After all the hard work and effort I put into my project, I was able to defend successfully. All that was left for me was one last paper to write, which to me was an easy A, and I was free!!! Finally, after weathering the tough courses, lecturers, sleepless nights, sometimes unending ASUU strikes and all that stress, I was almost a graduate.
The night before my final exam, as I was heading up the stairs into the study hall for the last time, I heard a voice coming down. I would recognize that voice anywhere, even in my sleep. She and two other girls were walking down towards me. There was no way I could avoid them. She looked up and saw me, and her voiced died midsentence. She looked like she had seen a ghost. I simply ignored her and walked pass. I could feel her gaze burning the back of my head, but I did not turn around.
Several hours later, I decided to pack my stuff and head to my room for the night. While placing my books into my bag, I had a strange feeling of being watched. I looked up and noticed her peering at me from where she sat at the far end of the hall. I slung my bag over my shoulders and walked out of the hall without a second glance.
After my paper the following evening, I headed home. Just as I was pulling my shirt off, I heard a knock on the door. I opened it and was surprised to see Simi and Susan standing there. What did they want I wondered as I invited them in. The girls started begging me on their friend’s behalf. I just laughed. Was she the one who put them up to this? They said no. So why were they begging me for? They told me Yewande had not been the same ever since. She had finally realized how much I meant to her, but was too ashamed and scared to come around. She always cried each time she remembered how she could rely on me to figure things out when she needed help. They went on and on about how important I was to her, that I should forgive her, she was just a kid who was carried away, and all that blah.
Finally, I told them to just stop. She made the decision she made, not me. They told me to at least hear her out, let her explain why she did what she did. I told them I was not interested. After begging me for more than an hour, I yielded. I told them to let her know that she could come see me, and we could talk. They said they would give her the message and they left.
I turned to my roommate who shrugged. Hear what she wants to say, he said. I don’t think it was up to five minutes after they left that another knock sounded on the door. This time, it was Simi and Yewande. She still looked as beautiful as I remembered her to be. Her eyes were downcast and she couldn’t meet my gaze. My roommate suddenly remembered he had a prior engagement, so he quietly took his leave. Simi mentioned she had an appointment with someone to make her hair, and she left as well. Yewande and I were the only ones left in the room.
I kept my gaze on her, but she refused to meet mine. I waited for her to speak, but she didn’t. I asked her to sit down, but she shook her head. She began to sniffle, and I called her name. I told her to look at me, and she shook her head again. All of a sudden, she began to sob — and I mean sob. She just let the waterworks loose. I stood up from the chair I sat, and she ran to me and wrapped her arms around me. She bawled like a baby. She kept saying she was sorry over and over again. I’m pretty sure she said so more than a hundred times. Pretty soon my shirt was soaked with her tears. I wanted to push her away, but I found myself hugging her in my arms. This made her cry even harder, and she held on to me fiercely. I must admit, her tears got to me too and I felt myself choke up and a few tears rolled down my cheek. I quickly wiped them away before she noticed.
I had to carry her — as in lift her off her feet (I still remembered how light she felt whenever I lifted her playfully) — and stumbled towards the mattress. I lay on the bed and lay her on me just like how we did in the past. For the next hour or so, I had to pet her, try to calm her down as she wept. I reassured her that I was no longer angry, and that everything would be okay.
She finally expended her grief and tears. Her eyes were red and swollen. The whole front of my shirt was wet and soaked wither tears. She wanted to talk, but her emotions were still too raw. I told her not to worry, that we had all the time to talk later. All she needed to do right now was calm herself down. She eventually fell asleep in my arms. My roommate returned much later, and was kind enough to sleep on the carpet while I stayed on the mattress with Yewande.
That was how she wept herself back into my heart. I thought she had learned her lesson, but boy, was I wrong.
End of part one.