Once Upon A Time...

I was having the most beautiful dream. I can’t remember the details now,I can’t even remember what it was about, but that hardly mattered. The important thing was the fact that it was a beautiful dream and that was all I cared about in that moment. I didn’t care about the fact that somewhere in the background was the shrill sound of the siren. Why ever is there a siren in this place? I didn’t even care that there seemed to be pokes digging into my ribs. I didn’t care that my feet were sticking out of the end of my bed. I didn’t care that there seemed to be a choir of mosquitos doing an acapella in my ears. All I cared about was this dream. Well, that was until Uwa rapped on the door with a net pole and the dream collapsed all around me.
           “All of you didn’t hear the siren abi?! On the count of 10, anyone still on their beds!”
I came awake and jumped down from my bunk in a fraction of a second, more from reflex than from any coherent or co-ordinated thought. Even after spending almost three months away from IJ, my instincts were still razor sharp. Boys no dey carry last! Some things just always stay a part of you no matter what!
          “You people think because you’re now wearing trousers, you can do any how abi?” Uwa was saying. “You have 1 hour to do your portions and get out of dorm, if not, you’re serving labour after school today!” he declared.
           “Omo, na die oh!” someone murmured
           “Opats mehn!” someone else said.
           “What was that?!” Onoks asked, coming into the dorm room behind Uwa.
The room went deadly quiet. You could have heard a pin drop.
           “You can’t talk now ehn?” Uwa said, thumping the pole he was holding in the palm of his other hand. No one breathed a word.
           “Oya, all of you clear!” Onoks said after a tensed moment that seemed to go on for ever. We all scattered as fast as we could.
           “Wow, what was that all about?” someone asked from behind me. I looked over my shoulder at him and smiled. The guy was one of the new students who had just joined our set. I’d seen him around over the weekend but hadn’t gotten around to talking to him yet.
           “Well, what can I say?” I shrugged. “Welcome to IJ!” He gave me a lost look and I laughed.
           “I hope we’re not in trouble.” He said still looking worried.
           “Nah, don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” I said.
I liked him immediately even though I hardly knew him. He was tall and stood a few inches above me, which was saying something, as I was one of the tallest guys in our set. He also spoke with a subtle accent, not like the fake phoné people sometimes tried to put on. I knew he must have been feeling overwhelmed with the way the morning was starting off, but well, that was IJ for you. I remembered my first few days here and in comparison, I think he was having it easy!
           “By the way, my name is Tunde, but everyone calls me Idahor.” I said smiling at him.
           “I’m Ukpong. I’m new here!” He replied returning my smile.
           “Ukpong? Where are you from? your accent sounds...”
           “Oh, we just moved here from Cuba.” He said.
           “Really! Welcome to Lagos then.”
           “Thank you!”
It was our first day as seniors. After spending over two months at home after JSCE, being back in IJ felt a bit weird. Add to that the fact that we were wearing trousers for the first time! Later on, we all stood awkwardly outside our dormitory, trying too hard not to look awkward. It felt strange seeing some of my guys in the greenish-grey trousers instead of seeing floppy socks hugging skinny ankles. If I hadn’t been feeling just as nervous as everyone else, I would have been having a good laugh! Some trousers were too long, some were too big, some were stiff from too much starch and ironing, some were staying up only because of belts lashed tightly around bony waists! Despite all that, it was with pride that we all marched on towards the dining hall. Students from other dorms stopped to gawp at us but we didn’t care. We held our heads high, some of us were even bouncing! We had arrived! We were finally Seniors!!!
Seniors or not, boys no dey slack! Before I could say jack, boys arranged the beans and loaf sharply! I was lucky not to get my spanking new white shirt stained with the beans. Imagine getting a dining-badge on the very first day of the term. Most of the girls didn’t show up for grub that morning. It was something about it being soooo not-cool to go for dining food too early in the term. Don’t ask me how a typical IJ girl’s mind works cos I’ll never understand it! Trust boys now, we arranged their part of the grub too. Ukpong was taking the whole thing in with an incredulous look on his face. Well, I thought, this is IJ! We left dining and then moved on towards the front of JS1 block where assembly was to take place. By then, I wasn’t feeling too self conscious of my new trousers anymore, especially when we mixed up with the other senior students and faded from the lime-light so to speak. I was deep in conversation with Ukpong, warning him about looking out for Moody and Shobogun when I first saw her. She was walking towards us with the most beautiful smile on her face. A part of my mind was wondering why she was smiling at me but I didn’t ponder the thought at that moment. She was pretty and petite and walked gracefully,  more like she was floating towards us. Her brand new skirt and shirt fit her petite frame perfectly and there was no awkwardness about her, no sir! She started to speak as she reached us and she had this sweet, sing-song voice that made me feel like I was dreaming again. Up close, I saw that she had these lovely dimples that made her smile even more beautiful. Snatches of my dream started to come back to me and then I started to remember.
                           Dear future me, today I met the girl you’re going to marry!
Then she threw her arms around my new friend and gave him a very big hug. My dream collapsed around me for the second time that morning!!!

