Closing my locker shut, I sat down to put my shoes on.
Day one of Penfield's Annual Swimming Competition was over and I'd successfully secured a spot in the breaststroke and freestyle events for day two.
The locker rooms now buzzed with life and laughter. All the guys were stoked for the bikini car wash party some group of students had organised. I, on the other hand, did not feel like attending a party with half-naked girls, seductively washing cars with soapy water.
"Guys! Guys!" Nana Kwame and Ethan barged into the locker rooms, already dressed up for the party. "Look what we've got!" Nana Kwame held up the backpack he'd just pulled off his shoulder. "Free molly!"
Shouts of joy clouded the air as the guys surrounded Nana Kwame and Ethan for their share of whatever was in the bag. Shaking my head, I turned back to my sneakers, tying a tight firm bow on each of them before sitting back up.
"Dude, aren't you gonna get some molly?" Ethan clapped me on the back then settled down on the bench beside me.
"No, what is it anyway?" I quizzed.
"It's something that's gonna make today's party fire!" Ethan grinned. "I got a good deal for it and decided to share it with the whole team. Every girl who's attending this party is gonna be in a bikini and in order to elevate those feelings of pleasure and ecstasy, molly needs to be there for us. It can also help you, you know."
"Me?" My eyebrows flew up.
"Yeah, you." He poked me in the shoulder. "Princess told me about that Nigerian girl you've been crushing on and it made me realise that you've never hooked up with a girl before, have you?"
"Uuh..." When I couldn't let out a coherent answer, Ethan's grin expanded.
"This is your chance, bro." He dug a hand into his pants pocket and pulled out a small medicine sachet. Three white round tablets sat at the bottom of the plastic bag. "Just take one of these babies and in the next thirty to forty-five minutes, you'll be having the time of your life."
The tablets stared at me from the translucent rubber, daring me to slot one of them into my mouth. And I would have if scenes from the last party I attended did not flash in my head. I remembered the horrid feeling and the massive headache I had, waking up to find myself stark naked with Princess by my side. That was one of the worst days of my life and to allow myself to go through that a second time would be pretty stupid.
"Thanks for the offer E," I looked my friend in the eye. "But I'm gonna have to pass. I just remembered that I have some assignments to complete before next week, and I'm far from done."
"Ah, sometimes I forget how much of a nerd you are." Ethan rolled his eyes. "But still keep the drugs." He rudely shoved them into my khaki pocket. "You never know when you'll need them."
"Yo Ethan! We're heading out!" Nana Kwame yelled and Ethan didn't waste anymore time by my side.
"See you later!"
"Yeah, sure." I watched him high-five Nana Kwame after seeing the amount of tablets he had distributed. They soon exited the locker room to continue their drug supplying activities elsewhere. I waited for the remaining guys in the room to leave then I turned off the lights and locked the place up. Depositing the keys at the security man's post, I finally stepped out of the Sports Complex.
The strong smell of detergent permeated the air and I could literally feel the booming music in the concrete as I descended the stairs. The parking lot was loaded with cars, people and tons of keg barrels and ice chests, which obviously made sense because this wouldn't be a university party if there wasn't any free alcohol. Red water hoses and several buckets were also made available for seductive washing and grinding on cars. There was even a couple having a full make out session on top of a car covered in a mass of soap suds.
Opting to keep a good distance away from the craziness of college parties, I took rapid steps across the lawn until I heard a particular set of cheers. It didn't take much for me to turn around.
"Go Princess! Go Princess! Go Princess!"
As expected, Princess was stealing the show with wild twerking moves as Ethan showered crispy five cedi notes all over her ass. Phones were out, recording the entire act which was bound to be trending on all social media platforms in the next hour or two.
Rolling my eyes, I turned and continued my trek back to the hall. Since I wasn't in any hurry, I decided to take the longer way home, walking along the pavement at a leisurely pace. I soon wandered up beside a small lake, drawn in by its serenity and peacefulness. Three cars were parked on the side, right in front of the railing that barred people from going closer.
Dumping my sports bag on the hood of a Toyota Camry, I leaned against the railing, watching the moon's reflection ripple on the surface of the water.
Even though I had spent majority of my day in water, I suddenly had this urge to rip my clothes off and hop over the railing just to feel the soothing touch of chlorine-free water on my skin. The 'No Swimming' sign standing a few meters from the railing warned me to stay away, but I wasn't about to let a piece of metal stop me from enjoying myself.
Grabbing my sports bag, I climbed over the railing and landed softly on the green grass. I scanned the area briefly, checking to see if the coast was clear before proceeding to take my shoes off.
