Chapter 15 HIDDEN SPARKS
Godiva’s POV
Everyone in school already knew Lis was betrothed to Jerald.
On our way from school, Dina didn’t stop mocking Lis’s way of talking and the way she called Mr Young her in-law. “That girl acts as if she’s already married to Jerald,” she added, looking angry.
“Chill, babes. Why are you getting so worked up about Lis?” I asked with a smile.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice that chemistry between you two the day we went shopping?” she asked, stopping to look at me.
“What chemistry?” I asked, pretending not to have noticed anything.
“Girl, he was holding all of your stuff at every point, and I caught him on occasions looking at you!” she exclaimed as she screamed.
“What you mean… Jerald? Bro, I’m in a serious relationship with Leo, so die your thoughts,” I said calmly.
“What Leo are you talking about?” she asked.
“Sometimes I feel you’re in the relationship alone. His affection is bizarre,” she continued.
Rolling my eyes and increasing my steps, I said, “Look who convinced me to go into this relationship.”
“Good news is Jerald is coming on the trip and Lis isn’t. Use that time to bond,” she said, ignoring me as she followed behind hurriedly and breathing heavily.
“Get behind me, Satan,” I shouted as I began running away from her. As expected, she joined in the race.
We went to read at the common room in the quarters, but spent all of the evening talking and guessing how the trip was going to be.
We weren’t sure how fun or boring it was going to be, but we were sure of one thing. “Someone was definitely leaving there pregnant.” That’s what happens when clueless, fornicating teens are far from home.
On Friday in school, there was an art exhibition. They always held an art exhibition before the trip. I guess their aim was to include arts in the culture.
The two best artworks would be given an award on our last night in the camp. I was particularly excited about the exhibition because my artwork was going to be displayed at the school gallery. The theme we were given for the art display was “stuck memory.”
Dina made a funny painting of herself at her favorite spot as a kid. We both knew her painting was going nowhere.
I made a painting of a mother warning her child, the child going against her mother, the child regretting a decision and going back to the mother’s embrace at last.
This was all in my thoughts. I didn’t know whether my painting embodied such artwork or if it was just wishful thinking.
I titled my artwork “A Mother’s Reconciliation.”
Entering the gallery, I was wowed by the beautiful artworks at every corner. I didn’t expect the artworks would be that beautiful. Seeing everyone’s artworks, I knew mine was equally going nowhere.
I was heading to the spot I was given to display my art when Jerald’s artwork drew my attention.
Opening my mouth in awe, I stepped closer to have a better view. It was a painting of a broken child in a dark space and a woman in a light spot.
“What is this beauty?” I asked anxiously.
“Just mind your business,” he said jokingly.
I rolled my eyes and turned to leave when I noticed the title of his artwork was “Yin-Yang.” I knew Yin-Yang meant dark and light energy. I was cracking my head to come up with the best interpretation of his art, and I concluded it was probably a painting of him and his mother, since she was always absent.
During the art exhibition, I got lots of comments from the staff who recorded our scores and also from a few students. Our culture teacher mentioned that my art wasn’t just art but a lesson.
I was overwhelmed. I didn’t expect a single comment.
The exhibition ended during lunch. Stepping into the dining hall, I searched for Jerald. The moment I sighted him, I hurriedly ran with my lunch to his table.
“Hey,” I said, raising my brows at him.
“Lately, I get exasperated whenever I sight you,” he said, smiling and dropping his cutlery.
“What you looking at?” I asked Hakeem, who kept giving me a cold stare.
“Don’t you know what table manners are?” he asked in a calm, arrogant manner.
Returning the cold stare, I said, “I’m not here for you.”
“I’d love to join the party.” Ben’s voice came from behind, with Dina following.
“You look exceptionally pretty, Dina,” Ben’s voice echoed while we ate.
I smiled as I watched Dina blush uncontrollably. “You’re finished, girl,” I said laughing.
“Back to you, Jerald,” I said, fixing my gaze on Jerald, who sighed.
“Please, what’s the interpretation of your art? Who is the woman? Who is the child? I’m really curious,” I continued.
“No comment,” he replied, looking a bit gloomy.
“Have an idea, Ben?” I turned to Ben, who nodded from left to right.
“What are you doing sitting beside my man?” Lis barked arrogantly.
The silence that followed was as if it was planned. Everyone ignored her and kept eating.
…………
It was finally the eve of our long-awaited trip. My house was busy that night. Dina’s family converged at my house. We were all catching up as we packed our bags.
I opened my mouth wide in shock the moment Dina secretly showed me a bottle of butterscotch liquor at the bottom of her suitcase.
“How the hell did you get that?” I whispered gently in Dina’s ear.
“Picked one from Grandpa’s store the last time I visited,” Dina smiled as she whispered. “Anyways, we will definitely enjoy the liquor,” she added, stretching her hands out for a high five.
“Here,” Dina’s mother said, throwing us bags of chips, popcorn, jelly and lots of our favorite snacks.
We jumped up in excitement as we hugged Dina’s mum.
Squatting before us, Mama said, “Don’t forget girls, men are always the root of evil, so stay away from those boys.”
But someone unexpected heard her, and this small statement would most definitely ruin our journey.
I didn’t know why we were careless enough to let our guards down. Gossip spreads like wildfire, and here we were, about to enter the middle of it all.