A moment is always all it ever takes
Yours Truly
~Jade's POV~
On Saturday Morning, Zee cooked a new recipe she learned from an online course. She cooked Spag in a completely different way with green pepper, carrot, and everything you could add together to
make pasta. We were the only ones at home with mom. I met Zee at home when I got home from school on Friday. I don't even understand my sister anymore, she legit come home from school almost every weekend. Is she even learning like this?
'Wow. This delicacy is delicious oo. Very Very delicious.'
'Mom, you should know that your daughter has the Midas touch. Everything she touches turns to Gold.'
I rolled my eyes inwardly.
'it's the end that remains like this.'. Mom said
'What?' Husband ke? I'm still too young to be thinking about stuff like that.'
'You're not that young again.'
'Mom, I'm not going to think of marriage till I'm 26 so leave me alone.'
'Ohun Niki Niki?' Mom said, almost shouting. 'We're shipping you off to your husband's house when you are 23.'
I rolled my eyes again.
'At least hers is 26, I'm not going to think of marriage till I'm 30.'
'Oluwa o ni je. Ori mi ko, Aleda mi ko' Mom said, looking at me with mock disgust 'You're kuku not normal before.'
I laughed as I finished the last Spag on my plate.
'Well, the abnormal girl has to attend her tutorial hence she will fail her finals.'
I stood up and bade bye-bye to them not before overhearing Zee telling mom that
'Mom, don't mind her. There's a cute guy she's crushing on in her school.'
I groaned inwardly. Zee is obsessed with the cute guy. Speaking of the cute guy........ My phone rang, distorting my thoughts. I took it out of my backpack as I got into the car and Pa Kasumu drove out of the compound.
'Hey Jade'
'Bestie mi, what's up?'
'I'm fine. Are you on your way to the tutorial already?'
'Yes. What about you?'
'No, I'm not. I don't think I'll be able to come. My agent just called me for an impromptu photoshoot and I have to go.'
'oh. Okay, dear. Take care of yourself.'
'Yea, you too. You remember the birthday party we're attending tomorrow, right?'
Birthday party?? Oh. Forgotten about the birthday we were invited to.
'I forgot here. Do we have to go?'
Hana laughed
'Really? Jade, don't be antisocial na. We're attending this party and that's final.'
I laughed
'Okay boss lady. We'll attend the party. Take care of yourself and be fine.'
'Yeah, you too.'
We hung up and minutes later, we drove into Lakeview's compound. I got down at the garage and I started walking towards the SS3 block when Bunmi, our class captain caught up with me
'Good morning Jade.'
'Good morning' I replied her. I don't remember the last time we spoke. For all I care, this might be the first time we were talking.
'I like your top. It's nice.'
I looked down at my top, a chiffon polka dot top. It's nice, I know.
'Thank you
I replied and we fell into a quiet pace as we walked into our class. Akin was hurdled in a corner with Uthman and Daniel. Only God knows what they were looking at on the phone that they looked so engrossed. The other people in the class were Michelle and her gang. They shot daggers at me as I entered. It's funny how Michelle and Amina quickly became friends. Well, there's a saying that a common enemy makes two people closer quicker. I walked to where Akin sat.
'Hey. Good morning.'
The three of them looked up immediately and Uthman and Daniel were back to looking at whatever it is they were looking at almost immediately.
'Good morning. How're you?'
'Fine' I replied and sat on the seat in front of him.
'Where's the pretty one?'
'She has an impromptu photoshoot to attend.'
I replied, just as our English teacher entered the class. At least, we're starting the tutorial with a subject I like and not Mathematics.
******
After the tutorial, People lingered around, clustered in twos and threes talking. I did not have any business left to do since Hana is not around and Akin seems so engrossed with the stupid game they were playing. Uthman was not even saying anything about the project when he was the one that even suggested that we do it after tutorials today. I played subway surf on my phone for a while before I walked over to where he sat.
'Hey Uthman, do we get to talk about our project today or not?'
He said nothing for a while, playing the stupid game on his phone. I was about to angrily snatch the phone away when he looked up.
'Okay, let's go.'
He said and stood up, pocketing his phone.
'Guys, I'll see you lather. I should be done in twenty minutes.'
And he walked out of the class without a backward glance. Damn. I so wanted to walk off right now but this has to do with my grades and I guess I have to away with my pride to make things work. I followed him quietly and he stopped by the stairs. We stood by the railings, overlooking the football field of Lakeview. None of us said anything for a while.
