CAROL MEETS WORLD

Chapter Four

Babies aren't cute, at least to me. They cry all the time and shit all over themselves with absolutely no consideration for people that have to clean them up. That didn't stop Paro from dragging me, by arm like always, to hers after school to see her nephew.

I smiled and called him cute. But half of the time, I was scared the little punk was going to shit on me. Plus, he was so small; I was scared of accidentally squeezing him.

"Doesn't he look like me?" Paro asked. Why she was convinced thay a day year old baby looked like her was beyond me. "I keep telling everyone that his nose and eyes resemble mine but they don't believe me. You believe me, right?"

"You can't compare your nose with his. That's just insane."

"It's not insane if I'm comparing him with my baby photos, wanna see?"

She wasn't going to stop until I agreed that instead of looking like the actual biological parents, the little boy decided to look like her aunt. So, I did. And after satisfying her ego, I changed the topic.
"Do you know some actress or influencer from our campus called Melanie Ekpunobi?"

Paro blinked once. Then twice.
"I do! She makes silly skits on TikTok and Instagram. And her skin glows like it's not even real! Why?"

So, she's actually famous? "Would you believe me if I told you that she's my roommate?"

Her eyes widened. "You lucky bitch! How did that happen? I didn't even know that she stayed in the dorms! Can you like introduce us some time?"

"Sure," I nodded. "That's kinda what I want to talk to you about. Mel and her friends kind of invited me to hang out with them. And they asked me to bring you."

That got her jumping like a possessed weirdo.
"Hell, yeah. Tell me you didn't decline the offer, did you?"

"No! I said I would think about it."

"Yeah, well. We are going. Do you know what being Mel's friend means? We are friends with a popular person! A celebrity!"

"You can calm down and hold your nephew, my arms are tired," I said as I handed the boy over to her. "That's not the only thing about Mel's friends."

"Ooh, there's more? Does she have handsome friends?"

I couldn't control the blush that coated my cheeks. "Yeah, that's true. And Clive is one of them."

"Clive? You mean Clive, the guy you've been crushing on for months? The Clive at the party? That Clive?"

Rolling my eyes, I nodded. "The same one."

"Let me say it again, you lucky bitch!" We burst out laughing after which she gestured for me to keep it down. "Baby is trying to sleep. As I was saying, you get a chance to hang out with your crush and you say 'let me think about it'? That's just stupid."

"Gee, thanks."

"But does Mel's skin really glow like that in real life?"

"Sure does," I confirmed. "You have no idea how much stuff she applied on her face before she went to sleep. Must be why."

"That means that I can steal her secret to glowing skin?"

"I'm pretty sure that might not work for you." She raised her eyebrows questioningly, probably wondering why. "I mean, you are brown, she's black. I think each skin tone has its own make-up and stuff."

"I hate it when you are right," she said with a groan and stood up. "Let me take the baby to his mother. But this conversation is far from over."

Paro's house was huge, almost like a mansion. Despite giving me a tour, I still had no idea how big that house was. Her two brothers, both married, still lived in there and each had their own wing. Technically, it was three houses in one. I could find Paro's room, the kitchen and the bathroom without difficulty but the rest of the house was like a puzzle.