Chapter 21 OUT OF SCHOOL

Riana and Mary passed their exams in flying colors but Riana remained the top student of the class. Every lecturer congratulated her and they gave her awards. Many eyes loved her achievement except for one guy. He was territorial and had never been beaten before in his studies. Watching her get all the accolades really irritated him.

He looked at her firmly like someone strategizing ways to bring her down. When the next semester results came out, she still beat him with a few points. His friends would tease him and his girlfriend didn't make it easy for him either. He tripled his reading schedule and started spying on her to discover her secret.

So he thought of befriending her. Like they say, to beat a lion, you must think like a lion. He met her when she was alone reading under a tree, and he approached her like a fan. Riana knew he was faking it and politely told him to stay away from her.

"I'm aware you're jealous of me. I'm not competing with you but we both know it's the survival of the fittest. Anyhow you want to play this game, just know I'm not your enemy, Joshua." Riana told him.

Joshua was stunned at her reply and told her that he would never disturb her again. His hatred for her increased geometrically. He was just throwing tantrums at anyone who came closer to him, including his girlfriend.

He felt very uncomfortable and even worse because his foolproof plan had failed him. He gave his girlfriend, Shelia a break. She wasn't happy about it because she was madly in love with him.

She thought of ways to bring Riana down so that she could win her lover's heart again. As Joshua kept avoiding Shelia, the more she felt her relationship was falling apart. So she decided to hook up with Mary in order to get Riana.

Mary was a free person so it was very easy for Shelia and her becoming friends. Riana was aware of it but didn't take it seriously. It get to a point where by Sheila and her were hanging out frequently and it was affecting her studies. She wasn't having time with Riana for studies

anymore.

They would go to parties and fuck cute boys and Mary would tell Riana about it whenever she was reading. Those moments usually bore arguments and advices from Riana. They almost fought because they both couldn't cope with each other anymore.

One day, as they were arguing, it transcended to raining insults at each other. Mary was deeply hurt as she felt Riana must pay for it for calling her a cheap whore. However, that day, Mary vowed to never visit her again. Riana realized her wrong and apologized to her, but she refused.

She called her on phone countless times, but Mary declined her phone calls. She tried going to her house but Mary never welcomed her in. Riana however, went home to forget about Mary.

"If she wants it this way, then it's no problem. But if she tries to make us reconcile, I'll never accept her again because she might plan a way to revenge. I can't trust a street girl like her. She isn't decent enough. I shouldn't have been her friend in the first place. Well, now she's old news." Riana thought as she continued reading her book.

While she was sleeping, flashes of Mary's face kept showing in her dreams. But she would ignore her and condition her mind to dream of something better. But that night, all she was dreaming of was Mary in different episodes trying to hurt her. She was petrified.

She couldn't sleep throughout the night as it was raining cats and dogs with thunder and lightning creating scary images at every opportunity. Her instinct told her to drop out of school because

Mary might use her influence to hurt her.

Mary was the social girl so she could easily mix with the bad boys on campus and make Riana's life miserable throughout graduation. The next day, Riana called her foster parents and informed them about the incident. They told her to come home so they could arrange for another University for her and she felt relieved even though she still loved her school.

When Mary narrated everything that happened between her bestie to Sheila, Sheila sympathized with her and made her see reasons she should not let Riana go unhurt. So Mary's bitterness grew and she only felt revenge.

"If she thinks she's the righteous one, I'll destroy her reputation. She doesn't know who she's messing with. Watch out Riana for this new me." Mary smirked.

"Now that's my baby. Make her pay for such insolence." Shelia pecked Mary. Mary was charged and started sculpting ways to deal with Riana. When she's thinking about it, flashes of Riana's foster parents and Richard try to alleviate her anger.

But she felt defeated by Riana's verbal assault. So she went to Riana's house to see her but realized that she wasn't staying there again. All the rooms were empty. She decided to give her a call but her line wasn't going through. So she called Richard too but he wasn't picking up.

She dialed his number many times until he finally picked up the call. The person who answered was a woman. And there were some moans in the background.

"Hello, Mary, Richard is busy now because we are damn fucking at the moment. Pardon mean, I'm gonna switch off his phone right now." The lady replied.

"What the fuck." Mary said shockingly. Before she could say much, the line was hung up. "Dang it. What the hell is going on? Who is that bitch that makes Richard ignore my call? Now, how do I get to know the whereabouts of Riana?"

She tried calling his phone thereafter but it was switched off so she gave up on it. She tried to pay him a visit but discovered it was very dangerous so she brushed it off her mind.

"Maybe I'll try to visit Riana at her foster parents' home and trick her into forgiving me and get back to her. I'll never forgive that girl." Mary said as she booked a day to visit Riana's real home.