The Right One

Eight

Hope was a myriad of emotions but she was most especially angry at herself. How could she have been so careless to have gotten herself caught despite knowing all that was at stake? The worse part was that she had cried. Cried! Nobody cried just because they got caught secretly working in order to get a Christmas present for their mum. At least she didn't. Even if there had been an inkling of hope he would have believed her, it was all dashed now. She might as well have drawn up a sign with, 'I'm lying' plastered all over.

Hope groaned as another series of bangs landed on her bedroom door. Val had been trying to get her out of the room for close to two hours.

"Go away!" Hope yelled at her.

"Open this door right this minute or I promise I'll break it down," Val threatened, banging on the door again.

Hope rolled her eyes and scoffed. Where was she going to get the strength from? "Go ahead then!" she shot back.

There was a pause and when Val spoke again, her voice was soft and pleading, "Open the door, Hope. Please."

Hope ignored her. Maybe if she did that long enough, Val would finally get the message.

"Kemisola Hope! You better open up right now or I promise you, I WILL BREAK THIS DOOR DOWN!"

Hope frowned. Was that Tayo's voice she just heard or was she now hearing things?

"I hope you're not standing by the door oo because I'm here with a hammer and this door is going down!" Tayo persisted and Hope could hear the clang of a body against the door.

Hope let out a defeated sigh. She knew her friend well enough to know there was no way she was leaving if she didn't get inside the room. Hope forcefully removed herself from her bed and wobbled over to the door, grumbling as she unlocked it to face her best friend who was unknowingly leaning against the door, resulting in her almost falling in. Hope had a moment of regret that she hadn't.

"Thank God," Val said as soon as the door opened. Her gaze immediately took in Hope's puffy eyes. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" Hope snapped.

"You're right, dumb question." Val chuckled nervously, unsure of how to approach the girl who looked like she'd go off at the slightest provocation.

"If you say so," Hope retorted, not caring that she was coming off as bitchy. She turned around and curled back into bed, ready to shut them both out of her world.

"Okay, what happened to you?" Tayo demanded, following her into the room. She shut the door and locked it before Val could follow them in. "You're a sight for sore eyes. I'd have expected you to be happier since it's your first day. I came to hear all the juicy details and I'm not pleased at all with the turn of events."

"FYI, I got assaulted and fired on my first day so I'm allowed to be in a sour mood. Shocker, I know," Hope supplied mechanically.

Like a switch, her friend flipped from confused to concerned and she was beside Hope in a flash, forcing the girl up and inspecting her body.

"It's not that serious," Hope said with a tired sigh, prying her friend's invading hands off. "Whatever you're thinking is not it."

"Then tell me what it is," Tayo retorted with an frustrated scowl so Hope narrated all that had happened and by the time she was done, her friend was absolutely livid and Hope found herself shrinking away a little.

"I'm going to kill him," Tayo declared through clenched teeth.

Hope's brows raised in response. She wasn't sure who her friend was planning to kill exactly but at the moment, she didn't really care. Exhausted after revisiting the events of the day or maybe it was the calming effect Tayo's presence had on her, she laid back in bed and welcomed the warmth it provided.