Chisom

The hairs on my body stood, an indication that someone was watching me. My heartbeat quickened, compelling me to scan my environment in the subtlest way.

Normal teenagers were not supposed to be this aware of a stare but I was, I knew I had to be alert. Turning in the direction which I felt the stare was strongest, my gaze landed on a smiling Greg who was sitting on a makeshift chair in front of Marlima. 

The smile on Greg's face was gone in an instant, replaced by a scowl he directed to the guys who threw glances at my curvy shape. He was being overprotective again.

Greg jumped to his feet as the distance between us got shorter. With one leg crossed over the other, he leaned till his back was resting on the pillar, hands in the pocket of his jean trousers, perfecting the look of a Calvin Klein model effortlessly.

Though he didn't like Marlima but because it was my favourite restaurant, we always frequented here to feast on their ice cream.

"Hi." I forced myself to sound cheery, my voice higher pitched than it usually was.

His eyebrow rose at the cheeriness of my greeting which was left unanswered. One of his hand reached for mine and his eyes roamed my face, glaring at me softly for attempting to mask my hurt in front of him.

"I'm fine." I pulled my hand from his grasp forcefully with a scowl and bit my lips.

He saw right through my fake smile and faux bravado, a trait of his I hated. Slowly he reached for my hand again, squeezing gently, the underlying message was clear.

I'm here for you.

It warmed me over and with our hands laced together, we sauntered into Marlima.

The eatery was buzzing with students in groups of two, three and even more. Some of them were here on the same mission as us, others were here for something else.

Greg let go of my hands and a wave of loneliness hit me; I missed his comforting touch already. He didn't have to say much, his presence had this soothing effect on me.

"Find a nice spot for us, okay?" He shouted over the noise, I nodded as a way of reply.

A few minutes after saw Greg returning with a cup of ice cream, a bottle of sprite and two meat pie. The cup which he placed in front of me held my favourite flavours, strawberry and a scoop of vanilla.

Our friendship didn't require any of us to speak before we could tell that one of us was distressed. And I liked that fact.

"You are the best." This time I gave him a sincere smile as I blessed my eyes with the sight of him. He was really handsome.

Greg was a sight for sore eyes with brown-green eyes, hair in perfect waves, toned body that was as a result of hours in the gym and daily jogging. His dimple which was almost unnoticeable could make you forget the reason for your anger.

In his third year, he had contested for Mister UNN but only made it to second place, it was their loss. I wondered again if he saw me as more than his little sister.

"Where were you?" He asked, breaking my streak of thoughts. He was too fine.

I could tell he wanted to just get straight to the reason I sounded distraught when I called him but he didn't and I was grateful for that. He was the best friend ever.

"At a friend's."

"A friend that I don't know about?" He mocked and when I didn't return the same enthusiasm, his eyes widened in shock.

"Wow! You have a friend I don't know about." There was accusation in his words which he tried to cover up with a cough. "Why did you call me back? I thought we already agreed to see tomorrow."

I couldn't blame him for acting this way. It was a rule we had that demanded we knew every single thing going on in our individual lives and with the events of my past, he had gotten extra protective of me. I wished I could take his advice, a piece of advice that rung continuously in my head.

Forgive yourself and move on.

I dared to look at him, the way his teeth dug into the crust of the meat pie, the way he licked his lower lip to get rid of the remnants that got stuck and for a moment, I wished I was the meat pie.

"Sorry I didn't tell you about her. We just met, her name is Jessie." I shook my head clear of the lustful thoughts, for all I knew, he only saw me as his younger sister. And besides, no one wanted damaged goods.

"She's really pretty," I added on second thought. Maybe even prettier than me.

He closed his eyes as he took another bite of the meat pie and my eyes followed every movement he made with his lips. "She sounds fun; why did you leave so early?"

"Well ... She had an unexpected visitor." My voice faltered at the end, the image of Somto that I had tried for so long to push to the darkest corners of my mind reared its ugly head and it refused to fade away.

Even with my eyes closed, I could still see the image of him lurking behind my eyelids, mocking me as his lip morphed into a derisive smile. Tears threatened to spill and I shut my eyes tighter, begging them to stay back. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.

