24

Days passed, and along with them, Boma's routine as Donovan's girl for the time being.

She spent the next three days in the hostel with Donovan picking and dropping her off at times.

She attended classes regularly and had no trouble with the bullies in her class.

She sat on her hostel bed on a lecture-free day, reading a novel but she was distracted by memories of her immediate past.

She recalled her encounter with the three girls.

Upon accosting her in the restroom one afternoon where they prepared to cut her hair, one of them accidentally saw her ring and called her friends' attention to it. Shocked, they backed off and she could not remember them bothering her again.

But they often stared at her in class as they whispered among themselves. Sometimes it felt like they were planning something. But since they didn't bother her, she told herself it was just paranoia.

She had found peace and wished she could get her peace without Donovan being the reason why they were avoiding her.

She a