My body throbbed with excitement as I striped into my birthday suit and ran into the mass of water. "Ooh!" It was a bit cold, but I welcomed the temperature and the ripples. It reminded me of all the times I went swimming in the ocean. The water was usually colder than this, but it came with immeasurable assurance and solace. It enveloped me and provided me with a certain warmth I had never experienced in my life.
Imagining myself at sea, I allowed my body to sink low, enjoying the flow of wavelets. It was beyond comforting and almost heavenly. A couple of fishes swam past me, scared of the lanky human who had just trespassed on their property to go skinny dipping. They were probably cussing me in their head and it made me wonder what kind of insults they had in the underwater kingdom.
After a while, I swam back up to catch my breath, basking in the moon's reflection till someone rudely interrupted my peace.
"What in Jesus' name are you doing in there?"
The familiar voice had me turning and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. "Shola!" What was she doing here?
"Seriously Akwasi?" She yelled from the other side of the railing. "Did you not see the sign? Get out of there!"
And I was just about to, until my dangling manhood reminded me that I was inappropriately dressed for the occasion.
Ah shit!
"Umm... I can't!" Despite the cold, a swell of heat crept up my face.
"What? Why not?" Clueless Shola shouted again and I knew I had to think of something fast. My sports bag was just a few meters away from the lake, all I had to do was ran, pick it up and dash into the nearby bushes to change before my crush saw me in my birthday suit.
"Akwasi!"
"Shola, I'm gonna need you to close your eyes!"
"Ah why? What's..." her voice trailed off, then as if she'd fully understood the meaning behind my request, her voice came back loud and strong. "Oh God! Don't tell me you're naked in there!"
The moment she finished the sentence, a series of dog barks ensued, followed by a manly voice, "Hey! Hey, who's there?"
Ah shit, the security guard.
My mind went into a state of frenzy. But Shola on the other hand, had a plan. Gracefully, she hopped over the railing, ran across the lawn to where my bag was and tossed it to the edge of the water.
The dog barks sounded closer than before and I did not waste a second longer in the lake. I splashed out the water, grabbed my bag and quickly ducked behind a tree, right before the security man showed up with two bulldogs by his side.
"Hey, young lady! What do you think you're doing over there?"
"Oh umm sorry," Shola replied. "I just saw an interesting fish and wanted to take a picture."
Whilst the two talked, I hurriedly pulled on my clothes and dried out the excess water in my hair. That was a close one. If Shola hadn't come to my rescue, I'd probably would've been in hot soup by now. I still couldn't believe she had helped me. After seeing Princess hug me so tight this afternoon, I actually thought she wouldn't want to breath the same air as me, let alone talk to me. But here she was, rescuing me from the shitty mess I'd put myself in.
The security man gave Shola a quick pep talk about her safety and warned her not to stay out here for long. He later took his leave, giving me the green light to step out of my hiding place. I quickly jogged back to the railing and hopped over it with my bag in hand.
"You are one crazy person, you know that." Shola crossed her arms. "Who the heck goes skinny dipping at this time of the night?"
"I know, I know," a nervous chuckle left my mouth. "It was pretty stupid... but thanks though, for getting me out of this. I really appreciate it."
Shola just shrugged and avoided my eyes. In the next minute, only the sound of chirping crickets could be heard and it made me pretty uncomfortable.
"So umm..." I rubbed the back of my neck. "What are you doing out here anyway?"
"I came to get my car." Shola pointed at the Toyota Camry I had dumped my bag on earlier.
My eyebrows flew up. "I didn't know you had a car."
She shot me a look. "I've had this thing for two years now, I just prefer using it when I have to leave campus."
"Oh so you're heading out now?"
"Yeah. I heard there's this chale something art festival happening in town..."
"Oh you mean the chale wote street art festival."
"Yeah that." Shola nodded. "It's been going on for a couple of days now, and I heard the event is being climaxed today. I just wanted to go check it out, to get a feel of Ghanaian culture an-"
"Can I come with you?" The question was so abrupt that it even caught me off guard and I mentally slapped myself. Yeah, I wanted to go with her, but I didn't want it to seem like I was desperate or something. "That's...do you want me to come with you or..." I awkwardly added.
Uncertainty gleamed in Shola's eyes. "Umm...don't you have that bikini car wash party to attend? I mean, it's because of the swim team they organised it in the first place."
"Yeah, but...parties like that aren't really my scene. Plus I'd rather hang out with you than a bunch of half-naked girls grinding on cars."
Her lips crawled up and the moment they did, a warm fuzzy feeling seeped into my heart. I missed her smile, I missed it a lot.
Grabbing her handbag, Shola pushed a hand into it and pulled out her car keys. She pressed a single button on the fob and the locking mechanism clicked open. Turning to me with another smile, she said, "Hop in."