As the early hours of midnight crawled in, the concert came to an end.
Still buzzing with energy, Shola and I managed to get ourselves some last-minute ice cream before piling into her car and covering the journey back to campus with friendly chatter. I was so engrossed in it that I didn't even notice we'd arrived at my hall of residence until Shola stopped the car in front of the building.
"It seems the car wash party is over too," she said, gesturing at the thread of people coming from the party's direction.
"Yeah I guess so." I grabbed my bag. "Thanks for letting me come with you, Shola. I had fun."
"Me too," she grinned. "A lot more fun than I actually thought I would. Maybe catching you skinny dipping wasn't a bad thing after all."
"Oh God, don't remind me," I groaned and she laughed.
"But I'm glad you came along. Hopefully we can...you know, go out like this, another time."
At first, I thought she was joking, but the sincere look in her eyes, highlighted by the blue light from car's console told me that she wasn't. She really meant it and the fact that she did, brought a warm smile to my face.
"I'd like that."
"Great," she beamed. "So I'll... see you around, tomorrow."
"Yeah, definitely." Still smiling, my hand latched onto the door handle and pulled it open. Cold, crispy air was the first to greet me, along with the babble of conversations from the party goers.
"Yo, have you seen Princess' twerking video? Half a million views already!" One guy chortled out to his friends. "That girl is literally an ass queen, no wonder Ethan fucks her all the time."
I had only put one foot out when the comment made me freeze. Though I wasn't involved, it reminded me that I hadn't cleared out the whole Princess issue with Shola. Of course, I had tried my best to avoid it in the beginning of our trip. But now, I suddenly felt a strong need to clear this up with her, especially when she had expressed interest in hanging out another time. The last thing I wanted was to let issues about Princess ruin my relationship with Shola.
"Akwasi?"
On cue, Shola called out in a voice laced with worry and when I didn't reply, she set a warm hand on my shoulder. "Hey, are you ok?"
"I... I need to talk to you about something." Pulling my leg back inside, I shut the door, giving us the privacy we needed.
"Ok? What is it?"
"It's about Princess."
And just like that, Shola's hand left my shoulder. "Oh... her," she said in a tone void of any emotion, indicating the sudden change in her demeanor.
My mind wasn't entirely prepared for this, but the sooner I took care of it, the better. "Look, I know you think I slept with Princess the night before the fair, but I swear on my life, nothing like that happened. We only kissed a couple of times and that was because I was drunk and she kept forcing herself on me. I swear, Shola, I didn't know what I was doing. If I was in my right mind that night, none of it would've happened."
I hoped to get a reaction or a response, but all she gave me was a blank slate with her arms crossed, staring absentmindedly at the street before us.
"Shola, please-"
"You don't owe me an explanation, Akwasi," she finally spoke up. "I mean...it's not like there's something going on between us. Princess is your friend and your teammate, you don't need to explain to me the kind of relationship you have with her. So go ahead and live your life, I'm cool with everything."
Staring at the outline of her face, I couldn't tell if she was actually cool with everything or she was just doing one of those things girls do; pretending to be ok when deep down, they're not ok. Since she wasn't dropping any hints either, I decided to voice out my thoughts.
"Ok so, if you're cool with the kind of relationship I have with Princess, then why were you acting upset in the beginning?"
"I wasn't acting, I was genuinely upset! I was upset because you broke your promise to me!" Shola turned for the first time since this conversation started and I immediately caught the hurt swirling around in her eyes. "You promised me you would make it to the fair, remember?"
How could I forget? I remembered that night like the back of my hand. It was the same night she had kissed me on the cheek.
"In the beginning, I didn't think you'd make it because you had the Nationals swim meet the day before. But you promised me, you assured me that you'd make it to the fair and I grew expectant. I wanted you there with me, by my side. But you didn't come."
Guilt welled up inside me.
"At first I thought something equally important kept you from coming, but then you showed up in rumpled clothes with lipstick stains on your shirt and my mind just assumed the worst," Shola paused. "I thought you didn't care about me, the club or the project. None of it meant anything to you and you'd rather spend your time kissing some girl. That's why I got upset and kept my distance from you."
Silence warped round us. Shola had said a lot of things, but out of it all, one single thing kept repeating itself in my ears, and it led me to ask, "You think I don't care about you?"
As expected, my question met no answer.
All the time I spent thinking that Shola had a problem with Princess, she actually didn't. The problem was all me and the fact that I'd made her feel insignificant by breaking my promise to her.
"I'm so sorry." The words tumbled out in full honesty. "I truly am. You're the last person I would try to make unimportant in my life and that's because I care about you." A deep confession was at the tip of my tongue, and though a part of me thought that this wasn't the right time, I swallowed hard and let the words roll out.
