The rains had just ended, and Harmattan was about to start. We had lost some boys to other institutions, and new subjects terrified others, but despite the chaos of change and uncertainty of grades to come, I couldn’t let go of the thrill and excitement that reigned with the word “Senior”. I had just gotten into SS1 and “what could be better than that”, I thought to myself. Little did I know it was going to be a school year I would live to remember.
Lectures had begun and most of us were still flaunting the fact that we could now wear trousers. It was an English class and the teacher had asked me to read a certain passage to the entire class. I did, but just as I was about to elevate my pupils from the sheets to the class, I shared an awkward gaze with Henry.
I shared the intense weird encounter with my newly formed clique of friends searching for an understanding of this uneasy feeling that had begun stirring up since that moment, and the consensus was divided between it being a crush and just a feeling.
Weeks passed and my daily routine now included searching for his eyes and sharing quick gazes with him. It felt so good. By the midterm, I found myself doing Henry’s assignments, keeping seats for him at prep. We had become something more than friends.
By the time the school year was ending, I began to yearn for more; I wanted a definition of what we were. I had sidelined my clique of friends all for a mysterious feeling and that bothered me quite a lot.
It was the last prep session of the year and myself and were seated together as usual, but this time a little closer. Under the desk, he used his legs to unlock mine as a humorous gesture, with a smile in his eyes as if to say “I’ll miss you this holiday”.
Out of the shock of being seen by someone and my grudge at still being in the friend zone, I hurriedly withdrew my legs backward and asked: “What are we doing?”
In the innocence of guilt, he scoured around for the safety to be dangerous and afterward with no holding back he hushed me with his fingertips and assured me with his pink lips in a kiss that made my toes wiggle and my eyes close. I opened them into a stare to find out that we were under the gaze of everyone in the classroom on us.
Henry turned my ordinary senior secondary school days into magical moments I will never forget.
About the Writer
This story is written by Sunkanmi Peters based on true events.