One quiet Saturday morning, I was sitting peacefully on my bed scrolling through the pages of my favourite gossip blog on my phone, fully immersed in the hot gist I was reading when my crazy roommate Ugochi burst into the room screaming like a mad hatter. She left the room barely 10 minutes before then to buy some groceries and returned with no groceries, acting all excited.
If she hadn’t been my roommate for the last 6 years, I might have concluded on a diagnosis of mania in my head as the only explanation to her current hyper excited state which resembled that of a manic patient. You know what Mania is don’t you?
That condition in which you display an extreme level of activity or energy, and you’re in unrealistically high spirits. Usually, this extreme level of excitement or energy is noticeably different from your usual behaviour and by the way, that’s the only reason I knew Ugochi was not manic because she was always hyper excited even when the situation did not warrant it. Hyper excitement is normal for her. I guess she’s just a happy person.
So just for clarity, people that have mania usually have symptoms like having an abnormally high level of energy, feeling extremely excited, having a million thoughts about different topics at the same time, talking so much and sometimes so fast and even having an inflated self esteem. Trust me, these are just a few of many symptoms that people with Mania face. It doesn’t help that sometimes it can be difficult to diagnose but the good news is that it can be managed with medication and psychotherapy.
Oops! Look at me bombarding you with medical information and rambling on about Mania when you haven’t even met me yet. Allow me to introduce myself.
I’m Chioma, a final year medical student at the awesome Crawford University in Lagos.
First things first, meet my partner-in-crime, Ugochi. My roommate who is manic by default. She’s not just my roommate but also my best friend; she’s practically my sister from another mother. We’ve survived med school together, and trust me, surviving medical school in Nigeria is no joke, from having to develop deaf ears to filter serious bashing from bullies who call themselves professors to meeting annoying patients who prefer to call you “nurse” rather than “Doctor” just because you are female. Not like there’s anything wrong with being a nurse, but if I worked hard to earn the Dr title, you gotta put some respeck on my name.
So now that we’re done with the introductions, let’s get back to the gist, what on earth was Ugochi excited about? Well, it turns out the rave of the moment- Asake was going to be at our “bye bye to med school party” that was happening that day. Yes, we were saying bye bye to med school because we were done with our final exams, project defence and were only a few weeks away from graduation.
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“I can’t believe Asake will be performing tonight!” Ugochi squealed, doing an impromptu victory dance in our tiny room. Manic? Not really. Just Ugochi being Ugochi.
“Now I’m gonna have to look for something extremely sexy to wear,” she said, swinging the doors to her closet open. “And who says he’s going to notice you?” I hissed, rolling my eyes. “I will make sure he does, I have an agenda. Watch out for me tonight hater” she replied sticking her tongue out at me. “Whatever” I replied, rolling my eyes again. “ What happened to the groceries you were supposed to be getting?” I added as she turned to stare at me in disbelief, “What?” I shrugged, “I just told you Asake is performing tonight and you’re here asking me about groceries” she replied looking at me like I was crazy, “groceries can wait, biko” she added, pulling a bunch of clothes out of her closet and throwing them on her bed.
“Hmm ok o“ I snickered, ignoring her Asake-induced excitement. I could care less about Asake, it’s not like he even knew we existed. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even want to go to the party because I knew my ex, Rowland, was going to be there. Yes, I’m avoiding my ex. I still haven’t gotten over the fact that he cheated on me with his friend’s girlfriend, what an idiot! Well that’s a story for another day. Unfortunately, with Asake now in the picture, there was no way I was going to successfully convince Ugochi to let me stay back at home. Chances of successfully convincing Ugochi to let me skip the party was as likely as finding a unicorn in Lagos traffic.
Before I could say Shina rambo, Ugochi and I were surrounded by clothes—literally every outfit we own—scattered across the bed, chair and just about every available surface. The reason? Asake was going to be at our party that night.
Ugochi held a sparkly top against her reflection in the mirror. “What do you think, Chioma? Does this scream ‘I’m ready to party’?”
I chuckled, eyeing her choice of attire. “Definitely screams something, though I’m not sure if it’s ‘I’m desperate” ‘ or ‘notice me by force'”
She playfully smacked me with the top. “Smartass. What about you? Got any genius ideas for what to wear?”
I leaned back, pretending to think about the supposedly crucial fashion decision I had to make. “Hmm, how about my lab coat? Nothing says ‘life of the party’ like a medical student’s uniform.”
Ugochi burst into laughter. “Oh, Chioma, you’re something else!” she said as we dissolved into giggles. My phone buzzed on the table. A message from Ella, another close friend, popped up. “Hey, don’t forget about the party tonight! It’s going to be epic!”
Ella was our other partner-in-crime. She was as lively and carefree as Ugochi, the type who’d make parties their second home. Between you and me, I often wondered how either of them managed to pass exams. Must be some sort of brain wizardry. Although Ella wasn’t my roommate, she spent so much time in our room that it felt like she practically lived there. Ella and Ugochi were both like the sisters I never had.
Sigh! With Ella on board, there was no escaping this party. Little did I know that this seemingly ordinary party would be the catalyst for something extraordinary, a chain of events that would introduce me to someone who would tilt my world in a whole new direction.
Stay tuned, dear friends, for the next chapter that’s about to unfold. The drama’s just getting started.
Find out what happens tomorrow in episode 2….