Who missed me?? Well, I missed myself ❤️❤️

~ADAM~

"Korede, look at how lean you've gotten! Did you not eat at the competition at all? Why do you look like a broomstick?"

That was the first thing mom said to me when I got home. She wouldn't stop looking at me as if she was seeing me for the first time, she wouldn't stop turning me around as if I was some sort of specimen to be studied.

In short, I've not been able to breathe properly since I stepped into the house.

"Mom, I was only gone for a week. I'm pretty sure I did not change at all."

"Keep quiet jhare. Have you looked in the mirror? Or are the girls you're dating fooling you?"

Oh God!

"Mom, I told you there are no girls. When are you going to relent on these girls thing?"

"Who are you fooling? Do you know how many times I've taken a sneak peak at your WhatsApp?"

"Mom!" I screamed, unable to believe my ears. She did what?

"Don't be so surprised," She completed before she turned back and she walked back into the main house.

Oh God! What kind of woman...

"Korede! Go and change oo. Your food will soon turn cold."

"Okay Ma," I yelled out after her before reaching out for my phone. I wanted to call Kunmi, to ask for her if she had gotten home.

"And don't think of calling any girl before coming downstairs."

Mom yelled again and I nearly drop my phone in shock.

God! Is this woman a seer or something?

Some minutes later, I was sitting directly opposite mom who wouldn't stop looking and smiling at me. That wasn't even what was odd, the odd thing was the amount of food she wanted me to eat. The dishes on the dinning table were legit overflowing with food, rice, plantain, chicken, sauces and everything edible. There was no way I was going to eat even 1% of the food she wanted me to eat.

"Mom, is this food meant for only me?" I asked again, for the umpteenth time since I started eating.

"Of course, don't you miss my food?"

"Definitely but there's no way in the world I'm going to finish all these," I replied, pointing the fork in my head to every single one of the carefully laid dishes in front of me.

"You have to, my friend! Look at you, look at all these holes in your body, look at your wrist," She reached over and she grabbed my wrist. It was an unconscious effort and the long sleeves on the top she wore hitched up at that moment, showing off the fresh reddish bruises on her wrist and forearm.

I've seen them almost everyday to know what it was.

My heart sank, tethered and it split into a thousand pieces.

It was only when I heard the loud sound of metal hitting against mental that I realized that I had slammed my fork on the dining table.

Mom, startled out of her wits looked up to me and when she saw that my eyes were fixed on her wrist, her eyes followed mine to her wrist and she was quick to cover her wrist again.

"Korede... I..." She stuttered and she started looking around. I knew the drill by now. She was looking for an innocent surface to blame again.

"Mom!" I began, feeling the onset of an headache and I started to massage my forehead. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" The words were of my mouth before I could stop myself and from the expression on her face, her facial expression that had morphed into that of total shock and hurt.

"Korede! You want talk to me in that manner."

I scoffed. "And yet, you allow dad to hit you and beat you at the slightest provocation."

"Korede!" She shouted my name again but I was beyond caring at that point. I just stood up from my chair and I started to walk away, leaving her slumped and defeated where she sat.

I was about to start climbing the stairs when the main door opened and dad stepped in. His face lit up when he saw me.

"Akorede, I had no idea you were going to get back this early. How was the..."

I blocked off the rest of his words and I climbed the stairs thar led to the rooms.

I was back to the fucked up reality, the shit hole that never got better.

**********

School was quick to bombard us with classes and works and tutorials. Nothing had changed with my group of friends much to the dismay of Kunmi who felt getting back to school would change everything. Everything was still as different as wrong as it was during Olympia. It was even had to tell who was talking to whom.

Kunle was basically none existent. I wasn't even sure if he was fine even though I had an inkling that he wasn't. I wanted to be a friend and ask him if he was really okay but a greater part of me was still angry at him for everything that had gone wrong during Olympia.

And even though Sophia was everywhere, she was still nowhere. She wasn't just ignoring every other person in school, she was also ignoring even Kunle and I and even Kunmi which was a first.

I still had no idea what had gone wrong between Sophia and Kunmi but whatever it was must have to do with Kunle, Sophia and Aminah.

