TOXIC (Love Between Two Faiths)

Two

"So wetin this one dey feel like?"

I muttered under my breath as I scrolled through his latest streaks. Something about him intrigued me, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it. His snaps were always a mystery—pictures of sleek cars in traffic, towering buildings silhouetted against the evening sky, his friends caught in candid moments of laughter. Occasionally, there would be a snapshot of something utterly random: a half-empty coffee cup on a table, the blur of headlights as he walked through a busy street at night.

But he rarely—almost never—sent streaks of his face, which I found myself oddly looking forward to. I wasn’t sure why, but a part of me was curious, wondering what he really looked like behind these snaps. He was cool, or at least, that's what I gathered from the little glimpses he gave.

As I clicked on his profile out of idle curiosity, I noticed we had been friends on Snapchat since 2020. That shouldn’t have been surprising, but it struck me that I had no real memory of how we became connected. We hadn’t talked—at least, not in any meaningful way. Snapchat, for me, had always been a place for little interactions and streaks, not real conversations. Still, seeing that a year had passed, it felt strange that someone who had floated on the periphery of my digital world for so long had now grabbed my attention.

His Bitmoji appeared on my screen, casually dressed and standing at his current location. My eyes lingered on the small map below it, and my pulse quickened slightly when I saw he was only about fifteen minutes away from my house. Close enough to feel oddly personal, yet far enough to remain distant. Why am I suddenly curious? I wondered.

I hesitated for a moment, but curiosity got the best of me. Before I could second-guess myself, my fingers moved almost of their own accord. What would happen? A simple message. Just to see what he’d say.

I tapped on his name and typed out a quick, almost casual message—something light, friendly. The kind of message that could easily be brushed off if he didn’t want to engage. It wasn't long after hitting 'send' that my phone buzzed in my hand.

"Hi."

"Halo."

"Good evening."

"Evening. How are you?"

"I'm great, how are you today?"

"Fyn."

Which one be fyn? Is this what I have to deal with?

"Okay, I guess. Do you know who you're chatting with?
"
I tried to be mysterious, maybe I could get to know him without actually revealing myself, but it failed miserably.

"Debby's sister, Abby, right?"

"Yes, it's Abby. How is your leg? I heard you have an injury?" Since I ran out of things to ask him.

"Lol, it's good. Thanks for your concern. How's school? You are in which class?"

"SSS3, I am preparing for my exams."

I replied, and his bitmoji stuck its head in our chat.
"Why this boy no dey reply? It's been more than 10 minutes. Mtchew," I hissed and dropped my phone when I didn't get a reply after a while.

"Lights out," my mother poked her head from my door, and I put my phone away immediately.

"Goodnight, mummy," I flashed my mother a smile before she turned off my lights and I covered myself with the sheets, but not before putting one leg out to regulate the temperature. Salim. Salim, how did he change so much? He just grew times two one day, and all of a sudden, he's the hottest boy I've seen this year.

"I don get boyfriend oh," Betty informed us during the second lunch break, and I was surprised to say the least.

"Who, Daniel?" I asked her, remembering that she mentioned this guy in her area, and she smiled sheepishly, confirming my suspicions. "It's well, happy for you. Make he press money," I told her, and she playfully smacked me.