Chapter 9
Saturday morning slipped into the hostel with lazy sunlight spilling through the thin curtains. Amara sat on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest, staring at the pile of books on her desk. For once, she didn't want to look at them.
The entire week had crawled by with its endless whispers, stolen glances, and her own sleepless nights. She needed air. She needed noise that wasn't in her own head.
Her eyes flicked to Ngozi's empty bed. Her roommate had left early for the library—she was still in recovery mode after her test and claimed she couldn't afford to waste a single weekend morning.
Amara envied that determination, but she knew she wouldn't last five minutes buried in notes today.
So instead, she picked up her phone and sent a quick message:
Amara: Are you guys free? Come to my room. We need a girls' day.
Zainab replied almost instantly: Say no more 👀
Tolu followed with a string of laughing emojis: On my way, hope you have food o
Amara smiled for the first time in days.
---
By noon, her small hostel room was alive. Zainab walked in carrying a bag of chin-chin, while Tolu dragged a chair from Amara's table, claiming there was no way she'd sit on the cold floor.
"You didn't even sweep well, Amara," Tolu teased as she looked around, though her grin softened the jab. "If my mum saw this floor, she'd flog both of us."
Amara rolled her eyes. "Then sit outside if it's bothering you."
Zainab plopped on Ngozi's bed and tore open her bag of chin-chin. "Abeg, let her be. This is not about floor or flogging. Today, we're here to relax and gossip." She tossed a piece into her mouth and chewed loudly.
Soon enough, the room filled with laughter, stories, and snacks. Someone played music quietly from their phone, Afrobeats humming beneath their chatter.
---
Tolu was the first to bring up hostel life. "You people don't know what I've suffered this week. One girl in my block sings at the top of her lungs every night. No key, no tone, nothing! I wanted to cry."
Zainab almost choked on chin-chin laughing. "Ehn! Was it gospel songs at least?"
"No o," Tolu wailed. "Love songs. Yoruba love songs for God sake! And she sings as if heartbreak is beating her inside that room."
Amara laughed so hard she covered her face. "Please, stop. I can already hear it in my head."
They dissolved into giggles until their stomachs hurt. For a while, Amara forgot about Kael, about glowing wrists and heavy stares.
---
Later, the gist shifted.
"You know Blessing?" Zainab started, lowering her voice like she always did before dropping hot gossip. "She just got caught sneaking into the male hostel last night."
Amara's mouth fell open. "You're lying."
"I swear!" Zainab slapped her thigh. "Matron almost caught her red-handed. If not for one guy that distracted the woman, she would've been finished."
"Hmm," Tolu said with mock seriousness. "So love can make somebody risk her degree like that?"
They burst into laughter again, but the sound dimmed slightly when Zainab glanced at Amara. "Speaking of risky love…" she began.
Amara's laughter stilled.
Zainab leaned closer, grinning slyly. "So when are you going to tell us the truth about you and Mr. Transfer Student?"
Tolu immediately gasped, smacking Zainab on the arm. "Yes! Thank you for asking. Amara, don't think you can hide. Even if you keep quiet, your eyes speak volumes."
Amara's cheeks heated instantly. She tried to wave them off, forcing a laugh. "Abeg, there's nothing like that."
"Liar," Zainab said, eyes gleaming. "I saw the way you froze when his name came up in class. And don't forget—you held hands."
"It wasn't like that!" Amara's voice cracked slightly. "I don't even talk to him. He doesn't even come to lectures anymore..."
That last part slipped out before she could catch herself.
Her friends exchanged knowing looks.
"You're keeping tabs on his attendance?" Tolu sing-songed.
Amara groaned, burying her face in her pillow. "You people will not kill me today."
But deep down, her heart betrayed her. The truth was there—Kael's absence gnawed at her, whether she admitted it or not.
---
By late afternoon, their laughter had softened into comfortable chatter. Zainab stretched out on the bed, humming along to the music, while Tolu scrolled lazily on her phone, occasionally bursting into random commentary about memes.
Amara leaned back against the wall, watching them with quiet gratitude. This—this warmth, this silliness—was what she needed. A reminder that she wasn't completely drowning in secrets.
Still, as the sun dipped lower, her eyes drifted to her wrist. The faint glow pulsed beneath her sleeve, hidden from her friends, hidden from the world.
It was easy to laugh, easy to pretend for a few hours. But the bond was still there, constant, inescapable.
And when she caught Zainab studying her too closely, eyes narrowed in suspicion, Amara pulled her sleeve down and forced another laugh, praying it was enough to distract them.
---
That night, after her friends left and the hostel grew quiet, Amara lay awake staring at the ceiling. Ngozi still hadn't returned—probably buried in her books somewhere.
The room felt emptier without the laughter, and the silence pressed harder against her chest.
She closed her eyes, willing herself to hold onto the warmth of the day.
But behind her eyelids, Kael's face flickered. His hand gripping hers. His voice, low and rough, warning her about things she didn't understand.
The mark on her wrist throbbed once, as if in answer.
And just like that, the laughter faded into shadows again...