Chapter dedicated to @cindy101.
Anyway guys, that's Calvin up there.❤️❤️❤️
Stonebwoy- Sobolo.
Prep came by so fast. Veronica dreaded the hour as she walked up the walkway with her bookbag towards the Morning Café. It was going to be a long night.
OoO
A dark silhouette appears on the streets as a result of the yellow lightning of the streetlights infront of Bernice Ofori Assembly Hall. It was Kobby in the school's prescribed prep attire for boys, checkered short sleeved shirt, tucked into khaki pants. The shirt varied by colour depending on the house, yellow in his case since Canticles was House 3 in the male house complex. He wore a black windbreaker over his shirt.
Ciarra was in the wax print prep attire for Manhattan. A dark shade of grey.
" Come on." He says as he took her hands in his and snuck away from the light into the darkness.
" Why does it feel like we're sneaking around?" Ciarra whispers.
" Because we are, the third business building is off limits for prep because all it's lights fail to work. I fixed one of them at the back of a class. I prep there." He informs her.
" Why so far from everyone else?" Ciarra wonders as they turn unto a footpath towards the building behind a few trees.
" Privacy." He stated.
He had a point though, it was very quiet there. And even if the light he fixed were on, nobody would notice because of the trees.
" But it's dangerous, what if one of your teammates decides to jump you when you guys have a misunderstanding?" Ciarra probes as she stops in the middle of the footpath.
" I'm not here alone, Zaron is in one of the classrooms downstairs. We fixed two light bulbs. And we usually leave together." Kobby explained with a sigh.
" Okay, but please be careful."
" I will be. Come on." They resume walking until the building comes into view. It was deadly quiet with the sound of humming crickets and cuckooing birds from the trees, very suitable for some serious studies...or sleeping.
They pass by the second classroom downstairs to say hello to Zaron before climbing up the stairs with the aid of his flashlight to the first floor. His was the last room on that floor. He flipped the light switch on and a filament bulb lights up in the far back right above a table.
" I'm gonna have to start prepping with you soon if I really want to represent the school in the Junior Science and Math quiz." Ciarra says as she pulls out a seat to the table under the light and sat down, dumping her backpack at the foot of the chair.
" That's a great idea. But that'll only happen if Ashanti is out of the way. She's insanely brilliant. I wonder how?" Kobby comments, " But I know when you are determined to do something, you can achieve just about anything."
" You're right about that and I find it healthy to have a highly competitive figure in my way. It makes me raise my stakes when I study."
" I like the way you deal with challenges." Kobby grinned as he sat opposite her.
" Anyway, I think something happened last night." He begins as he grabs a book from under the desk.
Ciarra was slightly paranoid.
" You said you left after dining, right?" He asks, his eyes gleaming under the orange lights of the bulb.
" Yes, why?"
" Because I think someone came in after you. I asked nurse Sandra and she confirmed she was out for a while. " He goes on, " I think it was Leila and ... and... I ...I was totally confused, I thought it was - Calm down Ky." Ciarra cut in as he rambled nervously and he breathes out a sigh, running a hand across his face.
" I know, but what was I thinking. That will never happen between us so I should have known it wasn't you."
" It's okay, you didn't have a clear mind so I don't blame you if something like that happened."
" You're not mad?"
" Why would I be. I'm not a monster Ky. I have to understand when something happens out of a circumstance. So I am not mad. I promise." She assures him with a smile and he face palms in surprise.
After a brief pause, he composes himself.
" Honestly I didn't expect you to take it this well." He says sincerely.
" What are we studying today?" She asks to change the subject from the fact that she'd just lied even more when she had the chance to correct the old one.
Kobby smiled and opened his textbook, " Optical wave fronts."
OoO
Thirty minutes into their study of Acids and Bases, Veronica closes her textbook abruptly, dropping her pen as well and Calvin looks up from his notebook from across the table in the most isolated booth in the empty café, their favorite spot.
" What's up?" He asks noticing her stressed look.
" What are we doing?" Veronica asks in an exasperated tone looking anywhere but at him.
" Arrhenius acids, why?" He asks as he took her hand from across the table but she quickly pulled her hand away.
" I'm talking about us, because I'm hearing a lot of things I don't like." She states pointedly and Calvin got the point.
He closed his notebook too and leaned back into his seat.
" You ditched Dartmouth and you're doing long distance for a Ghanaian college. What's going on?" Veronica asks sincerely knowing nobody in their right mind would do that, " And honestly I think I am some sort of experiment to you cause let's face the fact, you're years ahead of me. This won't work. Especially if you get back into college full time."
