Chapter 47: Chapter 47

: friendship bracelets

→Narrator: Asa

"Asa. Wake up." I woke up to Kosi, gently nudging me awake from my afternoon nap.

I yawned, stretched and rubbed my eyes. "What?" I looked up to find Kosi looking at me, a soft, repentant look in her eyes.

I sat up. "Hey."

I grimaced, taking in her fully dressed apparel, a duffel bag rested on her shoulders. Black shades sat prettily on her nose.

"You're leaving." I finally said.

She sighed, nodding and plopping down on my bed. "Yes. I can't take this shit anymore. This house is running me mad. I don't even recognize myself anymore. Fuck, I can't stand him anymore."

"And yet you fucked him." I deadpanned.

"That was before we fought!" She defended.

"C'mon, Kosi, let it go. He was drunk, confused and hurt."

She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Look, I'm not going to hash this out with you anymore. I can't forget the way he made me feel, Asa. You guys always told me to leave Trev at the first sign of danger. I didn't listen amd now I've got scars and bruises to show for that. Asa, I'll be damned before I ever let someone who has hurt me back into my life. That shit hurt and I don't want to be a fool and go through it again by letting him in. I've done enough of that shit with Trev."

I kept shut, understanding where she was coming from.

"... So, you guys are going to be what now? Strangers?"

She looked down, sadly, twisting her silver friendship bracelet, resting snugly on her wrist. "It's going to be hard, Asa." She whispered quietly, closing her eyes, as if she was in great pain, she let out a heartbreaking sigh. "So hard... You have no idea how much it hurts to even be mad at him."

Her voice cracked at the end, a clear indication that she wanted to cry but she cleared her throat and sucked it back in. "But who gives a fuck? Shit happens."

I looked at her, sadly. "So... When are you leaving?"

She shrugged. "Maybe tomorrow. I'm meeting with my manager later today to renew my contract with Quintessence cosmetics. That's why I'm dressed like this."

I gulped, understanding. "So... You're just gonna cut your holiday short?"

"Yeah. I have a shoot in the next two days, in Calabar. There's a gala event in Ikoyi in four days. After that, I'll be leaving for Milan to promote Miss Majesty. Mom is organizing a three month campaign for the whole thing, but the way I see it, I'll be gone for most of January, so don't miss me too much and don't go get another best friend. You hear?"

I smiled sadly at her. This happens once in a while, where Kosi had to leave for long periods of time to promote her clothing lines, make appearances for fans or in music videos or ads, or pose for big brands and magazines.

How she manages to do all this and still maintain decent grades in school amazes me every time.

"I have to leave tomorrow... I just didn't want you thinking I would have flaked out if it wasn't important. You're the only one still talking to me at the moment." A wistful smile graced her lips. "Well... You and Jordan... So, you deserve to know."

She still kept wringing her bracelet, sadly.

"Are you going to keep wearing that?" I finally asked, looking at the bracelet on her wrist.

"This?" She grinned at me, raising her arm up, where the silver bracelet twinkled on her wrist. "I don't know. Maybe?"

She snorted and continued. "Do you have any idea how much these cost. Fuck, I won't stop wearing it because of a petty fight. It's a fashion statement."

I don't know why but I found myself laughing at her.

"... So... We good?" She asked, softly when we stopped laughing.

"Yeah, we good." I told her.

"Sorry for being such a bitch."

I grimaced, recalling how yesterday had gone down.

Kosi, accusing Lola of getting it on with Dave behind Osahon's back.

"It's okay, Kosi. I understand, okay?" I kept quiet, suddenly remembering the third person that got affected by Kosi's mood. "You gon' apologize to Lola?"

Kosi kept quiet at that, looking away. "I don't know... I meant everything I said to her."

I stared at her in shock. "You don't mean that, Kosi. She's our friend!"

"She's also Haliya's friend and I don't need a big brain to know where her true loyalty lies. I had my doubts before but Haliya confirmed them when she told us she knew about Jemi's arrest and my abuse. I mean, I wasn't supposed to actually tell her I knew about her switching sides and relaying info, and that's the only thing I regret."

