THE SIX OF US

EPISODE 1: SIX STRANGERS, ONE JOURNEY Favour arrived at Greenfield University at exactly 8:17 a.m. She knew the time because she had checked her wristwatch seven times during the journey from her hometown. She had also checked her admission letter so often that the edges were beginning to fold. Her mother had accompanied her to the university gate, carrying a nylon bag containing food, clothes, and a small Bible. "Remember what I told you," her mother said for the third time. Favour smiled. "Mummy, I remember." "Be serious with your studies. Don't follow bad friends. Don't allow anybody to distract you." "Mummy!" "What? Am I lying?" Favour laughed and hugged her. Her mother placed both hands on her cheeks. "I may not have enough money to give you everything you need, but I have prayed for you. Make us proud." Those words followed Favour long after her mother left. She was the first child of a struggling family. Her father had died when she was fourteen, leaving her mother to raise three children by selling food in a small roadside shop. Favour had promised herself that she would become a radiographer, earn enough money to care for her family, and give her younger siblings opportunities she had never enjoyed. She wanted more than success. She wanted freedom from the constant fear of not having enough. Unfortunately, she had no idea where to find her hostel. After wandering around the campus for almost twenty minutes, she stopped beside a tall boy who was struggling to carry three bags. "Please, do you know where the female hostel is?" she asked. The boy turned. "Unfortunately, no. But if you find it, please tell me where the male hostel is." Favour stared at him. Then they both laughed. "My name is Chinedu," he said, stretching out his hand. "But everybody calls me Chino." "Favour." "Beautiful name. It means something good is about to happen to me." "Or something bad, depending on your behaviour." Chino placed a hand over his heart. "Madam, we have known each other for only thirty seconds. Please give me time to disappoint you properly." That was the beginning of their friendship. Before they could continue talking, a girl wearing a white blouse and blue jeans approached them. She had a backpack hanging from one shoulder and a telephone pressed against her ear. "No, Dad. I said I can handle it myself." She ended the call and sighed. Chino looked at her. "First day?" She nodded. "Same here. I'm Chinedu." "Amara." "Do you know where the hostels are?" Amara looked at him as though he had asked her to explain nuclear physics. "Why would I know? I just arrived." "Good. We are three intelligent people with absolutely no direction." Favour laughed. The fourth member of their group arrived ten minutes later. His name was Ikenna, a quiet young man with round glasses and a habit of observing people before speaking. He had been standing near the university noticeboard, carefully studying the campus map. When Chino asked him for directions, Ikenna explained the entire campus layout, including the locations of the library, lecture halls, laboratories, cafeterias, administrative offices, and hostels. Chino stared at him in admiration. "My brother, where have you been all my life?" "Trying to avoid people who ask questions without reading signs." Favour nearly choked with laughter. The fifth person was Blessing, who arrived wearing a bright yellow dress, large earrings, and a smile that could have persuaded a stranger to lend her money. She introduced herself before anyone could ask. "I'm Blessing, but call me Bless. If you call me by my full name, I will assume you owe me money." "Noted," Chino said. "I owe you nothing." "Then don't call me." The sixth person arrived last. His name was Samuel, but he preferred Sam. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and unusually calm. Unlike Chino, who spoke whenever silence appeared, Sam seemed comfortable allowing the world to make noise around him. He had been helping an elderly woman carry her luggage to the administrative building when he noticed the five students arguing over the campus map. "Are you people lost?" he asked. "No," Chino replied. "We are conducting an investigation into the geographical incompetence of this institution." Sam laughed. It was the first time Favour noticed how easily his face changed when he smiled. They eventually found the hostels together. By evening, after registration, unpacking, and several unnecessary arguments about who had the worst room, the six students found themselves sitting beneath a mango tree behind the university library. Nobody had planned to meet there. They had simply discovered that they enjoyed one another's company. Blessing opened a packet of biscuits. "Since we are now friends, I think we should introduce ourselves properly." "We already did that," Ikenna said. "That was introduction for strangers. This is introduction for future millionaires." Chino sat upright. "Please continue, Chairlady." Blessing pointed at Favour. "Your dream?" Favour hesitated. "I want to become a successful radiographer. I want to work in a good hospital, help people get accurate diagnoses, and take care of my family." "Good," Blessing said. "I want to become a famous fashion designer. One day, people will wear my clothes to weddings, award ceremonies, and places where ordinary people are not allowed to enter." Everybody laughed. Amara spoke next. "I want to become a doctor. I want to specialize in paediatrics, especially because I love children. I also want to establish a hospital someday." Ikenna adjusted his glasses. "I want to become a software engineer. I want to create technology that solves real problems, especially in healthcare and education." Chino leaned forward. "I want to become an