Chapter twelve - The prank

Very quickly, Anne walked towards the lecture theatre. She had her bag on her right shoulder and her phone in her right palm.

She was late for the class and feared she would not be allowed in.

As she got to the door, she stepped aside for a group of students who were coming out of the hall. They were undoubtedly senior students from the same department and had come to pass some information.

Anne looked up from her phone when she felt darkness cast by a shadow rise over her. She was surprised to find Michael staring down at her.

"Olivia". He teased.

"Guess I now know your department and level".He added.

"I'm here to pass on some information". She said amidst chuckles. 

"You sure don't know when to give up, what about Josephine?"

" I guess she is inside already, I had better go inside too. See you around". she added and went inside the hall.

As she walked to the middle of the hall, she realized that the lecturer had yet to arrive. She breathed a sigh of relief as she located a seat.

She was quick to notice the excitement in most of the students and so, turning to the girl beside her, she asked what was going on. Nancy, who was busy searching for her pen didn't get to answer Anne's question as the hall soon became quiet, following the lecturer's arrival.

From where she sat, she could see Naomi at the far end of the right column but Josephine wasn't in sight.

The class ended two hours later and the once quiet hall became noisy again.

In no time, the three friends located each other and together they went out of the hall.

Anne informed the others of running into Michael and since Naomi had no clue as to who Michael was, they both narrated the story behind Michael and his friend.

Josephine had arrived in the hall, later than Anne and so she hadn't seen him while they passed the information. Speaking of information, Anne asked Naomi what the information was about and was told of an upcoming dinner party.

Well, she decided within herself, that she was going to miss it, as usual.

"Don't tell us you won't be coming to this one". Naomi said with feigned seriousness as if reading her thoughts.

"I'm very sure she won't attend" Josephine added.

"I don't know yet" Anne replied.

They headed towards the cafeteria afterward with Anne sulking playfully while Josephine dragged her along, not minding the stares they got from the people around.

They ate the snacks, discussing lightly, with the joke still on Anne.

By the time they went for the next class, the sun was beating down heavily, and the hall was half filled.

During the class, Anne's phone rang and it was Michael calling, she ended the call as abruptly as it had started, thanking her stars, the call came when the whole class was in a debate. She put her phone on silence afterward and complained audibly about Michael calling when she was in class. She glanced up quickly enough to see the ugly look on Josephine's face but she shoved it aside and paid more attention to the lecturer, whose voice she could hardly hear.

Soon the class ended and the students made their way out of the hall.

Anne was taken aback when Josephine left for home without saying a word to them.

When they finally got up to leave, the hall was almost empty. They had spent the whole time, with Naomi reviewing an assignment while Anne texted Michael on her phone. She announced his arrival beforehand to Naomi who didn't seem to mind.

Naomi was putting her books away when Michael made his way to them and a proper introduction was made. Together they made their way out of the hall, heading home.

Soon they came to a crossroads where Naomi had to go a different way.

She winked at Anne, who put up a confused look in response. Michael caught their little exchange and laughed silently.

* * * * * *

Anne sat on her bed, scribbling on a notepad, occasionally looking through the window. She was drawing a bird that sat on the fence, close to her window.

She had returned to her room two days ago after her broken window was fixed and had since gotten used to containing her fears.

She looked at the drawing and couldn't help but laugh loudly at the image on the note, which had no resemblance to a bird. She tried to correct it but gave up when she saw no improvement. Too bad, her love for drawing wasn't enough to make her a good artist.

Ripping the page off, she got up from the bed and went to the kitchen to get some food. She ate hungrily, realizing just how hungry she was.

She looked through the window again and the bird was gone. It had stayed on the fence long enough for Anne to make a caricature of it.

By the time she looked away from the window, it was to study a book she had brought out from her drawer.

She was still studying when her phone rang. Stretching out her hand to take the phone from the bedside table, she saw it was an unsaved number.

Not sure if answering the call was a good idea, she allowed it to ring, and then on a second thought, she answered the call.

"Hello?".

It was a thick masculine voice that responded from the other end, speaking rashly, cussing and even threatening her.

Anne was confused and scared, she checked the number again, then she ended the call.

The phone rang again almost immediately. She answered on the third ring, and this time, the masculine voice was replaced by that of a female who was laughing so hard.

"Farida?" She called when she recognized her voice.

Farida answered between spasms of laughter, teasing Anne for being so fearful to which Anne bluntly disagreed.

It was a strange way to begin a conversation but then with Farida and Anne, anything goes. They exchanged pleasantries properly and promised to create time to visit each other. The call was disconnected minutes later but not before Anne promised to pay Farida back for causing her to panic some minutes ago.

The smile on Anne's face remained, long after the call ended and she couldn't help but reminisce on their days in secondary school. They were the perfect example of best friends. Times and situations did nothing to degrade their friendship as it continued to grow, even extending to their various families.

Anne knew Farida had called to talk about Collins but she wasn't ready yet and she was grateful Farida had dropped the topic on sensing it.

It was only natural to check on one's friends especially when they go through heartbreaking moments. Farida blamed herself more because she had advised Anne to say yes to Collins. She couldn't have known things would turn out the way they did and wished she could get to Collins and do something rash to him.

Anne, who was convinced before now that she had got over Collins found herself sinking into a sour mood all of a sudden. Not being able to concentrate anymore on the book she was reading, she lay on her bed and soon she drifted into a sad sleep.