I don't like people. I listened to this new girl from Warri rattle her experiences off to my best friend, Treasure. There was another girl with her, completely new to the Department of Theatre Arts as well, trying to interject her own experiences at Aba where she came from so as not to feel left out.
Source
I sighed in disbelief. If I were new to an environment, I would prefer to study it in silence rather than making so much effort to impress people around me who, most of the time, ended up unimpressed.
It wasn't the first day of the semester but it was the day most of the 300-level students, of which I was one, decided to resume school. We were gathered together in an empty classroom, waiting for the course lecturer to arrive when these girls barged in and headed straight for my table.
Treasure and I exchanged questioning glances but none of us had a reply for the other.
“Were we this bold during our first year?” I whispered to Treasure at some point. She shrugged and rolled her eyes because she was the one they really spoke to. I only gave them a weak smile from time to time as a response.
When it was obvious that our lecturer wasn't attending the class, I rose from their midst and excused myself. I had so many other important things to do than gisting with first years. I went around the department looking for a quiet spot to stay in so I could work on a few writing projects I had at hand but there seemed to be none.
There were people everywhere, talking excitedly in groups and loitering around the stairs. I sighed and went back to the class to pick up my things so I could leave.
“Bye!” I heard someone call out beside me. It was one of the two first-year girls, I was relieved to see that they had finally left.
“What's up with those girls?”
“They came to find out some stuff about certain lecturers but they ended up telling me their entire family history instead.”
“Have you met them before?”
She nodded. That answered the question of why they had strolled straight down to our table.
“I was the one who guided them to the department on their first day,” she was saying “Since then, they have the notion that I am their friend.”
“And you've been indulging them,” I giggled “I hope you can finish what you've started?”
She shrugged again.
“They're not so bad, they're just noisy.” I congratulated her on her new achievement and then told her I was leaving. She took her bags and came with me.
“But why don't you like making new friends?” She suddenly asked as we walked together in silence.
“Do you remember how we began talking?” She thought for a while before nodding her head.
“We met in Professor Johnson's class, you found out that we were bearing the same name, and we bonded immediately after that” I laughed.
“You think that's what happened? If I made friends just because you were bearing my name then every ‘Treasure’ I have come across would have been friends with me”.
She fell silent again.
“So there are certain things that make you become friends with someone?” I nodded “Like what?”
“First off, I'm not a fan of having too many friends in my life. There are acquaintances, lots of them, but my friends, those people are special to me. I find it really easy to connect with anyone who will become my friend. All the close friends I've ever had didn't stress to become one. I just connected with them, and I have never been wrong.”
She fell silent again. When she finally spoke, it was to say that she didn't understand what I said.
“Okay, let me put it this way. I'm not a people's person. I don't easily get impressed with people to the extent that I want to become close or intimate with them. Do you understand?”
She nodded slowly.
“Okay, but whoever my friend is going to be, it becomes a whole lot easier with him or her. Why do you think I have just two friends in the whole of this university? It's because I can connect with the both of you easier than I do with most people.”
Treasure shook her head.
“You need help. Are you an introvert or what?” I couldn't help but laugh hard at that one.
“Introvert indeed. I think I just like my personal space, which is why I don't bring so many people into it.”
“I hope this habit helps you get married in the near future”
We both laughed, teasing each other as we clambered into a tricycle we had just flagged down.