Lessons in Love: Monday
By
Kayode Odusanya














© 2016 Kayode Odusanya





















Chapter 1

3:39pm…Monday, 4th January, 2016


Apart from the sound of pen on paper, and the occasional flick of the pages of a booklet, the hall was totally quiet. Every now and then, Yakubu would look towards where Susan was seated to his far right, and he would smile. Even during an examination, she was still as pretty as ever. In the last four days they had become closer, and he was thinking of asking her out after the paper.

The class gradually got dark as heavy clouds covered the sky. One of the invigilators walked over to the wall and turned on the lights. Yakubu looked up and saw it was Sade. She was a year ahead of him, but they had become friends last semester when he got stuck in an elevator with her for a couple of hours. She quickly replaced the smile on her face with a frown, adjusted her glasses, and motioned with her index finger for him to face his paper. She was a petite girl, about 5 feet 3 inches in height, and surprisingly big breasted for her slim figure. He smiled and turned his booklet to the first page to check if he had written his name and every other important detail properly; then he took one last look at Susan before getting off his seat.







………………..

“Mr. Usman; what are you waiting around for?” A voice said from behind him. Yakubu turned around to be met with the beaming smile of Susan. She looked like a Disney princess in her flowing white gown and charming smile. “Thanks a lot. Everything you thought me came out.” She said and hit his arm playfully. “How did you know?”
“Well…” He said and started scratching his head. Yakubu was of a heavy build, and average height. They stood eye to eye as Yakubu nervously cracked his knuckles.
“Come on!” she said and dragged him along. “I’m gonna buy you lunch.” They engaged in light chit-chat as they took the stairs down the four storey building. Susan understood that Yakubu had become claustrophobic from his elevator incidence, and she didn’t have any problem exercising her legs up and down the stairs anytime she was with him.

They took a dash to Susan’s Kia when they got to the ground floor of their faculty building, laughing all the while. Susan’s white cotton dress was glued to her body when they entered the car. She was still laughing as he looked her way, and for the first time, he felt something sexual for her. She caught him staring at her boobs but her disposition didn’t change. He slowly looked away, and the silence afterwards made him feel it was the perfect time for him to express his feeling towards her.

He felt a strong urge to turn around and kiss her. But since he was lacking expertise in that area, he brushed off the thought. She had a smile on her face as he looked her way again. Her big black pupils always left him weak in the knees anytime he maintained eye contact with her for a little too long a period, so quickly looked away. She turned on the sound system, and it automatically killed his mood.

As she navigated out of the parking lot, Yakubu’s mind raced. This was going to be their last time together as they had just concluded the last paper for the semester. Even though the school was giving them only two weeks break, he wished he could get things going with her before the break.
“Hey! What’s up? Why are you so quiet?” Susan asked him as she turned down the radio a notch.
“Well…I guess I am just going through my answers in my head.”
“Answers?”
“I mean…The answers I wrote down…”
“Oh! Come on, Yakubu. I am sure you would get an ‘A’ in this exam.”
“Well…”
“Come on! You taught me everything I wrote, and I think I am going to get an ‘A.’” She wound down the car window to give one of the guards at the school gate a red rectangular plastic. The cold wind that blew into the car made her shiver for a second. Her phone started buzzing on the car dashboard as she drove out of the campus.
“Hello.” she answered in her high pitched voice. “No, I haven’t told him.” She looked Yakubu’s way briefly as she switched gears. “We are going out for lunch.” The phone conversation went on to normal girl gossip, and Yakubu guessed Susan was talking to one of her friends. She got off the phone after about 2 minutes, and threw the iPhone to the backseat.
“So…what are you meant to tell me?” Yakubu asked.
“I…I mean, we…” She sounded nervous as her hands ran through her deep black hair.
“Shit! Susan!! Look out!!!

Chapter 2

They were parked on the side of the road now, and Susan was hyperventilating. “Oh my! I guess it just fell; I didn’t see it there this morning.” Yakubu said as he kept looking back at the pole. “Are you okay?” He asked, and in that instant, she jumped into his arms, and held him in a tight embrace. “Just breathe…breathe slowly.” He whispered in her ear.
After a while, they disentangled, and she wiped tears off her face and laughed. “Thanks.” She said and continued to laugh. Her hands were shaking so bad she could barely hold on to the car keys.
“Susan, I think I should just drive you home.”
“No, no, I am alright. Let’s…”
“Susan,” Yakubu said with a stern look. “Let me drive you home.” She looked down and sighed. Her eyes closed for a couple of minutes, and then they slowly opened. Without saying anything, she nodded and got out of the car.










………………..

