Still don't know

Part 8: Week of bonding

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I walk silently. Listening to uplifting YouTube music. I really need it. School is so stressful. I've been trying so hard to not sleep in class but I think it just got worse. I've been sleeping alot. I take a selfie video of my self to remember the days in which I was by myself.
I'm not exactly by myself. I'm walking alongside my friends with the boys there to escorts us and yet I'm still walking by myself. I seriously don't know how to get involved. Instead I walk away from everyone and stand by myself.I walk listening to the music and counting my steps.
That was when Derrick's friend came up to me. He looked at me closely observing me. He tells me that I like staying by myself. I agree with him with no argument. I like the peace even if lonely. He didn't start up conversations like Derrick but I was very comfortable speaking to him. We watch the others fall ahead of us as we walk slower than them.
I remember this friend but I still don't know his name. He was among the group that went along with us, me and my friends, to check out our actual school that's under construction. The school we are using is sort of borrowed that's why there is other students from other schools.
That day we had a blast. It was fun to go see what we shall consider home for a long long while. We took so many pictures. The place was huge. I can't wait to move back. There are rumors that we might move there before the next semister.
I converse with him making small talk asking questions and what not. We bonded alot before Derrick popped up. He interrupted us with his usual trouble seeking attitude. He teases us until we finally arrive and say goodbye.
I climb onto my bed after undressing. I wear more comfortable clothes and settle down. As usual I take a biscuit and a cereal and get on my bed. All necessary provisions are practically on the bed, sugar, milk, bowl, spoon,.... Yup, bed kitchen. I start to munch in peace and that's when I heard my roommates conversing about the upcoming holiday. We have Christmas break in a week. The break will last only a week so I might not leave.
Cornflakes tastes good.
That's what was going on in my head as Mia walks in as cheerful as usual.
"Hey Slangs" yup, she picked up after her friend.
"Hi Mia" I answer back.
She gives me a stare that makes me want to hide under my sheets. I ask her what's wrong. She points at my bowl and I ask what's wrong. She tells me that I have to start eating actual food that cereal isn't food. I make a pouty face trying to convince her that it is to me. I eat light food and it actually fills me up.
I have a tiny tummy.
She scolds me and makes me join them for dinner. They usually eat together. All four of them. Amanda, Darby, Mia and Chelsea. I reluctantly join not feeling comfortable with eating their food since I didn't contribute anything. They force me to eat as much as I can and then let me go.
I walk back to my bed and get my books out trying to study.
I pick out a subject and topic. I hold my pen in my hand and try to study..............
.......
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I wake up the next morning. It's a Sunday so no panic. I open my eyes only to see my books open on the same page as last night.
I slept off again.
It's nice to have good roommates. They took off my glasses again. I thank them then in silence and climb down.
I enter the toilet.
I take off my clothes and swith on the tap. I should totally start boiling water. The temperature is becoming too cold.
I take a quick bath and dress up for the day. I have to go study. I eat my usual breakfast, say goodbye and then set out. I have a study session with Derrick.
I walk into the classroom and find a nice comfortable spot to sit down. I sit by the window and bring out my stuff. I start to study before he gets here. Fifteen minutes later he shows up with his friends. He approaches me and sits next to me.
"Slangs , always on time" he says
"yeah" I respond
We take out our study materials and try studying. We actually study for like twenty minutes before we start to converse and track off. He talks to me about food again. He explains how necessary it is for me and that I must bring food supply when I return from the break.
That's only if I actually leave.
I tell him I'm not planning to leave. He looks at me in dismay and bewilderment.
"Don't you miss home. You might be the only one left to stay around. Almost everyone I know is leaving" he says as he picks up another biscuit to eat.
I watch closely as he chew. Wondering about the little guy in his throat that keeps moving up and down. He catches me staring and so I look down quickly.
"I mean, I'm very sure you want to see mummy, don't you miss her" he continues in between crunches.
"I do but I've been here for all of two weeks. I think it's too early but then again I am tired." I admit
"See, you can use this opportunity to rest. Go say hi to mummy and Bengal, I'm sure they miss you"
I giggle quietly
"What's wrong, what's making you laugh"
"His name is Benal not Bengal"
"Ohhhh my bad, sorry. His name is cute" he smiles showing a dimple I never noticed before . I smile back admiring the cuteness of his dimple.
We continue discussions and with time and effort he managed to convince me to visit home and also return with cooking supply.
We round up and pack up our stuff.
"Excuse me I'll be right back" he says
"OK, take your time"
"Wait for me, I'll be back to escort you"
"OK bye" I wave him off, he's nice.
I sit back and relax recapping and smiling. I watch every movement in the classroom. I spot Derrick friend, the one that kept me company yesterday. Feeling like trouble seeking, I stand up from my seat and head his way. I walk silently to his spot careful not to alert him. I sit on the desk right in front of him.
"Hi" I say trying to get his attention. He lifts his head and smile.
"Hello, Amie"
"I can't believe I still don't know your name" he flashes me an evil grin and then raises his eyebrows.
"And I'm not gonna tell you"
I smile at him and whine, trying to get him to tell me. He laughs at me.
"Fine I'll tell you since you asked nicely." I smile in victory anticipating his answer.
"My name is Slangs....ouch"
"Tell me or I'll poke you again" I say pointing my pen at him. Poking pen is the best strategy according to Mia and it works alot. She does it to tame Derrick. I figured out the mystery of how they got so close. It turns out they met each other when they came for the qualifying exams.
"You wouldn't..." he stares
"Dare me...." I stare back
"OK.. OK.... I'll tell you"
"Told ya I could be scary"
" That wasn't scary at all, I gave in cause you look so cute" I look down shyly, I'm not used to being called cute.
"My name is Brandon"
"Liar, I can't remember your name but I know it's not that"
"It really is my name, the other name Chase, that's a nickname my friends call me"
"Ohhhh, that makes sense. So.... Tell me..... How did you get the name"
"I won't tell you, you'll think I'm a bad person"
"No I won't, promise, cross my heart and hope to die" I say with crossed fingers.
"Fine, I'll tell you but not now"
"OK then, I'll wait"
We continue chitchatting. He tells me more about himself and how he likes being alone so he can repent from his past. I wonder what happened. We spend a lot of time just getting to know each other. In the process I have no idea how but we ended up exchanging digits. Don't get excited it's as.... just friends.
Derrick returns and tells us to get ready. We pack up, I summon Mia and the rest and we set out.
I walk slowly, lagging behind as usual. Watching everyone in their own little world. Derrick pestering Mia, the rest teasing them. Chase, wait no he said he doesn't like the name. I promised to find him a better one but until then I saved his number as a dot on my phone. Chase was busy on his phone. As usual. I stare off and start to wonder......
"Again". Brandon complains. "You really like being by yourself" .
He slows his steps to my pace and walks with me. He keeps me company again. It was nice and comfortable. We laugh and play around.
" Dude" Brandon complains, as Derrick brushes past him harshly.
"Ooooooh, suspicious" Derrick's other friend Kingsley says. Sounding excited.
"It so is" another friend, Gregory adds. I wonder what they're on about.
Me and Brandon continue our discussion until we arrive at our farewell point. I try saying bye to Derrick but he doesn't even look at me. He ignores me and starts to walk away.
I say bye to Brandon and walk inside with my friends just as my friends begin to call Derrick 'scalar'. I'm confused. I've had enough adventure for one day.

