Kaira was already thinking of what to do as she walked back home. She was startled when she found the door to their room open and heard the clatter of cutleries inside. Then it stopped abruptly. Kaira tiptoed and turned on the flashlight of her phone. Her heart pounded louder than her footsteps as she reached for the door with trembling hands. She slowly pushed it open and was shocked to see Alisha eating, her spoon making soft clinking sounds as she watched a movie on her phone with the lamp on. Kaira let out a deep breath.
"Where have you been? I've been looking around for us," Kaira said. Instead of replying, Alisha focused on her phone, laughing loudly, one hand still in her plate.
"Alisha, I'm talking to you," Kaira said again, but Alisha only laughed harder, ignoring her.
Kaira walked slowly to the bed and lay down. Her soul sank between sadness and disappointment. She knew that once Alisha got that angry, nothing could make her respond. Kaira's mind wandered miles away, wondering how bad she must have been to make everyone hate her . Even her only friend, Alisha.
That night, Alisha didn't even sleep on the same bed as Kaira. She slept on the floor. Kaira couldn't close her eyes all night; thoughts flooded her heart until she finally drifted off around 5:00 a.m., hoping Alisha would wake her for their 7:00 a.m. class.
By the time she woke up, Alisha had already left for school. It was 9:00 a.m. The class was over. Tears welled in her eyes as she realized she had overslept. She checked Alisha's bag and saw that she had taken her books and left without her.
She felt pain mixed with anger, but she issued out a smile.
"It's fine," she muttered and got out of bed, had her bath, and without breakfast, walked out of the room for the next class. It was boring walking to school without Alisha, but she had no choice. On her way, she saw friends holding hands, chatting, and laughing so hard at each other's jokes. With every place she passed, memories of herself and Alisha flooded her mind.
She finally got to school. The 1500-seater lecture theatre was full to its brim. Alisha wasn't sitting in their usual seat. However, Kaira sat there, thinking she would come to meet her there,probably she went out to get something. She brought her books out of her bag in readiness for the lecture when her eyes caught Alisha at the front with some girls, chatting and laughing happily.
At first, Kaira decided to let her be. Watching from a distance while she was happy was enough for her. Perhaps the ones with her were just fake. It was just her trying to stay with her and condone their boring friendship. But after some minutes, she couldn't watch her anymore. She walked up to her even when she was in the midst of the girls,the kind of gathering she hated the most.
"Hi, Alisha," she said softly, and instead of replying, Alisha hissed, and they continued laughing hard, ignoring her as if she were a ghost. Kaira felt like the ground could open up and swallow her. She was embarrassed.
The lecturer walked into the class at that moment, so she walked back to their usual seat. She sat all alone throughout the class. No one wanted to sit beside a nerd who hardly spoke to people. After the three-hour class, Kaira walked up to Alisha again.
"Let's go home."
"Did we come here together? Find your way," she snapped, catching up with the girls. Kaira could see the girls jeering at her while she watched Alisha walk away with them.
"Your lonely friend must really miss you," one of them said, and the others laughed. Alisha looked back with an expression that seemed unclear, as if telling her to see that she was doing well without her.
Kaira adjusted her bag and walked out, heading home alone again. On her way, her phone rang, and she checked who the caller was. She was visibly trembling. Her eyes were restless in their sockets as she ran helter-skelter, looking for a quiet place. She finally found one.
"Mum, good afternoon ma," she said softly.
"You didn't even bother calling me today," she fired.
"I'm sorry, Mum. I was almost late for class, so it skipped my mind," Kaira answered.
"Late for class? So that's how you always do?" she yelled.
"No, ma," Kaira denied immediately.
"What am I even expecting from you?" she said and hung up.
It was as if she kept getting drenched by the rain of sadness. She had wanted to cry it out again, but her tears were so strong that they refused to come out.
She got home looking tired. She had wanted to sleep on the bed when her eyes caught Alisha's blanket at a corner. She felt the ground was too cold for Alisha to sleep on. She carried her own blanket and slept on the floor while she put Alisha's on the bed.
A few minutes later, Alisha came in and jumped on the bed happily, even when she saw Kaira on the floor. That was how Kaira stopped sleeping on the bed and started sleeping on the floor. She had missed many classes when they hadn't even gotten to half of the semester, and the cough had come back a thousandfold.
Alisha had gone to class one fateful morning when Kaira woke up and, as usual, the cough started. She took her handkerchief to cover her mouth, but then she noticed a dark crimson color as she moved it away from her mouth. There was a metallic taste she couldn't comprehend in her mouth.
She coughed again and used her handkerchief, and it was the same thing. Blood! She couldn't believe her eyes. She was still trying to comprehend what was happening when she heard loud bang on the door. Her eyes darted around, restless. She quickly hid the handkerchief.