Thump! Thump! "Hello? Testing one, two, hello?" A deep voice rang out of the speakers then cleared his throat. "Hello, Pen. Uuu! Hope you're having a great time."
A thousand cheers came as a response, putting a smile on the SRC President's face. "Well your great time is about to get even greater, cuz it's time for the event we've all been waiting for.... the award ceremony!"
The crowd responded with a mixture of claps and cheers, but through it all, my eyes were fixed on one person.
Shola now stood with Nadia, Deon and a few friends from the engineering club, cheering their hearts out.
A good thirty minutes had passed since my talk with Akunna. Though he'd encouraged me to go for what I wanted, I was having a hard time hopping over that barrier I had put in between me and Shola on Friday.
"Yo dude."
My head shifted to the side to find Deladem approaching with a drink in hand. "What the heck are you waiting for? Jesus' second coming? Go and talk to her."
"Wh-what are you talking about?" I quizzed, acting oblivious.
"Really?" Deladem arched a thick eyebrow.
"Yeah, I seriously don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm talking about Shola!" He snapped. "The girl you've been staring at for the past twenty minutes!"
"Ssshh!" I pulled him aside. "Dude! What the heck? Have you been watching me?"
"It's hard not to when you're the only person standing beside the buffet table, drooling over a girl."
"What? I wasn't drooling." I wiped my mouth, just in case I was.
Deladem just shook his head. "Look to make this simpler, why don't you just walk over to Shola and-"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I messed up, ok." Rubbing my eyes, I heaved out a breath. "Shola asked me to the dance on Friday, but I turned her down all because of Princess."
"Princess?" He asked.
"Yeah, Princess Asamoah, Ethan's ex-girlfriend."
"Oh you mean her?" Deladem pointed in the direction of the car park, where Ethan and Princess were making a break for his car. Once they got to it, they gave us a preview of a long passionate kiss, initiated by Princess, then they both hopped into the car and sped off.
My mouth just dropped open.
Remind me again why you decided to take HER to the dance! My subconscious scolded.
"Well," Deladem deliberately cleared his throat. "It seems Princess and Ethan are going to be busy the entire night, which gives you the opportunity to go ask Shola for a dance. It's the least you can do, since you wasted majority of the time hanging out with somebody's ex-girlfriend."
"Harsh." I sent him a frown.
"Yeah but it's still the gospel truth." He gave me a solid pat on the back before taking his leave. "Goodluck out there, buddy."
"Thanks." I puffed out a breath. "I'll definitely be needing it."
"...and the award for best dressed couple goes to..."
A rapid drumroll ensued.
"Deon Watson and Nadia Agyekum-hene!"
The cheers that followed was deafening. It turned out that everyone was rooting for them to win. As the couple left Shola's side to receive their award, the engineering club president finally spotted me for the first time this evening and I sucked in a breath, waiting for her to turn and ignore me because I'd hurt her feelings on Friday.
But she did the opposite.
Pushing past people, Shola stepped off the dance floor, heading towards me and even though my emotions felt like a hurricane, I forced my feet to close the gap towards her.
"Wow, you cleaned up well tonight," she smiled and the hurricane intensified so much that I almost forgot to return the compliment.
"Ah th-thanks thanks. You look amazing too, stunning even."
"Thank you," she chuckled reply. "So... where’s your date?"
"Umm uh," I licked my lips. "She...she took off with Ethan."
"Oh," her smile faded off. "Sorry about that... I want to say I'm surprised. But frankly..." she simply shook her head and I got the message.
"Yeah, I know." I shoved my fidgeting hands into my pockets.
There was a beat of silence, then Shola opened her mouth, but my guilt didn't let her speak.
"I'm so sorry I turned you down on Friday, Shola," I suddenly blurted out. "The truth is that I really really wanted to ask you to the dance, but then Princess asked me first and-"
"You couldn't say no, I get it." She nodded. "But I appreciate your honesty, Akwasi. Most guys won't do what you did. They'll string us both to the dance and then go brag about it with their buddies. You didn't do anything like that, so thanks, that was very decent of you."
The heat creeping up my face felt like fire.
Fireboy DML's Like I do wafted out of the speakers, setting the mood for a romantic slow dance. My eyes drifted over to Shola's, finding a sparkle in them.
She extended a hand. "Care to dance?"
"I'd loved to." Slipping my hand in hers, we made our way onto the dance floor.
My arms slid round her waist, hers locked round my neck, and for the first time tonight, everything felt warm and... right.
Akunna was right. Shola was indeed meant to be my date. She's the one I'm meant to be with.
I let my head fall down, touching her forehead and we stayed liked that, allowing the lyrics of the song to take us to our own valentine heaven.