CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

THE DATE

"We made it too", Shola and Timmy joined us.

"Buh we're still the first", Cleo and I high-fived.

"You guys started pretty early ", Timmy argued, and Shola supported him.

" That doesn't count", Cleo made fun of them.

"Fine. If you won't agree to us being on the same level as you, we won't let you play the cards we brought", Shola tried to blackmail us.

"Yes, ma'am", Cleo submitted to her funnily.

"I wanna play cards as well", Loveboy ruined the show.

"Nifemi, let's go take nice shots of this place as agreed", Shola took me away from Cleo's side where I wanted to stay till eternity.

When it was time to pack our things and leave Zuma rock village, I realised there were still lots of unused clothes in my traveling bag, and extra sachets of cornflakes so I decided to give them to the new friends we've made in the village, and they took it gladly. I saw the eagerness to go home in a few people's eyes and I try to feel the same way but my heart couldn't corporate with me. Each time I looked in Cleo's direction, I remembered all the noon times I spent taking a nap beside him outside our hut, his contagious smile which became my source of strength even when things were rough, the crazy adventure we had, and everything he did to make me feel happy and special.

"Hawau, I just contacted my personal attorney cause I know things will get troublesome once we arrive in Lagos", Miss Bimbo smiled at the tall Fulani looking tripmate of ours.

"Yh", Hawau replied in a harsh tone, then laughed all of a sudden and gave miss Bimbo a hug."Of course, I don't wanna stay here forever, but this trip has been pretty interesting, thanks to you".

"Awwwnnn", Miss Bimbo blushed. " My lil girl is all grown up".

"Your lil girl will be the baby you make with Mr. Bassey", Tito replies and we sided her." Hawau is a teenager for goodness sake, and she has a boyfriend".

"And that's me, the legit one", Loveboy announced.

" Tito, I think you should run a dating app in the future cause you're good at matching making but...", Miss Bimbo showed us her wedding band.

"What!", We felt bad for Mr. Bassey.

" Oh, come on guys", He laughed after seeing our facial expression."I was her groom's best man, and was there when she had her three boys, Kunle, Seun, and Mayowa".

"Wow!" Shola said with a surprised look on her face. "And your body shape still looks like that of a teen".

" Yh. I'm blessed", She smiled."I was scared that my boys will be hard to control with this small body at first, but they respect me a lot and wouldn't allow even their dad to treat me anyhow".

"Buh you gotta admit you've had a crush on her once", The boys taunted Mr. Bassey.

" You can keep on trying to know if that happened or not, while we continue the trip", He started arranging our luggage in the boot of the school's bus.

"Goodbye to Zuma Rock Village", Shola took a shot of everyone and people started taking seats close to whom they love. I chose to secure a sit somewhere distant from Cleo yet close to Tony, but still had to get down from the bus to have a conversation with Ayo who looked distressed.

" Hey. Why aren't you going inside?"I asked her.

"Don't worry. I'm waiting for my friend, and he'll be here anytime soon", She urged me to get inside the bus.

"Are you sure?", I didn't want to leave her alone.

"Don't worry. He'll be here anytime soon", She insisted." Besides, I can tell my dad to send his PJ if you guys can't wait anymore"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Tony got down from the bus as well."If you've decided to spend the rest of your life with a cowboy, you can always return on your own. As of now, you're returning to Lagos with me."

"Why would I want to do that when you treat me like the secondhand piece of cloth?" Ayo was unwilling to change her decision.

" That's enough", Mr. Bassey interfered."Ayo, we can't afford to leave you behind".

"Okay", She entered the bus and sat with Cleo. They looked perfect together.

For about half of the journey, I stayed awake, admiring the breathtaking view of the trees, clouds, animals, cars, buses, and lorries around. More also, I saw Miss Bimbo having a video call with her three boys, and I couldn't help but wish the kids I have with Cleo were as cute as them.

As much as one would love to lick the screen when Tony's picture is being displayed either on an electric billboard or smartphone, he was a terrible scorer and the reason why it was hard for me to fall asleep during our journey.

On several occasions, different traders brought plantain chips, boiled eggs, chocolates, biscuits, and other wares for me to buy. But following Grandma's advice, I refused to do so because is the last thing I wanted was stopping the bus to empty my bowels under the watchful eyes of Marie's high boys. Those goodies were quite enticing though.

