CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: VANESSA (2)
Nobody responded to what Vanessa had just said. Instead, each of us kept our attention on our clothes, our buckets, or the splashes of water on the ground. It was as though her words dissolved into the air and no one wanted to acknowledge them.
She noticed the silence and tilted her head. "Did anyone hear what I said?" she asked carefully, her voice tinged with hesitation.
"Did you say something?" Morayo replied, finally lifting her eyes from her wet pile of uniforms. She wore a questioning look that almost seemed mischievous.
I bit my lip, holding back a smile. Morayo is not serious at all. Lol.
"Morayo…" Victoria's voice carried warning, her gaze steady on her. It was as if she was silently telling her to stop playing around, that this wasn't the time.
"What? I'm serious," Morayo insisted, lifting her hands innocently. "I didn't hear anything. Did you?" she turned the question back at Victoria, unbothered by her tone.
"I heard something," Victoria said calmly.
"Then why didn't you say anything?" Morayo shot back, her eyes flicking from Victoria to Vanessa and back again.
"Because I didn't want to," Victoria replied plainly, her expression calm, collected, almost cold.
The tension between the two of them hung like damp clothes on a line. Vanessa blinked rapidly, then asked quietly, "Anyways… are you guys annoyed at me or something?"
Her voice carried a nervous edge, and for a second, she looked like a child afraid of being left out.
"No. Why would we?" Morayo said, the edge in her tone softening just a little as she answered and asked at the same time.
"Thank goodness," Vanessa sighed with relief, looking at all of us with gratitude written on her face.
I remained silent, watching her closely, wondering what secret she wanted to share. Whatever was going on between Victoria and Morayo didn't bother me much. That was their business to settle. My focus was on Vanessa—the mystery wrapped around her was becoming more and more unbearable.
"Actually, the reason I didn't say anything earlier," Victoria added softly, "was because I didn't want you to change your mind again." She looked at Vanessa, then glanced briefly at Morayo.
"I'm okay with that," Vanessa replied, a small smile tugging at her lips. "And I can't change my mind now. I've already decided I'll tell you what I want to say."
Morayo coughed suddenly, loudly, drawing attention in a way that felt deliberate.
We all turned toward her. I didn't need anyone to explain—I already knew why she coughed like that. Morayo wasn't fully on board with this whole Vanessa-secret business, and she wasn't hiding her irritation.
Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if Morayo and Vanessa never got along at all.
"Glad you took us as friends," Victoria said with a smile, ignoring Morayo's interruption and trying to keep the atmosphere warm.
"Yeah," Vanessa said softly, shifting her weight. "About the secret I wanted to tell you earlier… I'll tell you after we finish washing. This place seems too open." She looked around at the bustling laundry area filled with chatter, laughter, and the endless sound of clothes being beaten against basins.
"Okay," I said, finally speaking up. "But if I may ask—where else do you think is secretive enough for us to hear whatever private thing you have in mind?"
At least I had contributed to the discussion. Honestly, I just wanted her to spill already.
"Over there," she said, pointing northeast toward the grade eight building.
I followed her finger with my eyes. The grade eight building was right beside our hostel, Benevolence Hostel. It was an open classroom, its emptiness strange and mysterious. I always wondered why there was even a classroom that close to the girls' hostel in the first place.
"Okay," I nodded, returning to my clothes. I poured the washing water into the gutter and fetched a fresh one to rinse my uniforms.
Behind me, a conversation floated in from two girls nearby.
"Yeah, like John and Gabriel are dragging for finest boy in grade seven," one girl said, dropping her dirty pile onto the floor to fetch water. "They are both very much handsome."
"Why would you say that? What about that Chinese boy?" her friend asked, walking beside her.
Chinese boy? My ears perked. We had two of them—or at least, two I had noticed during the grade seven morning gathering. Both were half-breeds. One was Daniel. The other… I didn't even know his name.
"Daniel or Yeon?" the first girl clarified.
"Both."
"They are not even fine," the other girl said bluntly. "Don't judge them just because they look different. They're not fine."
I almost burst out laughing. That was really straightforward!
"Whatever," the first girl said, shrugging. "But you can't just say Gabriel and John are the finest when you haven't even seen all the boys yet."
"Have you seen J.S.S. 1A and D classes? Fine boys are plenty there," her friend countered.
"I pray they don't use fine boys to carry you away," the second girl teased, and they both laughed.
I shook my head, amused at their banter. Some girls really had time for these kinds of conversations.
"Floral, aren't you coming?" Morayo's voice cut through my thoughts. I turned to find her looking at me expectantly. She and the others were already standing, buckets balanced, waiting for me.
"Oh," I muttered, realizing I had zoned out. I quickly poured away my last rinse water, squeezed my clothes neatly, and packed them into my bucket. Then I joined them as we all went to take our night baths.
After spreading our washed clothes on the lines and collecting the dry ones from yesterday, we returned to the hostel to change into our nightwear.
"Let's go, she's waiting for us," Victoria said once she had tied the belt of her robe.
"Okay," I replied, following her lead. Morayo trailed behind us too.
The four of us headed to the J.S.S. 2 building. When we arrived, Vanessa had already swept the pavement clean, making it neat for us to sit on. The cool evening breeze touched our faces as we settled down.
"It's so cosy and cool outside tonight," Victoria said, tilting her head up and smiling.
"I guess it is," Morayo agreed, though her eyes stayed fixed on the students passing by.
Vanessa took a deep breath, her gaze serious now. "About what Benita said… it was a very bad thing. But I think I should start from the very beginning."
My heart beat faster. Finally, she was about to reveal it.
"Okay, we're all ears," Victoria said, sitting more comfortably as if preparing for a long story.
"But…" Morayo interrupted, narrowing her eyes. "Why do you trust us with your secret?"
Her tone wasn't curious—it was challenging, almost accusing.
"As I said earlier," Vanessa replied, locking eyes with her, "because I feel you guys are the right and trustworthy friends to be with."
"But we just met yesterday," Morayo pressed, her voice filled with doubt. "So why would you conclude something like that already?"
I sighed inwardly. What is wrong with this Morayo? She was disturbing. Couldn't she just keep quiet for once? I really wanted to hear Vanessa's story, and now she was distracting her.
Finally, I snapped. "Morayo, if you don't want to hear, please leave."