engineer, build things that make people's lives easier, and become so rich that I will never have to check the price of food before ordering it." "That is your biggest dream?" Amara asked. "No. My biggest dream is to marry a woman who will love me even when I'm annoying." "Then your dream may never come true," Blessing said. Sam was the last. He looked at each of them before answering. "I want to become a successful entrepreneur. But more than that, I want to build something that will continue helping people long after I'm gone." For a moment, nobody spoke. Then Favour stretched out her hand. "Whatever happens, we should help one another achieve these dreams." Chino placed his hand over hers. "Agreed." One by one, the others joined them. Six hands rested together beneath the mango tree. They were young, hopeful, and convinced that friendship could protect them from almost anything. They did not know that life would eventually test that belief. *EPISODE 2: THE ROOM AT THE END OF THE CORRIDOR* The six friends quickly developed a routine. Every morning, Favour woke up at five to study before lectures. Amara joined her whenever she was not on hospital placement. Ikenna preferred studying late at night, while Chino believed that the best time to study was precisely fifteen minutes before an examination. Blessing spent her evenings sketching clothing designs in a notebook she carried everywhere. Sam, meanwhile, became the unofficial caretaker of the group. He reminded everyone about deadlines, borrowed books from the library, and somehow always knew when someone was having a difficult day. Their favourite meeting place was Room 27, a small common room at the end of the hostel corridor. It contained two old sofas, a broken standing fan, a wooden table, and a window that refused to close completely when it rained. They loved it. On Friday evenings, they gathered there to eat, talk, argue, and discuss their plans for the future. Sometimes they cooked together. Their cooking experiments were rarely successful. Chino once attempted to prepare jollof rice without measuring the water. The result resembled tomato-flavoured porridge. Blessing refused to eat it. "This is not rice," she announced. "This is a cry for help." Sam laughed so hard that he nearly dropped his plate. Other evenings were more serious. One night, Favour arrived late and unusually quiet. She sat on the floor beside the sofa, removed her sandals, and stared at her telephone. Amara noticed immediately. "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "Favour." Favour looked away. "My mother called. The money she saved for my school expenses was used to settle an emergency at home. She says I should manage until next month." The room became quiet. "How much do you need?" Ikenna asked. "I don't want to collect money from anybody." "That wasn't my question," he replied. Favour's eyes filled with tears. She had spent the entire day pretending she was fine. She had attended lectures, taken notes, and smiled at classmates, even though she had not eaten since morning. "I just don't want to be a burden," she whispered. Sam moved closer. "Needing help doesn't make you a burden." Chino nodded. "Exactly. Besides, if you become a famous radiographer, I intend to remind you that you once owed me money for biscuits." "You didn't buy those biscuits," Blessing said. "Details." They laughed, and the tension eased. That evening, they pooled their money to buy food for Favour. Ikenna helped her prepare a simple budget, Amara shared her textbooks, and Sam found a small weekend job for her helping with records at a nearby diagnostic centre, subject to the centre's requirements and her class schedule. Favour accepted their help reluctantly. But when she returned to Room 27 the following Friday, she brought a bag of oranges. "For my creditors," she announced. Chino took three. "Interest payment accepted." The friendship deepened through such moments. They learned one another's habits, weaknesses, and fears. They knew who needed encouragement, who needed silence, and who needed to be reminded that the world did not revolve around them. Yet, beneath their happiness, each carried a private struggle. Amara's father expected perfection. He paid her fees, bought her expensive clothes, and spoke proudly about her future, but he rarely asked whether she was happy. She had grown up believing that failure would make her unworthy of love. Ikenna struggled with confidence. He was brilliant with computers but awkward in conversation. He often believed people tolerated him rather than genuinely liked him. Blessing came from a family that considered fashion a waste of time. Her parents wanted her to study accounting and obtain a secure job. Every time she spoke about designing clothes, her father dismissed the idea. Chino hid his financial difficulties behind jokes. His mother was a widow who sold vegetables at a local market, and he often skipped meals to save money. Sam rarely spoke about his family. He had grown up moving between relatives after his father abandoned them. He had learned early that promises could be broken and that relying on others was dangerous. Favour, who had spent years trying to appear stronger than she felt, understood more than anyone that people could be smiling while quietly falling apart. She made a private decision. She would never allow any of her friends to suffer alone if she could help it. She had no idea how difficult that promise would become. EPISODE 3: DREAMS WRITTEN IN BLUE INK At the beginning of their second semester, Sam proposed that they write down their goals. "Not just the big ones," he explained. "The small steps too. We keep talking about our dreams, but what are we actually doing to achieve them?" They met in Room 