          *                            *                      *                        *                      *                      *

I was having a day straight out of a horror movie. First thing I’d seen on my phone after turning off my alarm was a mail from Dr Quinn. He wanted my end of year report, in October! And he wanted a draft by 10 a.m. In the middle of October! He’d sent the mail at 3am in the morning, I mean, who on earth does that?! Silly question, Dr Quinn obviously does. The weather forecast had said to expect cool temperatures today but mehn, it was freezing! It seemed that like Dr Quinn, the weather thought it was December already. It's just October for crying out loud! And of course my boiler thought it was still June and decided not to work. Could the day get any worse? I really shouldn’t have asked that question!
One hour and one torturous cold shower later, I dashed out of my flat juggling my handbag and laptop bag in my hands. In that split second just before my door snapped shut, I realised I’d forgotten to transfer my keys from the pocket of the coat I usually wore to work to the winter coat I had on this morning. I stood there and stared at the closed door in horror and disbelief, like I was expecting the last two minutes of my life to rewind so I could edit them. Not only was I going to have to play phone-tag with the boiler company and all their recorded voices, I was also going to have to go to the housing council office and play face-tag with some grumpy and over-worked clerk in order to get a new set of keys. It also meant having to take the train today instead of driving in to work. Uggghhhhhhh!!!
I got to the station at a run, which was a feat even for a long distance runner like me. I had worn a pencil skirt and heels which I’d thought were super sharp this morning when I was getting dressed. If only I’d known! Just as I hobbled onto the platform, the train doors shut and the train pulled out of the station! I gritted my teeth really pissed. The schedule said the next train was due in 10 minutes and I sure didn’t have 10 minutes. So I decided to take a cab. Wrong choice. I paid a fortune to sit in one spot in rush-hour traffic! While fuming in the cab, I attempted to start working on the report on my laptop, but by then, I was too stressed out to think clearly, so I got close to nothing done. The cab finally made it to The Tower at about a quarter to nine. I hurriedly stuffed my laptop and scattered papers into the laptop bag and leaned over to pay the cab driver. I got out clumsily, with my bulky coat and super-sharp skirt and heels all getting in the way. I ran up the steps at the main entrance as fast as I could, already mentally calculating how...oh my God! My laptop!!! I swiveled on the spot, almost toppling down the steps, and watched as the cab pulled away! My mouth dropped open in horror, I’d left my laptop bag in the cab! It was like watching a very, very bad movie in slow-mo. I stood there in the cold, too dazed and numb to do anything. I wondered when my alarm would ring and I would wake up and realize this was all just a bad dream. Great! Add the cab company to my call list for today. Plus what was I going to do about Dr Quinn’s report?!
           “What happened to you?!” Beth asked as soon as I got into the office I shared with her.
           “You don’t want to know!” I said, sinking wearily into my chair.
           “That bad?” she asked. The look on my face answered her question.
           “Has Dr Q asked after me?” I asked.
           “Three times already!” she replied and I groaned.
I started up my desktop computer, wondering how on earth I was going to salvage the situation. Logging into my mailbox, I saw that I’d received 27 new mails since checking it on my phone this morning. 27! Dr Quinn was really going to kill me today! Then I realized each one was a facebook notification. Phew, was that a relief! Wondering what news was raging through facebook to warrant 27 notifications in one morning, I skimmed through the messages and I saw that someone had liked and commented on some of my pictures on facebook. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, Dr Q is gonna kill me, but curiosity got the better of me and I clicked on the link to check it out on facebook. 9:05. Less than an hour before I faced Dr Q’s wrath. I didn’t recognize my stalker’s name, probably an alias or nickname. One of the things I didn't like about facebook, all the strange names. Funny enough, I wasn’t so pissed by it this time and I read my stalker’s comments on my pictures. 9:17. I clicked on my stalker’s profile and found that his dp was a landscape with a setting sun in the background. Shoot! Another thing I didn’t like about facebook, aliases without any photos to identify them by. My curiosity grew, just who are you anyway? He’d left me a message as well. Somewhere at the back of my mind was the thought that Dr Q could very well be standing right behind me, looking over my shoulders at my computer screen... I clicked on the message anyway.

