THREE WEEKS LATER

Blessing's grandparents noticed that they had not seen the strange girl ever since the night she came to ask for Blessing. Blessing's reply to his grandparents was that he had no idea who they were talking about. Hearing Blessing says that made his grandparents think that Blessing must have chased the girl away from him since that is what he always does with anyone who wants to be close to him or be his friend which is why he does not have any friends. Blessing's grandparents thought they had to find the girl and talk to her so they could make her realize what kind of person Blessing was and why she shouldn’t leave him.

Blessing came out of the house holding a nylon bag full of waste to go throw inside the bin at the front of the house compound. Just as Blessing threw the waste into the bin and was about to close the bin, he heard the sound of someone crying. Blessing looked in the direction he was hearing the sound of a cry and saw it was the same house next to theirs where he met the girl that he sent away from him weeks ago. Seeing the house, Blessing knew the person crying that he could be hearing would be no one except the strange girl even though it had been a while since he heard a cry from the next house.

Blessing closed the bin and wanted to mind his business as usual and walked back into his house but just like last time he suddenly felt what he felt for the girl the very first he saw the girl crying which was why he went to her. Blessing felt drawn to her sadness, pain, and sorrow and wondered why he was feeling that way whenever it came to the girl.

Blessing tried to shut off whatever he was feeling for the girl but couldn’t and he could hear his heart calling out to her making him wonder what it was about the girl that always wanted him to go to her that he couldn’t shake off and always attract her to him. Blessing was still in his thoughts when he suddenly found himself walking toward the house following the sound of the cry he was hearing.

Blessing followed the sound of cry to the backyard of the house where he met the same girl seated on the ground crying bitterly and hard. Blessing looked at the girl for some seconds before he walked to the girl and stopped in front of her then Blessing held her right hand telling her to come with him.

The girl stopped crying and was surprised when she saw Blessing and when he held her hand wondering why he was here and holding her hand. Just as Blessing was about to pull the girl up with the girl's hand that he was holding, the girl took her hand back from Blessing and continued crying.

Blessing wonders why the girl did that and Blessing took the girl her hand back but the girl took her hand back saying angrily to Blessing “let go of my hand”, as she continued crying.

Hearing what the girl said and taking her hand back, Blessing realized why the girl must be reacting in such a way toward him and he said to the girl “you need to come with me right now”.

“What the hell do you want from me?” said the angrily out loud to Blessing, as she stopped crying.

“All I want from you is that you come with me” said Blessing.

“To do what, huh? Just let me be and mind your business” said the girl angrily.

“Yeah. I want to mind my business but I can’t. I don’t know why I can’t but I can’t” said Blessing.

“I don’t care. All I want from you is that you get out of my sight and I also never want to see you again” said the girl angrily.

“I understand you but I.……” said Blessing.

Blessing was cut short of words as the girl cut in saying angrily “why can you just leave? Why?…… You made sure I understood you. You made sure I understood that I should never come close to you. You made sure I understood that I was just a stranger of no good and that you never wanted me or liked me. You made sure I understood that you never want to see me again. So why don't you leave and stay away from me?”

“I know I said those words but…..” said Blessing.

Blessing was cut short of words as the girl cut in saying out loud “You already made me understand that you hate me. You pretend like you care about me and show me love only for you to make me understand I am worthless and that you hate me. You have no idea how hurting that felt…. So please just leave and stay away from me”.

“If you must know there are only two people I have hated in my life and you are not among them and I don't hate you. You are also not the only one I acted toward like that. What I said and did to you is me telling you who I am. I can't justify what I have done because It is what I do every time I see someone who likes me or wants to be close to me. I push people away. Pushing people away from me is like a hobby to me. I push you away because I know you might like me. That is what I do every time. I can't change who I am because this is who I have always been just like I can't change whatever it is that is drawing me to you”.

Hearing what Blessing said made the girl wonder what Blessing meant by what was drawing him to her and the girl looked at Blessing to see he felt hurt by something and guilty about something. Blessing moved closer to the girl and said to her “I can't apologize for what I have done because that would mean I am apologizing for who I am but I can ask you to trust me. I don't make promises but when I do I always make sure to fulfill them. I can see your world is a sad and painful place to be. So if you promise to give me another chance and trust me then I promise to change your world”, and then stretched his right hand forward for the girl to take.

The girl was surprised to hear Blessing say that and she looked at Blessing and his stretched hand forward for her to take as Blessing was waiting for a reply from her. As the girl looked at Blessing and his hand, the girl thought about the first night she met Blessing which was the same night he promised to make her smile and happy which he fulfilled. The girl also thinks that with everything she has heard from Blessing means Blessing is also a stranger to her which means she also knows nothing about him and Blessing's world is different from her. The girl decided to trust Blessing because he had made a promise to her and fulfilled it. And to get to know who Blessing really is and what is behind the mask he always wears because she could hear a part of herself screaming to her that she should take Blessing's hand.

The girl cleaned her tears and took Blessing's hand and Blessing lifted her by the hand that he was holding thanking her. Blessing suddenly hugged the girl as he lifted her saying to her “I see in you what you see in me”.

The girl wondered what Blessing meant by those words but she was still in her thoughts when Blessing separated from her and held her hand then took her with him.

The girl thought Blessing was taking her somewhere but was surprised when Blessing knocked on the front door of her house and before she could ask why, the door was opened by a man who said the both of them could come in.

The girl was shocked when she heard Blessing say to the man and woman “it is clear to me that you both always treat her wrong and make her cry, and I had did nothing than just watch and hear her cry but not anymore. I am here to warn you for the first and last time. If you ever make her cry and sad again, that will be the last time you will be seeing her”, who seemed to be the girl's guardians.

After saying those words to the man and woman Blessing left leaving the girl with them as the man and woman were shocked that Blessing could say that to them.

MORNING

Blessing walked out of his house in his school uniform carrying his backpack and walked to his bicycle. Upon getting to his bicycle and about to get on top of his bicycle, Blessing heard someone call his name and upon hearing the voice, Blessing recognized the voice. Blessing looked up in the direction the voice came from and saw the girl standing outside his compound carrying a sack full of clothes and looking sad.

Seeing the girl, Blessing left his bicycle and walked to the girl. Upon getting to the girl, Blessing asked her what was wrong and she replied “I have been sent out of the house”.

Hearing that, Blessing laughed and the girl wondered why Blessing laughed when she just told him about her current situation. Blessing said to the girl “am glad it happened. You can come with me”.

Blessing held the girl's hand and took her with him into the house. Upon getting into the house, Blessing called his grandparents into the living room.

Upon getting into the living room, Blessing's grandparents were surprised to see the girl they had been trying to find next to Blessing in the living room and Blessing was holding her hand. Blessing told his grandparents to sit down and they sat down, then Blessing said to them “from now she will be living inside this house and you both are going to adopt her to be my step-sis”, and crossed his arm around the girl’s neck.

The girl and Blessing's grandparents were astounded to hear Blessing say that. Blessing's grandparents asked Blessing “are you sure about what you just said?”.

Blessing looked at the girl and asked her with a smile “do you want to live with us and become my step-sis?”.

The girl became dumbfounded hearing Blessing ask her that but Blessing's grandparents were glad to know that Blessing was being serious. Blessing asked the girl again “do you?”.

The girl was extremely happy to hear that and said with a smile to Blessing “yes, I do”.

Blessing said goodbye to his grandparents leaving the girl to his grandparents and left for school while Blessing's grandparents hugged the girl and welcomed her to their home. The girl was surprised at how she was welcomed by Blessing's grandparents and was glad that she got to live in a lovely home.