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Chapter Two: The Study Night Crisis
By Wednesday night, Amara's apartment looked like a battlefield of books and scribbled notes. Her desk was buried under highlighters, sticky notes, and half-finished drafts. She rubbed her temples and sighed, staring at the blinking cursor on her laptop screen.
Two thousand words due by midnight.
Time left: five hours.
Energy level: near zero.
Her phone buzzed with a message from Tola:
Study session at yours? I'll bring my notes.
Amara groaned, but typed back anyway: Fine. But no distractions.
Twenty minutes later, Tola barged in with another classmate, Kunle, carrying bags of chips and soda. They tossed their stuff on the floor and spread their books out. Within minutes, the apartment was filled with the scratching of pens, the clicking of keyboards, and the occasional frustrated sigh.
By nine o'clock, Amara's stomach growled so loudly that Kunle laughed.
"Forget the essay—your stomach's the one screaming for attention."
She checked the fridge again. Leftovers? None. Takeout? Too expensive. All she had were eggs, leftover rice from yesterday, soy sauce, a few green onions, and oil.
Five ingredients. Again.
"Sit tight," Amara said, rolling up her sleeves. "I've got this."
In less than fifteen minutes, the sound of sizzling rice and eggs filled the air, the garlic-y scent drifting into the living room. Tola peeked in.
"No way. You made fried rice this fast?"
Amara shrugged, tossing the rice in the pan. "Five ingredients. That's all it takes."
They gathered around the table with steaming bowls, and the late-night study session turned into a feast. Between mouthfuls of warm, savory egg fried rice, laughter replaced stress, and for a brief moment, deadlines didn't feel so heavy.
Kunle raised his fork. "Amara, if you ever publish that '5-Ingredient Survival Guide,' I'll be the first to buy it."
Amara laughed, but her notebook flashed in her mind again. Maybe… just maybe… this idea was bigger than she thought.
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🍴 Recipe: 5-Ingredient Egg Fried Rice
2 cups leftover cooked rice
2 eggs
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 green onions (chopped)
Instructions:
1. Heat oil in a large pan.
2. Crack eggs, scramble quickly, then push to one side of the pan.
3. Add rice, stir-fry until heated through.
4. Add soy sauce and chopped green onions. Toss well.
5. Serve hot—perfect for late-night fuel.
✨ Budget-friendly, quick, and perfect for all-nighters.
Great choice 👍 let's expand Chapter Two a bit more so it feels alive with character interaction and sets up future dynamics
The three of them ate in silence at first, too hungry to do anything but shovel spoonfuls of rice into their mouths. When the bowls were nearly empty, Kunle leaned back with a satisfied sigh.
"Amara, you're officially in charge of food for all future study sessions," he declared.
Tola smirked. "Careful, she'll start charging us."
Amara laughed, though a small part of her wondered if she really could turn her recipes into something more. The thought was pushed aside as she glanced at the clock—10:15 p.m. Time was slipping away.
They returned to their books, the room filled again with the scratch of pens and occasional groans. Around midnight, Tola stretched her arms above her head.
"I can't do this anymore. My brain is fried."
Kunle rubbed his eyes. "Same. But if I don't finish this essay, I'm done for."
Amara tapped her pen, staring at her half-written page. Normally, exhaustion would've knocked her out by now. But the rice had given her a strange burst of energy. She felt steady, grounded—like maybe she could push through.
"Ten more minutes," she said firmly. "Then we all take a break."
Her determination must have been contagious, because both Tola and Kunle bent back over their laptops. Ten minutes stretched into thirty, then an hour. The apartment, messy as it was, hummed with quiet focus.
At 1:07 a.m., Kunle finally closed his laptop and groaned.
"Done."
Tola dropped her pen dramatically. "Finished. Barely alive, but finished."
Amara typed her last sentence, hit save, and leaned back with a triumphant grin. "Essay: submitted."
They stared at each other in disbelief before bursting into laughter. Exhausted, overworked, and drained—but victorious.
As they packed up to leave, Tola paused at the door. "Seriously, Amara… thanks. For the rice. For the push. For everything."
Kunle nodded. "You're like… the glue holding us together tonight."
Amara blinked, surprised by the warmth in their words. She didn't feel like glue. Most days, she felt like she was falling apart herself. But maybe, just maybe, these little meals she made could hold more than just her togethe
r.
When the apartment was quiet again
The apartment was finally silent again. Empty bowls sat stacked in the sink, textbooks scattered like fallen soldiers across the floor. Amara padded to the window, pushing it open to let the cool night air sweep through the room.
Campus lights twinkled in the distance, and somewhere, a lone car rumbled by. It was well past two in the morning, but instead of heavy exhaustion, she felt a strange calm.
Her phone buzzed—another message from her mother. Don't forget to eat properly. You know you get sick when you skip meals.
Amara smiled faintly, her chest tightening. She typed back quickly: Don't worry, Mum. I cooked tonight. It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either.
She looked at her notebook again, flipping back to the first page. Two recipes now. Two nights, two small victories.
Garlic Butter Pasta. Egg Fried Rice.
They weren't gourmet. They weren't impressive. But they had kept her going—and, tonight, they had carried her friends too.
Amara tapped the pen against the page, whispering to herself:
"Maybe this isn't just about food. Maybe it's about… survival. About finding joy in scraps."
The words lingered in the air, soft and hopeful.
Finally, she slid into bed, her stomach full and her heart oddly lighter than before. Tomorrow would bring more lectures, more bills, and more battles. But tonight, she had won.
And she was starting to believe she could keep winning—five ingredients at a time.
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End of Chapter Two.