The college of romance

COLLEGE ROMANCE – A TALE OF SECRET LOVE Episode 1 It was a Monday morning. The sun shone in its usual effulgence, peeping over ancient hills, towering buildings, and gigantic trees. The city was already awake, bustling with its familiar chaos. It was a typical Monday. Bankers in crisp white shirts hurried along the streets, adjusting their ties as they shouted at taxi drivers and okada riders to stop. Workers from different professions were not left out. Getting a taxi on a Monday morning was almost like winning a battle. Able-bodied men pushed their way to the front, while older passengers expected younger ones to give up their seats without complaint. It was always chaotic. Yet, somehow, the city depended on that chaos for its survival. Not everyone scrambling for taxis or kekes was actually interested in boarding one. Monday mornings were also the perfect hunting ground for pickpockets, who took advantage of distracted and unsuspecting victims. On this particular Monday morning like any other, students of Success College could be seen hurrying towards the school gate, desperate to avoid being marked late. The morning assembly began at 7:30 a.m. and ended at 8:00 a.m. Naturally, every student was expected to arrive no later than 7:25 a.m. The five minutes between 7:25 and 7:30 were always the most chaotic. Students ran helter-skelter, bags bouncing on their backs as they raced into the school compound. Nobody wanted to become a scapegoat. Latecomers were punished severely. Some fetched water, others picked litter, washed toilets, cut grass, or endured painful strokes of the cane. Of course, prefects were exempt. A prefect could stroll into school at 8:30 a.m. and still walk away without punishment, while an ordinary student who arrived at 7:31 a.m. might receive three strokes of the cane or spend the morning scrubbing toilets. Such was the politics of Success College. There were rules. But rules, they say, were made to be broken. In college, however, not every rule applied equally to everyone. Success College had countless regulations. No lateness. No noise-making. No fighting. No speaking vernacular. No cheating. Still, many of these rules could be broken. And the punishment often depended on who you were. Were you a prefect? A teacher's favourite? The child of an influential parent? Or perhaps the unlucky student who had offended the wrong teacher? The rules were surprisingly flexible. There was, however, one rule that bound everyone equally. A rule no student dared to violate. NO DATING. NO ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS. In fact, there was even a limit to how closely boys and girls were allowed to mingle. It didn't matter whether you were a prefect, the head boy, the head girl, or the child of the school's proprietor. You simply did not dare break that rule. Teachers had been specifically instructed to monitor students for any signs of romantic involvement. For years, the rule had remained almost sacred. Anyone unfortunate enough to be caught became an example for everyone else. There were two unforgettable incidents that made students fear the rule even more. The first was the hilarious story of Dauda. Dauda had an enormous crush on Felicia. Felicia was a tall, brown-skinned girl in his class who hardly ever smiled. Dauda believed he was a modern-day Romeo. To be fair, he was charming, eloquent, and surprisingly popular among the girls. Yet, whenever Felicia was around, his confidence mysteriously disappeared. Unable to speak to her directly, Dauda decided to write a handwritten love letter to her. During the break period, he handed the folded letter to his younger brother and instructed him to secretly slip it into Felicia's hand. Unfortunately... Curiosity got the better of the little boy. Instead of delivering the letter, he hid behind a corridor door to read its contents himself. A terrible decision. As fate would have it, Mr Ahmed, the Mathematics teacher, was returning from the toilet at that exact moment. He stopped. "What are you doing there?" he thundered in his deep bass voice. The frightened boy almost jumped out of his skin. Without thinking, he turned and tried to run. Big mistake. Mr Ahmed had the reflexes of an athlete. Before the boy could take more than two steps, the teacher grabbed him firmly by his trousers and snatched the letter from his hand. The little boy desperately tried to tear the paper apart. He knew he had just dragged his elder brother into serious trouble. Unfortunately for him, Mr Ahmed had already managed to seize half of the letter. The very first line he read was: _"I love you so much, Felicia, and I want us to be together."_ That was enough. Before anyone knew what was happening, Mr Ahmed summoned the Head Boy. A giant of a student whose intimidating size alone was enough to make juniors tremble. "Carry him to the staff room!" Mr Ahmed ordered. Without hesitation, the Head Boy lifted the terrified child onto his shoulder. As he was carried away, the poor boy screamed at the top of his voice, "I'm not the owner of the letter!" "Dauda wrote it!" "I'm only the messenger!" TO BE CONTINUED... 