An Invitation

"What….. You think you can just come and hug me to death…" Lekan winked… "Hell, no, I will tickle you to the beyond. Muhhahahahah!"

Blessing laughed and then pushed and kicked. Lekan followed, using hsi hands to wedge off her legs as he tried to gain in on her. The issues of the time before totally forgotten. At least, for the now.

"Okay, okay... stop, stoppppp..." Blessing laughed, shaking her arms and her legs in a fit of laughter.

Lekan did ease up now as he saw how she vibrated. He leaned backwards and she jerked then, shaking her head as she kept on laughing.

"No... no... hehahah... " Blessing laughed. "Stoppppp."

"I didn't do anything now, did I?" Lekan replied with an ear to ear grin on his face. "I was only leaving you alone." He laughed at her. "who knew you're such a scaredy cat?"

"Heheh... it's not that!" Blessing disagreed, bringing her legs closer to her upper upper. "Its just... I don't trust you, you know." She replied to him.

"Yea, yeah... If you didn't trust me, I don't think you would be here with me, would you?" Lekan asked, rainsg two fingers of his right hand into the air. "So, yep, you totally trust me." He grinned and then got himself from the ground to sit on the bed. As he say, his eyes narrowed as thoughts overflowed his mind.

He could not shake it off. What happened before was something that he was worried about.

What was that silhouette that had spoken to him? If it had not, then, he may have just taken it that he had be dizzy and was only making up things in his head.

However, the silhouette did not only speak to him, it also slapped his hand away from it. That was something he had to consider too. And even if he wanted to blame that on Blessing, he did not see any reason why Blessing would want to hit in the first place.

If not for the fact he schooled far away, himself and Blessing had come close to being tight friends. And as a result, he had come to trust her that much.

The trust was mutual also. Blessing trusted him that so much that he did not see any reason why she would even dare to hit him.

If it was not Blessing, Lekan thought as he clasped his hands under his chin, resting the elbows on his knees, then who was that silhouette?

He could not make out much of the face except for the fact that the red lines had zoned onto it. Or in other words, the red lines were what brought about the lines in the first place.

He could not help but wonder why that had happened, purposing his heart to find the root reason of it. There had to be some explanation, surely to that. Things did not just happen. He was not a believer in coincidence.

"Heyyyyyyy..."

"Ehhhh..." Lekan blinked, startled as he looked on to the hand shaking his knee.

It was Blessing and the look on her face revealed just how displeased she was with him.

"What is wrong with you? One moment you are happy, the other moment you are pensive. Are you a woman on period?" Blessing mumbled at him.

"Ahh... No na. Of course not. Do I look womanly?" Lekan replied.

"I don't know." Blessing said and then looked away. "I don't know what happened to you with these mood swings. It's like you have become a totally different person and..."

"And what?" Lekan heaved towards her.

"I get that things have been sorta rough since... since they..." Blessing said, pausing through as she got herself to stand up.

She moved to the table now, resting her bum against it while her two hands settled on it, by the sides. After that, she fixed her eyes on Lekan who had been looking down all through the time she got up and went to the table.

"Since they... you know..." She said with a low voice. Blessing splayed her fingers now and then shrugged. "I was just thinking that... you... I..."

"What are you trying to say Blessing?" Lekan looked up to her now. "If you have to say something, just get at it. we have been friend for so long so I don't think there's anything you could say right now to get me mad, okay?" Lekan said, assuringly.

"So, jus get at it. Whatever you have to say, just hit the nail on the head." He urged.

Hearing that, the nervousness in Blessing's face cleared out as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, I just wanted you to get out to the sunlight, you know." She said, throwing her hands into the air. "Your Uncle Says you have been all shut here. I want you to step out. That mum and Dad are gone doesn't mean you should keep burdening yourself like this. You need to live." She said, coming closer to lay a hand on his left shoulder

Lekan looked thoughtfully at her hand for some brief moments before sighing too.

"Go out where?" He asked. "My school... I have been a boarding student and my Dad has wanted to hide me away for as long as I can remember, Soo... it's. it like I do know anywhere around."

"Besides..." He scoffed. "What do I know? I am just the son who..."

"I don't care, Lekan. You can't be doing this to yourself. Think about the people about you. How do you think your withdrawal would affect them?"

"I don't see a problem with that." Lekan scoffed once more. "Certainly not with Uncle Desmond. That fella hates my guts. As I do to him too." He said with a low voice towards the end.

"Even if..." Blessing said.

"There are NO IFS here " Lekan fired out, slamming a folded fist into his right knee. "No buts, okay? This is my way of coping with this whole thing, living in the same house with the very person who I am very sure wishes I died too so he could inherit everything. And what do I get? Nothing. Under the care of some opportunistic bastard. And a stupid ring with a note of master the power? Like what gives?? Who the fuck does that in these times? Does he think all I do is seat in front of TV watching power rangers and wishing that I had the power to transform or something?" Lekan screamed out, slamming his fist simultaneously with each sentence he blasted out. "Who even gave him the rights to die? If he was not so obsessed over modelling my life to be like his, then I bet he would still be alive up till now. But now, he had to beat my mum because she cautioned him for the way he talking. And then... then... they fought... They fucking fought... Bles, they did and that was the end!" His voice broke towards the end.

Blessing shivered at his outburst, her eyes watery and her hands clasped over her mouth.

"Oh... Lekan..." She whispered.

There was so much that the poor boy was holding inside of him. So much yet he had been talking to her, tickling and laughing to her like it had been nothing whereas his heart was here and hurting.

For a second or two, she seemed frozen for words but after the time elasped, she steeled her mind. She had to do something or say something at the very least. He was her friend but still, she found it tough to come up with something which could be deemed as comforting enough to someone who had learnt to pack up everything with his chest and act like he was fine.

Like he was fine whereas he was not fine.

Shivering... She leaned forward and reached for his shoulder.

"Hey, it's fine.... everything will be alright, you know. I t-think you should come to my school tomorrow..Let's just hang out and take your mind off the pressure, okay?" Blessing managed to say.

Her school had a slightly longer calendar than Lekan's school. While Lekan was done for the session, Blessing was still having exams papers in her own school.

Tomorrow, she would still have some papers and then after then, she would be free to play with him. After all, it was her last paper for the session.

"Uhm..." Lekan swallowed, nodding his head. "I... I'll think about it." He replied sullenly.

At loss of what to say now, Blessing just exhaled, tapping him in his two shoulders, after which she leaned in to give him a hug.

"I'll be expecting you, okay? Thank you!" She said. "I'm leaving now. Got to go and study." She chuckled nervously and without waiting for a reply, moved for the door. Once she was outside, she shut it and then leaned against the wall, falling down to her bum and sobbing silently.