I wake up to the sound of shouting and huddle deeper into my blanket in hopes that I'd be able to stay in bed five minutes longer.

But it's Sunday and my mother is determined to make me go to the building where I doubted I belong.

And I didn't even have a crimson track record or anything.

To my surprise, the evil villain in my epic sleep saga is not my birth giver but the one person who kept me sane in this family.

"Funmi!" I yell leap from my bed to tackle her with a hug.

Of course, I forget to set my duvet aside and end up a mess of limbs and cotton on the cold floor.

"Your sister is around o!" Mummy says from downstairs and I'm forced to return from my 30-second fainting on the ground.

I groan and crawl to her foot on all fours instead.

"I missed you so much, take me with you next time," I say to her, my arms securely wrapped around her leg.

"Happy Sunday to you too sister," Funmi says as she peers down at me pointedly.

I take it as my sign to release her from my grip and stand once again like a normal human.

I can see her better and notice how much clearer her skin had gotten.

Not to mention she had blue highlights in her straight tresses that mum had no doubt complained about.

A sparkle to her left ear indicated she had gotten that piercing she said she would.

And her clothes screamed e girl with skin-tight black shorts, grey turtleneck with a black crop top over it, and an alarming amount of silver jewelry.

I blink again because surely I hadn't seen right. But when I opened my eyes I saw fishnet stockings, platform boots, and a smug smile.

"Surprise surprise," she says and I laugh.

"How did you enter this house, wait no how did you get to the terminal without her shipping you back?" I ask marveling at the girl.

A lot had changed in the year I hadn't seen her.

"You talk like I'm not 22," she says and I shake my head at her.

"I salute you, as for me your mother will have my head," I say to her crossing my arms over my chest.

She strolls in and runs her fingers over the things on my dresser -figurines, perfumes, picture frames.

After a moment she spoke again. "Forget she flipped. Almost slapped me in Murtala Mohammed Airport even but backed down when she realized I was beyond her control."

I nod as I swing open the double fours of my wardrobe and rummage the messy pile for something to wear.

"Are you happy with your newfound independence?" I asked turning back to her with a baby pink midi dress.

She gives me a 'meh' hand gesture and I look back at the dress.

I did not have many options or much time, it would have to do this Sunday.

"It's fun to live a little recklessly," she says with a small smile.

I nod in understanding. "Tell me about it. I've begun to take matters into my own hands."

Her eyes sparkle with curiosity and immediately I fill her in on all the details.

By the time we're done I'm fixing the last of my tendrils under a pink scarf and she's howling with laughter.

"And here I was thinking my Americanah boyfriend would be something to write home about," Funmi says and I gasp.

"You have a boyfriend?" I yell before I pipe down, remembering a slap could come flying out of nowhere.

She laughs and picks her bag as she rises from my study chair.

"What? You had a sugar daddy and I'm only hearing of it now," she responds with a shrug.

I roll my eyes at the unbothered youth. "Oh, I'm sorry for not letting you know immediately Miss I'm so busy in uni!" I retort mimicking her usual complaints whenever I left her a message that she replied to 2 weeks later.

I didn't take it personally as her reply game was always bad but she regularly called me, save for the past two months as she had been writing her finals.

Mummy calls me once more and she dismisses her reply, instead following me down the stairs.

My mum is half out the door when we arrive and I turn back to my sister when I see she had stopped moving.

"Aren't you coming for service?" I ask my sister who was staring intently at her phone screen.

She looks up from the lit screen and shakes her head throwing a glance at mum who I noticed was standing rigidly by the Ford.

"I doubt I'd be welcome in this outfit. I'm going somewhere else with my kinda people." Funmi says with a slight, asymmetric smile.

I pause looking at both sides of the spectrum, feeling as if I was in the middle and soon I'd have to pick a side.

For now, I get into the family car but find it hard to shake off the sense of foreboding that came with seeing my sister hop into a white pickup truck.

