Parking Lot: Adesuwa's POV
"You WHAT?" Efosa stared at me in disbelief. She had known I was a coward, but this was a new level. I covered my head in my hands as we sat in the parking lot in Efosa's car. "Efosa please, just drive so I can wallow in self pity at home." I moaned, waiting for her to move the vehicle. Sucking her teeth, she took the keys out of the ignition, making sure the car was completely off. "No I will not just drive, in fact we are going to sit in this parking lot until you tell me why you would not walk but run away from this so called beautiful specimen whom you believe to be your future husband, your words not mine." I could feel her heated glare through my hands. I couldn't help but cringe hearing her recount my words said words. Had I really called him a beautiful specimen? As for why I ran away from him, well there was no explanation for that. "I don't know why I ran okay, it was instinctual! Plus at least I gave him my number." Efosa stared. What kind of answer was that? "Instinctual? Like how you ran away from your middle school crush after you confessed to him? I think we need to get you some new instincts then. And you told him your number, how is he supposed to remember that off the top of his head?" I winced hearing my past embarrassments brought back to life. "Listen, fear is an instinct and this was a very scary situation. I don't know what you expected me to do." Efosa placed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. Listening to me made her lose brain cells, her words not mine. "You know what, let me come and go drop you at home. I swear I'll beat the melanin out of you if I listen to any more of this." She shoved her keys into the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. I, on the other hand, sat in silence with my head down. Yes, what I did was shameful and I truly felt like a coward but what else was I supposed to do? Stay there and pretend like I wasn't extremely delusional for liking a boy I just met? I would much rather shame myself for running than get rejected and feel shame over that.
The car pulled up to my house and came to a stop. "Alright, get out. Call me when you've found some sense." She pushed me out of the car and I gave her one last wave, one that remained unreturned. Efosa stayed parked, glaring at me friend until I opened the door to my home.
Home: Adesuwa's POV
Finally I was home, able to languish in my bed as I dwelled upon my pitiful attempt at flirtation, if one could call it that. I put my keys back in my bag, tiptoeing in so as to not alert my parents. The last thing I needed was to be stopped by their endless questioning on how my first day at university went. They would drop dead if they found out that I hadn't paid attention to any one of my classes. They would absolutely murder me if they found out that it was over a boy, and one my mother had not tried to set me up with. I carefully closed the door, grinding my teeth at each creak it made before it finally clicked shut. A small sigh of relief left my mouth before I could stop it. "Ade? Is that you?" Just as I expected, I heard my mothers voice ring out from somewhere in the parlor right as the sound left my lips. Maybe if I ignored her, she would forget. My mother may have had a bats hearing but she had the memory of goldfish. I continued to tiptoe towards the stairs, avoiding the few busted tiles on the ground. Unfortunately I had the luck of a man who stole a leprechauns pot of gold, and I stepped rather loudly on the last busted tile, right before the staircase. I had two choices now. I could either run up the stairs like a madman in an effort to avoid my mother, or I could accept defeat and face the music. It was clear what choice I had to make.
I ran up the stairs like I ran sprints, praying I'd make it to my room before my mother came out of the parlor. Just as my foot passed into my room, my mother walked out. "Ade, I can see you. So you can't even come home and greet?" My face dropped and I turned around to face the scolding like a woman. "Mommy I'm sorry, I have a really bad headache so I wanted to try and sleep it off." Who said I had to actually tell the truth? A white lie like this never hurt anyone. "So because of small thing like headache you can no longer greet your mother? Please, don't piss me off today. Because I am in a good mood, I'll let you sleep off this tiny ache in your head. But be rest assured we will talk later, when your father is home." She turned on her heel and walked back from where she came. As fast as she had appeared, she was gone. I sighed in relief. I had avoided the brunt of her scolding, although I knew the worst would come when my father was home. He was her echo, her bite to the bark she provided. No matter, I'd deal with that when the time came. For now I just wanted to lay down in my warm bed and reflect on my foolishness from today. I finally walked into my room and flopped onto my bed. The day's events replayed in my mind, reminiscent of a horror movie. Or maybe a badly written romance film. Either one just as terrible as the other at this point. It was pitiful to think that all of this happened in one day, my first day at Uni nonetheless. This is why I stayed far away from the male species, I always managed to make a fool of myself somehow. But now, it was time to sleep it all off. In my dreams, I would be able to escape the awful events from today. My eyes closed as I drifted off to the one place I would be able to escape, if only for a few minutes.
