“Ruo Me: Almost Isn’t the End”

CHAPTER ONE: The Last Wave The day Ruo Me left high school didn’t feel like an ending. It felt like a pause. Like something unfinished. She stood by the dusty school gate, her fingers wrapped around the strap of her bag, watching her classmates scatter in different directions—laughing, shouting, making promises they probably wouldn’t keep. “Don’t forget me o!” “Guy, we go see for uni!” “Make sure you text me!” Voices everywhere. Noise everywhere. Life everywhere. Ruo Me smiled. She waved. But something inside her didn’t move with the excitement. It stayed still. Heavy. Because unlike everyone else, she wasn’t just leaving school. She was leaving certainty. Her family was relocating. New place. New environment. New everything. And for the first time in a long time— She didn’t know what came next. ⸻ She spotted Lingo across the field, running toward her with that same chaotic energy she had always had. “Ruo Me! You dey go like this? No emotional speech? No tears? You wicked o!” Ruo Me laughed lightly. “Abeg shift. You be like person wey dey act film.” Lingo pulled her into a tight hug anyway. “Don’t forget us.” That line hit deeper than it should have. Because Ruo Me already knew something they didn’t. People don’t forget on purpose. They just… move on. ⸻ Her other friends joined—Mira, Zainab, and Kosi. Her people. Her safe place. Mira was already crying. Of course. “I don’t like this,” she sniffed. “Everything is changing too fast.” Zainab rolled her eyes. “You cry for everything. Even when NEPA takes light.” Kosi just stood quietly, observing like she always did. Then she looked directly at Ruo Me. “You’ll be fine.” It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t dramatic. But it stayed with her. ⸻ As Ruo Me walked away from the school gate that day, she turned back one last time. They were still there. Waving. Smiling. Alive in that moment. She raised her hand and waved back. That was the last time everything felt simple. ⸻ CHAPTER TWO: The Wrong Beginning University was supposed to be a fresh start. That’s what everyone said. “A new chapter.” “A better life.” “Freedom.” Ruo Me believed it. At least… she tried to. ⸻ The admission letter came on a quiet afternoon. Her heart was racing as she opened it. This was it. Her future. Her path. Her life. ⸻ Then she saw the course. Her smile dropped. “…What is this?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. She read it again. And again. And again. Hoping it would change. Hoping she misunderstood. Hoping it wasn’t real. ⸻ But it was. She had been given a course she didn’t choose. Didn’t want. Didn’t understand. Didn’t connect with. ⸻ That night, Ruo Me cried. Not the soft kind of crying. The painful kind. The kind where your chest hurts. The kind where you can’t explain what exactly is wrong—but everything feels wrong. ⸻ “I can’t do this,” she told her mother. “You will adjust,” her mother replied calmly. “I don’t like it.” “You’ll learn to.” “I’m not happy.” “Happiness doesn’t build your future. Discipline does.” ⸻ That was the end of the conversation. Just like that. Her feelings… dismissed. Her fears… minimized. Her path… decided. ⸻ That was six years ago. ⸻ CHAPTER THREE: Six Years Later Ruo Me sat in a lecture hall that felt too big and too empty at the same time. Her notebook was open. Her pen was in her hand. But nothing was entering her head. The lecturer kept talking. Words. Terms. Concepts. None of them stayed. ⸻ Around her, people were writing. Nodding. Understanding. Living. Moving forward. ⸻ And then there was her. Stuck. ⸻ “Why does everyone get this except me?” she thought.