Stars in a Beautiful Night | ✓

2| Fumnanya

Fear.

That's all I always got. My eyes darted back and forth, scanned every face one after the other but never for long and looked at my phone screen. Today, I walked with my friends—Olamide Odetunde and Jennifer Nnamdi. Both of them were considered to be the hottest girls in the department of Adult and Non-Formal Education. I wasn't. Possibly because I did not wear clothes that fitted, and I had on glasses as big as my palm. Sometimes I tried to understand why they decided to be friends with me. Sometimes, when I let myself be realistic, the answer would be I help them out with academics, while other times, maybe they had pity for me.

Pity.

Another thing I always got.

From my birth until my death, I would be at the center of pity. And I hated it. People always had some form of miserable empathy to give. "Oh, Fumnanya Akuabia did not get to eat during the lunch break today. Let us help her out." "Fumnanya has bad eyesight." "Fumnanyas father left her mother for another woman."

I knew the next thing people would say when they knew the real and present news, about my mother's second husband and what he does to me. Also, about my boyfriend—Derrick, or even the messages I had been getting for the past days. I was tired of it all.

My mind drifted to the night I tried to let the water take me. Even the water took pity on me along with that...boy. I held the textbook that could not fit into my sling bag tightly.

"Did you hear about Rachel sleeping with the Professor to pass?" Like it was a new topic. Everyone did it. But I let Jennifer have her discussion as we located the canteen. She put on a yellow knee-length gown that brought out all her curves and complemented her shiny dark skin—the perfect definition of melanin popping.

"I don't know why girls do that to themselves, why not read and pass?" Olamide contributed, her black leather skirt glowed underneath the hot sun. I snorted mentally.

In school, everything was good until caught. Over the past four years we had been together, I could count how many times both of them had sneaked off to do an odd thing or the other...for grades. But sometimes, I could not blame them. Sometimes, it was the lecturers who were to be castrated or better—hanged by their penis.

"Yeah." Was all I could say as I let my mind drift again. My phone buzzed in my boyfriend jean pocket, and with fear, I reached out for it. It was a message from Derrick.

My house tonight, babe ;)

I actually wanted to be alone tonight. I needed to clear my thoughts and try to be okay. Although you are never alone in a school hostel. Still, I could isolate myself and think about what I had tried to do. Would life have stopped to take me into consideration?

Sure babe. ILY

But I could never object. Olamide had set me up with Derrick in the Second Year of school. He had been charming and sweet, and everything a hopeless romantic and sad nerd wanted. He had talked about how much he loved my glasses and my shy sense of humor. He had made me feel like someone important in the world. That was until the day I caught him cheating. He begged and told me he never meant to hurt me. He told me he would never have done that if I did not say I would wait till marriage. I did want to wait till marriage—not because of cherishing my virginity, there was nothing to keep anymore, but wanting to have only one soul to share with—but I did not want him to have to use it as an excuse. So that night, I bared my truth, body, and soul to him. But he continued. Every time I tried to leave, I never got out the door.

"Maybe she was forced to, but with the way she dresses with all her inside showing, I doubt she was forced to." Olamide gestured to her breasts, emphasizing the gravity of the 'showing,' which reminded me I was still with them. She was the fair-skinned damsel among the three of us—the one who always got the attention first. We entered the cafeteria and found the closest empty table.

"Yeah, well, that's her business. If she wants to be a prostitute, that's her luck." Jennifer concluded and stood up immediately after we sat. "What do you bitches want to eat?" I hated being called that- a bitch. But this was how the big girls rolled.

"Just rice," I told her.

"And when do we eat just rice? I am adding moimoi and fish for you, I don't care if you object, you must eat. See the way you look like a broomstick, you need to be thick girl." It sounded like gurl.

"True Fum, you look like toothpick." Conscious of my tiny frame, I rubbed my hands through the vintage shirt I had on. And I could feel them, my closest friends on my arms.

"Alright." I pushed my glasses up my nose and looked around my eye level. It was half empty. On one table were three girls chatting nonstop, on another was a girl and a boy. It looked like a fresher and a stay lite. And another was two boys. One stared at me while the other talked to him. And he stared continuously. I looked away, but the face popped up still.

It couldn't be.

Chances were I would not be seeing the boy from the water ever again because this was a pretty big school.

But the world is a small place, my mind reminded me.

I looked back at his direction, and he still watched me. Suddenly he stood up then began to walk to my table. He had the sides of his hair shaved, and he put on a black sweatshirt with rugged jeans. His eyes confirmed he was the one. Set of eyes I rarely ever saw, blue like the sky and green like the sea. Hazel.

Oh lord.

"Hi there, ladies?" He greeted with a smile, and Olamide choked on the water she drank.

"Oh my Looooooordd," she looked like she would die from short of breath. "I-I can't believe this..." I frowned at her and then back at him—the talkative.

He chuckled and looked at me. "You must be mermaid, right?" It would have been my turn to choke on water, but I was not drinking any, fortunately.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The mermaid that has been in my dream since. You know you never answered my question about the sex," he simply went on. Olamide coughed, probably or probably not choking from her own spit.

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"Yeah, well. I remember that you had a particular mark on your nose's right side when I offered, but with that glasses on, I can't see it completely."

Rephrase the damn sentence before my friend begins to assume nonsense. I wanted to scream, but I still did not want anyone knowing I had gone to the Lagoon at such an odd hour. Jennifer came back with our orders and joined Olamide in the act of fangirling but with an explanation this time.

"Omg, are you Kiishiju...omg you are...omg you are talking to us...omg" I knew the name. Everyone on campus knew the name. He was the famous campus musician who everyone expected would blow into someone like Wizkid and who every girl wanted to be a baby mama for before he blew up.

"Talking to her, but yes, I am." Please go away.

"You did not throw your name that night, so I could not catch it after you left, leaving me wet." He continued, and my friends both coughed at the same time. I felt my blood get hot from both embarrassment and anger.

"Please, what do you want?" I pushed my glasses to the right position with my left hand and stared at him. He simply gave a smile, even knowing he had caused all the attention of everyone in the cafeteria to be on me.

"Simple, your name and number."

"No."

"Ah, but I have been nothing but a gentleman. I pulled you out, didn't I, don't I get a reward?"

"Pulled out?" Once again, my friends heard what they only wanted to hear. They would automatically think I was cheating on Derrick. Even if they would say he deserved it.

"No." I stood up, unable to take the attention and his presence again, and made my way out of the cafeteria. A sigh left my lips. I hoped we would never cross paths because I wanted to forget that night totally.