A lot of people really showed that they've left the heavenly race in the last chapter and Omoh, this is me keeping y'all in my prayers for God to lead you back on the right track 😂🙏

You'll see yourselves again in this chapter 😒 it's not X-rated so don't get unnecessarily excited.

Comment hi if you've missed Wale and Nadia together 😂❤️

And please, if you'd like to join my WhatsApp group, send me a private message either here(on Wattpad) or on IG(_ririwrites), don't demand for the group link in the comment section or on my message boards please. I'll most likely ignore it.

And if you're a ghost reader, please avoid me 🙏

Let's go ✨

NADIA

"Are you not going to like..." I tilted my head towards her neck, "use something to get rid of those mosquito bites on your neck?"

Dunni paused for a while in front of the bathroom and her hand flew up to slowly massage the hideous bites on her with her lips stretching into an almost coy smile.

From the other side of the room, Tania burst into a maniac laughter that made my heart skip a fearful beat.

"Ha ha ha ha," she pushed herself to a sitting position on the bed and started clapping her hands together like a deranged market woman.

"Ha ha ha, I'm sure Nadia is the only twenty-year-old in this life that doesn't know what those marks are."

My eyes rolled to the back of my head at her overdramaticness.

"Come on," Dunni replied as she took her seat in front of her small vanity, her voice sounding like she was just inches from smiling, "come to think about it, they kinda look like mosquito bites."

"Of course, they do, except they didn't quite feel like mosquito bites, right?"

"Shut up Tania."

"Awww, see your life, fornicating kids."

"Yen yen yen."

I looked from the blushing girl in the mirror to the smiling one on the bed with just one recurring thought in my head.

What are these two?

"We've not even had the time to talk about why you stayed out all night two nights ago and even for the whole of yesterday. Roomie, you came back home around 8 pm yesterday when you left the hostel before 5 pm the day before so tell me, what were you up to?"

Dunni paused in her application of face cream and the blush on her cheeks deepened.

"Well, I was at my boyfriend's," she replied casually and my mouth clamped shut.

Well, what was I expecting?

"Hmm, kaare, is that what they sent you to come and do in CSA? To spend the night and the whole day with a man?"

"Well," she replied casually again and she started to rub the cream languorously on her shoulders, "something must kill a woman."

Tania's mouth dropped open, "You're not even trying to deny it."

"What's there to deny? I was at my boyfriend's hostel and we did a lot of... You know," she wriggled get brows together and she joined her two index fingers together, conveying to us what even a 12 year old would have been able to decipher.

Subhanallah!

"So you're telling me that you spent the whole of 24... How many hours is that again? 24 plus," she started counting on her fingers, 5, 6, 7, 8. You spent the whole of 28 hours..." her eyes widened so much she resembled that shock emoji, "doing the do?"

"Not really, we had to spend a few hours to sleep so we'll have the energy to continue."

Omoh.

"Wow, fornicating baby and you can still proudly say it."

"Why not?" she shrugged, "and besides, you can't blame me, I've spent more than a year without a man's touch and I was severely starved."

My mouth dropped open again and I had to remind myself to close it before I start drolling.

But really? Who's this Dunni of a girl?

"Hmmm hmmm hmmm, bad girl Dunni," Tania hailed at the top of her voice, "Dunni, the baddie, so you guys did it to the point of getting that many hickeys?"

"They're not that much and you can't blame me, I love neck kisses. I'd gladly get a thousand hickeys all over my neck just to get kissed on it."

Egbere.

But really, that's exactly what Dunni is; an original and confirmed egbere.

And those marks were from getting kissed or in this case, getting bitten on the neck by someone else and that was well... Not like I'd have an idea in the first place.

"Me too," Tania butted in and she re-adjusted her small frame on the bed, "I mean, is there even a girl that doesn't like getting kissed on the neck? That thing is so pleasurable, especially if, if..." the color pink started rising on her cheeks, "especially if your partners know what to do with their tongue and teeth."

What the...

I shot her a glare but my best friend was too far gone in her fantasies to even notice.

"But I've always had to like..." she cleared her throat, her voice turning coy, "remind Seyi to always tone it down a little because my dad can just call me on a video call any time and I wouldn't know how to explain to the man that sees me as a 8 years old how I got love bites all over my neck."

Dunni chuckled softly and she abandoned dressing up and she turned around so she was facing Tania to give her all to the conversation that turned out to be the absolute worst one they'd ever had.

"I thought my dad was the only one. That man doesn't even know what's up..." she chuckled again, "he doesn't know that... he doesn't really qknow that I've gotten back with Dave now and even when we were dating, my dad always though we were this typical young couples that only hold hands, kiss each other on foreheads and exchange chaste kisses on lips occasionally." She chuckled again and when she continued, she sounded like she was speaking through a smile.

