𝔼𝕂𝕀𝕃𝔸

18

Chidiogo just managed to get to the bathroom before finally letting her body crumble to the ground like a pile of trash. She'd been doing a lot of work on her self control of late and it proved to have not been in vain since she made it to the bathroom without spilling any tears.

She buried her face in her crossed arms and remained in the position.

After a while of sitting on the tiled floor, she forced herself up and went straight to the sink. Most of the macaroni had fallen right off her body and all she had to deal with was the reddish orange colour smeared across her face and on her white shirt.

She placed her hands under one of the faucets, causing water to rush out. She scooped a handful, washing her face with it.

She repeated the action a couple more times, the water gushing out when her hand was under the tap and seizing once she scooped it up to her face.

She stared at her reflection afterwards but all she could see was Mmachi's face and she felt a sudden urge to send an object flying through the mirror or better still Mmachi's face.

But she couldn't so she gripped the edge of the marble slab enveloping the sink while tears filled her eyes.

The main door of the bathroom creaked open at that moment and she turned on impulse to find out who it was.

Her surprise on seeing Justin standing at the door prevented her from acting and the tears almost escaped from her eyelids but she managed to regain herself, turning away and blinking away the tears while wiping away the little which trickled down with the back of her palm.

She sniffed as she heard Justin's footsteps approaching her before trying her best to put on a blank face. She spun around to look at him, sure her face lacked any evidence that she'd been crying.

She didn't bother with a smile since trying not to cry was already a hard enough task.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice came out dead, dismissive and she almost felt bothered by it's similarity to the way Mmachi spoke. Almost.

Justin seemed to be taken aback by her tone but he didn't falter. "I came to check on you—"

"You're not supposed to be here." Her face was deadpan as she stared at him.

"I know. I just want to—"

"Leave!" She managed to keep her voice low as she felt the tears trickling back into her eyelids.

"I will but—"

"I said you should leave or I'll scream for help!" she said shutting her eyes. She couldn't tell how long she could hold her tears in.

She backed him, massaging her forehead, ready to go ahead with her threat if he didn't leave. His retreating footsteps calmed her down and reaffirmed the lack of need to do anything drastic.

She rested her head on the wall, letting the tears flow. She promised herself that this would be the last time Mmachi did anything to make her cry.

                 ———††††———

"You can go ahead and have your drink."

Mmachi glanced down at the glass set in front of her. It was filled with a red liquid, droplets of water lining the outside of the glass with vapor seeping out of it.

She picked it up, taking a large gulp.

"I can't believe it's Wednesday already," she said relishing the taste of the drink.

It tasted a little like grapes and more like a wine she'd had before.

"I can't believe you've already gotten in trouble today."