'So, how do you want us to go about it?' He asked, finally breaking the silence
'Well, I figured some things out last night. I think we should just do a little speech on what a dream is and the power of a dream while talking about a global celebrity from Nigeria who's living their dream.'
'That sounds good but do you know we have only six minutes for the presentation?'
He replied in a rather bored tone.
'I wasn't deaf in class so I know. And that's why I just think we should allocate specific minutes to the points.'
'hmm hmm. Good. What about a minute or half for someone to talk about a dream, a minute and a half to talk about the power of a dream. A minute and a half to talk about the global citizen.'
'Yeah but that makes 4 and half minutes. We still have 1 and half minutes.' I said
Surprisingly, we were doing this. We were doing our project without biting each other heads off. Who could have.....
'Should we just increase the minutes allocated to each point to 2 minutes?'
He asked but I was already thinking about something else.
'Why don't we talk about our dream for the last 1 and half minutes?'
He turned to look at me with an eyebrow raised.
'Jade? Talk about our dreams in front of the whole class. We're not in primary school.'
'Will you even allow me to talk? We can improvise to make it look better. We can for instance make it an interactive session between the both of us.'
He looked thoughtful for a while before he looked towards the field again.
'I'm against the last part. It's childish.'
'it's my idea so it's not childish.'
He turned to look at me again before he burst into laughter.
'Jade? You think you are not childish.'
'Uthman, we don't want to go there. Let's just finish talking about the project and go our separate ways. I can't stand your sight as much as you can't stand mine.'
'At least, we know it's mutual. And if you insist we go for the last part, then let's do it.'
Good! This will be over quickly.
'Who'll talk about a dream, the power of a dream, and the global celebrity?' He asked
'I'll do the global citizen. I have someone in mind.'
'Who?'
'none of your business' I replied immediately and I remembered we were talking about our project. I groaned and muttered
'Chimamanda.'
'There are more interesting people we can talk about.'
I raised my eyebrows.
'it's not about being interesting, it's about being impactful.'
He shrugged
'Well, you can have the final say because it's all your idea.'
Better
'I guess I'll talk about a dream and the power of a dream.'
Fine, we'll end this soon. Yeah
'To the last part, how about we ask each other what our dreams are and why we have that dream.'
I agreed with him for once and hopefully for the last time before we part ways.
'yes, how about we practice now?' I asked
Okay,' he replied, still looking at the field.
'You go first' we both said simultaneously.
'Well, I'll go first then.' I said and I turned to look at him while folding my arms over my chest
'So, what is it that you dream of? What is your dream, Mister Gbadamosi?'
I heard him groan before he answered
'A medical Doctor'
in an overly flat and bored tone
'Why do you two to become one a medical Doctor?'
'That's the only thing that has ever mattered to me.
' Why? Is this borne out of responsibility because your dad owns the biggest hospital in West Nigeria? '
He said nothing for a while, still staring at the field. There was something eerie about the way he was staring at the field. Something.....
'No' he said finally 'to become a medical doctor is not my dream. It's football, it's the field, it's playing that always make me yearn for more.'
I was almost transfixed by the passion in his voice, by how his lips dissolved into a smile and how his eyes remained glued on the field. I realized now, why he has been staring at the field since we started talking about dreams.
He turned towards me suddenly and caught me staring at him. None of us said anything for a while. At first, I wasn't going to back away first because I'm not used to backing down first. And then, there was something at that moment, something almost sizzling, more like gravity, more like......
His face dissolved into a smile as he said
'Why are you staring? You like what you see?'
Aah God! And someone will say this boy is normal. No No. And at that moment, we broke the contact and whatever it was in that moment was probably imagined.
'well, that's that about that. Should we talk about yours before the first period on Monday morning? I have a game to get back to.'
I nodded and he walked off. I stayed there for a little while
The moment was fleeting
The moment was brief
The moment was imagined
.
.
The moment was real.
Guys, they had a moment. They freaking had a moment. 💃💃💃Who else is as excited as I am?
Do you think they'll become closer after this?
What do you guys think of Uthman after this big revelation?
And guess what? Chapter Fourteen is divided into two so there's another update after this so yeah 💃💃💃
Guys, don't forget to vote and drop comments. They mean a lot to me 💖 😍