Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty-Nine
Felicity didn’t notice it at first.
They were all in the common area — Gwen sprawled on the rug painting her nails, Victoria sitting on the bed scrolling through TikTok, Chizobam and Vickian sharing chin-chin from a plastic container. It felt like one of those warm, chaotic evenings where everyone talked over everyone.
Felicity sat in the middle of the bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. She had been quiet for too long, and the weight inside her chest finally pushed the words out.
“So… Leon and I were supposed to have dinner tonight,” she began.
Gwen’s head snapped up. “Wait, actual dinner? Like, romantic setting or food-is-food setting?”
Felicity shrugged helplessly. “He said he wanted to talk. I wanted to ask him what we are. I’m tired of being in the dark.”
Victoria nodded. “Good. You deserve clarity.”
Chizobam muttered, “Clarity wey go break your heart,” and everyone snorted.
But Derin… Derin didn’t laugh.
Felicity glanced at her. Derin’s expression was stiff, polite — almost like she was wearing a mask that didn’t quite fit. Every time Felicity’s eyes landed on her, she gave a small, tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
The kind of smile people give when they don’t want to say what they’re really thinking.
Felicity tried again, hoping the knot in her stomach was just her overthinking.
“He texted earlier. Said he’s stressed. Said he wants to see me soon.”
Gwen hissed dramatically. “Stressed? Abeg, that boy is the stress.”
Everyone burst into laughter except Derin, who only curled her fingers around the edge of the mattress.
Felicity’s eyes flicked to her again — and again came that tiny, forced smile.
Something felt… off.
Still, she pushed through it. “I just feel like tonight might be the night I finally ask him everything. Like… if he actually wants me or if I’m just convenience.”
Victoria reached over and squeezed her hand. “Whatever he says, we’ve got your back.”
“Always,” Gwen added.
Derin murmured, “Yeah… sure,” but her voice was so low that nobody caught it except Felicity.
The room filled with more chatter, more teasing, but Felicity kept noticing Derin.
The way her eyes lingered a second too long.
The way she stared at the floor during certain parts of the conversation.
The way she nodded at the wrong moments, like her mind was far away.
But Felicity said nothing.
She was too tired.
Too emotionally stretched.
She just hoped it was nothing.
ACROSS TOWN — LEON
Leon had reached his limit.
Not the normal kind — this was the deep, exhausted, I’m-about-to-break kind. The kind that sat in his chest like a stone and refused to move.
He showed up at Mark’s apartment with a bottle of whiskey and no explanation. Deji opened the door with a knowing smirk.
“Ah. So na today you finally run from your problems?” Deji joked.
Leon didn’t even smile. “Just pour something.”
Half an hour later, the three of them were slouched around Mark’s living room, whiskey half gone, the PS5 humming in the background. Leon explained everything — the debit alert for the ring, the forced engagement planning, Mrs. Wyatt’s speeches, the pregnancy pressure, the lies piling up around him.
Then, quietly, he admitted, “I’m losing it. I just… I can’t breathe.”
Mark exchanged a glance with Deji.
“Guy,” Mark said carefully, “you need distraction urgently.”
Deji raised a brow. “Or therapy. But since you don’t like hearing that…”
Leon laughed weakly — the first real laugh all day.
Amber-colored whiskey warmed his throat, loosening the last parts of him that were holding on.
His phone buzzed.
He groaned. “If it’s Charity…”
Mark peeked at the screen and snorted. “It’s not. Na that Sewa babe wey dey send you streaks. The one that dey use ring light like say she get sponsorship.”
Leon blinked at the message.
It was a streak — again — but this time she wore a tank top she definitely wasn’t wearing for exercise.
He shouldn’t reply.
He knew that.
But the room was spinning in that heavy, alcohol-soft way, and Felicity’s face flashed in his mind — her softness, her trust, the look she gave him last night when he held her.
It hurt.
It hurt too much.
He typed before he could think:
“Pull up?”
Sewa replied with the speed of someone who had been waiting for that exact invitation.
She came in smelling like perfume and trouble. The kind of girl who didn’t pretend. The kind who already knew why she was there.
They barely spoke two sentences before she was on him.
And he let her.
He let himself drown.
Let himself forget.
Let himself be selfish.
The bed frame hit the wall loud enough for the whole apartment to hear.
Deji burst into laughter down the hallway. “Ah-ah! Leon don resurrect! I go save this audio for future reference.”
He actually made a voice note of the chaos.
Mark stayed in the parlor playing FIFA, shaking his head with amused disappointment.
By the time Leon collapsed face-first into the pillow, guilt was already creeping up behind him like a shadow he couldn’t outrun.
But Felicity didn’t know.
Nobody knew.
And he wasn’t sober enough to care.
BACK ON CAMPUS — CHARITY
Meanwhile, Charity strutted around campus like she owned the air people breathed. Her smile was sugary, her voice loud enough for strangers to hear.
“So, you know… big news coming soon,” she said to her friends as they sat at a café.
One of them blinked. “About what?”
Charity gave a slow, dramatic wink. “Engagement things.”
“Engagement?” another friend asked. “To who?”
Charity waved her hand like the answer was obvious. “Leon, na. Who else?”
The girls exchanged glances — uncomfortable ones.
“I thought you guys ended things,” one whispered.
“We never ended,” Charity shot back confidently. “People just like drama. Leon knows where home is. And soon, you’ll all see.”
Her friends nodded — fake smiles, worried eyes.
They could tell something wasn’t right.
They could tell she was living in a story only she believed.
BACK AT THE HOSTEL — FELICITY
Later that night, Felicity lay in bed scrolling through her phone, trying to calm the storm in her mind. The room was quiet; everyone was asleep or close to it.
Except Derin.
Derin lay on her side, wide awake, eyes open in the dim light.
Felicity could feel her staring, even with her back turned.
Something was wrong.
Something had shifted.
And Felicity felt it — heavy and cold — even though she couldn’t explain why.