"You know your sister is kinda cool, yeah?"
Michael leaned over to Dayo as they both kicked stones on the school walkway, Dayo lazily swinging his backpack.
Dayo frowned. "Which one?"
"Ella." Michael said her name with a smirk that annoyed Dayo. "Mind giving me her number?"
Dayo squinted at him suspiciously. "Are you planning to tell her I failed maths or something?"
Michael laughed. "No, man. Chill. I just… I like talking to her."
Dayo gave him a long, dramatic stare. "You like her? You have guts, bro. You want her number?" He pulled out his phone. "Five thousand naira."
Michael blinked. "Seriously?"
"I'm a businessman."
Michael laughed again, shaking his head. "You're something else, Dayo."
Ella didn't know why she said yes.
Maybe it was boredom. Maybe it was the way Tari's eyes lit up like a little boy when she smiled at him. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the bag of chin-chin and her favorite zobo drink he brought to her that morning.
"Thanks," she said, reaching for it as she slid into her desk.
"I wanted to say thank you," Tari whispered, his face flushed with excitement. "For saying yes."
She gave a small smile, knowing she should feel more excited, but somehow… she didn't. "It's just between us for now, okay? I don't like people on my matter."
Tari nodded eagerly. "Of course. Private. Totally."
He tried to slip his hand into hers under the desk. She looked at him. He looked back, sheepishly, and quickly withdrew it with a grin. She almost laughed.
They sat through class like that, him practically glowing beside her and her fidgeting, half-listening, half-thinking. Her mind kept flickering to Michael asking Dayo for her number—and how Dayo bragged about it at home the night before like he'd won a lottery.
Exams came to an end with a sigh of relief across the school. Students poured out of halls like survivors of a long battle, cheering and sharing answers. Ella knew she did well—at least in Literature and CRS. That was enough peace for her.
At home, chaos returned—but the good kind.
Dayo had returned from boarding school with his signature loud voice and annoying jokes. The twins, Dara and David, clung to him like he was a returning superhero. Ella found herself smiling more than usual.
"Dayo, what do you want to become when you grow up?" Dara asked with a mouthful of puff-puff.
"A doctor," he announced, standing tall.
Dara snorted. "You? Doctor? Please, you can't even watch injections on TV."
The room burst into laughter.
"Shut up jor! I'll be the first doctor that faints during surgeries," he said proudly.
Their mum laughed so hard she clutched her waist, wiping tears from her eyes. "God bless you, my children."
Ella watched her. The laugh lines on her mother's face made her heart ache. It had been too long since she laughed like this. Since peace felt this real.
That night, she lay on her bed with her earphones plugged in when her phone buzzed.
Tari: Are you sleeping?
Ella: Not yet. Exams are over so I'm chilling.
Tari: Can I call?
She hesitated before replying, then sighed. Okay.
His voice came through the phone soft, almost like a whisper. "I missed you."
She blinked at the ceiling. "I literally saw you today."
"Still…" he chuckled. "I like the sound of your voice."
She smiled, remembering how Michael once said the same thing during one of their accidental calls. Except… with Tari, she wasn't sure she believed it.
They talked about random things—movies, how weird their CRS teacher looked when angry, and how he once peed on his cousin during a sleepover.
She laughed. Genuinely.
He was adorable.
Just… not heart-thumping, stomach-flipping adorable.
The next morning, the atmosphere in the house was warm and cheerful. Ella braided Dara's hair while the girl snored softly on her lap. She carried her to bed afterward, smiling as her tiny arms wrapped around her neck in a sleepy hug.
Dinner was jollof rice and fried plantain. As they ate, Ella noticed her mum smiling a lot—at nothing in particular. Maybe just at peace.
Then her mum's phone rang.
Ella watched her expression change from relaxed to startled. She answered.
"Yes… yes… okay." A pause. "Next week? Alright."
When she ended the call, the room had already gone quiet.
"Who was that?" Ella asked.
Her mum sighed, barely audible. "Your father. He said he's coming back next week."
No one said anything for a while. Even Dayo's ever-loud mouth was sealed.
Ella swallowed hard, the jollof rice now tasteless in her mouth.
Later that night, she stood on the balcony scrolling through her phone, trying to distract herself. She didn't like the shift in the air. Her dad's return felt like a shadow creeping back into the light.
She opened Facebook and typed his name into the search bar.
His page was dull—mostly reshared posts and old photos. Nothing suspicious. No new women. No tagged locations. But she wasn't convinced. He was good at hiding things.
She shut the app and sighed.
Then her thoughts drifted to Michael again.
To how he looked in church. To how he walked with his siblings like he was their guardian angel. To how she felt when they walked home together—the flutter, the awkward pauses, the silent smiles.
It was ridiculous.
She had a boyfriend. Well… kind of.
"Snap out of it," she muttered to herself.
In her sleep, her dreams were wild and scattered—Michael's smile, Tari's laugh, her dad's voice, her mum crying.
But she woke up with a message from Kosi in the group chat.
Kosi: Guys. Assembly today = skipped. I'm bringing suya for Zinny. Zinny bring gist. Ella, wear shades. I'll explain later.
Ella smiled, already dressing up with her heart lighter.
But in the back of her mind, a question echoed quietly:
What exactly did she say yes to?