She actually believed that?...

"What about accusing her of hooking up with Dave? Kosi, you singlehandedly destroyed their relationship and you know how much she loves him!"

"I didn't lie about that, Asa. I was dead serious."

I froze.

"What?"

She sighed, massaging her forehead, the chunky bracelets on her wrists, making a clinking sound.

"Lola is hooking up with Dave and I don't regret spilling it. Osahon doesn't deserve a cheater like her. Nobody does."

"Kosi, if this is a personal vendetta against Lola-"

"It's not a personal venny- whatever you just said." She cut me off.

Her voice was trembling now and she was finding it hard keeping her emotions in check. "Trev lied and cheated on me for two years, Asa. Two fucking years, he fucked me up. And I find out Lola is doing the same thing to a guy that loves her to pieces and you think I'm going to be cool about it? Asa, really?"

"Kosi..."

"No!" She shook her head. "I don't care if anyone sees me as the bad guy. Everything I did, I did it because I don't want anyone going through what I went through! And I'll gladly do it again if I have to."

My heart broke for her.

She loved Trevor... She really did.

And all he did was fuck her up. She probably needs therapy for all the shit she went through with him.

"I'm sorry, Kosi." I whispered.

She sighed, "thanks, Asa... For understanding... This means so much... You're all I have left at the moment and I can't afford to lose you too."

My heart softened. "I'm your best friend, Kosi. I'm supposed to have your back and stick with you."

Her smile was a wane, soft curve of her lips. " I'll remember that."

She walked out later, closing the door softly.

You're all I have left and I can't afford to lose you.

Kosi never really had anybody, now that I'm looking at things realistically. All her brothers lived with their respective fathers, and her mum was more of a manager than a mother. Who would put money and fame first before her own daughter.

In fact, the first time I visited Kosi at her home, her mother had hit her for refusing to make an appearance at an evening party that would have promoted her brand. Kosi had walked back into the room and quietly joined me on the bed. I had asked her if anything was wrong -she didn't know I had seen her mother hit her. She only plastered on a fake smile, "mum forgot her email address again. She needed my help to remember it."

I had decided to let it go at that time, not wanting to push it, but now I worried over the fact that I should have done more...

Kosi was the kind of person that will tolerate anything from a loved one. Blindly loyal to a point that isn't considered healthy. The only person that deserved that kind of love and loyalty was Jemi... And now, she's keeping him at arms length because she doesn't want to go through what she went through with Trev... Trev who royally scarred and fucked her up.

For the first time, I started to see things from her own point in view. No matter how much she tried to hide it, Kosi had a soft heart. A soft heart she wore on her sleeves. And it took one last straw from Trev for her to finally decide to protect that heart with claws and teeth.

And that decision was going to push away the only person that ever really had her back.

And my heart broke. My heart broke for her.

I sighed, rubbing my forehead, torn between my heart breaking and my soul grieving.

It felt like everyone was hurting.

No one was healing.

This vacation sucks.

-

"Hey, Asa. What's up?" I looked up from the WAEC past questions I was trying to solve, at Amir's voice

"Asa." Amir called again, peeking into my room. "You dressed?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "You don't think I walk around in here naked, do you?"

His sheepish grin told me he did.

I shrieked in horror and chucked a pillow at him. "Pig!"

He dodged my attack, chuckling softly and coming to perch on my bed where I was sitting cross-legged in the middle, stacks of books all around me

He had a box of pizza with him and a large one litre coke under his arm.

I raised an eyebrow at him and he just shrugged, making himself comfortable on my bed.

"What's that for?"

"Apparently, we are too late for dinner. Jordan ate all the food, so i ordered pizza for us."

He opened the box, pepperoni, cheese, chicken and roasted mushrooms wafted through the air, into my nose and my mouth watered.

"You're drooling all over your sheets, Asa." He laughed, Quicksilver eyes, glinting.

I glared at him.

He only chuckled heartily, nudging me ahead to take some pizza. "Eat. You forget yourself when you read. It's three o'clock already."

Already?

I frowned, looking at the cute white rabbit-shaped clock in front of me.

