FINE BOY, FRAGILE HEART.

I always said love and I don’t get along. In fact, I used to swear that falling in love was one of those unnecessary things that only distracted people from real life. I had my admission to Unilag, and that was all that mattered to me. Love wasn’t on my timetable. But then… one boy came and changed the whole story. His name was Doyinmola. The first time I noticed him, I wasn’t even trying to. It was a Sunday morning, and I was sitting outside the hostel with my cousin Opeyemi. We were gisting, laughing about one of our neighbors who always tied wrapper like she was born in it. The air was quiet, except for a few students heading to church in their Sunday best, and the distant sound of gospel music floating from the chapel. I was comfortable in my world that morning—until he walked past. “Good morning,” he greeted casually. I looked up. My eyes caught his face, and my mouth went dry. Hmm. This boy was not just fine. He was dangerously fine. Tall—but not too tall, just the kind of height that fit perfectly if you were standing next to him. Dark skin that glowed in the sun. And those eyes… sharp, almost cat-like, the kind that seemed to see too much at once. My chest tightened like I had swallowed something wrong. “Good morning,” I managed to reply, though my voice sounded smaller than I intended. As he walked away, my eyes followed him without shame. My brain was already doing acrobatics, building images of me and him walking hand in hand through campus, sitting together at the lagoon front, maybe even— “Gbam!” A sharp slap landed on my back. “Ah, Ope!” I turned to glare at my cousin, rubbing the spot. “Are you mad?” She burst into laughter. “You no dey hear me again. I’ve been calling you since. What are you looking at?” “Did you not see the guy that just greeted us?” I asked, my voice full of annoyance and excitement at the same time. “Guy? Which guy?” She frowned. “Me I didn’t notice anybody o. I was telling you the gist about Bisi’s boyfriend.” I hissed, disappointed. “Forget it joor.” But inside me, my heart was doing gbim-gbim. This boy was too fine, abeg. And me, I’m not bad either. Should I try to talk to him? Maybe smile at him next time, just to catch his attention? But wait—what if he snubs me? Omo, that disgrace no go be here o. They will laugh at me in this hostel till next semester. I sighed. Maybe it was better to just let him pass like that. But the truth was already stamped in my chest: Doyinmola had stolen my attention without even trying. Opeyemi noticed me zoning out again. She rolled her eyes and stood up. “Abeg, Ope, let’s go and fetch water. I cannot be fetching water alone for you to use. Am I your slave?” I hissed, dragging my slippers on the ground as I stood. “Lazy girl.” She ignored me and started walking ahead, but my eyes, instead of focusing on the water we were supposed to fetch, scanned the road again—half-hoping to see the boy with cat eyes one more time. And just as I bent to lift the bucket, I thought I saw him in the distance again. He wasn’t looking my way, but my heart still skipped. Love and I were supposed to be enemies. But from that Sunday morning, I knew trouble had entered my heart.