INDEPENDENCE

GAN GAN

NORA'S POV

I wish I didn't barge into my brother's room,on the bed with my brother was none other than my bestfriend ese,and they were making out!,it took them awhile to even notice that I was at the door with my jaw touching the floor.

Edosa was the first to break the kiss when he felt a presence,he looked at me with a somewhat calm expression,ese on the other hand struggled to pull down her shirt,she tried calling my name but I was already making my way back to the living room,she ran after me with edosa walking behind.

nate could already smell trouble,he didn't even ask me any question,he just held my hand as I came to sit near him

"babes! please wait" ese seemed frantic,well she should be,how dare she !

I totally ignored her

"eseosa you should listen to ese" edosa said to me

and I flared up "why the hell should I listen to what both of you have to say? why? you flipping kept me in the dark about whatever the hell you both are"

I scoff"my bestfriend and my brother,such a cliche,what is this?? a w*****d story?"

"babes please just try and hear me out" ese begs

I hold my hand out to shut her up,"no! and I even asked you,you lied to me ese,so no I don't want to hear you out"

"eseosa! edosa raised his voice "mom would be back soon,and I'm really not in the mood for more questions,so can we do this tomorrow?"

nate gave my hand a squeeze,I sigh

"fine,whatever"

"great,babe let me see you off" he said to ese while taking her hand

"ije did you just call her babe??? like seriously?" I was astonished

"eseosa"edos groaned, "tomorrow please"

"goodnight" ese said to me while my brother walked her out

"good night osaruese" this was the first time in a long while I was calling her by her full name,I usually just stuck with ese,since our names were kind of the same.

when it was just me and nate again,he knew I would break down at any minute so he drew me to his body and held on tight,I felt a little bit better with everything

"I'm going to go now,I'm really sorry for how tonight turned out,back in school I did notice a certain closeness between those two,but I didn't think much about it,I'm sorry" nate says

I managed a half smile "its okay,I understand,thanks for earlier,I had so much fun"

he smiled,leaned in to kiss my cheek "goodnight babe"

I was too emotionally jumbled up to blush,but my heart did a backflip sha

"goodnight"I replied him

when nate left, I dragged my legs to my room,I just wanted to sleep,I found suwa and ruyi watching movies with edosa's laptop.

"girlfriend how was your day?"ruyi asked with eyes not leaving the movie

"urrgh" I answered

he then looked up slowly and smirked,it scared me

" what is it?" i ask

he smiled fully now,"nothing o,nothing at all" then he went back to his movie

"and you suwa,you cannot greet again abi" i fired at suwa

"big sis good evening jare,don't mind me" she mumbles

I hummed a response,I got into my bed after pulling my sandals,I didn't bother changing,ruyi was in the room and I was so not in the mood for his teasing,probably when he leaves I'll change.

I plugged in my ear phones and just serenaded myself with music,it was like an escape from my flipped up world.i am sure I fell asleep because after a while I felt suwa shaking my shoulders saying something like "mom is back and she says we should come and have dinner o"

I dragged my eyelids open and reply with "I'm not hungry"

"aah",suwa exclaimed "okay o"

she knew something was wrong as I never turned down food,but she was smart enough not to ask questions,she left without me to go have dinner.

few minutes after she left,someone else was trying to shake me awake

oooh oh! ah! can't someone sleep in peace again!

"eseosa it's me"

my eyes flew open,"yes? what do you want?"

"haba nau ese,I came to talk things out"

"but you said tomorrow,just before you saw my bestfriend off and called her babe" I hissed

edosa sighed,"ese let's talk things through"

"oya fine o,I'm listening" I say

"when ese resumed my school,I tried to show her around and everything,I tried to teach her things about Lagos,and we were always together,she's really cute and has the crazy side that I really got to like,she was always visiting and feelings started developing,although we sometimes hung out with nate,most times it was just us,I kissed her one time in my apartment,by then the feelings were too strong to ignore,ese really tried to fight it,because she knew you wouldn't approve,but I just couldn't stay away,I really do like her,I wanted to tell you when you came home,but ese was petrified,she knew you would get pissed"

"hells yeah I'm!" I retort

"ese,I'm sorry,but ese and I are together" he says

"hmmm,edos,I honestly have nothing against the both of you,but think of how awkward this would be for me,besides the both of you didn't trust me enough to tell me,and if I'd not caught you shoving your tongue down her throat i still wouldn't have known! how long did you want to keep it from me?"I asked him

"ese,I'm sorry,please forgive us" he pleaded

he looked really sincere

"urrrgh fine,just don't let me see any gross PDA between you two,and if you hurt her,I'll kill you" I threatened him

he smiled,and hugged me,"thank you,I love you!"

"I love you too,now please before you crush me with your weight,I haven't eaten so please allow me get up and eat"

he just pinched my nose and we both went to have dinner together.

Glossary

Ije(Bini): slang for IYE,traditional word for mother,usually used for exclamations

sha(PG): though,however,its usually used for exaggerations

HAPPY FREAKING NEW YEARS BABIES!!

I know right?

I'm just your bestest

sooo,who expected this much drama from such a small holiday?

speaking of,I've been home for 10 freaking months now, when I actually came home with the idea of a 1 month break?,Corona don coronate everything sha,Now its FG and ASSU that is playing with our education?

(By the way,we've resumed,and they want to kill us o)

who is shipping edosa and osaruese?

if you are, leave ship names in the comments section!

anyways,my life has always been so dramatic,I decided to give a pinch of it to nora

if you have any questions regarding INDEPENDENCE or even about me as a writer...feel free,comment your thoughts,I'll reply as honestly as I can

Stay safe and keep on reading INDEPENDENCE

dedicated to VivianOgah for appreciating Nigerian books,ya loved

yours uniquely

Doreen