Episode 2:
I was 20 when I gained admission into a Federal University of Education. I had spent two years at home after secondary school because of financial incapacity, swinging from one job to another. Even with all the work I was doing, I wasn’t able to save in advance for higher institution because almost everything I earned went into my family’s feeding and upkeep. It was a very tough period, but I was encouraged by a very close friend to apply and leave the rest to God. I did, and fortunately, I gained admission.
Resumption expenses were another challenge entirely. It was so difficult to raise the money I needed, but somehow, I squeezed through and resumed with the hope that I would be able to pay my school fees later in the semester.
I was very focused on my studies after resuming. I understood what had brought me to school, and I wasn’t going to allow any form of distraction. The school session started in November 2019, and about two months later, I started joining some campus WhatsApp groups. They were mainly created for new students to connect, get the latest information and share other useful updates.
Around the last week of January, I received a message from someone who identified himself as a member of one of the groups I belonged to. He said he needed more friends, so he had been going around sending direct messages to some members of the group to establish friendships. Well, there was nothing wrong with having more friends, so we exchanged names and saved each other’s contacts.
A few days later, I received another message from him on WhatsApp. He said he just wanted to check up on me. I thanked him, and that was it. Everyone went back to minding their business.
A couple of days later, he messaged me again, but this time he wanted to know more about me. I didn’t mind because he was literally the first friend I was making on campus since resumption. During our conversation, I discovered that he was also a new student in the Department of Social Studies.
He seemed cool. And one thing I’ve always appreciated about some guys is the respect they have for girls. I’ve had conversations with a couple of guys in the past, and believe me, some of their attitudes made me wonder who was actually dating these people.
Brandon—the name of my new friend—was a much cooler guy. He spoke respectfully and didn’t force conversations. He was funny too, so talking to him never got boring. With time, we could spend two hours or more chatting. We explored different topics, from our personal lives to our future plans and everything in between.
About two weeks after getting to know each other, he politely asked if we could meet. I wanted to decline at first, and just when I started considering turning him down, his text came in: “Please don’t say no,” accompanied by lots of sad-face emojis.
It was funny seeing a big boy like him making meeting me seem so important to him. Anyway, I concluded that there was nothing to lose. I hadn’t even visited anyone since I started school, so I thought I might as well start from somewhere.
Brandon lived a little far from me, so I needed to take a bike to get to his place. He offered to pay for the ride, and I obliged. But before I get to the part where I actually went to his place, it’s important that I share some of the conversations we had through chat.
Like I mentioned earlier, he was a pretty cool and respectful guy. He also had this unpredictable way of communicating. One minute, he was talking seriously about life, and the next, he was cracking jokes about how he had fallen from an orange tree years ago.
Until the day he expressed his desire to have me around.
At first, I declined, just as I had mentioned earlier, so he asked why. I told him I didn’t feel comfortable around guys and, besides, I didn’t really see the point. We could always talk through chat.
Then he moved on to convincing me about how different he was. He claimed he wasn’t like other guys and that I could trust him. Well, I expected any guy to say the same thing because who would willingly admit that he had ulterior motives?
But what caught my attention was his honesty.
Our conversation went like this:
“I’m sure you’d find it difficult to trust me because I’m a guy, but I’d love to prove to you that not all guys are the same,” he said.
“I’m not really doubting you. My problem isn’t even about trust or not. I just don’t really see any point in visiting guys,” I replied.
“Well, create an exception for me, please. I’ve always loved how we talked on here, and it would be a great pleasure to have these conversations with you in person,” he said.
“So I should come around under the guise of ‘conversation’ so you could start touching me?” I joked.
“Haha, no. I’m not going to ever do that to you… except you give me your consent, though,” he replied.
“Give you my consent? So if I give you my consent, what would you do?” I asked, partly out of curiosity.
“Well, I’m sure you’d find this difficult to believe, but I have no intention of doing anything you wouldn’t like to have done to you. The worst you should expect from me is a beautiful romance session.”
I took a long pause.
I’m not sure whether I was surprised or simply out of words, but I was genuinely amazed by his honesty. Most guys wouldn’t even admit to wanting to touch you, yet they could have much worse intentions hidden behind all their sweet words.
After a while, curiosity got the better part of me. I wanted to see whether Brandon was actually going to be true to his words or whether he would eventually prove to be just like every other guy.
I knew I had a lot to lose if he turned out to be a liar, but I shrugged it off.
“Unexpected turns are sometimes what add to the interesting part of life. There’s no harm in trying,” I said to myself.
Or maybe ovulation was at work. I can’t say. Haha.
“If that’s the case, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt,” I eventually replied.
“Aww, thank you, baby boo. So when should I expect you?” he asked.
I checked through my schedule and realized I had a free day on my calendar.
“15th of February is fine by me,” I responded.
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