Rain fell softly that morning in Owerri, tapping the rooftops like fingers drumming a warning she had already grown used to ignoring. Ozioma Oge sat by her hostel window, legs pulled to her chest, watching the droplets blur her view of the half-busy university compound. It was her third year as a Mass Communication student at Imo State University, and though time had passed, nothing in her heart felt settled.
She wasn't the typical campus girl. Not the loud, flashy, selfie-taking type with friends in every corner. No she had learned, the hard way, that too many friends only brought too many knives to the back.
The first daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oge, she had always been the hope of her family. Her parents had raised her to be smart, focused, and graceful under pressure. With two younger brothers who looked up to her like a goddess, she had no choice but to hold it all together, even when her heart was in pieces.
But being strong was exhausting.
School was supposed to be her escape, her future. Instead, it became a web of betrayal, broken trust, and daily pressure. Juggling classes, endless assignments, and emotional trauma had turned her once-bright spark into something faint—flickering, unsure.
She sighed and let her chin rest on her knees. The thoughts came rushing in again, like they always did.
Just last year, everything fell apart.
Her ex boyfriend who had promised forever. Sweet words, daily calls, gifts on her birthday. She let her guard down for him, even when she saw the red flags, she ignores. But the worst part wasn't that he cheated. No, the blade went deeper than that.
It was who he cheated with.
Adanna.
Her best friend since 100 level. The girl she had cried with, laughed with, shared garri and dreams with. The girl who always claimed to be dating a wealthy man who spoiled her, who came to school in a Benz and wore luxury wigs that Zoey envied silently.
Turns out, it was all lies.
The 'rich man' was a cover. Part of the money was from her father. And the real truth? Adanna had been sneaking around with Ozioma's boyfriend for months.Even when she did an abortion last 3 months claiming it's for her new boyfriend but unknowingly it was for my ex boyfriend.
They all thought she wouldn't find out.
But she did. On the day her ex's wedding invitation started circulating on WhatsApp like wildfire.
It was his engagement party. Her man. Her best friend.
Ozioma didn't cry at first. She laughed.
A hollow, broken kind of laugh.
And then came the numbness.
Now, almost a year later, she was still trying to sew herself back together. Her trust was shredded, her heart unsure. Her academics were suffering, some class unattended ,tests missed, grades dipping, concentration gone. She no longer cared about love. If anything, she hated how people romanticized it.
"Love na scam," she whispered to herself, arms tightening around her legs.
"Ozi, you no wan go class?" her roommate, Chinwe, called from the corner. She was already dressed in jeans and a shirt, her usual curly wig pushed back with a headband.
"I'm not feeling fine," Ozioma mustered "
"You're never feeling fine these days. Are you sure you're okay?"
She didn't reply.
What was she supposed to say? That her chest still felt heavy? That some mornings, she questioned if she was even meant to feel happy again?
Everyone had moved on. Adanna, her ex, even the gossiping campus girls who once dragged her name online. But Ozioma? She was stuck in the same emotional quicksand, pretending to be fine when she wasn't.
Chinwe didn't push. She just nodded and left.
Ozioma turned back to the window.
The rain had stopped now, but the clouds still hung grey and heavy just like her spirit.
She reached for her phone ,expecting a message from someone who cared. Nothing. Just spam texts and a missed call from her mom.
She opened Instagram and scrolled numbly.
Adanna had posted again …her and some new guy, smiling under fairy lights.
#SoftLife #UnbotheredQueen
Ozioma dropped her phone like it burned her.
She wanted to scream.
To ask the universe what she ever did wrong.
Why did the people closest to her always end up hurting her?
Was she the problem?
She stood up suddenly and grabbed her diary from under the bed. It was old now, with ink stains and tears that bled into the paper. She flipped to a blank page and wrote:
"I'm tired of being the one who gets left behind. I'm tired of believing in people who don't mean what they say. Maybe I'm cursed… or maybe love just isn't for me."
She slammed the book shut and leaned against the wall, eyes closed, trying to breathe.
If only someone just one person could see past her pain and love her right.
Someone who didn't know her history. Someone far away. Someone new.
she whisper with tears flowing down her eyes.
She didn't know it yet, but across the world, someone else was thinking the same thing.
