Regrets||✓✓

13. 2.

As I apply the gloss, Gold walks in.

We lock eyes for three seconds before she comes and kisses me full on the mouth. Then we burst into laughter.

Gold and I go way back. Our friendship started in middle school, when she just enrolled in. She had the thickest afro with bands and ribbons of different colors decorating her hair. She wore black knickers and yellow shirt, with a blue knitted vest. She looked like a boy, to be honest. She sat down beside me in class and gave the biggest smile I'd seen. She was beautiful, really. She told me her name, then proceeded to distract the class. Our teacher was shocked at her unruly behavior but let it slide because it was her first day. I liked her instantly.

Gold comes from a family whose veins pump with art. Her great-grandfather was a sculptor, her grandfather was an artist, her father is a painter, and her mother is an author. You'd think she'd like it, the money and attention, but they were always too busy for Gold, their only child. Most times Gold and I have their huge house to ourselves.

As playful as we were, we tried to catch up with our classes. By the time we were in the eighth grade, Gold straightened her afro and left it straight and long. Like me, she grew fast. But she was older. Only by a few months. The boys in our grade didn't know what hit them.

My parents approved of Gold, because of her background, and her church attitude. I wanted to laugh any time my Ma told me to be more like Gold. She was such a perfect actress, Gold was. Anytime I had her over for a sleepover, she would always say grace and my Ma would be looking like she wished Gold was hers.

Gold used makeup a lot. Not that she went overboard with the make-up, she had to because of times she had to make public appearances with her parents. She even had her own YouTube channel, making her own money while spending her parents'. She taught me how to use mascara, eye liner and lipgloss. She helped shape my brows too because I was shit at it. She helped me, and made me, look beautiful.

We're laughing now, and she hugs me. She saw me yesterday, but she hugs me like it's been years. When she pulls herself away from me she looks at my face. "You need to shape your brows, Naija. I'll help." I smile at my best friend as she brings out a new razor and shapes my brow into an arch. She uses a wipe to clean them and gives me a wide smile. "Mascara?" She brings out my mascara tube but I stop her. I narrate to her what happened yesterday and this morning. She nods over and again as she looks at me.

"I've heard what you said, but then again you forget something. We're black." She spins me around to face the mirror. She brings her lips to my ear. "White people are the only ones who go overboard with makeup. If your mom won't let you use make-up in the house, then don't. Get her off your back. But in school, you need to be drop dead gorgeous. You're already sexy as hell," she says, and grabs my butt, "but you need to be beautiful. Just fix your lashes and brows. Tremaine won't complain about that." I feel her pressing herself closer to me and I chuckle. She catches herself and steps back. "Let me help you fix your mascara." I steady myself and let her do her magic. When I turn around and look in the mirror, my lashes look fuller and my lips are so temptingly sexy. I catch Gold biting hard on her lip.

"The bell will ring soon, Gold. Let's go." I put the gloss and mascara tube in the purse and throw it in my bag before zipping it shut. I make to leave but Gold grabs my wrist and pulls me back. Before I know it she smashes her lips on mine. "Gold..."

She pulls away with a grin. "There. Good morning." We laugh and exit the bathroom at the time some girls come in. They're not in our grade so we don't greet.

As Gold and I walk to our lockers, which happens to right beside each other, some boys in the upper grade stare at us and talk in whispered tones, never taking their eyes off us. A satisfied smirk sticks to my lips. I look at Gold, who is also smirking. Something tells me that I just might get lucky today.