“You should come in,” Susan said as she stretched in her seat. The avoided accident seemed a lifetime away at the moment. “Let me make you something to eat.” They were packed in front of a white bungalow.
“Nah! I’ll just catch a bus home real quick.”
“And make me feel bad the rest of the day?” She said with a lost puppy look on her face.
“Alright.” He said reluctantly as he got out of the black Kia Cerato.
“Hope you like Noodles? I can fix that up very quickly.”
“Yea, I definitely do.”













………………..


Minutes later, Yakubu was seated at the dining section of Susan’s home, waiting for her to come out of the kitchen with the meal that had him salivating. The aroma from the kitchen filled the air, and he heard occasional popping sounds. He guessed Susan was frying something but didn’t allow the frying pan dry of water before pouring oil on it. He looked up from the table and saw a little girl holding on to a teddy bear approaching him. She had a big smile on her face, and when she was a few inches from where he was at the table, she stopped abruptly, turned around, and started running away, shouting.“Mummy! John is here! Mummy! John is here!”
“Shut up!” Susan backed out as she appeared from the kitchen with a frying pan in her hand. She stirred the content of the frying pan with a spoon and smiled nervously at Yakubu. “Sorry, my little sister can be very naughty at times.” He smiled at her. “I’ll be out with the food in a minute.” She said and disappeared back into the kitchen. Yakubu’s phone beeped, and when he brought it out he saw he had 9 BBM messages from Nasiru.
‘Hey! What’s up?’
‘Where are you?’
‘Your Dad is looking for you!’
‘Hey!’
‘Dude, where did you hide the control pads for the PS4?’
‘Are you there?’
‘Answer me!’
‘PING!’
‘PING!’

Nasiru was Yakubu’s game addict cousin that lived down the street from their house. He would come around at any chance he got to play Yakubu’s Play Station 4 video game.
‘I took them for reappears. I’ll get them back next week.’
Seconds after Yakubu hit send, a series of messages came in, almost simultaneously.
‘Liar!’
‘That’s not possible.’
‘You got the game two months ago.’
Yakubu sighed before sending the next message
‘Okay. You got me there. I’ll be home in 30 minutes.’
He put the phone on silent and slipped it back in his jeans pocket. Just then, Susan appeared from the kitchen, carrying a tray with food and water in it. “Yes, lunch is ready.” She pulled up a table mat in front of Yakubu on the table, and gently placed the plate of steamy looking noodles in front of him. “My specially made fried noodles; hope you love it.”
“I’m sure I will.” He said as he collected the bottled water she had outstretched from her.
“Oh, I should have asked if you wanted water or coke or something.”
“It’s okay. Water is good.” he answered and Susan went back into the kitchen, and reappeared with her own plate of food. After a few minutes of eating in silence, Yakubu asked “Who is John?”

Chapter 3

Susan laughed a little, and bowed her head in embarrassment. “Well, I kinda…” She was saying and then stopped to laughed. “Actually, this has to do with what I wanted to ask you in the car earlier.”
“Really?”
“Yea, before I nearly hit…Before I nearly hit that thing in the middle of the road.” She said, playing with her necklace all the while.
“So…?”
“John is…John is John Cole.” She said. Yakubu looked lost. “You know, John Cole, Bola Cole’s elder brother in the Philosophy department?”
“Oh! Okay. I actually know him as Dotun. Anyway, so…” Yakubu stopped to look her in the eyes and it said it all. At that moment, his heart was broken.
“Linda and I were wondering if you could invite them over for her party tomorrow night.” She stopped to catch her breath before adding. “You are coming for the party, right?”
Yakubu swallowed the food in his mouth and poured himself a glass of water before speaking. “I had no knowledge of the party,” he said and took a gulp from his cup. “No problem. I will stop by their house on my way home.”
“Cool. Thanks…Linda would love it.” She said with a smile. “And I would love it too.” She added and looked away from Yakubu. “You know where Linda lives, right?”
“Yea, I used to go to her house for extra lessons back in secondary school. Does her mom still…”
“Nope! Umm! Linda’s parents are actually divorced.”
“Oh! I didn’t know that.”
“Yes. But…Hey! Are you sure you don’t mind telling the Cole’s about the party? Cos, really, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s just that…” She was saying as she jammed her fork into her plate of noodles, continuously.
“Come on! How hard can it be to convince two guys to come for a party that would be filled with beautiful girls?” Yakubu said with a smile and they both laughed.


















………………..

After the meal, he lied that he had gotten a text message from his mom over something he had to do, and that he had to leave at once. She dropped him off at the bus stop, and reminded him of the favor she had asked him for. After waiting for a couple of minutes without a bus showing up, he decided to walk. His mind wondered off as He navigated through the dirt road path to his house. He didn’t understand what was going on. How can Susan ask him to invite a guy she has a crush for to a party? And she also wants him at the party. How did she see him? He thought to himself. Didn’t she know that he liked her?