"What's wrong?" Lines of worry marred Greg's fine face and his unoccupied hand covered one of mine as he asked this.

I knew he had a soft spot for me but he was always nice to everyone so, it was difficult to tell if his actions meant more.

My feelings hung on the tip of my lips, awaiting a sign from him for them to be proclaimed, to relieve myself of the burden of one-sided love. But the fear of ruining our great friendship, which had taken a while to be fixed after we grew apart stopped me from saying anything.

I might not be as lucky as Modupe and Ismail, the lovers I recently finished reading about on Goodnovels, a reading app. Their love was too good: from friends to lovers yet I was stuck in the friendship stage.

Ignoring the voice telling me about how we would make the perfect couple, I forced a reply out of my lips. "Nothing."

If anyone was going to make the first move, I would rather it be him.

"Nothing?" He scoffed. "What happened?"

To avoid answering his question I scooped more ice cream into my mouth, thankful for his lack of persuasion skills tonight and the handkerchief he gave me to wipe the tears that were now drying on my cheeks.

"Sommy! Answer me, please." He begged, using his pet name for me. There was no more ice cream, so I avoided his stare.

"Alexandra." He tried again. I glared at him and he smiled; he never gave up easily.

Nobody spoke for a few seconds and just when I was beginning to think I would get away with it, he repeated his question.

"What happened with your new friend?"

With that, I was turned into a blubbering mess. Panic crossed his features and he stood immediately, rushing over to my side of the table. His handkerchief was gently pulled out of my death-like grip and used to wipe the treacherous tears that rolled down my cheek without care for where we were.

Slowly I was led outside where darkness was slowly descending and I wiped furiously at my tears, willing them to stop.

"I saw Somto," I managed to say in a small voice, hoping Greg wouldn't hear me.

"Who?" He asked.

So much for hoping.

"Somto," I said, a little louder and looked away. That was all he needed to hear to understand the reason for my outburst.

"I'm sorry." He muttered and his arms wrapped around me. "Are you okay?" He asked, concern evident in his voice.

Could I ever be fully okay? I would never know. I nodded, didn't want him worried.

"This is all my fault; I am so sorry."

"Shh," I said, placing my index finger on his soft lips. I knew he blamed himself for introducing me to Somto and so, I went ahead to remind him of his old friends who were of great help to me then and now.

"Maybe if I wasn't so stubborn," it was also my fault, I should have listened, "I wouldn't have to go through this. I'm sorry for not listening to you," I apologized with new tears streaming down my face.

"No, don't say that. People make mistakes," Greg said, his fingers caressed my cheek, wiping away the tears. "You are special, don't ever forget that," he finished with his thumb lingering on my cheek.

The intensity of his stare caused heat to rush to my cheeks and I bent my head down, muttering a small yes. His finger came under my jaw, pushing my head up until we were back to our former position. The green of his eyes glowed in the dark and his lips parted slightly as if to say something but stopped. Why did he stop?

He was staring intently at me, his eyes held mine captive in a silent dare to try and break free but I didn't move. My throat felt dry and I coughed. His tongue came out to lick his lips and he rolled his lower lip in between his teeth, making me wonder what it tasted like. Argh, I hated friendzones.

Greg closed the distance between us, his eyes held a trace of something I couldn't decipher. His head came down a little bit more till our noses were touching and I closed my eyes in anticipation of the kiss but it never came. Slowly I opened one eye, then the other, Greg was watching me with a smirk on his face.

Bringing my hands to my cheeks that had heated up in embarrassment, I heard his soft chuckle before I felt his breath on my neck. He must probably think me desperate.

"I want our first kiss to be special," he whispered and placed a kiss to my forehead.

Grateful for the darkness that surrounded us as my cheeks heated up further, I looked down, refusing to look up. Then I bit my lip.

He wants our first kiss to be special, kept ringing in my head and my lips widened in a smile. That could only mean want thing: he also liked me, right? The more I thought of it, the less convinced I became but it didn't stop me from thinking about it.

This time I made the first move by holding out my hand to him which he gladly accepted and we laced our fingers together. I smiled as we sauntered off to drop me in my hostel, all thoughts of the person I saw earlier today completely forgotten.

* * *
Do you have that special friend that can read you?