A Connection beyond Coincidence

Chris stepped into the classroom, greeting Mrs. Oladapo, the biology teacher, with a warm smile. "Good afternoon, ma."

As he approached his friends, his eyes widened in surprise. Enoch, his best friend, and Iyiola were engrossed in an intense conversation. Chris's curiosity piqued, he walked towards them, holding a bag of snacks.

Iyiola paused, stood up, and hugged Chris tightly. Enoch bowed his head, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry, Chris," Iyiola whispered, her voice trembling. "I'm so sorry for what I did."

Chris's expression softened. "It's okay, Iyiola. We'll talk about it later."

Amaka, their classmate, approached the group. "What's going on?" she asked, concern etched on her face.

Enoch shook his head. "Nothing, Amaka."

Chris intervened. "Let's discuss it after school, okay?"

Amaka nodded. "How about we meet at Amaka's place and have a group reading session?"

Enoch's face lit up. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Mrs. Oladapo entered the classroom, her signature phrase ringing out: "Organize yourselves!" The students chuckled, familiar with her quirks.

"Your WAEC examination is approaching, just three months away," Mrs. Oladapo reminded them. "Form study groups to review past questions from 2010 to 2013."

The students murmured in agreement.

As the class dispersed, Chris, Amaka, Enoch, and Iyiola made plans to meet at Amaka's place at 4 pm.

*****

"Mummy! Mummy!! Mummy!!!", Amaka shouted.

Mrs. Johnson, Amaka's mother, walked out of her room and gently made her way down the stairs to the sitting room.

"My darling!" Mrs. Johnson greeted warmly. "How's your health, Mum?" Amaka asked, concern etched on her face.

"I feel better now," Mrs. Johnson replied with a gentle smile.

"I can see you didn't use your medication, Mum," Amaka observed, her brow furrowed with worry.

"I don't think there's any need for that, dear," Mrs. Johnson said reassuringly.

"Mum, you know I've always wanted to become a medical practitioner," Amaka said, a mischievous glint in her eye. "So, please, can you use your medication? I want my future patients to respect me."

Mrs. Johnson chuckled. "Doctor Amaka, don't worry, your patients will obey and respect you. I'll take my medication after dinner."

Amaka nodded, satisfied. "Mum, I want to go upstairs and freshen up. My friends will be coming over to study at 4 pm."

"No problem, dear," Mrs. Johnson replied.

Amaka climbed the stairs to her room. A few minutes later, she walked to Emmanuel's house, her neighbor. She knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" Emmanuel asked, opening the door with a smile.

"Me," Amaka replied, smiling back at him.

Emmanuel's eyes lingered on Amaka's face, and he felt his heart skip a beat. He had always had feelings for Amaka, but he had never mustered the courage to tell her.

"Is your mom at home?" Amaka asked, oblivious to Emmanuel's gaze.

"Yes... no... she's not around," Emmanuel stammered, his eyes still locked on Amaka's face.

"What happened?" Amaka asked, noticing Emmanuel's distraction.

"Nothing," Emmanuel replied quickly. "I was just looking at an angel right in front of me."

Amaka laughed. "You're not serious."

Emmanuel couldn't help but stare at Amaka. He felt drawn to her kindness and beauty.

"Wait a bit, please," Amaka said, glancing at her watch. "What's the time?"

Emmanuel glanced at the clock on the wall. "4:17."

Amaka's eyes widened in alarm. "Ahh! I'm late!" She turned and ran back to her house.

Amaka burst through the front door, out of breath. "Where have you been?" Chris asked, looking up from a book.

"I'm sorry, I nearly forgot I was late," Amaka replied, still catching her breath.

"You will surely forget," Iyiola teased, grinning.

"Can we start now?" Enoch asked, looking at Amaka expectantly.

"Let me go tell my mum something, and I'll meet you at the balcony," Amaka said, heading upstairs.

The trio moved to the balcony, where Amaka had set up four seats. Shortly, Amaka joined them, and they began their story session.

"Some years ago, Chris and I had always been the best of friends," Enoch narrated. He would always confide in me whenever he was about to do something. "Can you recall when Iyiola joined our class in SS1?" Enoch asked them. They all nodded their heads in response.

"Good!" Enoch exclaimed. "That very day was when everything began. I approached Chris to share the news immediately after the teacher who brought her in left the classroom. 'Guess what!' I asked him. 'Don't tell me it's about the new girl,' Chris replied. 'It's as if you read my mind,' I said jokingly.

"I had seen this girl in my dream once before," I told him. Chris was astonished. "Oh! You always have something to say about every new student in our class." "I'm very serious now," I emphasized. "That was about four months ago. I had just finished reading a book my pastor launched in church about marriage, and I also prayed about it, even at my young age. That night, I saw a girl in my dream, but I didn't understand what the dream truly meant." I told him. Chris laughed aloud, teasing me. "Lover boy."

