She glanced across the table, and there he was. She surveyed him again so as to be sure it was him. She could remember he wore a Red polo shirt while talking to Ngozi some moment earlier, and although he was backing her, she got her target right. He didn’t look particularly attractive. He looked more of a Philosophy student than Law -His hair was full, and stuck him as an overtly serious deep student, and secondly he dressed too casually and wore palm slippers.
“So this is Ty after all?” she said to herself as she decided to leave the library. She had no reason to be there in the first instance, if not to satisfy her curiosity. Even though exam was two weeks away, she had covered a whole lot of ground and only revision was left. Besides, her test grade was excellent.
She stood up to leave the library when the voice called from behind just as she made for the door. It seemed like a well-timed call, just like a football tackle.
“Excuse me. Are you a favorite of Dr. Rahman’s business Law Class?”
She turned back so as to be certain she was the one although there was little doubt she was the one, the corner wasn’t a scanty one and no one would have to speak so loud.
Her irritation seemed to grow when she found out it was TY. Ngozi had as early as the previous night started her crushing talks.
“If I wasn’t dating Ola, I would have considered him” she had blurted out.
“Not really” she replied coldly.
“Thanks”
She left the library but looked back briefly, only to see the young man buried in his books. It made her wonder, he had asked his questions and hadn’t even pursued further questions as most guys would, hoping by so doing a conversation would be stuck. Ngozi wasn’t stupid after all. There was probably something remarkable about her best friend cum crush.
It seemed they were running into each other in the next few weeks. First, she had met him at the faculty election room when she had gone to cast her vote for the elections. He didn’t even seem to remember her. That hurt her a bit, then they had met at the canteen. He had cut his hair, wearing a hairstyle called “afro”. It fitted him so well. She didn’t know when she chatted him up
“You have cut your hair”
“My dear, it needed to be cut. I have problems cramming with so much load on the hair”
He was smiling.
“I think we have met”
“Maybe, I think at the library” She replied feeling a bit angry. At the election room, he had asked her to vote for him as one of the four class representatives to the faculty legislative house.
“Oh I remember, you don’t quite fancy Dr. Rahman. I think I would tell him when next I go to his office”
She smiled dryly.
“And you begged me to vote for Adetayo Jedidiah Bello”
‘Oh! I am so sorry dear, election stress has its peculiar way of making one highly unsettled.”
It was obvious she had set out not to be too jovial. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know how to laugh or be friendly, yet it was a part of her which seemed to tie her lips or perhaps emotions.
Some days earlier, someone had sent jokes online to Ngozi, and she was showing everyone in the room. One of it read, “He who opens his eyes while cutting roundabout meat is definitely capable of murder”. She had immediately burst into laughter, having to settle on the chair for support. “Round-about” is the popular nickname for intestine in local restaurants. It was a tricky part of an animal to maneuver. No one cut it with eyes open because it always splattered the soup about and most times, it entered one’s eyes if it were wide opened.
“You see, even Eziinne laughed”. Yewande, her third roommate had said almost jubilantly. It was so because of her strangeness.
“This hairstyle fits you so perfectly” she had found herself saying subconsciously
“Thanks love”, he said blushing.
He didn’t ask for her number, and she decided to watch him closely. She had given so many wrong numbers to so many guys in the department and she was always happy to do so. Many of them always made it look as if having female’s phone number was a true essence of Life, as if they might fall sick if they didn’t have it.
The next time they met was during the examination. Harmattan was strong in the air, it was Logic they had first, a borrowed year one course from Philosophy department, everyone was cramming just thirty minutes to the exam hall when he sighted her and came to her.
“Thank God I met someone I know well” he said hurriedly
“Good morning” she greeted indifferently, the cold was getting to her too
“My lips are very white, aren’t they?” he asked pitifully
“Yes” she replied, quite surprised, wondering what he wanted her to do, perhaps he wanted her to help him grow a new lip
“Isn’t there a female magic in your purse?”
She had to laugh. What a funny way to start the exams! She found herself applying lip gloss on the dried lip. It didn’t take up to twenty seconds but Ngozi saw them.
“You are a darling. I wish the process lasted years” he teased
“Naughty boy”
The exam went very good but A2 Queen Amina hall was full of drama later on. The three ladies had just finished Ngozi’s peppery noodle when the cook herself had opened the discussion floor.
“What a drama at the Zenith bank Lecture room?”
Ezinne said nothing. She was battling with the pepper though she didn’t know which drama her friend meant, neither did Yewande. She was a business admin student and hadn’t been to the ZBLT.
“Spread the gist now” Yewande said mischievously. She loved her gossips
“Let the chief actress recount her role” Ngozi replied, a mixture of excitement and jealousy probably, or perhaps vindication on her part.
Ezinne always showed total lack of interest whenever she raised the topic of her best friend. Like most Law classes, many people belonged to various caucuses. It had positive or negative influences. Ngozi and Ty belonged to a group who were known to be among the brightest in class. They had met during night class on their third week in school. Then, constant reading in the same spot with same set of people had built up the caucus. Ezinne belonged to none.
“Talk now Ezi-baby” Yewande teased again. It looked ezinne wouldn’t talk, and Ngozi picked up for her totally twisting the facts of the story.
“I met Ezinne and Ty kissing under the tree in front of our exam venue this morning”
“AH!!!!!” Yewande and Ezinne chorused almost at once. The respective exclamations carried different meanings.
“Why would we kiss?”
“And in Public for that matter?”
“Well, anything is possible this days”, Yewande said stylishly, in other to trigger another round of talks.
“Don’t you trust me Ngozi?”
“I don’t jare. Why should I?”
“Fine. He and I have met like three or four times prior to today”
Ngozi turned sharply to face Yewande, with a vindictive look but Ezinne ignored and continued her narration
“We didn’t talk for more than five minutes in all, and I wouldn’t lie that I like his personality and maturity” she confessed.