My first love…
Well, where do I start?
As we all know, everyone with a heart has that one time they fell in love with one person. The very first person that owned their heart and thoughts and dominated it mercilessly. We all have probably been in that position at one time or the other, and for some, it is more often than not.
Well, I am human like you and I have a first love as well.
This was way back in senior secondary school, around the time I was getting ready for my W.A.E.C (This is an examination body that organizes examinations for secondary school graduating students all over West Africa). And while my classmates were solving maths and cramming laws of physics, I was thinking of a woman.
I will call her Wanda.
Wanda was my classmate, and she was not the most beautiful girl in the class and but she was easily the most intelligent. At least to me. Back then, her most prominent features were just her intelligent brain and her sing-song voice that was always stuck in my head long after I went home after school. She was one of those annoying girls that were always raising their hands to answer questions in class, coming to school each day with school bag bulging with textbooks and always reminding the teachers that they gave us assignments, or scheduled tests, or were supposed to mark our notes.
She was the perfect example of a good student.
“Why won’t you all be like Wanda?” I remember our Biology teacher used to say, “she is such a good student.”
And now, in hindsight, I wonder what I had seen in her back then.
Anyway, it started out as a crush. I found out I was enjoying the way she answered questions, always speaking with confidence and alacrity, twirling her fingers in this weird way while her eyes just seemed to be all over the place. And when someone cracked a joke, she laughed or smiled with her entire face, lighting it up like when power was suddenly restored.
Ooops… now I remember why I fell for her. I think it was her voice and her smile. The first time I saw it, I realized I wanted to keep on seeing it.
Anyway, I did not crush from afar. Mind you we had been classmates since SS2, so we already knew each other well enough but we were not that close. Anyway, I wanted to change that narrative. I started engaging her in conversations.
But it seemed this girl had her feet set on fire because she was rarely in one place. She was always going from one staff room to the other, running errands or looking for another assignment that she will remind the teachers of. And when she was in the class, if we did not have lectures then she would have her nose buried in a textbook or a Harlequin novel.
Having a meaningful conversation with this girl was tug of war.
Eventually I found out she lived around my area, which meant we could go home together. Everything works out for those who persist, indeed.
So that was how we started going home together. Back then, most of us trekked home because it was more fun than taking the bus. And it was more economical because we could save the transport fare. So sometimes I would escort this babe as far as her own house before I would now go home.
I did not mind.
Anyway, I guess my charm must have been working because I began to see that she was also catching feelings. So, it was after our Mock exams( Mock is a form of examination that prepares you for the main examination itself), when we were preparing to go for a short holiday; either Christmas or Easter, I am no longer sure. That was when I told her how I felt about her. Somehow the crush had developed into real feelings and thankfully I could see signs that she was reciprocating the feelings as well. All that was left was to just make it official.
Anyway, I told her and asked her to be my girlfriend. Can you imagine, she told me to hold on? Spec like me! I had to wait while she thought about it. That annoying response girls used to give that year, I do not know if they still do it today. It’s been a while since I asked a woman out.
Anyway, by the next week, I asked her again and her response floored me. Even mumu me that was in love then was shocked.
Relax… she did not tell me no. She said yes, but with a catch.
It turns out she already had a boyfriend. While Wanda and I were preparing for WAEC, the guy was preparing for JAMB so he could gain admission into the university. This life is not balanced indeed.
She told me that she liked both of us equally and she did not want to break either of us hearts so she would date two of us.
It was at that moment that I felt like someone poured cold water all over me and I realized what the hell was happening. Fine boy like me! I told her I was not interested, unless she was willing to call it quits with the guy. And she said she would think about it (again!!!).
But the moment I found out she was taken, my interest began to dwindle but the feelings were still there.
I did not talk to her about it again, both when the WAEC finally started and even until we finished it. We were still friends though, talking and gisting but usually only when we were with friends.
That level of intimacy began to wane after we graduated, at that time there was Whatsapp but she was not all that active online. And moreover, we both were more concerned about getting into the higher institution.
And that was when everything finally died out. She went to her school and I went to mine, and we have not seen each other ever since. During that first year we used to talk, but as we started mingling in the school, getting to meet new people and make new friends, we started losing touch with each other that one day we did not even notice when we stopped calling each other.
And now, I do not even have her contact. Lost it when I lost my phone a few years ago. But we are friends on Facebook and I still see her regular updates just as she sees mine.
She is now a big girl, she still loves to move about but she is moving in life and getting things done. And that is a good thing.
We have changed and we have grown, we are no longer the naïve youngsters we were during our school days.
I do not know if we would meet up in future, but if we do it might probably just be platonic. I do not want someone telling me to be her Will Smith while she has an August Alsina on the side.
I am too much of a spec for that.
Anyway, here I am now. I had no idea my love story would be so long. Wow.
For now I am just focused on building myself and making a name, I am still a small boy. When I grow up I will have time for love. Until then, I will just keep on being the best version of who I am meant to be.
Thank you for reading, till we meet in the next post.
This post was inspired by the topic that was chosen by the community which is Your First Love. Feel free to try it out, it is a lot of fun.
Borderimage by 
