The Merge
666 Words
SSS3 came in so quickly.
And AVHS dropped one bomb on SSS3 Art.
65 people. One room.
No space to breathe.
Front bench, middle, back bench - all full.
Ether was in Art 2 with Mechy.
Blessing, Prosper, Ayomide, Qureebat, Christianah were in Art 1.
And Blessing?
That was the girl Ether had exchanged words with since SSS2.
They hated each other’s gut.
"Proud boy."
"Drama queen."
That was how it started.
But things changed small when they both entered the Prefect board.
Duties brought them together.
"Assistant, lock this class."
"Labour Prefect, check that place."
No gist. No smile. Just work.
Until the merge.
First day after merge, Ether walked in with Mechy.
Front row was empty.
He sat down.
Mechy beside him.
Then Ayomide, Qureebat, Christianah came and sat in front too.
Five of them. Front bench. Loud. Serious.
The "responsible" side of the class.
Memunat used to sit close to Ether before.
But that day, she sat 3 rows behind.
Quiet.
Ether didn’t notice on time.
By the time he did, 2 weeks had passed.
She tried to come closer one day during break.
"Ether..."
He looked up from his book.
"Yeah?"
She paused. Then walked away.
He didn’t chase her.
She wanted distance before.
So he gave it to her.
And he maintained it.
Blessing was... different.
Crazy. Loud. Drama queen.
But she didn’t tolerate rubbish.
Didn’t have many friends.
And she was okay with that.
She would argue with teachers.
She would fight for the weak.
She would sit alone and read.
Ether started noticing things he didn’t see in other people.
The way she stood up for a JSS1 girl that seniors were bullying.
The way she did her prefect duty without smiling.
The dark side. The fire.
One day during prefect meeting, she and Ether were the last ones packing chairs.
Silence.
Then she said, "You’re not as bad as I thought."
Ether laughed. "You’re not as bad as I thought too."
That was it.
The tension started changing.
It wasn’t planned.
It just happened.
Soon Ether started calling her names when nobody was around.
"Ingelosi Yami."
"Sthandwa Sami."
She would roll her eyes.
"Stop it."
But she didn’t tell him to stop.
Nobody confessed anything.
But it looked real.
Like they were already together.
Memunat noticed first.
"Since when?" she asked her friend.
"Since when did Ether and Blessing...?"
Blessing’s younger siblings started calling him at home.
"Is that my sister’s boyfriend?"
Ether would just laugh and say, "Tell her I said hi."
Junior girls - Fanny, Blossom, Fathia.
"Bro, we like her for you. She’s strong like you."
Even Victoria heard.
"Bro, that Blessing girl? She’s nice. But be careful."
Teachers started saying it too.
"Assistant and Labour Prefect, come here."
"Are you two okay?"
Almost everyone in school thought they were already dating.
Ether liked it.
He liked Blessing’s fire.
He liked that she didn’t beg for attention.
He liked that she understood silence.
But he didn’t want to rush.
Because of Aminat.
Because of Memunat.
Because of home.
Because of everything that had happened in the past.
So he kept it slow.
Jokes. Duties. Small talks.
No pressure. No label.
Blessing understood.
She had her own wahala too.
65 people in one class meant noise every day.
Mechy would still disturb.
Prosper would still laugh too loud.
Teachers would still shout, "Who is making noise at the back!"
Football was still there.
Habeeb and Lego still argued about Barca vs Real.
Sekinat still did prefect duty with him. Calm as water.
Fanny still sent him lyrics.
Memunat still watched from far.
And at home?
Still plates.
Still "Where is money?"
Still his corner with MP3.
But in school, for the first time,
Ether felt something new.
Not peace.
But possibility.
With a girl who was crazy like him.
Who didn’t tolerate rubbish like him.
Who had a dark side like him.
Ingelosi Yami.
Sthandwa Sami.
He didn’t say it in public.
But everyone already knew.
- Writer
