Too Good to Be Real

Chapter 38

Someone tapped her really hard and she woke with a jolt.
"Memorial hospital. Is this not your stop?" The old lady beside her practically yelled and she quickly got down receiving a death glare from the conductor who said something about this young generation being very stupid, before the car sped off again.
Now in front of the hospital, she came back to her senses.

She'd never asked to stop at memorial hospital!

She was supposed to stop at her school. Ugh. This was one of the consequences of sleeping off in a public vehicle. Now she was stuck. Well, at least she hadn't been kidnapped or used for rituals. She didn't even know where exactly she was. The building looked familiar...
Asa's mother's hospital. Now she had to spend extra money to get to her school! Four different vehicles in one day!

At home, Oma put her key into the lock, praying it'd enter and nobody would be in the room, but her prayer was unanswered. She knocked instead.

"Who is it?" Asa's voice called from inside. It sounded shaky.

"Oma." She replied firmly.
She heard feet shuffling and keys rustling before the door opened a little.

"Come in." Asa said, tensely glancing around.

Sure enough, her face looked red and swollen, her eyes were bloodshot and watery and some dried tears hung on her face.

"Asa. What is it?"

"Nothing." She replied and covered her face as if that would change anything.

Oma dropped her bag on her own bed and went to Asa's bed where she'd curled up to a ball.

"Is this about your mother? It'll be okay." She said, hugging her. Her heart began to pound. Some part of her told her that advice was too late but she hoped against it.
Like a plug, she began to cry all over again, her body shaking violently with every sob. The sight looked strange to Oma. This was really bringing her down.

"It'll be okay." Oma said again, hugging her tighter.

"No it won't!" Asa said. "My mum's condition keeps getting worse. She's under dialysis now. How many people do you know survived that! Do you know what my dad did? He introduced me to my brothers and my new mother. God forbid. They'll never be my brothers and that witch will never be related to me. What if tommorow, he introduces me to another sister, the one my mum talked about?" She said and began to cry all over again.

"I hate my life! After ruining my body for sports, guess what these idiots tell me. Someone else is going to represent Nigeria in hurdles. Someone I'm faster than. Probably because she paid more money. I hate this country, I hate my dad, I hate myself!" She kept on sobbing. Before Oma could respond, she continued.
"No one likes me. The only person that does is dying. Who will ever get married to someone who looks like me. Maybe if I died instead, it'll be better for everyone including me."

"Shut up! It's enough. Don't say anything you'll regret later. Your mother won't die. Maybe your dad is a douchebag but at least you've met him. I never met my dad. You know the signs of a douchebag, I don't. When he's done paying your fees, you can cut him off permanently from your life. How dare you say nobody likes you. Are you calling me a nobody? What about Femi, your teammates, and even most of your course mates you sleep over with? You think we all hate you? Is it because you haven't had a boyfriend? Well I've had two and the first one left me with a baby and wrecked my life. You were right that first day. I had CS for a baby and if I could trade all of that to be you, I would. If you have a boyfriend now, all you'll ever do is wonder if he's cheating or if he even really likes you back.
Everyone gets setbacks at some point in their life and career. This one is just a setback. You can try again anytime, maybe even in the diamond league this year. But please Asa don't think of suicide. I was once in your shoes in a different case but I'm here now. With time, your pain will fizzle out and make you stronger. But you have to try."

Maybe she wasn't good at comforting people, but she was good at giving pep talks.

Slowly, Asa's sobs began to subside and her tears dried on her face. She and Oma sat on her bed, hugging like the sisters they probably were.

****

At the convention, he watched her squeal with delight whenever a new slide was shown. He never knew she was this interested in photography.
Spending time with her opened his eyes to things he'd never realised before, like easy to talk to she was. He couldn't stop watching her. Taking her out on this convention had opened his eyes to a lot of new possibilities.

"Why are you looking at me?" Nathi asked him with a glint in her eyes. She was dangerously close. So close, he could smell her.

"Nothing." He replied smiling, with a glint in his eyes as well.

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