Was Aminah right? Could Sophia and Kunle have hooked up together at the expense of Aminah?

And what kind of game was Sophia playing?

As if dealing with my friends' headaches wasn't enough, there was the whole dad and mom thing at home that seemed like it was never going to end.

"Why did you look so worried? Did your girlfriend break up with you?"

I jolted out of my reverie at the voice that sounded so much like Ezekiel's but when I turned around, it wasn't Ezekiel, it was Alex. Their voices wasn't alike at all. Figured I thought it was Ezekiel because I felt he was the only one capable of saying that.

"Did Kunmi break up with you?" He asked again before making himself comfortable on the bleacher beside me. I had come to the football field to be by myself but looks like this guy wasn't going to leave me alone any time soon.

"What kind of question is that? Are you hoping she's break up with me?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "I already told you, shey?"

I stared at him pointedly for a while. He was staring straight ahead at the football field, his expression blank and impassive.

"What's your deal with my girlfriend by the way?"

He muttered "It's always that personal pronoun for me," to himself before turning to me. "I told you, I like her."

Ehn ehn.

"Really? Then what was all that about? Olympia, your confrontation with Kunle?" I cocked my head to one side knowingly and he stared at me longer than usual as if trying to decipher how much I know.

"That was me watching out for a friend." He finally replied before looking away and I did not miss, how he shifted ever so slightly on the bleacher.

"That looked like you watching out for a girl you like."

I watched him closely for any kind of expression to cross his face but nothing except for the brief and tight clenching of his Jaws.

"A girl I used to like." He corrected, tightly, his tone dead and completely off.

He started to get up.

"It did not look like that to me." I probed further, even though everything about the guy was screaming 'don't probe further' but I wanted to know. I needed to know. How could he have liked her all these while and none of us knew nothing about it.

And was that even everything about it?

"I told you, a girl I used to like." He replied before he actually started to walk away. "And don't you dare bring it up again. I have enough to deal with Gab, I can't start thinking about some unreciprocated love at one..."

"So you really like her..." He turned to me so abruptly that I trailed off unknowingly because of his dead glare, "You really liked her?"

A short, mirthless chuckle escaped his lips before he jammed his two hands into either of pockets and for the briefest moment, a look I couldn't decipher crossed his ever impassive face. "If only that's all there was to it."

And he walked away before I could even say anything.

**********

I was about to turn to the SS3 block when I saw a very familiar figure standing and looking out of the balcony.

Her back was to me but it was so easy to tell who it was.

It was Aminah.

I wasn't sure why it was easy to tell she was the one. Maybe it was because of the overly dejected stance to the way she was standing or it was just normal to tell that she was the one because we've been friends for more than a year.

Friends? You guys never treated her as if she was a friend.

I started walking towards her before I could even process what I was doing.

Funny how seeing her now made me completely forget about every other thing, the fact that we might not even know a thing about her. The only thing that I could remember was the train of events that had happened during Olympia and how, every single thing had sucked energy out of the ever vibrant girl and making her a shadow of herself.

I still don't think I even wanted to hear anything from Kunle at this point.

How he acted so oblivious and blind to her during Olympia was still something I couldn't wrap my head around.

"Aminah!" I called out when I got to her.

She turned towards me slowly as if it was a plain torture to even stop looking out of the balcony. When her eyes finally met mine, I watched as something akin to shock crept into her eyes and she even surprised me further by moving back.

She actually took two steps back and she crossed her two hands over her chest as if she wanted to get away from or she felt the need to protect herself from me.

My eyes narrowed at the movement and I just had to wonder, why and how she was acting this way.

I started to say something but she beat me to it.

"Kunmi is not here."

Hmm?

I stared at her for a minute longer than usual while wondering why and how she'd even think I was only talking to her because of Kunmi.

More like she couldn't even believe I'd have any reason to talk to her if it doesn't have to Kunmi.

Well, it's not like she's entirely wrong.

I attempted a smile, attempted to move even closer to her but she doubled back, her hands tightening even protectively around her.

I frowned, stared at that gesture before I stopped.

"I'm not here to ask about Kunmi, I just..."

