Camaraderie

~

Zen thought she was weird but Lin was one level ahead of her. How could someone be so gullible? Zen shook her head and made her way down the stairs neither making eye contact with any students nor looking back. The campus was filled with the chatter of students and indistinctive noises of footsteps drumming the ground like an acoustic rendition of a song so common it could easily be dismissed by the ear.

Lunchtime was always a hive of activity. This was the time when all clowns, after completion of their respective classes, gathered together to discuss, what Zen would call, the vanity of life. This was the time when the walls had ears, when gossip flew a thousand miles in milliseconds, when the canteen would run out of her favourite food if she arrived a tad bit late. The last one was particularly terrifying for her. Food meant everything for a growing, thriving young lady at the peak of her youth and she was no exception to that rule.

Another loud growl from her stomach dampened her mood even more. She was so hungry she could devour a whole bear if served. Where were her two roommates, no, ex-roommates anyway?

Zen was never one to wait for others. She was never tied to so-called friends; she did everything on her own just as she had been doing for the past ten years. She took care of her shit and only helped others if they asked for it. She was, in fact, a solo leveller, the independent type of girl most females aspired to be, the type of girl guys feared the most. But why was it that she was so attached to her two ex-roommates now? Habit. Simply put, Madilyn and Nadia were like leeches, sucking her blood and energy dry like it was some form of guilty pleasure, and she got accustomed to it.

Hanging around with them became a habit that was hard to get rid of. In her first year of university, she was a loner; even now, she was. She never conversed with any of her classmates unless prompted, with the exception of Lin, never hung around with her classmates for some casual talk, and never went for lunch with them, not even with Lin. But ever since Nadia and Madilyn came into her life, their presence began to rub off on her and soon they became almost inseparable. And despite belonging to different departments, Madilyn in Computer Science and Nadia in Business Management, they got along very well, much better than she imagined they would.

Sitting alone and having lunch in the cafeteria felt peaceful then, but after the two psychos came and invaded her private place like unwanted guests, the peace was completely destroyed but something even better came to take its place: Warmth. The feeling was strange at first but she allowed herself to welcome it. Now, it felt like she was in a second home whenever they came to hang out with her.

Where the hell are those two? They had promised to meet at lunch, but they still didn't show up. Standing before the cafeteria, hands folded, one foot tapping the floor to show her impatience, she waited. The innocent passers-by struck by her unintentional deathly glare would lower their heads in fear and quicken their steps until they crossed a safe distance away from her. Hungry Zen meant angry Zen. Her friends were supposed to be perfectly aware of that yet they chose to be late. And, by the looks of it, there were plenty of people visiting the cafeteria at that hour and she was afraid all the food would run out if she waited a minute more.

If there was one thing that didn't appeal to introverts, it was making a phone call. And Zen dreaded the thought of doing it, but she had no choice. Pulling out her phone from her bag, she dialled Nadia.

"Where are you guys at? I thought we were having lunch as usual," Zen said over the phone, making no effort to hide her impatience. "...What? Basketball event? So, you're not coming?" She raised her voice a little too high, earning weird stares from people around her. "You want me to come there? Now? What about food?" The look on Zen's face was unreadable when she dropped the phone and put it back in her bag. Surprisingly, despite her mental instability, she headed in the direction of the basketball court without as much as uttering a groan of frustration.

-~-

The instant Zen stepped onto the hardwood floor, screams and gasps struck her eardrums. The atmosphere inside the basketball court was so loud she could shout at the top of her lungs like a mad person from the asylum and no one would hear or notice her. More than a thousand people had gathered to watch the game, and not a single row of seats was vacant. In all her three years, this was her first visit to the basketball court.

She recalled when she was in high school, she would go to their local basketball ground after returning from school to watch her brother play basketball. It had been ages since then. And now that her part-time job kept piling up, she never had the chance to watch a basketball match. If Nadia and Madilyn hadn't tempted her into coming there when they said they bought her favourite lunch - braised beef stew with rice - she never would've come there even if the world ended.

On the court were players in their respective team uniforms dribbling and passing the ball. The match had commenced thirty minutes ago, so Zen didn't get to see the team line-up but that didn't seem to matter. It wasn't like she knew any of the players. Nevertheless, Zen stole another glance at the basketball court. She didn't particularly pay attention to their faces, but she could see the players were tall and well-built, and all probably from different departments.

Zen walked to the side of the court, careful not to draw attention to herself, her eyes rapidly travelling over and between thousands of nameless foreign faces stationed all around the court, desperately hoping to spot at least a face that resembled one of her friends. Crowds and gatherings all made her very uneasy. Zen was about to give up and head back when she spotted a familiar-looking figure in a blue sundress, flailing her arms furiously in the air and screaming out to her. Nadia, Zen inaudibly seethed. She wanted to keep a low profile but that was all ruined now.

