"There's no way I could be gay, right?" I asked myself as I walked aimlessly towards the hostel area.
I was fully aware that the hostels were locked during this time of the day, but I needed to clear my head and gather my thoughts. The class area wasn't doing the trick.
I sat down by the side of the school kiosk, thinking aloud to myself. Luckily, there was no one around who could hear me. Otherwise, they might have thought I was mad or worse, heard what I was saying to myself.
"My parents aren't gay, none of my family members are gay, so there is no way I could be gay, right?" As soon as those words slipped through my lips, I realized how stupid and unrealistic they sounded.
I had watched enough American soap operas to know that it didn't work like that.
But still, I couldn't accept the fact that I might be gay. I was certain that I was at least bi, if not fully straight. I just needed a way to prove it to myself.
Lost in thoughts about my sexuality, I heard my name followed by a soft tap on the shoulder. It was a JSS three student, someone I was quite familiar with.
"Hey, Collins, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" I asked,
looking around and wondering what he was doing here and how long he had been standing there, possibly overhearing my self-talk.
"I could ask you the same thing, but you're my senior, so I wouldn't."
"Watch your tongue, young man," I said in a more authoritative manner. Although I was only a class ahead of him, he was still obligated to respect and obey my words at all times, an unsaid rule of the school.
"So, I'm going to ask you one more time, what are you doing here?"
"Senior Michael and some other seniors asked me to come and look for you. They said I should tell you to come back to the class. They want to show you something, and it's very urgent."
"Okay, thank you. Now go back to your class before any teacher sees you, so you don't get in trouble," I replied, and he hurriedly left like a messenger hawk after delivering a message.
My immediate reaction to the message was that there was no way I was going to return to that class anytime soon. I just couldn't do it.
How could I look at their faces after what had happened, especially Israel?
He had been my closest friend since I transferred to the school. How would he react to the realization that I was turned on by his touch?
He was the closest person to me when it happened, not to mention that his hands were on my lap, so the chances of him not knowing what had happened were slimmer than a camel entering the eye of a needle.
And then it hit me. After a few minutes of thinking and consideration, I realized that going back to the class was the next best thing for me to do.
Not going back would only raise more eyebrows and draw more suspicion to my predicament. There was a fair chance that no one knew what had really happened and the actual reason why I ran out of the class like I was being chased by a mad dog. No one except Israel, of course, but that was something I would have to deal with some other time. For now, my main priority was to protect my image at all costs.
"Come on, Daniel, you can do this. Just fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee. My name is Daniel with an 'e'."
As soon as I opened the door of the classroom, there was a loud uproar, a chant that could only be heard when a celebrity like Burna Boy stepped on the stage.
"E don come o," was the only statement I managed to hear as everything else blended together, a perfect example of barbarians talking in thousands.
I walked into the midst of the crowd, which surprisingly consisted of only about thirty people, but to me, they felt like a full stadium.
I was honestly frightened and totally clueless about why they were all acting this way.
"Do they all know what actually happened? Could Israel have told them?"
While I was still trying to figure out the whole fuss, Israel and Michael emerged from the crowd and walked towards me, creating a clear circle with only the three of us inside.
"Daniel, I am so sorry. I had no idea that you were as homophobic as me. If I knew, I would never have dared Israel to seduce you like that. I am sorry, really," Michael said, sounding like he was forced to make an apology statement.
But still, did Michael Friday, the biggest guy in my class, just apologize to me in front of the whole class?
Michael wasn't just big in size; he was big in status and popularity. Having someone like him apologize to me in front of the entire class was a really big deal.
I looked over at Israel, trying to read his face and check if he knew what had happened or what exactly was going on. But all he gave off was a vague, bright smile, as unpredictable as ever.
Turning back to face Michael, I asked, "Okay, I get that you're sorry, and I accept your apology. But what's with the whole celebrity welcome ceremony?"
"Oh, them? Don't mind them. They're just excited to watch the game go down."
"What game?"
"Oh, I guess they haven't informed you yet. You see, when you left, we continued playing the Truth or Dare game."
"So? I still don't get how that has anything to do with me or this standing ovation."
"Relax, Fresh blood. Let me tell the tale."
Michael used his hands to make a comedic illustration. "It was Israel's turn, and he dared Sophie to French kiss you once you got back."
Shocked to my core, I asked, "Israel asked Sophie to what now?"
I asked not because I didn't hear him the first time but because I wanted him to repeat it so I could be sure my ears weren't playing tricks on me.
Michael was already slowly getting angry; one thing he hated more than anything was having to repeat himself.
With a slightly provoked tone, he said, "I said Israel dared Sophie to French kiss you. You know Sophie, right?"
Of course, I knew who Sophie was. She was proclaimed to be one of the hottest girls in our class, someone I hadn't exactly had the chance to talk to yet. And now, I was going to get French kissed by her. I can't say this was a dream come true because I had never dreamt of this kind of thing happening.
It was more of an out-of-the-blue event for me. But the question still remained: why did she agree to do the dare? She could have easily paid the fine and skipped the dare, but instead, she chose to go ahead with it.
I decided not to continue trying to figure out why she made that decision. Besides, this was the perfect opportunity I needed to prove to myself that I was indeed bi and not gay. Plus, I got to French kiss Sophie. If this isn't a perfect example of killing two birds with one stone, I don't know what is.
The crowd was still chanting, and the moment had arrived.
There was a big circle with only Sophie and me in it. I looked at her with a quirky smile, trying to read her face and find out what exactly she was thinking. Doing something as unexpected as this, to my utmost surprise, she was actually blushing.
This day was a Santa pouch filled with surprises. She walked slowly towards me, and before I could blink twice, her lips were already a breath's length away from mine. It was happening; I was going to get my first kiss.
"Hello, what is going on there?"
On hearing this, everybody scattered, and most ran for cover.
Nobody knew where the voice came from, but we all knew who it was. It was Mr. Oni, one of the top no-nonsense teachers in the school, and he had just interrupted what was supposed to become the most important day of my life. My pain knew no bounds.
"Settle down, everyone, because of time, I am going to ignore whatever was going on and hope that it never repeats itself. Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir," we said in unison.
"Good. So our topic for today is..."
As the class went on, I found it really hard to concentrate after the eventful rollercoaster of a day I had experienced. Then I heard a whisper of my name from behind. To see who it was, to my not-so-surprise, it was Israel.
"Hey, bro, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened earlier."
I already knew he was sorry, but somehow it felt good to hear him say it. "It's fine."
"Danny, please lend me your hairbrush."
Confused, I asked, "What hairbrush?"
"The one in your pocket. You can't even deny it because I've already seen it." I immediately understood what he was talking about.
"Oh, that hairbrush. Sorry, I already lent it to Senior Jeff," I lied.
"Okay."
Israel thought the bulge he saw in my trousers was a hairbrush. This was such a big relief. My biggest nightmare was over, or at least that's what I thought