😊 Share with your fellow story lovers. ✍🏾 Written by Grace complex Drop your reaction after reading to unlock the next episode. COLLEGE ROMANCE – A TALE OF SECRET LOVE Episode 2 "I'm not the owner of the letter!" "Dauda wrote it!" "I'm only the messenger!" The poor boy kept screaming as he was carried shoulder-high to the staff room. Dauda had heard his younger brother's cries and immediately rushed there to save him from punishment. "He knew nothing about it," Dauda quickly explained, even before anyone asked him to speak. "He was only acting on my instructions." Mr Ahmed was about to let the little boy go when Mrs Sarah, the Economics teacher, became the weapon fashioned against him that day. "Give that boy a few strokes of the cane for trying to run away and destroy the evidence," she suggested with a mischievous smile. The boy, who had already begun walking away, was called back. Four painful strokes of the cane landed squarely on his buttocks. To this day, he still hated Mrs Sarah. In fact, he privately referred to her as "the devil." As fate would have it, during a football match the following week, Mrs Sarah's son, who happened to be his junior, came up against him. The little boy deliberately tackled him so hard that he limped off the field. Only then did he feel relieved and fulfilled. As he walked away, he muttered under his breath in Pidgin, "I no fit beat your mama, but you go pay for her sins." On the other hand, Dauda suffered an even more humiliating fate. The following morning, he was flogged in front of the entire school during assembly and forced to apologise publicly, promising never to repeat such an offence. From that day onward, he earned a new nickname: "Mr Lover Boy." He hated it. Every time someone called him by that name, it reminded him of the most embarrassing day of his life. He couldn't decide whether to blame Felicia for being so cold or his foolish younger brother for failing to deliver a simple letter. Ironically, Felicia actually felt sorry for him. The next day, while they were returning home from school, she mustered enough courage to apologise for what had happened. As soon as she called his name, Dauda spun around, his face filled with anger. Then he shouted at the top of his voice, "You wan spoil my life again, abi?" Two students passing nearby burst into uncontrollable laughter. From that day forward, Dauda and Felicia never exchanged another word. Such was the hilarious story of Dauda, the unfortunate banner boy for scapegoatism. His friends showed him no sympathy. Instead, they mocked him endlessly. "He was very stupid for using a letter," one of them scoffed. "If he was man enough, he would have walked up to her and confessed his feelings instead." Another added, "The problem wasn't the letter." "It was giving it to his younger brother." Almost everyone condemned Dauda. Everyone... Except Wale. Wale Ajileye was Dauda's closest friend. Unlike most prefects, Wale mixed freely with both his classmates and juniors. Everyone loved him. He was fondly called Senior Wale. Wale was tall, slender and naturally intelligent. He wasn't the brightest student in his class, but he was certainly one of the smartest. Nothing particularly extraordinary stood out about him. His greatest qualities were his simplicity and kind heart. He wasn't from a wealthy family. He didn't own the latest gadgets or expensive accessories. In fact, he had only one school uniform, a shirt and a pair of trousers which were usually a bit wrinkled. Still, he wasn't poor. Far from it. His family belonged comfortably to the middle class. Unlike Dauda, Wale had never cared about the school's NO DATING rule because falling in love with a fellow student simply wasn't one of his priorities. Ironically, he was just as popular among the girls. His cheerful personality, humility and contagious smile naturally drew people to him. But unlike Dauda, he never considered himself a Romeo. Oh... Their friendship wasn't between two people. It was a trio. The third member was Ola, the son of none other than Mr Ahmed, the Mathematics teacher. Among the three friends, Dauda was the biggest and the richest. Ola was the shortest but undeniably the most intelligent. Wale was the tallest, and without question, the funniest. Together, they formed an alliance known throughout Success College as DOW. D for Dauda. O for Ola. W for Wale. The trio was popular and widely respected. Many students wished they could join their circle, but DOW had no interest in recruiting new members. Coincidentally, all three were prefects. Dauda was the Health Prefect. Ola served as the Social Prefect. Wale was the Labour Prefect. Unfortunately, Dauda's love-letter disaster slightly dented the aura of invincibility people had always associated with DOW. He had messed up. Badly. The once-admired Dauda had suddenly become the school's favourite source of entertainment. Even Ola, despite being his friend, never allowed him to forget the incident. For months, he teased Dauda relentlessly. Wale? He laughed until tears rolled down his cheeks. Then... One afternoon, Wale needed to complete an essay assignment. It was a speech on Agriculture which he was expected to present later that day. He had planned to finish his research on his phone. Unfortunately... He had unknowingly left it at home. Without hesitation, he borrowed Ola's phone. The internet connection was painfully slow. Thinking the mobile data might be turned off, Wale opened the settings to check. Just then... A message popped up on the screen. "I am waiting for you at the backyard. Where are you?" The sender's name made Wale freeze. Temitope Bankole! TO BE CONTINUED... 😊 Who is Temitope Bankole? Why was she waiting for Mr Ahmed's son at the back of the school? Share with your fellow story lovers. ✍🏾 Written by Grace complex Drop your reaction after reading to unlock the next episode.