Chapter 1

It was a lovely morning; the university compound was surrounded by many students as it was the first day of the semester.

Everybody was walking in a hurry heading to his or her faculty. Then came Richard, a boy with an average height. He was wearing a T-shirt and black jeans. On his feet were sneakers that seemed to have matched his shirt. He got admitted into the institution 5 months ago with the help of his elder sister. 

She worked tirelessly to see that he got admitted into the university he desired. For that reason, Richard put in all his best in his studies making him the student with the best result in his faculty the previous semester.

He walked in a hurry as though he was running because he was seriously late. He usually departs his dormitory by 7 am in the morning which was very close to his faculty. But due to the fact that he had changed a dormitory, he had to wake up much earlier than that if he wants to get to his class on time. 

His new dormitory was located at the extreme of the university, far away from his faculty. Most students whose dormitories are located at the extreme of the university usually take a taxi to transport them to their lecture venues, while the rich ones drive in their own cars.

As for Richard, he thought it will be a waste of money if he takes a taxi without realizing how far his faculty is from his new dormitory.

He walked on a walking path that was almost 1 meter above the ground. It was made up of brown interlocking bricks, and it was painted black and white at the edge. It was also roofed with a brown asbestos sheet, and that protects the people beneath it from the rain. Some few meters beside the walking path was highway with the vehicle moving at a steady speed, for it was prohibited to drive with high speed in the university.

He walked for more than 30 minutes before arriving at the faculty of engineering. The faculty was a ten story building painted yellow and brown. The frontage of the building was completely made up of dazzling glass. It was surrounded by a short fence that was not more than two metres. There were a lot of trees within the fence of the faculty with many park benches under them. 

There was a huge theater located opposite to the faculty building, it is where Richard was supposed to have his lesson. The walking path Richard was walking on leads straight to the entrance of the faculty building and to the theatre. He headed to the theatre still in a hurry, and by the time he got to there, the lecturer had already gone far with her lecture. 

Richard's heartbeat increased as walked towards the door of the theatre because of the lecturer's personality.

She had failed 3 students the previous semester for coming to her lecture late. She was a young professor in her early 40s. It was then that he started regretting why he hadn't taken a taxi to come for the lecture. 

"Excuse me, Ma'am," Richard said in fear.

"What are you here for?" She asked with an angered face.

"I am sorry to bother you, but I was here earlier. I've got an upset stomach that's why I went out," Richard lied.

The whole students started laughing after he made that statement. 

"Next time, you should be careful with what you eat," the professor smiled.

Richard was so relieved when he asked to come in. He walked into the theatre gently in order not to make his footsteps audible because it was extremely quiet.

Suddenly, he saw his friend Paul waving at him at the centre of the lecture theatre. They became friends on the first day Richard came to the university.

They met at the point of registration where Richard was looking for assistance on how to fill some courses online.

Richard walkes to where Paul was sitting and found out that he had kept some books in the seat next to him indicating that he had booked the seat for him. He quickly sat beside him with a smile on his face. 

He brought down the laptop he was carrying in a bag from his back.

"What got into you today?" Paul whispered.

"We will talk about it later," Richard replied not wanting to talk much knowing the strictness of the professor. 

"How was your Holiday?" Paul demanded. "Please Paul, we will talk after the lectures," Richard quickly intercepted.

They listened to the lecture for an hour and a half before the professor finally concluded. Everyone started leaving the hall as soon as the lecturer left the theatre. 

Paul and Richard were also on their way out of the hall when they heard the voice of a girl calling them. "Hey!" Richard replied without a complete assurance when he noticed whom she was.

She is the most beautiful girl in the department, and much taller than him. Many boys like to hang around her because of her beauty and Richard could not blame them.

"I don't really believe this," Paul whispered to Richard.

"Could you give me some few moments of your time please?" she questioned as she sauntered towards them.

"Yes of course," Richard stuttered.

"My name is Janet," the girl announced. 

"Yes I know you," Richard smiled hiding his nervousness.

"Well, I was wondering if you could be my practical partner because the instruction says a male and a female student should peer up" Janet requested. 

"Really? But of all the boys in our department, why would you choose me?" Richard asked with a disbelieve.

"Because you've got the best result last semester; and it is said that if you are around intelligent people, their intelligence will automatically flow into you," Janet smiled.

"And how do you know I've got the best result in the department," Richard asked confusingly. 

"Well, after seeing your identification number on the notice board, I did a little research on you," she smirked. 

"Oh," Richard uttered, not knowing what to say. "Where do you usually study in the night?" Janet continued by asking.

" I settled in a new dormitory now, I have to look for a convenient place close to it," Richard answered. 

"Which dormitory is that?" Janet asked. "Block D," he replied.

"Wow! No wonder you came late today," she replied.

"Yes is far from here as you can see," Richard said.

"Alright, give me your phone number, I will call you tomorrow to hear if you've found the convenient place," Janet said.

"Is okay," Richard said without hesitation.

After she had his phone number, she left the lecture theatre leaving Richard and paul standing on the same spot. 

