SCARRED

Chapter 22

       MONDAY - MUTE

The weekend had passed in a blur, she spent it in absolute silence except from her sister's constant worry talks and her friends blowing up her phone. Maybe she only thought she spent it in silence because after being mute for so long, she finally spoke and then she couldn't find it in her to make a single sound.
Saturday came and it went with her sister first begging and then yelling at her to say, or even write something. It didn't work though she didn't write anything she was too distraught and scared to do any such thing. She could not tell her sister that although her heart ached from the heart break caused by Henry, it also panged in fear at the reality that hit her. She wasn't safe, not at all and it was obvious that nothing could be done about that.

Sunday passed with her staring lifelessly at the preacher, once again not paying any attention. Even Abike could tell that something was wrong and so she backed off not giving Anna any trouble. After the service, she walked up to the pulpit and sat there not really knowing why. She hated being in church, and there she was sitting down there staring at nothing in particular. She didn't know why, maybe it was her way of asking and pleading to God if there was any at all, to listen to her. She hoped that God would for once look at her with love and just protect her or at least take the awful pain away from her.

She didn't know which one surpassed which in her heart, was it the fear or the pain. She didn't care at all, she just wished that both of them ceased to exist. Her eyes stung at the thought but she refused to let it slip and then the talkative girl walked up to her and asked her what happened. She felt the sudden urge to speak but she didn't so she let the tears slip.
"I don't know what the problem is oh but I just want you to know something." The girl started.
"My mummy said that we should always learn to place all of our burden on Jesus Christ and we should call upon him in times of trouble." Anna didn't like hearing that at all, it pissed her off. She wanted the girl to keep shut but she didn't know how to tell her. She cursed her silence.
"So just tell Jesus to help you, and he'll surely help you." The girl proclaimed before walking away from Anna.

Monday had come and Anna wasn't in any much of a good mood. She wanted to stay home but she had a feeling that her presence was only going to anger Kemi who had been snappy all weekend long. She had no doubt that she was the cause. She had entered the school premises super late and so she decided that instead of entering the class when a teacher was in it, she was just going to skip and wait by the multipurpose hall. It wasn't hard for her as she just sat on the bench and was silent.

She wanted to drift off to her thoughts, but she couldn't because of the bell ringing signalling the end of first period... she was that late. She picked herself up, along with her bag before reluctantly walking outside and toward the class hoping that the teacher had left. She got to the front of the class before she knew it and there she was in the eyes of her classmates as they stared at her with so much pity that it sickened her.

Her eyes roamed the class before they landed on the seat she had sat on on Friday. She began to make her way towards the seat, not wanting to deal with her friends at that point.
Her friends. She had somehow not thought of them throughout her awful weekend and it wasn't that she was angry with them, no she was just... just... She didn't even know anymore. All she knew was that she wasn't at all ready to talk to them. She probably knew that they felt guilty for matchmaking the duo but she knew that it wasn't even their fault, no one was at fault.
Sitting down away from them probably didn't help their doubts but she was too drained and sad to care.

The first few classes before lunch passed and she found herself writing down on a sheet of paper, she looked at the white sheet with tear filled eyes, tears that refused to fall. She squeezed the paper into a ball before tossing it out of the window. She got up from her seat ready to walk out of the class when she came face to face with her friends. Oma was about to open her mouth and speak but Anna stopped her with her hands before walking away from the duo. It probably worsened the guilt they felt, but at that point, she couldn't help it.