UNshackled

 Throwing the thoughts at the back of his mind, he turned to stare at the street he was in.

 It was until now that he paid attention that he noticed the noise formed from the countless discussions at different spots on the street.

 ' Why the noise? Is there an event or something ? ' James asked within.

 Looking around to find out what was going on, he was shocked to find out that there wasn't any occasion or event. Instead, the noises mostly stemmed from the interaction of buyers and sellers on the street.

 ' Is this a market or what? ' he thought.

 Walking forward slowly, it was still the same scene that played, but that wasn't the factor that left him flabbergasted. 

 What left him flabbergasted was that both the buyers and sellers actually looked like students. Yes, the sellers were actually mostly made up of students.

 ' Are they here to learn or to start a trade ' a confused James thought as he stared at the scene.

 Raising his head up a bit, his eyes caught sight of something that drew his attention away from the market-like environment. 

 It was a huge signboard pinned to a tall wall with a pair of gates fixed to its lower body.

 This signboard had the words " Federal University Of Bayelsa, FUOTUOOKE" imprinted boldly on it.

 " That's the school gate " he muttered while staring at the towering gates.

 Ignoring the noise disturbing his ears on the way, James bounced his way to the school gate while struggling to keep his head held high in the crowd.

 At the gate, he saw both security guards and soldiers sitting on chairs by the gates while paying careful attention to the students going in and coming out of the gate.

 ' Anyone who misbehaves here will certainly be in trouble ' thought James, and sincerely, his thoughts weren't ironic, as Nigerian soldiers were indeed well known for their strict personalities. Even if the security guards ignored the students' immature actions, the soldiers definitely wouldn't. Coordinating himself well, he slipped into the school gate, after which he let out a breath of air, thanking God that no problems had occurred.

 Behind the gates, he was greeted with the awe-striking sight of an extremely fascinating environment. An environment filled various radiant green trees and grasses cut to an equal level to form a tranquil-looking environment.

 He also noticed there were no traders within the college grounds.

 ' Seems like trading within college grounds is prohibited ' James denoted .

 Slowly strolling forward while admiring the beauty of the environment coupled with the lovely scent of the trees, he found the college grounds to be extremely artistic in nature. ' It will definitely make a good touring spot ' he thought.

 Looking around and seeing the numerous turns and corners, coupled with the fact that he couldn't catch sight of a definite end of the college grounds, he could tell the college grounds was definitely huge. 

 " It's like a little city of its own " he muttered.

 " What's up, bro " a sudden voice jolted James away from his thoughts, drawing him back to reality. Looking at the direction the sound came from, he saw a boy that looked neither too young nor too old, about his age, walking by his side.

 " I'm good, how about you? " James replied reflexly. 

 " Doing good of course. This is my first day in college. How can I possibly feel bad? From your dressing and luggage, I guess you are also a fresher, right ? " asked the boy.

 It was until now that James paid proper attention to the boy, scanning him from head to toe. He was dressed in neither too expensive nor too cheap clothes, the perfect definition of casual dressing. But the eye-catching factor about his dressing was that it was actually corporate dressing, which was a weird factor, as most youngsters in Nigeria would never put on corporate attire as they believe such clothes are meant for the older ones. 

 Everything about Samuel dressing spelt normal, but James couldn't pinpoint why exactly, but he felt something was off about Samuel. Like something was being faked. His intuition told him that Samuel was definitely a far cry from being normal. 

 Seeing no reply was given to his earlier question, he waited no more and instead asked a different question. " I am Samuel, and you are ... ".

 " I am James " James replied in a distant tone. After all, James had always been a person with little to no friends, a loner, so the entire setting of friendship making was foreign to him.

 Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, ' Could this be the chance I have been waiting for, a chance to make a good first impression' James thought inwardly, after which his distant expression immediately became jovial.

 " Yes, I am a fresher " James said, replying to Samuel's earlier question, which he snubbed since he was occupied with properly scanning him. 

 " What are you studying? " James asked further. 

 " Me, I got an admission to study Med lab " Samuel replied. Med lab is an acronym used for a famous and good career in Nigeria called Medical Laboratory. This career consists of students studying occasions like the formation of medicines, the use of natural phenomenons like rays to treat patients, the creation of medicine formula, and also aiding in the development of the medical aspect of the country.

 Once upon a time, studying this career would have been considered as studying medicine. But a demarcation was made at some point, splitting the two careers as it was found that their works had a notable difference from each other.

 One being in charge of treatment, and the other, the creation of the materials for treatment.

 " It's a nice career to study " James complemented.

 " Yes, of course, at least I can indirectly partake in the treatment of patients without having to be stained in too much blood " Samuel explained mischievously while raising his head upward a bit, as if imagining the scene. 

 ' Shameless ' thought James.

 " Snap out of it, we are in public, people are looking " interrupted James as he tugged Samuel a bit. 

 " Ohhhh, my bad, sorry" Samuel said as he snapped out of his delusion and rendered a little apology to James. 

 " Ummm, Samuel, please do you know what we are to do next? " James asked. 

 " Wait, you don't know " Samuel said in surprise.

 " I was about to inquire from someone else before you approached me " James defended himself verbally. 

 With a sigh, Samuel spoke, " Forget it. We are expected to go to our respected faculty and officially sign in to the university ".

 " Faculty, sign in ? " asked confused James.

 " What , you don't even know about this, you didn't do any research before coming here, did you ? " Samuel asked in a slightly disappointed tone that irritated James to the core.

 ' What's up with this tone? ' James thought in anger. This tone was one he was familiar with, and so hearing it now brought back bad memories. The disdain in the tone was like a catalyst for James' discomfort.

 " If you are going to speak, then speak. If not, then please keep moving forward. I will find another person to give me the answers I need " James threw a tantrum.