I was cut off, not by her words but by how quickly her head jerked up and that look of total surprise that filled her eyes but it was gone even before it started, making it seem like I had imagined it.

"If you want to ask me about my boy... about Kunle, I don't know where he is."

And that shattered my heart!

She actually believed I was incapable of saying a single sentence to her if it did not have to do with either Kunmi or Kunle.

I couldn't even say she was wrong to feel this way. In the long run, Kunle and subsequently, Kunmi were the only reason why we even had to smile to herself and eat lunches together.

I wouldn't even have any reason to reply her greetings if it weren't for them and even though, there were Kunmi and Kunle, I haven't been exactly polite or friendly towards her.

I was just realizing how totally unfair that had been towards her especially when she was always trying so hard. And then, I remember an exact same scenario when we were in SS2.

Funny how some things will never change.

"I'm not here to ask about Kunle."

"Hmm?" The corners of her lips twitched up with her facial expression morphing into that of a genuine surprise and befuddledness. "Then, why are you here?" She asked and even though, there was that usual carefreeness and childishness to her voice, I still couldn't help but think about how she was just few minutes ago.

"I'm here to talk to you."

Her lips parted slightly and I knew that that look of total shock and bewilderment on her face was one I wasn't going to forget anytime soon.

"Me?" She asked rhetorically and she even had to point an index finger to her chest with her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. "What would you possibly have to say to me?"

Was it that surprising that I actually wanted to talk to her?

"It's your birthday in three days time so I made a portrait for you. I just wanted to tell you that."

The look of shock and bewilderment slowly slipped away from her face giving way to surprise and astonishment and every other thing akin to disbelief.

She even staggered back.

And I knew that if she though it was unusual for me to talk to her randomly, then it was just absolutely impossible for me to make her a birthday portrait.

"You remember my birthday?" She asked again, as if mortified that I actually remembered. "And you even made me a portrait?" She sounded incredulous with nothing masking the childish undertone in her voice.

Then she smiled, an actual smile that seemed so much like her, "God! This feels like a dream. Should I pinch myself to check if this is a dream or not?" Then before I could even say anything, she was pinching her cheeks.

"Wow, looks like this is actually real." She muttered when she was done confirming that it was real. I chuckled to myself too and I found myself smiling widely. I was starting to see what must have attracted her to Kunle in the first place. Her childishness was pretty refreshing.

"But then, Adam, don't you think you've ruined it already?"

Hmm?

I turned to look at her, surprised. She was no longer standing at arms length and even though her hands were still crossed over chest, it was more like her hands were now crossed over her chest casually and not protectively. She now looked completely at ease and not on guard and at alert like she was when I first got here.

"Ruined what already?" I asked, because I was genuinely surprised. Was I even doing anything I could ruin?

"My birthday gift of course!" She chided, still leaving me surprised because I still did not understand how I had ruined the gift.

She hasn't even seen it.

"It's a birthday gift so it's meant to be a surprise. You're not supposed to tell me till it's my birthday. Now, you've totally ruined the surprise for me." She chided further, an undertone of fake hurt in her voice. She looked and sounded nothing like the girl from five minutes ago, the girl who looked genuinely surprised that I wanted to talk to her and even more mortified that I made a portrait for her birthday.

I continued staring at her, expecting myself to feel any other thing apart from the rush of amusement that made me burst out laughing.

"Sorry, I had no idea that's how it works."

"You should now, I wouldn't want you ruining Kunmi's surprises for her by telling her four days in advance." She replied before she joined me in laughing.

It felt exhilarating and it also surprised me too that talking to Aminah could be this genuinely interesting and relaxing.

Remembering everything that had gone wrong during Olympia was enough to wipe the smile off my face.

I stood up straighter.

"About that night Kunle fought with Khalil because of Sophia..." I trailed off just as her laughter trailed off too. A look I couldn't decipher crossed her face for the briefest moment.

"That was just him watching out for his best friend. You know how..."

I was cut off by her smile. She smiled for the briefest seconds, a small smile that looked so sad that it was heartbreaking. I was even more shattered when she spoke.

"You know, you don't have to lie to me to make me feel good. I might act dumb but I'm not actually that dumb."

What?

