This is strictly fictional. I didn't write this with the motive of entertaining. I'm on a one month challenge for writers. Today's challenge entaills writing a short story and having people comment and criticize.

Nairaland is the best place I know I can get immediate feedback.

So what do you'all think?

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During my school days, I had a friend who had the biggest brain but the lowest self-esteem. She read hard, worked hard not because she liked the result of success. She liked the respect it gained her. She liked the general acceptance it gave her.


I didn't know she was going through all this until I was forced to spend more than 2 weeks in her house. I had accommodation issues. I knew my friend had self-esteem issues but I never knew that was why she had sleepless nights studying to have straight A's.


When results were released, I would be checking out to see how many courses I failed, my geek friend will be checking out how many A's she had or if someone had scored more A's than her. I always admired her determination, that tiny brain in her petite frame housed gigabytes of bookwork. My own brain was still reading kilobytes.


Was I an average student? No. My lowest cgpa was a 3.0 out of a total 5.0. My friend was an excellent student. She knew the lecturer's note exactly the way he gave us. She knew the lecturer's explanation exactly the way he wanted it. And she gave him a combination of both during exams. Her cgpa never fell below a 4.2. I worshiped her results, but I never envied her.


I did not believe in miracles but I believed in being lucky atimes. My friend read her books when she was not eating, sleeping or making phone calls. Her notebooks even followed her to the toilet. I remember when we went on a vacation trip sponsored by her boyfriend, she still took books along. I caught her studying once or twice. For Christ's sakes, it was a holiday.


I made up my mind not to marry a medical doctor or a geeky guy. I knew I wasn't geeky but I knew I wasn't social either. I was in the middle of the divide. I didn't want to give birth to kids whose talents, hobbies and careers centered around academics. I adore professors but how well have they helped improve knowledge? They still pour out old recycled knowledge as is common with young lecturers. I know a prof who graduated in the 80s, the lecture note he used to teach us back then was the one he used while in university. Imagine. The white paged booklet had faded brown.



Best crammer! Most geeky! Most studious! These were the awards my friend worn during our annual class awards. Meanwhile I won awards for Most Stylish, Finest handwriting and Best Corporately dressed student. My geek friend like all well-known geeks whose first time of going to the beach was that day disliked 2 of the awards she received.

She asked me, "What is geeky?"

I smiled mischeviously and said, "Geeky describes someone who is always reading, or someone who has lots of knowledge about a particular topic"


"I don't like it when they say I cram, I don't cram. I just read my books over and over everyday till I know them word for word. How is that cramming? And its not like I can't use my own words during exams, I just feel its safer to use the lecturer's own words"

She was fuming with anger.

"By saying I cram, they are trying to say I'm dull, that I don't know anything, all I do is cram and pour?"

"And so?" I asked laughing. "Do you know how many people want to be like you?"


She calmed down a bit. It was past 11 that night when my phone beeped with her whatsapp message. I was trying to read for the first time a course we had the next day. It was exam period.


"I have checked the meaning of geek. It is an insulting word. It is usually an offensive word"


It was irritating already. But I knew patience is the best tool, so I went online and got most recent definitions of "geek" for her, screengrabbed and sent them to her phone.



"Oh", she replied. "I have already sent message to Kate and others warning them not to give me such an award time"


"Your blood too dey hot. What's your own sef? You should have asked me first before 'provoking'" I was baffled at her naïvety. Even my oldschool mum would have known better.


"Anyway I'll apologise to them"

She finally left me alone to face my book. The next day in school, she was still bothered about the word.

I shook my head. That was when it registered. Dull ones have low self-esteem, it is normal enough. Intelligent people also have low self-esteem. Then I knew it. It didn't matter your grades, your financial capability or whatever, your self-esteem value is not altered by all this.


"Do you know there's a difference between being smart and being intelligent?"

She was looking for debate one night when she asked me this.


I knew there was a difference. You could know the books well and know nothing else. You could also know everything else except the book.


But I argued, "There is no difference. It takes a smart person to know what the lecturer will set in exams and write it down and get A's"


She didn't believe me. I knew where she was driving at. She wanted me to tell her that she wasn't smart.


She is getting married next year.

Who said geeks don't have time for relationships?

Who said geeks don't wear good clothes?

I mean she does wear good clothes though they don't make sense atimes.


My geek friend fought some weeks back. She liked to assert her authority, a new-found trait she developed after she started dating a fairly rich guy. Someone commented on her newfound boldness and talkative nature. That 'someone' had previously made jokes about employing my geek friend after graduation.

Like people keep saying it. The streetsmart ones will employ the bookwise ones to solve all their maths and problems.

My geek friend fought the 'someone'

Called her out on social network and gave her the dressing of her life.

The 'someone' stormed my friend's hostel in real life and landed a dirty slap on her cheeks.


Who said drama doesn't happen in the lives of geeks?


Welcome to my world: the life of a Geek's friend.

I aint really a fan of literature but atleast, I like your closing sentence

Thanks Handebayor.

Wishing you a fantastic new cycle. May more peace,love and joy visit you. how far about.kiddo?

Babacele:
Wishing you a fantastic new cycle. May more peace,love and joy visit you. how far about.kiddo?

Amen. Thank you so much. About kiddo, I did an update on my diary recently. Its all in there. Thank you, I appreciate the kind wishes.

sheblayze:


Amen. Thank you so much. About kiddo, I did an update on my diary recently. Its all in there. Thank you, I appreciate the kind wishes.

sheblayze
Hi, I have been following ur diary for quite some time and you did mention that u are a pharmacist. pls my friend has been suffering from diarrhea for the past two months. He has gone for test, at first they said it was food poisoning, then typhoid and H. Pylori. He has taken medication but no improvement. Can u recommend any drug?