Dreams and Collections

"Get off me!" Faith screamed and sat up from her bed. She looked around her room as her heart hammered to her chest.

That same dream again. It's been weeks.

She flopped back onto her pillow and stared at the ceiling. If she wasn't having a nightmare of her school, then Kaia's face when she saw her and her crying voice replay in her mind over and over again. Kaia was more affected than her mother was.

What was she apologising for? She didn't do anything wrong.

She pulled the blankets over her but they provided no warmth or refuge from Kaia's voice as it echoed all around the room.

Why was she so guilty about this? She didn't even know what happened.

Giving up she pulled up the blanket off her and let her mind wander. What exactly happened that lead to that?

Kaia announced that she was shifting schools suddenly and Faith was very encouraging about that because that means that Kaia won't get bullied anymore.

She saw how hard she began to work to prepare for the entrance exam. The school decided to give her a chance and if she could clear that exam then she would be accepted and just like that, Kaia got in.

Faith was so happy for her but, when Kaia left, the bullying on her got bad. The worst is when they would stick gum in her hair and forcefully cut it. She was done complaining to the teachers, they would only let her bullies go off with a slap on the wrist then they would bully her more.

Sometimes they would scribble on her desk and even pour white paint on her.

Every time she came home, she would smile and pretend as though nothing happened to her mother, blaming everything on her clumsiness. Even with the paint.

One day, they took it a little too far. Sure, she had always admired them and the privileges they got, and even at some point in her life, she wanted to change everything about herself to be just like them.

But then she met Shia. She had beautiful dark skin with white patches and she can see the bullying she would go through but whenever Faith asked, she talked about her skin like it was a blessing.

"Sure I get bullied, but that's only because they know they'll not be able to look like me even if they tried so hard. So they bully me into hating what they wish they had." She would always say that and every moment she got, she would find ways to complement Faith.

Not just Shia, but even Caitlyn, Aliya, and sometimes, Max would compliment something about her and that's why, whenever she got bullied badly she would call either of them up and they would talk for hours on end. When she called Shia, she would not hang up until she made sure Faith's smiling and laughing.

No matter what her bullies said, Shia always has a counter-argument to it. She always dropped everything she was doing when Faith called her and because of all the compliments Shia, Caitlyn and Aliya showered her with, Faith looked in the mirror and started to see what they saw, slowly.

Even when the bullying got worse, she wasn't as affected as she should have been. Maybe that's why they did that. They saw that no matter what they said, she still came back the next day smiling.

"Insecure people will do whatever necessary to bring whoever they can down and they get mad when those they believe are inferior to them are happy. They have to be the most pitiful people in this world." Caitlyn once told Faith this while helping her wipe the paint off her face.

"Some people will do anything just to see someone else in pain so that they don't feel pathetic when they think about their own life," Shia added.

Faith didn't understand what they meant at that time. But now she knows.

Maybe if she had told her mother earlier like Aliya suggested, it wouldn't have gotten to this point. Shia had told her that she was going to pick her up that day and she was thinking of waiting at the gate for her when some girls cornered her and dragged her to the back of the school.

Faith felt her chest tighten every time she remembered what happened.

They pinned her down and grabbed all her hair, holding a scissor right to her scalp.

"Your friends with that mute girl right? She exchanged five years of her lifespan to fix her face. So why don't you try it? Trade something. Otherwise, you can say goodbye to this."

"No. Not my hair. Please. Anything but my hair. Please not my hair." She begged to them but they couldn't be bothered.

"Do it! Otherwise, we'll cut it all off."

They were bluffing. They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't do something so cruel.

Snip.

"Oops."

She cried when she saw a chunk of her hair fall to the ground. She tried to struggle out of their hold but six girls held her down while the other students took videos of her.

She looked around her pleadingly but saw no compassion in anyone's faces.

"Hurry up. Otherwise, I'll not be so generous next time." The girl taunted while everyone else laughed at her.

Feeling absolutely helpless and afraid, Faith exchanged a month of her life to turn her hair blonde. A decision she regrets every minute that passed from that day.

"Fluffy hair!" Kaia had told her the first time they met.

She could feel something start to spread from the roots of her hair with her tears that flowed.

"I've always wanted hair like yours, but I never could get them. You're so blessed." Shia had told her when they talked for the first time.

"Look at that. Her hair is changing colour."

"Oh My Gosh, she actually did it."

She kept crying while they laughed at her.

"Don't tell anyone, ok? But I think you have the prettiest hair out of all of us. It looks so good on you." Aliya whispered that into her ears and ran away before Faith could say anything else to her.

Sorry.

"My baby is the most beautiful in the world with the most beautiful hair. You got it from your mama, right? "Her mother would tell her every morning before she left for school.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

"Why are you sorry?" Shia's question came to mind. She wasn't judging her nor was she angry, just curious. "Did you do this yourself?"

"No."

"Then stop apologising for something someone else should be apologising to you about. You did nothing wrong."

Faith cried so badly when she said that to her. She cried again when Shia's mother finished doing her hair and she looked in the mirror. She cried a third time with her mother when she finally told her everything that happened.

It was a long day full of tears.

Even as she recalled those memories, she felt tears forming in her eyes again but she wiped them away. She is going to be strong now.

Why am I even remembering this right now?

She looked out the window to the sky with all its twinkling stars and remembered Kaia again.

I wonder how she's doing.

Her mind went back to Kaia's apology. When she calmed down, she had a very faraway look on her face.

If she didn't apologise and just got angry she would understand but what she did didn't make sense. They huddled up and talked to each other, trying to reason what happened.