I started to say something else but she beat me to it as she started to walk with her back towards our class.

"And thank you for the birthday gift. You have to give me personally in three days time."

Then she raised her hand in the air and she waved at me curtly before turning back and walking towards the class.

It happened in less than a minute, one second she was walking and the next she was being slammed against the wall.

My eyes widened in panic!

Nothing had slammed her against the wall. It was almost like a force within her had slammed her and just was I started making my way towards her. She was now almost crouching on the floor, her hand clutching her chest as if she was in physical pain.

She was in physical pain.

"Aminah!" I called out when I got to her and I crouched down to her level. Her face looked horror stricken when she looked at me, almost like she was horrified by what just happened.

Like she knew what just happened.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," She replied casually and she stood up, shrugging my hands off in the process. "I felt dizzy. I must have stood for too long."

Says the girl who has an insane stamina for running.

I was about to say something else but was cut off by a group of barbaric SS2 students that were now walking leisurely in our corridor and talking at the top of their voices. I glared at the group before turning back to Aminah except that she was now gone.

She had slipped away.

And when I entered the class, she still wasn't there and it was only later when I was staring at their trio's seats that I remembered what Alex had told me before he left:

"If only that's all there was to it."

I heaved a sigh for the umpteenth time that day.

**********

~KUNMI~

The minute the driver drove into our compound after picking up from school where the school bus dropped all of us after Olympia, my brother rushed out of the main door with a speed of a running bus with a huge smile on his face.

I started to smile warily too, wondering why he was that happy to see me when I was only gone for a week.

Of course, he's your younger brother, he definitely missed you.

Of course. I thought to myself as I got down from the car and my smile deepened.

Maybe I've always under-hyped my importance in my brother's life.

"Junior, how're you?" I asked excitedly and I stretched my bags towards him but my younger brother just ignored me and he kept staring into the car's seat behind me.

"Where's Aunty Aminah?" He asked, surprising me and the smile wiped off my face immediately.

"Ehn?"

"Where's Aunty Aminah?" He asked again with the smile gradually wiping off his face and the excitement fading off from him.

Wow! He was that excited because he thought Aminah was with me?

"Is this her house? Why would she follow me when she have her own house to return to."

"Don't shout at me jhare. She was the one that told me she was going to follow you." He replied in an almost dead tone before he started to walk away leaving me with my bags.

My mouth dropped open and I had to force myself to close it.

Wawu!!!

Junior was serious about this crush thing. He was actually crushing on Aminah?

Wonders sha never end.

That was over a week ago and we were now back in school fully. By fully, I meant we were getting choked up with classwork because the school was preparing us for all our external exams.

I still did not know of what to do with Aminah. One minute, she'd appear fine and totally okay and the next minute, she'd just look like a shadow of herself, she'd look just like a broken and dejected girl.

Like right now, she was sitting on her seat which was directly behind me. I knew she was lying on the desk with her head because I kept turning back at intervals to look at her.

What I wasn't sure of was whether she was sleeping or not.

I remembered the last day of Olympia when I returned to the room after my confrontation with Sophia and Aminah wasn't in the room. It took me a while to find her at the swimming pool, siting at the edge of the pool and wadding her feet angrily in the water. It looked like she was angry at the water or she was taking out her anger at something else on the water. And when I asked her what's up with her after scaring me like that, her reply was a monosyllabic 'nothing' before she stood up and walked out of the pool.

I was more frightened than angry at her.

And that night marked the last time I talked with Sophia. She was back to ignoring me once we returned to school.

Probably her guilty conscience.

I still couldn't get myself to accept that bitter reality. The fact that Sophia had actually lied to me.

I was still looking at Aminah when I heard a loud thud in front of me. I jumped just as I turned back to see Ezekiel sitting on the seat in front of me and grinning from ears to ears.

I did not when a frown crossed my face and a low hiss escaped my lips.

His facial expression morphed into that of hurt.

"Kunmi, has it become like this?" He asked with his voice full of hurt. I had promised myself not to get surprised by whatever came out of this boy's mouth but right now, I was more than surprised.

I did not even know what he was talking about.

"Are you that much into the pretty boy now that you've forgotten about me, your first love?"

