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EkopSparoAyara:
So, am a bit disconnected, am trying to connect the dots about Kunle and Debby, how they started dating, why they broke up but my memory has failed to avail me those informations.. I guess I'll just have to go back to reading the previous books..

Yeah...just read chapter 1&2 of the first book to get the story.

Here is a link to the first part of the series https://www.nairaland.com/4960053/diary-shy-college-kid-year

Chapter 2: Sope, Teni, and I

Sope and I had a lot of friends in the Economics department and we spent a lot of time there at the beginning of Year 3. There was this lanky girl that would always wind up in the mix whenever we had conversations with our friends over there. Teni wore glasses, looked like a nerd, but was quite knowledgeable about a lot of things asides academics.

Our friendship with Teni grew over time, and after a while we would go to her department solely to see her. Sope and I stayed in the same room, and when we found out our hostel was next to Teni’s hostel, the three of us started walking back from class together every day. Sometimes we would go up to her room and spend some time with her. She had an obsession with perfumes, and her locker was filled with expensive ones from Davidoff Cool Water to Ralph Lauren perfumes. Teni wasn’t the typical fashion craze Unilag babe, so this was shocking to me. She was really an interesting girl.

The more time we spent together, the closer we became. Teni was an intelligent good girl that never dressed provocatively and attended fellowship regularly. I never saw her as Sope’s type. But one day, I got into a play fight with her while the three of us sat on her bed and was surprised when Sope said, “Hey, don’t play with papa’s girl like that.” I looked in his eyes and I saw he was serious. He really did like her more than just a friend. From that day on, she was Sope’s girl to me, and I treated her accordingly.

Even though Sope and Teni slowly became a couple, we were more of a trio. We went everywhere together. And after class, she would sometimes come over to our room and spend hours before heading over to her hostel. On non-school nights, we would spend hours listening to slow music, while sipping on a mix of dark sailor rum and milk. We always had something to talk about.

Sope was studying another course at the Lagos State Polytechnic, concurrently with the one he was studying at University of Lagos, so he would be away on some days. On those days, I would be alone with Teni. On one of those nights, while going to catch up with Teni for a night reading session, I bumped into Debby at the entrance of the art block building. She had on a white fitted gown, and her dark black hair was packed to the back in a bun. We greeted casually and she asked if I had seen my friend, Dare. They were supposed to be reading together, and she couldn’t find him. She was still cool with most of my friends, but she was closest to Dare. I said no to her question, and we went in opposite directions.

Teni was sitting in the front row of my scanty, fluorescent lit lecture hall. Her head was buried in her book, and she had her black backpack beside her, which she had obviously used to reserve a sitting space for me. She had on a white tee shirt, with a denim jacket on top of it that looked a little too big for her. Her face lit up when she saw me, and she smiled as she pushed her glasses higher up her noose. I took the seat beside, and she gave me a playful punch on my side, asking why I was late. We caught up on things for a few minutes, before focusing on studying. Apart from being her friend, I also played the role of assistant boyfriend whenever Sope wasn’t around. I didn’t mind playing that role, because she was a cool person to be with, and I knew in my mind I had no ulterior motive; it was just plain platonic friendship.

We hadn’t been in the place more than ten minutes when Dare and Debby walked in. I got up to greet Dare, while Debby went to the back of the class to get them a seat. The class was quiet, so we didn’t do much talking before he went to join Debby.

After about an hour of reading, Teni said she wanted to take a short nap, and she set her phone alarm for 30 minutes. She took off her glasses and she laid her head on my lap. Within a few minutes, I could tell she had fallen asleep from her breathing.

When her phone alarm went off 30 minutes later, I couldn’t believe half an hour had gone by so fast. She stretched, smiled at me with squinted eyes before saying thank you. After wearing her glasses, her hands went into her jacket, and she pulled out a breath mint. “Do you want one?” She asked, holding up the green, rectangular shaped pack. I took one of the mints in the pack of five, and as I unwrapped it my eyes went to the blackboard in front of us. Someone had written ‘I love girls with big booty’ at the bottom of the board. I cracked a smile thinking of who in my class could have written that. Teni followed my gaze, and I was amazed at how fast she saw what had made me laugh. She smiled and turned to ask me in a low voice, “Do you like girls with big booty too?” I just laughed lightly and went back to reading.

I suddenly felt the urge to drink something, and when I told Teni I was stepping out to get a drink, she asked me to please get her a Coke. As I got off my seat and stretched, I turned around and gave Dare a peace sign greeting. Debby’s head was buried in her books.

I cracked my neck as I walked out the lecture hall. The fresh sea breeze that hit my face felt good. I stopped for a second to take it in before moving forward. A lot of people were coming up the stairs as I descended, and I guessed they were people planning to read all night. That had never been my thing. 7-10pm daily had always been enough for me to cover everything I needed to read for the night.

