LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

The Distance Between Two Terms

Chapter Five

After SS2 came to an end, we went on vacation.

But this vacation was different from the ones before it.

I was not going to return to school for SS3 first term. I had already made up my mind that I would resume in SS3 second term.

That meant she would be going back to school without me.

I knew what that meant for both of us, but there wasn't much I could do about it. School was going to continue whether I was there or not.

While we were still on vacation, we continued talking. We chatted and called each other, trying to maintain the connection we had built.

Then the new term began.

She resumed school.

I didn't.

The thought of her being there while I was somewhere else made the distance feel even more real.

We still talked on the phone, though. Whenever we had the opportunity, we communicated. Sometimes we simply talked about ourselves and how our days were going.

During one of our conversations, she told me something that stayed with me.

She said she missed me.

Hearing those words made me happy because I missed her too.

I reminded her that I would be coming back in SS3 second term.

It wasn't going to be forever.

Still, knowing that we had to wait that long wasn't easy.

Like every relationship, ours wasn't always peaceful. Sometimes we had misunderstandings. Sometimes we argued. There were moments when we became upset with each other.

But somehow, we always found our way back.

We would talk things through, make peace, and continue.

There were also moments when we saw each other and everything else seemed to disappear for a while. We would hug, show affection, and reconnect after being apart.

Those moments reminded me that despite the misunderstandings, there was still something between us that we both valued.

Then one day, during one of our conversations, she told me she had been feeling very bored.

She had been in school without me, and she was feeling lonely.

I could understand why.

I was used to seeing her, talking to her, joking with her, and spending time around her. Now she had to continue school while I remained away.

She told me how she had been feeling, and I tried to console her.

“Don't worry,” I told her. “I'll console you.”

She became excited.

I remember how that small conversation made me feel.

It reminded me that even though I wasn't physically there, I still mattered to her.

Then something unexpected happened.

The next day, she came to church.

And I was there too.

Seeing her that day became one of the happiest moments of our relationship.

The moment she saw me, her reaction said everything.

She was so happy.

She came toward me and hugged me right there in front of everyone in the class.

I was incredibly happy to see her too.

After all the phone calls, all the conversations, and all the time spent apart, suddenly she was standing in front of me again.

It felt different from simply talking on the phone.

There is something about seeing someone you have missed after being apart for a long time.

You can hear their voice through a phone, but you cannot replace the feeling of actually seeing them.

We talked that day.

We spent time together and enjoyed the moment.

It was one of those days that I wished could last longer.

Later, on Friday night, I gave her a wristwatch.

She appreciated it and thanked me.

She called me that day, and during the call, she was crying.

She told me that she had felt extremely happy when she saw me.

Hearing her say that touched me.

I was happy too.

That day became a memory I would always remember—not because something extraordinary happened, but because after all the distance, I finally got to see her again.

Unfortunately, that was the only time I saw her during SS3 first term.

After that, we went back to communicating from a distance.

We talked.

We called.

We stayed in touch.

And I waited.

Eventually, SS3 second term came.

This time, I resumed school.

And suddenly, I could see her again every day.

I cannot properly explain how happy that made me.

After spending so much time away from her, seeing her regularly again felt like getting back something I had missed.

Every day I saw her, I was happy.

We continued our relationship.

We talked.

We joked.

We spent time together whenever we could.

And slowly, everything started feeling normal again.

The distance that had once separated us was no longer there.

I could see her face instead of seeing her name appear on my phone.

I could hear her voice without needing a phone call.

I could simply look around and know that she was there.

I was grateful for that.

But as SS3 continued, another reality began to approach.

One that I wasn't ready for.

It started when she told me about her plans for her Senior WAEC.

She was going to write her Senior WAEC.

That examination was important because it marked the end of our secondary-school journey.

We had already made plans concerning where she would continue her education. We had applied to a private school.

But then her mother insisted that she should write her Senior WAEC in a government school instead of the private school.

When I heard that, I was deeply hurt.

I didn't want to lose the everyday moments we had finally gotten back.

I didn't want another separation.

After spending so much time away from her during SS3 first term, I had only just gotten used to seeing her every day again.

Now there was another possibility of distance.

I was unhappy about it.

Very unhappy.

But I couldn't change her mother's decision.

There was nothing I could do.

So I tried to accept it.

“Fine,” I told myself. “There's no problem.”

But honestly, there was a problem in my heart.

I knew what was coming.

The third term was approaching.

And with it came Senior WAEC.

We were going to write our final secondary-school examinations.

That meant the school days we had taken for granted were coming to an end.

For years, school had been the place where our story had unfolded.

It was where I first saw her.

It was where our friendship began.

It was where we became strangers.

It was where we found our way back to each other.

It was where I finally asked her to be my girlfriend.

It was where we laughed, talked, argued, made up, and created memories together.

And now, school was preparing to send us in different directions.

I tried not to think about it too much.

I told myself everything would be fine.

I told myself there was no problem.

But deep down, I knew I was going to miss her.

Very much.

As SS3 second term came to a close, the reality became harder to ignore.

We were approaching our final term.

The term when we would write Senior WAEC.

The term when everything would begin changing.

I had finally gotten used to seeing her every day again, and now I was about to face another long period without knowing exactly when I would see her again.

I didn't know what the future would look like.

I didn't know how much things would change after secondary school.

I didn't know where life would take either of us.

All I knew was that the girl who had once been a stranger to me had become a very important part of my life.

And soon, we would have to leave the place where our story had started.

The classroom.

The school.

The environment that had witnessed almost everything between us.

SS3 third term was coming.

Senior WAEC was waiting.

And with every passing day, I could feel the ending of our school life getting closer.

I was happy that I had found my way back to her.

But at the same time, I was scared of losing the everyday closeness we had finally regained.

I was about to miss her again.

And this time, the distance wouldn't be caused by a vacation.

It would be caused by life moving forward.

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