Love in Final Year

Final year changed everything.

On campus, it wasn’t just about love anymore. It was about after. After school. After NYSC. After dreams met reality.

Ayo noticed Kemi during a compulsory seminar no one wanted to attend. The hall was hot, the microphone was bad, and everyone was tired. She sat alone in the front row, laptop open, taking notes like the future depended on it.

Maybe it did.

When the seminar ended, Ayo dropped his pen and it rolled to her feet.

“You’re welcome,” she said, handing it back.

“Thank you,” he replied. “You’re very focused.”

She smiled faintly. “Someone has to be.”

They became friends first.

They talked between lectures, shared cold sachet water, complained about supervisors who never replied messages. Kemi was studying Economics. Ayo was in Mass Communication, always filming something, always chasing stories.

“You’re too serious,” Ayo told her one afternoon under a neem tree.

“And you’re too relaxed,” she replied. “One of us will survive adulthood.”

He laughed. “We’ll see.”

Love crept in slowly.

It showed up when Ayo waited outside the library until midnight because Kemi had exams. When Kemi reminded Ayo to eat before editing videos. When silence between them became comfortable.

But final year had its own pressure.

Kemi had a scholarship opportunity abroad. Ayo had nothing but his camera and faith.

“You should go,” Ayo said when she told him.

“I don’t want to leave you behind,” she replied.

“You’re not leaving me,” he said softly. “You’re choosing yourself.”

That was the hardest love of all.

The night before Kemi left campus, they sat on the football field, watching the lights flicker.

“Promise me something,” Kemi said.

“What?”

“Don’t stop chasing your dream because I left.”

He nodded. “Promise me something too.”

“Okay.”

“Come back when you’re ready.”

She smiled through tears. “I will.”

Years later, Ayo’s documentary played at a small screening in Lagos.

Someone tapped his shoulder.

“You kept your promise,” Kemi said.

He turned, heart racing.

“So did you,” he replied.

Campus love didn’t always end on campus.

Sometimes, it just waited.

@Palixia.com