" No, we are not an experiment and neither are you. Ronnie, I love you."
" Then tell me the truth. Stop covering stuff up. I want to know what is really going on and who you really are so I know whether you're playing with my emotions or not." She sighs.
" I would never." He replies and
after a long pause he speaks up.
" I swear I am not using you...and college...I might probably never graduate anyway."
" Why would you say that. You're here working so hard because your parents aren't around to do it for you, so why give up now. You have to graduate."
" No, I can't."
" Is it the money?...oh why am I asking. You wouldn't even let me help you." She says with an eye roll.
" No, that's not the reason."
" Then spit it out!" Veronica deadpans even though she dreaded the answer.
Did he have a kid somewhere else, or was he married. Or worse, was he giving up on college because of her? She knew him very well and he wasn't a great liar, so he always told her the truth even when she didn't want to hear it. A million thoughts run through her mind at that moment until he spoke up.
" I'm sick." Veronica's eyes widen a fraction.
" Really?... what's wrong with you?, Have you gone to see a doctor?" The agitation in her voice quickly switches to concern as she took his hand in hers from across the table.
He was silent for a while but every time he looked up, he met her unwavering gaze which was coercing him to talk.
" I have lung cancer." He whispers. For a while, he thought she didn't hear him or couldn't breathe. She was transfixed and he couldn't tell if it was out of shock or out of fear of realizing he'll be gone soon. That was when he felt her hands quiver, " I got the scholarship to Dartmouth to play basketball but I couldn't take the offer, my lungs fail me ."
" We can do something about it right?, How about chemo??" She asked in between ragged breath.
" I stopped responding to treatment." He answered and Veronica got out of her seat, clearly anxious and overwhelmed placing a hand on her forehead in thought. She was clearly shaken.
" Isn't there anything we can do?"
" This doesn't have to involve you. It's been my fight all along." He says convincingly.
" No Calvin, I can't just sit there and watch you...fade away right infront of my eyes. So tell me, " She sniffed back a tear, " Isn't there anything we can do??"
" That's why I have been working here with Mr Danso. As you already know, both my parents are gone. So I'm working here to save for a radiosurgery. It's actually my last resort."
" How much are we talking about?"
" It's a lot Ronnie. There are so many procedures I have to go through before finally taking it and that also costs money. We're both just students, we can't pull that off."
" How much do you have?"
" A quarter of the amount. That's five thousand cedis. I could have made more but I had to pay for school too."
" It's okay. Will that be enough for the procedures?"
" Barely, I'll need three thousand extra. But I can't start the procedure when I don't have enough for the main deal." He tries to reason and she got his point.
After a brief moment of silence, he speaks up again, " I'm so sorry for not telling you. I didn't want you to be this worried, I mean you have an entire future ahead of you. I can take care of myself."
" I am mad at you for keeping this from me for so long. But I understand, you didn't want me seeing you as a pitiful sick boy and I am glad you didn't, because then, I got to know the real Calvin." Veronica chuckles in a teary voice.
" I have three thousand cedis to lend you. I actually won it from a game of poker. And I'm getting you the money for surgery."
" Wait what?...how are you going to get ¢25000, in such short notice?" Calvin asks in concern, " And please forget about the money, I don't want to be extorting anything from you."
" Who said anything about extortion. I said I was lending it to you. You can pay me years later." Veronica offers,
" And, I'm taking the ¢25000 from my college fund."
" No, you can't do that. Especially without your mom's knowledge. You need it for college."
" Oh come on, my mom is the governor for crying out loud. And I am going to work my ass off to get a full scholarship into Princeton if I have to. I don't need a college fund when someone I love is in dire need of it. I mean, college will always be there but you wouldn't. The question is,...Do you want to live?"
" Of course, but what about your mom?"
" We're best friends. She might get mad at the onset but she's a very open minded and logical person. She'll get the sense of it. Don't worry." She assures him as she took her seat again.
" Listen Ronnie, I don't want to be the cause of a misunderstanding between you and your mom. I know you love her a lot. And I can work hard on my own to get this."
" No you can't, how long have you got?"
" Three months." He whispered.
" That's so close. Listen to me Calvin, I've got this. Just let me do this for you, please." She pleads as he looked her in the eye.
He had met several girls in the school, some have flirted with him on numerous occasions and others had shown genuine interest in him, yet he hadn't ever shown an interest in any one of them till he met Veronica. Besides all the craziness and goofiness, he sensed a very loyal warm-hearted, clever and caring person on the inside, but this was going to be something that was going to save his life. He had to take it, but not to seem like a golddigger.