Hi! It’s me, Tunde Idahor from IJ. Just thought to say hi and see how you’re doing.Your pics are lovely btw. Have a great day!

And for some reason that I couldn’t figure out right then, I suddenly felt better, like everything that had happened today didn’t matter at all.
           “Dr Q wants you!” Beth said poking her head through the door.
           “Thanks!” I said turning in my seat to smile up at her. She gave me a puzzled look. She was probably just as puzzled as I was by the transformation in my mood. I got up and squared my shoulders, ready to face Dr Quinn’s famous temper. Have a great day! I just knew with a certainty that I was going to do just that! :)

           *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

The party had started by the time they got there. There had been a lot of traffic on third mainland bridge and it had taken almost forever to get to the island! Despite that, and the blazing sun, she was still glad to be back in Lagos. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed it until she had returned. Ukpong’s friend was waiting for them in the parking lot of the restaurant when the cab dropped them off. She smiled as Ukpong made the introductions. His name was Roland and he’d organised a surprise engagement party for his and Ukpong’s friends and Ukpong had dragged her along. She noticed a few familiar faces and she went to catch up with them. There was quite a number of IJ peeps there and she wondered how come she didn’t know the couple when they had so many friends in common. Tunde was meant to arrive from Ghana early the next morning and she couldn’t help wishing he was there already! He would have loved the opportunity to see so many old friends. After a while, the music was turned down and Roland addressed the guests.
           “Thanks everyone for coming to make this occasion special for our friends. The Bride and Groom to-be will be arriving soon and by special request, we’re ushering them in in grand style! Please give it up for...” he paused for dramatic effect. “Bruno Mars!!!”
Nooooooooo way!!!!! She gasped in shock as Bruno Mars stepped out. You’ve gotta be kidding me!!! Cheers went up from the guests as he started to croon out a song. As in, seriously!!!
           “...and when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for awhile...”
Omo mehn, am I sure this isn’t Will and Kate’s wedding like this?!!! she thought amazed. She brought out her phone and tried to get a close-up shot of him. It isn’t everyday you get to see Bruno Mars perform right in front of you! As if he read her mind, he came right up to her and took her hand.
What! Not only do I get to see him live, I get to dance with him as well!!! The already excited guests went frantic and phones came out everywhere, snapping pictures, recording videos.
Wait till I tell Tunde all about this, I’m actually dancing with Bruno Mars! To think I almost didn’t come to this party!
They danced around the room and then he started to twirl her around.
           “...oh Baby, I think I wanna marry you...”
She twirled round and round, feeling proud of herself that she was dancing so gracefully, despite how really excited she was. When she finally stopped twirling, strong arms steadied her and she thought she was seeing things. Must be the dizziness from all that twirling!
            “Your flight isn’t until tomorrow morning!” She gasped and he simply smiled down at her.
            “You called me from Ghana less than an hour ago!” she said throwing her arms around him. “How...”
            “Well, I have my ways!” he replied hugging her back.
Wow! Today really is turning out great! She thought.
            “...oh Baby, I think I wanna marry you...” Bruno sang on.
            “What are you doing here?!” she asked. “Do you know the couple as well?”
He didn’t answer. He simply got down on one knee and a little box appeared out of nowhere. Her hands flew to her mouth as she stared at the intricate little ring. The beautiful diamond inlaid in it exploded in a million little shiny stars through the tears that clouded her eyes. Vaguely, she registered that the room had gone quiet around them and even Bruno had finally stopped singing. The guests gathered around them, waiting expectantly. Talk about a surprise engagement party! All their friends, Bruno Mars, this was the best surprise ever!!!
Dabbing at tears, she reached out a hand and took the ring from its perch in the box...



                      This entry is specially for my friends and ex-school mates, Affiong Eyo
                       and Tunde Idahor. I wish you guys every happiness!!! I think this song 
                       by Natasha Bedingfield is just perfect for you guys. Enjoy! ;)
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