Cynthia led Chantel and Roger into the room. It was not too huge and neither was it too small. Let's say, it was just right. There were three bunker beds in the room and the two on one side of the room were already occupied by four students, the other one was empty.
Cynthia pointed to the empty bed. "That is our bed, over there. I will be sleeping on the top, so I guess you will take the one down. Anyway, you can place your bags at the side."
Roger placed the bags on the side of the bed and asked to leave.
"Thank you so much, Uncle Roger," Chantel said.
"Well, I will let your mother and father know that you are here safely. Please, Miss, take care of yourself. And, don't forget to pray all the time, okay?" Roger held her and hugged her, as the others in the room, looked on.
After Roger left the room, Cynthia decided to introduce Chantel to the other girls. She started from the right.
"So, this is Mavis, Sharon, Grace, Beatrice and Adiepena, who also happens to be my best friend," she said, jumping in excitement.
All the girls in the room said hello to her. Then a girl lying on the lower part of the second bed, jumped up and walked towards the two girls.
"So, you are the girl from Accra? The one on scholarship?" she asked.
"Yes I am. I guess everyone already knows about me," Chantel answered.
"Yes, everyone knows. And we all have been expecting to meet you. So, welcome to the Addy-Wood dormitory. And welcome to the Queens," the girl, Adiepena said.
"Thank you. I really appreciate it," Chantel looked down, with her cheeks flustered.
"You know, I already like you. You look like a nice girl, and I am sure Adiepena likes you too. We are all going to be really good friends," Cynthia nudged Chantel on the elbow, making her look up and smile.
They all sit on Chantel's bed and start conversing with each other. Cynthia looked happy. She was excited about everything. But, Adiepena looked calmer and matured. She happens to be the oldest amongst the three, so it was expected.
Both Adiepena and Cynthia were studying general arts but Chantel chose to study home economics.
"So, why did you choose home economics? You look like a science girl," Cynthia shrugged her shoulders.
"I do like science, but I want to be a fashion designer and open my own fashion house both home and abroad. That has been my dream for as long as I can remember," Chantel explained to them, while both girls nodded in reply.
"That's good. For me, I want to be an entertainment journalist. I want to cover any news that has to do with entertainment. From fashion, to movies and music... everything," Cynthia said.
"I want to be a teacher," Adiepena also added.
"Why did you both choose to those professions?" Chantel asked both of them.
"Because I love everything that has to do with entertainment, duh."
"And I love children, that's why I want to teach them. I want every child to have an education and I want to be a part of that," Adiepena said.
"That's really good, Adiepena. It's very noble. It's amazing how we are all taught by teachers and yet, no student wants to be a teacher," Chantel said.
"Except Adiepena," Cynthia joked, making all of them laugh.
They continued to chat and laugh while the other girls in the room continued with whatever they were doing. Chantel was glad to have friends. These girls were good and she knew she could trust them. What made her even happier was the fact that this girls did not care about her been rich or intelligent than they were.
"Our classes happen to start next week. So, we have the whole of this week to settle down and look around. And, I think there will be an orientation, at least, that is what I learnt," Adiepena announced.
Cynthia and Chantel both nodded.
As they were talking, a girl, followed by two other girls walked in. She was in a white shirt and pink skirt which was above her knee. She looked around in disgust, as if she was smelling something bad in the room. She spotted Chantel and the girls and walked up to them.
"Well, well, who do we have here? A new comer just joined in, right?" the girl sneered.
Chantel, being as shy as she is, did not like being the center of attention. So, she did not realise immediately that she was the one the girl was referring to.
"Hey, girl in the middle! I am talking to you. Are you deaf, or what?" the girl shouted, gaining the attention of the other girls in the room.
"I-I am sorry. I did not know you were talking to me. I-I am sorry," Chantel stood up quickly and apologised. She felt very embarrassed.
"So, you are the girl I hear is coming here on a full scholarship? I have been waiting to see you and now here you are. I thought you would be beautiful, but you look ordinary," the girl continued, making the other girls with her laugh.
"I guess I am. Please, if you don't mind, can I know who you are?" Chantel asked meekly.
"Oh, the girl wants to know who I am. Anyway, I am Nadia, the original queen of this dormitory. The most prettiest girl every guy will want to have," she said and laughed.
Chantel looked very uncomfortable with the situation. She began to shake slightly, and Cynthia noticed it. It was Junior high school over again. She felt a panic attack coming on but she tried to keep it on a cool level.
Cynthia held her hand and stood up beside her. "Senior Nadia, erm, please, forgive Chantel. She just came in from Accra. It has been a long journey for her. Maybe that's why she is not that responsive to you. So, please forgive her." Cynthia suddenly looked serious. Her smiling face had suddenly disappeared.
Nadia just looked them up and down and rolled her eyes. She moved towards Chantel, making sure she was very close to her.
"The fact that you are coming from Accra does not mean you are higher than us. And the fact that you are also here on scholarship does not mean you can do whatever you want. Just make sure, you don't cross my path, because if you do, I will make sure you regret the day you were born," Nadia suddenly frowned and left with the other two girls with her.
Chantel let out the breath she was holding. She suddenly felt sad and had the urge to cry. Cynthia rubbed her shoulder.
"Are you okay? You looked like you were about to pass out," Cynthia looked at her worriedly and helped her to sit back down.
"I don't get why that senior is like that. We just came in and she is already making us feel like children. Who does she think she is?" Adiepena suddenly said.
"Don't mind her, okay? Don't let her get to you. She is just jealous that you are here on scholarship. And about what she said about your beauty, I tell you, you are much more beautiful than she is. She is just jealous," Cynthia consoled Chantel.
"Thank you. It's... It's just that, back in junior high, I had lots of people attacking me most of the time because they said I was a witch. It was really hard for me there. So, meeting senior Nadia kind of triggered that memory," Chantel explained.
"Really? That is terrible. I thought the people in the capital city were much better than that. Why would they do that?" Cynthia furrowed her brows.
"It does not matter what happened there. This is Takoradi. And we are your friends. We will not let anyone hurt you here, for no reason," Adiepena assured her.
Cynthia nodded and Chantel smiled, flushing her cute dimples.