"On écrit sur les murs pour que l'amour se lève un beau jour sur le monde endormi."

Kids United_French Group

Norabel

On Saturday Ethan insists on driving me to uni. I don't have class but I have to meet up with the student committee to finalize everything for the peace march. I talked to my mother this morning and as planned she'll be back in the capital this afternoon.

I've been dying to tell her about the project that I was working on this entire week, after all, she's the one who inspired it, but I figured it would be better to share the great news with her once she comes back because I have plenty to tell her and talking over the phone won't cut it.

Traffic is light allowing us to drive steadily on the road. I've rolled my window down to invite the wind inside the car. I catch Ethan staring at me with those eyes that make me jelly inside.

"You should keep your eyes on the road," I tell him, trying not to sound pleased that he can't help devouring me with his stare.

"It's your fault for looking that gorgeous so early in the morning," he retorts. "It's only what, seven AM? You are not letting my poor heart rest."

He dramatically puts a hand over his chest for emphasis. I'm convinced if we were in a cartoon I'd be reduced to a puddle of melted goo on my seat. This man flirts the way I suppose an artist would be starstruck at seeing for the first time the muse who would later become the object of their inspiration.

"You're one to talk!" I shoot back feeling a bit more seductive than usual. "You're the perfect rendition of what a Renaissance painter might have come up with if he tried to replicate a brown skin deity representing elegance and romanticism."

My passionate little rant leaves Ethan speechless for a good five seconds. He blinks a few times in my direction before letting out a low whistle.

"Man, that was a great one! Even gives me butterflies and everything."

He mimics having a shiver go through his body. I snort at his exaggerated body shake.

"You're so silly."

"That's often considered a side effect of being in love."

My pulse accelerates at the mention of the "L" word. It's been a week since Ethan confessed his feelings to me and I haven't explicitly told him the way I feel yet. He's never brought it up though and I appreciate the fact that he's giving me time to speak about it when I feel ready.

This reminds me that there's something that I've been wanting to talk to him about but always chickened out of at the last minute. I missed the opportunity yesterday because I was excited by our surprise date. Now that we're inside a moving car again and his attention is thankfully not on me, I might be able to get the words out this time.

"How do you feel about putting a label on that thing going on between us?"

The question is out before I can second guess myself. I feel the weight of his glance on me but I refuse to meet his stare. The windshield is pretty interesting right now.

"I'm all ears. What label are you thinking of?"

I detect pleasure in his voice and also a hint of childish teasing.

Ugh! He wants me to be the one to say it.

It's okay, Norabel, you can do this. There's no reason to feel awkward. It's just Ethan. The same guy whose dick you choked on not even twenty-four hours ago.

"I want us to be in a formal exclusive relationship."

There. I've said it and I have not died of embarrassment. I turn toward Ethan at the right moment to witness a smile as bright as the sun spread across his face.

"Works for me, sweetheart."

"Awesome. We're a couple now."

That's it. We've officially become boyfriend and girlfriend.

The car stops at a red light and Ehtan holds out his hand to me. When I give him mine, he leans forward to press a kiss on my fingers.

There's a sparkling dancing in his gaze that reminds me of the reflection of the moon against the calm surface of a lake. It's a quiet form of splendor. My own heart resonates with what his eyes are silently telling me. There's no other way this could have gone between us.

"In my mind, we were already in a relationship," he says. "I only waited for you to acknowledge this."

"I will say it to you." The words leave my mouth before I can stop myself. I expect Ethan to be confused but I can see that he understands even if I remain vague. "I don't know when but I will."

"You can take your time. We're not in a hurry."

We both start to lean forward but our bubble bursts when the driver behind us honks furiously. Ethan gets the car moving again, our hands clasped together for the rest of the ride.

***

I meet Keisha in the hallways of the Economics department and together we head toward the room that the dean has assigned to our student committee. It's a space to reunite and properly organize our rally.

Even if she didn't know Henry when I told Keisha about the project she immediately wanted to join. She helped with making the placards and spreading the news about the march to other university students that she was in contact with.

"This is the eyes of someone who has had some action," Keisha sings as soon as I reach her.

I haven't updated her yet about my date with Ethan yesterday so I'm surprised she has already detected that something happened. We exchange a quick hug despite the box full of signs that I carry.

"How'd you even guess?"

Is it written on my forehead or something?

"My sex radar never lies," Keisha boasts proudly as she pretends to fan herself. "So tell me, did he put his banana in your donut?"

I burst out laughing at her food analogy. There's no doubt that my life would lack flavor if my best friend wasn't a part of it.

"Relax Kish, we didn't go that far."

"I sense a 'but' coming," she coaxes.

I spill the tea she's craving to know about.

"I gave my first blow job."

Keisha freezes and I'm forced to stop walking. She slowly turns to gape at me, blinking a few times. I roll my eyes at her theatrics. My best friend and my boyfriend are two drama queens.

"I want every detail. Now."