The vending machine was by the foot of the staircase; a few feet to the right. As I walked to it, Dare appeared from the corridor directly facing it. It was odd seeing him there when I had just left him in class, but I guessed he took the west wing stairwell. “K!” He shouted out as he detoured to meet me halfway. He had this thing where he sometimes spoke in a different mood than what he was really feeling. We shook hands and as we headed to the vending machine, he said, “Debby asked if Teni was your girlfriend.”

“What?” I said, shocked. I stopped for a second, before continuing my walk.

“Yeah.” He said as he approached the vending machine. He pulled out a hundred naira note out his jeans pocket as he strengthened it out, he added, “I told her you weren’t dating, but she didn’t believe me.”

“She didn’t believe you?” I said, standing behind him now, as he put the money in the machine.

“Yeah. I told her Teni was Sope’s girlfriend, but she said I was lying.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” He said with a little chuckle. His coke rolled out and he assumed a squatting position as he picked up the bottle. “What’s up with Sope?”

“He umm…he went home. He will be back tomorrow.” I said, still lost in thought as I moved up to use the vending machine.

“Oh shoot! I forgot.” Dare said under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing. I forgot I had to buy Gala outside.”

“Okay.” I answered, wondering why that was such a big deal.

“They also sell Coke there, and the woman would be pissed I didn’t buy from her.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I have to go K. See you later.” He said and tapped my shoulder before running off.

I was lost in thought as I walked up the stairs with the drinks in my hand. Is this a sign that I still had a chance with Debby? I thought to myself. Another part of my mind said, don’t be a fool. You messed it up from the start, and you would do worse if you try again.

When I walked into the class, Debby was looking towards the door, and she slowly averted her eyes when our eyes met. I guess she thought it was Dare walking in. I sat down, and handed Teni her drink. She said thank you, uncapped it and took a sip. And then she said in a low voice, “Is that Dare’s girlfriend?”

“No. They’re just friends.” I answered, wondering why she was asking me that. Even though they were in the same department, Dare and Teni weren’t that close. Their connection was through Sope and I.
“Okay.” She said and took another sip from her drink.

“You know what?” I said in a low voice and paused, wondering if I should tell her. She urged me on with her eyes. “She actually asked Dare if we were dating.”

Teni’s eyes grew bigger, and I could tell she fought the urge to turn around and look at Debby. Just then, Dare walked in and greeted us with a salute before heading to his seat. There was a little chatter at the back, and I heard Debby laugh and then muffle her laugh. I knew it had nothing to do with us, but I still tried to eavesdrop on what they were saying.

When the class got quiet again, Teni tapped my hand lightly, and when I looked her way, she asked, “Is the girl also your friend?”

“Yeah, sort of.” I answered, but I could tell from the way she looked at me she wasn’t satisfied with that answer, so I went on with, “Well, we were kind of a thing for a minute back in the day.”

“Hmm. That’s interesting.” She said and looked into space for a few seconds before adding, “She still likes you.”

“What?”

“She still likes you. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t be bothered with knowing if I was your girlfriend.”

“I don’t think so Teni. She’s just curious, that’s all.”

“Trust me Kunle. I’m a girl. I know what I’m saying.”

I didn’t say anything after that, and we read in silence for the rest of the night.

Chapter 1: The First Day of Year 3

2004

I always believed my third year at the University would be the most fun, because I would be more experienced, and it would be the year before the final year when I had to worry about writing my project. I was right. Year 3 was the most fun year I had at the University of Lagos.

The first day of Year 3 was great because I was seeing my friends again, after a long break. A lot of people had gained weight; some had grown taller. Practically everyone now had a mobile phone, and a lot more people had cars. Girls were a lot more attractive, and I was tempted to break my rule of no dating within my department.

Apart from being happy to see all my friends again, the other thing that brought me joy was my year 2 results. First and second semester results were pasted at the department notice board, with matriculation numbers and names visible. I had never been so proud of myself the way I was that day. For the total of eighteen courses between the two semesters, I had ten A’s, five B’s, and three C’s. I smiled from ear to ear staring at that notice board for minutes, till my friend Sope shouted out my name as he approached from the other side of the corridor. Our friend, Georgie had scored a perfect 5 and was going out to celebrate. That is, he had all As between the two semesters.

We ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time, in excitement. I knew how hard we read for the exams, and it was great to see that our hard work had paid off real good, even more than we had expected. At least more than I had expected, judging from my awful year one results.

