One afternoon, as students began to leave the lecture hall, Imani closed her notebook and stood up at once. Her friend beside her, Adeobi, gave her a look. Adeobi was her roommate and closest friend in school. She was calm, sensible, and usually the one who noticed trouble before it started.
“Do not tell me you are about to follow that boy again,” Adeobi said.
Imani smiled without shame. “Why are you saying it like I am chasing a thief?”
Adeobi shook her head. “Because that is exactly how you behave each time you see him.”
Imani laughed and picked up her bag. “His name is Chidi Bello.”
“Yes, I know his name,” Adeobi said. “Half this school knows him. Quiet boy, good student, no drama, no money.”
Imani turned to her. “You say that like it is a crime.”
“It is not a crime,” Adeobi said. “I’m only reminding you that boys like him do not play this kind of game.”
Imani’s smile faded a little. “Who said I am playing?”
Adeobi studied her face for a moment and sighed. “That is what worries me.”
But Imani had already started walking.
She caught up with Chidi near the corridor outside.
“Chidi, wait up.”
He stopped, turned, and looked at her with mild surprise. Up close, his face was even more striking than she had first thought. He was not the soft kind of handsome that begged for attention. There was something firm in his face, something tired in his eyes.
“Yes?” he asked.
Imani smiled. “You always leave like somebody is chasing you.”
He looked at her for a second, then said, “I have somewhere to be.”
“So you cannot even spare five minutes?”
“I did not say that.”
“Then spare it.”
He glanced down the corridor as if calculating how much time this would cost him. Imani noticed that and almost laughed. Most men were eager when she spoke to them. Chidi looked like he was being delayed from something important.
“I just wanted to say hello,” she said. “Hi. I’m Imani.”
“I know.”
That answer pleased her more than it should have.
“You know who I am, yet you act like I don’t exist.”
“I did not say that either.”
Imani folded her arms. “You are very careful with your words.”
“I have to go,” he said.
And just like that, he left.
Imani stood there and watched him walk away. Instead of annoying her, it made her want to know him more.
From that day, she stopped pretending. She greeted him after class. She waited near places she knew he would pass. She asked him questions. Sometimes he answered. Sometimes he only nodded. Sometimes he looked at her as though he could not understand why a girl like her would keep trying.
Very quickly, people began to notice.
“Look, the rich Adeyemi girl is chasing that quiet Bello boy.”
“She must be bored, going after a poor boy like him.”
Some found it amusing. To them, it sounded like a joke that would soon end. Some boys laughed behind Chidi’s back. Some girls whispered when Imani walked past. A few said she was only doing it because she was bored.
But Imani did not stop.
One afternoon, she found him standing near a small shop outside the school gate buying a cheap bottle of water.
“You avoided me all morning,” she said as she walked up to him.
Chidi looked at her, tired as always. “I was in class.”
“You know what I mean.”
He paid for the water and stepped aside.
“Imani, what do you want from me?”
It was the first time he had said her name in a way that felt personal. She held his gaze.
“Chidi, I need you to stop acting like I’m disturbing you.”
“Maybe you are.”
She should have been offended. Instead, she found herself smiling.
“Why are you like this?” she asked.
His smile faded. For a moment he looked away. Then he said quietly, “Because I know the kind of life I am living.”
That was the first real thing he had ever said to her.
Imani’s expression softened. “What does that mean?”
“It means you should leave me alone.”
“Why?”
He looked at her fully now, and this time there was no distance in his face, only honesty.
“Because I do not have time for games,” he said. “I go to school. I work when I can. And I go home to my grandfather. He raised me. He has been unwell for some time, so no, I do not have the energy for this.”
Imani was quiet.
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