Chapter Fifty-Four – New Supporting Characters

I just want you to know that all the heinous things I may have done, soon to be revealed in subsequent chapters, was warranted. This was my first time getting my heart broken. I had been afraid to enter into a relationship precisely for this reason.

I mean who breaks up with their girlfriend of two years because they are graduating? Wait, that is a silly question. Half the population of men would do this. Well, excuse me for believing that Sly was any different. What could have brought that on? Oh, I don’t know, perhaps the many things he said and promises he made. Of course, I know you can’t take a man’s words to the bank but his actions really ought to count for something.

As a heartbroken girlie I blocked him on every conceivable channel – even his email. But do you want to know the crazy part? As much as I hated his guts and didn’t want to hear from him, I kind of did. What was he doing? Who was he with? Had he moved on? That’s where having a best friend comes in handy.

I stalked his snapchat, Instagram and twitter using Lara’s phone. I saw his graduation pictures from our mutual friends. Of course, he looked lovely in a grey suit. The exact grey suit I told him to get because he would look good in it. He threw a graduation party. I saw it on his friend’s snapchat.

I replayed and replayed the snaps each time looking more closely to see who he was cozied up with. Sure enough, from the corner of a ten second video, I saw the oblong head of none other than Trudy. Well, well.

I, his girlfriend of two years, was not invited to his stupid little party but his ex before me was there. I wanted to bang my head against the wall. I wanted to wring his neck. I wanted to break something. I wanted revenge.

Getting your heart broken is such a peculiar experience. You cannot describe it to anyone and no one, not even you, can understand the rationale behind your actions. It’s like your heart knows something is wrong and it’s grabbing at any and everything to fix it.

Anyway, in this new semester, I am now what the Americans will call a junior. This was supposed to be somewhat the perfect year but well, Sly happened. That aside, the mentorship program was in full swing and the economics department was trying to recruit older students to mentor the freshers. That’s how I met Sly. Damn it! Am I going to mention him at every line? I promise I’m not that girl. My life doesn’t revolve around a man. I have friends, hobbies and things.

Anima, the student in charge of coordinating the mentorship program had messaged me before school reopened inviting me to mentor a student or two. At first, I was flattered. I mean, she had seen the excellence of the past two years and now she wanted me to pass on my great insight to the next generation.

Obviously, that pride died when I realized she’d reached out to all my other friends. Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I think my friends are terrible people. It’s that I think my friends are terrible people who should not be mentoring anyone’s child.

Mind you, I have evidence to back these sentiments. I mean let’s see. Kwame and Lara trended for cheating with each other. Mara was in the sex for grades scandal. Yes, she was more the victim but the point is she still failed a paper. Not to mention the fact that she was still dealing with the blowback from that. Boateng’s scandals were more under the radar and his Casanova days were mostly behind him. Still, he shouldn’t be coaching anyone’s son. What’s he going to teach him? How to almost impregnate a girl you are dating even though you don’t actually like her.

What of Carl? He was now the full-blown artist whose girl almost offed her self so she had to be flown out of the country. So now tell me, why are am I in this with them?

I say all that to say, I said no at first. I was insulted. I guess Anima was the right person for the job because she persisted in texting me and wouldn’t let it be. The thrill of being chased excited me seeing as my heart had been ripped into a million pieces – I digress again. Being the sweet and kind person I am, I finally said yes after the hundredth time of being asked and now guess who is a mentor?

You guessed right! Me! But guess who is also a mentor? Kwame, Lara and Boateng.

Lectures were to start tomorrow so Anima wanted us to come in early and meet our mentees as well as get a bit of training on what was expected of a mentor.

We made our way to the faculty chatting sparsely here and there. It was a wonder to me how Lara and Kwame could be in the same space together like that. If I met Sly even passing me on the street, I would shoot him in the head immediately.

The economics department came into view and Boateng easily found a parking spot close to the entrance. We all walked lazily into the auditorium even though we were almost twenty minutes late.

Sure enough, the program was in full swing. We found our seats at the back and I half-heartedly tried to pay attention.

“As a mentor, you must help guide your mentee on how to navigate the school. Show them the best textbooks, learning strategies and hacks to pass their papers. It doesn’t end there. You must mentor them even outside of academics. We all know how campus can be with the September rush and all that. Guide them so that they don’t make the same mistakes you made…” Anima chimed merrily.

Either she really was just a good person or she was going to run for president soon. My money was on the latter. No one in Ghana is good unless they have political ambition and you can quote me on that next time.

Soon enough, the meeting was over and we trooped out to meet our mentees.

Mine was a scrawny looking fresher who was far too pretty for her outfit. Lara had another girl who looked like she didn’t need any guidance outside academics, if you know what I mean. Kwame had a decent looking chap.

Well, Boateng’s mentee was quite peculiar. She, and yes, I said she, looked like she had just been dropped from heaven. There’s some kind of beauty that’s just unsettling. Like how can a human being be so fine?

Stranger still was my reaction to seeing her. I was jealous.