Facebook Baby

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 1

*FRIENDLY REQUEST *

Facebook was my beloved social media. I couldn’t spend a day without logging onto Facebook.

I am Caroline Dotse . My parents and I resided in the central region of Ghana and by virtue of our geographical location, I have the opportunity to go to one of the prestigious senior High Schools in that region called Wesley Girls’ Senior High School in Cape Coast.

The school was a single sex school, with the motto: Live Pure, Speak True, Right wrong, Follow the king.

I started the first two years of my schooling life as a good student, taking my studies very seriously, doing all my assignments in time, going to my teachers for further explanation on lessons I couldn’t understand in class, making researches and avoiding the web of romantic relationship that had enwrapped most of my friends in its tentacles.

Because Wesley Girls is unisex, most of my colleagues found solace in the arms of men outside the school, who preferred highly driven, fun-packed naïve adolescent girls to mature and more experienced ladies.

Most of my colleagues had boyfriends in Adisadel College and Mfantsipim School.

The lion share of my female friends however belonged to ‘the yahoo boys’ who were very flamboyant in their spending and by virtue of their
profligacy, enticed majority of my colleagues with money.

Most often , they ran away from school under the cover of darkness and frolicked with those yahoo boys all night long, jumping from one hotel to another, warming the beds of those pleasure- loving boys for money.

Some even went to the extent of bribing the school security men, in cash or ‘kind’ to facilitate their escape from the school campus

This carefree and deviant lifestyle was abhorred by the school’s authority and it had become an anathema in the ears of the administration to hear a student caught running away from school.

I was untouched by this unscrupu
lous and deviant lifestyle in my first and second years at school. My life in Form three was took a different direction. When I brought a mobile phone to school- An iphone7, it disrupted my studies.

The use of mobile phone was strictly against school’s rules and regulations but I liked adventure just like most of my colleagues.

In fact, we considered this rule “Obnoxious” and flouted it with impunity. I hid my phone carefully at a secret place in my dormitory in such a way that, not even the cleverest CID in the world could detect it. Every night around 11.30 p.m., I brought it out and chatted with my male friends in other schools after which I logged onto Facebook.

Though I was in the General Arts Department, offering about eight subjects , I had added another unofficial subject to my already blotted subjects which was the use of social media. Everyday, I watched funny videos, chat with friends or post a beautiful picture of myself on Facebook in order to get 10K Likes from sex glamouring men who had purposed in their hearts to fantasize and perhaps iconize beautiful girls in whatever shape or shade they come in.

Whenever I posted a beautiful picture of myself on social media and heard comments like, “wow, you are beautiful, nice picture, you look sexy, are you single? Where do you come from? You are an angel,”
I felt so special about myself, and this feeling of self – importance gradually got into my head.

Men could not simply see a beautiful girl and close their eyes and mouths without saying anything. I became so addicted to social media especially Facebook that a day without logging onto Facebook was like a day without eating food. I would rather miss going to classes than Facebook.

One Friday, I saw a friendly request on my Facebook Notification pane. I quickly checked the Display Picture (DP) of the guy who sent the friendly request to me. He was indeed super-cute. I had no doubt in my minds I would like to befriend him. Immediately, I stretched out my hands to confirm his friendly request but a call came in.

RRRRRRrrriiinnnnggg!!, I picked the call.

It was my friend Ama from my hometown. She wanted to find out if I would be coming home for the Easter break.

Her conversation became longer than I had anticipated. I became restive because I really need to confirm that friendly request. I told Ama to call me Iater because I had an important assignment to do at that moment. I cut her call and went back to the notification pane on my Facebook page.

Miraculously, I couldn’t see the friendly request again. “What! I can’t lose this guy”, I told myself, anxiety creeping into my mind. I remembered his first name was Jeffery. I tried to search for him using Facebook search engine but wasn’t successful.

After experiencing several Fiascos, I paused for a while. I blamed myself for not confirming his friendly request before talking to Ama. That girl had spoiled the golden opportunity for me.

My inability to locate him increased my desire to be on Facebook all the time with the hope of finding him.

After one week of waiting, luck shone on me. He sent me another friendly request.

“Owww !!! At last, here he is! I exclaimed”

I was about to pressed the “confirm button” but not quick enough before my phone’s battery ran down.

Gosh. Again? Another killjoy. Surely, my enemies were at work.

I was plunged into a wilderness of sorrow and anxiety. I hardly paid attention in class. School became a living hell for me. My assignments piled up like unwashed clothes as I spent my entire night searching Facebook.

The following day, I tried confirming his friendly request again but I realised my MTN credit had gotten finished. I borrowed money from my friend Akuvi and bought a few credit to recharge my account. After much perseverance, I finally pressed the ‘confirm ‘bottom and we officially became friends on Facebook. It was as if a heavy burden had been lifted off my head. I felt like I have reached the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey.