Priya was leaving today. She had called Lucy to ask her to come over because she had some stuff for her. She walked to Priya's room and realized that Priya probably had nothing to eat because she had to have used all her cash, since this sort of money was totally useless anywhere else. Since Priya had told her that Sonia was coming, Lucy ordered pizza for them. No matter Priya's previous actions and the way she intentionally or not, had hurt Lucy, she would not deny that Priya had been her friend for a while. She would not let the bitterness of pain change her.
So they sat in Priya's room, chatting and eating pizza until 10pm that night, since she had to wake up early the next morning to catch her flight. When the three of them were together, since Priya and Sonia had much more in common, Lucy often was left out of the conversation. Again, it may not have been intentional, but that did not make it any less pleasant. So, instead of feeling sorry for herself, or awkwardly squeeze herself into the conversation that had no room for her, she pulled out her phone and continued reading her Fae fantasy novel that she and her sister where reading together.
It was amazing the way the rest of the world drowned out when Lucy began reading. She could just barely hear Priya's irritatingly high pitched laugh and Sonia's jab at Lucy's school having it easier than theirs. She was immersing deeper and deeper into the book and they could have been sprouting second heads for all she cared.
After a while of tantalizing banter from the female lead and second male lead, she suddenly heard Priya say "Look, Lucy is studying".
Lucy's head snapped up. "Studying?" she asked incredulously, "Now?" Sometimes she really did not get Priya's thought process. She was not about to explain that it was painful to be left out of the conversation and that it was either this or go back to her room and read her book, like she really wanted to. She was only enduring this because Priya had been her friend for a while and was leaving in a few hours. So she only laughed, especially since she realized that Sonia and Priya's conversation had been exhausted, that's why they were looking for something more interesting. No doubt that was why she even remembered that Lucy was there.
Eventually they spoke about things that were more inclusive to Lucy so she could actually engage in the conversation. Lucy had to admit though, that she had not expected to receive so many things from Priya. Yes, Priya was filthy rich, but she could have always thrown the things she did not want into the bin instead of giving them to Lucy. From the gorgeous shades of nail polish to the cute pair of sandals and sexy heels to a flower dress, Lucy was surprised and grateful to Priya for giving those to her.
By 6am the next day Priya was gone. And Lucy was relieved.
Exactly a week later, Sonia was leaving and she called Lucy over to her place to meet her. Now, Sonia lived in a different hall. She did not like the idea of walking by herself so asked Sonia if she could come while there was still daylight since she did not like to walk in the dark by herself (as she already knew). Sonia gave her as much things as Priya did. While Priya gave her more clothes, Sonia gave her more cooking things like cooking utensils, oil, siracha, coffee, tea and sugar. She stayed and chatted with Sonia for about five hours. Her cousin, Vernon was also leaving with her and he came to her room. He greeted Lucy and brought more clothes for Sonia to stuff into her suitcase for him. She did not get how a guy...and a very skinny one at that...had so many clothes, seemingly more than Sonia. Definitely more than Lucy.
When he locked eyes with Lucy, he smiled and showed off his perfect teeth. To Lucy's dismay, she felt her eyes widen and cocked her head to the side while she smiled back. Why was her skin suddenly tingling when he kept staring at her, even when Sonia was talking to him? He got a call from his friend Jordan who said the he wanted to come say goodbye to them. So he brought Jordan up to Sonia's room. He went to Lucy's school and so she felt nervous about him being there, in that she thought he would ask about why she stayed longer in this country while the rest of their classmates where gone already. She stood in the balcony and tried to calm herself down for when she saw Jordan. A good while after hearing him converse with Sonia, she came into the room and greeted Jordan warmly. He returned her greeting, smiled and glanced down quickly. She found that odd as she perched on the couch next to Sonia. Vernon was leaning against the kitchen counter while Jordan leaned against the table across from Lucy.
With a quick assessing glance, Lucy noticed that Jordan had filled out quite nicely from the last time she saw him. He was skinny and drawn and had a terrible mouth on him. Now, she noticed the filled out muscles in his arms, the humility in his voice and his posture and a serenity that she had never seen in him before. It seemed that Jordan went through some things during his time here.
When it was time to say goodbye, Lucy hugged Sonia tightly and she asked Jordan if he and Vernon could carry Lucy's stuff down the stairs for her when they were leaving. They agreed and took the stairs. She gave Sonia an inquisitive look. There was a perfectly functioning elevator...why were they taking the stairs? She asked Sonia who responded "They just like to give themselves extra work".
So Lucy met them at the bottom of the staircase and the trio engaged in light conversation. She soon realized Vernon's toxicity from his conversation, so she quickly opted to engage more with Jordan. She learnt that Jordan was married and intended to bring his wife to be with him in this country while he got a job here as a doctor. Lucy felt immensely more comfortable. For some reason, knowing that Jordan was taken and that he loved his wife, made her relax even more around him. When they got to the gate of Sonia's hall, she made to take the bags from the two men.
"Where do you live?" Jordan asked. Lucy pointed to the hall across from Sonia's and Jordan promptly offered for them to carry her bags with her. Lucy gratefully accepted and they walked into the cold night. She had not expected help. She had not expected an escort, let alone two. She could not help but feel like she did not deserve it and almost snatched the bags from them. She fell into easy conversation with Jordan and they spoke about their school. The calm energy radiating off of him had her walking closer than she normally would to any other man. In fact, she was walking so close to him that she could smell the alcohol on his breath.
When they got to the gates of her hall, he offered to carry her bags into her hall and they would leave them at the block for her. Again, still feeling like she did not deserve such generosity and feeling awkward by it, she almost refused until the part of her that desired to be feminine, longed to be taken care of, whispered: "Accept the help".
So she did and the three of them walked through. She knew what those leering eyes from the security guards meant and did not care. She felt the stares of the guys lingering on the benches near her block meant as the three of them passed in front of it. She could only be grateful for Jordan's constant engaging her in conversation so she did not have to think about it. They dropped off the bags at her door and after many words of appreciation, she bid them a good night and went to her room.
She put on some music and danced around her room while she put all the fridge stuff away. By 1am, she showered and fell onto her bed in a dreamless sleep.
