Every time Ebere walked briskly by his lodge holding her lab coat on one hand and her little brown strap bag on the other, Joshua would quickly play Lionel Richie’s Hello through his sound system and increase the volume hoping she would hear. Once, she had taken a glance at the direction the loud music was coming from and Joshua quickly ducked, half hoping she had not seen him and half hoping she had. The loud music annoyed his lodge mates, especially those who lived with him on the fourth floor, and they would bang at his door and tell him to reduce the volume of his odd music.

“You no fit play Wizkid song or Falz song. Na only this nonsense you go dey play every time!”, one would angrily shout.

“No mind am. We go soon break that your sound system!”, another would threaten.

Joshua would come out and apologize and tell them his sound system was having an issue and needed repairs. But he would go into his room and smile satisfactorily to himself before he would start preparing to attend his classes. When his lectures ended at 5 pm, he would part walk and part run to his room so he would be in time to watch Ebere walk back to her own lodge, looking tired and walking almost haphazardly. He always wished he could overcome his timidity and walk down to help her carry her lab coat, even if doing so would make her look less tired and walk less haphazardly. He wished he could be able to walk downstairs in the evenings and stand with her and other students who queued in front of Oga Otio’s shop, talking loudly and laughing as they waited for their turn to fetch water from the tap. He wished he would be the one to carry the two 25 litres gallon of water she owned, instead of TJ. Tall bulky light-skinned TJ with the brilliant cocky smile who was so smooth with girls like Ebere, it disgusted Joshua. And what was with all that hair on his face? Must he look like an alpha male all the time? Joshua hated that TJ could make Ebere laugh easily. He hated himself for not being able to talk to her.

As fate would have it, a situation presented itself. Sesame lodge was holding their annual Munchies Night; a secret night where they all got high on weed and drunk in booze. Joshua never attended such nights. He would always sit shirtless in his room that was painted light blue and was wide enough for just one occupant. He would fill his ears with trap music that flowed from his headset while sketching abstract images on his sketchpad. If he knew that the person behind the loud knock on his door was Ebere, he would have worn a shirt or pretended he was not home.

“Hi. This sounds weird but may I use your bathroom? The ones here are pretty messed up”, she said.

Joshua stood stiff by his door. His eyes recorded her every movement while she spoke; the way she tucked her hair behind her right ear, the way she squinted her eyes when she said weird, and the way she laughed a little while saying messed up. He didn’t know how long he stood there staring at her until she said, “It’s fine. I’ll just find somewhere else”.

“N..n..no. You can use mine”, he stuttered while wondering if his toilet was clean enough for her.

Ebere muttered a thank you and something about him being a lifesaver. Joshua closed his door and stood near the window that faced the balcony. Once she was done, he quickly opened the door but Ebere would not leave. She was attracted to his drawings that were on his table. She sat down and caressed his sketchpad, flipping each page and seeming fascinated by it all.

“These are dope! Did you draw these?”, she asked without taking her eyes off the drawings.

“Yes”.

Joshua’s heart was pounding and he could hardly breathe. He wanted her to leave and as if on cue, Ebere stood up and walked towards the door. Before she left, she turned around and asked him a question he wasn’t expecting.

“Is this where I hear Lionel Richie’s Hello every morning?”

A whole minute must have passed, or at least it seemed so before Joshua replied. He really wanted her to leave. The girl was making him too uncomfortable.

“It’s a nice song”, Ebere said, then she smiled and left. Joshua slept that night listening to that song while it played on repeat.

Ebere started paying unannounced visits to his room. Some days, she would come with two wraps of Okpa and two bottles of soft drink. Other days, she would come with a flask containing soup she had just made. She would sit on the floor and listen to his music while she tried to guess what his abstract drawings meant. There were times they played chess or cards and there were times she just laid on the floor and fell asleep.

The day Ebere stayed well into the night, they talked about school. They discussed the lecturer who went around sexually harassing girls in public, so much that a rumour drifted around campus that he was cursed by a Reverend Sister he had tried sleeping with. The talked about the girl who was said to have leaking ass because she wanted to preserve her virginity and still have sex. They laughed about the boy whose girlfriend chased him out of her room because ‘the boy too dey do’.

When they started talking about the reason behind Joshua’s abstract art, Ebere asked him if he had ever done nude art.

“N..no. No, I don’t think it’s my thing”, he stuttered.

It was very easy for Ebere to slowly unbutton her dress shirt and expose the plain red underwear that clasped her dark skin. However, it was not easy for Joshua to control his breathing as he tried not to watch her. She stood up, tall and lean, and unhooked her bra. She walked towards his bed, and curled up in a fetal position, she wrapped her hands around her chest.

“Give it a try”, she said softly.

His hands shook as he picked up his pencil and his sketchpad. He tried as much as he could to think with his head but the bulge on his joggers posed a bigger threat. He tried to focus on the sloppiness of her waist and the way her back arched. He thanked the blackness that cast themselves of her lower body as he shaded the shadowed lines the bars on his window provided. He was only able to control his breathing when he told Ebere he was done and she wore her dress.

“It’s beautiful”, she said. ” And you said it’s not your thing”, she laughed as she playfully hit his shoulder. Joshua had not fully recovered from his ordeal. He still struggled to push down the thought of their bodies together.

Ebere sat next to him and tore out the page that held her drawing. She took his face in her hands and leaned closer. The kiss was soft, almost dreamy as if it wasn’t happening.

“Will you go out with me?”, Ebere asked him, her hands still holding his face.

“Umm. Wh..where to?”, he stuttered.

“Not where to”, she laughed, throwing her head back. ” I’m asking you out, dumbass “.

There was a warm feeling that enveloped his chest and Joshua could not tell why he said yes. Maybe it was because it was rare to have a girl ask a guy out. Or maybe it was his feelings blossoming into something new; something he was quite sure would make him happier. Whatever it was, Joshua looked forward to another day he would draw her with or without clothes.