CHAPTER 1: The New Neighbor
I wasn't expecting anything interesting to happen this term.
Same street.
Same routine.
Same boring life.
But everything changed on Tuesday evening.
I was outside playing football with my friends when a moving truck stopped in front of the empty house beside ours. We all paused. Nobody had lived there for almost two years.
Then she came out.
A girl about my age, maybe 13 or 14.
Fair skin, curly hair in a ponytail, wearing a black hoodie and headphones.
She didn't look at anyone. She just stood there, scanning the whole street like she was judging it.
My friend Tunde whispered,
"Guy, see fine girl."
I nodded but pretended not to care.
Her mother came out next, smiling at everyone.
"Good evening!" she greeted.
But the girl didn't greet.
She just kept looking around—until her eyes met mine.
For a moment, everything went quiet.
She stared at me like she was trying to figure me out.
Then she looked away and entered the compound.
Tunde tapped me.
"Omo, this term no go dull."
I didn't want to admit it, but he was right.
Something told me that the girl next door…
Was going to change everything.