah's words. There was a suffocating silence for a while before they started talking about something else, an annual music fest for young and new adults in Lagos. I used to attend the fest with Tara. I looked at Alex. Could that be possibly where I met Alex? I focused on remembering intricate details of the fest, if I had met anyone like Alex. Aminah was saying something excitedly, something about a similar fest she had attended with Kunle and how they had done something entirely different instead of listening to the performances but I could hardly hear her.

I remember now. There was a time at the fest, SS1 first term and there was a singer, no, a performer that blew the audience away with his performance and I think his name was Alex?

I stared intently at Alex, taking in his features and I could suddenly see him on that day, after his performance, talking to Tara, introducing himself to us and....

"It's okay."

Sophia's words jolted me back into reality. I looked at her, at her displeased tone, at her face that was set into a tight line as if she was being forced to swallow something bitter.

There was a stunned silence after her words and the words Aminah were saying died in her throat, her face morphing into a look of displeasure.

"Hmm?"

She asked Sophia warily.

"You made your point clear already. It's no point repeating the same words over and over again so just shut it."

Oh wow. I hardly heard what Aminah said that made Sophia flip like this but I knew it was something about her and Kunle, something like places they've been to on dates and other intricate details of their private relationship.

A stunned silence again and a minute or two passed before Aminah stood up, muttering something like; I think I've had enough before walking out. Kunle took one long lasting disdainful look at Sophia who now has that famous Sophia's blank look before he stood up and he ran after Aminah.

Looks like the evening is over.

*********
~Sophia~

Something utterly fascinating was going on on the wall behind my bed, instead of my picture with Stephanie there was a fashion show, a makeup tutorial, a photoshoot and even so much more because that's the only logical reason why I've not been able to peel my eyes off that side of the wall for the past 30 minutes.

"Jealousy is a very ugly color and ugly doesn't suit you at all."

Gab's words jolted me back into reality and I looked away from to wall to see her sitting in front of my study desk, the chair turned back, a worried look on her face as she stared at me.

I heaved a sigh, tucked my legs underneath my thighs on the hanging basket chair. I remembered what had happened, how I snapped at her, her high shrieked laughter and that stupid childish voice of hers as she talked about things that should have been kept private and how she had ran her hands on his body as if he belonged to her.

He actually belonged to her.

How many times have I repeated those dreadful words to myself!

How many times have I willed myself to actually believe those words and to live them?

And how many times had I failed woefully?

I leaned back, my head dropping back so I would be able to stare at the ceiling. In the place of my heart was a hard rock and it was threatening, struggling to burst out and it hurts like hell.

And the way Kunle had looked at me before he ran after her? I couldn't unsee that look no matter how hard I try, that disdainful look. How many times has he talked to me, begged me, to be nicer to her, and I was actually going to do that for him but I just couldn't get myself to actually like her. She was always touching, always leaning, always holding him. I can only play blind for this long.

"Kunle must be feeling so bad right now."

I found myself saying and someone scowled from the other direction. I turned to see Alex leaning against my bedroom door, hands in his pocket, that distant farway look in his eyes as he stared at me. He was still here? I thought he left earlier with Adam and Kunmi.

"It's always Kunle. When are you going to learn how to put your feelings first?"

I hissed, looked away from him to Gab.

"What's he still doing here?"

"He ran away from home for the 60th time this year. He was crashing at mine so I had to bring him along."

I rolled my eyes and I said nothing. I couldn't even remember how many times he had tagged along. We were close in some sort of weird way. He had been Gab's best friend since they were young and I've known him since forever, ever before I met Adam and Kunle. He was actually the first person to figure out that I liked Kunle.

"Are you okay?"

He asked again and I hissed again. I just wanted to be left alone but Gabriella would never leave and he wouldn't leave either.

"I'd be okay if you guys leave."

Gabriella only opened a chemistry textbook and she started reading while Alex walked further into the room, made himself comfortable on a couch and he even tuned the channel to a sports channel.

I smiled.

Pests.

But my heart wouldn't stop hurting.

Hmm hmm.

First time getting into Sophia's head and I realized why it took me this long to write her POV, it's probably because I did not want you guys to see her obsession with Kunle and her feelings towards Aminah. Initially, Sophia's POV was supposed to be growing with Adam's and Kunmi's because in my head, she's more of a main character than Adam self. Some many things in the book revolves around her. Safe to say she's my most important character in the book or something along that line. It's just that she's a crazy one, really crazy.

You probably have noticed that the story line is too broad, too complex for two POVs to do justice to it and then, nothing, absolutely nothing would make sense if we don't get Sophia's POV, especially the climax of the book. Someone suggested writing a spin off for Sophia, well, this is her story. The whole of this book is me creating a world for Sophia's character. I hope you understand that.

Who do you think Alex likes, Kunmi or Sophia?

What do you think was going on in Adam's mind during that game, more like a confession time??

Add another nickname to Sophia's list of names, Sophia, the singress 😂😂😂😂💔💔💔. I'm not sure but I think you guys should be able to guess, at least from this chapter, what Sophia's character is all about.

Dwayne Johnson or Vin Diesel or are you team Lee Min Ho like Sophia? 😂🤣🤣💔

That was how Sophia scattered the family meeting 💔😭 See you in the next chapter with Adam and Kunmi and 😎😎😎♥️♥️♥️♥️🤐🤐🤐🤐

Love you guys ❤️❤️❤️