Chapter 007 Help A Friend

Song Recommendation: Highest In The Room by Travis Scott

Later that day...

Feeling her eyelids weigh down, it became harder for Delia to stay awake in the class. With the lecturer being absent, students remained quiet and composed while reading or discussing between themselves.

She was seated in the back, with a huge textbook in front of her. Due to her nightmares, she became more tired and drained, even if she slept for eight hours straight.

With her palm supporting her chin, and her eyelids heaving down, she lost balance, slamming her head on the book. She blacked out.

"DELIA!!!"

She opened her eyes with her heart leaping out. She wasn't in class anymore. She looked around, realizing she was in a junkyard. The sky was black and only the tall lambs shun on the garbage heaps.

Standing up from the ground, she turned around slowly. She froze, at the sight of the silhouette, standing beside a heap. Remaining still and quiet, she stared at it.

It began to step forward, revealing itself in the light. "Hey, babes".

"Eboh?" Delia rose her brows, surprised.

Taking a step back, Delia stiffened her breathing, fearing the worst would happen.

With a warm unnatural smile pasted on Eboh's face, she patted her lips to whispered, "Help me".

"What?-", before Delia could ask, black tentacles from the darkness behind, rushed out, wrapping themselves around Eboh and pulling her into the shadows. Delia flinched.

"Eboh?" She called out, staring into the darkness.

"Help me..." A whisper crawled out of the dark. Delia with a skeptical mind stepped forward. She slowly walked into the shadow.

It swallowed her into the darkness.

"Eboh? Where are you?" She called, standing in complete darkness. She felt something claw on her legs.

"Eee!!!" She leaped away.

"Oof!" She bumped into something. Turning around, the room immediately lit up, letting her spot her friend, Eboh, with black tears pouring from her eyes.

"I'm hurt", Eboh whispered in a shaky voice. Delia looked down and realized a big hole in Eboh's chest, seeming dry and decayed.

Delia slowly stepped forward, "Eboh, what hap-".

Eboh drove a knife into Delia's stomach. Delia gasped.

"Help me..." Eboh whispered with a grimace.

"Delia? Delia? Delia!"

Delia shot up from her textbook. "What!?!" She panted, turning to the side of her friends; Eboh and Beatrice stood next to her seat.

"Babe are you okay?" Eboh cocked her head in concern. Delia's eyes fluttered, glancing at their surroundings.

"Girl weti happen? (Girl what happen?)... You look kind of scared", Beatrice held Delia's shoulder.

Exhaling deeply, Delia calmed her nerves and masked her emotions with a grin.

"Sorry", she ran her palm over her face, "I thought the lecturer has entered class". Delia stood up.

"Oh? Oh okay", they nodded at her. They then stepped forward, placing their bags on the seats next to her.

With their eyes not on her anymore, Delia took the opportunity to scan her friends from head to toe, then focused on Eboh once more.

'Something must be wrong...', Delia thought to herself.

"Eboh?"

"Hm?"

"Please can you escort me to go and buy a pen?" Delia smiled.

Beatrice glance at the table and back, "But see your pen here on the table na?"

Delia with an innocent smile stretch forward and picked up the pen. Not thinking twice, she threw it out the window.

"Now?" She crooked her head.

"Oh- okay?" Eboh gave her a perplexed look.

• • •

Walking down the non-busy street by their department building, quietly, they looked up at the shops lined up on the other side of the street. Delia finally broke the silence.

"Eboh, how far Michael? (How is Michael?)".

"Oh, Michael? He's fine".

"Are you two like... Still seeing each other?"

"Hmm", she nodded.

"That's a lie", Del rolled her eyes. "If that were true, Beatrice and I would have heard more about him. I remember when you two started going out. He didn't leave us to rest with text, calls, and posts. He was always around you like a fly to cow dung".

"Ah! Haba! (C'mon!)", Eboh laughed. "That's too harsh".

