IT'S SO BIG!

IT'S SO BIG!

LIORA’S POV
I woke up to find myself in my bedroom. Tucked under my blanket. The bed was like heaven, and I sank deeper into the covers to relish the feeling.
The sun was already shining so brightly, that it streamed through the covers. When I checked my phone on the bedside table, it was already past twelve.
I had slept for a long time.
I was about to drop the phone back when Mara’s call came in.
“Yo, open up.”
“Open up, what?”
“Your door,” she said. Then, someone knocked on the door.
I yawned before getting up.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was in the neighbourhood, so I decided to come visit and ensure that you are still alive.” She giggled.
Mara was definitely lying. She didn’t even know this place until I gave her the description the last time she visited. The facts in my head weren’t matching up with what she was saying.
I rolled my eyes at her. “Sure.”
She walked inside, her eyes taking in the entire room. “This house never ceases to amaze me. It’s just so fancy.”
She ran into the bathroom, then the closet, then sprinted to the balcony. While I watched her excitement. She was busy acting like Dora the Explorer.
When she reached the balcony, her eyes shot wide open. “Li! Is that a pool or a beach?”
I chuckled. “Why would there be a beach here? Of course it’s a pool”
“It’s so big!” she screamed. “You know what? I’m coming.”
She grabbed her bag, which she had thrown on my bed, and ran out the door.
“Where are you going?” I asked, but she had already gone far.
I shook my head.
How did we even become friends? I snickered before entering the bathroom to take a quick shower.
When I was done, I came out to find Mara giggling with a shopping bag in her hands.
“Wear this!” She pushed a bag into my hands. Before going into the closet.
“What’s inside?” I asked, searching the bag.
“A bikini for the pool,” Mara shouted from the closet.
I brought out the supposed bikini that looked more like strings. I pushed it back into the bag, ashamed that I was even holding it.
“Who said anything about going to the pool?” I asked, walking into the closet. She had already changed her clothes into a bikini similar to mine.
She looked extremely gorgeous, and her confidence in it was on another level.
“Li, how can there be a pool in this house and you’ve never used it? Not even once? Have I taught you nothing?”
“I don’t like getting naked outside,” I said.
“You aren’t, that’s what the bikini is covering,” she giggled, swinging the bikini in my face. “Sexy. Let that body loose.”
“Besides, where did you even get this from?”
“The shopping mall from down the main road.” She shrugged.
“So you went that far for this?”
I pushed her to the side, picked a skirt and a top, and wore them. “How do I look?” I teased her.
“If I remember correctly, you’re no longer a nun? Why are you still behaving like one?” She nagged, storming out of the closet and slumping on my bed.
“If you are not going, I’m not going. Imagine how weird it would look for me to be in that large pool alone.” She pouted. Then stood up to pick her dress to wear.
“Fine! I’d go with you.” I mumbled.
Mara’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. She instantly threw the strings to me.
I entered the closet to change. The instant embarrassment that washed over me when I put it on was overwhelming. How do girls wear this on public beaches? Their confidence was tremendous, I sighed, putting on an enormous shirt that reached up to my knees, before coming out.
“Huh? Where’s the bikini?” Mara asked as she got up.
“Inside. When we get to the pool, I’ll pull the shirt off.” Mara eyed me before shrugging.
We came outside. All the maids greeted me as if it were some kind of competition for favour.
“If I weren’t your best friend, I’d say you are the lady of this house,” Mara whispered in my ear after a maid bowed very low to greet me.
“What do you mean?”
“Can’t you see the way the staff are all over you?”
“Oh,” I mumbled. She needed to have been here when some of them treated me like an abomination. I didn’t know what had changed from then until now. It’s not like I’m their boss’s wife.
We got to the part of the house where the large pool was. It was shaped like a large circle. Its crystal blue water had little balls inside, and it was calling out to me.
Mara sprinted toward it, with a huge grin on her face. “Canning ball!!” She shouted before jumping into the water with an enormous thud.
I strolled towards the built-in furniture on the pool deck while Mara basked in the sunshine with the cool water. She seemed extremely excited, and it was enticing.
“Come in!” she shouted, her head just above the water surface.
“Nope, you told me to come to the pool with you, and I’m here.” Swimming was a risk. There was no pool at Ikonde, and the only sources of water were the tap and the well. So I’d never learnt to swim. “Are you setting me up to die?” I added.
“You won’t. The water level is barely eight feet.”
This woman forgets that I know her as much as she knows me. And that means that she’s lying.
“Okay, okay, fine. Just take off the weird shirt and come sit on the deck instead, so you can get a feel of the water.” She pouted.
“Agh!” I grumbled.
I observed my surroundings, and the only living things here were the reptiles and birds perched in the trees. I gathered little confidence and took the shirt off. Just when it touched the ground, I heard someone whistling from behind me.