Just then, a teacher walked in, and another period of class began. We couldn't finish our discussion that day because Chris was attending an extra lesson after school, while I wasn't.

It was afternoon, and school had just closed. The aroma of freshly baked goods wafted through the air, creating a pleasant atmosphere. While walking towards the school food canteen to get some food, I felt a slight tap on my right shoulder, prompting me to turn around.

"Hello, good afternoon," the girl said. I was amazed but pretended not to know her. "Good afternoon. How may I be of assistance?" I asked. "Please, are you Enoch?" she inquired. Her face looked worried. "Yes," I replied. "Well, I have something to say, but I promise I won't take up much of your time," she said. "Go on, I'm all ears." "I conducted some research from a new friend of mine in your class about the student who usually tops the class, and she mentioned your name. I've been looking for an opportunity to talk to you since then, but thank God I finally got one now." She accompanied her words with an amazing smile.

"Hmm," I paused, then continued. "I don't even know what to say, but God will help me. Firstly, please don't think I'm the one leading the class, but always think that no matter who leads the class, I'll try my best." "Really?" she was amazed. "Yeah, but just make sure you bring the best out of yourself." At that point, I felt like the world's best motivational speaker.

"Thank you so much," she said. "Even with this little response, I feel relieved, and there's no need for me to ask unnecessary questions." She looked me in the eye and continued. "My name is Iyiola, and my family and I just relocated to this environment." "Oh, nice meeting you, Iyiola," I said, exchanging pleasantries. "You already know my name, so I don't think I need to repeat it. I've been in this school since JSS2, when we also relocated to this environment." "This environment is actually conducive and civilized, and I think that's why people keep moving here," she said.

"I need to go now; my friends are waiting for me," I said, excusing myself. "No problem. Thank you very much for your time. Enjoy the rest of your day." She said.

The following day, I walked into the school gate, heading to my class. I saw Iyiola engrossed in a conversation with her friends; they seemed to be discussing a recent incident in the class. As I approached them, my heartbeat accelerated. "You can do it," I murmured to myself. "Iyiola," I called out, signaling a polite request to her friends to excuse her from their conversation. She didn't hesitate to leave the conversation and greet me.

"Good morning, how was your night?" she inquired.

"It was fine, thank you. And how was yours?" I replied.

"Fine, thanks. I forgot to ask you something yesterday," she said. My face wore a puzzled expression, with millions of thoughts racing through my mind.

"What is that?" I finally asked.

She took a step closer to me, her expression appealing. "Can you, I, and maybe your friends have a reading group together?" she asked. "Really!" I exclaimed. "Yes, I want us to read and study together," she said. I met her gentle gaze with a soft smile. "Actually, my two friends and I already have a study group, and I would need to get their permission before adding anyone new to the group." Her expression turned perplexed.

"There are a number of people who wanted to join the group, but some of us didn't agree. But let's hope they will agree. I promise to try my best," I added. She looked relieved. To cut the story short, with a lot of conviction and pleading, she was finally added to the group.

Since then, I'd liked her, mostly because of her appearance in my dream and her intelligence. We often read together as a group and made sure that we were always the best at what we did. During our third-term examination in SS1, I sat a seat closer to her, and this even gave us an opportunity to help each other.

[He paused and chuckled.]

"Are you planning to tell them that?" Iyiola said jokingly, sipping the Coca-Cola Amaka's mum served them.

They all burst into laughter.

"Let's continue."

We were to have a Physics examination that day, and we had just finished our revision as a group.

We walked confidently into the hall.

Suspense ravaged the air.

Students trooped with fear.

Invigilators heavily loaded with books.

Students wisely seated in groups.

As I sat down at my desk, I felt a wave of calmness wash over me. Our group had put in a lot of effort to prepare for this examination, and I was confident that we were all well-equipped.

The invigilator distributed the question papers, and I took a deep breath as I began to read through the questions. Iyiola caught my eye and gave me a reassuring smile; I smiled back, feeling grateful for her presence.

As I worked through the questions, I found myself glancing over at Iyiola from time to time. She was deeply engrossed in her paper, her brow furrowed in concentration. I felt a surge of admiration for her determination and strong work ethic.

The examination flew by quickly, and before I knew it, the invigilator was calling out the final minutes. Iyiola and I exchanged a relieved glance as we finished up our papers and waited for the invigilator's signal to submit them.

As we walked out of the examination hall, we met Chris and Amaka waiting for us.

Their expression could define how well they did the examination.

"How was the exam?" I asked joyfully.

She smiled back, her eyes sparkling. "It was fine" she said. "How about you?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I feel pretty good about it."

We walked together in comfortable silence for a moment, enjoying the warm sunshine and the sense of accomplishment that came with completing the examination.