Three o'clock.

Kam wasn't back yet.

Why?

I gulped, my saliva suddenly turning thick as I swallowed the large lump in my throat, my guts, somersaulting inside of me.

He'll come back to me. He promised.

Amir nudged me again. "Eat. What are you thinking about?"

He was on his fifth slice of pizza already and i was gaping at him in shock...

So fast? Where does he put all that?

"The pizza is really good. Try it." He urged me, nodding encouragingly at me, reaching out for another slice but I smacked his hand away.

"You'll finish everything for me! I thought it's for both of us?"

He was laughing now and he held up the plastic bottle of coke. "I'd take champagne over this, any day but i couldn't find any good brands in the wine cellar downstairs."

I shivered, recalling that time on his roof. "uh... I think we should stay away from alcohol when we're together... Uh... Let's avoid complications."

He grimaced at that, wincing at the memory. "Yeah."

We ate in silence for a while, until he murmured. "You read a lot... And I thought I was bad. I see why Kam calls you "Einstein" now."

Kam...

That sobered me up.

I worried my lips. "Amir?"

"Hmm?"

"Kam... He's not back yet?"

"Nope." He shook his head, dark, coils bouncing against his forehead.

My heart thumped inside me. A feeling of dread, washing over me.

Kam. Kam. Kam. Kam. Kam.

"He'll come back to you, Asa." Amir's soft voice penetrated my thoughts. "Trust him."

I looked at him only to get caught in his pensive gaze. I found myself nodding at his words.

Trust.

Trust him...

"I trust him, Amir. It's Ariel I don't trust. Why isn't he back, yet?"

He shrugged. "For all I know, he's shopping for a yacht for you or setting up an expensive date or something. Don't worry, Asa. Kam's not going to fuck up." He added quietly. "No matter how much I want him to."

I laughed at the face he made.

"God, Amir!"

"What, it's true?" He chuckled.

Amir had really really changed.

He was happier these days. More cheerful. That exhausted look in his eyes was gone and although he still radiated a don't-fuck-with-me vibe, it wasn't as hostile as it used to be.

"You met someone." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Huh?"

I sighed, "Something happened to you. You met someone."

He frowned, tilting his head towards the ceiling to think. "Huh..." He whispered at first, a sober look appearing on his face.

He sighed, rubbing his neck, mouthing something that sounded like, "that distraction."

"I thought I met someone... But she stole my wallet and expensive wristwatch the second I looked away."

"What?" I sat up quickly, shoving my books aside to pay attention to him. "Who is she? What does she look like? Where did you meet her? How?"

Seriously. Who was this girl? Amir literally has a heart of stone. Intimidating and hostile to anyone that wasn't part of his inner circle... And that ego...

He wouldn't let an outsider in. All those girls I saw him bring home, he held them at arms length. They never interacted freely with him, as if intrigued but intimidated by him and once they were done doing whatever it is they were doing up in his room, they were quick to boot themselves out. Once in a while, having breakfast with the rest of us, while Amir would be up in his room, out like a light.

"TELL ME!" I practically screamed excitedly at him.

He laughed softly, shaking his head. "It's no one, Asa. Really. I was wrong about her and I paid dearly for it. She's just a gold digger that perfected the art of gold digging."

"Amir..."

He sighed, rubbing his neck. "She spoke to me like she felt me, you know? Like she got me. And she had your eyes."

"M... My eyes?"

"Coffee black. Like yours. Yes... But there was something about her... Something I just can't put my finger on..." He muttered, more to himself than to me.

He looked like he was deep in thoughts, and then he snapped out of it, shaking his head. "But that's by the way. It's not like I'll ever see her again."

He shrugged, sighing, leaning against the headboard and whipping out his phone when it pinged.

He unlocked the phone, staring at it for a moment. Annoyance washing over his features.

"What is it?" I asked, getting worried.

"It's nothing." He sighed, about to keep his phone back in his pockets but I snatched it from him, staring at the screen that was already in the inbox folder of his Gmail, completely disregarding his privacy... When i saw it!

What?

"Asa! Stop this!" He protested, trying to get the phone from me.

