Ifes continued basking in worship for a very long time. She had even forgotten that other things existed.
Knock, knock!
Someone's knuckles banged on her door, bringing her back to her full conscious state. She looked around her dorm room, then it dawned on her the mess she had created during her over-excitement.
Uh-oh! Where should she begin the rearrangement from? It would take more than half an hour to arrange the mess she made in her room.
She was sure that by then, whoever was currently knocking on the door would have run out of patience.
"What do I do now? Where do I start from?" As she pondered in her state of turmoil, so many excuses popped up in her head to give the person who was now knocking on her door. But will this person be patient enough to listen? She hadn't even bothered to find out who was at the door before concluding if it was worth her headache. What if it was Mandy?
"Yes! That should be Mandy," she concluded. Ifes sprang to her feet, smiling as she reached for the doorknob. She yanked the door open, and drew back, gasping in surprise as her eyes greeted who was now in front of her open door. This was someone she never expected to see in front of her door, someone who never came to visit even her friend.
What was she doing here now? Perhaps she came to tell Mandy's whereabouts.
Ifes gazed at the red-haired girl and was a bit taken aback by her reaction. Her body was all tense up and she lowered her head like a child who was caught in a mischief.
"But wait, why is she acting like that? Am I not the one who ought to be tensed here?" Ifes reasoned in her heart as she stared at the visitor who looked as though her tension was increasing as the time went by.
"Is Mandy around?" Skylar asked, breaking the silence that encompassed around them.
Ifes was crestfallen to hearing Skylar ask about Mandy. Her high hopes of knowing her roommates had been dashed on the rocks of Skylar's question.
"No, she went out a while back." Ifes expected Skylar to spin around and walk away, but her next reaction almost threw her off guard.
Skylar's body relaxed and her facial expression spoke a language that she could interpret very well—a language of relief.
"Umm! I actually came to see you."
"Me?" Ifes asked, perplexed.
"Yes."
"All right, what's it for?"
"Mmm! May I come in?"
Ifes slapped herself mentally that it had not occurred to her to welcome her never-in-a-blue-moon guest. She wanted to move aside and open the door wide enough for Skylar to enter, but she did the opposite when she remembered the mess she made back inside her dorm room.
"No! I'm not sure if you should come in. My room's scattered," Ifes wanted to say but decided against it when she remembered the tensed look that was formerly etched on Skylar's face.
She could hear some voices at the back of her head laughing at her.
"Whatcha gonna do now?"
"Whatcha gonna do now?" "Whatcha gonna do now?"
After what seemed like a long time of waiting, she finally moved beside the door leaving the door ajar for Skylar to go in.
Skylar stepped in with so much anticipation which dropped a notch or two as soon as her eyes scanned the disheveled room. Ifes slammed the door before spinning around to see Skylar who was now looking around the room with a displeased expression.
"Is this how your room usually looks?" Skylar blurted out without weighing her words.
Ifes opened her mouth to give an explanatory answer, but Skylar waved her off, letting her know that she wasn't interested in whatever she had to say.
Ifes inhaled and exhaled as they both sat on the seat closest to them.
"So, what may I offer you."
"To be frank, I don't think I can take anything from you."
Ifes felt like someone had slapped her hard across her face.
"Alright, this is the climax! What is this girl feeling like? First she refused to listen to my explanations and now this?" she bellowed in her heart. The defensive part of her wanted to ask Skylar to use the door.
"And what do you think you want to do, Ifes?" a still small voice said.
"Okay Lord, I surrender myself to you, come be with us and make her talk."
"I'm always with you."
Ifes felt the peace that surged through her, making all seethings dissipate.
"Ehhn! You said you wanted to see me," Ifes asked as she started arranging her room.
With a sideways glance, she spotted Skylar looking ashamed for her brash words earlier.
"Give me that," she said as she took a black, low-heeled shoe Ifes had picked up from beneath the bed. She placed it on a rack, saying, "Let me help you."
