Hey, you. 🌝💜
I have no idea why I'm literally smiling so much rn. 😂 Honestly, it's been quite awhile and once again, I apologize for going off on you guys without an explanation.
I dedicate this chapter to everyone here rn, thank you for waiting on me. 💜 I promise you won't regret it. 🥺💜
This was the chapter that made me run away for months but thank God, I found a way to work the writer's block through.
I enjoyed writing it and you know how much I love to engage with your comments. Don't hold back, okay? T
RECAP: The last chapter, Ene opened up to Grace about a few things. This was before her game and before Grace's meetup with Jeremy. All this is happening on a Saturday.
𝙸𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚢, 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚞𝚜 𝚋𝚢
𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐
𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐
𝙳𝚊𝚖𝚗, 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸'𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞
- 𝙻𝙰𝚄𝚅 [𝙸 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴 𝙼𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙴𝚁]
~
When I’d met Jeremiah at exactly a quarter past two pm, nothing could hold a light to how beautiful he’d looked under the sun’s subtle glow. Perhaps I should have called him handsome but that would do so little justice to what he really was.
Brilliant in the white graphic tee and gray cargo pants he donned, he burned with a certain type of radiance that could only be birthed from within. Mixed with the bronze of his rich skin, momentarily, my heart had skipped a beat.
“Fancy seeing you here, Grace.” Had been his first words while a spark of light humour burned deeply in his pools of brown.
After Ene’s driver had dropped me off, I’ d found him easily by the general entrance of the massive dome shaped building, leaning on the white reflective walls with hands on his Nintendo switch, serious as ever. I had been so sure that my pounding heart would break through the walls of my chest when I’d walked up to him.
However, there had been no bloody heart jumping out or unexpected passing outs. Infact, it had all been going fine — comfortably fine — and well, the last 30 minutes of being with Jeremiah had been nothing short of interesting — sort of.
Deeply captivated, my gaze never faltered from the breathtaking view of Nigeria through the country’s satellite footage. It was projected vividly with added infographics on the large theatre screen.
My heart swelled at how surreal it was to look at Nigeria from that almost unearthly view. It could easily fool anyone into believing that we were only a nation of ethereal wonders, flourishing with valleys of green and never ending milk and honey. And that was the thing about seeing things from up there; it made everything look rosy, blissful and magnetic in it’s alien-like appeal. It was a beautiful lie.
“Wow...” I breathed out. “Just wow. Do you think this is real?” I was transfixed, not blinking — didn’t even want to.
“I bet.”
“I wish I was a star, that way I’d be able to wake up to this view everyday. Can you imagine how breathtaking it would be? To be surrounded by glowing bodies and clusters of galaxies and...everything out there. That’s definitely better than worrying about a Math test or who’s going to be the next president of Nigeria.” My insides warmed and a little dazed smile settled on my face as each word played itself out before my eyes.
“Sounds delightful.”
Just delightful?
I frowned and in the relaxing silence of Orion’s finest film documentary theatre, fairly crowded and dimmed, I looked over at the boy sitting beside me, charming without even trying.
The entirety of Jeremiah’s eyes, fingers and every last focus of his was placed on the gaming device in his hands, as it had been from the second we’d stepped into this theatre.
“Jeremiah!” I groaned and nudged his arm lightly. “You weren’t even listening or watching.”
He tore his focus from the game and blinked at me with a subtle frown. “I wasn’t?”
I rolled my eyes and fixed my attention back to the documentary. “It’s fine if you don’t like it here. Not many people are into astronomy, anyway.”
There was a brief pause in his expression, followed by a low reverberating laugh and as appealing as it was to my ears, I rolled my eyes yet again. Nothing was funny.
“I didn’t come all the way here to watch dancing elephants, did I? You need to chill out a bit, Gray.”
I am chill - the epitome of chill, infact.
My eyes went back to Jeremiah’s and narrowed in both confusion and slight amusement. “You just called me Gray..."
“And you call me Jeremiah all the time. It was either going to be Gracie or Gray…or G wagon.”
“What?” My eyes went wide and a light laugh stole it’s way out. “Am I allowed to object? Cause I definitely plan to.”
“You can try but I can’t promise your victory and between the both of us, I really like Gray.” His focus went back to his Nintendo and he relaxed into the white recliner.
I rolled my eyes playfully. “Whatever. That gaming thing will be the death of you by the way.”
