The Wrong Crowd [Wattys 2020]

Chapter 8

Dedicated to Skymoon6311 ❤️❤️

Ore arrived late at her hostel after a very long and exhausting day. She wasn't expecting time to fly so fast and before she knew it, the fun she was having with Tami had come to a close.

After their group's first practical on atomic bonding, the rest of her classes were cancelled due to a serious meeting all the Uniport lecturers were slated to attend. Ore had no idea what they were going to discuss about but she didn't care, her schedule was free for the rest of the afternoon. Ore spent ample time in giving Tami a tour of abuja campus, the poor girl was a bit overwhelmed with the work load and hadn't even started with the tedious clearance process.

Ore did that a long time ago, that was before she moved her luggages into the hostel. It was on a Wednesday and she travelled all the way from Delta State where her parents resided, down to Portharcourt to get her school registration done. Ore didn't even want to recall the stress and trauma she passed through that fateful day.

It just so happened that she had to plead with a girl she wasn't familiar with to spend the night at her place before heading home the next morning. Tami complained bitterly about the school system and confided in Ore that she was actually supposed to go to a private university instead of a Federal one. But her mum travelled out of the country at the exact time she took her Jamb examination and when she came back three months later, her dad's mind was already made up.

Ore offered her soothing words to calm her troubled heart while reassuring her that God knew why he brought her to the school and perhaps, their destinies were meant to intertwine. Tami smiled at that and dragged her by the shoulder, pulling her closer to herself and muttering something silly in her ear.

Ore giggled even though she didn't hear what Tami whispered to her, students who were passing by stared at them before finally tearing their gaze away. Ore knew it was because of Tami that they were sparing them a glance, maybe, they weren't expecting such a pretty girl to be hanging around with a low life like her.

Ore felt exactly that way about herself. She didn't have what would attract dudes to her whereas Tami was fully packaged. Ore's breasts weren't so big, they were what you would call bordering on the edge of medium. Her brown eyes were dull and unattractive, they lacked a certain spark in them. Even her ass was nothing to write home about. They were as flat as a table land and appeared non existent in the pencil jean trousers she wore to school.

The only thing peculiar about her was her five feet, six inches frame. Other than that, there was no difference between her and the little kids who begged for food on the streets. Ore was thin and lanky, her face was angular and her cheeks were flanked by bones.

It wasn't that Ore didn't eat good food regularly. Hell, she always adhered to three square meals a day and she made sure her diet was balanced. Her parents sent her enough pocket money to feed properly in school. But asides that, Ore felt it wasn't enough. She wanted more, she wanted to feel what it was like to be noticed, she wanted to dress up in the fanciest of clothes and the most exclusive wigs that money could afford.

Tami had all of that and Ore couldn't help being a bit envious. Even as Tami had resumed lectures quite late, she was fast making friends with some of the top girls in their department. A feat Ore could never achieve. Tami bought Ore lunch at one of the finest restaurant on campus. She ordered a plate of fried rice and chicken for her with white rice and catfish pepper soup for herself.

Ore felt heat creep up her cheeks tinging it a pink colour. She was ashamed of not having sufficient cash to buy her own food at wherever the hell she pleased. As Ore and Tami dug into their delicious meal with a cold bottle of Pepsi by their side, inquisitive eyes stared at the duo in admiration.

As soon as Ore stepped foot into her room, she was met with a displeasing sight. Mercy was sitting on her spring bed which was close to the wooden door, a wrapper was tied firmly across her chest and her eyes red rimmed. Mercy stared pass Ore to the large rocks that lay on the mowed lawn, she didn't bother acknowledging her presence.

Ore felt her throat constrict as a feeling of dread washed over her.

"Mercy, wetin happen na?" Ore asked dropping her handbag on her bed and coming to sit by her side.
[Mercy, what happened?]

Instead of Mercy to respond to her question, tears streaked from her eyelid down to chin.

Ore began to pet her lightly on the back whilst muttering under her breath that everything was going to be okay.

After what seemed like hours, Mercy finally turned to stare at Ore, her once vibrant eyes were now dull.

"Ore, you know say my phone don loss?" she spoke inaudibly.
[Ore, do you know that my phone is missing?]

Ore caught the last part of the sentence and her attentive ears perked up.

"You say wetin?" Ore asked, disbelieving her ears. "That your Samsung S10 Kwanu?"
[What did you just say? That your Samsung S10 right?]

"Yes ooo," Mercy replied and gave a loud hiss. "E don finish for me ehhhh!" Mercy screamed and kicked her legs in the air.
[It has finished!]

Ore's jaw slackened in morbid realization, she couldn't imagine something like that happening to her. Ore mentally began going over little details of what Mercy did at some specific points in time and she suddenly remembered something.

"You don call your brother?" Ore's eyes lit up and her cracked voice was high pitched. "Maybe, he is with it," she added.
[Have you called your brother?]

Mercy who had been biting her nails stopped short and blinked her long lashes repeatedly.

Mercy and Ore were on the fastest bike they could find to Zarangonza. After Ore had confirmed her suspicions of her phone being with her brother, they made a short dash to the wing marshal's room to borrow her Nokia torchlight.

Mercy punched Philip's number with trembling hands before dialing it and waiting for it to ring out. Ore stared at her in apprehension and offered a brief apologetic smile to Favour, the wing F wing marshal.

Favour arched her eyebrows, obviously wondering what the hell was going on. Philip picked on the fourth ring and his gruff voice boomed through the loud speaker.

"Na who be this?" he asked unsure of the person that was on the other end of the line.
[Who is this?]

Mercy's frantic voice spoke through clenched teeth.

"Philip na Mercy," she stated. "Abeg you hold my phone?"
[Philip, it's Mercy. Are you with my phone?]

Philip waited a full minute before bursting into fits of laughter. At that time, Mercy knew he was the one who had collected it from her and also where he would be at the point in time. She knew Philip like the back of her hand. With her staunch face brimming with anger, she handed the phone over without sparing Favour a glance and marched out of the hostel with Ore in tow.

Night time was fast approaching. The sun had receded behind the almost dark sky and the whole area was about to be shrouded with thick darkness. The wind blew Ore's weave out of her face as she held tight onto Mercy. She was scared of bikes since the day her mum suffered severe injuries to her right leg because of the exhaust fumes that came in contact with her soft skin.

As the motorcycle made a sharp u-turn and followed a one way lane, Ore could hear loud music from a far distance.  Her pulse thrummed in anticipation.

She was about to witness the show of all time.

___________________________________

Author's note: sorry for the cliffhanger but get ready for a hot and spicy drama! What do you think is going to happen next?