Mowabites Worldwide

I still remember the first day of class. Used money I was supposed to save, to buy myself fine clothes and shoes, and a new phone. I hadn’t updated my closet in years. That was what I told myself. And it was true. But the real motive sitting at the bottom of my heart was to impress some new girl, to curve a new image for myself, to start a new chapter, hopefully with a new girlfriend, for it had been long that a sensible one came along.

Now that I was reading a masters, I hoped to meet a fine coursemate. For the past years, all my hook has caught was high school graduates or drop outs. I always consoled myself that one mustn’t look down on others. An ordinary girlfriend today could become a great person. Why I kept catching the same class of girls, I had no clue. Not that I didn’t aim high. Truth was, I got bounced many times. Perhaps, what I kept settling for was what I deserved, what my status could afford.

But deep down I knew the disparity in age and education wasn’t going to help, and it showed in the tensions that occasionally surfaced in the relationship. When loneliness settles on one’s life like the onset of a new season, one is willing to make many compromises to survive.

Back to the lecture hall. The first day of our masters class. I went early, having no clue what sort of new friends I was going to make. The class was almost empty. I chose a seat at the back of the class, in a corner. I imagined very pretty girls walking in. So far, those that walked in deflated my excitement and expectations. Perhaps, I wasn’t as handsome as I thought I was, and I shouldn’t expect others to meet the pretty standards I set for them in my head.

Slowly, the fine and not so fine walked in, each scanning seats before taking their places. Some seemed to know each other and naturally sat together. By now, the lecture hall was almost full, and so was my disappointment.

Then walked in a really fine girl. Who took her time to scan the room, and chose a seat right beside me. Something inside me smiled. I knew she chose the seat on purpose. Having being single and lonely for a long time, I can smell my kind from afar…