CHAPTER FIVE
CAROLINE
I worked into my hostel room and moved straight to my corner.
I have been living fully on campus for two weeks, and in those two weeks, all of our roommates had moved in.
I must tell you it's no fun at all. We are fourteen in number, and all my roommates except for Safarat came in with their plus one.
It is a tradition here in this school.
Most students had to squat with others for a fee as there was not enough room to accommodate all the admitted students.
The number of students now in my room has skyrocketed.
As you can deduce, Safarat is no longer finding the invasion funny. The lack of privacy and the noise that comes with it was never funny.
Earlier last week, I watched her try to convince other roomies to sell their space to her, but towards the end of the week, Safarat gave up.
Most of our roommates claimed they had also collected money from others to allow them a chance to stay on campus, as most lived in other states of the country.
I had known from the inception that this plan would not work.
Safarat's plan won't work because most students stay outside this city, unlike Safarat and I do.
Some students had to come by air as they would travel for two or more days on the road.
Another reason her plan won't work is that. It is expensive to get a decent apartment close to school.
Everyone's best option is the school hostel, even though it is overpopulated.
Please note that it is also a tradition of this school to admit more than its capacity of students, thereby camping students together like fishes in sardine cans.
Once in my room, I dropped my bag on the reading table close to my bed and then sat on my bed.
I gently raised my hands to cover my face in exhaustion when I heard a loud hiss from the right side of the room.
Wondering who was feeling irritated, I angled my head slightly to the right and saw the person responsible for the loud hiss. I bet she sounded like a snake.
"I guess we do not deserve acknowledgement from you. Since we are not Safarat." The culprit released another long hiss.
"She must be a snake," I said under my breath. Thank God she was not close enough to hear me.
I couldn't remember her name as I am not good at remembering names.
"Don't mind her, Eyi. We are all ants to them. If they are too big, they should live off-campus?" another one said.
I noticed they were standing close to their beds.
Their squatters were not back yet, so six pairs of eyes stared at me angrily.
Oh, her name is Eyi. I ignored what they were saying by blocking their voice out of my head.
It's not like I wanted to ignore them when I came in, but I was in my head when I entered the room.
There are better ways of calling someone back to be present in her surroundings than jumping to the conclusion of what their feelings must be.
I am not in the mood to apologise to these girls for my lack of presence of mind when I came into the room, nor am I ready to correct their impression of me at this time.
Don't get me wrong. I have to make friends with them because I want to enjoy my stay in the hostel.
This girl will stop at nothing to pull you down if they think you think low of them.
So, in my head, I started creating scenarios of ways I could get them to think better of me.
I made a note to stop by their bed to greet them individually before I go out for lunch at the school gate later today. I am still trying to figure out how their mind works. The first person I would like to get into her head is this girl called Eyi.
She is so thin, tiny and very tall, like runway models.
She is dark and beautiful, but she is trouble personified.
Everyone in the room fears her except for me and Safarat. I am not afraid of Eyi because I have Safarat, who knows how to put people in their place, and I love her for that.
"Like seriously," Eyi yelled.
I looked up to see her in my personal space, and my heart missed a bit.
I know she picks any time Safarat is absent from the room to unruffle me.
Putting on my big girl pants, I smiled, trying to make it look as genuine as possible.
"Oh! Eyi, good afternoon. How was your day?" She looked taken aback but recovered quickly
"So you suddenly know how to greet." I tried to look as confused as possible.
"Oh! So you do not know what I am talking about." She said again,
My expression must have convinced her because I saw her features soften a bit, and she moved a step back, not enough for me to make any move, so I accommodated her as she dwarfed me with her height.
"You do not know when you walked in without a single hello roomie?" I tried looking shocked as if I just realised I had committed the grievance sin.
"I didn't greet anyone? so sorry, my head is full these days." I said, acting so innocent effortlessly. I must be a good actress because I watched her shoulders drop, losing every fight she came with.
"So sorry, I thought you were avoiding us because we won't sell our space to your friend."
So that was the reason for their unnecessary harassment. God helps me with these unreasonable girls.
"Why will I do that?" she stepped back from my personal space, and I took that opportunity to stand up.
"See, I know what she wants is impossible, and I told her so. That is the reason I did not get involved with the persuasion." Just then, Safarat busted into the room, calling my name from the door.
Eyi quickly walked off my corner, meeting Safarat on her way out. They eyed each other.
What do these two have going on? Whatever it is, I do not want to be part of it.
"Caroline." Safarat greeted me the instant she got to me.
"Hope that idiot is not bothering you?' She questioned loud enough for Eyi to hear, but to my surprise, Eyi did not respond to her bate.
"Not at all." I responded and quickly changed the topic to "How was class today?"
"Who told you I went to class?" She responded playfully, sitting on my bed while I sat on my reading chair.
"I went house hunting, and I got what I wanted. A three-bedroom apartment with two toilets," she said, clapping her hands in excitement,
She was loud enough for anyone who cared to listen in the room to hear her.
"That's too much hope you have not paid?" I wondered how she would live alone in a house that big.
She waved me off with her left hand, rolling her eyes.
Then, I thought she might have plans to share it with others, so I quickly added.
"That is if you do not plan to share." She looked at me in disbelief.
"Like seriously, Caroline, don't be ridiculous. I do not intend to share my house with anyone. Fine, you, I will, if not, I would very much like to stay alone.
She sounded serious. 'And since you asked." she continued. "I just paid for four years," My mouth dropped in disbelief. That's a lot of money. How rich is this girl?
I couldn't say anything for a while, and she gave me time to process the bombshell she had just dropped.
After a while, she said, "I will be moving in today. The place is quite close to school. You will love it.
Help do my packing, and I too will help you do your packing, then I will take you to the place.
The driver is waiting downstairs to take us to the house when we are through with packing."
She felt my hesitance.
I didn't know her well enough to abandon my reliable space and move in with her.
What if we fight, and she decides to throw me out? I can hop immediately and get myself a mini flat like she did. I am not that rich, nor do I have a rich background.
"You do not have to move in with me today. I am good with living alone, but anytime you need a place to stay, you know your room is waiting for you in my house."
I hugged and thanked her, knowing that the offer was very huge.
We walked to her corner together and started packing her things.