I'd woken up late, considering the time I slept last night, only to see my Mother doing some yoga in front of the TV. When she spotted me, she stood up and asked if I wanted to join her in the kitchen to prepare pancakes for breakfast. Neither my Mum nor I cook, so it was a surprise. She'd asked the maids to stand aside, and that was it. We made pancakes, which were messy but fun. I also noticed how we burnt a few. Aside from our average breakfast, we did things like play Scrabble, Ludo, and whatnot. Now I was presently resting my head against my Mother's shoulder as we both had our attention glued to the TV screen.
"Heyyo!" I jumped up after hearing that voice, then quickly turned in excitement to see Chuks gracing his presence.
"Chuks!" I left my Mother on the couch to go hug my best friend but stopped midway when I saw a second person behind him.
"Stella," I mumbled as my other best friend slowly walked to be beside Chuks. I opened my mouth, ready to ask if she was alright, but was stopped by the bright smile forming on her lips.
"Nsikan!" She yelled and spread her arms wide while running to hug me. "I miss you so much!"
"She's done mopping around," Chuks added, watching as Stella and I wrapped ourselves in a warm hug.
"Are you alright now, Stella?" Mother asked, and Stella pulled away from me to face her.
"Yes, ma," she said in a cheerful tone, "so much better."
"That's good." Mother nodded. "Don't let the media bring you down."
"Never." Stella shook her head rapidly. "Never again."
"Mummy, I'm going upstairs with my friends," I said to my mother, and all she did was wave off. Chuks, Stella, and I didn't waste time as we raced upstairs to my room and shut the door.
Now I was sitting in the middle of my bed, with Chuks lying at the edge, on his stomach and Stella resting her back on my headrest.
"See Nsikan o," Chuks couldn't stop looking at me and grinning from ear to ear. "Standing up for someone."
"You guys have been standing up for me," I said to him. "It was only fair to reciprocate. Plus, the comments were getting annoying."
"Well, I'm proud of you," Chuks held my ankle, "extremely proud."
"And I've learned to watch my mouth," Stella said, lifting her right hand. "Well, that's if the person doesn't find my trouble first."
That got me to chuckle and shake my head. She reached for her phone in her purse and showed Chuks and me her phone screen. "See the way people are sending me heart emojis in my comment section like they weren't telling me to go kill myself a few days ago."
"Humans are so two-faced," Chuks hissed, "just forget them."
"Are you still getting hate comments?" I questioned.
Stella nodded, "but not as bad as before. Besides, I don't care now. They can all go to hell, for all I care. Most people are now focused on the director and whatnot for being so unprofessional during the premiere. Now they're saying, no matter what, they'd have let me join."
"People are two-faced o," I said, folding my arms, astonished. "Wasn't it last night most comments were glad she wasn't at the event?"
"I'm sure it was Queen." Chuks sat up. "I'm sure she had a hand in that video of a thing."
"It doesn't matter," I said to him. "What matters is that Stella is better now."
"See Nsikan o," Chuks still seemed surprised.
"She has grown," Stella added. "No longer the frightening mumu girl that's always scared of the Trix. By the way," she nudged her chin to me. "Chuks was telling me about some dinner."
"Oh." I knew I'd tell them eventually. I told Damian last night after my Mother left my room. And I'd poured out things I wish I'd said to Mr. Segun instead of keeping quiet when he was insulting my Mother. "Mr. Segun suggested I live with them."
"Eh?" Chuks scoffed.
"Is he mad?" Stella questioned.
"And the way he was acting yesterday like he was entitled to me." I shook my head. "He was indirectly calling my Mother names; na, that one pain me pass."
"So what did you say to him?" Stella questioned.
"I told him to his face that I'm not his daughter," Stella clapped once, and Chuks cheered like he was watching some match. "If you even see combat fighting between my Mum and Queen's, throwing of insults, like both had some secret insult bank somewhere. Sha, my Mum is taking him to court."
"Deserve!" Chuks clapped. "Your mother knows what's popping. This gist is too sweet, abeg."
I laughed, then turned to Stella. "They're pasting the overall result on the notice board tomorrow. You might go down on the list for missing a few exams."
"It's a mock girl," Stella said, sounding unbothered. "I'll make it up during the real exam. I heard Damian didn't go to school on Friday."
"Chuks told you?" I asked.
"No, Thompson." Chuks and I stared at each other, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing.
"Thompson?"
Stella nodded. "He visited my place again after you guys left, and then yesterday to make sure I was alright."
"He just knew your place and started visiting you regularly," Chuks questioned. "Is there something we should know?"
"There's nothing we should know," Stella said with the quotation sign on 'we'. "He's just being a good friend, that's all."
Chuks and I cleared our throats at the same time, and that got an eye roll from Stella.
───※ ·❆· ※───
I couldn't wait until Monday to meet Damian, so I called and asked if he'd let me visit the next day, and he agreed. So here I was in a black lap-length dress while looking at the house in front of me. To be honest, I was happy with today's visit. No tutoring whatsoever.
I walked to the door and gave it a knock before a maid opened it and led me inside. In the living room, Damian was in a white shirt and Jeans shorts. He had a remote in hand and was obviously focusing on the television before I showed up.
"Hey," he said, getting up. I moved over to him. I wasn't sure if I should hug him or not and was contemplating it when I felt Damian wrap his arms around me. When he pulled back, I stared at him with a stunned look, which forced him to let out a shrug. "I needed that."
I watched him sit down and I quickly took the spot beside him. "What are you watching?"
"Final destination," he responded, and my eyes widened.
"The movie where they're marked for death and only one gets to see the vision about it and try to stop it?" He nodded, his eyes glued to the TV.
"Part 3," he answered. "I've watched it before and was excited to watch it again."
"How can you have the excitement to watch that?" I shuddered as Damian turned to look at me in amusement.
"Are you scared?" He questioned me, and I didn't hesitate to nod. "Don't be; I'll hold you."
