Paint Me (GXG) ✒️

16

When I had started talking to Fareedah,  I didn't have the thought of what was next or going to be next. But  along the line, I thought I was going to need to put in a lot of effort  and always have to prove that I actually care about her. But then,  things turned out easier than I had expected. She actually had this cold  yet calm look, when you looked at her from afar and then when you get  to know her, she is the most caring person ever. On days I didn't check  up on her or go to her faculty, she either called or sent a text. She  showed me that I wasn't the only one who needed to put effort in the  friendship, but that she also was interested in putting effort also. 

Days  had passed and our exams were over. Though we weren't able to see each  other so often during the exam period, we still made time for her  cooking classes. She had gone a bit in. She could make white rice well,  was trying with her stew, and could successfully make noodles. From the  bit she learnt from white rice, she used to make white spaghetti. I was  proud of her, honestly. 

I  was parking my braids into a ponytail as I considered cutting my hair  and dying it. It was in style, and I really liked the idea. I was  probably going to do it when I got home, I knew life was going to feel  better for me after that. Hair hadn't always been a thing of interest  for me. I picked my phone that was on the bed, trying to quicken up when  I saw Fareedah's  message that she had arrived at the front of my hostel. I quickly  applied some perfume, adjusting my black joggers. "See you tomorrow," I  had told Inoma as I left, causing her to nod. 

I  tapped at her window when I got there, causing her to unlock her car door  so I could get in. "How was your last paper?" I had asked her the moment  I got into her car. 

She nodded as she replied, "It was practical, so it was easy and fun to an extent." 

I nodded in reply, smiling. 

"How was yours?"

"I have been done with exams since last weekend," I told her.

"Really? You guys are on the better side of life then."

I chuckled. "Not really, because we are kind of pushed and rushed, so..."

She smiled. "Still though. It is better to do and finish quickly, than to be having spaced anxiety."

I laughed. "True true."

She  nodded in reply as she started the engine of her car. "Have you had  lunch?" she had asked as she pulled away from where she was parked, so  she could reverse and drive out of the hostel compound. 

"Yes,"  I replied her as I looked out of the window, watching some students  already moving their loads so they could go back home. Some were only  returning from their exams, their exam docket folded in their hands.  "What about you?" I asked her when she had pulled out and drove past the  people selling close to the hostel compound.

She shook her head in response, before she replied, "No."

"So,  you will branch to get food?' I had asked, turning to look at her. It  was the first time I was really taking a look at her. She looked really  tired and stressed, but was still maintaining beauty. I could never.  Whenever I was stressed, my face would break out so bad, and I would  look rough all the time. 

"No, I am too tired for that," she said as she drove towards the school gate. "I would probably simply order in."

I nodded in reply, not saying a word. 

The ride was quiet as we both listened to Afropop.  I spent the ride watching the road. It was busy as usual. Students were  everywhere, and where also a lot at the gate. At that point in time, it  was usually hard to find keke (tricycle) that was going to Bariga, so that usually made the gate area a little crowded. Tired students were still trying to fight for a space, whenever a keke  arrived. The next thing or scenario in my line of view, were the  motorcycle men, who stayed at the other side of the road patiently  waiting for costumers to come. Beside them was a woman who sold waist-bead, wrist-beads and handmade beads in general, alongside some young men who sold cheap  sunglasses. I smiled when I saw two girls stop by the waist-beads woman,  smiling happily as they priced it. They reminded me of Inoma  and the time she really enjoyed buying them and wearing them. She liked  the ones that glowed in the dark, and will often say 'Come and see, come  and see', whenever there wasn't light. 'I stand out in the dark', she  would say.