The sun rays burnt right into my face, which I found strange because I didn't remember opening the windows last night.
Turning away from it, the presence of a second body pulled me out of slumber. Groaning, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and sat up, trying to figure out who I'd spent the night with.
It was only when she readjusted herself that I got my answer.
"Holy shit!" I tumbled out of bed, and with that came a throbbing headache and the realisation that I was stark naked. "Oh no no no no!"
Princess lay amongst the rumpled sheets, topless and still fast asleep. The sight made my heart jump. What the fuck did I do last night?
In an attempt to find answers, my eyes landed on the digi-clock perched up on the nightstand.
Sat. 11:28 am
"11:28!"
Shola's face flashed before my mind's eye and I quickly grabbed my clothes from the floor, digging out my phone to call Akunna or Deon, but all I met was a dead battery. "Shit!"
With clothes in hand, I rushed into the bathroom. My head was like a thumping base drum at this point and after pulling on my briefs, I began rummaging through the mini cabinet for some painkillers.
Luckily, I found a small box of Advil and did not hesitate chucking two of the pills into my mouth before swallowing them down with tap water. The searing pain was still there, but I chose to ignore it because I currently had less than thirty minutes to make it to Auditorium 900 before the Science Fair ended.
I shuffled on my clothes and splashed water on my face which didn't do much to clear the puffiness surrounding my eyes. Yanking the door open, I dashed out of the room without giving Princess a glance and jogged down the stairs. I didn't even remember climbing them last night, so how in heavens name did I end up in a room with Princess?
The question vanished the moment I landed in the main lounge. "Holy crap." The place was beyond trashed. Broken tables and bottles, overnight jellos and red solo cups covered every inch of the floor. A keg barrel had its tap open, soaking the carpet with beer and I moved over to close it, wondering who the fuck was going to clean this mess.
That's not your problem! My subconscious snapped. Just get the heck out of here!
My feet quickly carried me out of the guest house where a warm Saturday breeze hit me right in the face. That was when I remembered that I was on the eastside of campus. Auditorium 900 was on the southern side of campus.
"Oh crap!" I bit my lip. There was absolutely no way I was going to make it to the Science Fair on time. But I still had to try. I had promised Shola that I was going to be there and I couldn't break that promise because of some dumb party I should never have attended in the first place!
Sucking in a breath, I started running towards the nearest taxi station. I wasn't sure I had the money to even pay for a ride, but it was the only idea I could come up with.
A few minutes of sprinting across pavements with a numbing pain in my head, I was just about reaching the station when Ethan's ash Hyundai Elantra stopped right in front of me. The window rolled down and instead of Ethan at the wheel, Nana Kwame peered at me with a curious frown. "Dude, where the heck are you off to?"
"Auditorium 900!" The words flew out of my mouth as I hopped into the vehicle. "C'mon on step on it! I'm late for the fair."
"Oh yeah the Science Fair." Nana Kwame pushed the car back into drive. "I completely forgot that it was today. Your club is in it, right?"
"Yeah and I should've been there to help them set up but I just..." I slapped both hands on my face.
"Hey, it wasn't your fault ok." Nana Kwame assured me with a pat on the shoulder. "Last night's party was a real rager. The football guys trashed everything, now I've got to hire a cleaning company to clear up the mess."
"Why you? What happened to Ethan?"
"Dude is completely wasted," he chuckled. "He had a threesome with Kafui and two other girls from the cheerleading squad, then smoked pot till he was as high as the sun. Luckily, I know the pincode to his credit card and everything, so I just decided to use that to clear the party mess before his dad finds out."
"Wow, that's...that's very kind of you," I complimented and Nana Kwame shrugged.
"It's the least I could do for a guy who saved me from getting expelled back in level 100." Even though his eyes were on the road, I could tell that his mind was faraway. "My first year in Penfield was the hardest. I lost my dad and my mum didn't hesitate to have him replaced with her sugar daddy. Because of that, I spent all my time in school and fell in with the wrong crowd. One night, I got busted for selling drugs to a couple of minors who posed as Penfield students. If Ethan hadn't stepped in... I don't think I will be here right now."
My eyes remained on him. That explained why Nana Kwame always had Ethan's back even in bad times. He felt indebted to him and was doing everything he could to payback the gesture.
