Unknown Number: Hi
Felix raised a brow, feeling curious as he opened his phone by midnight to see a text message. Who was this unknown person that had his number?
Felix: Who's this?
The message was sent about an hour ago and he was surprised to see a response within less than a minute. He was even more surprised to see the name of the person messaging him.
Unknown Number: Psalm. Ada gave me your number.
Usually she'd ask his permission first before doing that. He'd call her later, he promised himself and saved Psalm's name.
Felix: Why exactly did you ask for my number?
They weren't in the same department, nor the same year, they weren't related in any way and he wouldn't exactly call them friends. It took Ada a full year to earn the title 'friend.'
Psalm: Well… I remember saying that I found you interesting. I thought it'd be nice if we could be friends.
He wanted to laugh. Out loud. He'd never been approached by anyone to be friends. People would rather hate him from the start either because they couldn't understand him, or because they assumed he was gay.
Friendships that start with someone saying, 'can we be friends?' don't usually last. That's what he heard though.
Felix sighed, standing up from his bed to look out the window, phone still at hand. His life was stressful enough and this rich guy whom he barely knew was pestering him to be friends now. If he turned him down what would he do? Would he be mad?
Felix: We barely know each other and suddenly you want to be friends.
Psalm: Don't think there's anything wrong with that.
He looked out the bright night to see people literally playing on the road. If he were carefree and wasn't so paranoid with his safety, he'd smile. But he couldn't help but think that anything could happen to them and hurt them at any time. The night was never a good time to do anything.
Felix: You're older than me.
Psalm: That's a weird argument. I'm older than Ada and I don't treat her badly.
Felix: I guess not.
He didn't know what else to say.
Psalm: Seeing as you haven't officially thrown away the idea of being friends, as your 'friend,' I want to update you on my whereabouts.
Psalm: I'm going to a party off-campus. Don't miss me too much.
Felix snorted. Miss him?
Felix: Good night.
As always, when he no longer has the ability to sleep or continue reading, Felix finds himself scrolling through Instagram. Thank God for Wi-Fi, if not, he'd be borrowing data from MTN like a mad man.
He found himself from going through some videos of Beyonce's performances to a foreign page. The profile picture wasn't of the owner's face– it was totally black, but he noticed that Ada was following said person and so he got curious. Then he saw it: I am a gospel. He looked through to see the name properly: i_am_psalm.
Psalm.
Why the hell was he mentioning the gospel when there was nothing… Well, the word gospel had more than one meaning.
"It wouldn't hurt to see what he's on about," he said, impressed with the hundred thousand followers he was seeing. He wouldn't be able to reach such an amount of people, ever.
He saw his most recent posts, mostly pictures, videos of him performing–come to think of it, he'd never heard him singing. He probably always missed his chances by coming late or too early to see Ada, but he wouldn't deny that he'd like to see him perform live. That was why he wasn't going to watch the videos on his page, but just liked them. He'd rather watch live.
He was really handsome. That was what Felix couldn't ignore no matter how hard he tried.
How could someone be so…beautiful? Everything on point, no single blemish on his face, like, Psalm was really favored from birth.
He liked the photos he was drawn to and then went to peruse over his Instagram story.
He really did go to a party.
He didn't feel weird going through Psalm's Instagram account because his account was empty and faceless. No matter what, no one would know it's him. Ada was the only one who knew his account. So, he was good. He was free to like and comment whatever he wanted. He never commented though.
Felix squinted to see properly– he really should get contact lenses at least, struggling to get his glasses was annoying. Then again, contact lenses weren't any easier, from what he'd heard.
The party looked expensive. Loud music, young people popping bottles of alcohol, screams…way too much for someone like him. Psalm didn't video himself, but he did post a picture of him and his friends– the twins– eyes looking a bit glazed. He must've had too much alcohol.
He prayed silently that he was alright, went back to look at his page and pressed the 'follow' button. He concluded to himself that there was nothing else to do but sleep, if he attempted to read, he'd definitely start thinking about Psalm Gerard.
"Good morning, Felix," he said to himself looking at the time on his phone that said 2:30am.
*****
Felix was anxious to see Psalm–and Ada, of course.
He'd called Ada the moment he was done with his class and not-so-subtly asked to come to see her. Usually, she'd be the one begging and the sudden turn of events made her curious. She'd demanded an explanation the moment they saw each other.
He hadn't even stepped foot into the building when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders, freezing him on the spot.
"Hey, friend."
Hearing that familiar voice, he relaxed and tilted his head to see Psalm looking down on him, grinning.
"You're okay," he blurted without thinking.
Psalm looked at him in confusion. "Should I not be?"
He turned red. "N- no, I- I just…" He needed to calm down, the guy wasn't going to eat him or anything.
"Felix?"
The sound of his name coming from his mouth made him blush hard. What was wrong with him?! Was it juju or what?
"Um…"
"You okay?"
He saw that the taller boy bent to look at him properly, eyebrows furrowed.
He exhaled, face still red. "I saw your Instagram story somewhere and you didn't look bright, so I was worried. That's all".
He instantly regretted telling Psalm because the other boy's expression turned from concern to amusement. He was smug.
"So… you were worried about me?" When he didn't answer, he continued. "I'm surprised, seeing how you were so reluctant to be friends yesterday."
"Shut up," Felix said, no venom in his tone, while avoiding eye contact. "We don't have to be friends for me to care."