The other person who was awake besides me was Shola. She derived pleasure in captioning people's weird facial expressions while sleeping. Fortunately, her camera's flashlight didn't awaken their eye organs. Aside from that, she was staring at Loveboy intensively. I wasn't in the position to criticize her because I was doing the same with Cleo. Love really is a pain in the ass.

"Did you sleep well?" I opened my eyes to find myself resting on Cleo's shoulders a few hours later.

"Yes", I sat properly.

"I didn't want to inconvenient you, but Tony begged to switch places because he wanted to resolve his issues with Ayo", He explained.

"That's cool", I blushed."I'm sorry if your shoulder hurts because I leaned too much".

" It's okay. That's what a gentleman's shoulder is meant for", He straightened it.

Grandma looked extremely happy to see me get down from the bus. She didn't scold me for leaving my phone in a silent mode since I completely forgot she was going to call and ask for my whereabouts. She was worried so she to leave everything else and came to wait for me in school. She was the best guardian in the world!

"Parting is sweet sorrow' as I've read in my English notebook a few weeks ago. Even the faces we once thought was intolerable, become adorable, and the ones who thought us unacceptable now treat us with respect. But the hardest of all is parting with ones we truly love. It feels like a piece of us is being taken away as they walk out of our site, and we won't be able to survive without them. But, we'll be able to do so using the unforgettable moments of smiles, anger, and pain which are evergreen in our memory, and visible on our android or IOS devices.

I was fed pounded yam with efo elegusi for dinner, despite the fact that we got home late, and that contributed to my inability to sleep well. Besides, I was waiting for Cleo's call to ascertain the fact that he missed me as much as I did but it didn't happen. I wanted to believe he was very tired when he got home yesterday as well, and thus slept off. Yet, I was scared of him not calling me because he's gotten what he wanted from me. I wanted to close my eyes and I fall into a deep sleep but I couldn't stop staring at our pictures.

"Good morning, maami", I greeted her at the breakfast table with a peck."Thanks for yesterday".

" Good morning, omo mi. A kin dupe ara eni", She smiled at me."Do you want coffee or tea?"

"Tea, ma", I leaned on her as I did to Cleo yesterday." I couldn't sleep a wink last night".

"Who've you fallen in love with during the trip?" She teased me.

"Everyone of course....and the atmosphere, Zuma....", I lied to myself.

"Do you want your pancakes thick or thin", She brought a frying pan from the cupboard beneath our kitchen's sink.

" Thin", I keep staring at my wattsap account, waiting to see if Cleo will drop a personal message or at least say hi on our newly found group for Marie's high midterm trip mates.

Between loading my used clothes in the laundry machine, and drying them at noontime, I went through my Facebook account to see if he's dropped any message yet I saw nothing. I was tempted to dial his number but my head told me not to. It told me not to appear desperate and my heart contradicted its claim, saying it's just a way of showing love and care to a dear friend.

In the long run, I used my head.

"You this small girl. I'll show you pepper. When did you start attending English class?" Grandma bragged as we played scrabble.

"Maami, you're old school oo", I laughed." This is a new generation Scrabble game oo".

"Forget about that", She looked at a huge wall clock in the living room." It's getting late oo. Won't you start going to school bayi? Today is the grand finale of what Bola went for"

"Hmm...maami", I laughed at her again." Is this really about Bola or you're just scared of losing this game to me?"

"Iwo omode yi sha(You this child)", She laughed as well." I know your mind's there already ".

"Honestly, I've forgotten. Besides, I don't even feel like going. I'm not someone who has flair for fashion", I turned down her suggestion.

"No wahala(No problem). Her mother and siblings will be there to support her", we continue playing our game.

Five minutes later, I received a message alert from Cleo on my wattsap account, which said he was waiting outside to take me for the event, and grandma reluctantly agreed to let me go because she was already winning against me. Immediately, I moved into my bathroom to have a shower and change into a dressing robe. Then, I look through my wardrobe to find a suitable dress for the dinner but all I could see therein were trousers, polos, and knickers.

"Why aren't you dressed up yet", Grandma entered my bedroom to find me brooding.

