"Do you believe in love at first sight? Well, I do. I was in my third year of university when I first met Khaira. I saw her sleeping in class, and I couldn't help but pause and think, 'She looks so cute.'
I didn't see her again until the semester results came out. I was thrilled to maintain my first-class grade. While retrieving a forgotten book from an empty lecture room, I heard muffled sobs from the back row. Curious, I approached and found a feminine figure crying under the desk.
'Hi, what's wrong?' I asked.
Embarrassed, she replied, 'Nothing, I thought I was alone.' She gathered her books to leave.
'Wait, a problem shared is half solved,' I said. 'I'm Harun, a 300-level Agriculture student. What's your major?'
'Agricultural Science, first year,' she replied.
'Nice, newbie!' I said with a smile. 'Am I right? You just saw your results?'
Her tears and vulnerability drew me in. Little did I know, that moment would change everything.
After much effort, Khaira finally opened up about her academic problems. I offered to help, promising to tutor her until my graduation and provide necessary materials. We became friends, but she maintained a boundary.
As time passed, I fell in love with this charming 18-year-old struggling with academics. Khaira was cute, calm, and modest, with brown eyes and dark skin. Her clumsiness made her more adorable, and I looked forward to our study sessions, eager to see her smile and witness her growth.
I couldn't help but develop feelings for her. Staying with such a lovely soul only made me a better person. She was always clear on what was haram and halal; she never took her religion as a joke.
The only time I ever saw her angry was on a fateful day when a guy made fun of me.
"'Aboki the kidnapper' bumped into me and said, 'I look up to take a look at him,' but I chose to ignore him.
"'Aboki, your people are kidnapping up and down; you no go tell them make them stop,'" he let out a loud laugh.
After hearing that, I felt like punching him across the face.
"'And what does that have to do with him?'" she said, coming towards us. "'Aboki, wife don show face ooo.'" He let out a loud laugh.
"'I can see you are a tribalist, but you, I don't know why your parents wasted their money by sending you to school; I can't see any improvements,'" she said.
"'You are in the History department, and you can't differentiate between Fulani and Hausa. Not all Fulanis are herdsmen, but unlucky, you are very ignorant about that. You made a name for all northerners because of a group of people, but when Evans, the notorious kidnapper, and his minions were caught, no one associated it with his tribe. Better change this poor way of reasoning.'"
She walked confidently to me and said, "Let's go."
He laughed and charged towards her, but I blocked him and landed a punch on his face. He brought out a dagger and wanted to use it on me, but I used karate self-defense to take him down. Soon, the school's security personnel arrived and picked him up.
I looked at Khaira, and I could see guilt on her face.
"'It's not your fault,'" I assured.
"'But if something bad had happened to you, I didn't know he was so dangerous,'" she sobbed.
I inched closer.
"'Don't worry; me and him had a misunderstanding beforehand, but at first, I just wanted to ignore him,'" I said.
She looked at me with a gaze of disbelief, but it was only the truth. How do I tell her I had gotten involved with Ola, the cultist, in my first year? Ola was my roommate, and I was arrested for one of the crimes he committed on campus. It took a lot of effort before I was acquitted of all charges against me, and now he was out, angry that I didn't use my father's influence to get him out.
"'What time is your exam? You know I'll just help you write it, baah,'" I laughed.
"'So we would both get caught and expelled, abeg,'" she replied, looking serious.
"'I was just joking, madam overthinker,'" I said.
She glared at me.
"'Just help me study; you know I have to memorize this whole paragraph for all plants' germination,'" she said and glued her eyes back to her books.
When we were done, I escorted her back to her dorm and left for mine.