Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Joanna's POV

Morning came really fast for my liking and before I knew it someone pounded on my door loudly. In a bid to go back to sleep, I covered my ears with a pillow and silently willed the noise to stop but to my dismay, it increased.

I sighed in irritation and got up harshly to trudge to the door where I jerked it open a scowl on my face and glared at the culprit.

"How dare you disturb my morning sleep on a public holiday," I growl.

"Morning? Elvis queried. "You call this morning?"

"What time is it?" I grumble in a question, my lids half-closed.

"It's freaking 1 pm, sis." He retorts, rolling his eyes.

"What!" I exclaimed, my eyes fully open as I acknowledged the fact that mom was gonna kill me.

"Yeap, and we are leaving in 10 minutes." He voiced out.

"Damn you, mystery guy," I muttered under my breath.

"What?" He called.

"Nothing, shoo," I mumbled and nudged him out of my room before I hurried to the bathroom.

"8 minutes left!" I heard him yell as he passed my door when I was back in the room after I had a two minutes shower.

In a haste, I withdrew my high-waisted jeans and a red crop top from my wardrobe which I immediately put on and released my hair from the hairnet and packed it in a ponytail, after which I grabbed the edge control to tame my short front hair.

When I was done with that, I checked the time and discovered I had two minutes to spare.

Wow! that was fast, I thought as I raced down the stairs and snatched a plate of Moi Moi that was kept on the dining table for me by Mom.

I locked the front door behind me and got into the car, not a second later, we zoomed off while I munched on my Moi Moi. "Where to?" I asked dad whose concentration was on the road.

"To the mall!" Mom exclaimed and shook her waist as best as she could in the little space the car sit provided her with.

I just rolled my eyes at this in response as I heard Elvis chuckle beside me.

"So which part of the mall are we heading to first," Elvis spoke, the moment we stepped out of the car after Dad turned off the ignition.

"Food court!" I cried out as we all preceded into the building.

"Always thinking of food." Dad chuckled as I led the way.

"Hey! Don't judge, y'all had a real breakfast and maybe lunch but I just had leftover, Moi Moi." I scowled.

"But you just ate the Moi Moi some few minutes ago," Dad argued.

"I'm hungry too," Elvis spoke and rubbed his stomach while Dad gave him a glare that said shut up.

"See? This guy gets it." I smirked and Dad just shrugged as he gave up.

"Food Court it is then," Mom announced as we were almost there.

I began drooling the instant I gazed at the best thing in this world aside from money and sleep, food.

Different kinds of food were lined before me. They ranged from snacks to fried chicken and plates of rice, to salads, finger foods. Just name it, they were all there.

With a smile on my face, I ordered a plate of rice with some salad, fried chicken, and a bottle of orange juice.

We all got our food and sat down at a round empty table there in the food court and dived in. Even dad who behaved as if he wasn't hungry devoured his food with vigor.

I was busy enjoying my food when my phone dinged. I glanced at it and saw I had a message from that one guy who always made me smile, 'Mystery guy'

I knew it was risky texting someone you didn't know who claimed to know you, because for all its worth he could have been a serial killer, a maniac even, but I just couldn't get myself to stop texting him.

Anytime I got a text from him my heart always fluttered and a smile automatically appeared on my face, so I held on to the fact that hence he hadn't done anything stupid so far then I was safe, and besides all those kind of shitty people are rare here in Nigeria because I don't think I heard anyone complain of a psycho before.

Babe, It read.

How are you? I replied.

I'm fine, and you?

I'm alright. I answered, an unknowing smile on my face.

Happy free day.

Yeah.

Haha, idiot.

You love me.

Unfortunately.

Lol, how are you spending it then?

Nothing really, just roaming around, my friend is busy and my sister is out of town.

Awwwn, so that means you alone.

Nah, I was, but now I'm not.

How do you mean?

Forget I said anything.

"Joanna!" Mom called, completely startling as I wasn't paying attention to the conversation they were having.

"Watsup?" I inquired an innocent smile on my lips.

She didn't respond, instead gave me an inquisitive look and shook her head while Elvis sent me a weird smile.

How are you spending yours? My phone dinged with another message as I hadn't replied to his last one even though it didn't need a reply.

Family day out gotta go, mom is giving me the scary eyes. I replied.

Aaah, I know those eyes so well, text to you later

Yeah, bye. I texted back and locked my phone afterward.

"So where next?" Elvis quizzed as I observe we were all done with our food.

"Your dad and I would be heading to the textile section to see what new designs are here for Christmas." Mom told as she and Dad stood up to which I shrugged and Elvis nodded.

"Let's stroll around too." Elvis blurted immediately they were out of earshot. "Let me check if I can catch some hot girls."

Boys will be boys, I thought with a shake of my head.

Note: 'Moi Moi' is a Nigerian delicacy made from white or brown beans ground into a paste with fresh peppers, salt, tomato paste and some seasoning which is wrapped in foil and cooked in boiling water for 1 hour+.

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