Chapter 3

“Hello Mum,” I said when my mother picked.

I'd returned to my room and decided to tell her I arrived safely.

“How are you? Arrived safely?” she asked.

“Yes Mum, sorry I couldn’t call when I arrived, I was tired and needed to rest” I explained.

“It's okay love, I get it”

“Okay mum thank you. How is everyone back home?” I asked.

“Everyone is fine. You take care of yourself okay? Make sure to unpack those foodstuffs before you go to bed again, so it doesn’t get bad” she instructed.

“I haven’t checked if I can cook in the kitchen yet, but I’ll do that.” I held the phone far from my ear, knowing what was coming.

“Kie Ash Afaikez” Oops “I hope this is a joke because I didn’t break my back to get you good accommodation, for these excuses. Wasn’t your apartment supposed to have an equipped kitchen?” she fumed. All that because of a kitchen, wait until she found out I had a temporary male roommate instead of being comfortably in my apartment, with my female roommate.

“Mum, I just said I haven’t checked, I didn’t say it’s not available,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“I know, I just don’t want you to be cheated”

“Okay mum, thank you,” I said.

“You be safe love, concentrate on your studies, mind the friends you make. Don’t forget everything I told you and most importantly, don’t forget your home training” She said.

“Okay mummy, I won’t” I promised.

“Okay it's morning here already, let me say a short prayer for you before I go about my day”

“Okay, mummy.” I knelt down and made the sign of the cross.

“Dear God, I come to you today to ask for your protection for my daughter Ash, who is in a new and unfamiliar place. Please watch over her and keep her safe from harm and danger. Surround her with your love and peace, so she may feel comforted and secure. Guide her on her path, so that she may find her way easily and without fear. May she feel your presence with her every step of the way. In Jesus' name”

“Amen,” We said together, and I made the sign of the cross.

“Thank you, mum, I love you”

“Love you too baby”

“Bye.” I thought she was about to say bye, but no.

“Have you met your roommate?” she asked. I smiled.

“Yes, we just spoke”

“Does she seem cool?” I smiled to myself.

“She seems cool mum”

“Okay, that’s good then. Bye”

“Bye, Mum.”

I didn’t tell her the truth for good measure.

Since I didn’t want to go outside again and was not feeling sleepy, I decided to load my clothes into the wardrobe. Since I didn’t have so many dresses, it didn’t take long. So I had a good view of my room and decided I needed to change some things.

I wasn’t really good at decorating, but I knew what I liked and didn’t. I went on P*******t and searched for room designs until I saw what was within my long-term budget and was to my taste.

I was a week early, so I still had a few things to do before school resumed. I decided to write a schedule for the next day so that my life could be a little on track.

Pack all the foodstuff I brought in the kitchen (hopefully the house will be empty then)

11 a.m. Go to school and meet my advisor.

Check out the school library and possibly borrow a novel.

Have a tour of the school surroundings myself.

Stroll around and check for supermarkets and eateries.

Come back home and make some food.

In my mind, it was going to be an eventful day.

***

Scratch that 😂😂.

After making the schedule, I ended up staying up the rest of the night watching TikTok videos. I finally slept around 6:30 a.m.

When I woke up it was 9:30 a.m. Luckily for me, the house was dead quiet. The only noise that could be heard was from outside.

I opened my door gently, and looked towards the living room; nobody. Thank God. Across the other side of the living room, there were 2 other doors.

One of them was a laundry room which contained just two machines, one for washing and the other for drying; I presumed. The other was a kitchen. It had drawers on the wall above the cooking area, 2 medium-sized pots, and a silver cooking spoon.

Except for an empty pizza box and a few beer bottles on the countertop, the kitchen was actually clean.

I carried my bag of food and started unpacking it in the kitchen. When I was done, I took the snacks I brought, fried peanuts, fried plantains, coated peanuts, and groundnut sweets, to my room.

I took my bath and dressed up to go to school and that was when fear cooked in. I could feel my body get warm, and sweat starting to come out. What if I don’t blend in? What if I can’t navigate through life here in general?

My phone beeped and I looked at it. I’d received a W******p message from Will.

Hey pretty, don’t know if you’re up already, but just thought to check up on you. Hope you arrived safely.

Will and I had settled on being friends, because for some reason I still needed him in my life, even if not as partners.

Instead of replying to him, I called him up. I really needed a friend. He picked on the second ring.

“Hey Ashy, I didn’t think you would be up,” he said, sounding like he wasn’t sure.

“It’s 10:30 a.m. here Will” I answered with an eye roll.

“I mean, you were in the air for over twelve hours, and your last seen online shows 6:30 a.m. just thought you were resting”

“I woke up already, preparing to go to school, and I arrived safely thank you,” I said.

“Okay,” he said, “Just thought to check up on you.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” I said. I actually appreciated him checking up on me.

“You sure you’re fine? You sound a little dull” he said.

“I’m fine, just a little worried. What if people don’t associate with me?” I told him. It was always hard to hide things from him.

“I get it, but you’ll be fine okay? If there’s anyone that can navigate through emotions, it’s you. You’re amazing, they’ll love you” he consoled me. I couldn’t help but think there was a subtle shade in that, but I just waved passed it.

“Thank you, Will”

“Yeah”

That call actually left me a little gloomy, but I tried to put my head in the game.

The day was actually eventful. I met my academic advisor in school, and we discussed my course requirements and academic goals and then I filled out some forms.

I then went to the library. It was quiet and had just three students in it. I was busy checking out some novels when a white blonde-haired boy approached. He looked good and was slightly taller than me.

“Hey, can I get your number?” he asked so fast I had to blink and stare for a minute.

“You don’t greet?” I asked him.

“I said hey” He replied.

“Okay, but you can’t just walk up to me and ask my number, at least make small talk before that. Don’t make it awkward” I told him. He stared for a minute and smiled.

“Hi, I noticed you’re reading one of my favorite authors. Are you a fan too?” he asked.

“I’m not reading” I retorted, laughing.

“Oh my God. Okay, what should I say? I don’t want to ask how you’re doing because I see you looking fine and I know you’re doing fine” he replied.

“Ha ha ha” I laughed, “I don’t know, it was you who moved up to me.”  He was silent for some time, just staring.

“What are you doing in the library?” I asked him.

“Looking up something, but was going to look for a novel to read before I saw you” he answered.

“Oh, you read?”

“Yes, I do. Any recommendations?” he asked.

“Genre?”

“Any” came his reply.

“Okay, I h…” I began to say, but he cut me off.

“I’m running late already, can I have your number? We can share recommendations” he said, smiling.

I gave him my contact, knowing fully well it was not for recommendations. He promised to call.

By the time I left the library, it was already late. So I just went to my apartment, refreshed myself, and went to the kitchen to cook.

In the kitchen, I gathered all my ingredients to make a good pot of eru. A meal prepared by mixing two vegetables in the pot with cooked meat, dry fish, crayfish, and snails if you wish. This was eaten with cooked garri or cassava fufu (water fufu).

By the time I was done, it was 7:30 p.m. and my roommate was back. I invited him to eat with me, and after several attempts, he tried it. He said it was strange to him, but it tasted really delicious. That made me impressed with my cooking skills.

I went to bed early that day because I wanted to have an early day.