Purpose

Chapter 2

"Do you know who I am?" Derick, the bully, asked.

"I don't care. I already told you I'm sorry," Abigail replied.

"Do we look like people that need 'sorry'?" Philip, a friend of Derick, asked.

"If I told you sorry, that means you do!" Abigail replied.

"Don't worry, today we will deal with you!" Derick said.

"You can't even raise a finger against me. You won't try it!" Abigail said, about to leave when Derick caught her by the hand.

"I'm serious. You think I'm that type of boy that doesn't beat girls? Today, I'll beat you mercilessly," Derick said, about to beat Abigail up, but Phoebe came to stop him.

"Derick, please leave her alone! She's a new student!" Phoebe said.

"And so what? She'll have to pay for what she did," Derick said.

"Okay, tell me exactly what she did and we'll sort things out together," Phoebe said.

"This so-called human being was walking past me, then she hit me and the beans on my plate just splashed and scattered on my uniform. The funny thing is that she doesn't even care or feel remorseful," Derick said.

"Okay, okay, I understand. Please release her just this once. You know this is just her first time," Phoebe said.

"You're lucky you have a sensible friend like Phoebe. If not for her, you would have been fried meat!" Derick said to Abigail as he let go of her.

"Please, I could not even have been toasted bread," Abigail said under her breath.

"Derick, thank you!" Phoebe said as Derick and Philip left the cafeteria.

"Abigail, you almost got yourself into trouble. Be careful," Phoebe said.

"I'm sorry. I got a bit angry, especially because I hate when people bully me. It makes me look weak," Abigail said.

"Don't worry, I've got your back. Nobody can bully you," Phoebe said.

"Thanks. Anyways, aren't we going to meet the other roommates?" Abigail asked.

"Yeah, we are. Oh, they're over there!" Phoebe said, holding Abigail by the hand as they went to meet the other roommates.

​Phoebe was a girl who had good character and moral values. She was one who could easily connect with people and know what troubled them. About that time, she was turning fifteen years old. Her family was a single-parent family because of the divorce between her parents. Ever since the divorce, her mom had always been the one taking care of her and her three sisters. Her mom took good care of her and her siblings and made sure to provide for all their needs. The firstborn, Lily, was already married with children—a boy and a girl. The second born, Delight, was in her final year of university and was graduating the following year. The third born, Faithful, was a fresher, just starting university.

​"Who's this pretty girl?" Anna, one of the roommates, asked.

"I knew it! It's not up to thirty seconds since she came here and you're already jealous!" Zion, another roommate, said.

"You guys behave yourselves. This is our new roommate, Ilori Abigail," Phoebe replied.

"Hi, guys," Abigail said.

"Hey beauty, how are you doing?" Zion asked.

"See, I could see jealousy in your eyes before she even came here," Anna said.

"No problem. I understand you did not tell me what I said when you entered. You should have talked now," Zion said.

"Is this how they always behave?" Abigail asked.

"Welcome to my world. Meet Anna and Zion, my troublesome roommates. Some of us call them the ZA Thunder," Phoebe replied.

"Don't mind her jor. How are you doing, Abigail?" Zion asked.

"I'm fine, thanks," Abigail replied.

"Ah, ah, why are you still standing? Sit down now," Anna said.

"We haven't gotten our food yet. Abigail here got into a fight with Derick. I just stepped into the fight and pleaded for her. After he left, we spotted you guys here and just decided to greet you," Phoebe said.

"Go and grab breakfast; we'll be waiting for you here," Anna said as Phoebe and Abigail went to take their breakfast.

​Anna and Zion were two friends that could never be separated. Both came from wealthy homes and each had wealthy parents. They had known each other right from primary school up to secondary school. Both of them wanted to enter the medical profession, but each had specialized areas they wanted to study. Anna wanted to be a surgeon while Zion wanted to be a cardiologist. Both worked hard to achieve this while putting God first. Anna came from a home of three children—two boys and one girl. She was the only girl and the second child of her parents. Her elder brother, the firstborn, was already in his service year (NYSC). Her younger brother, the thirdborn and last child, had just entered his first year in secondary school (JSS 1).

​Zion, on the other hand, came from a home of two children. They were twins, her and her sister. Their names were Zion and Zoe. Zion and her sister went to different schools. This was so because her parents were tired of the reports they heard from their school that both of them fought. It became so frequent that the school management advised them to withdraw one of them from the school. Zion's parents decided to withdraw Zoe from the school and put her in another school starting from JSS 2.

​"See, child, we no get bread and stew for here. Na wetin dey here you go chop," the cafeteria woman, Mrs. Helen, said.

"Okay ma, I think I would like to have beans," Abigail said.

"Who dey chop beans for early morning? Who?" Mrs. Helen asked.

"Okay ma, if you don't have these foods, what then do you have?" Abigail asked.

"We get cereal, we get pap, we get oat, custard, we even get pepper soup. Which one do you want?" Mrs. Helen asked.

"Wait, is this the type of food you serve in the morning? I mean, who takes pepper soup in the morning? Who?!" Abigail asked.

"Abigail, be fast. There is a long queue. Do you know how long we've all been waiting for you?" Phoebe asked.

"Don't mind her. E be like say she no see line for here," Mrs. Helen said.

"Fine, I'm sorry. I think I'll just have some cereal," Abigail replied.

Mrs. Helen gave her the cereal and heaved a sigh of relief. "Next person!" Mrs. Helen said.

​

"I hope you enjoyed the cereal?" Phoebe asked as they walked down the hallway to their dorm.

"Somehow," Abigail replied.

"Wait, why did you even pick cereal?" Zion asked.

"Is it not because I did not want that woman to cry? I could nearly see the water drops from her eyes," Abigail replied.

"Ah ah now, Abigail. That's too much from you. Don't you know you were stressing her? I wonder how you did not see the water drops from my eyes. I was almost crying for her," Phoebe said.

"No, how do you expect me, a new student, to know the food that was available? You people should get a menu board or something," Abigail said.

"Don't mind Phoebe. Tell her to ask her principal for a menu board," Zion said.

"Our Principal, you mean!" Phoebe said.

"You guys, don't forget classes start by eleven o'clock. This is ten-thirty," Anna said.

"Thank you, our reminder!" Zion said.

"No problem, I'm just doing my job," Anna said.

​"Awwwwwwn, you look cute in your uniform!" Phoebe said.

"Seriously?" Abigail asked.

"Yes," Phoebe replied.

"This is not the right time for that. Classes start in two minutes," Anna said.

"Abigail, we have to go, be fast!" Phoebe said.

"I'm already through," Abigail said.

"Then who are we waiting for?" Zion asked.

"Nobody," Anna replied.

"Let's go," Phoebe said.