Breakfast

The first rays of sunlight lit up the room. The dawn chorus of melodic birdsong drifted in. Aida groaned when the rays of sunlight hit her face. She rubbed her bleary eyes as she turned off the alarm and slowly began to sit. Aida put her hand to her head which was throbbing. Last night was a rollercoaster, after she woke up from the nightmare, sleep eluded her completely. She finally fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.

Aida dragged herself into the bathroom. She tied her hair in a messy bun, as she applied toothpaste on her brush, and began to brush her teeth. The only thing on her mind was food. Aida rinsed her mouth and her face and dried them with a towel.

Aida went downstairs in her pajamas. She was overjoyed when she saw the maids setting the table.

"Good morning miss Aida" One of the maids greeted. I was just about to come up to your room to inform you that breakfast is ready."

"Well, I'm here now." Aida took a seat. She notices her mum's absence. It was quite unlike her to miss breakfast.

As if she had read her mind, the maid replied. " Your mum left very early in the morning, she says to inform you that she'll be away on a business trip for a week."

"Okay."

The maid turned to leave but Aida stopped her. "Are there any leftovers from yesterday's dinner?

"Yes." The maid responded.

"I would like to have some. I'm very hungry and these pancakes won't be enough."

"Okay. I'll go get the food." The maid hurried back to the kitchen.

Aida dug her fork into a pancake and put it in her mouth. She chewed it hungrily. Aida sipped her tea.

Her attention was drawn to the front door as the doorbell rang. A maid opened the door and a bodyguard walked in carrying luggage. Kehlani walked in after him carrying a smaller bag.

"I'll take it up to your room." The maid collected the bag. Lupita treated Kehlani like her own daughter. She had a room reserved for Kehlani to stay in anytime she came visiting.

"Miss Aida the food isn't running away." Kehlani teased her as she took a seat. "You didn't even welcome me."

"I'm so sorry her royal highness, next time I'll lay a red carpet so your shoes don't get dirty. I'll have the maids throw confetti in the air and the bodyguards will blow trumpets." Aida said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she bit into a pancake.

"Others are going about their businesses and you are still in your pajamas? Eww, what's smelling? Kehlani held her nose. " Aida, have you showered this morning?"

Aida took her seriously and sniffed her armpits. She didn't perceive any foul smell. She looked at Kehlani who was trying to stifle her laughter.

Kehlani burst into a fit of laughter. She clutched her stomach tightly as it began to hurt from laughing too much.

"I've noticed that people with bad breath are the ones who love to laugh like hyenas." Aida sneered.

"My breath smells awesome." Kehlani got up and walked towards Aida. "Here, smell my breath." She breathed into Aida's face and ran for safety as Aida hurled her slippers at her. Kehlani laughed uncontrollably as Aida chased her around the living room.

It had become a norm to tease one another daily. Many people mistook their teasing for quarrels anytime they were out in public.

"Aida, I'm sorry..ry." Kehlani laughed as Aida tackled her to the floor and began to tickle her.

"The safe word is Aida smells nice and Kehlani smells like a pig." Aida tickled her.

"Never!"

"Have it your way." Aida laughed as she tickled her hard.

Kehlani's laughter turned to despair as tears dripped down her cheek. "I...say it. Kehlani is a pig, and Aida smells like a rose."

"Don't start what you can't finish." Aida let go of her. "Play time's over," She helped her up. Kehlani dusted her trousers and they went back to the dining table. Their food had already been served.

"You almost tickled me to death." Said Kehlani as she took a seat.

"Well, I didn't." Aida retorted. "Why have you brought your luggage along?

"Don't forget that this is my house too. I don't have to tell you beforehand that I'm coming."

"I know. You only stay here after school closes so I'm surprised to see you here when we aren't even halfway into the semester."

"Early this morning, my mom got a call from aunt Lupita. She said she'll be away for a week and she wanted me to keep you company. " Kehlani explained as they ate.

"After checking out the library, what's your next plan?" Asked Kehlani.

Aida took a sip of her juice before responding. "I'll keep looking for more clues, maybe the information from the book will be of great help."

"Have you checked your mom's room?"

"No. Why?"

"Think about it. You said your mum Is hiding something, maybe you'll find something that would be of great help to you there."

Aida saw some sense in what Kehlani said but there was one problem. That room was out of bounds to everyone in the house including her. Her mom's room was under tight surveillance and it was guarded by two hefty-looking bodyguards. One time she had tried to sneak in but her mum had appeared from nowhere and stopped her. Aida had caught a glimpse of the room before the door was shut, it looked like every other room in the house, there was nothing unusual about it so why was she forbidden from entering it?

"The room is guarded by fierce-looking bodyguards who are always there 24/7 so it will be very hard to sneak In. Let's check out the library first, if we don't find useful information we'll check out the room."

"Call me Sherlock holmes from now henceforth, I'm now a detective."

"Detective my foot." Aida laughed. "Eat up, the library won't be open all day long."

"That reminds me. My mum had stopped by the library to get some books for her research project so I decided to borrow the book," said Kehlani. While she was talking to Aida, she kept trying to remember what she wanted to say. A book on the table had jogged her memory.

"Then let's hurry, I'm eager to know what the book says."