We resume walking and I proceed to recount my romantic escapade with Ethan that turned into a spicy interlude. By the time I finish, Keisha seems more than impressed.

"Damn girl! You are a good student."

"And you're a great teacher."

We exchange a knowing smile before Keisha asks me, "What about that other thing, have you decided if you want to do it with him?"

I don't even have to think about the answer, I've fantasized about having sex with Ethan ever since that night we were alone in the house and he fed me dessert with the kind of look that a woman never forgets.

"There's no doubt in my mind that he's the one I want to lose it with," I answer. "But I'm not going to rush it either. What we have is new, I want to go with the flow."

"That's great honey. When it comes to experiencing that type of intimacy with someone it's best to not force things. It will happen naturally."

She pulls me in for a side hug and squeezes the breath out of my lungs. I try to set myself free in vain.

"Why are you being affectionate all of a sudden?"

"My baby is growing up so fast. I'm not ready!"

I let her hold me for a little longer because nobody in their right mind would say no to a best friend hug, then we head over to the student committee.

As soon as we enter the room, the energy filling up the atmosphere sparkles like electricity. Different workspaces were created with desk tables and chairs for each member assigned to a different task. There are twenty-six of us including the students in my major. We weren't many to begin with and when we decided to go forward with the project we realized that we needed help. Thankfully we didn't struggle to recruit new members to our committee.

They all collectively greet us when we walk inside. Keisha and I go our separate ways and I reach my workspace where I put the box down on the table next to the others filled with placards.

Over the next hour, I work with a team of two to decide which ones are going to be held by the front marchers. The goal is to choose those with bold messages that reflect our grief and frustration. When we're finished I'm satisfied with our selection. My favorite is a placard that says "Ki avni peyi an genyen ak yon jenès k ap fin mouri?" What future does the country have when the youth is dying?

The committee has to finalize all the preparations today because the march happens on Monday, July 24th. We settled on that date because it's the one Henry had chosen to organize that little celebration in honor of our dear professor Dr. Renaud. We all agreed that since Henry wasn't here anymore to see the project through we should honor him instead. We can still do something nice for our professor in the future.

With a pen and my planner in hand, I go over each workspace to cross out the completed tasks. The boxes containing the t-shirts of the event are all stacked in the back of the room. They feature Henry's portrait with the slogan of the event. "Nou se Henry," meaning each of us could've been a victim like Henry because there's nothing in this country that guarantees our right to security.

Once I've finished reviewing everything I clap to get everyone's attention.

"Alright everybody, we did a great job. We're finally ready for Monday."

The room cheers and Keisha suddenly shouts, "Make a speech!"

I throw a death stare her way when all the students begin to chant the same thing. I have no choice but to give in.

I look around the room at all those faces, some I already knew and others that have only become familiar over the past couple of days. Without their strength and dedication, none of this would've been possible. I owe it to them to show my gratitude.

I take a deep breath.

My eyes find Keisha and she nods as a sign of encouragement. My nerves dissipate as I start to speak. Everyone is silent, hanging on each word leaving my mouth.

"At the beginning of the school year, there were very few things that mattered to me. Two of those were: Getting my thesis written and then leaving this country. But as life would have it many unexpected things happened.

For instance, I was forced to say goodbye to my home back in Croix-des-bouquets. It was anything but easy to leave behind the people that I grew up with but that's a part of life. Sometimes scary things that are out of your control happen and you just have to deal with it.

After I moved out, I met someone who, for some reason, I couldn't fathom, still loved Haiti and kept hoping that everything would get better someday. At first, I couldn't comprehend it and when Henry died it reinforced my belief that I would be forever trapped in this nightmare, hopelessly watching our nation become the worse version of itself.

However, as I began to work with all of you on this project for Henry, it opened my eyes to something new. Seeing each one of you work so passionately has made me realize that as long as there are people like you who are willing to dedicate themselves to letting our voices be heard, there's still a chance that one day all of our voices combined will become a loud rumble that the ones in charge of this country won't be able to ignore anymore.

If Henry was here I'm certain that he would tell us to be as loud as we can on Monday. So for him let's raise our twenty-six voices until we reach him where he is now in heaven."

As soon as I've spoken my final word the room erupts in loud cheers and applause. My heart is a balloon of fire bursting out of my chest. Tears stream down my cheeks but they are not of sadness. For the first time in what feels like forever, I feel the gentle squeeze of hope wrapping itself around me as if to say in Henry's voice, "It's gonna be okay."

***Chapter Endnotes***

"We write on the walls so that love will rise one fine day on the sleeping world." Song: "On écrit sur les murs" by Kids United released in 2015.

"Nou se Henry": "We are Henry".

SUPER CUTE THINGS!!!

I am so excited to show the amazing aesthetics that SsRossy made for Norabel & Ethan! These are ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! She also made the lovely banner above! Please show her your appreciation by tagging her in the comments and if you want some aesthetics done for your work just message her!

Aesthetic 1: Norabel

Aesthetic 2: Ethan

Aesthetic 3: Norabel & Ethan