Could there be more to this mortal world than meets the eye? Why do dogs bark at nothingness and owls hoot at midnight? One thing is sure – things are not always what they seem.
– Unknown
Betty dragged herself towards her hostel; the hunger in her stomach only aggravated the shame she still felt from the lecture earlier in the day. The day was still young. The food sellers in the front of Moremi Hall were already brewing their delicious food. She pushed down the thought urging her to buy some.
“Babe, look where you dey go na”, a voice said.
The voice brought her back to her senses; she had been so carried away. She almost collided with a group of friends.
“I am sorry”, Betty apologized.
She saw a glint of recognition flash over the guy’s face. Did he know her?
“Na that babe from SER001 class oo”, the guy told his friend as he walked away.
Betty froze as she heard that. Obafemi Awolowo University was such a big school, how could someone she almost bumped into be from the class where she had been humiliated? She wasn’t the only one who did not know what she wanted to do with her life presently. Many other students were just as helpless as she was. Prof. Okoni just made hers obvious by calling her out in class.
She suddenly felt everyone was staring at her; she knew she was delusional but still, she hurried along, trying her best to reach Alumni Hall as soon as possible.
“I woke up with this headache again from that moment I knew today was going to be a bad day”, she thought. Betty was famous for her skull-splitting headaches, she had them at least once a week, and she had now attributed them to a bad day. She was never wrong.
“Are you ok?” another voice asked.
Now Betty had really collided with someone. The contents of her bag had spilled onto the Moremi stairs. She had forgotten about the stairs. How could she?
She could see the porters and hall wardens laughing at her; a few passersby sympathized with her, some of them snickered, and others just faced their business.
“Are you good?” she heard that otherworldly voice again.
“Sorry for bumping into you. I wasn’t watching where I was going”, he apologized.
Before she could say anything, he bent down and started picking up the contents of her bag.
“Oh God,” she said to herself, “let his face be as beautiful as his voice.”
Her conscience spoke back.
“Betty upon all you’ve faced today, na man dey your mind.”
She gasped as she saw his face. Ok, this was not real. It had to be a dream. He had a perfectly-cut triangular face, full eyebrows, and eyelashes. His eyes were not black, nor were they blue. She could not place the color. They were so attractive that she felt her skin burn up and move in waves and ripples from her head to her toe. As if all that was not enough, she noticed tiny flashes of light emanating from the skin on his face. She looked around; no one else seemed to be questioning the light on his face.
“Here are your books”, he said.
Betty felt cold sweat run down her body at the sound of his voice.
“Thank you. I am sorry too,” she said, avoiding his face.
He watched her as she put her stuff in her bag. After taking one more look at his glittering face, she moved on very fast. She definitely needed a lot of sleep.
A splitting headache, humiliation, sparkling faces. Yes, a very long sleep. If only she could just fly to her room, that would be…
“I could give you wings if that is what you need”, the voice said again.
“Here’s your book,” he said, stretching one of her textbooks to her, “I found it after you zoomed off.”
“Thank you,” she replied, “I am sorry but did you just read my mind?”
He laughed out loud. She noticed that the light rays danced and vibrated as he laughed. Almost as if they were happy too.
“Well, anyone watching you walk would know you want to get to where you are going as soon as possible,” He said.
“Was it that obvious?”
“Yes, it was. By the way, I am Mika. You are?”
She didn’t feel comfortable telling a stranger her name; something was off about him. Attractive, but off.
“Uhmm, you’re going to Alumni hall. Let me walk you there.”
“I didn’t tell you that, are you sure you don’t read minds?”
“I wish I could, but I saw your hostel ID card when your stuff fell out. Am I walking you or not?”
“Yeah sure. Thanks Maki.”
“No Betty, it’s Mika,” he corrected her, laughing again.
“I didn’t tell you my name, how do you know that?”
“Your ID Card, curious cat. Asking you was for formality,” he said, rolling his pretty eyeballs.
As they walked towards her hostel, she felt her nose tingle to the freshly fried “As E Dey Hot” aroma. They maintained small talk, and she couldn’t help but notice how the light on his face danced with his speech.
At the front of her hostel, she paused.
“Am I high or is your face glittering?” She asked.
He froze, and she watched the light rays become stiff.
“Glittering?” he asked, surprised. Almost scared.
“Yeah, tiny light-ish stuff. Oh, tell me I am not crazy.”
“How can you….” He started.
“AntaMika, father requires your presence.” A voice interrupted him.
Yes, Betty now knew she wasn’t crazy. This dude had a broad, square-like face that was also glittering.
“You are not supposed to call me that in public”, Mika admonished.
“Why? It’s not like anyone can hear.”
“She can. She can see the rays of the red Sun. Who knows if she can hear too?”
This had gone from interesting to extraordinary. Betty was definitely interested.
“Of course, I can hear. He just called you AntaMika, and said your dad wants to see you.”
Betty regretted saying that as she noticed the light on the other fellow’s face become stiff and bright red.
“Quickly, make her forget.”
“I have been trying since, it’s not working. Something is really wrong.”
“I don’t get you. Make me forget what?” Betty answered, scared.
“Bye, Betty. I will definitely see you again.” Mika said. With that, they held hands and vanished.
“Hahaha,” Betty laughed as she looked around, “Omoo. I really need sleep.”
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