The car suddenly came to a halt, reminding me of my current predicament.
"Well we're here, Auditorium 900," Nana Kwame voiced out. "Goodluck with whatever your club's presenting."
"Sure. Thanks for the ride, N.K." Slamming the door shut, I turned around, coming face to face with the large building and a throng of people spilling out of the entrance. Sighing, I began weaving through parked cars, keeping an eye out for any of my club members.
"Hey Akwasi!"
At the sound of my name, my head shifted to the side. Akunna, dressed in his lab coat, jogged towards me with Deon trailing behind him. "Dude! Where the fuck were you? You missed the entire programme."
"Yeah I know, I know. I just..." I heaved, rubbing my temples. "I had a very rough night and all I want right now is some good news to brighten up my day. So how did the engineering club do? Did we win?"
My roommate and friend exchanged a look that told me otherwise.
"Ummm," Deon loudly cleared his throat. "I think you should watch this." He pulled out his phone and after a few taps, handed the device over to me.
A short thirty-five second Snapchat video awaited approval to play and once I tapped the button, Shola and the rest of my club members came to life on the screen in their stain-free lab coats. The club president's voice boldly crackled out of the speakers, providing a detailed analysis of how the robot beside her was working.
But in the middle of her explanation, there was a spark, and all of a sudden, orange flames engulfed half of the robot's right arm, sending everyone into a panic frenzy.
"No." My eyebrows dipped low.
Even though, Felix and Deladem were quick enough to put the fire out, the judges didn't give my club the time to at least finish their presentation. They moved on to the next table, despite Shola's protests to explain. Then the video came to an end.
"I... no." I shook my head, trying to ignore the pang of disappointment wafting into my system. "This...this has to be some sort of mistake. When we tested it the other day, it was working fine."
"Well maybe you guys were so tired that you missed a few things," Akunna said. "Spending a lot of time on this project must've stressed you all out."
"But it shouldn't have resulted in this!" The words came out with frustration and I struggled to maintain my cool. "So...so who won?"
Deon simply jabbed a thumb in Akunna's direction and my roommate shrugged. "Chemistry club, but don't take it to heart buddy. In my opinion, we didn't deserve the win."
Yeah, but Shola did, I thought and the moment I closed my eyes to rub my temples, all I saw was that look of dismay on her face. This was her first time in charge of the club's project and she was really looking forward to nabbing that win. Pulling in a deep breath, I asked, "Have you guys seen Shola? I really need to talk to her."
"The engineering club members already took off," Deon replied, pushing his phone into his pocket. "C'mon, I'll give you a ride to their lab. I was on my way to see Nadia anyway. Akunna you coming?"
"Nah, got some stuff to clear out for the club." He threw us a wave. "I'll see you guys in the hall."
¤¤¤¤¤
Once Deon parked the car, I was the first to step out, running across the parking lot to the entrance of the Engineering Science building.
A girl and a guy were perched up on the stairs talking until they saw me and stood up, pulling out a couple of devices.
"Akwasi Appiah!" The girl jogged towards me first, followed closely by the guy who was now adjusting his camera lens.
"Yeah." I came to a halt. "Is something wrong?"
"Oh not really," the girl smiled, holding out a recorder. "My name is Peggy and this Afote. We're from the Penfield Daily and we just want to ask you a few questions regarding the sabotage issue."
My eyebrows dipped low. "What sabotage issue?"
Without warning, the guy took a shot of my expression whilst Peggy let out the answer to my question. "Well upon arriving here, we heard the vice-president of the engineering club, Mawuli Dedzo, accuse you of sabotaging their project to ridicule them."
"Wait what?" Both Deon and I remarked at the same time.
"Mawuli said that about me?" I quizzed, outraged by the mere fact that he had the guts to accuse me of something like that when I spent majority of my time working on that project. He was the one who never did anything!
"Ok that's just dumb!" Deon blurted out in my defense. "I know this guy, Akwasi wouldn't even dream of doing something like that!"
"Yeah, but we need to hear it from him," Peggy pushed the recorder up in my face. "So what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Appiah?"
The blood boiling inside me only allowed my limbs to move past Peggy and into the building. My hands wrapped into tight fists.
Mawuli had no right blaming me for what happened at the fair. And I was going to make sure he admitted it, even if it meant beating the shit out of him.