ᴅᴇᴇᴘᴇʀ

9

Now when I lean on you
and I got nothing left.
Hey, I've been
wanting to call you_

--

Chimdi walked into her dorm room, to be greeted by a totally empty room.

She sighed.

It was becoming a normalcy, entering the room each day and not seeing her roommates. The event of the week made her come to a conclusion that they've been avoiding her.

She could swear that they avoided her gaze whenever they were together.

It had to be her loneliest days since she got admitted to Pacesetters, even Abike had noticed her friends had deserted her. Her words.

She was lucky enough to hang out with Jiki, say hi to Elo, since he mostly spent his time with TJ who she totally ignored.

She sighed as she looked around the room. Nene's bed was neatly dressed as usual, her hamper, devoid of dirty clothes, unlike hers and Lara's.

Lara's bed not untidy and definitely not neatly dressed as usual, had a life sized teddy laying on it, with customized throw pillows. One with her picture on it and the other, with a group picture they took together the year before.

She smiled sadly at the memory, praying to God that they make up quickly, she was missing them and she couldn't carry on without talking to them for long.

She plopped herself on her bed, getting ready to untie her shoes before her phone rang for the fourth time.

She knew who was calling and had no intention to pick the damned call. Antni had sent her a message the other day, telling her what time to arrive for her shoot which was scheduled the next day.

She got the message clearly and didn't see a reason to pick her call.

The phone rang again and she groaned in frustration.

Didn't they teach her that calling more than twice was illegal?

She reached for the phone, knowing Antni, she would blow off her phone if that's what it would take to be answered.

"Hello, Dee finally." Came Antni's throaty voice immediately she picked the call.

Chimdi rolled her eyes.

"Aunty, good evening."

"Evening love. You got the message right?"

"Yes." Came her curt response.

"And you didn't bother sending a reply? That's bad of you kitten." Chimdi recoiled. Like she could feel Antni in her dorm room. She hated the damned nickname. It made her skin crawl.

"I forgot. I'm sorry. Any problem?"

"Your Aunty misses you. You haven't called me since you got back to school."  She whined in a faux child-like voice, making Chimdi roll her eyes.

"You are going to see me tomorrow Aunty. I have something important to do right now... I'll see you tomorrow?" She said, trying to rush off the call.

"Fine, wear the baby pink gown. I really love it, you know it brings out your..." Chimdi immediately cut the call.

Like hell I will. She muttered.

Feeling her heart making its way to her stomach.

Conversations with Antni always left her that way.

Minutes later and after getting over the call, she focused on removing her shoes and uniform.

Wearing a clothe was one thing, getting rid of it was another.

After conquering laziness and getting rid of her shoes and clothes, she dumped them inside the hamper, before reaching for her towel.

The weather was hot and a cold bath was necessary.

Half an hour later, she was done with bathing and made her way to the room. Entering the room,  she was greeted by her roommates talking and laughing till they noticed her presence, which prompted them to stop whatever they were discussing.

She sighed and muttered a sad 'Hi' as she made her way to her bed.

The tension was back, with Lara bringing out her laptop and Nene picking up a broom.

She dressed quietly, wishing that she had her airpod on. The silence was screaming.

Grabbing her mini box, she began packing necessary things needed for the weekend absentmindedly, missing whatever question Nene directed her way.

"Babes," Lara called, a little loud. Causing her to face them.

Nene was done with sweeping and Lara had her throw pillow on her laps. Attention on her.

"Yes?"

"Tomorrow is the shoot right?" Lara asked while she nodded.

Before there was seconds of silence.

Nene cleared her throat.

"How are you?" Nene asked and immediately face palmed herself.

How was she? That had to be the dumbest thing Nene had ever uttered.

I've been feeling miserable without you two who successfully ignored me, So I'm great. Thanks for asking!

But she settled for, "Okay, I guess."

"What she meant was, We are sorry Chimdi," Lara said, looking down. "We took the argument too far."

"I'm sorry too, I was acting like a total bitch." Chimdi said, smiling her first real smile of the week.

"At least, we agree on something." Nene added, whilst making them laugh.

"This week has been hell, with you two ignoring me." The skinny girl confessed.

Nene got off her bed to Chimdi's bed, before giving her a hug.

"We are glad you felt that way... And honestly, I'm sorry I was hard on you. I just wanted you to see things my way. It wasn't fair to TJ." Nene said, helping her fold her clothes.

"Yeah, yeah I was being too hard I know. At least, now we can work together for once and finally get him a new partner." Chimdi said, while Nene and Lara looked at each other before nodding.

"Whats with the look?" Chimdi narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing. I'm just glad we are back again. Do you know how hard it was not to talk to you?" Lara asked, joining them.

"Totally." Said Nene, who reached out to grab a pack of PinPop candy from Chimdi's bigger box.

Chimdi smiled as she watched them drag the pack before realizing it was sour flavoured which caused them to hiss.

"So, are you guys coming with me?" She asked them, reaching for her toiletry bag.

"Umm, you know the Hair dye commercial being hosted by Osas Kate?" Lara asked, while they nodded.

"I was picked for it and it's tomorrow "

"Awwwn, Congrats. And you didn't tell me." Chimdi pouted.

"We were not in talking terms remember." Lara said, throwing her, her teddy bear.

"Fine. What about you Nens?"

"We're visiting Nonye at uni as one happy family. Remember?" The dark girl groaned, like Chimdi asked the dumbest question known to man.

"Ooh. Not fair!" Chimdi said sulking.

"Don't worry, we'll parte on Sunday. Don't miss us that much." Nene assured, blowing her a kiss before heading for her bed.

"By the way, Who saw Aisha Lawal's live video. It went wrong, like gbas gbos kind of wrong!" Lara exclaimed getting out her phone.

While they rushed to her bed. Anticipation written on their faces as they waited for Lara to show them the content.

Chimdi Smiled. They were truly back.

--