CHAPTER 1: THE BEGINNING

Every guy in that hall was dressed in a tuxedo, smocking and black shiny suits. The atmosphere was thick with expensive alcoholic liquor and expensive refreshers. The ladies were in breath-cutting attires, making most men (both young and old) drool over their curves. I was at the buffet table, making up a war meal and from time to time surveying my surroundings. When my plate was full, I dragged an EL VINO white wine bottle and headed for a table adiabatically isolated from the crowd. First things first was to inspect the appetizer; the white wine. I filled my glass cup and flooded my olfactory cells with the appetizing scent of the wine, lifted it above my head and stared at that shiny-transparent-enticing liquid from below. I raised a toast to my happiness and slowly enjoyed the feeling of the wine descending my oesophagus. I emptied that glass cup several times before attacking the humongous plate of food I had dished. As I picked up the spoon, a sweet voice whispered in my ear;

"You seem to be enjoying yourself."

"Well, I can't help myself when I see such good food," I answered.

"I am not surprised." She responded, making herself comfortable at my table.

"That's my girl for you." I nodded.

"Indeed, I am your girl and I want to dance." She spoke, pulling my hand and forcing me to leave my wonderfully constituted plate. We went and joined those who were displaying their dancing styles. She left my hand and began circling me, with her hands gently scrubbing my back and shoulder. She hugged me from the back and forced her hands into my suit.

"Hmmm. Dazna. Babe. I think you are taking the dance a tad too far." I whispered.

"Oh yeah? I haven't even begun." She answered, slightly pinching my abdomen. Before I realized it, her hand was at the level of my generation. That wasn't dancing again.

"Babe, quit the jokes please." I insisted, grabbing her hands.

"And what if I don't stop?" She asked coyly.

"If this continues, I am going to…" I groaned, groaning loudly to reality. Yes, it was just a dream. A rather intense one, judging from my sweaty body. My panties also felt wet at a particular spot and my whole body felt very heavy. What was that all about? It didn't seem like a dream. It felt more like a memory. A memory of an event I hadn't lived. My alarm finally trapped my conscience in the real world, telling me I was late for school. I pushed the dream into a corner of my brain, let water slide on my skin as a pretext for taking a shower and got ready to go to school. I arrived at school a bit too early (to be specific; two hours too early). All the classes were still closed and the vigils still looked sleepy. I spent time looking at Facebook posts, Instagram reels and TikTok videos till the janitor arrived and opened all the classes. The school began being lively little by little with students, and teachers. I was prepared for another hellish day filled with applied physics and engineering mathematics. But that school was champion in its way of playing weird turns (and this one was the weirdest). The first half of the day went on peacefully but the second half made things go haywire. The chain of events began during lunch break when ATEBA Frederick raised his issue with the assignment to submit;

"Hey guys, please. I need someone's assignment in the following subjects: Vector analysis and Mechanics of Solids."

"Any good Samaritan?" I added some weight to his plea.

"Didn't you see the fax in the WhatsApp group of the class?" NDONGO Noah asked

"Was there such a fax shared in the group?" KAMENI Veronica asked, totally out of phase.

"Why is Veronica's reaction not surprising?" a voice from the back bench spoke, making the whole class laugh. With the laughter, followed a whole other level of rowdiness. Everyone (including Frederick himself) had forgotten about Frederick's plea. All sorts of discussions flew in the classroom; about movies, social media stories, football and you can name the rest. It was normal to be so carefree. We were level 1 students of Cameroon's most prestigious engineering school, the MELEN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, in short MIT. We all knew that come rain, come sun, our glorious destiny was settled. What we did not know or did not fathom, was the load of stress that awaited us in that glorious destiny. I got a spec of it when I encountered her. In that rowdy environment, she sent someone to come fetch me;

"Hey, Randy. My bro. There is this beautiful girl that is looking for you."

"And who is that?"

"The president of the AFMIT."

The MIT had two principal associations. There was the SAMIT; the Student Association of the Melen Institute of Technology. And a sub-detachment, the AFMIT; Association of Female Students of Melen Institute of Technology. Every student could become president of the associations but there was always a preference for older students. That is students from level 3 upwards. But in my year, a level 1 student ran for the presidency of the AFMIT and won. She was able to win all the ladies of the school including the teachers. Even her opponents felt pleased while losing against her. And such a super intense lady wanted to see me? When did I ever catch her attention? Or did I insult a girl and she heard of it? Maybe she heard me throwing out mockery words to the AFMIT. So many scenarios popped up in my head but the conclusion was me climbing the stairs towards the AFMIT bureau. In front of the door, I think I did the sign of the cross seven times before knocking on the door.

