Song: Runnin'
Artistes: Naughty Boy ft. Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin
Enjoy!
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My boots clicked loudly against the tiled floor.
My face was flushed from the adventurous night I just had. I'm sure the adrenaline rushing through my bones like my body was just refreshed by a tall glass of water after being held captive in a deserted area for a whole day without any form of liquid was the cause of my lightly tinted cheeks.
That, and the euphoric experience of seeing celebrities perform live.
I saw Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber—my sweetheart and second childhood crush—Usher and a few more big, experienced artistes.
I hadn't realized that the concert would have been that thrilling and I mentally applauded myself for agreeing to go. Even if it was just supposed to be a huge distraction from my pathetic life.
I had pulled Allison aside when we followed Mary to the bathroom and asked her if she had a crush on Quincy. Because of the chaos that had been circling in my mind and on the impressive stage, I had forgotten to question her feelings towards him.
But she had been determined not to answer me as she found every opportunity to dodge the questions I was asking her.
She had complained about the napkins being too thin and that the liquid hand soap was apparently too tangy in smell. I had to muster all the strength in my slim body as I grabbed her by the shoulders and twisted her body forcibly to face my direction.
Her face had mirrored my shock as I nearly shook her senseless.
The poor girl had looked at me like she was a deer caught in headlights. Then she had blinked slowly at me. It seemed like her brain had fallen out when I was shaking her violently.
Even though I knew I was being extra and probably my spur of the moment behavior was uncalled for. But I couldn't help it. I needed to know. Maybe I could help someone start their love story and forget about my pathetic love life for some time.
Eventually, Allison relented and told me that there was nothing going on between them. She had smiled and told me that nothing would ever happen between them. But I could still see something hiding behind her gorgeous green eyes.
I could sense that there was more to the story.
But before I could have interrogated her any further, Mary had left the solidarity of the bathroom stall at that moment. And sensing the stiffness of her body and reluctance to supply more information I had sent her a reassuring smile and stepped away from her. Giving her space.
Slowly, I shut the front door and smiled happily to myself.
I did it.
I successfully sneaked out of the house. And I didn't get caught.
Dad was out of town and Wilma was with her family today. Bruce went home and he wouldn't be back here until like five or five thirty in the morning and the servants went home so it was just me in this gigantic house.
And for the first time as the familiar scent of sweet lavender wafted into my nostrils and overpowered my senses, I was happy that I was alone.
Which meant I didn't need to climb up that uncomfortable tree and dangle from its broughs like I was an over ecstatic busy body monkey this beautiful night. Tonight I could also walk freely to my room without a worry in the world.
Of course I hadn't gotten used to being alone in this huge house. But I was happy because no one knew of my little rendezvous and no one would ever know about it either. Well, no one except Dontae and my newly found friends.
I will have to tell Dontae when we meet for our next lesson.
And yes. I said friends.
I was quickly getting accustomed to the now familiar group of overly riled up teenagers.
We had chatted together as they waited for me to get into the trusted cab driver who had safely driven me to the concert in the first place. He dropped me home. I paid him a more than generous amount—again—and he grinned heartily before waving me off and speeding off down the street.
My friends had offered me a ride home but since they were all going to a farther location than I was so I told them I could manage. But they still insisted on at least waiting until I was safely in the vicinity of the cab.
I smiled to myself and headed for the staircase.
"Do you know what time it is, young lady?"
I jumped and I almost screamed thinking a ghost was governing the walls of my house. I gripped my chest and sighed in relief when the lights enveloped the room in an orange-y glow and Wilma's figure appeared in front of me.
Her face was twisted into a displeased scowl as her hip was cocked to the side menacingly. Suddenly the relief that had washed over me now vanished and I was instead filled with a wave of anxiousness.
I could feel the anger igniting her body on fire from my stance next to the door. It was like she was a furnace and the heat was permeating throughout the atmosphere like it was the deathly heat of summer.
I gulped and stepped back a little until I was squashed against the door, invading its personal space.
"Wilma!"
Holy sweet buscuits.
"Hey," I gripped the doorknob for dear life as I tried to calm my heart that wanted to grow legs and dash out of my chest with a hundred meter sprint. I pulled my phone from my back pocket and with a quick press on the screen, I glanced at the time.
1:20 a.m.
Crap.
My fingers fumbled as I clumsily placed the phone back into the safety of my pants.
I wished I could hide away like my phone right now. But alas, I have to do damage control.
Casually, I muttered, "I thought you were home with your family. It's nice to see you here, sister friend!"
My voice was dripping with sweetness like a jar of fresh honey as I squeaked the words, trying to butter up the scary lady scowling at me.
"And you were supposed to be in bed, Vannessa."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
Her usual bubbly demeanor was discarded and replaced by this foreign wave of anger.
I was scared to the point where I felt like I could have wet the nice pair of pants that I was wearing at any given moment.
"Where were you?" She demanded, with two long steps forward. "Do you know how scared I was? Hm? I went into your room and thought 'let me say goodnight to my lovely Vannessa' and while I was patting what I thought was your head, turned out to be a damn cushion and some pillowcases!"
She was exasperated.