Zen climbed the steps, her feet landing on the 8th step at the exact moment a shrieky voice yelled at her. "What took you so long?" It was more like a statement than a question. "Come fast. We saved the middle seat for you." Nadia beamed at her.

Without question, Zen made her way to the seat Nadia had designated for her and greeting Madilyn with a silent nod, she took her seat in the middle. Nadia took the farthest seat, both she and Madilyn giving her the spot in the middle as if she were the leader of the group in some mean girls' story. Madilyn promptly handed her a lunch box before giving her some insight into what was happening on the court since the match kicked off. It took Zen two minutes to notice Nadia and Madilyn were dressed in matching blue and pink outfits.

"I know what you're thinking," Nadia said from the side without looking at her. "You're probably wondering why me and Madilyn are wearing matching clothes."

"We would've gotten one for you too, but you won't wear it," Madilyn continued for Nadia.

"It's alright," Zen replied, opening up her lunch box. She could see the unopened lunch boxes sitting on her two friends' laps. A small, invisible smile crept up her lips at the thought of how much her two friends cared for her. They knew it'd be awkward for her to eat alone in front of so many people watching, so they waited for her to have lunch together. "So, why did you guys decide to watch the game today?"

Nadia snapped her head, locking eyes with her instantly, her lips devilishly curling upwards. "Because my new boyfriend," Nadia said, emphasizing the word new, "is playing here today. Eeeep!" she squealed in delight.

"What? Who?" Zen exclaimed in surprise, a feeling of excitement creeping up her chest after a defeated day filled with gloom.

"Whatever happened to the last one?" Madilyn cut in.

"That chapter is closed. Now shut up," Nadia responded immediately, turning to Madilyn while putting a finger to her lips.

"So, who's the new guy?" Zen asked, hoping to douse the fire burning between her two best friends.

"I'll tell you. I'll tell you," Nadia squealed, flapping her arms as if to control her excitement. "Do you see that team over there?" Nadia pointed her index finger at the basketball court.

Zen carefully followed the direction where Nadia was pointing and saw a tall man wearing a black and red jersey that featured his name and number on the back. Even though he was far from where they were sitting, Zen could see the number 03 coloured in striking red on the man's shirt.

"His name's Braxy. He's so cool." Nadia said with a dreamy sigh.

"Oh please," Madilyn interrupted, rolling her eyes at Nadia and making a puking sound right after. "She means to say that that guy, no. 3, with hair that looks like he's growing a cactus on top of his head, is cool," Madilyn said sarcastically, giving Zen a don't you agree with me kind of look. "I don't know where she even found that guy," Madilyn muttered, crossing her arms and paying her attention back to the match.

"It's none of your business," Nadia huffed, giving Madilyn an ugly face and quickly turning away from her. Zen remained silent; saying nothing would probably be best for both worlds.

It wasn't the first time they'd seen Madilyn act like a cunning witch capable of killing people with her words. Braxy might not live up to most women's standards, but he had his own appeal. After all, in this era and age, women preferred men who participated in any sport, and basketball was the second most popular sport, trailing only behind football, which remained at the top. It was no wonder Nadia fawned over him like he was a rare collectable from an old antique shop.

"So Zen, is everything okay with you now?" Nadia asked. "I'm sorry we couldn't help you the other day."

"I'm fine. Don't worry," Zen replied.

"At least we're relieved now that we know you're at Kate's," Madilyn leaned in and said next to her ear. In that noisy atmosphere, they couldn't even hold a decent conversation without shouting the words out like half-deaf people.

"Well, on the bright side, you don't have to come back to the military camp." Nadia laughed.

"Yeah," Zen agreed. Maybe staying out of the dorm would be more convenient for her after all. She had all the freedom in the world now. "Good luck adjusting to the new rules," she said almost sticking her tongue out to taunt them.

"Okay, shut up," Madilyn and Nadia said in unison, and they all laughed.

Ten minutes later, they were done with their lunch and went back to watching the game.

"Braxy's got the ball now. Watch that," Nadia jumped up and down her seat, seemingly hyped up.

"So, I reckon we're cheering for the black team," Zen guessed.

"Say no more," Madilyn joined in. "I hope the white team wins. Nadia should not be allowed to be happy," Madilyn snickered, her hands covering her lips as if she were cursing the black team.

"You can curse all you want, Madilyn," Nadia fired back, "but don't forget that black team has Raine. And with Raine in the team, they'll never lose."

Wait, who? thought Zen. At the mention of the word Raine, her heart didn't simply skip a beat; it skipped two. Raine? Raine? Raine? The name had a familiar ring to it. And although the name sounded very foreign to her, the mixed feelings of nervousness, panic, and distress erupting from the pit of her stomach convened to her that something about that name didn't invite good news.

"Hey... guys? Who's Raine?" Zen asked in a low voice, fearing for the worst.