"If he should even get an inkling on the things we've tried out behind closed doors, he'll most definitely send me to a missionary school and force me to become a nun and probably kill my boyfriend or something."

"But why are fathers like that? It's not like they were up to any good with girls our ages when they were young so why can't they tolerate us with boys."

"Because like you said earlier, they still see us as 8 years old. I mean, African parents, especially fathers see their daughters as this pious, untouched flowers and because they know exactly the kind of atrocities they caused on girls back then when they were in their prime, it's hard to believe and come to terms with the fact that some guys will do exactly those things to their precious little girls."

"And then, they expect us not to talk to boys, not to even see boys at all but when you're 25 or so, they expect you to miraculously provide a fiancé as if a fiancé is something you can just wave a magic wand in the air and produce out of the blues."

"As in ehn," Dunni replied, "it took my mom manipulating and blackmailing my dad before he finally agreed for me to go out with David when we were in 100 level and now, he has been hammering it to my sisters' heads that they're not allowed to date till they're 21."

"My dad doesn't even know that I have a boyfriend, that I've always had a boyfriend..."

"You don't mean it?" Dunni exclaimed and that'd have been my exact reaction if I didn't know about it, "so you mean despite how close and lovey-dovey you are with Seyi, your dad doesn't know about him?"

"I'm serious! Oh, you don't know... you don't understand. There's no way I'll sit my dad down and tell him I have a boyfriend. That man thinks I'm just like... he thinks I'm like 10 years old. There's no way I'd be able to sit and tell him that I have a boyfriend. He won't even be able to come to terms with it. He has always made it known that I can now start talking to prospective boyfriends when I'm above 21... oh my God! Nadia!" She turned to me sharply, her face split open with a smile, "my birthday is just in a couple of days, I'll be 21 in just 10 days' time. Eeehh, I'm so excited."

I ignored her and she glared at me scornfully before hugging one of Dunni's teddy bears to her chest while giggling and smiling to herself.

"Wooosh, I'm so excited, I feel like it's my wedding day that's approaching and not my birthday."

Ya Allah.

"Lucky you," her partner-in-crime answered her, "I've been having existential crises on my birthdays since I clocked 18. I don't think I've celebrated a birthday after my 18th birthday without being in a severely bad mood. Sometimes, I even find myself crying which is like... bizarre? And the reasons why it happens like that still elude me."

"A lot of people say this about their birthdays and I've not really been able to understand it. Aren't birthdays supposed to be huge celebrations? I mean you're growing older, you're healthy, you're accomplishing more, you're getting more and more experiences, that should be more than enough ground for celebration, right?"

"I guess you don't know how scary the concept of growing older is for some people. One minute, you're 17 and the next, you're 24, and boom, you're 30, it's scary," Dunni's voice turned somber and completely unlike her, "I've always wanted to be 18 forever."

Existential crises because of aging and growing older weren't new things and I've always tried to exist outside of it. Most times, I'd have forgotten my birthdays if not for my family members and Tania who always made them into a big deal but someone like Dunni, someone as free spirited and wild as her having existential crises because of growing older was slightly unbecoming of her.

"I guess I'm one of the very few people that don't think that much about growing older. I know being 21 now is slightly scary but as I am right now, I can't even wait to be 50."

I hissed under my breath and I forced my eyes to focus on the document I should have been reading instead of listening to their talks.

But God, how's Tania this senseless?

"50 ke? You did not even say 25 or 30. How'll any normal 21 years old say they can't wait to be 50?"

"Well," she sassed and flung an imaginary hair over her shoulders, "I'm not normal."

Absolutely not.

"Please, let's stop talking about growing older please before I start having another crisis," she faced Tania squarely and crossed her legs, "let's continue our earlier conversations about men, that's should be the most important thing here."

"Yes please," Tania mirrored her expression and I shook my head.

The combination of this two is just plain chaotic and absolutely brutal.

"So your parents don't know that you've had a boyfriend for almost 3 years now? How's that even possible? You must have signs and traces written all over you whenever you're at home and all the phone calls, they must have suspected a thing."

"My parents are hardly ever home so that's already out of it, it's almost the end of the year now and I can count the number of times I've seen them physically on just one hand so that makes it easier to get away with my lies. But my mom knows sha, she got to know earlier this year."

"Wow, hope your dad won't kill Seyi when he finally finds out about him?"

"Nah, he won't, he's obsessed with my happiness so much he'll have to come to terms with it and besides, there's no way in this world, I'd tell him that I've been dating Seyi for that long, I'll just tell him that we've been dating for a couple of weeks."

"Hmmm hmm, fair enough," she shifted on her chair so she was facing me with a somewhat sweet smile on her smile.

"What about you, Nadia?"

What about me what? I didn't say it out loud though, I allowed my expression to do all the talking.

"Why are you not dating anyone? Why does it sound like you're genuinely not interested in the dating community?"

