Love

The ideal love that conquers all is not love at first sight. Cliché love isn’t the typical sighting that creates this inevitable drag that causes the attraction. A clichéd love is the one that stands the test of time, the test of fate, and the test of trust. This type of clichéd love that starts with the typical love story but never a first-time attraction—the type of love that the parties involved develop on their own without the factors of friends, situations, religion, and parents—is the kind of love I and Charles had. No matter what happened between us, I always knew we were the end game. Even amongst our friends, we were the constant lovers who went through everything you can name in a relationship. We were the typical endgame for everyone because we believed in what we had before anyone even knew it. No one had tomake our feelings known to one another.

It all started when this guy pushed me away from the road as we were struggling for class, you know how crowded public universities are. “Are you blind?” I said angrily to this annoying gentleman, Lawrence who later became a friend. Lawrence just looked up and with an irritating voice said, “It’s you that’s blind, Charles shey, you no see this babe ni, Abeg got out”, and he walked away. Charles, to whom he was referring to waited and apologized in a hurry to also attend the class. I was so pissed off that I didn’t even look up to him; I just walked away to get a seat in the class. In the huge hall where everyone is struggling to take a seat in order to get an attendance count for Professor Collins’s class, Charles and Lawrence later sat down beside me. Again, I didn’t look up—not because I was pissed but because the day has been so busy that I didn’t even notice them.

Well, the day went on without any problems. I am a loner, which means I don’t have friends. From call to library, there was no conversation, no friends, nothing. But Charles's face stuck in my brain; I was fascinated by the way he apologizes to me, even though he was as disrespectful as his friend, but he apologizes now—so sweet of him, I thought. Well, it can never happen, I thought to myself, so I just moved on with my day.

For a little insight, I’ve always been an introvert, going on with my day without talking to anyone. Luckily for me, my parents were well off, so I was able to get an apartment alone. Also, I am the only child of very busy parents, so my life is centered on being alone at all times. Just me and my books—such a perfect combo.

Unknown to me, Lawrence and Charles noticed that they sat down beside me, but they couldn’t talk to me because of the first impression they made, as Charles told me during one of our pillow talks. This lovely evening, they decided to come talk to me after they noticed my movement, which was from the library to the lecture theater and then back to my room. Lawrence is the jovial one, a tall, dark man with a good sense of humor. He is the boyfriend of the department because he is also handsome, rich, and flirty, and he can sometimes be very annoying and imposing. While Charles was the exact opposite, Charles is light, also tall but taller than Lawrence, a spoilt brat that’s proud and quiet, and he is also handsome. Charles and Lawrence have been friends from childhood.

Well, I was sitting at the library when Lawrence came to quietly tap me on the shoulder and ask me to come outside for a short conversation. I looked up from my book and said no without thinking twice. Lawrence then whispered into my ears, “I will keep disturbing you and everyone here until you come outside. I want to talk to you”. As the shy person I am, I decided to park my books. With the anger displayed on my face, I walked out of the library to start heading towards home. Lawrence ran after me, shouting my name for the whole faculty building to hear, “Linda! Linda!! Linda!!!”. “God, how did you know my name, you annoying jerk” Then he pointed to Charles, who was running behind him, to stop both of us. “Why are you pointing at him, and why are you both disturbing me? Oh God, I want to be left alone”. An annoying voice answered by saying no, which is Lawrence’s voice, while Charles started apologizing at the same time. Then I decided to walk away from both of them because it was becoming exhausting.

While I was taking the stairs to escape them and head back to my house, Charles started running down to make me stop, and in his quiet, reserved voice, he was able to stop me. “Please, Linda, I didn’t ask Lawrence to do that, he said. While I was just looking at him with anger lingering on my face, I started noticing his distinct features. Lawrence is a well-ripped guy with a height of at least 6'2; he looked well-reserved and book smart with his glasses standing right on his nose. I called myself back from my daydreaming. “Yes, what do you guys think? You already disrupted my reading session and you are now stopping me from heading home, what’s the problem?” I said with frustration showing in my voice. Charles, who was already carried away with Lawrence's incessant shouting, "We just want to apologize”, Lawrence shouted.

Well, you're forgiven, I said, and I walked away, just to escape their annoying and infuriating voices. As I was walking home, I started thinking about my encounter with the two guys, and it made me smile at the end because nobody has noticed me to the extent of coming to the library to disturb me. Well, at the end of the day, they just wanted to apologize, I said to myself. Putting into consideration that I am not the type of woman that any of them will prefer, I am the short, dark, plump girl that everyone loves but no one wants to be with.