Part 3 : THE MAVERICK

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People come into your life to either support or distract you from your journey; know the difference.

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Audrina's POV

Life in camp as a corps member in Lagos State was pretty chill. It was a popular notion that those who were lucky enough to be posted to Lagos State were "ballers." Nigeria has 36 states but if you're fortunate enough to be posted to either Abuja or Lagos State for your youth service, then you're surely going to have a fun ride at camp.

This was mostly because these were two socially vibrant cities and a host of celebrities tend to visit the corps members at camp and perform for them for free!

Who wouldn't like to watch Omah Lay or Rema perform for them live without having to pay a dime??!

I know, right?

The perks of doing your youth service in these two states are quite thrilling and that is one of the reasons why those states get filled up earlier than other states, because of the surge of requests from corps members to be posted there.

With all of that being said, Audrina was one of the corps members who camped at the Lagos State orientation camp and obviously had the best camp experience.

A raving artist at that time, Asake, had visited their camp and given them a gyrated performance of his hits, Joha, Palazzo, and Organise.

Trust Nigerian youths to be in their party mood as they sang along and danced around in their white suits.

Shows and concerts like that were not cut out for the likes of Audrina. She had a different genre of music preference and this was far from it.

Audrina had joined the volleyball team and eventually helped her platoon to victory during the sports festival at the Lagos State orientation camp, even though her glasses were often uncomfortable during her game. She was shortsighted but still wore her glasses anywhere and everywhere. They complemented her looks, as the silver frame blended so perfectly with her chocolate skin tone. 

She had a pretty calm camp experience and that was mostly the only fun thing about camp. With all of that over, she was now working as a web developer for a tech company on Victoria Island, Lagos state. 

She had a close relationship with her siblings and in most cases, she was saddled with the responsibility of doing the not-so-menial chores at home. Working was a good escape from all of that and she loved her privacy so much.

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As corps members prepared to vacate the camp grounds, Audrina arranged her luggage and went to get something to snack on. She chewed gum a lot, and when she didn't have any on her, which was very rare, she had to find something to keep her mouth busy. 

"Where are your bags, Audrina?" A voice had called out to her from behind.

She squinted as she turned to see who it was that knew her well enough to even know her name. It was Catherine, a teammate of hers from volleyball. She had a really loud voice and it irked Audrina.

"Everyone is bringing out their boxes to the park by Mammy Market, or are you not leaving today?" 

Audrina smirked when she said the last words. Who on earth would want to spend one more day in this camp?

"I already packed my stuff. My family will be here for me soon." 

Audrina answered her and started walking on her way to the supermarket. She bought some candy bars, a bottle of Aquafina bottle water and a lot of bubble gums. 

She felt her phone vibrate in her right pocket and reached for it while she paid the seller for her purchases. 

Big sis is calling.

She swiped right and heard her sister's voice.

"Tallie, we are at your camp gate now. You set to leave?"

"Good morning, sis. Yeah,  I'm set. I'll be out in 5."

"Alright. We brought your car." There was a little laughter in her voice as she informed Audrina of this, and it was an infectious one because Audrina's face lit up immediately, revealing her dimples. 

"Scratch that; I'll be out in 2 minutes."

Ever since Audrina learned how to drive, she has always been eager to go on errands or family visits just so she could drive. For her, it was a liberating feeling when driving and she was good behind the wheels. She drove insanely fast.

As she strolled out of the female hostel with her two burgundy boxes, she felt really happy. She hadn't remembered what the outside world felt like and she missed the freedom of  being able to wear something other than white tees and white shorts.

She got out of the camp gates and felt like the air outside was much fresher than inside the camp. She smiled as she saw her sisters walk towards her and they embraced.

"Girl! You've gotten darker." Her older sister, Amber,  remarked with a raised eyebrow as she raised the car keys in front of her sister's face.

"You guys don't even know the half of it."

 She collected the keys and loaded her boxes into the car trunk. They all got into the back seat of the car and Audrina got in and started the engine.

She wasn't sure how dark she had gotten, but Audrina knew the 21 days spent in camp must've made an impact on her physical appearance. She was leaving anyway.

As she drove home, she felt really happy, and her sisters were such a vibe. They were asking her to tell them all about what went down in camp and with whom.

She just laughed and adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose as she increased her acceleration on the highway. She knew there was no gist to tell them because she didn't actually do much or have any sort of entanglement or relationship with anyone. 

She missed her room.

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Hi darlings, I hope you're taking a liking to the characters?   :)

Please don't forget to drop your comments on anything at all.

The next chapter will be up real soon.

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