She turned to the side, glancing at his face. Carefully examining every feature carefully. God he was beautiful. A true work of art, made by only the finest artists, So beautifully crafted, it was torturous. His eyes cracked open, a gleam in them that she couldn't explain. His eyes connected with hers, not looking away for a second. Usually she would have turned in embarrassment but for some reason she just couldn't. He let out a low chuckle, one that was touched by the effects of sleep. She could feel the tips of her ears heating up ever so slightly. "Do you plan on staring at me all day or do you want to take a picture?" He chuckled softly at her, dimples forming on the left side of his mouth. The sound tickled her ears and filled her with something inexplicable. She grinned back at him. "Maybe I should. Will you pose for me?" She looked at him, her eyes shining with mirth. He leaned closer to her, his mouth by her ear. "I'd pose every day, until the end of time, if you asked me to..." She could hear her heart screaming at her, as if she were on the verge of a heart attack. He pulled back and stared at her. He seemed to be memorizing every detail of her face, as if he never wanted to forget this moment, or her. She held eye contact for about a minute before she faltered and looked away. His heated gaze was too much for her to bear. "Adesuwa." He called her name and she wished she could melt away. "Yes?" She kept her head turned, until she felt a hand slip under her chin. "Look at me." He guided her face back to his and moved closer. Their lips a breath away from each other. She was positive that she would have a heart attack at that moment. As their lips got closer, she heard a voice. It got louder and louder until she could clearly make out her name.
"Adesuwa? Adesuwa come and get up, it's time for dinner!" My mother called out to me. I groaned as I felt myself fully waking up. Once I was wide awake, annoyance filled me almost instantly. Even in my sleep I couldn't escape him. To be whipped this badly after one day only amplified the sense of shame I felt beating down on my chest. And rightfully so, no one should be falling this fast. I dragged myself off the bed and quickly changed into some home clothes. I didn't want to add fuel to my mother's fire by still wearing the same clothes I went out in. I walked carefully down the stairs so as to avoid my mother nagging me about running down the stairs. I swear she always had something to say about anything I did. I entered the kitchen to see my father sitting at the table, work suit still on which signalled that he had just come home. "Welcome daddy." I greeted my father and gave him a quick hug. I heard my mother huff and knew immediately what was coming. "So you can greet your father but I am not deserving of the same respect? Hmm I see." She got up from the table to grab the food and set the plates. He looked at me in confusion and I quickly waved him away, hoping he wouldn't pry further. I walked over to my mother and gave her a hug. "Mummy I already said I'm sorry and I had a headache, what more must I do?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Give me 60 dollars." I looked at her in shock, wondering if she was serious. She turned around and opened her hand. "What? I'm not joking, apologies are useless and you work, don't you?" I laughed at her logic. "I'll give it to you after dinner, is that okay?" She nodded and pushed me away. "Now enough of this hugging nonsense, go wash your hands and sit down." She shooed me away and I laughed, rushing to go wash her hands. "Oh and go call your sisters, they must be deaf." I huffed and shook my hands dry, before heading up to go get my mini me's. Personally, if they can't hear why should they get to eat.
Author's Note:
Y'all I completely forgot I was writing this😭
If this feels a little choppy it's cause I write these chapters on Docs in third person cause it feels odd to write in first, and then I switch it into first person when I put it on Wattpad
Anyways thank you for reading and feedback is always welcomed🫶🏾
Also special thanks to @madconfused for reminding me this book existed🫶🏾