"That's her."
"She looked like she wanted to cry."
"I wonder what she did to get on Sam's wrong side?"
"È così strana, chi vorrebbe starle vicino. Voglio dire, guardala."
Hushed whispers filled the cafeteria as students, both boys and girls pointed as we walked past, not bothering to hide that they were having their cup of coffee with my name at the tip of their tongues and keeper off their conversations.
"That's it! I'm tired of people talking about you this way, how are you in the wrong?!" My best friend asked as she moved to address the whole student population but I tugged back her arm causing her to look at me in confusion.
"Do not let anger take over your heart over something so minuscule," I said gently, as the peace of Jehovah Shalom ascended upon me.
"What do you mean something so minuscule, this is your reputation, your life that we are talking about and you just want to sit back and allow them to badmouth you like this?"
It's on days when we struggle that we feel and see the presence of the Lord most. Like right now, I was supposed to be angry, disturbed or rather furious but, instead, I felt none of those emotions because I was trusting in the Lord and his perfect will for my life and this temporarily bad situation and the weekends had given me the perfect breather.
"Reputation, life and all these other things that we hold to high esteem only last a lifetime and could just vanish within mere seconds but our relationship with God lasts for all eternity and one of the greatest commandments we have is that we love others just as we love ourselves and now when we want to get or take revenge where is the love? I mean if Jesus took revenge on all the people who mocked, hit and crucified him then some of them would not have been saved but because he did not even wish to take revenge because he himself was love they were saved and given the gift of eternal life and now we are to show love as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ did, and by taking revenge we are not showing this love, Romans 12 verses 19-20 says, Never take revenge, instead let God's anger do it, for the Lord says, 'I will take revenge, I will pay back.' The scripture says, 'If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for if you do this you will make them burn with shame,' so right now let's leave it in God's hands and do our part by praying for all these people and Samantha, okay?" I spoke softly with a gentle smile on my face.
Thato sighed, briefly closing her eyes, taking in all I had just said before opening her eyes and a small smile graced her face as admiration shone in her eyes, "You're right, I'm so glad you are my best friend, you are always there to steer me back to the righteous path when I walk in the evil one. What would I be without you?"
"You would be everything and more because you have an unwavering, loving, heavenly father every step of the way who will always be there to guide you, I am just your best friend but he is much more. Now let's go over to Sienna, she must be wondering where we are."
We walked to the back of the cafeteria and I felt eyes burn holes at the back of my head but not from the countless students in the cafeteria but from a specific someone, so I turned to look at him as he was sitting at his usual table, at the head as always as though he had a high position by sitting on the same seat every day but to my disappointment, he wasn't even looking at me, but rather my heart just felt a small but apparent tug as he whispered in the ear of the one and only Samantha who sat on his lap. He was all smiles as Samantha caught my gaze and winked at me with a sly smile on her deep purple-painted lips.
Why was I even feeling hurt? We were just friends but why would he stand up for me only to go back to the very same person he had fought against, for me?
"Darling?" Thato called me as she noticed that I was walking at an agonizingly slow pace, she then turned to look at them, "Don't worry about them and remember your words." She gave my hand a gentle squeeze and I followed behind her as we made our way over to Sienna situated at the far back of the cafeteria where there were couches and bean bags, it was much quieter than the first section of the large room, she held on to her iPhone, furiously texting or writing on it, concentration written all over her face.
A few seconds later we were in front of her but she didn't seem to notice us, her brunette hair tied up in a tight ponytail. Thato and I exchanged glances before I spoke up, "Sienna, are you okay?"
Her breath hitched as though I had just startled her before she saw that it was just Thato and I.
"You scared me," She blew a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay?" Thato reiterated my question only with more seriousness.
Her features changed from startled to saddened, "How could I be okay when Des is getting dragged into the mad on social media." Her gaze moved to me and confusion washed over her as she saw how fine I was, "Des, did you see social media today?"
I smiled, "No, I do not have it, but Thato has already shown me what you are probably worried about, but do not worry yourself, I am absolutely fine."
Her thin brows furrowed, "Are you sure?"
"One hundred percent," We take our seats next to her and dug into the food she and already ordered specially for us but not before praying, the food changed according to the day of the week and since it was Monday today we only had food that started with the letter m, something that I had learnt was the tradition of the campus or rather cafeteria. On top of the large round, small table was a meatloaf; Sienna introduced it to both me and Thato as weren't familiar with it, macaroni with thinly sliced Manzo which was Italian beef and a freshly sliced melon.
"Sienna, did you pay for all of this?" Thato asked something important but that had not really crossed my mind because of the unexpected events that had taken place. Usually, the three of us would split the bill and eat but today Sienna had everything brought beforehand.
I stopped eating as I watched Sienna who still had her eyes glued to her cell phone screen, "Yeah, why?" She looked up from her phone and smiled with a raised brow.
"Well, this looks rather expensive," She replied looking at the half-eaten food laid before us.
"It wasn't really expensive, besides papá sent me some money today and I decided I would spoil you guys, especially you Des, when I found out Samantha had done something as horrid as that, I just knew I had to keep your mind off of it and what better way to do that than to buy you some good Italian food?" Sienna was really a great friend, she knew how to cheer me up and I was grateful.
"Thank you so much but aren't you eating?" I expressed my gratitude with a smile for having such a wonderful friend before asking the question.
She returned the smile with a grin of her own, "No I already ate and I don't think I can fit in any more food in this stomach unless I want the bro or rather sis belly like Beast boy and Cyborg," At that we all started laughing remembering the countless times Thato and I would just lay on my mom's soft grey carpet and watch hours upon hours of Teen Titans till our eyes would just drop shut.
Soon everything was finished just as a petite dark-skinned girl stopped in front of us holding a bunch of papers, The weekly dose of gossip as it read by Samantha Castelli last week when a poor girl was being humiliated in writing without permission for a mere purse, which she allegedly stole, she gave me a sympathetic glance before handing me the A5 paper before doing the same to Thato and Sienna, it had beautiful flower designs but what was written in black and white ink was nothing short of evil, a contrast to the good looking paper.
Destiny Mudau, a girl from a small town in rural Africa decided to come here, head held high, nose flaring and overly confident.
She forgot her place when thinking that her innocent-looking face would gain her all the attention she wanted but when that didn't happen, she decided to put in her man-stealing claws into my man but because my man loves me and would never cheat on me he never even bat her an eyelash.
Girls, keep your men close and keep a watchful eye on her, we are talking about a man-stealing leech here. Thank you for reading, until next week. Loves and Kisses.
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"È così strana, chi vorrebbe starle vicino. Voglio dire, guardala."- She is so strange, who would want to be near her? I mean, look at her."