" I'll like to pay you back someday for this gesture." He sighs as his eyes film up in tears.
" You can pay me back now. Let's get married."
OoO
Meanwhile on the balcony of the science block, Heather sat behind her desk busily solving some math questions. She loved solving math problems there, with the silence of the whole place and the stiff breeze that frequently brushed across the place threatening to permanently shut all drooping eyes. And yet that was where she preferred to study.
Well, except on days she studied theory subjects like Biology, Social studies and chemistry. That balcony was usually silent since the classrooms on those blocks were empty. Everyone there preferred to go study in the assembly and dinning halls instead. Ashanti was in the classroom right next to where Heather was seated and on days she studied theory subjects, she'd join Ashanti for help since she clearly hated subjects that included reading.
As she read through her eight problem for the evening, she notices a shadow crawl up the edge of the barricades of the balcony slowly. She hated these kind of situations; paranoid teenager, frightened little girl and broken child. At first she ignored it, but soon, she noticed it was getting lager and larger, trepidation coursed through her as cold sweat broke on her brow. Everything seemed stiff and black and white, until a voice boomed from behind her, " Got you!!!"
It was Lejandro.
But that hadn't stopped the fact that he had just triggered some old challenges. Her breathing became very unsteady and it looked as if she was choking on the air she was trying to breathe in. She tried some coping mechanisms that previously helped when she had these attacks. She raised both legs up to her chin on her seat and hugged her knees, rocking herself up and down and running her hands up and down her arms. Goosebumps rushed up her skin instead.
Lejandro knew Heather always responded to his joke with insults and sarcastic compliments. But today was different, something was going on, what was going on?
" Heather, a-are you okay?" He probes as he steps closer, it seemed with every step he took closer, the more she shivered. It looked like a whole new version of the girl he knew. A much more scary one. Her cornea had turned a devilish red and she was panting as if having been chased up a hill. He still drew closer and this time she shook violently and managed to scream, " Ashanti!!"
Ashanti had heard the first call faintly and had ignored it thinking it was the wind, but it was the second call that got to her, a deep gutted, frustrated, angry cry,
" Ashanti!!!!"
Ashanti dropped her pen on impulse and bolted out of the class only to find Heather curled up into a ball at the corner of her seat, glaring daggers at Lejandro with bloodshot eyes. She knew this, she had seen this before but not like this. It had been on one of her outreach programs in India with her grandma.
" Lejandro leave!" Ashanti orders calmly.
" Ashanti, what's going on, what's wrong with Heather?. I didn't mean it... just leave." Ashanti bluntly cuts him off and he quickly turned and exited the place. She hastily left to Heathers side and sat next to her, hugging her tight. Heather broke down into whimpering tears.
" It's okay Heather, he's gone." She whispers in a very salving tone as she run a soothing hand up and down her back.
Heather cried.
It was her first time seeing Heather this shattered and even though she didn't understand and wanted to know why, she knew what would happen if she pushed it. Heather had to be willing to tell her first. The tears couldn't stop pouring out and she hugged Ashanti even tighter like she was hiding from someone with her head buried in her prep attire. It brought Ashanti to tears too.
It was like comforting a little child who had just been spanked and yelled at by a parent. After half an hour it had finally gone down a notch to occasional sniffs only, she had let go of Ashanti and they were sitting next to each other silent on the double seated desk. The bell for prep over resonates across the walls of the school.
Ashanti got up and begun to pack up her books into her backpack.
" I want it to stop." Heather says out of the blue, her tone hoarse.
Ashanti pauses and thinks deeply before answering.
" Some things happen Heather... when did this start?"
" A long time ago." Heather sniffs back a tear as Ashanti turns to look at her,
" I thought I was over it...it's still in there. I'm still so weak."
" We all have our demons, Heather, but it doesn't have to define who we are." Ashanti says as she zips up her backpack and goes to sit next to her again.
" But... I'm tired."
" How did you first meet me?" Ashanti asks and Heather recollects a crying white girl, " We're all tired but when we share our burdens with others, it becomes less for us to carry around, don't you think??"
" I don't want to talk about." Heather sniffs, wiping away her tears and getting up to pick up her backpack,
" And please don't mention this to the others."
" I understand." Ashanti agrees and Heather walks away.
" Wait, let me get my bag, I'll go with you." Ashanti offers as she stood still.
Ashanti quickly walked back into the classroom to grab her books and bag. She offered to walk with her because obviously Heather was still not in the right mental state to go out in the night all alone. What if what happened with Lejandro occurs on the way there.
