Things were back to the way they used to be. Even better, I and Oliver planned on meeting soon during the public holiday! I couldn't wait!
"Okay, I think it's high time I told you what I've always wanted to.🥺"
"I'm tired of asking you about it, Remi. I don't care anymore."
"I'll tell you anyway and through a voice message."
"Be snappy about it.🙄"
He recorded the voice message and I curiously listened to it. It audibly and vividly said, "Temi, I like you." 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲𝐲𝐲𝐲?
"Not like you—I like you. I mean, beyond friends.
It's the reason for my sudden weirdness especially when you talk about other guys. I know we're meant to be best of friends but I don't know how this happened. I truly have special feelings for you and honestly, I never stop thinking about you."
"WHAT?!?!!??!!!!???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU CRAZYYYYYY?!?!?!"
"Crazy about you—yessss!" 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭.
"How?!?! Why?!?! When?!?! Who?!?!
What?!?! Where?!?!"
"In English now."
"For how long has this been?"
"For the past two years.😞"
"For... What?!?!!!!😱😱😱😧😧😧😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨"
"Too many exclamations and emotions. I can feel you barking at my face right now.😂😂"
"I don't know how this happened but we are best friends and best friends don't fall in love with each other.😬"
"Oh please.🙄 My parents were best friends before they got married.😏"
"We are not your parents!"
"Oh, right."
"Plus, I have feelings for Oliver. You know that."
"What?!😮😤 You don't even know him.😡"
"Well that's better than running off with my best friend.😠😠😠😠😠"
"Girl! You can't have feelings for someone you simply call and text everyday!"
"That's a total lie. Plus, he's coming over to Lagos and we plan on meeting."
"Temi! Please,🥺 don't do this.🥺🥺🥺"
"Don't do what?😤 You don't know how irrational you sound right now.😤 Do you want to ruin our friendship? YOU ARE SO UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I CAN'T EVEN COMPREHEND THIS!!!!! You must have so much gut to even tell me this. It's best you kill whatsoever feeling it is that you have because we can never be together and my heart belongs to someone else. Period!"
I was completely mind-blown by his confession. I had been announcing him as my best friend and brother, ignorant of his feelings for me!
I felt disgusted just thinking about it and at the same time, pissed. Remi must have lost his mind to be brazen enough to tell me such.
He stopped responding to my texts and I went off to chat with Oliver.
"Would you believe Remi? He said he has feelings for me.😰😰😰"
"Like you didn't know that before now.🙄"
"How could I?🤨😕"
"Even I who isn't seeing you both knows that Remi has had a crush on you for a long time now. He makes it so obvious.💁🏾♂️"
"Wow!😱😰"
¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶
It was a public holiday, a moment away from school.
Remi had stopped visiting my place and responding to my texts after the whole drama between us.
I couldn't wrap my head around his behaviour.
I didn't care about that. I was more focused on meeting my dream guy for the first time.
(｡♥‿♥｡)
On that particular Wednesday, I wore the cutest dress in my wardrobe. It was brand new. I slipped my flats on and a denim jacket over the white dress.
I styled my hair just as I had watched on YouTube and I applied a lot of gel. ⊙▿⊙
I also sprayed a perfume all over myself that I started to cough and a cockroach nearby, fell off the wall. 𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐲. 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡.
In no time, we met at the planned spot. I viewed lad on a white shirt and blue jeans and white sneakers. His hair was a curly afro, almost like that of Remi but more stylish.
I was completely speechless and nervous.
(¯ ¯٥)
"Heyy," he said and before I could utter a word, he threw his arms around me. "It's so good to finally meet you after decades."
"It's good to finally meet you too."
"Man, you look so charming."
"Thank you." I was flattered. (◍•ᴗ•◍)
We took a stroll together and talked.
He then received a call.
"I haven't even been gone for too long. I told you I had to meet a friend. Wait, you're here? Where? I'll send you the address. You can come meet us."
In just a few minutes, a pretty mixed-looking lady walked out of an Uber.