"The door is open." A voice echoed. With that signal, I gently opened the door. Several eyes peeled my skin voraciously. Their stare made me so nervous I couldn't even formulate any words.

"What brings you here dude?" One of the girls questioned, smiling at me.

"I was summoned by your president," I answered, with my eyes looking at the ceiling above.

"Really?" Another lady entered, hastily approaching me and pulling my face closer to hers.

"Ladies, don't intimidate him. For I am the one who called for him." A sweet, calming and welcoming voice spoke. With her voice, the whole atmosphere left from intimidating to peaceful. All the ladies admired their president and didn't hide it. Her orders didn't feel like commands but yet they were obeyed promptly. I was ushered a seat and while waiting to be attended to, I observed the ladies working. It was like observing women with military training. Disciplined, efficient and objective in every action, communication and planning. When they had finished, they were dismissed for the day. I was left in that room with the most important lady in the school, wondering what she could possibly want to do with me.

"Finally." She sighed. "I can relax a little."

"Yeah, you can. More grace to your elbow." I encouraged.

"Thanks very much, Randy."

"You are wel—" I paused, wondering how she knew my name.

"Relax. We are in the same class and being part of the student association, I should at least know the names of all the students in my class."

"I might be naïve but this reason is obviously a lie."

"Oh really?" She questioned sarcastically coupled with an air of superiority.

"Yes, really."

"Why so? Try convincing me."

"Easy. You are a student just like me and have higher responsibilities. So, if we childishly add your needs, the school notes, and the association's needs, you don't have enough time to remember those you don't frequently interact with."

"Impressive." She clapped, leaving her position and moving towards me. The closer she got, the more her face looked familiar. It looked like I knew her but I couldn't pull up the memory. Her face came closer to mine, till we could feel each other's breath.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." She whispered in my ear in a sweet and charming voice. She pulled me up, circled me and hugged me from the back. Her hands found themselves in my ups and slowly progressed towards my downers. As it reached the area forbidden to the opposite sex, my brain remembered and my whole body followed. It was all too similar and didn't seem to be a coincidence. Her voice, her actions, coupled with her manners and finally her face all brought me back to that memory that wasn't mine. Immediately her name came to me and with it an abrupt reaction that threw her on the floor.

"Oh, babe am sorry," I begged, readily lifting her up.

"Babe? When did I suddenly become your babe?" She responded, fixing her dress

"Sorry. Oh, my goodness. It was a tongue slide." I flustered.

"This is so funny and embarrassing at the same time." She laughed, pointing at my crutch. There was a protrusion trying to tear off both my panties and trousers. "You remembered and your body fully remembered as well."

"I don't know what you are talking about." I tried painfully hiding my rodlike phallus.

"We can wait till big Joe becomes little Joe again." She exploded, hitting the table several times in laughter. After a few minutes of silence, my body regained its normal blood flow. And our conversation continued.

"How is this possible?" I began.

"What? The fact that your body reacted to my curves and touch?"

"Hilarious."

"Or the fact that you seem to know me despite never meeting me once."

"I seem to know you. Like we share a deeper thing. It feels real. Very real Dazna." I responded coming closer to her.

"Same to me. It's like we share something deep and special but have never lived it. It is as if we had…"

"As if we had a memory of the future," I added

"Exactly. But more specifically a memory that is to happen in the nearest future." She completed.

She seemed to know more and that intrigued me the more. All these memories are of events that are still to happen. How can she just proclaim that like it made total sense? All of the thinking got me exhausted but the day had promised me an extra agenda. As I sat to catch my breath, my phone vibrated notifying me of an incoming message. It was an invitation to a special meeting at the Amphitheatre 100.

"Finally, the message I was waiting for." Dazna rejoiced, packing up her things. All my mind did was buzz static noise. I could think of nothing. But Dazna kept on, humming while she was picking up her stuff.

"Are you ready? Babe?" Dazna broke the silence, giggling at what she said. Seemingly just emitting the word babe from her mouth made her laugh. Of course, I don't see her as someone I would likely date. But that dream or memory felt so real that it felt as if my brain was rewired to fall for her.

"I ain't," I responded, blocking her way to the door. "How are you so calm? Doesn't it disturb you that we had the same dream?"

"Of course, it disturbs me. But hey, don't you find it exciting?" She answered, smiling widely.

"I still don't see it as you do."

"Then let's go to the meeting. You will surely understand better."

"One lasting. W—" She shushed me with her finger on my lips.

"Enough of the questions dude. Stop being tensed and let's go." She spoke, opening the door and ushering me out. Having the same dream/revelation with an unknown individual , what else could surprise me? I pondered. Little did I know what awaited me ahead.