Again, Tania burst into laughter and she clapped her hands together like a typical market woman.

"So it's Nadia that you're asking those questions? Hehehehe," she clapped her hands together again, "she's like the worst worstest person to ask that question."

"But why?" That was Dunni to her and she even sounded genuinely curious, "Men are the sauce of life, and all girls, at least girls our age needs a man in their lives, or..." she turned back to me, "don't you want to get married in the long run?"

I stared at her pointedly for a minute longer than usual.

"Why should I be bothered about that now? It's... I still have so many years to go before I'll start thinking of marriage."

"Okay, good!" she banged her hands together, "at least, we've established the fact that you'd love to get married one day but if you still have this kind of strong aversion to men, when will you start to get over it? When will you even see someone of the opposite gender and allow yourself to get romantically interested in them when you still don't have time for them when you're almost 21?"

"For starters, I don't have a strong aversion towards guys and even if I do, I have an aversion towards females. I have a general aversion towards most human beings."

"But you have a female friend and that's Tania and well..." she cleared her throat, "me?" she leaned forward with a smile on her face and she asked eagerly, "am I your friend?"

The corners of my lips twitched up and I kept staring at her pointedly.

"Well, I'm just going to go ahead and assume that I'm your friend so that makes your female friends two. Awwwww, lucky you," she squealed like a child, "you have these two badass and sensible ladies as your friends."

She traded high five in the air with Tania and the corners of my lips turned up even more.

"That's even by the way. So you have two female friends but no single male friends so your aversion towards females is nullified, you only have an aversion towards males."

"I don't."

"Yes, you do, I've never seen you smile at any guy before."

"I'm not a smiling person."

"Don't even mind Nadia oo," Tania butted in, "she's just lying. I can't even count the number of times I've tried to set her up with some of my male friends and Seyi's friends but more than half of them are afraid of her and the remaining half always get aired in her dms."

"Well, I never told you to give out my numbers to people that'll type XUP as a greeting, as a first-time greeting at that to me and you really can't expect me to chat or even try to build any relationship with people that type Am as I'm and people that go around abbreviating and customizing words like lunatics.-

And please, can we just stop talking about boys? I have a mock trial this afternoon and I still need to..."

"So, since you insist you don't have any aversion towards men," my best friend interrupted me, "and that you see men just the way normal girls like us see men pray tell, dear best friend, what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you see an attractive guy?"

Now, I was getting exasperated, "Tania, just keep..."

"No ooo, that should not even be the question," Dunni's voice thundered over mine, "the question should be does she ever get attracted to guys? Has she ever felt even a tiny winy bit of attraction to anybody? Maybe she's asexual or what's that term for people that don't have all these sexual attractions?"

What're all these?

"That's true oo, Nadia," Tania actually turned to me eagerly, "Abi, you're asexual ni?"

I sighed in extreme exasperation.

"No, I'm not."

"But how'd you know that you're not? Have you ever had a sexual attraction to anyone? Even Chris Hemsworth? Have you ever fantasized about him because all girls have done that at some point in their lives?"

"Who's Chris Hemsworth?" I asked and the two bizarre girls mirrored each other's expressions. Their jaws slackened and they stared at me, mouths ajar.

"My bad," Tania apologized soberly, "I thought I was having a conversation with a normal person. Someday in the future, we'll get back to how possible is it for someone not to know the guy that played Thor in Avengers but for now, let's talk about your asexuality and how to cure you of it."

"For the very last time, I've not asexual and you guys should stop disturbing me," I started pulling my notebooks to my front on the bed, "I have a court case to get to in a couple of hours and..."

A force snatched the notebooks from me and I looked up to see Tania tucking them away under the bed and then sitting down in front of me.

"You stayed up all night reading that so I'm more than sure you know everything by now and besides, court cases will come and go but this your asexuality matter will stay forever."

"Tania, I'm not asexual!"

"Then prove it."

Aaah. Oluwa olohun oo! How did I end up with Tania of all people?

"Okay, I'm asexual then, are you satisfied now? Oya, return to Dunni's bed and lemme revise in peace."

"But I don't want you to be asexual," she whined like a child, "what about how the plans for our double dates? What about the planned vacations with me and Seyi and you and your future boyfriend? What about me being your maid of honor on your wedding day?"

Aaah. Subhanallah!

"Tania, for goodness sake, just leave me alone."

"You know what?" she bounced on her bed eagerly, completely ignoring my disapproval, "why don't we do it this way?"

"We're not doing anything anyway, just leave me a..."

"Like I asked earlier," she went on, completely ignoring me, "what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you see a fine specimen of a man?"

"Is anything supposed to come to my mind?" I answered, deciding to play along because there was no way she'd allow me to have peace of mind if I didn't play along, "and I don't go around looking at fine specimen of men so just..."