She drew nigh and Oliver smiled.
She said, "seriously babe, don't you ever leave me like that." 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐞?!!?! (꒪𝐎꒪)(꒪O꒪)
"I'm so sorry. Say I get you that teddy bear with a chocolate implanted in it?" 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢.
"Uh-huh. And some ice-cream and flowers and another fragrance for my room."
"Anything for ya," he smiled, holding hands with her.
𝐆𝐮𝐲𝐬, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞!
"Oh! Pardon my manners. I'm so sorry, Tee. This is my girlfriend, Desiree. Desiree, that's Temi. We used to attend the same school."
My heart fell off from the place it hung and it broke. I gazed at both of them and the undescribable affections in their eyes. I was absolutely perplexed!
"OMG! I totes love your hair! Did you style it yourself?"
"YouTube."
"It's gorgeous. Okay, I'll let you two be. Gotta hang out with my girls. We're having a sleepover."
"Have fun!"
She left for the Uber.
𝐖𝐎𝐖!!!!
"She's your girlfriend? You have a girlfriend?" I tried not to stutter and reveal my pain.
"Of course."
Who was I kidding?
Amanda was right. I was totally way out of his league. The girl looked like one of those TikTok stars.
"So how long have you guys been together?"
"Two years."
"Two years? Wow! How come you never talk about it online? How come you never told me?" I feigned annoyance.
"Desiree hates that, even I. We choose to be private about relationship. She feels it's stupid for two teenagers to show off about their relationship online."
"Why?"
"I don't know. She feels it'll attract too much attention, cause people to be envious of you and sometimes it makes one seem immature. Keep your relationship private, you don't have to rub your perfect love story in people's faces online. Your boyfriend buys you a new car, you're flaunting it online and how much of a good guy he is. Those things aren't necessary."
"Why didn't you tell me?" That, I was more concerned about.
"I didn't see the need to. You never asked. We never really talked about feelings."
I felt so stupid; I had a couple of thoughts 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 in my head, distracting me from all he was saying.
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭?!?!?!?
I was tempted to break down in tears of disappointment. I couldn't wait to return home and ponder about my entire life.
"And Remi?"
"Hmm?"
"He's a good guy. He still is right?"
"Sure."
"He always has been. He's only a jealous and a control freak. You know, before I and Desiree got into a relationship, we were very good friends. So I don't think he's wrong for liking you or anything. Don't you feel the same way?"
"Look... I don't know. This is all too much on me. I don't even know how I feel right now. One of my friends vanished after a chaotic incident caused by me and hasn't been heard from in a while now. The other tells me he has feelings for me and is upset after I turned him down, that he won't even look at me. So yeah, cheers to my life." 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐠𝐮𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥! 𝐒𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞!
It was three cool hours spent with Oliver. We went to a fancy restaurant and ordered mouthwatering dishes.
It was funny when we both realized we were almost wearing the same outfit. A waiter thought we were a couple or siblings, twins. 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐛.
He was willing to spend a lot on me that day. 𝐒𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐠𝐮𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝! (◣_◢)
We spent a lot of time talking about Remi and our relationship.
¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶
I arrived home and suddenly, Oliver evacuated my mind. Now I was thinking immensely about Remi. It was a feeling I could not decipher; how I got over my crush and his girlfriend in no time and began thinking about my friend who had a crush on me. I thought I wasn't strong enough to handle the disappointment I faced and that I would break down but I was doing totally fine now. In fact, Oliver totally left my thinking. I couldn't stop thinking about Remi.
I picked up my phone just to search for his pictures and stare at them. There was us at the beach, his arm around my shoulder, there was us in class, there was us on selfies at home... It activated the thoughts of good times we had spent together. 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠???
I layed on my head, staring at the ceiling when all of a sudden, the thoughts of his face and smile overtook my brain.
Remi was to me like my other half. He understood almost everything about me and he was always available. We shared remarkable moments like my first period; he had taken care of me that day when my parents were away. There was nothing awkward about it for we related as though we were siblings. 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡.
