Somebody Else (Christian Romance)

ELEVEN

Saturday mornings always brought a different sort of atmosphere – a joyous one. This was because it was the day everyone rested from the stress of attending lectures all week. The last Stephanie checked, it was 6:55 am. Many of the girls were still asleep unlike weekdays when they woke up at 6 am. Some girls were in the laundry room washing their clothes – these were the smart girls who wanted to dry their clothes on the ropes before the spaces got exhausted. Girls who washed late and didn't have a space to hang their clothes on the rope usually resorted to hanging them on the iron rails separating the rooms from the quadrangular lawns. The disadvantage was that their clothes sometimes picked up rust stains. A few girls were in the reading room – these were the serious students who didn't have a social life. All that mattered to them was getting good grades. Also, there were the vibrant Christians like Vanessa who had gone to church for a vigil the previous evening and hadn't returned yet. Then there was Stephanie – alone in the bathroom hurriedly taking her bath.

Saturday mornings were no different to Stephanie than the other days of the week. This was because she never attended lectures, she therefore had her whole time to herself. Sometimes she spent her time watching movies. Sometimes, she spent her time with Chinasa who also never attended lectures. Sometimes, she whiled away her time pinging while other times, she slept for long hours. Stephanie slept for nothing less than ten hours in a day. Which was why she wasn't so thrilled that today was Saturday. She was rather thrilled by something else. That thing that made her have her bath this early. The thing that made her take her bath so hurriedly, as though she were in a competition – her bleaching cream.

Stephanie had ordered the cream since last week. It just arrived yesterday and since it's arrival, nothing could wipe the smile off her face. She was finally going to be as light in complexion as Chinasa, then Charles wouldn't be able to take his eyes off her. Stephanie examined the skin on her hand as she scrubbed her body. She wasn't as dark in complexion as the majority of Nigerians, yet her skin wasn't as light as Chinasa's. She was somewhere in the middle. But she wasn't satisfied. She wanted to look just like Chinasa. Which was why she'd willingly used twenty-five thousand naira out of her pocket money to purchase the cream. The seller had assured her that in ten days, her skin would be the same color as that of Americans. Woosh! She grinned. It wouldn't be long. She couldn't wait. After this, she'd figure out a way to get the pills and cream that would enhance her curves. By the time she was done with her body, Charles would be so awed by her appearance that he'd forget Chinasa exists.

She held her breath as she poured the water over her head. The sound from the impact of the water on her plastic shower cap and the tiles was not so pleasant. She wiped her face with her towel before she dried the rest of her body. All through her walk to her room, all that was on her mind was her bleaching cream. She entered her room to meet Teni and Magdalene wide awake. Teni's favorite music was playing, as usual. Mama by Kiss Daniel. Teni had played it so much, to the extent that Stephanie almost knew all the words of the song. Teni was ironing her clothes. She always washed on Thursday evenings and ironed them on Saturdays when everyone was struggling for a space on the ropes. Stephanie admired how organized she was. Magdalene was selecting her dirty clothes from the wardrobe, preparing to wash. She smiled when she saw Stephanie.

"Stephanie, this one that you woke up early today. You're like the first person to have her bath today in this whole hostel. What happened?"

"Yeah. It's quite unlike you." Teni nodded.

"Nothing oh," Stephanie smiled as she walked to her wardrobe. I just felt like bathing early.

"Have you washed?" Magdalene asked her.

Stephanie hadn't washed her clothes in over two weeks. Her saving grace was that she had so many clothes, such that she could stay for a month without washing and still not run out of clothes.