"Yes," she chided loudly and I visibly flinched, "plenty things are supposed to come to your mind, not just one thing."

God! How possible was it that Tania of all the sensible girls out there the only one I decided to befriend? How?

"So," she rearranged her small frame excitedly on the bed, "lemme just run you through the list of things you can possibly feel and think about when you meet a fine guy or a guy you'll feel attracted to."

"I'm not interested."

"Yes, you are!" she all but screamed at me.

I guess I was always going to regret my 17-year-old decision to befriend this girl called Tania.

"So," she started or rather continued with a beam starting to form on her face, "let's assume you're sitting in a lobby or classroom or anywhere, and this very attractive chocolate toppings on caramel fudge-guy enters and you like... you're like... okay, let's start with you checking him out. Have you ever even checked a guy out?"

"Do you realize you're just wasting your time?"

"I'm just going to have to go ahead and assume that you've never checked a guy out," she ignored me as she continued her display of... you know what it was, "the first thing I check out is the guy's face. Is the face handsome enough? Is it a cute face? Will the combination of this face and my face give us the cutest kids?"

"What? You imagine making babies with every single guy you check out?"

"Not in the literal sense but yeah, something like that and not to digress," she continued eagerly, "does he have a cute smile? Am I going to have the cutest babies with him? Are we going to look good together and all those yadayada things."

"The first thing I check out is the guy's upper body, excluding the face," Dunni joined the conversation back after giggling at her phone's screen for minutes, "I mean, the guy's biceps and muscles and abs and six packs and all that. For me, that's a major selling point in males. Is he strong enough? Are his hands strong enough to carry me, wrap my legs around his waist, place me on tables and cabinets, hold my legs up, hold my two hands together and you know... I just love to run my hands and tongues over a perfectly caved out upper body."

She bit her right index finger slightly, looking every shade like a chick in heat, "You know, I just love my guys ripped. Well and thoroughly ripped."

Someone remind me to close my mouth.

And how was she even supposed to know all that from just checking a dressed guy out?

"Who doesn't like ripped guys?" Her partner replied to her with a shy smile deepening on her face, "that's the second thing I check out sha."

"The second thing I check out is erhhhm? His fingers?"

I placed my right palm under my chin in shock and shock and shock.

"Yeah," a blush started forming on Tania's cheeks as her smile turned coyer, "that's very very important."

"How's that even important?"

It took four pairs of eyes turning to look at me to realize that I was the one that uttered that question and I looked away immediately, looking for a distraction on the bed but there was nothing to distract me except the pink flowers as designs on the bed cover. It made my movements awkward as hell so I looked back up immediately to see Tania grinning from ear to ear.

"So you're interested in our conversation?" She teased, "maybe you're not asexual after all."

"That was a mistake."

"No, it wasn't a mistake, and don't worry, we're not going to go into the in-depth details of why fingers are so important in guys, you'll find the reason why when you finally have a boyfriend. Right, Dunni?"

"Of course, seeing is believing or in this regard, experiencing is knowing."

Tania squealed like a child and the two entities traded another air high-five.

But wait, where did these girls come from again?

"And the next thing after checking out the face, the abs, and the fingers is what again... hmmm?" Tania pretended to think, "I really can't remember the next thing I check out after all that, it's been long I checked a guy out because all I do these days is get completely consumed by the thought of Seyi."

"Hmm hmm," Dunni started applying lipstick while looking at a small mirror, "the next thing and the most important is to check out a man's torso," she looked up briefly from the mirror, "checking and gauging a man's dick size is the most important."

I blanched.

Subhanallah!

I was done. I was really really done.

"Yes, of course, how could I have forgotten something that impo..."

"Can you guys stop now? It's okay, I now understand your point. Just stop please, this conversation is getting barbaric."

"Aaahh aaahh," Dunni teased with a smile on her face, "why are you getting so worked up? These conversations are normal, at least we're not talking about sex positions or how to give a perfect bj."

Ahusubillahi.

But what is this girl really?

"There's nothing normal about this conversation. God!" I exhaled, "how can you guys even say things like that with a straight face?"

"Are we supposed to say it with an unstraight face because I don't understand?"

"Tania, gbenu dake."

"But why are you getting so bothered by our conversation though?" Dunni actually went on, fueling my already stretched-to-the-extreme frustration, "it's not like we're saying all these in public or front of men. This is perfectly normal, girls check out boys almost with the same intensity that boys check us out with. You'll be surprised to know the kind of analysis boys subject girls' bodies to. How her breasts will feel like, how it'd feel like to have her lips wrapped around their most intimate parts and how..."

"Dunni, stop talking."

"All these things are normal," she aired me because apparently, I was thin air now and I wasn't capable of being heard, "both girls and boys literally have the raciest and raunchiest thoughts and imaginations when they see as little as the tip of the tongue of whoever they're attracted to."

