The moment we arrived, my date and I were ushered into a setting that looked very much like a Valentine heaven.
Red and white streamers along with heart-shaped balloons danced to the tunes of a soft breeze. An archway of roses paved the way up to a round luminescent dance floor. Surrounding that, were tables filled with drinks and all the chocolatey goodies you could imagine, including a large five-tier chocolate fountain. And alas, adding up to the beauty of the scenery, was a glowing horizon soaking up the gentle hues of twilight; a vibrant orange mixed with a fading shade of sea blue.
"Wow." my eyes flitted over in awe. "This place looks amazing."
"Yep," Princess agreed, linking our arms together. "The SRC truly went all out for this thing. C'mon, let's go take a picture." She marched us to the Cupid photoshoot setup, where three girls were already giving the camera their best poses.
Though several couples waited around for their turn, Princess didn't let us join the queue. She walked boldly to the photographer, whispered something in his ear, and slipped him two crispy fifty-cedi notes.
My mouth dropped open as she returned to me. "You bribed him?"
"Sshh!" She tried hiding the already evident smirk on her face.
Once the girls were done with their shots, the photographer called for us which sent a few glares our way.
"You shouldn't have done that!" I sniped in a low tone. "Now everyone's going to-"
"Oh take a chill pill, would you?" Princess rolled her eyes. "It's just swift customer service. If you want things done fast, you have to pay extra." She turned to the camera, placing an arm on my shoulder, the other on her hip, and struck a dramatic pose.
Shaking my head, I adjusted my jacket and synced myself to photoshoot mode, throwing the camera a confident smile. After a series of clicks and flashes, Princess and I headed over to the celebration grounds. The dance floor was already occupied with couples, slow dancing to a Westlife song.
My phone suddenly buzzed in my jacket pocket and I pulled it out. My mother had seen the few pictures I sent her and was fangirling over how good Princess and I looked.
Ma: Oh you two look so great together! Is she your girlfriend?
My eyebrows furrowed as my fingers flew to the keyboard.
Oh no, no.
She's just a friend, that's all.
Part of me wished I'd taken the pictures with someone else but... after I'd turned her down on Friday, I highly doubted if she would show up tonight.
"Hey, should we get some drinks?" Princess asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Ah, sure." I followed her to the buffet table. The chocolate fountain caught my eye and I moved over to help myself by dipping a single doughnut in the chocolatey pool. Biting into it, my taste buds immediately came to life, ravishing the taste of the warm cocoa treat. I made a move to call Princess, but she soon appeared at my side and quickly scooped some of the liquid chocolate into a champagne glass.
"What are you doing?" I arched up an eyebrow.
With a smug smile, she seductively licked off the excess chocolate on the glass. Just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder, she pulled a champagne bottle out of its ice bucket and poured a hefty amount of the sparkling beverage into her chocolate glass.
"Eww!" My face morphed into an expression of disgust.
"Why are you so grossed out?" She giggled. "It's just two party faves in a glass."
Miraculously, she downed the entire thing within seconds, pulling a content smile onto her face.
I just blinked. This girl is sick.
"C'mon you should try some." Princess gave me a nudge. "It's not as bad as you think." She moved towards the fountain to scoop some more chocolate.
"Will you guys stop hogging the fountain." A familiar voice chuckled and we both turned to find Deon approaching with Nadia from the engineering club on his arm.
"Oh hey, guys." After exchanging short pleasantries, a conversation followed.
"Wow, you guys came really prepared for this thing huh," Princess commented, gesturing at their matching African cloth ensemble.
"Yeah, you both look awesome," I added.
"Thanks," Deon smiled, looking quite good in his *kente kaftan. "But I can't take any of the credit. I was just gonna wear the regular suit and tie until my queen came up with this wonderful idea." He lovingly pulled a blushing Nadia closer to his side.
With her hair scarfed up in the same kente cloth as her sleeveless dress, and the beautiful beaded jewelry hanging from her neck and ears, Nadia looked as if she'd just stepped out of a magazine's cover page.
"Well the idea was a little late in coming," she admitted, adjusting her glasses. "But I'm glad I went through with it, cuz when we arrived, I may or may not have heard that there was going to be an award for the best dressed couple."
"Oh, you guys are definitely taking home that award, trust me," I grinned at my friends until Princess suddenly grabbed my arm.
"Well it was nice talking to you, Deon and Nadia, but we've gotta go. Bye."
"Ah no, wait-" Without giving me much of a choice, Princess yanked me away from the couple and into the throng of people. "Hey, wh-what was that for?" I forcefully pulled my arm out of her grasp. "I wasn't done talking to-"
"Ethan's here." Princess turned to me. "I saw him a couple of minutes ago with that girl, Kafui, from the cheerleading squad. Hmph! I can't believe he chose that bitch as his date," she scoffed.