I also recalled when he almost beat up a bully at school for my sake; when he would cook a meal in his house and bring it over to my house, just for me; when we used to swap our lunch in school.
"What'd you bring?"
"Potatoes, fried eggs and plantain."
"I brought jollof rice and chicken."
"Then let's swap!" He'd say excitedly but at the end, dip his hand in my plate and steal back some eggs.
"Hey! You can't eat your cake and still have it!"
"You can't eat your eggs, you can't eat your eggs and still have it," he responded and I tossed a piece of egg at him. It landed on his glasses—splat! He stared at me angrily for some seconds, grabbed my plate and his then raced away.
Reminiscing of the wonderful times we shared together left a bright smile on my face.
I dropped a lot of texts but he never responded or bothered to open any, though he was online all through. He ignored my calls as well.
Days passed and Remi who promised to stick by my side at all times, he wasn't there.
My heart was burning inside!!!
I wanted just one word to prove that he was okay. He had been posting sad memes all day. 𝐎𝐡, 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐢, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞?
Somehow, I could not get him out of my head, an unexplainable feeling!
I was in the kitchen chopping some tomatoes; my mind had gone on a long trip.
Just as I was fond of doing, I initiated a conversation with myself.
"Temi, why are you suddenly feeling this way?" I asked myself. "You've been thinking about Remi for some days now. You think about him before you go to bed at night and you stalk him and you stare at his pictures. This didn't happen before he told you he has feelings for you... Or do you feel the same way too?"
"Ew! I can't possibly have feelings for my best friend. That is so gross!"
"Then explain the feelings you're having! Surely you didn't feel this way a week ago. Why do you care so much now? Why do you have weird imaginations about him? Why do you think about him so much that it gives you pleasure?"
"There's a perfect explanation for that —I miss him—I miss my best friend."
"Stop deceiving yourself and consider Oliver's words."
"I just can't with you right now!"
With such war going on in my head, I accidentally sliced my flesh with the razor-sharp knife. My index finger started to bleed.
"See?! Now blood is involved, meaning you have feelings too!"
"Oh, shut up."
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐑
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶•°¶
For the first time in the whole of my existence, I was happy about a Monday. I rapidly had breakfast and awaited my Mom in the car.
I got to school and the first thing I was concerned about was seeing Remi, I earnestly desired to see his face. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫!
He was distant to the point that my parents noticed and inquired about it. I had to cook something up.
I scoured for him around but he was nowhere to be found, though I was in school extra early.
I got sad and took a break to read a novel in the library.
About twenty minutes later, I felt a presence around me, it was new. I turned around and standing behind me was Remi. (•̀ᴗ•́)
My heart skipped for a second as I stared deeply. He looked different from whom I had been with all those years. His hands were tucked into his pockets with the arms of his shirt folded and his wristwatch hanging on his wrist. His pair of glasses hung neatly on his nose.
The sun coming in from a window radiated on his face, his smooth skin.
His lips were exceedingly pink but I never noticed that until now.𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐝'𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐍𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡, 𝐧𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.
[•]_[•]
A rush of unexplainable feelings took over from there.
"Hi," he whispered.
"Hi," I responded in the same tone.
He walked away and went on to check out some books on a shelf. Sadly, I went to a different corner to go through my book. In two minutes, he said, "so how was your date with Oliver?"
"It was nice," I answered.
"Cool."
Then five minutes passed and he was about leaving when I suddenly called out to him. I felt like crying out passionately, "I lied! I do have feelings for you!" But...
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to let you know that... Um..."
"Go on."
"You look really nice today."
"Thank you," the gentleman said and exited.
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⚘𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐂𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘⚘
*𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐄*
ΩTo spin rapidly, intensely.
Ω(of thoughts) to come in all at once and leave one overwhelmed.
∆I had a couple of thoughts 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 in my head.
::♥• 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐓𝐀𝐆 "𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐌𝐂"
»» #𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐌𝐂
::♥•𝐅@𝐓𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐞