Seat mates

Daniel smiled again, walking toward the empty seat beside her.

“Guess we’ll be seatmates,” he said, setting his bag down.

Ebun tried to keep a straight face, pretending to be focused on arranging her notebook. “Yeah… welcome,” she managed to say, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Thanks,” he replied, still smiling.

Eri, sitting two seats behind them, was already grinning from ear to ear. She mouthed, ‘This term go sweet!’ and winked.

Ebun rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly, but she couldn’t help smiling a little too.

The teacher started the welcome-back talk, reminding everyone about discipline, punctuality, and exam results. But honestly, Ebun wasn’t hearing much of it. Her mind kept wandering to the quiet boy beside her — how he took neat notes, how calm he seemed, and how his pen handwriting looked like print.

When the bell finally rang for break, the whole class erupted with noise.

“Babe, gist me!” Eri shouted the moment she reached their desk. “What’s his name again? Daniel abi?”

Daniel turned slightly and smiled politely. “Yeah, Daniel.”

Eri grinned wider. “Welcome o, Daniel-from-Abuja. Hope you’re ready for this our Breakthrough Academy wahala.”

He chuckled softly. “I’ll try my best.”

Ebun quickly stood up. “Eri, abeg, let’s go to the canteen before everything finish.”

Eri followed her out, whispering, “You see? Even his laugh fine!”

“Abeg, leave me,” Ebun said, trying to sound irritated. But the truth was — she had noticed.

The canteen was already packed, full of students arguing over who came first. The smell of puff-puff, rice, and stew filled the air. Ebun and Eri finally got food and found a spot near the window.

“Babe,” Eri began, “that guy na trouble o. He go scatter this class.”

Ebun rolled her eyes again. “You’ve started your matchmaking wahala.”

“I’m serious!” Eri said, sipping her Coke. “He’s your seatmate, he’s fine, and you—”

Before she could finish, Daniel walked into the canteen, bought a drink, and looked around. When he spotted Ebun, he smiled slightly and waved before walking back out.

Eri gasped dramatically. “You see! He waved at you! You can’t even deny it again!”

Ebun tried not to smile, but her cheeks betrayed her. “He just waved. It’s not that deep.”

Eri laughed. “Hmm. You go explain later, sha.”

The rest of the day went by quickly — new timetables, new class arrangements, and the usual drama between teachers and sleepy students. By closing time, the hostel was noisy again with students shouting greetings and unpacking.

As Ebun sat on her bunk, writing in her small diary, she caught herself smiling for no reason. She quickly closed the book, embarrassed.

“Daniel,” she whispered to herself, shaking her head. “This one you’re already in my thoughts on day one, I pray you don’t make me fall for you cause I really want to be focused this term abeg after snapping from her thought she decided to go throughout everything she was taught in class today which didn’t take long becausee nothing much was done today.

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