“Then I’d die a very accomplished man.” He passed me a quick grin. “And would you like me to be honest with you?”
“Em…I guess.”
“Hmm. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love staring at the map of Nigeria through a fancy satellite view as much as the next guy but the odds are pretty uneventful. You get me?”
Oh?
“Oh…”
My excitement deflated in mere seconds and I banked on my facial muscles to hide that simple fact. He thought this was boring? Well, what was I expecting? That he’d automatically fall in love with all of this just cause he was here with me? As if.
I gripped hard on the arm of my recliner and forced out a smile. Barely. “So, what do you suggest?”
“I have a gun here. Let’s take turns in shooting everyone till we’re the only ones left.”
“Jesus, what?” My eyes popped and so did my heart.
“I take it that you’re not shouting out of excitement?” Deep vibrating laughter came from Jeremiah as he looked over at me, warm brown eyes swirling in humour and momentarily, my treacherous heart skipped a beat. He really was beautiful. “I swear, I’m joking. You should see your face though.”
I rolled my eyes and quite frankly, I was amused. “You say the most absurd things, you know? I wonder what inside your head’s like.”
“Other than the voices in there, it’s a pretty boring place.” He tucked away his Nintendo switch and directed his attention to me. “But seriously, Gray, let’s ditch this geography class and do something else. You promised me an adventure.”
His exact words from our texts had been magical adventure. Well, hocus-sorry-pocus, Jeremiah. I wasn’t a magician or witch, although I was certain that Denola Coker would beg the differ on the latter.
Suspiciously, my eyes narrowed down to the pocket of his trousers. “Does your definition of adventure in any way involve a gun?”
“A boy can dream.” He laughed. “And seriously, I don’t have a gun!”
“Allow us to hear word ni. Should we leave this place because of the two of you?” The middle aged woman beside us on our long row, cast the nastiest glare at us before she turned back to the documentary with a loud hiss.
I shrunk into my recliner, willing myself to disappear when I realized that she wasn’t the only adult sending annoyed glances our way. Heat prickled my skin. Were we that loud? Had I really been that free with him?
“I think this is our cue, Gray,” he whispered into my ear.
Maybe Jeremiah had a point; we had been in the documentary theatre for quite a long time. Not like we had any choice, our appointed tour batch was scheduled to spend the entire one hour on the lengthy documentary before moving on to the other sights. We were going to be stuck here for an eternity.
He said he wanted an adventure and I couldn’t for the life of me begin to understand how I was supposed to make that work.But perhaps, I was wrong. If there was anywhere in Khoffri district that I trusted had anything close to heaven in it’s rawest form, it had to be these grounds. It was a breathing wonderland and in the right places, anyone would feel like Alice.
“Follow me.” Was all the cue Jeremiah needed as I shot up from my seat and led us through the marble stairway and out the averagely large documentary theatre.
A fresh pump of scented, air-conditioned breeze embraced us as we stepped out into the grand lobby, where an overly cheery attendant sat behind a marble office counter. I bet they paid her generously to smile that much at tourists and act like she cared.
Standing there on the ground floor of this gigantic domed architecture, you could easily see why Orion museum was all it took to put our small town on the map. Spiraling to an incredible height of 4 massive floors and a high end coved ceiling, it was embellished with twinkling star lights and a brilliant chandelier. Heaven in a shell, if you asked me.
The whole building was divided into several areas, each containing it’s own exhibit. While some rooms were more exciting than others, the rest could be more or less boring, or in Jeremiah’s words ‘a geography lecture.’ Amidst the multitude of strangers flocking around, we walked casually towards the elevator by the other end of the lobby.
“Damn.” Jeremiah laughed quietly to himself. “Nigerians can be so angry. It’s amusing.”
Surprisingly, I caught myself laughing too, more drawn in by the sound of his laugh than I allowed myself to dwell on.
“That woman looked like she wanted to flog us. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had a cane tucked in her purse.” I mused.
Jeremiah hummed. “Hitting a child is wrong though. I don’t see the point.”
I snorted. “Tell that to my step-mom. You’ll receive a good dose of lashing to clear your head.”
He laughed, louder and deeper than before and swung a carefree arm around my shoulder. I liked it. “I’ll like to test her.”
“Someone has a death wish.”
“Maybe I do. Only the true risk takers can inherit the kingdom of God.”
“Oh, please. Don’t tell me that’s an actual quote.”