He sensed someone walking up behind him and before he could turn around to see what was going on, he felt something poke his side. “Bring out your wallet.” A low voice said.

Chapter 4
He froze, and instinctively raised his hands. But in the split second he did that, he recognized the voice and turned around. “Do you want my life, cos I got no money.” He said with a smile on his face.
“Yakubu, how did you know it was me?” The petite girl in front of him said. “I thought I was going to have you shaking in your pants.” She said with a beautiful smile on her face.
“Sade, I spent 2 hours trapped in the elevator with you, remember? You voice is locked in my memory…your crying voice.” He said and laughed. She playfully hit his shoulder.
“So, what are you doing here anyway?”
“Well, actually…It is quite a long story. Right, now, I am just trying to get to my house…You live around here?”
“Yea, that’s my house right there,” she said, pointing at a brown colored duplex down the road. “I actually saw you from my balcony. Where was your mind? I called out your name several times.”
“I was just…” Yakubu was saying and let his words trail off.
“So, is your house around here?” She asked, playing with her hair.
“Actually, I am going to invite the Cole’s for this party a girl in my class is throwing.” he said and started walking off slowly. “I will…”
“You mean Bola and John?” She said, excitedly.
“Yes.” Yakubu said and rolled his eyes at her. “And why do you girls keep calling him John, his name is Dotun.” Yakubu stopped abruptly. “Umm! I am not even thinking straight. Let me walk you home, it is getting dark.”
“Walk me home? My house is right there. Let me walk you along a little.” She said with a bright smile on her face. “So, why do you look so down?”
“I look sad?” Yakubu enquired from her and she nodded at him. “You know what? I want to ask you a question.”
“Okay.”
“If you know a guy likes you, would you send him to invite another guy you are crushing on for a party?”
“Oh!” She said and put her hand across his shoulder. “Now I get.” They walked in silence for a while and then she broke the cleared her throat before saying. “You know, girls sometimes don’t appreciate what is there, they always want what is out of their reach at any point in time.”
“Hmm!”
“Even if what is right there in front of them is the best for them,” she said and looked him in the eye. “They still want that person that doesn’t really appreciate them.”
“Hmm! You must be reading a lot of self-help books.” Yakubu said, and she laughed.
“Well, that and the fact that I do a lot of observing.” She removed her hand from his shoulder and rubbed her eyes a little. Her glasses moved up and down as she did so, and the reflection of light from it hit Yakubu’s eyes. He instantly raised his hand to block the ray of light. Susan put her glass back in place before continuing. “It must suck to be in the ‘friend-zone,’ right?”
“You can’t imagine the feeling.”
“Trust me,” she said, with a faraway look on her face. “I know the feeling quiet well.”
“Hmm! That’s interesting.”
“Hey,” she said, suddenly bubbling with excitement “What if I helped you?” She had stopped walking now.
“Help me do what?”
“Help you get, what’s her name?”
“Susan?”
“Yea, Susan, the fine little princess you are obsessing about. I can reverse the case.”
“What are you, like a witch or a genie or something?” Yakubu said with a laugh.”
“Yakubu, I am a girl, I know how girls think.”
“Okay.”
“But you have to do something for me.”
“Okay. What?” He asked and she leaned forward to whisper something in his ear. “That’s odd. But, okay. I’ll do it.”
“Okay then. Let’s shake to it.” She said with a beaming smile and an outstretched hand.

The END



This is the end of the first part. There are seven parts total. I will start posting chapters from the second part (TUESDAY) in a couple of days.

Come on! Someone should say something. Over 100 reads and no comment? One comment please.

kay29000:
Come on! Someone should say something. Over 100 reads and no comment? One comment please.

Not an expert but I felt a bit detached from the characters. Then, I'm still finding it hard to place where the story is headed. I do however commend your effort and your openness to criticism. it's the best way to improve.

An0nimus:


Not an expert but I felt a bit detached from the characters. Then, I'm still finding it hard to place where the story is headed. I do however commend your effort and your openness to criticism. it's the best way to improve.

Thanks for the comment.

Nice story you've got here, like the suspense and not knowing where exactly its headed yet.
Meanwhile spotted an error

kay29000:

............Yakubu’s Play Station 4 video game.
‘I took them for reappears.

It should be REPAIRS.
Waiting for more before I give further comments.

WCUB3:
Nice story you've got here, like the suspense and not knowing where exactly its headed yet.
Meanwhile spotted an error It should be REPAIRS.
Waiting for more before I give further comments.

Okay. Thanks for the correction. I appreciate it.