God!

"It might sound unbelievable because you might be asexual and you've not even experienced a full-blown attraction to..."

"For the last time, I am not asexual."

"Okay Ma," Tania answered, "you're not asexual, you just don't feel sexual attractions and sexual feelings."

God! I actually face-palmed because these two girls were fast becoming a source of a massive and grand migraine.

"Don't worry, Nadia, I'm sure you'll get to experience all these soon. You'll soon meet a man that'll make you squirm and..." she started squealing only to stop immediately, her expression morphing into that of shock, "but wait oo, you've not had your first kiss? You've not held hands with a guy? You've not felt all those electrifying sensations when you're with your guy? Wow! I'd really love to experience all those things for the first time again but there's no way I'd have survived till now, I'd have run mad without being touched by a man till now."

You're actually mad now but it's just some sort of chronic madness in disguise.

"Hope you guys are done with your talk now?" I dragged my files from where Tania had dumped them, "lemme just use the remaining hours or so to revise..."

"But why have you not had a boyfriend though?" Dunni asked again and I exhaled, sighed, exclaimed, shook my head, and rolled my eyes.

Yeah, I did all that.

"I mean, there are millions of guys out there in this Lagos alone and thousands of them in CSA so what's wrong? Do you have a particular spec? Hmm? Is that it?"

"Dunni..."

"But even if you have a spec, you'll see some guys and they'll make you forget that there's something called Spec in the first place," she leaned over the backrest of the chair eagerly and it was such a miracle she and the chair weren't falling to the ground, "if you don't mind, I could link you up with Wale."

My expression thinned and my insides turned instantly turned sour as if I had just drank that famous àgbo ibà mom always force us to drink.

"Or wait," she suddenly banged her hands together and a mischievous glint entered her eyes as if she just thought of a record-breaking idea, "you guys are working together so maybe, just maybe this is a natural opportunity for you guys to develop feelings for each other or wait," she clamped her hand over her mouth as her eyes widen in your shock, "are you guys already falling for each other? Is Wale the..." she leaned over the chair, even more, eyes growing frantic with excitement, "is he the reason why you're so sure you're not asexual?"

A loud hiss escaped from my mouth.

"I can hardly stand Wale and please, stop using Nadia and asexual in the same sent..."

"Why can't you stand Wale?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious, "he's handsome, he's smart, scratch that, he might as well be a genius, he's thoughtful, Wale might actually be the most thoughtful person you'd ever meet, he always put his friends first and he's like the best human I've ever met and the most important thing, he's so so hot, like damn, have you seen him? and a lot of girls would even do anything and everything to get him to notice them."

"Do you realize that's your boyfriend's best friend you just analysed?"

"Of course, Tania, as long as David doesn't get to know, then it's okay. Anyway, Nadia," she turned to me again, "you only need to look past the air of proudness and detachment Wale gives off, he's really a sweet and thoughtful guy."

"He's only nice and thoughtful to you because he likes you and I can't look past the air of proudness and superiority because that's all he is."

That's all he has to be because why else would he have the nerve to actually ignore my message after I managed to send him a message about our project after giving myself a 5 hours prep? But guess what? The message is sitting there in his dm with two blue ticks.

And completely unanswered.

So see past his air of superiority and proudness? Never. I was always going to hate his guts and everything he represents.

"Oh well, I'm not going to say anything anymore, experiencing is believing so I'm just going to wait for it to happen..."

"It's never going to happen."

"It might even be with Wale. I just can't wait for you to fall in love with someone, I bet it's really going to be excitingly funny, right, Tania?"

"I'm telling you," her partner-in-crime was quick to reply to her, "I've been looking forward to that day since our 100 levels day. I can't wait for her to fall in love and just get all bothered and hot because of a man."

"I can't wait for her to return back to the hostel and gist us about her man."

"I can't wait for her to just smile and blush occasionally because she's remembering all the sweet things he has told her and how electrifying his touches are."

"Imagine Nadia turning her wardrobe upside down because she doesn't know what to wear to their first date or slowly becoming conscious of how she's dressing because of a man."

"I can't wait for her to know why and how ripped chest and fingers and tongues are important."

"I can't wait for her to stay up all night thinking about her first kiss, then smiling and biting her fingers and blushing and giggling at intervals."

I kept looking at them back and forth with bile rising in my throat.

"I can't wait for her to really experience how beautiful love is, for her to completely become enamored by a guy, for his existence to become everything to her..."

"And I'm sure it's a hard girl like Nadia that'll become a complete simp when she falls in love, she'll fall fast and hard and she'll want to be with the guy 24/7," Dunni squealed excitedly, "see good times ahead, I can't to tease her and tease her till she's a blushing mess."

What are these girls?

