Author's note: This is the beginning of the beginning. Please after each chapter,be kind to click on that little star at the bottom of the page and comment afterwards. You are greatly supporting a baby girl's dream, gracias😊
Adanna's POV.
''Ada hurry up,we have to make it before the cafe closes o'' Rose literally shouted whilst we were on the road. I couldn't really blame her though,the mix of anxiety and nervousness I was feeling right now would make anyone in my position walk like a snail. This was my second time writing the JAMB examination required before anyone in the country could go to a higher institution(University). The first time I wrote the exam,I scored 255,that was good enough to get the course I wanted to study. But in Nigeria,plenty things came with a lot of comma,or as some people would say; maybe your village people were following you. After acing the JAMB, you had to face another hurdle called POST UTME; this exam was set by your intended university of choice to test your intellectual ability as though JAMB wasn't enough test already. It was this POST UTME that blew the fowl yansh of most people. In my case,when the results were out, I had succeeded in getting just a mark below the cut-off mark. I was devastated to say the least. The thought of my name appearing even on the supplementary list was so slim as I wasn't an indigene of the state where the University was situated and that was a problem(Naija and tribalism😩) . My only option was to take a change of course or come back next year and retake the exam.
Because I didn't just want to study anything,I chose the latter.
Rose and I had been best of friends since JSS 2,I remember the usual shuffling that was done at our secondary school then at the beginning of each session so we could mix well with almost every student in your level;that was how I met Rose. She was so free with everyone,and kept laughing at something somebody said. Her fair skin did great in making her stand out in the crowd,and her long shoulder length neatly braided all back,sparkled under the morning sun.
The list had been called,and those who were to be in the same class waited for their resident class teacher to take them up. As we were moving up the stairs,a familiar voice stopped beside me and said ''I want to be your seat partner'',before I could respond Ronke my other friend just chipped in; ''she already has a seat partner''. I couldn't help but laugh at how Ronke was quick to respond. I didn't want to come off as proud,so I quickly added, you can always seat in front of us Rose with Precious. It seemed like she accepted that,because from that moment onwards people began to call us the 4 musketeers(I know it's supposed to be 3,don't ask me why they didn't find another nickname).
We became so close and inseparable,but after our JSS 3 exams,Ronke and Precious told us they would be changing schools come SS1. That was how I was stuck with Rose and we became best of friends,but still had other friends too.
Rose had always wanted to become a lawyer,hence the socially outspoken girl she is. She was smart and lucky enough to have gotten admission into the university at the first sitting.
She was currently studying Law at the University of Lagos,the same university I was hoping to go. I had always wanted to study Business Administration and I didn't want anything to change that. The fact that Rose had gained admission before me didn't stop or hinder our friendship. We still had plans on finishing school at the same time as Law was a 5 year course and Bus. admin was a 4 year course. I just hoped this time around,luck would shine on me.
*Back from my reverie*
Rose slow down haba,you are practically running I said. Even if the cafe is closed by the time we get there,we can always come back tomorrow. Rose halted immediately and took a sharp look at me ''just say you are scared of checking the result and we will go back shikena(finish)''. We were used to adding bits of hausa or igbo language as we conversed. At that point I would have gladly replied yes,but I knew I was stalling for 3 days now and I would have to check it sooner or later. ''Ok, fine'' I said. Let's go, I want to check it today. ''Hope your scratch card is with you oo'',Rose added; I rolled my eyes,trust her to act like a mummy. Yes it's with me I replied.
5:45pm
We got to the cafe. But what we didn't expect was the crowd that was there. I thought almost everyone would have checked their results by now, I winced into Rose's ear. ''Apparently you were not the only one stalling in this Lagos''. There were about 6 people before me and each came with a support system just like Rose had come with me. After about 15 minutes of waiting,it was finally my turn to use the computer. You would think that I was the last person for the day,but during our waiting, 5 more people had come to check results too. The owner had no choice than to put the close sign so that no one would come in again.
''Next,next person come with your card or bring your 700 naira and buy card here'' rang Mr Taiwo's voice. He was the owner of the cafe. Although he had 2 interns working with him,he mostly handled the computers while the interns handled things like printing,photocopying,spiralbinding and the likes.
I went forward with Rose,she said ''we have our card sir,we just want to check the result and print it out Sir''.
I brought out the folded paper from my small cross bag hanging over my shoulder. I quickly gave him the card. He punched in the numbers like it meant life to him,he gave me the card to cross-check the numbers because once used wrongly;you would have to buy another. I had to input my JAMB registration number too. After filling that on the computer,I was just about to click enter when Mr Taiwo's voice jolted us when he said cross-check the information young ladies. I was getting irritated but I cross-checked,alas I had over looked one mistake. I had mistakenly typed 11 numbers instead of 10 on the registration icon. I was relieved to see that I didn't make a mistake. I had to pull Rose to triple check it,when we were sure it was ok;I told her to click enter.
I had my hands over my face,bent down. I didn't want to see the result first. I knew if it was good Rose would scream not minding where we were and if it wasn't good,well; I had not prepared for that and we just had to wait and see.
''Well,Rose how far nah''; I said still shutting my eyes.
Author's Note:
This is the end of chapter one. I hope you will follow through each character's development as I don't want to rush into things. And I don't know if this chapter is long enough,and worth it.
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Gracias 😊