"I called your phone. I texted you. Heck, I was this close to dialing 911 for goodness sake." Her index finger and thumb closed together, leaving a tiny space that was still big enough to allow the orange-y light to shine through. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
She was seething and I was trying to sought through my thoughts as the error of my ways backfired and smacked me right in my face.
Maybe I shouldn't have unbolted the lock on my door.
Maybe I'm not as smart as I thought.
Wilma continued, her hands moving animatedly. "I should've known something was off when your dad called and told me that you were 'sleeping in early'." She quoted his words with two sharp folds of her index fingers and her middlemen.
"Your dad told me he wasn't coming home until late in the morning and I thought that I should come and check in on you to see if everything was ok with you and this is what I had to put up with."
I squirmed as her voice rose an octave higher and I looked down. Unable to face her as guilt tightly gripped my bones.
"Do you know how worried I was? Heck! I almost called your dad dammit. But then I thought, maybe that would be world war three so I refrained from calling him to save your neck."
I thought she was finished but she wasn't. And I kept my head bowed low in shame.
"What if something had happened to you? What if your dad caught you coming home this late Vannessa. Have you lost your mind?"
Panic resonated within me as I thought about how my dad would react to me coming home way past curfew especially since I was supposedly grounded.
"Please don't tell him," I begged. I pushed my body off the wooden door, ready to fall on my knees and grip her ankle if that's what it would take for her not to spill the beans to my dad.
I didn't like when he got angry with me. Whenever he got really angry with me, he always pulled away a little bit more. And I always find myself feeling like more of an orphan than a child of two living parents afterwards.
I didn't expect Wilma to be here today because for the past few weeks, she had been spending more time with her family. Only visiting three or four times a week. So this was a surprise and I wanted to kick myself in the backside for not using my window as an entrance.
"I just knew something was off. I began thinking maybe you were sick at first but when I went to your room and saw your horrible excuse of cover up when I pulled the duvet off your bed to find a pile of pillows and cushions that you tried to disguise as yourself, it just pissed me off."
"What is going on with you Vannessa? This is so unlike you."
The tears pricked and the astigmatism shattered the facade that I was trying to prolong.
A sob left the gutters of my throat. It was loud. And raw.
And I thought Wilma was going to lecture me some more until I heard her utter 'oh my gosh honey' before I felt her long, slender arms pulling me into her comforting hold. My throat felt clogged and another harsh sob escaped the depths of my esophagus.
And before I can stop the words from flowing out, they already left my lips in a devastated mutter.
"H-he doesn't want me."
I hiccuped. Gripping onto Wilma's shirt with tight fists.
"He doesn't want me." I bawled unattractively, burying my head into Wilma's warm shoulder.
"Oh honey," Wilma cooed. "Look at me," she demanded, pulling my chin up sharply to greet her beautiful shiny emerald green eyes.
It was like she understood my feelings without me having to go into the deep details of the sad tale.
"You are incredibly special and smart and beautiful my darling Vannessa. Don't let a guy's rejection make you feel like you're not worth anything in this life. There's more to you than a lousy high school crush."
"I don't feel special." I sniffled resignedly.
"Vannessa don't you ever think that you're not worth anything. You are a talented, sweet girl with a beautiful heart and you deserve all of the nice things that this world has to offer."
She wiped my tear stained cheeks that had become drenched from a dam of tears with both her hands.
"Take it from a lady that has three lousy, grown ass boys who are in their twenties but still act like three irresponsible teenagers left home alone for the holidays. You, Vannessa, are like the daughter I never had. So please, don't you ever feel like you're not worthy of anything or anyone."
A lonely tear rolled down my cheek and she wiped it clean like it was never there.
"You are worth much more than you realize honey. You are special and capable of so many many great things. Remember that."
She kissed my head endearingly and squeezed her arms around me one more time.
I sunk into her hold, sniffling as I forced myself to come to terms with the hurt that had been wearing my heart and my mind down for the past couple of gruesome hours.
She pulled me away a little at arm's length. She smiled that dazzling saccharine smile of hers and said, "I won't tell your dad about this little mishap this time ok? But you shouldn't be so reckless Vannessa. You're still very underage."
I nodded and my shoulders, which were as stiff as a board, loosened as I exhaled heavily.
I wiped my cheeks which were now covered in a dried sheet of warm salt water.
"Oh thank you Wilma. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I exclaimed in sheer happiness.
I was so happy I began jumping up and down repeatedly
"Alright, alright," Wilma's face brightened with a wide smile as she began leading me towards the extravagant staircase.
"Off to bed with you and don't let me catch you doing anything as crazy as this again," she warned.
I nodded enthusiastically before dashing up the winding staircase two steps at a time, scared Wilma might change her mind and tell my dad about my recent punishable activities.
"You look really hot by the way!" She drawled mischievously from behind me.
I blocked out Wilma's teasing voice but couldn't stop the inevitable blush that tainted my cheeks in light pink. I continued my journey up the series of neatly lined wood that was becoming more of an enemy of mine than a friend as I struggled to climb its contents.
Then when I was finally in the safety of my room, I shut the door softly with a long sigh. I lightly leaned my head against the wooden surface and stared up at the ceiling for a while.
Then with minimal force and a light squeal, I pushed off the door, dove face first into the appealing sofa that called out to me.