"Me too! I really can't wait for her to feel a full-blown attraction, to get all bothered and hot and cold and warm just because she's sitting close to a guy that she's attracted to. I can't wait for her to know what it feels like to want a man both in the love sense and you know," she winked suggestively at Dunni, "in the other sense too."

"Can you guys stop talking like I'm not here?"

"Don't worry, we'll be here for you when it happens, you can come to ask us for advice or anything."

"Especially me," Dunni screamed, "Come and ask me anything at any time, I have a thousand ideas on how to make a man go crazy with wanting you."

"The both of you really belong to Yaba Left."

"Don't worry," Tania winked at me, "you'll understand this kind of madness when you finally fall in love with love."

"I'm not interested in understanding that kind of madness."

"You'll understand whether you like it or not."

"Don't worry, Nadia," Dunni said to me, "we'll be right here for you when you need sister girls to gist."

"I'll rather be alone than talk to you lun... to you girls about anything."

"You'll take it... Oh My God!" she screamed all of a sudden, "is that the time? Is the time really 9:30? But I was... I finished having my bath around 7:50. How's it already 9:30? God! My class would have started since 9 and my lecturer would have closed the door since 9:01. Oh God! Oh God!" she was panicking as she put anything and everything on and I could only chuckle.

So she knew she had a class and she was busy talking about boys and all those nonsense and irrational talks.

I tried to busy myself with the questions I had prepared for the case but for the life of me, I couldn't stop feeling bothered and I couldn't seem to stop my thoughts from trailing off and off.

And not because of the nonsense the two girls had forced me to listen to.

I hope.

****************

Even dressed in a prison uniform, he still managed to look effortlessly good like a model that just stepped out of all those fashion magazines and it made me hiss underneath my breath because what a waste of fineness for someone that cocky.

Defendants weren't compelled to take the witness stand, in fact, they had the right to refuse if the prosecutor wants them to take a stand but this particular defendant had demanded that he take the witness stand and I was sure he had something up his sleeve.

Even though he was playing the position of the accused in this case, I was still wary of him because only God knows the kind of tricks he has up his sleeves. I guessed he didn't need to play the prosecutor or the opposing bench before getting me all worried ajf bothered.

I watched him take his seat on the witness stand before standing up, the prosecutor's robe feeling stiff against my body. It was the first time I'd play the position of a prosecutor in a mock trial since we started taking part and it made me feel unprepared even though I had spent the whole night reading and learning and preparing.

I walked up to him and he didn't even look up, he just kept his eyes leveled on a spot on my body while his expression was ever impassive and unbothered.

Too bad you're playing a defendant who'll end up getting convicted in this case and there's no way to talk your way out of it.

"How well do you know Miss Anjola Akinlabi?" I asked, standing slightly sideways so I could also the judge.

"Fair enough," he answered curtly and in a clipped tone and I had to press my lips together as annoyance started seeping into my being.

We'd barely even started the questioningly and he was already annoying the fuck out of me.

"What do you mean by fair enough? Were you friends? Best friends? Just acquaintance or..." I lowered my voice and turned to face him squarely, "lovers, perhaps?"

That got a reaction out of him because his head flickered up and a low sigh escaped from his lips.

"We didn't share any form of special relationship. We were classmates and that's all."

"Ohhh," I feigned surprise, "I see. So what do you think of her? Did you like her? Were you interested in her romantically?"

He scoffed slightly again as I leaned over the desk so I was almost face-to-face with him.

"Or did you perhaps hate her existence to the point of wishing that she'd cease to exist? At least where you could see her?"

"Objection, my lord," his attorney's voice rang out and I turned to see Funmbi, the girl playing the attorney stand to her feet, "the prosecutor is trying to lead the defendant on."

"It's a cross-examination," I sassed, "we're allowed to go all out."

"Objection overruled."

She slumped back in her seat and I turned back to the defendant with a smile. He was sitting closer to the desk now with his hands resting on the desk and he looked... Slightly interested?

"You've always been the ace of your department from 100l, you've never even been challenged by anyone, you've won a series of academic badges, won lots of competitions, and collected lots of awards without even being challenged by anyone," I continued, pacing slowly in front of him, "you've never had to compete with anyone.-

But all of a sudden, a girl transfers to your department, and everything you've ever worked hard for and everything you've ever represented just went down the drain because she didn't even challenge you, she completely trashed your..." I air-quoted it, "records."

He leaned over even more, his expression growing more interested.

"You're only human," I made sure to sound empathetic, "so it's understandable if you loathed her existence and you wanted her to cease to exist, at least where she'd stop thrashing and making your efforts seems not..." I pretended to think for the right word, "...not so worth it. Am I right?"

"Yes, you're right," he replied instantly, knocking the breath out of me because one, I didn't expect him to admit it and two, even if he was going to admit it, I didn't expect him to sound so casual about it.