"I like you a lot, Shola, almost to the point of calling it love."
A flicker of astonishment touched her features and as quickly as it came, it disappeared. But it didn't stop me from talking.
"And it scares me sometimes cuz I've never liked anyone this much before." I paused to gather my thoughts. "I know this confession isn't going to change much but... I think you should know that I would never deliberately go out of my way to hurt you. Everything that happened the night before the Science Fair was a mistake, my mistake, and I'm sorry it hurt you and made you feel less important."
Done with my short spontaneous speech, I wished Shola a goodnight and climbed out of her car with my bag.
I was well aware that my sudden confession had just complicated our friendship, but it was worth it. At least now she knew how I truly felt about her. Shoving my free hand into my pocket, I quickened my pace across the pavement until my ears picked up on the sound of a slamming car door.
"Akwasi, wait!"
When I turned, Shola had stepped out of her car and looked slightly anxious as she came closer.
"Umm..." I took a few steps towards her. "Did I leave something in your car or-"
Before I knew it, she was on her tippy toes in front of me, warm hands cupping my face and bringing our lips together in a soft, tender kiss that had me swimming in both surprise and confusion until I felt her pulling away. And because I wasn't ready to let the moment end, I dropped my bag to pull her closer, deepening the kiss. My heart was racing, her heart was racing. My body ran wild with heat and so did hers, but none of us were willing to stop.
Shola tasted like vanilla and everything sweet. I just couldn't get enough of it. Even when we pulled apart to catch our breath, I found myself craving her more and more.
"I like you too, Akwasi," she whispered softly and the words made my heart skip a beat. "I've liked you for a while now, but I didn't say anything because the whole lipstick stain incident altered my impression of you and I didn't want to be with someone who took me for granted."
"I would never take you for granted, Shola." My hold on her tightened. The bracelet I'd gifted her was wrapped around her forearm and I bent low to kiss the skin underneath it. "You mean so much to me, don't ever forget it."
Her lips twitched up, then she locked them with mine a second time. After journeying through my hair, her fingers lightly pressed the back of my neck. It warmed me up, knowing that she wanted this kiss as much as I did and I was almost at the brink of melting into it when my phone's sudden buzz interrupted us.
Keeping one arm around Shola's waist, I pushed a hand into my back pocket to find a text from Akunna.
Yo where u at?
Deon's here for movie night. Also we might need to get a plumber, cuz I accidentally got the plunger stuck in the toilet and tried pulling it out, but now the toilet is leaking from the bottom😰
"He got the plunger stuck in the toilet?" Shola asked with a laugh.
"Not surprised, he's even vacuumed up his boxes once before," I said just as another message came through, but this time it was a picture. "I should probably go check this out."
"Yeah, you should. Akunna is quite capable of flooding your room."
Before she could wriggle out of my hold, I pulled her closer, claiming her lips one more time. Though we had fun at the street art festival, this moment with her was the climax of the night for me; one I'd never forget. The same went for Shola too because when she pulled away, her succulent lips stretched into a cute but content smile.
"Sweet dreams."
"You too."
She slipped out of my arms, heading straight for her car. I watched her go with a grin. Tonight had gone ten times better than I expected, and I couldn't have been more grateful.
¤¤¤¤¤
The early morning clouds held a tinge of gold, promising a warm and sunny day for Day two of Penfield's Annual Swimming Competition.
Most of my teammates had gone to practice in the Sports Complex, but I chose to go for a quick morning run instead. Nothing could beat the soothing touch of nature's fresh air, especially at dawn.
After an hour's run, I came to a stop at Lizzy's to get a cool bottle of water. My continuous perspiration made the atmosphere a bit cold, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.
Paying for my bottle of water, I settled down on one of the foldable chairs outside the shop and emptied half of the life-giving liquid into my system. I was thinking of getting a second bottle when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I quickly pulled the device out.
Shola: Hey, you awake?
Good morning.
A smile touched my features. Last night, my dreams were filled with nothing but Shola, Shola and Shola.
Gathering the courage to tell her how I truly felt about her was one the best decisions I'd ever made in my life. That simple act had elevated our relationship and it made me feel jittery, like I couldn't wait to see her and kiss her again.
Morning😊
And yeah, I'm wide awake.
Just finished my morning run
Shola: Oh great👍🏽
There was this brief pause then another message came through.
Shola: Is it possible for us to meet before the competition starts?
There's something we need to talk about.
Apprehension crept into my system. Was she regretting everything that happened last night? My thumb hovered over the keyboard, unsure what to type.
Shola: It's very important.
I licked my lips.
Sure.
Just say where and when
and I'll meet you there.