Sope and I got to the open space car park at the back of the Art building that housed our department and started looking around for Georgie’s white Mercedes Benz. The place had three rolls of parked cars, with the last roll just before the swamp that housed a colony of monkeys. On some days, the monkeys would go on a rampage in the Art building, kicking down waste bins all over the place as they looked for food.

“Hey Sope.” I heard a familiar female voice call out and I turned around to see Debby waving at Sope from the driver seat of a black Toyota Corolla. The car engine was so silent, and I didn’t know when it got beside us. My heart skipped a beat. She was still as beautiful as ever, and the lip gloss on her luscious lips made them shine under the sun. Her smile melted my heart. I had almost forgotten she existed till just now. “Hi K.” She greeted me with a quick smile as she navigated to a parking spot close by. Sope went over to talk to her, while I continued the search for Georgie’s Benz.

Although I fumbled things with us in Year One, all my friends still remained pretty close with her. It was always awkward when I had to walk away whenever we ran into her on campus.

I hadn’t walked far when a head popped out of a grey saloon car I had just walked by. It was Babatope at the passenger’s side of a grey Peugeot 406, laughing at the fact that I had just walked past them without noticing he and Georgie were the ones in the car. He pushed his glasses up to his nose bridge before getting back in the car, still laughing.

“Nice!” I said out of excitement as I walked over to the driver’s side of the car. “Double celebration.” I added as I shook Georgie’s hand and leaned into the car window to check it out. It smelt of lavender, and the interior was quite neat.

“It’s my dad’s car bro.” Georgie said as he started up the car, and unlocked the car doors from the control board by his door armrest. “Where is Sope?”

“He is umm…he is talking to Debby.” I said as I got into the back seat of the car.

“Kunle, what’s up with you and Debby? Are you still in love with her?” Babatope said. I ignored him, and he started laughing again.

“So, where are we headed?” I asked Georgie.

“Umm…” He was about to say something when Sope ran past the car. He stopped running when he heard Babatope’s laugh. He looked back and a big smile appeared on his face.

“Correct! New semester, new car.” Sope said as he walked excitedly to the car.

“Sope, na my papa car o.” Georgie said in broken English with a light laugh as he and Sope greeted with three hand slaps.

“Your dad’s car, your car, all the same.” Sope said as he got into the car and slammed the door. I had scooted over for him to get in. “Straight to Savannah!” He said out loud, and Babatope drummed on the dashboard, full of excitement. I couldn’t help but smile. There was something really exciting about the anticipation of a drinking session with your boys, especially after being apart for so long.

We drove past Debby on our way out of the car park, and she greeted everyone again. I turned around to take a look at her one more time as the car picked up speed. She was still slim but had added some weight, in all the right places. She had on a black, loose fitting gown that stopped just above her knee, and she looked more mature than I had ever seen her. I found myself desiring her all over again. ‘Will this be the year I get her back?’ I thought to myself.

Only time can tell. Only time can tell.

Hello guys. I will be posting 1-2 chapters of this story per week. Apart from the first chapter, the other chapters will be quite long. I have been away for a long time, and I want to get warmed up by this series, cos it is easier to write in first person point of view.

If you haven't read the first and second parts of this book series (or if you have forgotten the story), you can do so before you read this.

https://www.nairaland.com/4960053/diary-shy-college-kid-year

https://www.nairaland.com/5196882/diary-shy-college-kid-year

I wasn't really a lover of books back then, but I loved The Passport of Mallam Ilia. It was such a great read...I loved the part where he was in a wrestling match or so, and got stabbed in the belly. It was so vivid in my head as I read it. I would love to read the book again as an adult. Other books as I liked as a preteen and teenager are...Sidney Sheldon books, and Sweat Valley High, the university edition...Sweet Valley Uni or something like that.

Anyway, I didn't do much reading, even though my dad had a gazilion books at home. I did more of playing video games. I remember seeing the Atari video game at a cousin's house for the first time in the 80s (88 OR 89, can't remember)...I fell in love instantly. During the ride home, surprisingly, my mom convinced my dad to get one for us. I really couldn't believe my mom was fighting for us the kids to get a video game, lol. The next week, we went to Cash N Carry off Marina in Lagos Island to get the Atari. It was the best day of my life back then. We had Pacman of course, an airplane flying game, and some other cartridges I can't remember. From Atari, we went to Sega Genesis a few years later. It was around 1992 when the ABG cable came along I started playing less games, and watching more Cartoon Network and Sky movie channels.

carloz685:
Bros Kayo80 it's been a while. Your biggest fan on nairaland is back. Had issues trying to remember my password, but I'm back and I've been writing. Hopefully you would teach me the ropes.

But please this masterpiece shouldn't go unfinished, I would love to read the end. More grease to your elbow and more blessings to your hard work.

Thanks. Good to have you back. I will get back to posting chapters from the story soon.