"I disliked... No," he shook his head slowly, "I hated her. I mean, who wouldn't?" he shrugged, the movement matching just how casual he was sounding, "no one would like or even be able to tolerate someone that possess that kind of threat to them, no one would like the existence of someone who just came out of nowhere and just wiped out everything they've ever worked out for but..."

"No," I recovered myself just in time, "we'll get to that. So you... Did you..." I flustered for a moment, the case I'd spent days building up fading to the recess of my mind before it came back up again.

"So, you just said you hated her existence, you must have wished you could do something to put a stop to it, After all, she was like a huge headache that you needed to get rid of so you'll be fine."

"I did wish something would make her disappear," he met my eyes and the ghost of a sinister smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "countless times."

I blanched.

Even just playing an unreal part in a mock trial, this guy was effortlessly good at being annoying.

"You wished she'd disappear, you must have wished you could act on it too."

"Maybe I did, maybe I did not."

"Please answer in yes or no, defendant."

"No."

"Really?" I cocked an eyebrow, "that seemed to go completely against what you told your best friend. May I, your judge?" I gestured to the projection screen. I pressed the control and a WhatsApp chat came on the screen. The clerk read it out loud to everyone and I heard a smirk from behind me immediately he was done reading.

I turned back.

"Prosecutor, you possibly can't believe that I'm guilty just because..."

"This is a courtroom, Mr. Joshua and you're a defendant undergoing cross-examination so you won't speak unless you're answering a question."

Oh God.

What's this?

The expression Wale had on now was something I never thought I could see on him. His impassiveness and self-satisfied smirk disappeared completely and in its place was a slightly taken aback expression, then the corners of his lips twitched up in what looked like surprise or amusement.

I know this was a mock trial but getting this expression on him? Oh well, completely unexpected.

"Objection my Lord, if the prosecutor keeps shutting the..."

"Overruled."

She slumped back in her seat again.

"So, we just established the fact that you confided in your closest friend that you've thought of a plan to get rid of something posing a threat to you and a series of incidence happened in school and eventually, Anjola had to leave school, is that right?"

"Yes," he replied in a somewhat somber tone and I felt like dancing.

We should be putting this guy on the defendant's seat more and more.

"How important is The Scholar's League to you?" I asked and his eyes flickered up, "I heard it's more like a family's heirloom because every one of your family has won this competition, including your dad and mom. I understand the frustration that comes with being pressured to carry on with the family's heritage. It makes you feel like you have to do everything in your power to win, right?"

"Of course, you don't..." he trailed off immediately after he realized his mistake it was too late.

I smiled and leaned over the desk so I could see his expression.

"Was that why you got rid of her then? She was the only threat in the way and after she was out of the picture, you had a chance to compete and subsequently, win. That's something you'd not have dreamt of if she was still in the..."

"Objection," the defending attorney sprang up again, "the prosecutor is trying to insinuate..."

"That's all," we said at the same time and she heaved a sigh so loud I was sure the whole court heard while shooting daggers at me.

I walked back to my seat.

"Why do I feel like this is the most interesting mock trial case that we've had since our 100 level?"

"That's because it is," Funmbi replied Chidi, one of the guys that was part of the mock trial. We were currently on a one-hour recess and we were all gathered around to talk about it.

"It's so well thought of," she continued, "and so so detailed. I love it."

"Don't we all?" That was a girl whose name I couldn't remember, "I feel like we're in for a twist, I mean, this case looks like it's going this way but what  if it's actually going that way?"

"There's only one bottled water left," Shanks, the guy that was distributing bottled water to us announced and I looked away from the girl to see that he was standing between Wale and me and looking back and forth at us.

"Will you guys share? Or if you don't mind, I can just go and get another one for the last person."

Which was me from how he had been distributing it.

Wale flickered his eyes towards me for the briefest brief second, "Just give it to her, I'm okay."

"Okay boss," Shanks handed the bottle to me and even though I didn't want to collect it, my throat had dried up from talking too much so I collected it and nearly drowned the entire content in a go.

"Can the case actually go that way?" Funmbi asked as she covered her bottle, "the pieces of evidence are so glaring and everything points to the defendant as guilty. I'm almost 100% sure that he's really guilty."

"What a shame!" Shanks butted in, "you're the defending counsel whose client pleaded not guilty to the charges but you actually believe he's guilty?"

"No, I'm Funmbi right now so I'm not the defense counsel and as Funmbi, I believe that the defendant is really guilty."

"I believe to make the case more realistic and to build a better argument, you should stick to a particular belief both outside and inside the case," Toyosi, Funmbi's closest friend and also academic scholar added, "maybe you'd have built a slightly better argument if you did."

"I did build a very strong argument but Nadia's cross-examination kicked me to the curb," she looked at me, "completely. I guess I kind of underestimated her because she has never acted as a prosecuting counsel before, never knew she was going to bring her A game."