"It's true though", Delia grinned, "You two were already married mentally, the only thing remaining was money for the wedding".

"The whole of vet knew him as ya husband. He made all of us look single as hell. Even though we are, but that's beside the point".

Eboh laughed out awkwardly, "Toor... I don't know oo". Eboh shrugged.

Delia grinned, throwing her arm over Eboh's shoulder, "Now tell me, what happened? I know you don't like talking about your pain".

"Because I already know what you'll say!"

"Really?", Delia rose her eyebrows, "What will I say?"

"You'll first insult Michael's entire generation, then come and insult me small for liking him, then blast the remaining at him, then come and laugh, and say I should move on with the pain. Then you'll always use the incident as a sarcastic joke on me".

"Woah, am I that bad?"

"Very! You're a part-time bully!" Eboh nodded.

"I like to think of myself as a harsh life trainer. Tough love babe, you grab?" Delia grinned, as they got closer to the shop. Eboh hmphed in amusement.

"Okay, but now let's be serious", Delia started, "I won't play with it, I promise. Now talk to me. What happened?"

Delia knew Eboh took her as a good friend that cared for her- but her toughness and stiff-heartered-self- sometimes made it too hard for them to approach her. Delia was very straight forward- blunt and sarcastic- with her words and actions. She found most things to be stupid and irritating.

Eboh let out a sigh, with her eyes casting down. Delia could feel her reluctance; so she held Eboh's hands.

Eboh finally spoke; "He changed. He changed and became exactly what he pretended not to be at first". Eboh's expression fell deeper.

"He stopped calling, texting and made me feel like I was always disturbing him and he suddenly didn't have my time. But a day ago I spotted him with other girls, chilling". She exhaled.

It was obvious Eboh had tried bottling up all her pain, thinking she could handle it alone. But now that Delia asked, she slowly started to let her hurt become visible.

"I felt so stupid to let him sweep me off my feet like that. I was so humiliated, I didn't want to talk about it to anyone. After this boy toasted me for more than two months, and then I finally said yes, he started fucking up".

When they finally reached the shop, Delia pulled Eboh to the side, holding her shoulders.

"Babes, you shouldn't ever let a boy make you feel stupid for being your beautiful loving self. He's an idiot to do that to you and karma is a bitch, trust me. But don't ever feel like you made a mistake by being good. He was just dumb enough to be bad but don't worry, he'll regret it".

With Eboh's shoulders slowly relaxing, a faint smile crossed her lips. "Thanks, Del...". Delia smiled, hugging Eboh's shorter self. "It's okay".

Eboh's smile brightened.

"C'mon, let's go to class now", Delia stepped forward, pulling her arm away from Eboh. She followed.

"Hm! This one that you complimented me... I'll never forget this day", Eboh jokes as they crossed the road.

"Exactly! For me to tell you something nice! Ah! It means the matter don bust (The matter is serious)".

Eboh laughed, "Aww! I would actually love to see you more sweet than cold. It's just unfortunate that we're used to your bullying".

"I know right! I'm a great life coach!"

As they continued to walk to their department, Delia's hands were in her pocket as she added, "By the way Eboh, if you ever want to feel stupid for letting a two-months-old toaster break your heart, always remember that I spent more than a one full year with a guy that made it clear he didn't care for me half as much as I did... But my stupid heart made me stay with him till it broke".

She spoke in a stoic tone, making Eboh look up at her face. Delia could tell Eboh was searching her eyes for a hint of hurt or regret- especially after talking about the one and only 'Benjamin'.

"Yeah, you're right", Eboh nodded with a sheepish smile. Delia's expression didn't change as they continued to work.

She knew Eboh wouldn't drag on such a sensitive topic like that. Eboh knew her too well; alongside what she had been through all those times.

They finally reached the class, walking back up to Beatrice.

"Did you guys get the pen?" Beatrice asked, looking at their empty hands.

'Oh shit!'