Chapter Twenty-One

She sat down on her bed and thought about all the things James Brin had said.

Was it because I declined his offer that he spoke in this manner? she wondered Why does he call Mary a shameless person and how does he know that Mary and I are not blood sisters? Is there a red flag somewhere? Why do they object to my requests for information and communication from them? This is very peculiar. I must exercise extreme caution.

One of her roommates entered with her luggage as the door opened.

"Ruth, welcome," Bianca said as she knelt on the floor and tried to assist her with carrying one of her bags to her wardrobe.

"Are you the only one in the room, or has someone else arrived apart from you again?" Ruth inquired.

"No, nobody has come. Are you surprised?" Bianca asked.

"Of course, especially for Stacy," Ruth answered.

"You get it; I even thought that she had come before me, assuming you saw me when I came here. I was even looking for her, but I didn't see anyone. I was really surprised."

"This is the first time that I came second in our room."

Bianca laughed heartily at her words, "at least for the first time you arrived second."

"See the person that is talking, what your position is on reaching the hostel."

They both broke out in laughter.

"But to be frank, sometimes I arrive second or third, but this is my first time arriving first."

As Ruth was talking, the door screamed, and then it opened. It was Stacy, who came expecting to be the first person as usual. She was wowed to see Bianca and Ruth in there before her arrival.

"You really got here before me, amazing," Stacy echoed.

"Are you not ashamed of yourself? Just take a look at your time and see how late you arrived at school," Ruth challenged her.

"Oh!" Stacy exclaimed, "Because you came earlier today, is that why you are talking this way? I wouldn't be surprised, at least you'd broken the record."

Just then Gift entered with her luggage.

They all started laughing again as Ruth began taking her clothes out of her bags and hanging them on the wardrobe that had been designated for her. Stacy followed suit, and Bianca went to sit on her bed and punch her phone. When Bianca turned on her data connection, her Facebook account started receiving messages right away. She accessed the messages and noticed that most of them were from Mary. She read one of them after opening it. If she couldn't find a place that would discuss James Brin, she would be anxious.

She was primarily reading something to apologise. She grew tired of it. She wasn't particularly excited to read this.

Does she really know what is disturbing me? Does she know that she is endangering my life, health and education? Bianca stopped thinking for a while and took up her phone and then clicked on the chat button.

"If you can tell me a little about him I would be grateful," Bianca chatted and immediately clicked on the send button. Mary popped back online and read the message very quickly and went offline as soon as she finished reading it.

"Bianca," Ruth called out, "I bought some Domino's pizza, do you want to have a taste of it?"

"Where is it?" inquired Bianca.

"it is on the roof, go there and eat it."

Bianca laughed.

"I asked if you wanted to have a taste of it and you are still asking where it was, funny girl."

"Alright, give me a little."

Ruth took out the pack of the pizza and then opened it. Immediately, Stacy and Gift rushed her. Bianca sat down on the bed, punching her phone.

"Just remember my share?" Bianca voiced out.

"Just sit down there and ask, big woman." Stacy mocked her.

Ruth struggled to carry the pizza away from them. Ruth walked over to Bianca's bed, dropped the pizza there, and gave the order for Bianca to take what she needed. Bianca grinned before tearing off a sizable portion of the pizza and devouring it right away.

After finishing her second lecture of the day on a bright Monday afternoon, Bianca headed to the hostel to take a nap before her final lecture, which began at 4 o'clock. She placed her notebook and pen in the same container inside her small handbag before leaving the room. As she made her way out of the hall, her coursemates congregated in groups of two and three and began conversing and laughing. She was less worried about them, though. A soft hand quickly and childishly covered her eyes. She pondered how someone could be so foolish as to act in such a childish manner. She attempted to remove the person's hand but was unsuccessful.

"It is James," he calmly responded, and then removed his hand from her eyes.

"Why behave this silly?" asked Bianca bluntly.

"Calm down," he said with a smiling face.

"But why this childish attitude?" inquired Bianca.

"Sometimes we just have to behave childishly just to remember our childhood days and then smile at it," he said.

"Alright, I am leaving for the hostel. Goodbye."

"Please, I want to tell you something. Could you wait and hear me out?" he said, stretching his hand to meet hers.

"Alright, go on, but can you just let my hand be on its own," she cautioned.

"Is there any problem with trying to hold your hands," he said caringly.

"I haven't given that permission, so tell me what you want to say."

