Chapter 3

Bella

"Hey Lydia,do you care?" I said,standing in front of where she was seated in the library and holding the snicker chocolates up high with both of my hands.

"You know I can't say no" she said with a very wide smile on her face. "Of Course you can't," I said sarcastically with a grin on my face. "Funny you,besides what took you so long to get here?" she asked,with her eyebrows raised up.

"Well i had a little bit of traffic while i was coming out of the toilet" i said. "I think I know a little of the details,but I definitely want to hear more," she said back to me.

At this point,I started reminiscing about what happened between me and Adam back at the toilet. I was daydreaming about the event until I heard my name shouted "Bella!". "Oh sorry,my bad" I apologized to her.

"Well,not much details though,apart from the fact that Adam and I got locked in the toilet for about 4 minutes" I added in.

"Wait, what?" she exclaimed. I started laughing so hard when I saw Lydia's reaction. "Stop laughing,tell me what happened," she said.

"Truth is nothing actually happened,he just told me beautiful girls should not be seen crying" i responded. "Then he walked out," I added. "Why do I feel like you are lying?" she asked.

"Lydia,you know I don't lie,I hate lies," I said,laughing out loud. "Well,I know you can't lie though,at least not to me" she said,with a lot of assurance in her voice.

She brought her head down like she was about to say something mischievous and said "I heard a few things about him,and they were not entirely good things". "I heard he's an addict, '' she added. "Addict as in drug addict?'' I asked.

"Yes'' she responded. "But I am not entirely sure, '' she chipped in. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you like him?" she asked. The question struck me like a bullet.

I usually have answers for almost all the questions I have been asked in my life. A lot of times in class, a teacher would ask a question and I would always raise my hand.

I have always been mocked by some of my classmates for always answering questions in the class. I was pretty much mocked for literally everything,including being brilliant.

Weird right? I don't know if I like Adam, I have never liked anyone apart from the childish crush I had on James back in middle school.

So I honestly don't know what liking someone actually felt like. One thing I was certain of is that thinking about Adam makes me feel different,a positive feeling.

I don't entirely know if this is what it means to like someone,but this could be one of the factors. So I decided to respond to Lydia "I am not entirely sure right now".

"Wow,well for a starter,you didn't say no" Lydia said,with a grin. "Okay, okay, let's talk about something else please," I said to her. Lydia and I continually talked about other things like school and home.

We usually don't have many topics to talk about and we liked it that way. We could actually understand each other perfectly without even using words.

After school, I always go to pick my younger siblings from school everyday.Phil,Paul and Prudence,my mother's male triplet.

Lydia usually goes with me because we stay close by. She was not just my only friend in school,she is also my only friend at home.

After picking my brothers from school, I have the responsibility of making sure everything is in order in the house.literally everything.

I have to make sure the boys get their assignment done, their food preparation. Tidying their clothes and cleaning up the house.

Mum is always away at work, we don't see much of her around during the day, she comes back home very late in the night. By then, the boys would be fast asleep already.

I make sure I put the boys to bed early so they can always wake up early the next morning and I can prepare them for school.

Late that night,I heard the landline ringing downstairs in the living room,the sound woke me up.

I checked the clock I hung by my bedside. The time was 10:15 pm. I got out of bed and went downstairs to pick up the call.

I knew it was definitely mum calling. "Hello mum" I said first. "I would not be coming back tonight,extra shift.

Take care of your brothers bye" she said from the other side of the phone and hung up almost immediately.

That summed up our life. She was never around for us and it wasn't her fault. Life of a single mum was really hectic.

She had to do a lot of jobs to pay bills and other family finances. It was not an easy task. I always wondered how our life would be if dad had stayed with us.

Growing up,I always looked up to him. He was my hero. When mum had phil,paul and prudence, things started going bad for dad.

He lost his job, so handling the family finances was difficult for him. With a wife and four children,it felt like a lot for him to handle at that moment.

He asked for help from his brothers but no one ever came to his rescue. Then he started taking drugs. He got addicted and eventually lost it.

One day,when I was 13,I came back from school and met mum crying. She was holding a paper in her hands. I took the paper from her and read what was written.

"i'm so sorry Dane, I know I have failed you in many ways. I couldn't give you the life I promised you '' I read out loud. It was dad's handwriting.

"He has left us Bella,he has abandoned us" mum said to me with tears rolling down from her eyes.

Instantly,I could feel that our world was about to turn upside down. That was the last we heard from dad.