Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered Mother's warning. Why hadn't she listened to her? She stifled back a sob and turned around, eyes wide and scanning everybody. Who could have stolen her appliances? How would she be able to see at night or iron her uniforms?

She mentally slapped herself and again wished she hadn't taken Mother's warning lightly. Nobody seemed to be looking her way as they all minded their business unpacking or sleeping. She looked towards the back-scratching girl, she was the nearest to her bunk, so she must have seen someone come to her bed.

Or, she could have stolen it, a part of her mind whispered.

Eartha hoped with all her heart that it wasn't the case. With what mouth would she use to ask her if she stole her provision? She'd never tell the truth if she was the thief.

So, with her mouth cottony and her pulse pounding somewhere between her ears, she moved gingerly towards the girl. She was lying on her side, facing away from the rest of the room towards the wall.

She turned to face Eartha when she tapped her on the shoulder. Her face squeezed in confusion as she slowly sat up, rubbing at her eyes.

Eartha tried not to raise her eyebrows. She'd gone to sleep so quickly?

Instead, she cleared her throat and slowly asked, 'Um, please, did you see anyone come to my bunk and take my new iron and lamp from it?'

The confusion evaporated from the girl's eyes and contemptuous disgust crossed over her face with immediate effect. Eartha's heart leapt up into her mouth.

Oh no!

'Are you now saying that I stole it?' she queried, raising her voice. 'I stole your stupid iron?'

Eartha recoiled in embarrassment. A fight was one thing she would love to avoid, especially on a first day.

'I'm-I'm sorry,' she stammered, feeling the blood seep out of her face. She could just imagine every head turned in their direction already.

The girl hissed, a sound that would make a top serpent jealous, and glared at Eartha with an unhealthy amount of hate

Eartha started to backtrack, the girl's loathful eyes still boring holes into her head. Just as a voice spoke up behind her.

'What happened?'

Eartha jumped, very startled. It didn't help that her nerves were shot already.

The girl who had smiled at her earlier placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her. 'What happened?' she reiterated.

'I-I left my iron and lamp on the bed when I went outside and couldn't find it when I came back in. So I asked her if she had seen anyone come near my-'

'Ngbọ́, did you steal her iron or see anyone take it?' the girl asked Backscratcher.

'No,' Backscratcher barked out, disdain dripping off of her tongue.

'You should have just said that earlier instead of shouting at the girl.'

If Backscratcher heard, she made no indication of it. Instead, she turned her nose up in the air and lay back down to face the wall.

The girl beside her hissed. 'All these SS2 girls.'

She turned to face the other bunks in the room. 'Okay, has anybody seen this girl's iron and lamp? Or did anyone see anybody come to this bunk? She left them on her bed before going outside and now, someone has fapped it.'

Eartha was later to learn that 'fap' was an hostel word for 'steal'.

Murmurs of 'no' rolled around the room.

The girl turned to Eartha, a mournful look on her face. 'I'm so sorry about your stuff, I hope you'll find them soon, but you wouldn't want to hold your breath waiting.' She shrugged and sighed. 'You're a new hostelite, aren't you? You've never been to a boarding school before.'

Eartha shook her head in reply. Her tongue felt too thick in her mouth to utter a word. She could just imagine how Mother was going to flare up when she heard the news, or discovered herself. She hadn't wanted to give Eartha the iron. It was a souvenir from a trust cooperation she and Father participated in, and she'd felt Eartha wouldn't be able to handle and take care of it.

How right you were, Mother.

'Such a pity,' the girl said. 'You don't leave your stuff out anyhow. Things get stolen, even from the most careful person.'

Eartha nodded again, her eyes cast down. And now she had learnt her lesson. The sad way.

Another girl arrived at the bunk adjacent to Eartha's. She was wrapped in a faded sugar-pink terry towel. Water droplets hung from her packed hair and more still streamed down her exposed skin like tributaries, giving her body a glistening shine.

The slap slap of her wet flip-flops against the cement floor of the dormitory stopped short when she reached the bunk. Apparently, she owned the bunk above Backscratcher a.k.a Serpentine.

