Whispers In The Wind

Chapter 8

Monday, and the first day of their exam week. Keisha tried so hard to prepare for their exams, but she was unable to focus on her review because of the nonstop whispers that she's been hearing. She's not sleeping properly, she's always jumpy, and her mood swing only gets worst. Braeden, her boyfriend, tried to talk to her for so many times, but she can't find the right way to explain her situation to him.

Her conscience is eating from the inside because she's been treating her boyfriend unfairly. All he wanted was to help her, but she's always mad. Good thing that Braeden is matured and understanding, and he's also very patient. Whenever he visits, he would check Keisha's mood, and if she's not smiling, he'll just sit there quietly and wait for her to talk to him.

"Keisha, you look awful!" Natalie said when they greeted each other at the gate.

"I didn't sleep at all. I was trying to review as much as I could." Keisha lied.

"God! At least put some powder on; here."

When all their friends finally arrived, they proceeded to their first period. Everyone looked anxious, and many of them looked like Keisha. They might have pulled an all-nighter as well just to pass today's exams. Their teacher started distributing the questionnaires, when another student entered the room.

"I'm sorry, I'm late, ma'am." It was Camila. She's sweaty and breathing heavily, probably because of running.

"Ms. Randall, how are you?" Their teacher asked.

"I'm fine now, ma'am."

"Good. Take a seat."

All fourteen of them looked at each other. They were all confused, shocked, and dumbfounded. Camila never contacted them. No explanation about the way she acted for the past few days. Now, she has the audacity to smile at them like nothing happened.

"Did you guys review last night? I had to spend the entire night to catch up for the days that I was out." She smile with a smile.

"Unbelievable!" Antoinette muttered. Camila winced when she saw the distaste in her friend's eyes.

"Begin."

They all focused on their exam, and did everything they can to come up with as many correct answers as possible. Their teacher is one of the most strict in their school, and she's not scared to fail a student. No one even dared to look at other students or face a different direction. Fourth minutes is the allotted time for their exam. When the bell rang, finished or not finished, they were forced to submit their answer sheets.

"Damn! I wasn't able to finish the test." One student whispered.

"Me too. I will fail this exam, I'm sure of it." The other one said.

Keisha and her friends are confident that they will pass their first exam. Each one of them are smart enough, and that's the reason why their parents are not against their friendships. As long as they maintain their grades, they can all hang out with each other.

"Guys, wait." They heard her, but they chose to ignore her. Who could blame them, right? For days, they tried to reach out to her, but she avoided them. "Guys, stop! Please, talk to me!"

"What is it, Camila?" Antoinette asked in a bored tone. She doesn't care if she feels hurt. Friends don't just ignore friends and act like nothing happened.

"Guys, please. Talk to me." Camila pleaded.

"Talk to you? We tried, remember? But, you ignored us. Actually, you avoided us. We were so worried about you, and you just set us aside." Lina added.

"That's right. We followed you like a stupid fan girl. We wanted to help you. Do you know how awful that felt? Huh?" Brittany also said.

"Guys, I think we should let—"

"Shut up, Keisha." Their friends said in unison. Keisha was outnumbered, and so she has no choice but to keep quiet.

"I know I was such an awful friend. But, please try to understand—"

"Ha! Try to understand? What do we have to understand? Hmm?" Natalie said.

They all waited for Camila to provide her explanation, but they waited for a full minute, yet still no response. Their friends all have the same reaction. Disappointment and disinterest.

"See? You can't even provide an explanation for your actions these days." They all turned their backs on her and left, except for Keisha. Her eyes are full of pity towards her.

"I hope you understand why they acted that way. We really did everything we can to reach you out, but you avoided us. I'm hurt, but I'm not angry at you. I just kept reminding myself that maybe, you're going through something that you have to face alone. But, on the other hand, they also have a point. We're your friends, and friends are supposed to help each other no matter what. You could have talk to us, or at least tell us that you needed some space." Keisha explained.

"I know, Kei. I was so wrong to shut you guys out. I can't blame you if you don't want be friends with me anymore." Camila responded in a sad tone.

"Are you kidding me? Our friendship is for life, Camila. It will not end, specially not this way. Come on, let get to class."

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Keisha knows that the rift between her friends and Camila cannot be fixed overnight. It will take time and effort, and she is more that willing to help Camila to work her way to their hearts again. Her friends are the most important people in her life aside from her family.

"You looked troubled, honey." Keisha's mother sat beside her with a concerned look on her face.

"My friends are fighting, Mom. I don't know how to help fix things between them." She responded.

"Honey, friendship is like romantic relationship. It will go through many trial, but if the friendship is true, it will conquer."

"I hate to seem them like that, especially when I can't do anything about it."

"I know that it's hard for you to be in the middle of it all, but you can't force people into something that they don't want to do. You have to let them go through whatever they are going through right now, and learn from it. All you can do is be there for them when they need you."

Her mother's words gave her something to think about. Maybe, her mom's right. She has to let her friends work their issues on their own.

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Meanwhile, Antoinette came home with a man half naked in their living room. This man didn't even bother to cover up his body when she entered the house. She wanted to have an outburst, but because of the exhausting day she had in school, she decided to shut her mouth.

"Antoinette, there's food in the table." Her mom said when she entered the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"What food? This? Two pieces of loaf and a slice of cheese? And what's that? Chicken for the half naked man in our living room? I'm your daughter, yet you're preparing a much better food for a stranger?"

Antoinette can't take it anymore. She's been putting up with her mother's indecent acts for so long, and she's had enough. After pushing her mother aside, she took the pan and threw it's content to the trash bin.

"What the hell did you do!" Her mother almost screamed.

"No! What the hell are you doing! This is my father's house! He named me the legal owner of this house when I turned sixteen! I can kick you out of this house whenever I want to!"

"How dare you!" Her mother grabbed her hair, and dragged her out of the house. She wants to throw Antoinette out, even though what her daughter said was true. The house is under Antoinette's name.

"Let me go, you b***h! You are not my mother! You're a slut! A w***e! You should have died instead of dad!"

"Damn you!" Her mother pushed her out of anger without knowing that there's a speeding car coming. Antoinette was hit by the car, and lost consciousness immediately.