"Ok umm..." I scratched the back of my head. "I'm sure if we keep a low profile, he won't notice that we're here an-"
"What are you saying?" Princess frowned, busily smoothening out the creases in her off-shoulder lavender dress. "We're going to find them and face them." She deliberately pushed her boobs up, exposing enough cleavage. "Good. How do I look?"
For the first time tonight, I felt anger slither its way into my heart. "No Princess! We're not doing any of that. I didn't come with you to the dance so you could manipulate me into doing what you want. I actually thought you-"
"Oh, Akwasi."
At the sound of my name, my eyes moved to the left, meeting Ethan's. Princess quickly latched herself onto my arm.
"Dude, wassup?" Dressed in a well-pressed grey suit that screamed 'designer', Ethan and his fashionable date joined our little circle. We indulged in the usual bro hug.
"Hii Princess," Kafui called out in an overly sweet tone. "It's nice to see you here with your latest...fling."
"Fling?" Princess took a step forward, ready to punch the girl.
"Actually," I began calmly, holding Princess back. "I'm not her fling. We're just here as friends."
"Oh good." Ethan nodded. "That's very good to hear." His eyes went down his ex-girlfriend's frame, stopping briefly at her chest...was that a hint of lust blooming in his pupils?
He didn't give me the time to catch it because he sent his attention back to me. "So! Regionals is in a week. You ready for it, Akwasi?"
"Oh, you bet." Now that Princess had returned to the team and had resolved her skipping issue with Coach Sarah, Amina's threat had fizzled into thin air. "I've been working on my exchanges with Nana Kwame and Seth. So there's no need to worry about the medley relays. Penfield's Sharks will win it, hands down."
"And that's what I like to hear," Ethan smirked.
Seth, out of nowhere, interrupted our conversation, trying to get us to drink from a flask of whiskey he had brought with him. When we all turned him down, he started a rant about Amina leaving him for her blockheaded boyfriend--his words not mine.
"Just look at him!" He sneered at the couple dancing a few feet away from where we stood. "Big body, small dick. He can't even last five minutes without cuming, yet Amina won't dump him for me!"
"Ok buddy, that's enough alcohol." Ethan attempted to snatch Seth's flask, but he pulled it out of his reach.
"No! Nobody is taking my baby away from me!" Seth yelled.
Ethan wouldn't give up though. He and Seth ended up in some sort of snatching game, drawing several heads.
I just pushed my hands in my pocket, laughing at the two of them, until I caught sight of two familiar figures, now arriving at the dance. The smile on my face slowly faded away.
Stepping into the party grounds was Akunna with a woman on his arm.
The dark-skinned beauty looked as radiant as ever in a long-sleeve red velvet gown that made every one of her curves so prominent that I struggled to take my eyes off her. I even tripped twice trying to get closer, and gravity threatened not to spare me if I tripped a third time.
Why in heavens name is he with her? I wondered.
It didn't take long for Akunna to spot me approaching. But in that same moment, his date also nudged him, pointing at the photoshoot setup. Akunna said something to her, probably an excuse, and soon she made her way towards the photographer, meeting a few friends along the way.
Akunna then jogged over and I quickly moved, meeting him halfway with "Dude! You asked Shola to the dance! Why?"
"Oh please don't give me that crap." My roommate rolled his eyes. "I only asked Shola to come with me cuz I didn't want her moping over you." He poked me hard in the chest. "Plus, I also knew Princess would dump your ass once she sets eyes on Ethan."
My eyes widened. "Sh-she didn't dump me."
"Ok, then how do you explain that."
My gaze followed his pointed finger to the spot my teammates were currently occupied. Kafui and Seth had left, allowing Princess to have Ethan all to herself. I heaved out a breath as I rubbed my face.
"Look," Akunna began. "I know this girl is the first friend you made on the swim team, and she helped you get better with your breaststroke swimming, so you feel as if you owe her. But c'mon bro, open your eyes. Prin-cess doesn't care about any of that shit. She's just using you to get what she wants and it's affecting your relationship with Shola!" He huffed. "Shola should've been your date tonight, not Ethan's fuck buddy!"
"Ok Akunna, calm down." I put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"I am calm." He blew out a puff of air. "It's just...I've been there since the beginning, Akwasi. I know how you feel about Shola." We made eye contact. "So stop denying yourself happiness just to make other people happy. Go for what you want, go for Shola!"
¤¤¤¤¤
Thump! Thump! "Hello? Testing one, two, hello?" A deep voice rang out of the speakers, then cleared his throat. "Hello, Pen. Uu! 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 of awkwardness 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.
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 parking lot, 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. "Good luck 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 Agyekumhene!"
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 toward 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 the 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," 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.
And as if the DJ was teasing me, he let Fireboy DML's Like I do waft 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, touching her forehead and we stayed like that, allowing the lyrics of the song to take us to our own valentine heaven.
*****
If anyone cares to listen to the song, the link is at the top of the chapter. Fireboy DML is one of my favourite Nigerian artiste. His music isð¥ð¥ð¥
Thank you for reading today's updateðð½