He tried to get out of the taller boy's strong grip on his shoulders, but he couldn't. It was starting to annoy him how strong, tall and totally opposite of him the guy was. It was also unfair how fucking hot he was. What a pain.
"What do you want now?" He groaned, not moving again.
He'd wanted to see Psalm, he'd seen him now. Next was to see his best friend, then runaway to his lodge. Especially from this beautiful person.
"Let's go upstairs together," Psalm offered, no longer teasing.
Knowing he probably wouldn't take no for an answer, he nodded in response to his offer.
"Thanks for worrying about me though, I'm good. My friends wouldn't let anything happen to me," he said as they walked into the elevator… he never knew there was a freaking elevator. To think that he was suffering himself climbing the stairs every time.
He didn't want to be stuck in an elevator with Psalm though, he realized.
"Fuck," he whispered.
"You're sweet, saying a curse word and all," Psalm continued, unaware of his inner turmoil.
Sweet.
Guys never called each other sweet– Nigerian ones especially, they only said that to girls. Last time he checked, he wasn't of the female gender and even if he were, he wasn't an attractive one.
"Scared of elevators?" Psalm asked, seeing how squirmish he was as they entered.
"N–not really."
He'd been in an elevator once and he figured that since he didn't pass out from the experience, he was good to go now.
"Sure?"
"Yes!"
There was no way he was going to tell him the reason for his behavior. He didn't want to embarrass himself any more. Even if a gun were pointed to his head, he'd never reveal that he's attracted to a guy. He wasn't ready for a death sentence.
"Okaaay," the taller boy drawled, moving a few inches away from him to press the buttons for the floor they were going to.
His arm was still around his shoulders.
"Is that guy still bothering you?"
"Huh?" Felix asked, waiting impatiently for the elevator to reach their designated floor.
Why was it taking so long?!
"That guy that I chased away."
"Oh, him." Toby Adeboye. That piece of... "No. I barely leave my house, so I doubt I'd bump into him anytime soon."
"Barely?"
He looked up to see Psalm giving him a look. He looked down immediately though, he felt himself blush.
"Wh– what's wrong with that?"
The elevator stopped.
Felix wanted to get on his knees to thank God.
"Because I think you need to go out. Even if it's to explore your university, Felix. It's kinda bad to be stuck in your room…house, for more than a day."
They walked out of the elevator.
He really wanted to defend himself. He wasn't a party animal like him. He didn't like people much and wasn't one to bother himself because he knew people didn't like him too. Frankly, he was kinda tired of everyone– including his family, telling him how to socialize… he didn't want to. The last time he'd attempted that, he'd gotten bullied and treated like trash throughout his stay in school. He preferred being antisocial.
"Hi Psalm," someone interrupted before he could pour out his annoyance.
The voice irritated him, and it seemed to irritate Psalm too, because he was no longer smiling. He was frowning.
"What?" He asked rudely, startling Felix.
It was a girl. She was shorter than Felix by a few inches. She was pretty with her long lashes distracting Felix and her afro. The afro looked so big on her head that he felt a bit concerned for her neck. Was it heavy on her head?
"I– I was thinking if– if you'd– "
A few seconds ago, she looked extremely confident. Psalm's unfriendly expression and response must've destroyed her confidence.
"No, thanks," he said, removing his arms from Felix's shoulders, making him relieved. His shoulders were starting to hurt– he was heavy.
Felix wanted to feel bad for the girl, but he was secretly happy that Psalm wasn't interested in what she had to say. It was obvious, with the way she was looking at him, that she liked Psalm and probably wanted to ask him out or something. He couldn't blame her, Psalm was quite the catch. If he were a girl, he wouldn't embarrass himself like that though.
Psalm motioned for them to go. It was only a few steps before they reached Ada's classroom.
He suddenly felt like he had to say something. "That was kinda rude."
Psalm shrugged, his signature smile back. "Don't care. She's annoying, always has been. She can go to a corner and cry for all I care."
Felix gaped at him.
"Let's go in. I'm sure Ada's waiting for you."
Felix nodded, stepping in with him.
"Psalm!" People in class started screaming when they saw him.
Felix was pushed away from his side as they started surrounding the taller boy. He was silently grateful, he didn't want to be crushed by such big boys and girls.
He moved away to find his friend. He frowned when he couldn't find her. There weren't many people in the class, so he was able to find an empty desk to sit down on.
Felix: Where are you?
Ada: Sorry, sorry, sorry!
Felix rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe it, she was late.
Ada: Wait a bit. I'll be there in a minute
He sighed. He didn't have anywhere to be anyway, he might as well wait.
He laid his head down, but soon raised it up as he felt someone tapping him by the arm. It was a huge guy that looked like his fists could cover his head up and just that realization made Felix want to faint in fear. He was seriously scaring him.
Then he smiled.
"Uh… may I help you?" He asked, testing to see whether he wanted to hurt him or something.
"Psalm said to give you something to eat as you wait," he responded with an impossibly deep voice. He dropped a fancy leather which made him curious about its contents.
He saw that the guy was waiting, so he smiled. "Thanks. Tell him thanks, too."
The guy nodded, moving away from the desk.
Felix opened the leather to reveal… goodies!
Now, he wasn't the type to get excited over things but… it was food! And drinks. Expensive food.
"I think I can wait for Ada a little more", he said to himself, taking out his phone.
Felix: Thanks for the food.
The reply was immediate.
Psalm: You're welcome.
He smiled to himself.
There was no way on earth that he was going to look up though, because he knew that Psalm Gerard's eyes were definitely trained on him.
He could feel it.