Beep! Boop!! Beep!!!
Angel's alarm clock went off and with sleepy eyes, she threw it on the floor, and of course, it stopped ringing.
She sat up and did a big stretch amidst yawning. Today was her big day but boy was she tired.
6 am already? She had remembered setting her alarm to ring at 6 am so it was 6 am. Time flew fast.
She slipped to her knees and said her prayers before standing to begin her day.
She would have her bath first, then brush her teeth, before she arranged her hair and picked out her outfit for the day.
One thing she had observed about herself was if she didn't mentally program her day from the onset it'd turn into one hell of a disaster– and no one enjoyed disastrous days, right?
"Alexa could you play me my Indie pop Mix on Spotify please," she said to her AI assistant as she walked into the bathroom to have her bath.
Dandelion by Ruth .B. flooded the whole room and she unconsciously began to hum to the beat of the song.
It was such a beautiful morning, wasn't it?
She was soon done with her bath. She wrapped herself in a towel before grabbing her electric toothbrush. It zigzagged across her teeth and when she felt they were clean enough she rinsed the brush and rinsed her mouth too.
"Hehehe. Call me Freshman Angel," she said in a cutesy voice as she tapped the brush against the mirror. She was overexcited.
Her hair was a mess. It was wet because she had washed it while bathing and it was also all tangled up.
She opened her haircare drawer, took out her detangling oil, and massaged it into the scalp of her hair before brushing it up.
She used the Augustinus Bader hair product. It had been the most productive for her.
She took a hairband and tied her hair in a ponytail style. She was planning to use a face cap so it didn't matter what hairstyle she had underneath.
Finally, it was time to pick her clothes. If there's one thing about Angel, it is her awful yet fantastic taste in styling clothes.
She preferred warm colors and was a mastermind in the sandwich method. And of course, she was going to exhibit her expertise once again.
She took a deep breath and flung open her wardrobe. 'Minnie Minnie Minney Moo," she sang as she grabbed a cute top from a hanger, "Slay!" She exclaimed as she looked at it in the mirror.
It was a light blue spaghetti hand shirt. She smiled as she chose khaki pants to go with it and a khaki-colored shrug.
For shoes, she chose her light blue Jordans and of course, she found a khaki face cap.
The sandwich method was a huge success.
She put on everything and admired herself in the mirror. "Slay" she repeated but this time in a calmer tone.
Angel wasn't a huge fan of makeup. She loved her natural look best. She would only use makeup if she felt like it or if she was obligated to go to one of her parents' fancy gatherings.
Today, she wasn't in the makeup mood.
She grabbed a black backpack and popped her phone, her AirPods case, a clear lip gloss tube, a couple of pens, and a brand-new jotter in it.
"Alexa, what's the time?" She asked her AI assistant. "Quarter past seven," came Alexa's reply and she ran out of the room to the dining room.
At the table, her mother was seated having breakfast over a conversation with Marie. "Good morning Mom, Good morning Marie," she said as she kissed each of them on the cheek before sitting on her chair.
Chioma smiled, "I told you I'd be back in time to see you off," she said as she put a spoon of fried egg in her mouth, "What's even better is that I have the day off and I don't have to bother about anything while I drive you to school," she added.
Angel smiled. She was going to spend her day with her mom? W!
Marie placed a plate of fried egg sandwiches in front of her and smiled, "Since you're coming, will Marie still accompany me?" She asked as she grabbed the sandwich in her hands and munched on it.
Her mother nodded, "Of course," she replied, "Marie won't you have breakfast with us? I plan to leave by eight latest," she asked.
Marie shook her head, "I haven't finished prepping lunch yet,"
"Oh Marie, there's no need for lunch," Chioma whined, "Besides I have already kept a reservation at Nadia Bakery's. I heard their pottage is top-notch," she said.
Marie stopped what she was doing. She placed the meat patties in a Tupperware and kept them in the fridge. She had planned to make hamburgers for lunch but since Chioma had made other arrangements, they would have it for dinner instead.
She took a plate of fried egg and sat down too. They had breakfast over a bubbly conversation.
Finally done, Marie cleared the dishes while Mother and child walked to the car. In less than five minutes she was already with them.
Angel smiled as she sat in the back seat and watched as Marie joined her. Marie was dressed in a flowery gown and had a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. "You look beautiful," Angel complimented her caretaker and Marie bopped her nose.
Chioma revved the engine and at last, they were ready to leave for Uniben.
Angel plugged her AirPods into her ears listening to a Spotify-recommended Classical playlist. She opened the Line App on her phone to check for recent messages and only saw two.
One was from her older cousin in the Philippines telling her about his latest obsession with anime cosplay and the other was from a friend back in Ottawa.
She replied to both messages and put off her phone. Was he going to listen to music throughout the ride? She was getting bored and she didn't like that.
She took out the jotter from her bag and a pen and began doodling. Marie had brought her knitting equipment along so she was knitting a sweater's hand in the car. She didn't fancy music at all.
The traffic to Ugbowo was choking. Chioma had to hone at some reckless drivers so they wouldn't bash into her and what's even worse, a handful of them hurled insults at her.
Well, welcome to Nigeria.
Initially, Chioma had wanted to go back to her State, Imo State but she wasn't mentally prepared for the questions her mother and sisters would ask her since they disagreed on her decision to separate from her husband.
Instead, she had opted to stay in any state Angel chose to further her education. That would give her leverage to visit her any time she had a day off.
And Benin City was the lucky abode.
An hour and forty-five minutes later she was making a U-turn through the gates of the great citadel of learning.
Angel pressed her face against the window panes and she was deeply intrigued by the beauty of the school. It was a memory she was going to make one of her cores.
Her first time seeing Uniben.
Chioma asked for directions to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine from one of the patrols and the young man did as told.
Despite that, Chioma still got lost! She was very bad at directions and it was at this moment she missed being the passenger princess of her husband. One could nickname her female Zoro from the One Piece series.
Finally, she found the building, and all three alighted from the car. The shrubs in front of the building were well-trimmed and the air was serene.
They entered inside and were warmly welcomed by a woman with a beautiful smile. She ushered them to the Dean's office and Angel couldn't help but smile back.
There were only two chairs available in the office and Angel thought it best to stand. While her mother and Marie spoke at length with the Dean she stuffed her eyes with the antiques in his office.
She was greatly mesmerized by their beauty.
The Dean noticed her gazing around and laughed, "Young lady what's your name?" He asked in a fatherly tone.
Angel immediately bowed in respect and said, "My name is Angel Iura Achebe," in a single breath. She was nervous and although she was trying her best to conceal it, it was obvious that she was nervous.
He smiled at her and wrote out a list of documents she would need for her clearance. Chioma took it with both hands and thanked him.
So she was going to start her clearance soon, Angel thought. She was overjoyed.
"Let's go take your passport," Chioma said as the trip walked out of the building, "I saw a busy place at the entrance and I'm sure we'll be able to have your passport taken there before we go to Nadia for lunch," she added.
They entered the car and Chioma drove them back to the entrance. She parked the car in a parking lot and all three walked through the gate of the busy place Chioma had spoken about earlier.
It wouldn't have felt weird if people weren't staring at them, especially Angel. She was feeling uncomfortable to a fault. She convinced herself that this was because she had stepped foot in Uniben for the first time.
The first shop was a gift shop so they didn't do passports but the second was just what they were looking for and the owner was a nice man.
His smile made Angel feel at home until…