Chapter 2 : Upset

When lunch was ready, Jessica came to my room and found me arranging some of my stuff. "Food is ready," she said smiling at me. "Oh, okay," I said smiling back at her. "You don't look hungry though" she commented. "Yeah, I ate before coming. I ate some snacks" I said as I walked over to her at the door. "So, should I go tell mom you ain't feeling..." she said as I cut in, "No, come on!" I deadpanned, "I never said I wasn't hungry, right?" I wrinkled a brow at her. "Yeah, but you said you ate snacks before coming, so..." "Let's just go, okay?" I winked at her and I walked past her out of the room. "Hey miss, where are you going to?" she sarcastically asked. "Maldives!" I joked, walking down the stairs. "Oh I see, the Maldives downstairs huh?" she laughed out louder. "No, the one in your room" I smirked at her. "Your room, huh?" she retaliated. "No, yours!" "Yours?" "Yours! "Yours?" "What's going on there?" Said aunt Vicky, drawing our attention to her. "Nothing, mom!" Jessica concealed. "Just having a little chit-chat with Laura here," she continued, "isn't it Laura?" she widened her teeth while staring at me. "No, we were arguing," I said as a matter of factly. "Oh come on, you are no fun!" she muttered as she pulled a chair from the dining table and sat in it. "Sorry" I sarcastically said to her in what seemed like a whisper, joining her at the dining table. "Thanks for being honest with me, Laura," said aunt Vicky. "You are wel..." I said halfway as Jessica cut in, "Oh, come on, the food is getting cold already," she said as she hegan eating like a hungry wolf. I didn't even know when my jaw dropped while I stare at her. She was really funny. Her mom however smiled and shook her head, apparently used to her craziness. The two looked alike, but Jessica had blonde hair. Aunt Vicky however had dark hair like mine. She was also the same height as me while Jessica was a little bit taller than us. Apart from hair color and height, both aunt Vicky and Jessica looked alike. And one funny thing was that aunt Vicky looked more beautiful than Jessica. I wouldn't dare say that in Jessica's presence though. While eating, aunt Vicky asked about my school and I told her I had bagged a college degree from Marina College already. "Just that? Come on, you need to further sis!" Jessica chimed in. "Well I had wanted to further my education but now, I would be happy if I start earning my own money. How about you, Jessica?" I wrinkled a brow at her. "Well," she cleared her throat about continuing when aunt Vicky cut in, "Jessica wants to study medicine at Oxford and I don't have money for that. I tried all my best to change her mind but..." – Jessica wanted to cut in but Aunt Vicky continued – "...all efforts to no avail. I didn't just know why" "But why, little sis?" I unbelievably asked, turning to Jessica. Who in turn stood angrily to her feet. "I am done here!" she said and left the dining table. She was probably heading to her room as she took the stairs. I was about to follow her when aunt Vicky held my hand, shaking her head. "You don't wanna convince that troublesome child, she's as hard as a rock. Sedimentary rock" she said and then ordered me to continue eating my meal. After eating, she helped me clear the table. I tried washing the dishes myself but she just couldn't let me. She said I was new, even though she was happy I wanted to help. "You know," she cleared her throat and continued, "I never knew you would find any house chore interesting" "Like seriously?" I laughed. "Yeah" she laughed as well. "Come on, aunt. I used to work at home. I used to help mom, though not all the time but I used to help her with chores" I defended myself. "Oh, and that's good of you. Unlike Jessica, she hates chores. She can be very lazy, you know? I would have to force her every time to help me in the kitchen" she complained. "That's because you are too kind" I commented. "But Grace was more kind than I am, yet you...her child, turn out to be a good girl. You are not lazy" she said making me smile. It was a compliment. "Thank you, aunt" I uttered. "You are welcome" she smiled back at me. And just as I turned about leaving the kitchen, I halted and turned back again at her. "About Jessica," "What about her?" "I think people are different, we are not the same you know? However, I believe one day she's gonna change" I beamed at her. "I hope so" she heaved a sigh. Thus, I left the kitchen and headed straight upstairs. Surprisingly, I found Jessica leaning by her door and going through her phone. She didn't even notice my presence, or she probably just ignored me. "Errm…" I cleared my throat. "Any problem?" she asked. "No, just wondering if we could talk," I said. "I don't wanna talk" she snapped at me. "But why?" I said gently walking towards her, "You know it's not good to keep things to oneself right? Especially things that don't give one joy" "Do you care about anybody's joy here? Laura, you just came here and mom is already exposing every little secret of mine to you" she groaned. "But I am not a stranger, right? By the way, she was only telling me about your desire to study at Oxford" I said, trying to calm her down. "Oh, yeah? She should have let me explain things to you myself then," she said as she turned her phone off and folded her arms across her chest. "Okay I am sorry, on her behalf," I said sitting close to her in the doorway. "By the way," I continued, "why don't you study here?"