Salma's Epiphany

12/Naomi and Picnics

"Hi," he greeted, circling my neck with his hand. Thank God for black skin. I would have been as red as a tomato.

"Hi," Mona and I chorused.

"Where's the person you were talking about?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. You'll meet her after the French paper." What? After overthinking this entire thing for hours, I had to wait for almost three hours before seeing one person?

"Why can't I meet her now?" I whined.

"Patience is a virtue," Rahim replied, making Mona giggle.

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After the French paper, I tugged at Rahim's arm, reminding him every split second about the person he wanted to introduce me to.

"You know Salma, I'm beginning to regret this," he said with a chuckle. Once we got to the dining hall, he went to the upper section as usual and Mona and I went to our booth. I was watching Rahim from up there, munching on a biscuit when I saw him talking to a girl.

She was shorter than him, was dark-skinned and her box braids seemed new. Rahim pointed at our table and the girl turned around to meet where he was pointing at. They exchanged a few words, she nodded at something he said and she descended the stairs, making a beeline towards our table. She stopped right in front of us and Mona and I exchanged surprised glances.

Upclose, she was gorgeous. Her skin was clear and her round glasses made her look like someone from a magazine. Her eyes were wide, her lips were thin but pink and her eyebrows were perfectly shaped.

"Hi, I'm Naomi," the girl said, giving a small wave. I nodded at her. She took Rahim's seat and looked at us, waiting for our reaction.

"You're the girl Rahim was talking about?" I asked and she nodded, looking nervous. I patted a spot by me and she sat. "So... Naomi, tell me a bit about yourself. I don't believe I've ever met you in school."

Naomi gave us a rundown about her life; She was a Science student, she was part of the Writers and Debaters Club to improve on her confidence, she was the oldest child of her single mother (that was a slip), she hoped to become a Neurosurgeon and she hoped to be of assistance to me as my running mate.

She seemed like a nice person, she had good manners and I definitely needed her if I wanted my campaign to penetrate the Science section of the school. I spoke with her for a few minutes until Rahim joined us at the booth.

"I'll be on my way," Naomi said, standing from Rahim's seat. She turned to go but I called her name and handed her a tissue which had my phone number sloppily written on it. She took it graciously and joined a few students at another booth.

"So... how do you fancy Naomi?" Rahim asked, wriggling his eyebrows.

"She's a nice person and she can help me with the Science students," I stated, tossing the biscuit's wrapper into the dustbin.

"Yeah, I figured," he replied.

"But how do you know her?" Mona asked, her eyebrows pulled together.

"She's a family friend," he shrugged.

Mona and I kept questioning Rahim on Naomi and he answered them absent-mindedly, fiddling with his phone. I was about to ask him another question when my phone beeped with a message. My eyebrows furrowed as I picked up the phone and checked my notifications.

Inbox (1)

Rahim: Let's have a picnic on Saturday?

I looked up from my phone and tilted my head at Rahim. Mona was on her phone so she did not notice the exchange I was having with him.

Rahim: I feel like we haven't had much time to spend together... just the two of us.

Now my interest was piqued. A smirk played on my lips as I read the message and typed a reply.

Me: Sure. Saturday sound's fine. Just the two of us ;-)

I looked up from my phone and caught his triumphant smile and chuckled. The bell rang and we left the dining hall. I was no longer focusing on the next paper, but the picnic I was going to have with Rahim. Try as I could, I could not get the thought out of my head, and I kind of wanted to keep it that way.

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Hi guys, I know I haven't updated in like two weeks, and I'm awfully sorry. The first half of this chapter was already typed out, but I started feeling burnt out and decided to step back for a while. Please forgive me, please?

I'm also having problems with my laptop, hence the absence of banners.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it's shorter than the earlier chapters, but the next chapter will be longer. I'd like to thank you all for your patience and support.

Please vote, comment, and share this as much as you can. Add it to your library and reading lists for regular updates. I'll see you in the next chapter.