NOT THE ONE || Completed✔

34: Snapped like a twig

After Joy’s – what one might to refer to as a date – with Bayo, things started to pick up a speedy pace thereon. They spent hours texting each other, minutes on the phone. The library had somehow turned out to be their meeting place: not only did they co-read while exchanging ideas there, they also met up to just talk – either about a movie or a person. It was like they had suddenly become close and as much as it felt great for Joy, it also scared her.

She was sure Bayo had no romantic feelings for her, but she wasn’t sure about herself. It was hard to focus when he talked without looking at his lips. It was hard not picking out his scent out of the thousands that passed her by. It was also hard staying away from him, no matter how hard she tried. It was like his absence made it worse to not concentrate on thoughts about him. 

Her sister seemed to think Bayo was good for her. She said she had seen her happy many times, but she had never seen her light up at the sound of a person’s name or at the slightest thought of him. She had already started putting together couple names, which Joy managed to shut down before she could go on.

Though her sister smiled and made jokes with her, she knew she wasn’t entirely happy. Eric had left the country the following week and even though she said it gave her a sense of satisfaction that they had dated for the few days he was around, Joy know deep down she regretted not making her move all those years. Joy wanted to comfort her sister, but she either dismissed the topic or held a smile that should be read as ‘I’m fine’, but actually meant ‘I’m absolutely not OK’.

They had started exercising together – Deborah’s idea. Dr. Philip had advised while eating and gaining back her lost weight was a good idea, it was also good to burn some calories so as not to overdo it and gain some other health benefits: this then leading to Deborah persuasively forcing Joy to join her in her morning jog and diet plan.

Two weeks into Deborah’s diet plan and exhausting morning exercises and Joy could barely raise her arm without feeling like a log of wood.

Oluchi said it was working; Bayo and Tayo had teased her on how she looked like something from a horror movie, but she only believed the boys. She did look that bad. She was barely eating good food (ice-cream, fried food and many other better delicacies); she had suddenly become an herbivore, feeding on grass and fruits and some things Deborah called fiber.

Sleep was out of the question since they both woke up as early as five and Joy went to bed as late as one.

As exhausting as everything was, Joy DIDN’T not like it. The morning jogs helped her spend more time with her sister, which she enjoyed. It also helped her think a lot better and see herself in a different light.

The only downside of everything was how much tolerance she had to summon when she saw other members of the family munching on toast, fried egg and hot chocolate; or when she saw them with crispy fried chicken parts so good that she once drooled while staring at them. It was like the fact that she had stopped eating them made them look even more glorious than they used to.

Two weeks gone and the term almost ending, Joy found herself not wanting the term to end. School was stressful and annoying, but she wasn’t entirely sure why she didn’t want this particular one not to end.

Two o’ clock on the dot and she was swinging her hands, while ringing the bell for the lesson break – each sound of the bell accompanied with an ‘ow’. Blessing didn’t seem that interested these days in ringing the bell, so she had to bear the pain while doing her job.

On entering the class, if she had closed her eyes throughout her journey back to her seat or probably ignored Blessing, she would have missed the intense glare Blessing was drilling down her temple.