"No!" I shouted back, feeling like a stubborn, petulant three year old and holding the phone away from him.

I opened the message... Naija Celeb-Scoop... A popular newsblog had apparently invited him for an exclusive interview.... Twenty four times already!

I scrolled through the messages, still leaning away from Amir who was deadset on getting the phone back from me.

They kept inviting and reminding and re-inviting him for an interview, to the point it almost looked desperate.

What?!

Teenagers will kill to get an exclusive interview from the Gossip news blog and it was being handed to Amir on a silver platter and he was snubbing the fuck out of them.

Good evening, Prince Amir Aleikzandre Aziel I. It is our pleasure and yours to inform you that you have been shortlisted among the most influential teens in the country due to your whooping amount of YouTube subscribers and followers. We are granting you the opportunity to secure an interview with us and four other rising stars in the country as this would provide the publicity you need. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Please think about this and get back to us.

Dear Amir, we did not get a response back from you. It seems you did not get our earlier message. Not to worry! We want to secure an interview with you, exclusive this time around. It is every teenager's dream to appear on our set and we would be grateful if you consider this as an opportunity to go global.

Greetings to you, young prince. Please, be reminded that we are securing a spot for you in case you decide to change your mind and get back to us. We know the life of a royal can be tedious and busy, that must be why you have not responded to our previous emails. Reach out to us whenever you can or contact us directly on Instagram.

How are you doing today? We want to remind you that your spot is still open for an exclusive interview. We have interviewed big stars like Rietta Eke Nweke, Queen Dike, Olamilekan Adenuga, Trevor Adedayo Abiodun, Cashiel DaSilva, Oghene Odein and so on. We would like you to be among those stars one day and we're offering you a platform to further your-

It went on and on and on, until they practically started begging him, even offering to pay him for any inconveniences.

We are sorry to disturb you this beautiful Monday morning and we understand you are busy as a student and an esteemed royal in the country. That is why we contacted sponsors to compensate you for any inconveniences you may have for-

Amir snatched the phone from me.

I gaped at him, my mouth, going wide in shock.

"Amir!" I screeched.

"What?" He deadpanned, not seeing the problem with any of this.

"They're are literally begging you! Accept the offer!"

He had this bored expression on his face and he just shrugged nonchalantly. "No."

My jaw dropped. "Why?!"

"It's too much stress. I can't deal."

"You literally just have to sit in a chair and answer questions they ask you."

"Like I said. Too much stress."

"Really, I don't get you, Amir. Your voice is so good. Your music is so good! Why don't you want the exposure? More people will get to see it and appreciate you for your talent!"

He thought about this, a slight frown, marring his beautiful face. He suddenly sighed, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know, Asa... I just..." He let out a breath. "I really don't know. I don't know if I even want to go big yet. Or ever, for that matter. I love singing. It's what I like doing. The moment I make it anything more than that, if I ever decide to go pro, I may lose that vibe and it'll feel like a job to me. Like a hassle. I just want to pass time with it and I never intended it blowing up like this."

He honestly looked conflicted. Frustrated... But I understood the point he was trying to make.

"Taking this interview will bring exposure and scouts will come looking for me and want to make deals with me, so I can sign a contract with them. And the record label company may want to rebrand me and sell an image of me to the public that's far different from who I am. They may want me to change the way I look, the songs I write and all that.  I'll have to think of music videos and promotions and topping charts and maintaining a good public image. In the long run, I don't think I can deal with all that shit. I just want to play my guitar and get shit out if my head. Promos, interviews, publicity... That shit's not for me."

He stared at me for a moment... His eyes. Swirls and swirls of silver and stardusts, desperately wanting me to understand him.

"You understand, don't you?"

For a moment we just stared at each other.

"Yeah." I sighed, deciding to let it go.

"Good, now eat." He said, concentrating back on his food. "Kam will be back soon. Remember to pitch in the fact that I made you eat. It will help me get back on his good side."

An amused smile crept to my lips, at the fact he was actually thinking of mending his friendship with Kam. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

I didn't tell Kam shit. Because Kam didn't come back home that day.

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