She came out hiking her bag over one shoulder and took Heather's hand in hers.
OoO
" What do you mean?" Calvin asks in shock and Veronica got out of her seat walking around her seat to his and hugging him from behind as he sat still perplexed.
" Babe, you just told me the saddest news I've ever heard. That the first guy I ever fell in love with, will be leaving me so soon and won't be coming back again." She whispers seductively into his ears, " It hurts, no lie. But I had so much planned for our future and I can't let all those dreams go. So I'm bringing them closer, but before we can make all that happen, we need to get married. I'm pretty principled."
" But Vee," Calvin begins cautiously, taking her hands slowly from around him and turning to face her with her hands in his, " You're underage, and I'm not sure your mom wants you getting married at this age and to someone like me."
Veronica grins, sitting in his lap.
" She's not one to judge. I mean, she doesn't want me getting married at all in the first place. My life goal had been set before me my entire life- celibacy. But I already knew I wouldn't want to stay single all my life, come on, I have no reason to." Veronica explains.
" How did you know that wasn't your goal?" He probes.
" I know you might be thinking it's because I met you but no, I met someone first before you." She says and noticed he wanted to know who, but didn't know how to ask her.
Instead, she leaned in for a kiss, pulling him closer by his shirt. Calvin was a great kisser, there was something about how slow it was that made her want more. Veronica's only problem was that they had to break away everytime it was starting to get hotter and intense and today, she finally understood why. He broke away to catch his breath most of the time.
" You're really sure you want to be with me?" Calvin asks through rasp breaths, " I can't even kiss you right?"
" That's alright, I'm okay with that." She answers with a chuckle.
" Bet your, middle school boy was better." Calvin chuckles to himself.
" He was the first guy I ever set eyes on who made something move inside of me. My mom had just had me transferred to an international school with the kids of the most elite people in the country, everything amazed me, but he was the only person that managed to get me dumbstruck for moments in the hallway."
" Sounds like a very amazing guy, why did you break up?" Calvin asks wondering who exactly he was.
" Oh no, we didn't date. Back then, I really cherished the idea of celibacy instilled in me by my mom. But he made me realize I didn't want to be a spinster. Prince was two words, Charming and Composed. He did have some flaws though, like ditching school constantly and not even noticing me for once even though he was my first kiss."
" How did he become your first kiss if you guys never dated, or were you flirting??"
" Naaa, it was a prestigious preppy school so they had some classes ordinary Ghanaian schools didn't have, like drama class. We had a scene together and that was it. He probably forgot about me after that day. That was why when I met you, I decided to muster up courage to tell you how I felt."
" Well it was his loss." Calvin says kissing the back of her hand, " But I can't get married to you. "
" You're scared aren't you?, that is to be expected, because Ruby Baeta is not one to be messed with. But it's probably going to be your last three months on the earth. I want to make every moment count and for all that to happen, I want us to seal the deal."
" What do you want to do with the name of a dead man dangling behind your name?"
" If you...if you do ...leave, " Veronica swallows and continues, " I will hyphenate it."
" I don't know Vee, you're only fifteen, you have at least ten more years ahead of you before you start thinking about marriage, you're making me feel guilty."
" That wasn't your idea, it was mine. Look, trust me, I'm ready for all the repercussions. We can make it work, I know people who can get us registered legally. I'll be nineteen on the documents."
" But you still look fifteen."
" Have you seen me with a wig and make up ??" Veronica asks with a sly grin, " Nobody will know I am not nineteen, we can have a small gathering after that, friends only. And don't worry about the witnesses to sign the marriage, I'll hire fake adults. I really want to do this, so please let me. I want to remember that what we had was real when you're ...gone."
" But...no buts Cal," Veronica cuts in as a stray tear rushes out of her eye,
" You might not be here next year by this time, I'd hate to live with the fact that you weren't able to have any fun during that time. I want you to defer your course in college for the meantime. From today onwards, we're just going to have fun, do stuff you've always wanted to do, and just be kids. It's a present from me to you, I'll pay for everything."
" I feel like I'm exploiting you."
" No you're not, I'm in love with you. My first love. If you do survive this, you can pay me back. But right now, I want you to have the time of your life. Please let me do this, look at me." She placed a hand on his cheek, coaxing him to look her in the eye,
" You're giving me a million reasons to walk away, but I only need one reason to stay....Do you love me?"
" Yes, I do."
" That's all I needed to hear."
**************
Finally finished this chapter, sorry for the long wait, I had some final assignments due. College is exhausting, but what can I say...with the right plan and hardwork, you can do anything.💞💞💞💞.