Remedy

3. Impressions

Raiah

None of his Instagram pictures did him justice. His eyes were sunkissed without the sun even touching him. They made his gaze intense but gentle.

I didn't realise I had outed my stalker tendencies until I had blurted his name out. I couldn't be more disappointed in myself than I was in that moment.

The girl in his arm had snatched him up before I could recover the disappointing impression I had left. Of course he had a girlfriend. Why wouldn't he? I would also be direct about my affections to show any girl that they shouldn't try anything.

I walked through the crowd of first years before being engulfed in a hug by an overexcited girl. She had the biggest smile on her face. Her pigtails made her face look younger and playful.

"You are so pretty. Asari, why didn't you tell me she was this pretty?" she exclaimed. I was relieved at the mention of my roommate's name. "Thank you," I said. Asari placed an arm around me. I looked up at her urging her to tell me what was going on and who the crazy girl was.

She laughed before saying, "Raiah, this my favourite lunatic: Esinaye Ndaba." "Call me Esi," she said. "I'm happy to meet you Esi. I love your pigtails," I said. "You don't have to lie. She looks like a toddler," Asari said. "Thank you, Raiah. I'm glad you like them and you're not a hater like this one here."

"Do you guys know each other from somewhere?" I asked. "Esi stalked me on Instagram, went to one of my shoots and demanded we be friends. It's been two years and I've been held hostage ever since," Asari said. "I didn't go to the shoot for you. My boyfriend was there. You just happened to be there which was a bonus," Esi said.

"Your boyfriend is a model?" I asked. " Yep. I was actually there to make sure Asari didn't snatch him up for herself. Have you seen this girl? She looks better everytime I see her. She's never had a bad hair day and she prances around like we should all worship the ground she walks on. And her skin? When Beyonce sang Brown Skinned girls she was obviously talking about her. She should've been in that music video with Lupita Nyong'o and Naomi."

"You talk too much," Asari said. I knew she meant it lovingly. She was always uncomfortable when she got complimented in primary school because she thought people didn't mean it. She was probably used to compliments by the time she completed high school.

"I know you're blushing under that chocolate skin," Esi said. "She's always being cringe. Ignore her. I keep her around because she knows too much about everything and everyone," Asari said.

"Now I know one more person. Tell me all about you," Esi said, coming inbetween Asari and I and linking her arms with ours.

We walked around campus being shown the different faculties and libraries. There were 20 people in every group but by then everyone had gone with whichever group they wanted. Our group leader, Emmanuel, led us into the  new section of Welcome Day which was an introduction to extracurriculars.

"I was in the drama club in high school and I'll try out for the one here. But I want to start chess. People on the chess club always look so smart," Esi said. "You also said you want to sign up for the choir," Asari said. "Yes! Their choir is almost as good as Stellenbosch's choir. I have to join," Esi said. I wondered if she was always so animated.

"What do you want to do, Raiah?" Asari asked. "I'm going to audition for the orchestra this week. My extracurriculars in high school were always music based. I think I'll just stick to that," I said.

"I think you should try something outside of music. You're a music major and I think opening yourself up to more people outside of that department will help your networking," Asari said.