"I think she is trying to use you," Paul said doubting Janet 's intention. "Why do you say that?" Richard asked. 

"Most of the girls in this school take advantage of their beauty to cling themselves to intelligent boys, they only look for them when their need for their academic problems arises. They even have them termed as academic donkeys," Paul explained. "Is that so?" Richard asked with his eyes widely opened. 

"Yes, of course, the reason why you don't see them around you is that you have never shown yourself to be smart.

You should be ready to accept more of them now that they find out that you are," Paul laughed. "How comes I never know any of these?" Richard asked.

"You are always busy with your studies and barely have time for yourself; you will barely know of things like this." 

"I know how to handle her now that I know," Richard claimed. 

"Don't you do anything stupid, you know is very rare for girls like her to approach you. You should consider yourself privileged even if she going to use you," Paul said. 

"You must be out of your mind. You see, I am not that kind of a guy that a girl can manipulate. I rarely have time for myself to talk more of some stupid girls," Richard responded.

"Well, we shall see about that," Paul replied.

They walked out of the hall and headed towards a small cafeteria located beside the lecture theatre. 

It was where the students with less money in the faculty usually buy food when they have a break. The cafeteria is owned by a woman in her late 50s called Mama Toyin. It is a medium sized building made up of metal roofing sheets. There were tiny ceiling fans running with slow motion at the ceiling. On the floor were titles that seemed to have lost their colours. There were plastic tables with four chairs arranged per table.

And on each table, there was a bowl with spoons in it. Richard and Paul entered the cafeteria. They sat on one of the tables and a young boy working as a waiter approached them. "What should I bring you?" the boy smiled.

"The usual one," Richard smiled. 

"Okay give me a minute," the boy smiled back as he walked out to the kitchen. 

"And please, make it two," Paul added. 

"What do you usually eat here?" Paul asked for it was the first time he was there. "You will know by the time he brings it."

About 5 minutes later, the boy came holding two plates.

"So this is what you usually eat here," Paul laughed when he noticed that was moimoi (a food prepared from cooked beans past). 

"Yes of course," Richard laughed also. "Well, is the cheapest thing I can get myself here," Richard smiled.

"Why are you always very thrifty?" Paul asked. "This is my lifestyle," Richard responded.

"I will give you a gift the day you buy something expensive," Paul teased. 

"Don't worry, I will surprise you one day," Richard responded.

They ate the food after it cooled down. They left for their next lecture immediately they were done.

In the afternoon around 2 pm, Richard was done with his lectures for that day. He walked out of the faculty and headed towards his dormitory. He walked slowly because he was so tired.

He walked for some minutes before coming across a small secondary school located in the university. It was a school made for the children of the staff working in the university. It has a very short fence made up of red bricks surrounding it.

At that time, the students are walking out of the schooling wearing a uniform of black and white. Black trousers and a white shirt for the boys; black skirts and a white shirt for the girls. For the Christian girls, they had a black beret on their heads, while for the Muslim girls is a white hijab.

When he was a few meters close to his dormitory, he heard some of the secondary students arguing ahead of him. They were two boys and two girls. They were arguing about if there was a bomb powerful enough to destroy the whole of Nigeria. 

"We are even arguing about something funny. Nigeria is bigger than you think. The nuclear bomb that was used during the Second World War destroyed only two cities. 

How on earth do you expect a single bomb to destroy a whole country?" one of the girls asked. 

She has an average height, and fair in complexion. When Richard heard their argument, he got interested and decided to interfere.

"Actually, it is possible for such bombs to exist if you know the physics and behind it," Richard said and the four of them turned and looked at him. 

"Well Mr Physics, no one asks for your opinion," the girl said with a frowned face and looked away immediately.

"Those who don't listen to other's opinion are likely to lose a great deal of knowledge," Richard responded grinned.

"Oh really Mr Philosopher?" the girl said as she stopped walking. 

She turned and folded her arms while waiting for Richard to cover up the space between them.

"Yes dear, and as a matter of fact, I am in a position to teach you," Richard smiled as he approached her.

"Do you know who I am? Do you know what I capable of?" the girl asked. 

"I don't know you nor what you are capable of; all I know is that you are in secondary school, and I am in the position to teach any secondary school student especially a young kid like you," Richard responded.

"What?" She exclaimed with her eyes widen more than before. 

"Just listen to what this kid is saying; they are the type that graduates from secondary school at a very young age and starts behaving like Adult," 

the girl said as she turned looking at her colleagues.

By that time, Richard had gotten to where she was.

"Well, it seems like I made a very big mistake, I shouldn't have interfered in your conversation in the first place," Richard said and try to walk past her.

"You tell us, what is the physics behind it," the other girl inquired.

She was the shortest in the group and dark in complexion. 

"There is no need for that, you are all secondary school students and won't understand the explanation," Richard said.

"Just stop arguing with him Alice, he was just looking for an excuse to talk to us; he doesn't know anything by the looks of it," the first girl said.

Richard looked around and noticed that some of the university students were looking at the scene they created. He decided to quickly dashed away from the place in order to prevent further embarrassment.