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I sit on my bed as usual with my biscuit after having dinner with the rest. They made sure to lecture me about eating again.
Where is it. I hear my phone ringing but I can't seem to locate it. Found it. It reads Ben, It's Derrick. He told me his home name is Ben. I liked it better than Derrick so I saved him as that.
I hear my roommates already wondering who's calling me at this time. I think they know. We've been phone calling alot lately.
"Did you eat" he asks
"Yes I did"
"What did you eat, I hope it's not cereal"
"No, it's food, I had dinner with Mia and the rest"
"Good" he answers. He remains silent for a while before speaking.
He starts to pick arguments over silly things. He then starts to sound serious. Telling me encouraging stuff. Asking why I always sit at the back....... He asks if I want him to keep a seat for me so I can sit at the front. I want to say yes but I wonder what it means. I know there is this girl he's usually with. The one he always sits in class with and the reason why he misses study sessions.
I tell him to keep it if it's ok with him. He asks me again wanting my answer. I tell him yes.
He tells me he will keep seat for me but I have to come early. I promise him I would but there is no guarantee. If I was going by myself I would have been super early but I'm not so....
He ends the call after telling me to sleep. I smile to myself but apparently everyone in the room saw it. They tease me continously without even saying a word. They simply give me funny glances and smile mischievously.
I lay in bed and cover my self from head to toe in my sheets. This is gonna be a long night.........

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake up extra early today. Prepare as quick as I can and then walk along with Lily. She goes earlier than my usual trek mates. I manage to arrive in class early but ofcourse he's still there before me.
I walk in and there he is. Sitting in his usual spot. I walk up to him and without a word he takes his bag off the chair indicating my place. I thank him and sit down.
"How do you guys manage to always come earlier than us" I question.
"it's a secret." He says smiling evily. I look at him and shake my head. Unbelievable. He's so mischievous.
We sit down and start the waiting spree. We're two hours early so we sit down and start story time. He tells me so many stories about incidents that happened in his life. He has had alot of accidents and they left alot of scars. He showed me the visible ones (the ones I'm allowed to see) and told me the stories behind them. We got carried away and didn't even know when time flew by.
I'm usually not a good listener but I found myself paying close attention to him. I heard every detail. He even spoke about his family. Told me about them, said so many funny stuff.
".... and then..." our session was interrupted by the lecturers entry. He was telling me about the time he had an accident on a motorcycle with his brothers.
"Oh well, we'll have to finish up later then" he says looking at me. He stared for a second too long. He looks away and takes out his note book. I scoot over to accommodate Mia. She didn't come early enough so we have to squat together.
Here we go again. I sit and try to understand and pay attention to the lecturer. I watched but I wasn't listening. I was so lost that I started to doze off.
"Slangs" I feel a light tap on the table. "Don't you dare sleep, not on my watch" Derrick says.
I smile and look at him.
"I wasn't sleeping"
"Ofcourse you weren't" He says not convinced.
I wake up and sit straight, trying to focus again. He hands me my note book and tells me to write. I ask what and he says I should just jot. I jot down and it managed to keep me awake.
Lectures are boring. I know I'm writing but I'm just not listening. I think to myself and get lost again. I start to wonder how time flew by so quickly. I for some reason am eager for the teacher to exit. I want to talk to him, Derrick I mean. Story time felt nice and totally less boring than the lectures. Paying attention to him felt good. He seemed to like the moment too.
I wonder how he is so free and open with me. It's sort of weird and uncomfortable since he has a girlfriend. Well I'm not sure of that but I remember they're usually together.
I catch him staring at me with his head on the desk. It isn't obvious but I noticed. Speaking to him this morning seems to have changed our relationship alot.
"Wake up" I poke him with a pen. "you said I shouldn't sleep so you aren't allowed to either"
He smiles and sits straight. Instead of paying attention to lectures, we finish up story time..........

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Trying as hard as I can to keep the story going
Its worth my time and effort
Can't wait to reach the main parts......
See ya... 😇