Somebody Else (Christian Romance)

ONE

Stephanie Dickson couldn't tell how long she'd been standing in front of the dormitory's full-length mirror. It seemed as though it'd been just a few minutes since she came. But the feeling on her legs told her she'd been standing here for several minutes. She didn't want to leave. Not yet. Why would she, when she loved what she saw in the mirror? The lady who stared right back at her was the epitome of beauty. She pouted as she tilted her face slightly to the side. Boy, she did look like Beyoncé, if not more beautiful. She grinned and straightened her neck. This pose made her look like a cute little girl. She didn't want cute. She wanted hot. She pulled the neck of her T-shirt down her left shoulder such that it looked like a one-shoulder top. Poor T-shirt. She could tell she'd slacked its neck. But that wasn't a problem; she had countless of them. Tilting her head upwards and backward, she parted her lips slightly. There. She looked like a goddess. The girl who any guy here will trip for. Wait. Why had she been wasting all these poses? She could take some mirror selfies. The kinds that'd spark social media. Why didn't this cross her mind before?

Glad her room wasn't far, Stephanie hurried down the corridor to pick up her phone. It was a pity she didn't know any of the guys here. They wouldn't see the killer photos she was about to take. None of the students here would see them because she was new here and didn't know anyone. She hadn't even spent up to twenty-four hours in this place. That moment, yesterday evening, when she bid her mom farewell was the happiest moment of her life. She was finally free. Just this morning, mom took off back home to Keffi. A trip of over eight hundred kilometers. That was the major reason she'd picked the University of Benin as her first choice of schools. She wanted to be as far away from her family as possible. At first, her parents weren't so pleased with her choice. But after much research, they learned that it was one of the best universities in the country and they willingly allowed her to come. Now she was free to do whatever she liked without answering to her mother. She was going to make the most of this opportunity. How long was the semester going to last? Three months? Four? She hoped it lasted longer.

Stephanie's room was empty, just as she had expected. Each of the two double-decker bunks stood by the walls. One at the left and one at the right wall, leaving a fairly large space in-between. There were four reading tables and four chairs for each of the room's inhabitants. One table stood at the head ends of each bunk and the other stood at the tail ends. She was supposed to have three roommates, but just one had resumed. What was her name again? Victoria? Valerie? Vanessa? Yes, Vanessa. Vanessa was a fresher, just like her. The other two roommates were probably non-freshers as only freshers had resumed. Non-freshers would resume in two weeks, then academic activities will start. She couldn't wait for lectures to start, not because she fancied sitting down for hours and listening to lecturers tell boring stories. Quite on the contrary. She wanted lectures to begin because then, she'd be able to meet her mates and socialize. She couldn't wait to see all the guys from class who would crush on her.

The sounds from Stephanie's footsteps echoed as she walked to her cupboard at the far end of the room. She unlocked the cupboard where her most prized possession lay. Her brand-new iPhone. She picked it up and hurried out the room not bothering to lock the cupboard. Stephanie always took her iPhone with her wherever she went. If ever it wasn't with her, it was safely locked in her cupboard and the keys were kept in her pocket. As Stephanie shut the door to her room and walked through the fairly broad corridor, she couldn't help but notice how quiet and empty the hostel was. Most of the students were at the main auditorium for their physical clearance. She had gone there earlier this morning but hadn't stayed long. When she saw how long the queue was, she gave up on being cleared today and came back to her hostel. She didn't have the patience to wait that long. She'd go back there first thing tomorrow morning so she could secure a space at the front of the queue, but for now, she needed to take some killer photos.