PART SEVEN
"THE STORY"
BY UMORU PRAISE
Alex, Quinn and Eli sat at the lounge
“Are you sure he’s going to come?”
Quinn asked Alex who had been in contact with Tony at the hallway. Eli sat quietly a bit far off as she read a handout
“He told me he would come, let’s be a bit patient. In the meantime, what sup with the comments?”
Quinn took out her iPad and browsed through
“There are about 99% positive comments here. They are really anticipating about the ending of the story. Although they have been curious on why we have been silent for a week now, but most comments show people strongly believe the argument is the reason for their breakup”
“That can’t be true” Tony said from behind as he sat beside Quinn
“For a minute I thought you were ditching us” she beamed a smile
“Sorry, I had to round up something.”
Eli raised her head high but avoided eye contact with Tony
“Why do you think the argument isn’t a valid reason for their breakup” Alex asked
“That’s because that argument happen five months after they met each other”
“So?” Quinn said as she lay down her iPad
“Because they broke up after one and a half year of knowing each other. So that definitely isn’t the reason
Eli’s phone rang. The trio turned towards her. Her gaze landed on Tony’s’ but the moment was short lived as she turned the other way to pick up her call
The trio shifted their attention to give her privacy
“That was Malia. She said she wants to talk”
“Okay that’s cool, let’s go” Alex said elated
“Mm... she said she would like to see Tony this time”
“Really…okay. I’m free right now. Who wanna go with me?”
“Well I’m fre…” Quinn was cut short by Alex
“Quinn you are not”
“Uhh?”
“Have you forgotten, we got an unfinished practical and the deadline is today? We have to finish it up quickly”
“But I thought you wanted to go a while ago” Tony interrogated Alex
“Sorry, I totally forgot about the practical”
Quinn was dumbfounded
“I guess you and Eli have to go. Quinn and I will check on Jeremy when we are done with our important practical”
“Common Quinn lets go”
Alex rushed Quinn away
“There’s no practical, is there?” Quinn asked piqued
“Uhh… there is” Alex stuttered
“Then why are we going the wrong way”
Alex froze
Alex had to surrender “Okay fine, I just felt we should give them some space to sort themselves out. Its been a week now”
Quinn made a heavy sigh
Quinn picked up her phone and dialed a number
“Hey Jeremy do you have little time to spare, please. I feel we need to clear the air…Really… that would be great. Where should we meet you…? Alright thanks, we will be there in 10mins”
Quinn took off after she ended the call
“Mmm… young lady where are we going”
“To meet Jeremy, now hurry up”
(Malia)
“Why did you want to talk to me personally?”
Tony spoke in an upfront manner
“Tony…” Eli cautioned
“I wanna know” Tony didn’t feel like giving Eli a listening ear
Silence creek in briefly
Malia decided to do justice to the awkwardness “Well I just wanted to apologize to you about the last time personally and I felt I could compensate you with a story, if you don’t mind” Malia brought the silence
“We would love that” Eli responded
(Jeremy)
…
“After our argument, we didn’t come in contact for a week “
I regretted how I acted towards her I wanted to apologize but I realized she needed some space for the meantime
(Malia)
“After a week, after some long thinking, I knew I had a huge fault in our fight. And I had to make things right”
(Jeremy)
“I was so surprised when she called me and told me to meet her up on the hill”
“On the hill?” Eli wanted confirmation
“Yeah, on the hill. There was a time I and a group of friends wanted to go hiking so I invited her along. We found this really nice spot on the hill. You could see the whole city from up there. It had a wonderful view and we promised ourselves we would come up there one day, just the two of us and enjoy the view”
(Malia)
“When I saw him coming up, all I could do was smile. Not just because he came, but I got to see his face. I had missed him so much”
*****
“You called…” Jeremy said as he sat on the rock beside her
The serenity hanged on for minutes
“The view is pretty nice”
“I’m the last child of my family…”
Malia started soberly
Jeremy was shocked she finally wanted to speak about her family to him. She was always fond of swaying off the topic when it came to her family. She only told him her parent’s current occupation and that she was an only child to an extent. He never understood that statement neither did she appreciate the statement being brought up
Jeremy didn’t want to push hard since they were still building up a steady relationship, so he tried the strategy of being free and open to her about anything concerning himself and his family so she could trust him and hopefully open up someday and luckily for him, that day was five months after they met; today at the hill top
“…the first born is fifteen years older than me… the second is thirteen years older, while the third is twelve older than me”
Jeremy wanted to comment on the distance between her and her siblings, but he didn’t want to interrupt her
“I practically grew up alone. At a recalling age, all my siblings where pretty much far off from me so I couldn’t communicate with them, without them seeing me as a little clueless baby”.
“So while growing up, I made my own friends. I made friends with trees in my neighborhood whenever my parents weren’t around, I made friends with the house gate, with mirrors, chairs. Just name it. And at most I made friends with myself. Talking out loud didn’t feel like soliloquizing later on, it felt like me, telling my imaginary attentive best friends how I felt about my day”
“Since then, keeping to myself has been pretty easy, you might think I’m lonely, but I had myself to talk to, I always had my company from a tender age…”
“Malia’s words had started mumbling in the ears of Jeremy
He felt that sense of tears, and when he looked at her, he realized where he sensed the tears from
“I’m going through a lot right now Jeremy” Her tears melted Jeremy’s heart. He felt confused on what to do. He had always wanted her to feel free and open to him, and now that she has, he didn’t know what next. He hated seeing the salty waters roll down her cheek.
All he could do was draw her close and give her a tight hug
“My family is going through bankruptcy and everything is just coming upside down. My family’s property has sunk to 20% because we have sold everything. My parents practically have sleepless nights and it’s affecting them so much, they break down a lot and fall easily ill. Everything it just crumbing Jeremy, I don’t even know what is going to happen to me, I have thought of several things, I am just so confused… “Jeremy couldn’t seem to hear her words anymore because of her continuous jerking due to her cry.
Jeremy felt his hands had become wet on Malia’s barely braided hair”
It dawn on him Malia wasn’t the only one with tears
“I am so sorry, I pushed you away” Jeremy could hear Malia’s clouded voice again
“I didn’t mean to I swear”
I just didn’t want to pour my burdens on you, I... I…”
“Shushhhh. We will get through this, I promise” Jeremy bared to say
Malia had become calm still wrapped in Jeremy’s arms
*****
(Malia)
“And then he did something, I would never forget, he patted my head softly and sang…”
*****
“Lean on me, when you’re not strong…
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on…
Cause, it won’t be long…
Till I’m gonna need
Somebody to lean on…”
By Bill Withers
(Jeremy)
“I didn’t believe what happened next”
Jeremy beamed a smile
“What happened” Alex and Quinn chorused coincidentally
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