Rita had so many admirers!
She loved and she hated it!
Sometimes she felt like she was walking on egg shells so that she literally wanted to bury herself underneath the safety of her bedcovers and never show her face outside.
Those times she was tempted to believe her beauty was a curse.
She remembered the previous weekend.
She shook her head as if trying to shake off the gory memory of how what started as a playful banter between two brothers became a bloody fight.
They were both fighting for her love, ironically she didn't fancy any of them.
She glanced at the clock. In a few minutes she would be late for class.
She buried her head in her pillow with a sigh.
She thought she would pass,after all Mr Rotimi was inconsistent with classes.
She would sleep some more. What was the worse that could happen she thought as she drifted off into a troubled sleep.
..................precious was already in class waving at her from the mid row.
She shook her head as she tried to sneak her way to where her friend had reserved a seat for her.
Rita loved the front row where she could hear everything because of the hundreds of students who had to attend lectures every morning.
She did not want to waste another day sitting in the lecture room pretending to learn.
She managed to get to her friend and found a reserved space on the bench.
Just as she planted her bottom in the space.
She heard the lecturer call her name. At first she thought it was just coincidence. She could not have been the only one with the name in class.
She heard her name again. This time it was in full. She ducked! Her heart was beating fast with her eyes rolling in utter terror and mind searching.
How did this man know her name?
She had never really spoken to this lecturer one-on-one.
The only contact she had was when she had accompanied the class rep to submit assignments.
The door to the HOD's office had flung open suddenly just as they had gotten to it. It turned out he had a visitor who was just leaving.
The door had opened wide enough to catch a glimpse of him sitting in his office. At that very moment he looked up and saw her standing and staring wide eyed as the class rep stepped in then the door closed.
She remembered....but how had he known her name?
She heard him call out her name one more time with the slight tinge of accent.
She felt a little pinch. It was all she needed,she slowly lifted up her head and straightened and met her lecturers knowing eyes once more.
"Would you like to tell this respectable class why you are sneaking into the class and why you are late?
Rita was tongue tied. She knew she had to find a good reason soon or face the consequences. She had been spotted.
She felt the pinch again. Her friends silent way of nudging her. It was beginning to get on her nerves.
Suddenly she felt a churn in her stomache, accompanied with a sharp pain. She knew the familiar feeling. She had to use the loo urgently.
She got panicky and sweaty. It was certainly not a good day.
She watched the lecturer leave the podium and start walking towards her.
She started to stammer. She was feeling pressed too. She tried to recall what she ate the previous night.
Nothing ,her memory refused to budge. All she knew at that time was that her gut was on fire.
She knew she had to do something or else she was going to spill everything in her intestine in the classroom.
She turned and ran towards the backdoor amidst the gasp and laughter of other students.
In a few minutes she was gulping fresh air and racing to the nearest bathroom. She prayed she would make it on time.
She had this strong feeling to turn around and much to her chagrin she saw her lecture hot on her heels brandishing a pestle.
Rita's heart skipped. She imagined he was going to smash her head to a pulp. She ran faster.
Faster....and faster until she noticed her movements became slower like in slow motion.
She turned one more time and saw that Mr Rotimi was closer than ever ,his face a mask of rage.
He was going to pounce any minute.
Then she slipped on a large stone she did not see on time and fell with a loud bang.
Rita was awake.......still in her room and she jumped out of her bed and headed for the toilet,realised some urine had already escaped.
The feeling was ominous,she felt the sharp churn again in her stomach.
Number two was already on its way with a vengeance.