"I can't find any suitable dress to wear for the event", I got pissed off." Maybe I should just stay at home".

"Of course not", She suddenly left for the master's bedroom.

"My life really sulks", I gave himself a slap in the face.

" There you go", Grandma returned to my bedroom with a large white rectangular box with a pink ribbon at the top. Inside it was a gorgeous facial pink dress!

"Oh my God!" I screamed."Thank you so much, grandma", I gave her a hug, and a peck on her cheek."I really appreciate this! How did you..."

"I got it for your junior class valedictory service, but I was scared you wouldn't like it so I let you wear your suit and trousers instead", She explained.

"You should have shown me then. It's beautiful", I told her with a smile, but my mood started changing because the dress is tight, and difficult to zip up.

"Hold on", She helped me to zip up the dress, pack my curly hair which has grown a bit long after several weeks of not having a haircut, then styled the edges as well.

" Thanks", I said, though I was still having doubts about my look.

"You're beautiful", Grandma assisted me in wearing some jewelry on my ears, neck, and wrist then handed me a pair of nude wedge shoes, with a handbag as well."Enjoy yourself ".

" I will. Thank you very much", I hugged and left the house.

Cleo once told me that his love for the Corolla was inextinguishable but, he brought a Benz instead to convey me to our first dinner date. As he spotted me moving towards him after closing our gate gently behind me, he opened the passenger's door on my behalf and gave nice remarks about my look. He also surprised me by not being furious since I kept him waiting for long. I would have also loved to tell him how hot he looked in his striped navy blue tuxedo and persuade him to get a haircut to complete the look, but I was tongued tied. Trust me, I tried to something but I end up speaking gibberish.

Bola also blew me kisses at the venue for the edges well-styled, unaware of the fact that it was grandma's handwork. I wished to tell her the truth but didn't want to spoil her mood so I remained silent till we got to our family table, where Aunt Simi and Doctor Show were sitting.

"Look at my baby!" Aunt Simi welcomed me with her angelic smile, and hugged me as well."You're growing up so fast".

"Yh. I shouldn't have inherited your genes", I said and we both laughed.

"Meet Doctor Shonowo, my husband to me", She introduced him formally. "I know you guys have met on several occasions."

"Yh...", I tried not to make what she's told me a big issue but my facial expression betrayed me.

"So who's the gentleman here? I guess he's your date tonight!" She wanted me to tell her everything about Cleo who was having a conversation with Doctor Show already.

"Yh.....", I replied, unsure of what response to give her." He's a finalist in Marie's high".

"That's great!" She took a sip of her white wine, and whispered"He seems very matured, but are you sure your heart will be able to take being lonely when he graduates?"

"We're not dating, Aunt", I said to clear her suspicion." We're just very good friends".

"Ok", She seemed to have understood me at first then continued her speech," Show and I started as friends also. One thing I've come to realize about love is, it happens when you least expected it, and with whom you lest expected"

As soon as the MC for the occasion called out Bola's name to give her an award for being the best junior fashion designer for the year, we abandoned our discussion and went to the stage as a family to celebrate with her, and took pictures. Our principal also asked that the video clips and pictures for the vacation trips of each group should be displayed on the projectors in the hall, and students should decide which team wins.

With a total of 1,000 votes, our team won a gold medal and the loudest of all screams fill the air as every member of our crew walked to the stage. More also, the Principal asked that they also decide the best among the trip partners nominated. I had no idea who suggested it, but my name and Cleo's appeared on the screen which started displaying photos and video clips of our crazy adventures as well.

Cleo and I were given two pieces of art drawing which were replicas of the portrait picture a hidden photographer took while we were swinging inside the forest. I knew that person would be none other than Shola and speaking of which, she received an award for being the best senior photographer and blogger for the year.

After all our awards have been given out, Cleo and I retired to our seat to have our bowls of Chinese noodles with fried pork dealt while most students moved to the dance floor to move their bodies with their dates.

"Do you wanna dance?" Cleo asked as I took the last sip of my orange juice, served in a tall glass cup.

A/N:
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter? Dropping a comment will help me determine if you did or not😁 Thanks for not giving up on Marie's high and always remember to stay safe and entertained. Still, don't forget to click on the star icon😍
Yours teenfictionly,
Eniola Oluwamuyiwa