ᵀᴴᴵˢ ᶜᴴᴬᴾᵀᴱᴿ  ᴵˢ ᴰᴱᴰᴵᶜᴬᵀᴱᴰ ᵀᴼ Tritty_pet
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"Put me down, Buns!" The sound of our laughter drowns my plea.

"Oh. My. God. Chinny!" She drops me. Her smile is refreshing, just as I planned. "I can't believe you're here!" She drags me into another hug. We're both laughing like best friends reuniting after decades of being apart.

"Well surprise. " I sit on her bed, and try to catch my breath. She joins me and we both lay down at the same time. "289. That's straight up merit list. Buns, please tell me I'm dreaming. "

"God forbid that this is a dream, if it is, I'm making sure you don't wake up." She states it unromantically.

"Hmmm." I scoff. "You do know that when people don't wake up from dreams, it means they die. Right?"

"Wrong. It's more cooked up than fact."

"Whatever, it still feels dreamish."

"Nope. I always knew you were going to smash it." Her blue eyes sparkle when she wears that familiar expression of imagination.

"Imagine this, Chin." She draws an invisible banner. It's a little too long and I lose my imaginary skills for a while.  "On your matriculation, I'm wearing a sash: My bestie is now a law undergraduate. She's hot and I'll sue your ass up if you mess with me. "

I'm nodding in unison to the intense flow of blood muddled up in my cheeks. "You're going to make me cry." I say.

She laughs. "You. Chinenye. Cry?" She snickers, "not in this life."

I curl up into her, wrapping myself in her embrace. "Thanks for believing in me." I whisper.

"Are you 'effing' kidding me right now?" She sits up. "Who else would I believe in?" Her eyes are agape and twinkling.

You know that thing people say about finding one good best friend, and living the rest of your life in bliss, I think they meant Boma and me/Me and Boma. It doesn't go any other way round.

I stretch my hand above and she pulls me up. "Well nobody." I reply.

"Exactly. Now take this as a warning. Never thank me for being proud of you."

Never thank Boma for being proud of you. I repeat in my mind. "Noted. Now about all the drama in your life. What's up?" I fold my legs on the bed, "tell me everything. "

"First. Take your shoes off. I can't have Calabar soil on my bed."

I burst out hard, wiping my eyes as humorous tears fill them.

"Fine." I slide off my trainers and adjust comfortably.

"I have new aunties."

"Okay. That gist sounds interesting, but tell me about Ivan."

She draws a breath and lets it out. I'm holding mine. "He's fine; we got to him in time."

I exhale. "Wow. I sort of can't really believe he tried to. . ."

"But you can be an angel sometimes you know, when you want to."

My eyes fly around my face and I pout, "Meaning?"

"If you hadn't told me, it would have been too late."

"Oh. You guys owe me then."

"I'm going to visit him tomorrow. You can come along and give him your bills. I'm sure he can pay anything."

My lips pucker to the side as I kiss my teeth. "At least you still have a love life to keep up with."

"Albert?" She asks, obviously noticing the unsaid things I said.

"We. Broke up."

"Chinny..." her nearly absent cheeks drop as she elevates her lower lip.

"Wait. Don't. Try. To make me feel better. I called it off and I'm fine."

"But why?"

"Well I realized that it just wasn't worth it." Disgust crawls on my face, forcing me to shake my head. "You know he suggested that we have sex, just because I was going to Calabar and he was going to Lagos, like I was some kind of leisure affair."

Boma blinks six times in two seconds, then her eyes settle in a wide wonky gaze. "Say what?"

"Yeah. He did. I've seen it coming for a while though. Like at prom, when the 'idiot' you have 'forgotten,' tried to become even more idiotic."

"Quincy?" She laughs.

"That's right. When he started the fight and tried to hit you, Albert said some shit about me not getting involved. Like I still don't get it. The long distance high school thing worked but. . ." I heave satisfyingly, "good riddance to bad rubbish, right?"

"Hell yeah!" She says, "but then he really was a charmer. That voice was pure gold."

"True. But not a keeper. You on the other hand hit the jackpot. Rich, thoughtful, smart, cute as hell..."

"Hell isn't cute."

"Shut up. You know what I mean." I snap.

She nods sagely. "He is cute as hell." She holds back her laughter. I hold mine too.

We're thrown into a moment of stupid silence, and after that moment, we burst out laughing again. Amidst all this laughter, all I really want to do is cry, and I mean weep, wail, howl. I can't describe it perfectly but I have other emotions than happiness. Don't get me wrong, I mean it's not everyday that people get admitted into their dream course the first time they try, but having to leave without Boma is just so scary. The scariest thing I've encountered since, ever.

"Now about the new aunties." I wipe my eyes, sniffling the last drops of hysteria.

She wipes her eyes too. "My grandfather was a trooper. Mom says he got two other women pregnant, before he got married to my grandmother, and before they moved abroad. "

"Oh wow." I mutter. "And the little girl?"

"I have cousins too. She's one of them. And guess what, they're staying till the wedding." She says it like it's a bad thing.

"Wow..."

"I am not comfortable with it at all. They just have a certain gold digger vibe to them." She adds.

"You must have been pissed." I suggest.

She takes the bait. "Like you have no idea how pissed I was."

"Boma, you're always kind of pissed. So I'm not sure I see a problem here." I shake my head slowly, shrugging simultaneously.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Cause it's true?"

"No. It's not. I just operate a bare minimum that you happy birds can't understand."

Bare minimum is just another one of Boma's synonym for teenage depression.

"I'm going to say this and run." I stand up. Her eyes travel between me and the door, probably planning to catch me. I know she can't, there's a reason I have inter-house sports medals in relay race.

"I'm going to make a better niece to your aunties, and they're going to love the hell out of me."

"Why aren't you running." she smirks.

I take a dash for the door, she chases after me, through the hallway, and down the stairs, almost crashing into mom holding a tray of eba and aromatic, not to mention, super garnished native soup. My favourite food to ever eat at Boma's house.

I stop when we run into the sitting room. Boma finally catches up, she bends over, hands on her knees, heaving like she just ran cross-country. The aunties are sitting and watching The Johnsons. Mom walks in with the tray of food we almost spilled. She has a mix up of expressions but I know one of them is joy.

"Good afternoon, ma." I greet the auntie closest to me, she looks me up and down, then borrows a small smile. "Uhmm. Welcome. I'm Chinny. Bomate's best friend. Hope you traveled well?"

"Mmmm." She barely spares me a glance.

Okay. My bad.

I look to Boma, she pouts at me. I'm now pissed too, and it's not even my house.

"Alright. Mom." I turn to Boma's mom, "we'll be in the kitchen. Eating." I string sentences together to keep my annoyance in check.

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So Chinny came back for this chapter. What are your thoughts??

Tell me in the comments and don't forget to vote too. Silentoes,  please vote, please. Thank you!!