The Seven, and their Wealth. II

I - Naledi.

Maybe I am doing too much, Naledi pondered, sitting comfortably on one of the couches in the campus library. The fallout of the heated exchange seemed to have been crippling her; many racing thoughts, chief of which was a worry that she might be going off-script. This was an arranged relationship, with terms and conditions. Clinton was, without a doubt, allowed to associate with whoever he wanted to.

What Naledi did not realize was how the sight of Clinton talking to other girls would soon rub her the wrong way, and one might argue that you can't blame her for acting out the way she did, however there are at least a thousand more reasons why she was in the wrong.

It did not help that the girl in question was Jenner Fenton, a former best friend from their days in Roedean; making things even more arduous to fathom. Why her? How did they even come around to knowing each other? And, maybe worst of all, why did Clinton look far more interested in being around her for that one time over all the times she'd been with him?

'I think I've finally reached my threshold with this messed-up module!' Priyanka complained, keeping her moderately British accented voice low to avoid the unwanted attention of the library monitors. 'I mean why are there that many paragraphs to read?'

She looked to an absent Naledi, who stared into the abyss of the campus lawn outside while slowly caressing her pen, before nudging her back to reality.

'Earth to Naledi.'

'Huh? What was that?'

'Your Criminal Law notes, do you have any from the chapter we last covered?'

'Yeah sure,' Naledi responded, rummaging through her handbag, and taking out book after book until stumbling on her neatly covered book and handing it to her friend - who had taken note of her foul mood.

Priya flipped through pages of well-compiled notes until she found the chapter she had been looking for. For someone who took pride in being organised, Naledi felt like a deer caught between headlights. On one end, still reeling in from her anger and heartbreak; on the other, an incessant need for revenge.

She felt needlessly shoved into a pool of chaos. Acting like the opposite of a lifeline were the confusing feelings surrounding Clinton.

I mean she has seen enough rom-com films to know that no matter how ridiculous the circumstance, the protagonists would eventually fall in love it's another. She was sure she could avoid that, but the abrupt feelings of jealousy she experienced when seeing Clinton with Jenner suggested otherwise - an unplanned otherwise.

And there was no way she could simply blurt out "I love you" to Clinton because they would be placing him in a very precarious position, which in turn would incentivize him to walk out on her. It quickly worsened matters that Jenner would be the girl she is being left for.

It all started when they were paired for a project on the industrial revolution. The eighth grade was a year for the books. They quickly went from awkward acquaintances to a tight-knit pair, spending almost all their available time together. To those around them, they quickly became two halves of one whole. There was no Naledi without Jenner and vice versa. It bloomed for a healthy period before even more unplanned occurrences unfolded.

Naledi noted a sudden shift in Jenner's attitude. Starting the delayed responses in messages until it spilled over into the real world, where Jenner would avoid her company at school. It continued until Naledi was replaced as a friend altogether. Olivia Rooi - the resident, cheerful blonde - would go on to be Jenner's newest friend.

'Do you, by any chance, have the textbook screenshots on this section too?' Priya interrupted once more only to be met with silence.

She gently nudged her friend once more.