Dedicated to MooonYagami the love of my life ❤️❤️❤️

Ore bowed her head in shame as the female supervisor spelled out the punishment for fighting in the hostel as a result of not obeying the fifteenth rule. Favour stood by the doorway to the small, dainty office after she had given the query. Madam Charis, the supervisor was a chaste woman that followed the no-nonsense rule to the later. She was a disciplinarian and was feared by most of the hostel girls at the way she ruled with an iron hand.

Despite the fact that she was friendly to an extent, there were no exceptions to those who flunked the rule. Whether it be her cousin, daughter, granddaughter or what not, she spared no one. Madam Charis was an assistant to the male supervisor who was barely on duty most times because of his old age. Ore had heard low whispers around block A of how the man was being admitted from one hospital to the next.

In her heart, Ore felt pity for herself for reacting so harshly and not giving Mercy a chance to explain. Her insides were exploding with guilt and her stomach clenched as the horrid event played in her mind's eye. She admitted that she had been blinded by anger and the pride swelling in her chest. On a second thought, Mercy didn't apologize even when she had been given the chance to.

Why didn't she? Mercy thought sadly. If she had done that simple act, the fight wouldn't have started and their neighbours wouldn't have been filled with smiles on their faces that their close relationship was finally coming to an end.

Ore was ashamed of her silliness. This wasn't her. This wasn't the way her christian parents trained her, they had always advised her to abide by the scriptures of the bible and desist from the material things of the world even as she was going to be studying at school. Now, who was she taking after?

The disturbing thought plagued her as she made her way back to her room defeated. Ore was thinking that maybe she should apologize to Mercy after everything had died down so they would move on with their lives and become close friends once again. But she was a bit skeptical as to Mercy's reaction. Ore knew Mercy wouldn't want to listen to her excuses after what happened, she might even hate her for life.

Ore and Mercy had been punished to wash their wing's bathroom and toilet for three weeks, they were also to scrub the dirty gutters clean and empty the wastebin alongside. Ore was beaten and frustrated, how was she to do all that without falling sick or catching an infection?

The hostel toilet was an eyesore and Ore could see herself throwing up after she had emptied her shitting bucket of her poo in the loo. That was the ordeal she passed through that first week of staying in the hostel. Things had been difficult for her and if not for Mercy, there was no way she would have been able to cope.

Mercy was the one who was there for her when she had bought her bathing bucket from a small, run down shop somewhere between her block and the next. Mercy taught her how to survive in case the entire hostel blocks lacked water and she had to go to one of the lecturers quarters to fetch. Mercy explained in explicit detail of the consequences of being disobedient to any of the supervisors.

One of the few things she emphasized on was fighting and unruly behavior. Mercy had informed Ore that if two girls quarreled up to the extent that they couldn't control their anger, they were advised to take it out on each other outside the hostel premises to avoid trouble.

But remembering that now was like swallowing panadol ontop headache for Ore. She couldn't believe she had fallen privy to such and allowed her emotions get the better of her. Now, their supposed friendship was ruined. Ore wasn't so much bothered because she knew Tami would be there for her. Tami had promised to always be by her side anytime she needed help.

Speaking of which, she hadn't heard from Tami for the past how many days and she didn't deem it fit to call and check up on her. Tami had exchanged numbers with Ore before the later began the long trek to the bus park. Tami complained that she was trying not to stress herself much so, she ordered an uber to come pick her up from school and take her home.

Ore felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach at the realization that Tami wasn't going to be with her all the time. To Ore, it was as though Tami was avoiding them being seen together, taking a public transport. It wasn't as if she was diagnosed with a deadly virus like corona . . . God forbid that to happen but what would Tami do then?

Ore was sure she would disappear in the blink of an eye. From Tami's arrogant attitude to the students she didn't know; even her course mates, Ore wondered how she was able to cope with her. Maybe, Tami was using her to get something or back at someone, Ore wasn't sure.

She pushed the thought to the back of her mind as the image of the playboy, Dami swirled around in her head. Although the dude acted as a douche to her that night, she couldn't resist the dying attraction to his sexy appearance. She was praying fervently for Dami to notice her. It was stretching a limit just imagining it but Ore couldn't help herself. Who didn't like a bad boy in their life?

Ore quickened her pace as she passed by several rooms on her wing and neared hers. Her body was itching and she couldn't wait to take a cold bath in hopes of washing away the sickening dread that was threatening to envelop her. Ore dragged one of her paint buckets that was filled with water from under her single bed and struggled to lift it.

She plopped it onto the hard concrete, some of the liquid splashed on her wrapper and kinky weavon. Ore wrinkled her nose as the rotten stench coming from the bathroom filled her nostrils.

"Chai," she muttered, shrugging her shoulders. "So na this one person go dey suffer everytime?"
[Chai, so is this what someone would be suffering everytime?]

Mercy went to lie on her already made bed as soon as she stepped foot into the room. She felt weighed down with exhaustion and her eyes were drifting shut even as she was very much awake. Mercy didn't utter a word to Ore, not that she had the incident in mind. Since Ore was proving stubborn, silent treatment was going to be the best remedy.

She adjusted to a more comfortable position, her back was facing the passageway and her gaze was concentrated on the yellow plastered wall that was slowly peeling off with age.

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Author's note: These girls can form sha, anyway what do you think is going to happen next?