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DISCLAIMER!!!
I do not own any of the pictures in this story, all rights belong with their respective owners.

I checked my reflection in the mirror and smiled. "Not bad!", i commented and proceeded to grab my handbag. It was the final semester in my pursuit of an accounting degree and today was indeed a day that would determine if my CGPA would rise like a skyscraper, or sink like the titanic. For weeks, I had wished this day would never come but with each breaking day, i had come to realize there was really no escaping the "dreaded" defense.
I picked the black court shoes i received as a birthday gift from my sister, Ivy and did a mirror check yet again. Perfect!
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I have always admired Ivy, she is not just my sister. She is also my role model, confidant and benefactor.
Ivy wasn't the highest paid staff at work,to be honest, I always thought she was under-compensated, but from the little she had, she gave me tips, and she let me borrow her stuff.
In fact, everything I had on today was gotten from Ivy's wardrobe, except of course, the black skirt i bought when my best friend literally dragged me to Yaba night market in our sophomore year. I don't remember how much it cost precisely but it was a pretty decent bargain for sure. I do however remember that the skirt smelled kind of funky and I had to soak it in hot water and wash it several times even though i never wore the skirt.
Two years down the line, i was finally wearing my cheap black skirt and thanks to Ivy's cologne that probably wanted to kill me for misuse, i was able to get rid of whatever demonic smell refused to go away initially.
Grin...grin.......my cellphone rang.
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It was the cab driver who was supposed to pick me up.
By the way, it's not like I had money o, but I planned on making a card trip so "when God blesses me, they can go ahead and deduct whatever I owe".
I'm almost sure even the cab driver would have been confused when he got to the address I entered on the application. Our faded black gate was an eyesore and the untarred street wasn't any help either so his confusion would have been understandable.
Anyway, me I cat-walked out of our apartment, made for the gate and entered the cab. And away, he drove.
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Before you castigate me for "living above my means", let me chip in that I did a sort of mediocre makeup job on my face and no way was I going to start jumping danfo and sweating like someone in a sauna.
So we drove along and I started reminiscing what I had been reading all week long. Then almost as if the devil was out to destroy me, "Joromi" came on and I started singing along and foolishly playing scenes from the video in my head.
I knew i had done my best and would ace the defense, so I enjoyed the music and forgot my worries.
In about 15 minutes, we arrived at my faculty. I alighted and started walking towards the administrative building that housed the room we were expected to use. Just as I was about ascending the stairs, I saw my best friend, Ewa. Apparently she arrived 20 minutes earlier and had met the faculty dean who told her the project defense would be done on alphabetical basis, she pointed me to a notice that corroborated same.

I checked my watch, 10:53a.m! The defense was to start by 12:00p.m, and with the recent development as regards the basis for conducting the defense, I would probably be here till daybreak, I thought.
Ewa suggested we head to the library to revise while waiting to get called and i agreed immediately, for two reasons.
First, I felt unprepared, and could use some extra revision. And secondly, my makeup would stay intact since the library was well ventilated. So off we went.
We spent what appeared to be "years" revising before Ewa decided to go check how much progress the defense council had made.
"You should go now, they are on 'E'", she said when she returned. It hit me like a ton of bricks. It was just 3:00p.m which meant the defense time was quite short but I still felt nervous and unprepared.
I started walking back to the defense venue without Ewa since it would be a while before her turn.
On getting back to the venue, I met a few casual friends. We exchanged pleasantries and I continued with my revision.
"Professor Koleosho is on his way here, I just saw him park his car", i heard a colleague say. I was startled and could literally feel all I had read exiting my brain rapidly.
"I don die", Ahmed lamented, putting his hands on his head.

"Na extra year be this o", Chigozie said, almost tearing up.
Several other lamentations followed but I was too broken to pay attention.
All I remember is that I was sweating. I don’t even know if my powder evaporated or if I rubbed it off while wiping my sweat. I just know I was sweating...

This is trouble, I thought. I should call Ivy..............