Melancholy...

Chapter 11

I looked at the sky in amazement. The stars were many and twinkled happily. I smiled as I got more comfortable in my wooden chair. Leaning slightly against the wall,I let my thoughts rest and began to hum quietly. After a few minutes,I looked to my right and saw Crystal looking at the sky too. But,unlike me, she didn't look calm. She looked disturbed and scared.

"Cris" I said lightly,"come here" I continued, pointing my hand to the empty spot beside me. She moved her stool to the spot and sat down quietly,looking at her hands. "What's wrong?"  I asked softly. "Nothing." She said with a fake smile. Though she was always smiling,we were so close that I knew when it was fake and when it was not.
"Crystal,what is wrong?" I asked again, softer this time as I titled my head slowly so I could look in her eyes.

"Are you lying to me Crystal?" I said with a small smile. This method of getting things out of people was thought to me by my mom. She did it all the time when she found out that I was hiding things from her. I hated it, but I began to understand why she did that the more I grew and the more I became responsible for my sisters. It was soothing and gentle, but at the same time, it was firm. "Promise you won't get angry?" She said, pulling out her pinky. I rolled my eyes slightly and crossed my pinky with hers. "I promise." I said.

"So like, I was suspended from school." She said. I looked at her quietly and sat straighter. I was disappointed,but I didn't show it. "Why?"  I asked,gently.
"You see the uncompleted building behind the school, the one they told us to stay away from?"
"Mhm." I replied,signalling her to go ahead.
"My friends and I went there on Friday and we were caught by some teachers. Some of my friends had phones so we were all sent to the headmistress' office. She suspended all of us. Two days of external suspension and three days of internal suspension with hard labour for all of us."
"When does it start?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the stars.
"Tomorrow " she said quietly.

Nodding, I took my stool, placed it on the veranda and went inside the room. I sat there for sometime in thought, brushed my teeth and went to bed without saying anything about the suspension to her.

Around 2am,I heard her getting up from the mat we shared. She went outside(to brush her teeth I believe) and came inside again after a few minutes. She lighted the candle in the corner of the room and began to learn. I slept there quietly as if I was still asleep and watched her. After about an hour, I got up too, brushed my teeth and went to sit by her.  I held the candle closer to the book so she would not strain her eyes so much. It was silent for sometime until she finished reading the paragraph.

"How are you Cris" I asked softly, as I didn't want to wake my mother and Mia up.
"I'm okay."  She said.
"Come."  I said,walking outside. She followed suite and sat down on the stool I had set on the veranda.

"Why did you follow them there when you knew it was against the school rules?" I asked her in a composed voice, going straight to the point.
"My friends went there and I wanted to go too..I didn't want them to see me as lame.." she said, drifting off.
"Crystal, have you seen me bringing friends home before?" I didn't wait for her to answer and went on. "The friends I had back in school, have they ever cared to find out how I'm doing now?" She shook her head slightly and I went on. "Friends are not family. Not everyone you call friend is your family. Know who to walk with. Know whose examples to follow."

"Look at my palm"  I said, showing her. "You see how bruised they look? I work every day to provide for you. I am just a teenager, but I have aged so much that I look like a mother of 5. Know your place in life. If you get yourself in these unnecessary troubles, I have nothing to do with it. Look at us, look at the life we are living, and humble yourself." I said as I looked at her, shaking my head to show my disappointment.

"Mom cannot know about this so I'll go to the school with you today I try to plead with them to let you do a week of internal suspension. If you mess up again, you will sort yourself out, is that clear? I asked sternly. "Okay Lina,I'm sorry." She said.

I looked at her, smiled and said, "you will be scrubbing the gutters for the next two weeks. That should teach you how to use common sense." She looked like she wanted to say something,but she knew better than to say anything.

With that, I went inside and returned to bed quietly. She followed soon, and I heard her resume learning. Sighing, I closed my eyes slowly and let sleep takeover.

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Q and A for this chapter.
Q: How many words is your longest chapter so far?
A: About a thousand words.

Hi loves. End of chapter 11! I hope you all liked it. Kindly continue to read,like and comment. Kindly point out all mistakes to me too.
A few of you texted me saying that the monologue in Chapter 6 dragged the story on. I am sorry if you felt that way,my main purpose for that was to help you know more about the main character.
Most active readers goes to Oceans2119 and NbaRed. Congratulations. Kindly text me with your details. Keep commenting and liking to be chosen.

Xoxo,
Arianna.