my bittersweet lover

episode seven.

Hannah's pov.

I was getting bored, staying in the library all alone. It was lunch hour and Lina had not yet come around, she usually kept me company. Making sure all the books were neatly arranged and stacked in their respective row, I decided to take a walk. Students hardly came here to study anyway, aside from just a few.

I wondered where she could have been she always came here during her breaks, and lunch since she does not have friends. I had a feeling that something was wrong. My gut never lied. She was a beautiful young lady, very intelligent and hardworking. I just fell in love with her, so humble, and respectful unlike most of the spoilt young ladies here.

I had been working in that school for years. It now felt like a part of me, spending time surrounded by so many books of all kinds. What could be better than that? Reading books had a way of distracting my mind and taking me to a foreign land where my problems did not exist for some time. I had tried to concentrate on other things but I just couldn't. My mind kept drifting to Lina. So I decided to talk a walk round the school, hoping that I would somehow find her.

I was just passing by the ladies' restroom when I heard some sobs, almost as if someone was crying. Mmh, well that was rare, what could have gone wrong on that beautiful afternoon? I thought. Nevertheless, I decided to check, not that I liked meddling, but I had a strong push to find out.

The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place who it was. It reminded me of my daughter before she was taken away. That made my heart ache, it was something I had been trying to forget but I had not been able to do that just yet. I didn't understand why the sound of her cry, whoever she was in there got me so concerned.

I had called out to her twice and nothing happened, she did not respond. I knocked but still, nothing. I was starting to think maybe she was not going to open the door, maybe she needed to be alone. Still, I had to wait a little longer,

"please...." I hoped she would.

Guess who I saw in there when the door opened? Lina. There she sat on the flash toilet with nothing on but her inner garments. Still, her skin, looked so dirty, with her uniform looking kind of soaked at the corner. Her eyes looked swollen, I guess from all the crying, her hair shaggy, as though she had tried to groom it but it did not work out so well. She was shaking.

Poor child, she seemed all sorts of messed up, shivering, her feet buckled as she tried to keep them together. I could see she was trying to compose herself and look a bit presentable but embarrassment was written all over her face. It must have been one of her classmates that did this to her.

I always wondered why she never did anything concerning these bullies. Every trial and effort to talk her into reporting them proved abortive. As she sat helplessly, before me, I tried to find all possible reasons as to why most of her classmates were mean to her but I couldn't find any reason.

"sweet child, why were you crying in there? why are you looking like this? Who did this to you? Oh, you seem cold, do you have another outfit you can change into? "

She shook her head. Her eyes were glued on the floor as silent sobs escaped from her lips.

"Okay, just wait here, I'm coming. "

It seemed like she had a hard time answering any of my questions, poor kid, I felt for her.

I had to get another set of uniform for her to change in the meantime. That would not be an issue, Martin had not reported to school today. He was the head in charge of the student's welfare and had mentioned something about having restocked everything, I just hoped uniforms were one of them.

His office was just opposite the library. It was big because it was joined to the room where all these things were kept. Ah, the keys were just under the flower vase near the door, where he always kept them. All the students were having lunch in the hall, so no one saw me enter. If only I could find what I was looking for before anyone came around.

After about three minutes of searching thoroughly but carefully and cautiously enough not to disarrange anything, I found one. It was the only one, that was luck. Tiptoeing as quietly as I had when I entered, I silently closed the door, returned the keys under the same vase, and headed towards the students' restroom, trying to mind my business and as I walked as casually as possible.

"Lina, it's me, Mrs. Hannah,... I brought something clean and dry for you to put on. Try and hurry, break's almost over and am sure you would not want to miss the rest of the classes."

"I'm here anytime you wanna talk bout it dear"

She opened the door narrowly, just enough to let her arm out. I handed the uniform to her which she took n closed the door once more.

Life must have been tough for this little girl, I thought as I took quick steps back to the library. I was pretty sure no one had looked for me at this time. The state I found her in got me wondering about my darling daughter. She would probably be of Lina's age right now. Why Lina reminded me so much bout her, I had no idea.

All everyone knew was that I was an old, boring lady who loved reading books and was in charge of the library. Other than that, nothing more. I enjoyed spending time with Lina, that innocent soul. I wondered why she came to school so early every single morning, without something warm other than her uniform, not even a jacket.

I had never seen her parents drop her at school like the others. She was always the first to arrive and the last to leave. Other times, she would just come and sleep here, it was as though she went through a lot at home but did not want to share. Did her parents not love her? Was she an only child?

sometimes I wished my daughter, wherever she might be had grown up to be a beautiful mannered lady like her. I still held on to some hope that I would one day set my eyes on her again. She was only but a child when he took her. It would be so lovely, I would have someone to feel in this void I felt deep down.

Oh well, enough with the thinking, back to work. It was time to get back to the interesting book I had been reading. It was time to get into another world of its own.