27 on a Saturday afternoon. Ikenna brought six notebooks, each with a different coloured cover. Blessing complained that his selection was aesthetically disappointing, but she accepted the notebook with the pink cover. They titled the exercise Our Five-Year Promise. t Here it is — your text broken into *Starry Episodes* with hooks & cliffhangers so readers binge: --- *EPISODE 3: THE PROMISE IN INK* Favour wrote that she wanted to graduate with excellent results, develop practical radiography skills, and secure professional employment. Amara wrote about completing medical school and working with children. Ikenna promised to develop a useful software application before graduation. Chino wanted to complete engineering school, secure an internship, and design an affordable solar-powered system for communities with unreliable electricity. Blessing planned to learn professional garment construction, save money, and establish a fashion business. Sam wrote that he wanted to create a company that could employ young people and support struggling families. When they finished, they signed their names beneath their goals. Sam took a photograph of the notebooks. "Five years from today," he announced, "we will meet again and compare these pages with our lives." "And whoever fails must buy food for the others," Chino added. "That sounds suspiciously like a plan designed by somebody who never buys food," Amara said. They laughed. For the next several months, the notebooks became symbols of their determination. They studied together, shared opportunities, and celebrated every small victory. When Amara passed a difficult examination, they bought a cake from a bakery outside campus. When Ikenna developed his first working application, Chino insisted on giving a speech. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing the beginning of a technological revolution. Today, he has developed an application. Tomorrow, he will develop an application that reminds him to bathe." Ikenna threw a cushion at him. When Blessing sold her first handmade dress to a student, she danced around Room 27 until Sam begged her to stop before the ceiling collapsed. Even Favour began to believe that perhaps life could become easier. *[End of Episode 3 — Hook: But promises are easy to make when life is still easy.]* --- *EPISODE 4: THE FIRST c***k* Then came the first serious disagreement. It started with money. Chino had been saving for an engineering project when an unexpected expense at home forced him to use almost everything he had put aside. Embarrassed, he borrowed money from Sam and promised to repay it within two weeks. Two weeks became a month. A month became two. Sam did not complain, but Chino noticed the change in his behaviour. One evening, after a particularly stressful day, Chino made a joke about Sam being too serious about money. Sam did not laugh. "You borrowed money from me," he said. "I didn't ask you to. But I need you to keep your promise." Chino's smile disappeared. "So now you're treating me like a debtor?" "You're the one who made it about money." "Forget it. I'll pay you whenever I can." Sam stood. "That's exactly the problem. You say things without thinking, and when people ask you to take responsibility, you turn everything into a joke." The words hurt more than either of them expected. Chino left the room. For three days, he avoided the group. *[End of Episode 4 — Cliffhanger: Would their first fight be the end of Room 27?]* --- *EPISODE 5: THE WOUNDED LION* Favour eventually found him sitting behind the engineering workshop. "Are you going to continue behaving like a wounded lion?" she asked. He did not smile. "I know I was wrong. But Sam didn't have to talk to me like that." "Maybe. But you know he was right about the promise." Chino stared at the ground. "My mother called yesterday. She needs money for her medication. I had nothing to send her. I felt useless, and then Sam started talking about money." Favour sat beside him. "Why didn't you tell us?" "Because I'm tired of being the poor friend." She turned towards him. "Chino, do you think I enjoy asking people for help? Do you think I like watching my mother struggle? We are all carrying something. The difference is that some of us have stopped pretending we can carry everything alone." He remained silent. That evening, Chino returned to Room 27. He apologised to Sam and explained what had happened at home. Sam apologised for being harsher than necessary. They agreed that honesty mattered more than pride. It was their first important lesson about friendship: love did not mean that disagreements would never happen. It meant that people had to choose whether their pride was more important than the relationship. For a while, they chose wisely. But as their lives grew more complicated, choosing wisely would become much harder. *[End of Episode 5]* --- *EPISODE 6: THE GIRL WHO WANTED TO BE SEEN* Blessing met Daniel during the second semester of their second year. He was a final-year business administration student who dressed neatly, spoke confidently, and appeared to know everybody on campus. He first approached her after seeing one of her designs at a student exhibition. "You made this?" he asked, examining a green dress displayed on a mannequin. Blessing nodded cautiously. "It's beautiful. Have you considered selling your designs professionally?" She almost laughed. "Are you asking because you genuinely like the dress or because you want to sell me something?" Daniel smiled. "Can I not simply appreciate talent?" Blessing had heard many compliments, but something about the way he spoke made her feel that he was taking her seriously. They exchanged numbers. Within weeks, Daniel became a regular topic of conversation in Room 27. "He brought"...