I didn't realize what was going on even when I should. Her actions were pure evidence but I discovered that late. My genuine friends disliked her but I was ignorant of the reasons.
It was one of my friends' birthday parties, and we agreed to just hang around and have fun. Seeing what I uploaded on my WhatsApp status, Alice chatted me up, saying she would join us for the party.
We agreed to assemble at my house before we departed. Alice was the first person to arrive at my place, I was getting ready for the party when she arrived. Alice nonstop gaze at me made me wonder if something was wrong with my outfit. Her eyes were running through the self-contained apartment which I pretended to be unaware of.
Immediately I put on my outfit, searching for a shoe to match, she didn't wait for me to find one when she shouted, "I love your dress, it's so nice on you, and that blue shoe will go well with it."
I thanked her and went with the shoes she suggested. Then, I brought out my set of wigs, and she began again.
"Wow, these hairs are so good, I love the texture," she said running her palm on the hair in an admiring way.
"Thanks love, I don't have many, but I love quality over quantity," I told her as I selected one of my curly wigs.
"Where did you buy these beautiful wigs? I love how sleek they are," she asked again. At that point, I was getting tired of the too much inspection on my belongings. I sensed she was feasting on my belongings rather than getting to know me since we just started being friends, but I didn't want to conclude as I wasn't certain.
Any attempt I made to talk about something else, she would still return back to how beautiful my this and that look and how she wished they are hers. I was the happiest person when my other two friends finally arrived. I grabbed the keys, and we left for the party.
A week after the celebration, Alice called me on the phone to beg for one of my shoes that she saw the day she came to my house. I voluntarily told her to come get it but return it in good condition. She promised to return it in two days but I waited for five days before she finally brought the shoes back, pleading that she had another event that she used it for.
She became so attached to my belongings. From collecting my wig to my shoes, the one that I refused was when she asked for one of my dresses. I was so shocked and I told her no without thinking twice.
From the first day we became friends, we have not discussed anything meaningful, which made me find out we are not just fit. All she cares about is looking at how expensive I look, the material my dress is made of, whether a quality one or "Aba made."
Seeing that she was more interested in my outer look than my inward qualities, I began to distance myself from her by refusing her unceasing requests for wigs and shoes. I told her one day that I couldn't keep giving her my personal items since it makes it difficult for anyone to tell who owes the items between me and her.
Immediately I told her that, sadness and pain was written all over her face but I was glad because I needed people who would connect with me truly and not because of what I have. When my other friends noticed that she was not coming closer to me again like she used to do, they were curious to find out why, I had no secret to hide than to break the ice to them.
It was later we heard rumors from others that she has borrowed different items from just to boost her fashion sense. "She doesn't have friends, she only gets close to someone for that self-benefit, and once the benefit isn't coming as she expected, she cuts the closeness and looks for another person," Emem, one of my colleagues said.
After hearing those words, I felt so bad to have fallen prey. While I was ready to accept her to be one of my friends, thinking that we would be able to build meaningful of friendship like my small circle of friends, she rather came into my life for material possessions instead of a meaningful connection.