Ifes was elated about her offer of assistance, but still felt that Skylar's change of reaction wasn't enough to explain everything, like her surprise visit and her initial, queer, jittery expression.
The duo remained silent as they both went to work, organizing the room back to its proper position. Even better, Skylar initiated some changes that made more sense. Ifes thought Skylar would make a great interior decorator.
"Do you care for a glass of water? I'm going to get one for myself," Ifes asked suddenly, breaking the wall of silence that stood between them. Ifes felt her throat was parched because she hasn't spoken for so long. Skylar sat heavily on the seat adjacent to Mandy's reading table.
"Oh yes please!" Skylar grinned.
Ifes smiled. "Alright then, I'll be back."
Ifes walked halfway towards the water dispenser before spinning around to look at Skylar who was now scanning one of Mandy's books. "Do you need anything else?"
Skylar nodded her head. "You can just get me a glass of juice instead of water."
"I'll be right back," Ifes said as her figure disappeared into the kitchen.
She returned with two glasses of orange juice and two packets of biscuits to serve Skylar and herself.
"Thank you!" Skylar said cheerfully.
"You're welcome."
The duo ate their snacks in silence before Ifes decided to ask Skylar her reason for visiting.
"So, what were you trying to tell me?"
Ifes noticed that tense look reappearing on Skylar's face. The grim expression was contoured into her features again.
"Ifes, please before I proceed, I want to tell you that I want this meeting to be our little secret. I do not want Mandy or any of my friends to hear what I'm about to tell you."
Ifes eyes and mouth dropped agape as she gazed at her, guessing astonishingly how grave the secret must be. For her to request that none of her friends should learn about it. "Have I become that squad's bank or reservoir of secrets? I think I'm overdue for an award of the best secret keeper of the century," Ifes quipped in her mind.
To Skylar, she said, "If that's the way you want it, alright then."
Skylar leaned forward, smoothening her skirt with her palm. "You promise?"
"I promise." Ifes made the pinky sign. "Cross my heart."
Skylar let out a swift hiss and leaned back into the seat with a deep sigh. "Please, I urgently need your advice. I need someone to talk to but I don't know where to go. Ifes, I'm going crazy here, and I don't know what I'll do if someone doesn't speak to me!"
Ifes leaned forward in her seat. This was definitely serious. "Talk to me, Skylar. What is it about?"
Skylar lowered her head in her hands and raised it up after a while to look at Ifes, contemplating whether or not to open up to her. At last, she said, "It's about..."
Skylar's phone rang, drowning her sentence halfway. She retrieved her phone from her handbag, looked at the caller ID before tapping the green circle on her phone's screen. She gazed at Ifes pleadingly. "Please excuse me."
Ifes nodded, gesturing for her to go ahead with the call.
"Hello, Megan."
"I can't come now. I'm in the middle of something important."
"Can't it wait?"
"But is it really that important?"
"Alright then, I'll be there in half an hour."
Ifes felt bad hearing that last sentence from Skylar before she disconnected the call. A part of her wanted to ask Skylar to ignore her friend and pour out the burden in her heart. One look at Skylar made her know that would be futile.
Skylar gave her an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry our conversation is ending this way, but I have to go now. Megan seems to be in some sort of problem."
"No, no! You don't have to apologize. I understand."
Skylar gulped down the remaining content in her glass before standing from her seat. "It was nice talking to you. Hope to do this some other time."
"Same here."
Skylar walked to the door with Ifes trailing behind her. Slamming the door after Skylar, Ifes went back to the spot where they had sat together and picked up the tray. She tossed the empty biscuit wrappers into the bin and washed the glasses. After taking the glasses back into the cabinet, she leaned on the kitchen counter, wondering what was troubling Skylar.
While she pondered over it, she got another knock on her door. Feeling thankful that the dorm room was now in its proper position, she stepped out of the kitchen, and walked across her room to the door. Reaching for the doorknob, she yanked the door open and almost slumped when her eyes fell on the tall, blondie that stood in front of her door.
Ryan!