The Chronicles of Jo-kiel

NINETEEN: Jophiel

"Why are you so jumpy and all smiles, Jophy?" Ruth asked as I walked around the room, packing the basket, "And where are you taking all your stuff to?" I yelped at the closeness of the voice and immediately turned around to see Ruth standing so close and smiling creepily at me.

I shook my head at her and went back to packing the stuff Ruth got me after I came back with a puffy face the other day. She hadn't pressed on when she saw that I wasn't ready to talk, instead, she went out and got me all kinds of junk food to cheer me. Thinking about it right now had me grinning from cheek to cheek.

I never had a friend before. I was homeschooled all my life and when they felt I'd had enough education, they shut all doors to it in my life. Thinking of it was already changing my countenance so I immediately shoved the thoughts of them away and focused on packing the food.

"You still haven't told me why you are all smiles, Miss Jophiel" Ruth pointed out and I glanced at her with a cheeky smile, "wait... Does this have anything to do with a certain president?" Before I could even answer, she turned to the wall clock and immediately squealed. "It's almost 5 and there's only one particular dude you meet by 5 pm" I immediately clamped my hands over her mouth, shushing her and when I sensed she was finally calm, I slowly uncovered her mouth.

But the moment I did, she squealed again before she plopped down on my bed and began wiggling her brows. "You came back like yesterday with puffy eyes after not meeting him for days, and now you're smiling and packing food... Hmmm... Certain dots are connecting in my head, and I'm not liking a particular connection" I arched a brow and tilted my head while processing what she just said. "Is President the reason your face was so puffy and your eyes were swollen yesterday?" Her tone lowered dangerously as she asked and I immediately shook my head.

"No no! He isn't" I lowered my gaze and played with my fingers as I reminisced on the memories of yesterday. Everything ended happily but it didn't erase the fact that they were here."H was the one that comforted me. What happened yesterday had nothing to do with him, I promise" I slowly looked up at her and I felt a surge of guilt at keeping what actually happened from her. My stay in school is now uncertain and it makes me uncomfortable to tell her without knowing if I'd see her tomorrow. "I promise you, Ruthie... I'm going to.."

She didn't let me complete my sentence by softly shaking her head, "You don't have to tell me anything yet, love. Take your time" She held my hand and squeezed it reassuringly, "Now, how about we let go of the depressing talk and talk about why you're packing?" She wiggled her brows and I chuckled.

"Well, Zadkiel and I decided to have our Bible study in the garden and while at it, we can just have a picnic as well" By the time I was done, a loud squeal immediately followed and I covered my ears.

"Is this the start of something good?" She asked, scooting closer to me and I rolled my eyes, "Oh come on, you guys are already so cute but keep it godly!" I turned and saw her staring sternly at me, and I immediately nodded.

"Sure thing ma'am, I'm sorry I'm using stuffs you..."

"That's more than okay, they are yours now" She brought the basket closer to her and peered into her, "Are you sure this is enough? Should I add more food to these?" She stood up from her bed and began walking over to her side to get more food but I immediately held her back.

"No, this is more than enough" I closed the basket and raised it, "Yup, more than enough. I'll be leaving now, Ruthie! I'll see you later" I blew her an air kiss and was about to walk away but she immediately held me back.

"Hold on" She rushed to her bed and brought out her makeup stuff. My eyes immediately widened at the thought and I vehemently shook my head while taking steps back, "you better stop right there" she quickly rushed to me and held me tightly, "just a few things"