A Roommate Turned Bestie.

I am not the type that makes a lot of friends. I prefer to have a few of them and make sure I do all I can to keep the friendship. I see it as having just one friend whom you can trust is way better than having countless you can’t depend upon.

My days at the university were kind of boring at some stage. After my first year when my immediate brother graduated, I was left on my own. I only spent two semesters with him. How I wished he could be there till I also graduated. I knew I would miss him a lot but I had to be prepared to move on.

When I was to resume my second year, I went to the hostel and found out my brother's roommate had already given out the room to someone else, he sold everything in the room.

With my heavy luggage that day I travelled back to school for resumption. I was expecting to pick the key where we normally keep it. But I couldn’t find it there. So I had to knock on the door.

“Knock! Knock! Knock!”

“Yeah, who is there?” A voice responded from the room.

“It's me Abdulqudus.” I answered curiously.

“Okay, I am coming.” He responded.

After some time I saw Nnamdi, one of our hostel mates who had been ranting about the inconvenience he had in his room and with his mates.

He gave a bright and welcoming smile. “Oh, Qudus! How far!”

I received his handshake. And tried to peep inside the room through the curtain as he stood by the door. I realized he had already repainted the room and was different from how I left it.

He politely told me that my brother’s roommate had already handed it over to him. I was disappointed. But I never expressed it in his presence.

That left me with no choice but to find a new hostel and new roommate. I have to start all over again.

I wasn’t much bothered about starting all over, but my concern was about whom I was to start all over with. I just prayed to meet with someone who would understand me better, and have a good relationship with me. Then I started hunting for one.

“Hello sir, I am abdulqudus.”

“I am in search of someone in need of a roommate to pair with.”

I messaged the number I was given by a friend.

“Okay, Good day! I will get back to you.”

That was the end of the conversation, then he called me a few days later. He told me about what he got for me and asked us to meet up.

When I met the guy. I felt somehow because I didn't even like his actions in class. And immediately he saw me, he rejected that he didn’t think I was the kind of person he could live with. That was so straightforward and I liked it.

A few months later, the semester was over, then I got another call again. He sent me the phone number of someone else and asked me to speak with them. His name was Adeyinka.

“Hello sir! I am Abdulqudus, and was asked to call you for the vacant roommate”.

“Yeah yeah. It's me” Adeyinka responded with a smile.

“There is no problem. Have you checked the apartment? Do you like it?” He asked.

I felt he was so eager to know more about me.

Then I responded by telling him I liked the place and that maybe we would see each other again.

He was the jovial type and even without getting to know each other, he would check up on me, and ask how I was coping. His messages got me to know a brief about him. And I felt he was the right person.

When He resumed, we got along so quickly like we’ve known each other for years. Everyone in the hostel was so fascinated by our relationship. Adeyinka told me he would be moving from the hostel to another hostel since there were issues with the landlord and he gave us quit notice.

I wasn’t expecting that to come up so soon, but I had to make a choice again. I chose to pack alongside Adeyinka and be his roommate again in our new hostel. It was a decision I never regretted.

I was so happy to be around him and he also reciprocated the energy. We are in the same faculty but in different departments. Many times he would wish we were in the same department.

For our five years of study, he remained my roommate and we hardly picked fights against each other. He was so quick to apologize and I was so understanding. He became a bestie.

There were times when we didn't have anything to eat. But either of us would come through. At first, we had our separate meals. But after a few months together we started dining in one plate.

Recently I made a post about him in the community titled Adeyinka’s Apartment. He has been by my side even long after we graduated. Now he is about to get married next month and he has told me I must be there for him. I guess he has proved to be the definition of true friendship.