𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒: 𝐌𝐈𝐗 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐗 ✅

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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."