"I know I have offended you, the way I talked and reacted to you was really bad, but I came here to tell you, I am very sorry, please forgive me."

Bianca didn't respond as silence ensued as they both walked shoulder to shoulder.

"Please, Bianca, forgive me. I apologise."

"For me to accept your apologies," she stopped walking, "under one condition."

"Please, what is it?" questioned James.

"You tell me about my sister and how you got to know her," she continued, "Or don't tell me any, but you will part ways with me and I will still forgive you."

Immediately after hearing about both conditions, he stared to the ground perhaps to think of the best condition that would be suitable for him to answer. He weighed the first condition with the second. If he chooses to tell her the first, she would be surprised that he was being sent out of the university which would give her a bad image towards him and if it was the second how was he going to neglect her, never to see her again. The condition gave him a serious headache.

"I think the best condition is that I…. I.... would prefer the second option, to the first."

"Nice! I forgive you, I wish you all the best in life, goodbye." She smiled at him and stretched out her hand, maybe for a handshake, but he refused it.

"I would love to escort you back to your hostel," he suggested.

"Wow… I would appreciate that," said Bianca.

Silence ensued as they walked together back to Bianca's hostel. Two minutes later, she went to her hostel and wished James farewell as he turned back and left without answering her.

At the hostel, Bianca undressed and slept in her underwear while thinking back to the interaction she had with James and wondering why he had withheld the first condition regarding how he had come to know Mary to the point he had to choose the second condition. Mary also declines to let her know about James.

"Is it that the two of them are under an oath," Bianca thought.

In Mary's situation, she could never have imagined the thought that went through her head; perhaps for James, but not for Mary. What could have caused this silence between the two parties, or had a spell been cast on them?

When she picked up her phone and activated the internet, no message was sent to her. She checked her Facebook account to see if Mary had responded, but despite reading the chat, there was no message from her. She became more irritated and turned off her internet before going to bed in a sour mood.

"Wake up, or are you not going for lectures," Stacy tapped Bianca gently on her leg.

Upon opening her eyes, Bianca was shocked to discover that she had been dozing off all along. She sat down on her bed to rest after a lengthy nap, but in a matter of seconds, she jumped to the floor, quickly changed into her clothes and sandals, poured some water into her mouth, and then gagged it. She poured it out after a short while and quickly left for her final lecture of the day.

The story of James Brin's unnamed character came to mind once more on the way to the lecture hall. She made several attempts to push the thought out of her head, but it persisted. She collapsed to the ground and passed out as she was on her way to the lecture hall. Her classmate, who was nearby and heard the incident, screamed loudly for assistance. People were drawn to the area by the sound of their voices, and when they arrived, they saw what had happened and immediately fled, with others remaining to hear what had transpired. After a short while, several groups of boys arrived with buckets of water and doused her with them. They stopped spraying water on Bianca when she made a slight reverberation so they could observe her. She gradually opened her eyes as the ambulance van rolled up to her location and came to a stop. Four men immediately emerged from the ambulance's boot carrying a stretcher. As they carried Bianca to the ambulance van and placed her in a stretcher, they gave the order for everyone to move far away from their path.

Bianca opened her eyes and saw a male student doctor standing beside her with a smile on his face.

"Are you alright now?" he commenced with a tranquil tone.

"Not actually, I am feeling a little dizzy, and where am I now?" she squealed out.

"Oh, in the hospital," the doctor said nicely.

"I thought I was just seconds to the lecture hall," she said.

"But then what happened?" The doctor smiled.

"I don't know," she responded, curiously.

"You fainted on your way to the lecture hall." he said.

"Oh, is that why I am here?" she echoed.

"Of course."

She looked at the four corners of the wall, which was painted green, and then stared at her bed and discovered her phone placed beside her.

"Please, what says the time?" she inquired.

"It would be half past eight."

"Oh no," she exclaimed, "so I finally missed the lecture."

"Your health comes first, Dear."

"I know it was because I was psychologically depressed. That was what led to the incident."

"Why would you put your health in such a drastic state?"

"Doctor, you won't understand," she muttered.

"Because of whatever is the case, do not put your life in jeopardy."

"I know sir, I think I am feeling better now," she continued, standing up to her feet, "I think it would be better for me to leave here for the library."

"If you are sure you are feeling very okay, there isn't any problem with you staying here all through the night, but my advice to you is that don't visit the library for today and just have a long sleep."

"Alright sir," she echoed, picking up her phone.

"Goodnight sir," she said as she walked out of the ward.