"Why must you guys compliment people in disguise?" Shanks asked, sort of living up to the reason why people named him after that popular comedian, "if you want to say she was a badass during today's trial, just say so, no dey go through corners."

The whole room burst into laughter except for a particular person that remained tight-lipped and blank-faced. It was even a surprise that he had stayed back here with us, on a normal day, he'd have walked away because well, he was too proud to mingle with others.

"Okay okay, I mean she was a complete badass today," Funmbi replied, "but she should be prepared from the minute we resume this recess, I won't just sit back again."

"We'll see about that," I countered because who doesn't like good competition?

"But Wale, how do you feel playing the part of the defendant?" Nene asked, finally finding her voice after being glued to Wale's side and staring at him unabashedly since forever, "isn't this the first time you'll play one?"

"Why did they even make the best student the criminal in this case?"

"I enjoyed it though," he replied, "I think I'm enjoying being the only one that really knows what happened in the case."

"Does that mean what you told your defense counsel is wrong?" Funmbi queried and he shrugged with a teasing smile that I'd seen on his face except when he was with Dunni forming on his lips.

"What do you think?" he fired back, "do you think the defendant lied to you?"

"Well, I think I have every reason to believe you... that he did. All the pieces of evidence kind of contradict his statement."

"You mean all the circumstantial evidences?"

"Yeah, the circumstantial evidences! And yeah," she leaned over eagerly, "that's what even makes it more confusing. All the evidences are circumstantial but they point to the fact that the accused is really guilty but to an extent, it seems like the defendant is a sinister mastermind who intentionally set up all the circumstantial evidences and made sure there are no concrete evidences just to make fools out of everybody in this case."

He chuckled, then he smiled and that brief change in his ever-stoic expression was enough to transform his whole face and...

"Well," he shrugged again, his amused smile becoming more pronounced, "maybe, maybe not."

Nah, he was really enjoying this way too much at our expense.

"So what do you think, Nadia?" he asked out of nowhere, shocking me and he even turned to look at me, to carefully observe me.

I met his eyes for the briefest second before looking away.

I didn't even want to answer him. I just wanted to ignore him and make him feel what it feels like to be ignored but that'd make me look like a petty child, right?

"I think the defendant is a genius sinister mastermind who set up this case and he put all the variables in place. As Funmbi said, he made sure to make sure that all we have are circumstantial evidence and not concrete ones but he really committed the crime," I met his eyes again to see that he was still looking at me, "and the prosecuting counsel will make sure he gets convicted."

"Please do," Shanks replied and he even gave me a thumbs up with a very expectant expression on his face, "we need to rid our society of criminals like him."

The reply he got was a very long and dragged hiss from everyone excluding Wale.

"Well, I guess we'll see about that then."

"Why are you taking it off?" Nene asked when Wale started to remove his hands from the prison uniform and he paused to look at her blankly.

More like telling her with his eyes, what's your business with that?

"It's hot."

"Ohhh, it looks good on you though, I mean not so many guys in a prison uniform."

I rolled my eyes at the absurdity of her statement.

"What kind of compliment is that? How'll tell someone that a prison uniform looks good on them? Does that mean they should become a prisoner?"

"Shut up, Shanks, you know I don't mean it that way."

The two started full-blown bickering and I looked away from Nene to see that Wale had now shrugged off the upper part of the uniform leaving him in a short-sleeved white tee, one that exposed his bound muscles and how they seemed to flex with each...

Subhanallah!

I looked away and blocked that train of thoughts immediately, cursing the day I met Tania and Dunni because why else would that thought even cross my mind if I've not been listening to their useless speeches this morning?

May God forgive me.

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My eyes involuntarily turned to look at him again and I looked away immediately, my hand grabbing my bottled water and I drank the remaining content in a go.

"Where are you going?" Shanks asked and I looked up from the floor that had suddenly become mesmerizing to see that Wale was already walking to the door.

"To get a drink, you need something?"

"Yeah, just tell us, did you really get rid of the victim?"

He chuckled at the absurdity of Shank's seriousness before turning back to resume his walk to the door.

"We'll find out as the case goes on."

The door closed behind him.

Hmmmm.

Hmmmm.

Comment Hi if you get what happened during the mock trial.

Oya, what happened during the mock trial? I'm low-key scared that some people might get it sha but I want to believe that I was discreet enough.

The first part of this chapter is for all those upcoming Dunnis in my WhatsApp group. Always talking about men and all, may God save y'all 😂🙏

Dunni and Tania though 😂😂 very mad set of people. Now they've corrupted our Masha Allah sister and she's subconsciously checking out our Wale Zaddy 😂😭

See you guys in two weeks time. Safe to say updates will now be once in two weeks now. Las las, I'll finish writing this book in 2030 😭😭

Till then, Saranghea ❤️❤️✨