“Technically, it is. I just came up with it,” he said with a quick grin.
I rolled my eyes playfully. “You’re really weird.”
“I prefer eccentric. At least it keeps me original.”
“And you say the craziest things too. I mean, who even makes a joke about shooting everyone?” Although my words were deadpan direct, those thoughts brought a fleeting smile to my face.
“Should I have asked with a rose? You know, Bonnie would have considered my words romantic.”
I shook my head with a short laugh and placed a mock hand to my head dramatically. “Oh, sir Jeremiah, your sweet words definitely left me swooning.”
He looked at me and smiled deeply, highlighting the light in his eyes. “I like you like this. When I met you at your house the other day, you couldn’t even say more than four words to me.”
Briefly, my smile faltered but almost immediately, something inside me fluttered and made my heart skip a beat. Heat rushed to my cheeks and I quickly looked away from his absorbing gaze.
I like you like this.
I tried to bite back a shy smile. “Thank you… You’re just easy to talk to, I guess.”
“I guess.”
We got to the elevator and while I was too busy trying to control my thoughts from wandering too much, Jeremiah pressed the stationed buttons. It didn’t take awhile before the elevator doors dinged and a few people walked out before we stepped in together. Silence, save for the horrible elevator music, welcomed us and I quickly typed in the coordinates of where I was taking Jeremiah to.
My heart pounded within my chest and every nerve in my body tuned in to the fact that I was alone with him in this enclosed space. In most cheesy romance movies I’d watched with Ene, this was the point where the boy and the girl go into intense lip-locking. That single thought caught me off guard. Of all the things I could have thought about, it just had to be kissing. Pathetic. Wasn’t this just our second time of properly meeting? It would be absolutely ridiculous if he kissed me...
Would it though?
Subtly, I licked my lips.
“Tell me something, Gray.”
My eyes shot to his, flickering unconsciously to his attractive lips and a wave of embarrassment flooded through me. Jesus Christ, Grace!
“W-what?” I forced my gaze up.
“I’ve been thinking and call me crazy but I think I have you figured out.”
“What?” My brows rose and I laughed subtly. Not what I expected to hear. “And what makes you think so, Jeremiah?”
“It’s all in theory and certainly, I’ll let you in on it. But first, tell me this. Why do you love this place so much?”
I frowned and something about the way he keenly watched my every move kept my nerves on their ends.
“Even a blind man would be able to see that.” I rolled my eyes. “Orion Museum is a world of wonders. It’s paradise on earth.”
“You’re beating around the bush, Grace. I need the specifics. What makes you, not the blind man, quite attached to Orion Museum?”
This time around, I crossed my arms — a pitiful attempt to create a barrier between myself and his questions. My heart picked up it’s beat gradually and I drew back to the elevator walls.
“I just like it...I guess.” I met his warm gaze, gently urging me to go on. But instead of doing that, I rolled my eyes yet again. “What’s your theory?”
He regarded me for a millisecond too long, then shrugged. “Not telling.”
~
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
My loves! 😭💜
I've missed you all so much. My perfect readers. 💜 How is everyone doing?
I have a lot to say. Starting from the fact that I had to divide this chapter into two parts cause it was getting too long. It's an important chapter, so I had to be deliberate with everything I wrote. The second part will be up by tomorrow (by God's grace) and I'm so excited for you guys to read it. 🌝
Let's talk about this chapter. To me, it's pretty uneventful compared to the second part coming. Most of my crucial questions will be reserved for that chapter.
What do you think about the interaction between Jeremy and Grace? I enjoyed writing it.
Do you think Grace likes Jeremy?
Do you think Jeremy is aware of this and do you think he's feeling her too?
Are you following STARDUST_WENDY on Instagram? No? Oh, no. 🌝 That means you're missing all the juicy video aesthetics, character introductions and sneak peeks I've been dropping on my Instagram. Let's remedy that, go on quickly and follow up, okay? 😊💜
What do you think about the new cover and cast/aesthetics? I put a lot of effort into all these and I hope it all pays off. 😌
I'll announce the giveaway winners in the next chapter. Yes, I didn't forget. Thank you all for 9k reads and 3k votes!
Let's get to 10k! ⚡
Please, don't be a ghost reader. I don't bite, I swear. Engage me with your comments and be generous with your votes. No one likes ghosts. 🌝
See you all in the next chapter! 😊💜
Love you. 😘