I stared at him pointedly for a minute before I dragged a long hiss. He choked on a fake sob and he put his hand on his chest, feigning hurt.

"Wow, I remember when you used to follow me around but now, you don't even want to talk to me at all."

"Me? Follow you around? Are you dreaming?" I asked, genuinely surprised because I did not remember ever following him around. I was never even interested in the guy.

"You've even forgotten!" He exclaimed in a sob tone that made me shake my head and look away from him. I busied myself with my literature textbook while pretending that the boy was not in front of me.

"This is what happens when you're ugly. If only I was halfway as pretty as that pretty boy, then maybe you and Fay would..."

My lips stretched into a smile, a full blown smile because I couldn't help it. I started to say something when a feminine voice interrupted me.

"Ezekiel, can I see you?"

I looked up at the same minute Ezekiel looked up to see Fay standing directly beside us with her eyes fixed on Ezekiel.

Whatever look that was on Ezekiel's face quickly evaporated and he immediately looked overly serious and almost somber.

I bit down my lips to stop myself from bursting into laughter.

"Hmmm?" He muttered, as if he was genuinely surprised that she had actually asked to see him.

"I need to tell you something important." The fair girl replied and Ezekiel was quick to stand up in an alarming rate that he nearly tripped. His hold on the desk was what saved him from falling down but that made the desk to fall down. It caused a ruckus because it ended up falling on the one in front of it, then the one in front of that one till the whole chairs and desks in front of the first one Ezekiel had pushed ended up falling.

My classmates started to groan because of the loud and annoying metallic sound. Behind me, I heard shuffles of feet which meant Aminah was waking up.

"Ezekiel, so because of girl, you want to ruin our ears and you want to spoil Crescent's properties before you graduate, abi?"

"Sha arrange the chairs before you start following woman up and down oo."

"Abeg abeg, guys, I go arrange an when I come back."

And before anyone could say anything, he was already following Fay out of the classroom.

"Woman wrapper oshi."

"Alaye, gbenu dake jhare. Just let us know that you're jealous of Ezekiel because of Fay." Jam Jam countered the first person that spoke.

"Why would I be jealous of that clown?"

"Because the girl that you've always had an unrequited crush on might like him." JamJam replied in a sing song voice with a derisive tone that made the first classmate to fly out of his seat and grab him by his collar.

Behind me, Aminah dragged a very long and loud hiss. I turned back to look at her. She was now sitting up properly and the first thing that surprised me was how bloodshot her eyes were. She had been sleeping for less than an hour so I simply couldn't understand why her eyes looked that bloodshot.

Her eyes looked like someone's that had been crying for hours on end. And she wasn't even crying before she dozed off.

"Are you okay?" I asked, sitting sideways so I'd be able to see her properly. It took her almost a minute before she gave an indication that she heard me and that was by her shrugging casually and almost five minutes before she replied me with the least expected question.

"Who's your favourite person in the world?"

I pretended not to be too surprised by her question, by the sheer irrationality of the question. I couldn't even start to think of what could have prompted her to ask that question.

"I'm pretty sure it's Adam." She answered before I could even think to say anything and surprising me in the process because she was right.

It was Adam.

"Mine is my mom. I love her, I really do..." She trailed off and I watched as that look of sheer sadness crossed her face.

God! Aminah! I did not even know what to do again.

"But I've always thought... I've always wished that if only I did not hate..." She trailed off again and this time she had to bite down her lower lip to stop it from trembling too much.

I subconsciously reached out and I placed my hand on hers that were clamped together on the desk. Her eyes flickered to our now enjoined hands and I did not miss how it registered surprise before it became blank again.

"I just wish I'd hate my mom. Maybe then, it won't be such a difficult thing to..."

What? She wished she could hate her mom? She was always talking about her mom, always praising her and gushing over how amazing her mom was. She was the perfect idealised mom, the woman that had made me wished she was mine the first time I met her by just how totally and absolutely she loved and adored Aminah.

But this... Where was this coming from?

"Aminah," I started to say only to notice she wasn't even looking at me again, she was now looking at someone behind me and I turned to look at the person.