On the driver's seat was an insanely attractive dark-skinned man who didn't look quite Nigerian. He wore a plain white tee accompanied with a careless grin, and the way he leisurely raked my sister's figure as she climbed in made even my mother hiss from the rearview mirror.

No one spoke of the shock of this morning but I could feel the silent expectation my parents now regarded me with as we sped off.

They were waiting to see if I'd be another rotten apple and the moment my mother smelt anything rancid I knew she wouldn't hesitate to make her little saint a martyr.

The church auditorium is full of lively sounds of all kinds of instruments and choir singers trying to outdo each other with each solo.

I wave goodbye to my parents as I continue my way down to the teens' church but fall in step with none other than Demilade.

Seeing him acted as a reminder of the weeklong punishment I was due to serve this Monday and call it the spiritual atmosphere or the guilt that had intensified in his presence but I spoke.

His jaw ticked at my mention of his name and he turns to me with narrowed eyes. 'Happy Sunday Nimi' is all he says before he increases his strides.

At 5'10 I struggled to keep up with his 6'1 advantage so I grab his arm before he can pass through the parallel doors.

He stops in his tracks and looks back at me with a stunned expression.

Heat creeps up my cheeks and I ignore the urge to let go for fear that he would leave me outside if I did.

"I'm sorry for getting you in trouble and for my nasty attitude. If you're still interested I'd like to be your friend."I say all in one breathe because I didn't think I could trust my ego to deliver an apology if I stopped to ruminate over it.

His eyes flicker from my lips to my eyes trying to decipher if I truly meant all I had said.

When he says nothing else I retract my hand and murmur a goodbye before I enter Youth Group.

The only seats left were at the back of the room and I braced myself for what would be the most awkward church service yet beside Demilade.

After service, I rise from my seat wordlessly and head for my double doors.

I had been so focused on avoiding Demilade's gaze that I didn't notice when he had gotten up till I bumped into his back in the throng of teenagers.

I jump away from the contact and mumble an apology, waiting for him to walk away.

But the crowd dispersed and I look up from cargo brown loafers to see him staring intently at me.

"Let's talk." is all he says before he walks to the low balcony where he sits on the same set of railings.

I scrunch my eyebrows at this but hop beside him nonetheless.

"We were both out of line that day and honestly I'm sorry for all the awful things I said to you as well," he says and I chuckle a little a bit.

"It's not like you weren't saying the truth," I respond with a shrug.

He wraps his right arm around a pole as he turns back to me, I interrupt him however knowing what he was going to say.

"It's okay to admit I have a little saintly get up and can be a snob to anyone but Victoria at school," I say and the corners of his mouth prop up at the confession.

"Well you can be a little prissy and don't participate at school unless it's a religious or academic event." he agrees.

I raise my hands to plead guilty as charged but forget I'm on the railings if not for his quick reflexes.

I stare at his arms around my midback and thank God we hadn't both fallen down in his attempt to save me.

He meets my eyes and pulls away before I continue what I was going to say.

"It's how I was raised," I say and he slowly nods.

"I was raised to live on my own terms as long as I didn't hurt anybody," he says in return and I shake my head at how different we both were.

"Sounds like a dream. I'm tired of everybody telling me what to do." I respond in a moment of vulnerability.

"Yeah, but isn't it nice to know what was expected of you so you don't have to deal with the nagging fear that after all you've done you're still not good enough?" he asks.

I stare incredulously at him before I can make a reply. "Not when it's not your choice," I say and he smiles at me like always.

"You're a paradox," he says.

"And you're an enigma."I retort.

We both laugh at our behavior but it dies down as we remember we were supposed to meet our parents long ago.

I hop off the railing and he does the same.

"See you Monday Demilade," I say and he groans in remembrance of his punishment.

I dart down the pathway to see the boy gone from where I had left him and shake my head at his tendency to disappear into thin air.