Till New Year: A Statue
A notification sound, a blinking of the light, and a press of the button are all meant to express thoughts until they are all you live by, Keren remembered someone saying as she laid on her bed reminiscing how she got to that point.
Keren’s excitement at the thought of opening her TikTok account couldn’t know any bounds. Her gamer brothers have been battling with understanding Twitch and Discord since that’s where they could socialize with geeks.
Not her. She was social even from secondary school. But here she was, still not having a post on Instagram or Tiktok because her private life meant the world to her. Tiktok, however, caught her attention since all it required was its need for imitation. That, she can do. Perfectly so.
‘One, two, three, four, five,….’ She mouthed as she danced vigorously to the first song.
When she was done, she posted it with the relevant hashtags and ones that screamed ‘I want to be famous’ and waited. No likes. No view.
It’s coming, she thought.
She browsed through other posts, looking at the seemingly simple things everyone got into and how much likes work for one funny or sexy video. But nothing happened still to her video.
Three hours and even 10 hours later, she had no like. The image was perfect. Her glowing ebony skin shining as the sun licked should have pulled in anyone. School was resuming in January, when the time would escape her grasp, causing her to fight for sanity and relaxation. This December had just the suitable ingredient for her to become a famous TikToker or something near it- the harmattan, the time, the food, and the lack of sleep.
With no other choice, she read up on what to do. And the formula was there, all laid up for her. And the steps she followed. Whatsapp status, class groups, IG pages all swarmed with her video. After spamming different parts, red dots popped up, informing her of likes, comments, and followership.
Despite the trickles of followers, she loved it. Patience, they said, is key. That night, she slept like a log.
‘Slow but steady, she told her softly while brushing her teeth, staring at herself in the mirror, after she had checked to see the report from yesterday- eight likes, three comments, and 20 followers.
With the higher number grew her confidence in her body. Slowly, her bare chest peeked in the street of TikTok. Her shoulders too rebelled and soon gave voice to the need of the cleavages. Her clothes became less covering, more revealing, excessively hugging her body. Of course, her parents were blocked on every post she shared to her Whatsapp status. Those aunts and Uncles too, although the uncles barely complained.
By December 15th, her followers had grown, no thanks to the bots, paid followers, and her obsessive posting. So, it was no surprise that someone ran up to her when she was out buying something at Ikeja mall.
‘OMG. It’s you. God! I’m blushing. Pressie, it’s me, your ardent follower. Halarriwo’, the beautiful lady shouted.
‘Wow! Wow! I know you', Keren’s high pitched voice highlighted her excitement.
They talked for a while until Halariwo remembered something. ‘I can link you up with Yazmine, the Blaze’.
‘Really?’
‘Yes. I’ve met him. He has a shoot for a skit. He had hinted about you being good once’.
‘Really?’
‘Really’.
Halarriwo hooked her up for the skit. They had created the best Christmas fun skit that blew Keren’s pages in a day or two.
Keren’s excitement hit the roof that she felt compelled to include influencers in her bio. And truly like influenza, her twerk videos and comical ones were hopping from one celebrity page to another. She was that good.
On the 31st of December, she decided to visit Nairaland, and there she was- on the front page. Not her twerk video or her comedy, but facts about her. Some blogger had taken his time to find out information about her.
Her heart thumped as she saw the information- some were fairly true, but many of them were things she never shared with anybody.
‘It will pass, she told herself.
But it was a lie. From everywhere, her life was prodded, poked, and scrutinized by people. As school resumed in January, she was forced to wear shades to avoid people’s looks and flashes of light from their camera. They no longer saw her as human. She was now a statue. Everyone just wanted to stare at her or use her as background props. But she couldn’t stop now; her fame was skyrocketing.