It was Tolase and she was just standing there and staring at Aminah. I turned back to look at Aminah, expecting her to say something but she just kept staring at Tolase with her eyes giving nothing away. When I turned back to look at Tolase, she was already walking away and I did not miss the sly, almost derisive smile on her face.

What. Was. That?

Aminah removing her hands from mine was what jolted me out of my reverie. Her hands were now wrapped around her chest, tightly, securely as if to protect herself from something.

"Aminah..."

"Kunmi..."

We called out at the same time and I paused for her. I knew whatever she wanted to say at that point was much more important than whatever I wanted to say.

She sat up straighter on her seat, a look of denial and confusion marring her face as if she was debating whether she should tell me what she was about to or not.

"I need to tell you something very important."

Finally!

I thought to myself as I sat up straighter and I leaned forward towards her. She was finally going to tell me everything that was wrong with her, from the hair loss to her mood swings and the sadness that seemed to be deeply rooted in her.

At last, I'd be able to be her real friend for once.

"What's it? Just tell me... I'll do everything I can to..."

She cut me off by shaking her head, slowly, painful with a sad wistful turn. I don't why but I was suddenly afraid of hearing whatever she wanted to say.

I suddenly felt like what she was about yo say would have a very huge impact on me.

It made my insides turn and twist and my throat go feel clogged up but I still needed to know what she was about to say.

"Actually, I'm not..."

"Kunmi!"

Oh God!

I turned towards the voice. It was Alex and he was leaning against the doorframe, hands tucked lazily into his trousers' pocket.

"Practice." He said and his tilted his head towards the direction of the music studio. I knew what that meant. Immediately we got back from Olympia, I had gotten paired into the same group with him and Gab for a music project. It was like been placed in between Tom and Jerry. While Gab was so comfortable acting like Alex was a total stranger, the later wasn't even doing anything to hide the fact that Gab was more like his lifeline.

I've always thought that guy liked Sophia.

Was it possible for someone to be more confusing than Alex?

"You should go." Aminah replied and when I turned back, she looked relieved that she wasn't going to tell me yet. She looked grateful that she was still going to put off telling me.

I wasn't going to allow that to happen. I wasn't going to allow a repeat of what happened with Tara to happen when I had this kind of opportunity.

"No, I'll join you guys in a couple of minute. We're in the middle of a conversation."

Alex's eyes flickered from me to Aminah and for a minute, I thought he frowned or he probably did not.

"Okay. We'll be in the music studio."

"Nooo, you should follow him. I can always tell you later."

"Nooo, you should tell me now. I can always join them or catch up with the practice later but you... You can't..."

She smiled. She actually smiled and I was interrupted by that. Why was she smiling? She had no reason to be smiling in a situation as dire as this.

"God! Kunmi! Don't worry. We can always talk later and besides, I have something to say to Tolase."

She was up on her feet before I could even say anything, she started to walk away.

I grabbed her hands.

"Just tell me now, practice and Tolase can always wait."

She shook her head and she actually chuckled. "Kunmi, we'll talk before closing time, is that okay?"

And before I could even say anything, she was already sidestepping Alex and walking out of the classroom.

I heaved a sigh and I mentally calculated the hours we had left till closing time.

We would talk later. We were going to talk later and everything would be resolved.

But if I had known, I'd have maintained my stance and force her to tell me everything right there and then. Because that would have altered the series of incidences that followed that day.

But I did not know.

I did not know that histories could be repeated in the most shocking and bizarre ways.

Omoh, this is how we'll soon start the countdown to the end of this book oo 😭😭😭😭💔

Junior and Aminah?? Are you thinking what I'm thinking? 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️ You can start thinking of ship names oo.

Do you think Aminah and Adam could have been good friends before now? 🤔🤔

Wahala be like whatever is going on in this book oo because the next two chapters are just 💔💔💔😭😭 premium heartbreak oo. Oh ye Sophia lovers, you'll see her in the next chapter 😪😪

I don't have the strength to type long AN, I just finished writing this chapter and I'm sleepy and tired af. I'm not even sure if this chapter turned out well but then, we moove ❤️❤️😩😩

See you when I see you ❤️❤️