The rain had stopped, but the dampness lingered in the air like unspoken words. Ozioma—Zoey, as most people called her slipped on her hoodie and stepped outside. The compound smelled of wet sand and old leaves. She didn't have the energy for class, but she also couldn't sit in that room any longer.
She needed to breathe.
Dragging her feet toward the back of the hostel block, Zoey tucked her hands into her pockets and took a slow walk toward the cafeteria. It wasn't the food she wanted it was the noise. The chatter of students, the background clatter of plates, even the occasional shout of a hawker. Anything was better than silence. Silence brought back memories.
She found an empty table near the window and sat, scrolling through her phone without purpose. Most of her classmates had already picked sides after the scandal last semester. A few still spoke to her in passing, but no one was really there.
Until Tonia slid into the seat across from her.
Tonia was the kind of girl who wore confidence like perfume strong, noticeable, and always lingering. With big curly hair and thick brows that she rarely trimmed, she was more "street girl" than "class queen," and Zoey liked that about her.
"I been dey find you since," Tonia said, sipping from a bottle of Fanta. "Babe, you just dey hide like say you kill person."
Zoey raised a brow. "I didn't hide. I've just been… tired."
"Tired no dey reach to skip every class for two weeks. You dey fail Mass Comm 301 like say you get spare year."
Zoey snorted. "I probably do."
"Na joke? Lecturers no dey play."
Zoey leaned back. "I know. I just my head's been full. And I don't even know what to say anymore. It's like I'm walking around with broken glass inside me."
Tonia went quiet for a second, then nodded slowly. "That's heartbreak for you. But see, Zoey… you let them win if you allow it swallow you. You fine, smart, and you get vibe. No man and yeye bestie fit steal that from you."
Zoey wanted to believe her. She really did.
But belief was hard when your heart had been broken in front of the whole campus.
She remembered everything. The moment her so-called male best friend David stood in front of her with guilt in his eyes. She had loved David. Maybe not romantically, but she loved him deeply. He was her peace in the storm, her daily gist partner, her late-night secret keeper.
"She had slowly grown fond of her friend, feelings blooming before she could stop them."
Or so she thought.
Though she tried to deny it, her heart had quietly chosen him. He was there for her when the whole drama about her ex boyfriend and her best friend betrayed her and she got attached to him, he gave her just enough hope to believe the feelings were mutual ..gentle smiles, lingering glances, late-night calls. She mistook them for love. But in the end, it was nothing more than an illusion she built from scattered moments, an assumption that left her heart shattered."
He had told her he wasn't ready for a relationship. That his heart was still healing.
But then she found out the truth.
She began to doubt her love for him, unsure if he even felt the same way. The uncertainty gnawed at her until, unable to bear it any longer, while he was in the bathroom taking a shower, she reached for his phone . Her hands trembled as she unlock it , part of her was hoping she was wrong and the other part was ready to brace the truth.
She unlocked the phone, opened WhatsApp and froze when she saw a number saved as "My choice" she tapped the chat , heart racing and read the message .He sent her long paragraphs, dripping with emotion, apologies layered with love. He told her he missed her, that he loved her, that losing her felt like losing a part of himself. And yet, for me, he could barely string a few sentences together. Every 'I miss you' felt rushed, every 'I love you' felt shallow. It was like I had to beg for the words he once gave so freely to someone else. Like I was always forcing him to text me… like I was never enough to deserve his poetry.
She also found photos on his hidden WhatsApp status he went on cozy dinner with his ex girlfriend the same girl who cheated on him and left him shattered just a year ago.
Zoey confronted him. Not with tears. With rage.
The memory still made her chest tighten.
"You said you weren't ready for love," she had spat. "So why is your ex holding your hand like she owns you?"
David had looked down. "It just happened. I didn't plan it."
"You didn't plan to lie to me either, right?"
He didn't answer.
That was worse.
She had stormed out of his room with her heart in pieces and fire behind her eyes. She hadn't looked back since. But the wound hadn't healed. It still throbbed especially on quiet days like this.
Zoey blinked away the memory and forced a smile at Tonia.
"I'll survive."
"You better," Tonia replied. "You no go let guy wey dey confused make you dey cry."
Zoey chuckled. A small one. Weak, but real.
Maybe she would survive. Eventually.
But first, she needed to rebuild the walls around her heart.