'Loveth, did you see anyone come to this bunk before you went to take your bath?' the girl asked.

Loveth dropped her eggyolk-yellow bath bucket on the floor, just right under the iron ladder that led up to her bed. She frowned and wiped away the water that was dripping down her forehead into her eyes as she turned to the duo beside her.

'No, nobody was even there at all then,' she answered. 'Wait, let me guess, they stole her stuff?' she asked, referring to Eartha.

'Yes. An iron and a lamp.'

Loveth kissed her teeth, shaking her head. 'Na only God go save pesin from all these thieves.'

'They are probably gone for good, the chances of you finding them are very slim.' She lowered her index finger very close to her thumb, forming an oval shape in-between, while the other fingers of her right hand were raised up.

Eartha's breath deflated. She already knew that, but hearing it confirmed again brought the same reaction as before.

'Sorry eh,' the older girl beside her said. 'What's your name?'

Eartha cleared her throat. 'Eartha. I'm Eartha.'

The girl looked surprised. 'Nice name. I've never heard it before. Is it foreign? You look foreign sef.'

'Yes. It's a coinage from the word 'earth',' she explained, with her hackneyed mantra.

'Wow,' the girl and Loveth, who had been listening, said.

'I'm Yetunde,' the girl said. 'That's Loveth, my school daughter.'

Loveth giggled and waved, now rubbing her upper chest and shoulders with Pearl lotion. 'Yetunde, I'm now in SS1,' she said, rolling her eyes.

'So?' Yetunde rolled her eyes too, laughing. 'You're still my junior by two classes.'

'I'm in SS1, too,' Eartha said, deciding to speak up by herself now. She wasn't going to make friends at all if she always only talked when she was spoken to. Also, the two girls seemed very nice and bubbly.

'Really? Thank God.' Loveth sighed in relief, her eyes twinkling. 'Now we are two. I don't want to be the only one in my class here o.'

'Some people are not around yet.' Eartha shrugged.

'Maybe,' Loveth said. 'Not all bunks are filled up. Usually,' she added.

'So, I might not be getting a bunk partner?'

Loveth chuckled. 'You mean 'bunkie'? Yes, maybe. Hope so. Most times it's a good thing o.'

'You have the whole bunk to yourself and you can decide to sleep anywhere. Even your friends can come and visit you anywhere,' Yetunde put in.

'I can see you are already getting along. I'm going outside. I want to go and check on my classmates,' Yetunde added.

'Okay. Bye,' Eartha and Loveth said and then smiled at each other.

'Jinx,' Eartha said quickly. 'Padlock!'

Loveth giggled and rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. She dropped the Pearl bottle onto her bunk and went to open her cupboard to pull out the cornflower-blue and white uniform.

Eartha smiled as she turned to look for her own bucket and towel to go take a bath. She planned to break the jinx in a few minutes, anyway.

Her smile widened as she realized she was already feeling better now. Her property might have been stolen, but she wasn't going to let that put her in the dumps forever. After all, she was making friends already. And there was still a chance that she would find them.

'Loveth, I'm going to the bathroom.'

Loveth smiled, glad to have been unjinxed. 'Okay.'

Heyoo! ✧

The update is a bit late, but yeah, I updated! :)
The chapter is also a bit long, but it's to make up for one of the two updates I still owe you guys! (So, I owe just one update now, hehe)
Hope you read to the end? (◕ᴗ◕✿)

What do you think of this chapter?

6>

Yikesy! Her stuff got stolen on the very first day. Wicked room mates too, lol. Who do you think stole her iron and lamp?
*giggles*

Who else had a similar experience in hostel as Eartha?
What other experiences did you have in boarding school?

Hehe, I didn't go to boarding school, if not, I'd have shared mine too. But do let me know what your thoughts are! Please!

And please, let me know if I didn't show something right (especially about the first day of hostel resumption). (✷‿✷)

•Vote! •Comment! •Share! ♥

See you next Friday! Thanks for reading! ♡ ♡