Chapter 2 CONFRONTING MY FEAR
Godiva POV
When school closed, we rushed to the restroom, where Dina began making me up. I wasn’t comfortable, but she believed I needed to show up elegantly.
“Wait a little, why am I doing this again? You know I really don’t care, and I’ll probably give him a ‘no’,” I said, turning to look at Dina.
“Chill, babes; it’s your first. Make the best of it, put your hardened heart aside and bask in this glory,” Dina replied while turning me toward the mirror.
I approached the admin lobby in my usual bold manner, but deep inside I was trembling. This was the first time Dina wasn’t with me for an important moment; she claimed she had to run an errand for Big Jay, but I knew she was just obeying the code by giving us privacy. I was finally at the lobby with no one in sight; I thought to wait a bit, he was probably just running late.
Turning toward the red chamber, the darkest corner in school (even a bright light would be dim there), I sighted a figure approaching. I quickly suppressed my smile and put on a serious face. The person was clearly wearing an Atlantis hoodie and shorts, but Leo wasn’t that short, I thought to myself. The person got closer and suddenly burst out laughing loudly while running toward me. That’s when I realized it was Dina; knowing her, I knew the letter was a prank all along.
“Seriously?” I said, turning back as she walked behind me laughing.
How did I forget how mischievous Dina was? How didn’t I suspect her? Those lame lines were the same lines James used when he asked her out. Above all, how didn’t I remember she had a pair of Atlantis jerseys given to her by James?
For the first time in a long while, I walked back from school without Dina. I was pissed; she knew exactly how I had patiently waited for the first guy to man up and ask me out.
Back home, I was in the yard watering Mama’s garden when Dina approached me, handing me a lollipop. It was an unspoken way we usually made up whenever any of us was upset with the other.
I reluctantly snatched the lollipop and turned away. In her usual petty manner, she wrapped me in a warm embrace and attempted to peck me. I quickly went into defensive mode and pushed her away while laughing; that was her way of teasing me because she knew how I detested that kind of body contact.
Once in preschool, a boy who had a crush on me pecked me on the cheek; all I knew was it turned into a disciplinary issue. My parents were invited to school and I was punished. Poor Jaden was teased all through because of the injuries I inflicted on him.
At choir rehearsal on Wednesday, Dina and I kept sending letters on sticky notes, making eye contact while the song rehearsal was going on. We were deliberating whether to tell Riley what we saw.
On our way back from school, we happened to come across Dan, engrossed in what seemed like a kissing marathon with a girl at a corner not far from the church. The girl was definitely not Riley. Seeing Dan in that position, violently pressing his lips against a woman while caressing her, we would never have believed he was a choirmaster—maybe a porn star, if we didn’t know him.
How was his proud girlfriend, Riley, going to react? She always flaunted him everywhere as though he were the perfect loyalist. Seeing him with that woman reminded me of what my mother always said about men. I couldn’t help but release a smirk.
“My baby wouldn’t do such,” was the reply we got from Riley. It was as though she were still in denial. She stood, biting her fingertip, as the sunset shone on her with its elegance. After a while of silence, she thanked us and stormed off into the church auditorium, where Dan was locking up.
We followed behind her and laughed while she confronted Dan, who was totally speechless and kept repeating, “I’m sorry, baby.” “It’s over between us for good,” Riley said, and stormed out of the auditorium with tears welling up in her eyes.
For a minute, Diva and I felt as though telling her was a bad decision. Honestly, we told her to get a reaction; we just didn’t think it would end in a breakup. I got home that night moody. Mum also noticed my mood and tried to cheer me up with our signature salsa dance. You know what they always say: “You don’t advise people in love because they’ll mock you.”
That was exactly what happened. On Sunday, Riley and Dan were all lovey‑dovey, as if they were rubbing it in our faces. Anyway, they were way older than us; it didn’t matter.
……………
On Tuesday, during our second lesson, I was drowsy; I had overworked myself tutoring Jenny, Jerald’s relation. I did this tutoring as a part-time job to earn something.
“Scott! On your feet this instant!” my history teacher’s husky voice echoed. All attention turned to me, who pretended as though I hadn’t been dozing off a moment before.
“Didn’t you hear me, Scott? Get up until your eyes are cleared,” he added.
I was reluctantly standing up when I noticed Young Jerald, the most mischievous person in our class, nod from right to left. I thought to myself, “Who the hell is he to give me the nod as if I were wasting my time in school?” Funny thing is, I’ve never crossed paths with him nor uttered a word to him; he was the most hated and most loved at the same time, depending on your encounter with him.
I turned to give him the “fuck you” look when my eyes met the terrifying eyes of his best man, “Hakeem Mike,” who blew me a kiss and gave me the middle finger. At that point, I didn’t know whether to get angry at Jerald or Hakeem.
After our usual morning prayer meet, I stayed back to discuss an issue with the chaplain, which got me running late for class. I hurriedly ran towards the classroom. I could hear the sound of my heart beating fast. I only stopped when I bumped into Lis, a 12th grader, at my classroom doorstep.
I was about to apologise when I saw the fury in her eyes. My heart stopped in that moment. I couldn’t afford to offend this mean brat. She stared in disgust.