Wait a minute. Max and Dorran were suspiciously quiet through that entire conversation. Why did they look like they were trying to hide something?

Aliya was the one that noticed Kaia gone from her seat and everyone went into a panic. They all split up and searched for her. Faith went the same direction a Dorran but they separated at a junction. Faith reached a dead end when she got the message from Max.

"Parking lot."

She was very close to the parking lot so she ran as fast as she could, slowing down when she heard Dorran shout, "No. I can't control how much I take. You're not dying on my watch."

Dying? Who?

"What are you doing, Kaia? Put that knife down." Dorran shouted.

She sneaked up and peeked from the door, she saw Kaia stab a man in his head with a crazed look in her eyes. Faith covered her mouth from making a sound. Dorran shook his head at her and Kaia's expression broke.

What just happened? What was that? Did I see it right?

She heard footsteps as Max ran past her and stared at Kaia.

"Faith. What are you doing? Is Kaia there?"

Shia, Aliya, and Caitlyn ran into the parking lot and gasped. Faith also came out and saw her crying and hitting her father's body. Straining her already strained throat.

When Max tried to stop her, she looked at him with that broken expression and signed, "Happy? You were right."

Right about what?

After that day, Kaia disappeared. She didn't hear a word about her anymore. The others tried to contact her but she wouldn't pick up anyone's calls.

Faith felt like she was responsible for this in a way. But, seeing Kaia stab a man without even a second thought and the face she made when she did that scared her.

But, if Kaia needed you now. Would you help her?

Yeah. So far, everything I've seen her do is always with others in mind. There are many things I don't understand but that doesn't make her a bad person. Everyone has secrets, and she did so much for me just by introducing me to her friends. She didn't have to do that but she did and I feel so accepted because of her. If she needs me then I'm there.

With those thoughts, she finally fell asleep. Only to be woken up a few minutes later by her phone ringing.

Groggily she took her phone and looked at the caller ID.

The Boy That Just Appeared.

"Hey, Faith."

"What is it, Dorran?" She picked up, slowly drifting off again when she heard something crash. "What was that?"

"Hey! Max! Try to make sure Kaia doesn't get hurt anymore, otherwise, I'm making you pay her medical bills! Anyway, Faith-"

"Kaia? What happened to Kaia? She's hurt again? How?" If she wasn't awake with the crash, she definitely was awake now.

"Whoa. Whoa. Calm down and listen to me first ok? I know Kaia and you guys' friendship is a little unsteady right now but she really, really needs you. I know you wouldn't we-"

"What does she need? Where is she? I'll come."

"Wow. I kinda expected this response but didn't at the same time. Just like Caitlyn and the other two."

"The others are coming? What is going on?"

"I'll explain later. Just send me your address. I'll come to pick you up in an hour or two. Ok?"

"Ok. Ok." She breathed out.

"Don't be nervous. She won't hurt you. The worst she can do is kill herself in her state."

"What?!?!"

"See you. Remember to send me the address." He kept the phone with a click, leaving Faith with piles of questions she needed to ask.

♣

"Faith, baby. You have to relax." Her mother called from inside the house.

Faith walked back and forth in the porch and driveway, waiting for him to come.

"I'm trying, mama. It's just, he said one or two hours. It's already three hours. Where is he?" She started to bite her nails, looking from the clock to the road.

They live just beside the road with fencing around the house. She left the gate open the moment she got up and ran to the door every time she heard a vehicle pass their house.

"Hey! No biting your nails. Maybe it's the traffic, you know how the traffic to our house i-"

"I think that's them."

She looked at the black limo that entered their gate into their compound.

"Who did you say your friend was again, baby?" Her mother came beside her, staring at the limo as it stopped in front of their porch.

"Faith!"

Aliya jumped out of the car and hugged her.

"Aliya!"

"I missed you so much." She pouted.

"Oh! Me too!" Caitlyn hugged both of them. "It's so nice to see you guys again."

"Caitlyn. You're. Crushing-" Faith tried to speak.

"Hey, don't leave me out!" Shia came into the embrace too. But when she did, they all fell down the stairs to the ground.

"Are you ok?" They asked each other at the same time.

Realising what they did, they all burst into laughter.

"Please don't get hurt. I can keep taking care of you all." Dorran pleaded, stepping out of the car.

"So, you're all my daughter's friends?" Faith's mother looked at them from the porch, smiling.

"Hi, aunty." They chimed.

"Mama. This is Shia, Caitlyn, Aliya, and Dorran. They've been taking care of me this whole time. Shia's mother is the one that did my hair." Faith flipped her hair with pride.

"Really? I want to thank you all for taking such good care of my baby. Thank your mother for me too, ok Shia?"

"I will aunty."

"You're all so beautiful and handsome. Tell me. What are you planning to do today?" She gave them a questioning look.

"One of your friends is sick, so we're going to visit her. If that's ok with you aunty." Shia talked to her mother, with the air of confidence she always possessed.

"Of course, I don't mind. But how will she come back?"

"I'll be dropping them all back, aunty, and I'll make sure they don't come back too late," Dor replied. "Please don't worry, aunty. I'll station bodyguards for them if it'll ease your worries."

"That's what he told Aliya's aunt and uncle and Shia's parents," Caitlyn whispered to Faith.

"Can he really do that? He's still so young" Faith whispered back to Caitlyn.

"Can you really do that? You're still so young." Faith's mother asked Dor.

"Yes, ma'am. I swear on my life that they'll be safe." He smiled at her.

"Ok. I'll hold you to that, young man." She looked at Faith. "Have fun ok, baby?"

"Yes, mama."

And they were off.