"Hi." The voice beside her said.
"Hi." She said right back, looking in his direction.
He was a junior at college. She knew she'd seen that face before. She knew not where, but she was very certain she'd come across it somewhere.
"I'm Dunsin."
"And I'm Eva, nice to meet you."
She wasn't sure if she meant that or not, but as far as she knew, she was trying to hold a conversation to kill time.
"The pleasure is mine. You look gorgeous in that dress." He complimented her.
"Oh, thank you!"
A rush of awkward silence swept between them almost immediately. She felt really embarrassed for no reason. She couldn't tell what she felt embarrassed about- engaging in a conversation with a junior, or being unable to hold a conversation with a junior.
What even amused her the most was why any of that bothered her at all.
"I hope you don't feel uncomfortable about this."
"About what exactly?" She responded in a rather surprised tone.
"Oh, nothing. Never mind. Care to dance?"
"Uhm…thanks, but I can't really dance." She said, shaking her head in disapproval.
"Don't worry about that, I'll guide you." He offered.
What am I going to do now? He's asking me to dance!
"Ok, let's give it a try."
They positioned themselves- he placed her hands over his shoulders, while he placed his hands around her waist, moving her closely against him, and leaving no space in-between.
They'd dance, with him majorly directing her movements, and the next minute, she turned with her back against him. It was intimate, they could both feel the tension. He had a controlled pace, and it was what she enjoyed about the dance with him.
Still grabbing her waist, he lifted her up, balancing her thighs over his hips, while commanding her back to reposition itself with his hand behind her, to meet with his face. At this point, Eva felt like the dance was turning into something else, so she asked him to put her down.
"Why? Did I do something wrong?" He was puzzled.
"No, no, you didn't. It's just that I'm tired and I'd like to take a break." She lied.
She didn't want to admit it was getting the best of her. She didn't think he was worth telling, after all, he was a junior, what did it matter?
"All right then, I guess I'll see you around in school." He walked away.
Regardless of what she thought about him at that moment, one thing was undeniable- She found him attractive. She thought he was good looking too. He was tall, dark skinned, hairy, with good facial features. In fact, she knew she'd been drawn to him the very first day she set eyes on him in school. It was her little secret, ashamed to let it out, even to her very own best friend, Sade.
Perhaps, the class difference bothered her, or maybe she was more bothered about people's opinions if they found out she was involved with a junior. Not that it was really a big deal anyway. She was an adult, and so was he, with very little age difference- she was older. And her parents? She knew for sure that a relationship would be unacceptable between them. It was best she suppressed the idea before it consumed her.
"Eva. Can I please have a word with you?"
Turning to see the figure talking to her, she beheld the presence of the one person she detested most in the world…
"I don't want to talk to you, Philian."
"But please, if you could just hear me out…"
"My word's final. I sincerely don't need to hear anything else from you. And no, we can't get back together. What we had now lives in the past, and I'd like to leave it there. Have a goodnight, Philian."
Her words cut him like a knife in butter, but she couldn't care less. He hurt her badly, with zero consideration for her feelings, and only meant treating him like shit without feeling bad about it. On the flip side, she'd be graduating soon and wouldn't have to worry about a guy named Philian anymore. How ironic it seemed that things ended up badly as they did- the hope for a future together, the adventures they could've gone on while discovering the next chapter of their lives after college, the possibility that she could someday be his beloved wife and mother of his children…Well all of that was gone now, totally lost without the hope of regaining them again.
He proved himself a scumbag the very moment he made that move at Mabel, her very own archenemy. Mabel always made it a point that she didn't like her very much for reasons unknown to Eva, but that was until it became a known rumour during their sophomore days that Mabel had her eyes on Philian all along and became distraught when he began dating and hanging out with Eva.
That spoiled brat! She'd often talk about her.
When Eva learned about Mabel's obvious and rumoured animosity toward her, she expressed her concerns to Philian who assured her that Mabel was only acting jealous because she had him now. Turned out, Philian had a thing for Mabel he never revealed to Eva. Back in high school, they dated, but it didn't last long, because Mabel cheated on him with his best friend- Wale. That experience scarred him for a while before graduation.
When Philian learned they'd be going to the same college, he made his peace with her, asserting he had no desire of getting back together. Apparently, Mabel had other plans— do everything possible to win him back regardless of whoever she'd see him involved with.
Funny how she accomplished that mission.
Eva met up with Sade shortly after, and they drove off.
"What was that about?"
"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it."
"That's fine. But I hope you're ok."
"Yes, I am." She gave a warm smile.
The night came with its excitement, twists and turns. She knew she had fun with someone new that night, and had great conversations with Matt as well, so as far as she was concerned everything else outside of that didn't matter to her, or at least, she decided they didn't matter. So, there was now persistent ex-boyfriend Philian, Mr "Shooting-my-shot" Benjamin, and the junior from college, Dunsin, who seemed to be slowly creeping into her head. How many boys could she possibly entertain all at once?
Only time could tell…