It all started one early morning.
Our CRE teacher, Mr. James, walked into class with a tall, handsome newcomer and asked him to introduce himself. At that moment, my head was resting on the desk. I had been sleepy because I woke up very early in the boarding dormitory.
As the boy started introducing himself, I slowly raised my head to see who was speaking.
And that was when I saw him.
He was tall, neat, and very handsome. For a moment, my heart skipped a beat. I immediately liked him, but I quickly told myself, What do I want from him? No dating.
The morning went on as usual. My friends went to welcome him and talk to him, but I wasn't interested in doing that.
Later in the evening, I decided to unpleat my hair. My friends Margarita and Nariman were helping me. While we were talking, Nariman mentioned that the new boy was from Kenya. Since she also came from that side, she said it would be nice to greet him.
Unfortunately, she had taken the comb with her.
So she went to him and started talking. Minutes turned into almost an hour.
I had to go and collect the comb from her. When I reached them, they were still chatting happily. For some reason, I felt a little jealous, even though I didn't understand why.
I pretended everything was fine.
I shook hands with the new boy but avoided looking directly into his face.
Friday morning arrived quickly. We were preparing to walk to the examination center for our briefing.
I was sitting with my best friend,Nuna, when the new boy suddenly approached us.
Nuna looked uncomfortable and tried to leave, but I quickly called her back because I never feel comfortable talking to a boy alone.
The new boy smiled and asked for Nuna's name too. Before she could answer, I quickly said,
"This is my best friend… my best best friend."
Nuna then introduced herself.
After a few minutes, Nuna said she wanted to go and drink water. I asked her to bring some for me too.
Then the new boy asked for my phone number.
At first, I hesitated. But eventually, I gave it to him.
And just like that, we exchanged contacts.
Soon, it was time for us to leave for the center.
We walked there together.
The next day, he texted me on Facebook and told me that he liked me.
I was shocked.
I quickly ran to Nuna in the girls' dormitory to tell her everything.
Honestly, I don't know why I didn't reject him immediately. Somehow, I had already started falling for him.
He asked me to be his girlfriend.
I told him that I couldn't date anyone because my uncle didn't allow it, my mother would be disappointed, and our headmaster, Mr. Okan, was someone I respected very much.
But he insisted.
He told me he was not in a rush and that he was willing to wait for my decision.
After thinking about it for a while, I finally accepted him.
But when I told Nuna, she advised me to watch him carefully first because he was very social with many girls.
Even though I felt disappointed, I decided to listen to her advice.
Things started moving quickly after that.
He would often bring me cold water in the evenings before going back home since he was not a boarding student.
One Sunday, he even took me out on a date.
Soon, rumors began spreading around the school whenever people saw us together like electromagnetic waves.
I was scared.
But he told me that our relationship should remain secret so that it wouldn't distract me from the national exams that were coming from December 1st to December 9th.
After the exams ended, we stayed at school for one extra day because the science students finished late.
On the day of departure, he called me to the school stationery shop so we could talk.
We talked for a long time.
When it was finally time to leave, I hugged my friends goodbye.
He was waiting for me by the roadside.
He walked me home, and along the way we talked and laughed a lot.
When we reached near my home, I stopped and told him I had to go.
I hugged him.
And he gently kissed my cheek.
I walked home smiling like a crazy person.
For the next week, we kept chatting every day on Facebook.
And everything felt perfect.
But I never knew that things would later turn out so badly.