Chapter 2: Chapter 2

"Okay, this time around, you go first," I said. "sure, my name is Scott Mills, I'm from the United States of America. I live here in Houston Texas, I'm 27 years old and I own an art gallery. My father died when I was 17 and my mom is living with my sister in Florida. If there's anything else you need to know about me, I'll let you know as time goes on", he said.

"Alright, my turn. I'm Ukpono Udofia and I'm from Nigeria. I live with my family here in Nigeria, Akwa Ibom State, to be precise. I'm 16 years old, I just finished secondary school and I'm learning a trade since I couldn't get into the University this September. I'd really be happy if we forget about our races and become friends".

"I want that too", he said. "You said you were learning a trade right? What exactly is it?"  He asked.

" I'm into cakes and pastries but mostly cakes for different occasions", I replied.

"Wow, that sounds great. Have you made anyone yet?"

"Yes. It was my first cake, my boss did not like the color I used but mine had the best taste"

"Just so you know, I love eating cakes and chocolate cakes are my favorite. By the way, what kind of cake did you make?"

"It was a chocolate cake"

"Really? Can I see a picture of it?"

I hurriedly went to my gallery and sent the picture to him.

He kept praising me and it felt really good. We kept talking with each other on daily basis irrespective of the time difference, we made out time to talk at least one hour a day.

Two months later, we were just talking about his work, and then he said, " Ukpono, will you be my girlfriend?"

"What!" I know this is what I had always wanted but I refused to get my hopes up. I had to act naive, I needed to pretend I didn't want this to make it more believable. If I didn't do that then he might get the clue that he was just dancing to the tune I wanted. "I don't understand, I thought you'd want this?" He asked, "Scott, being your girlfriend is not a bad thing at all for me, the problem is that I don't want to develop feelings for a guy whom the chances of ever meeting in person are one in a million, so my answer is no, I'm sorry but I can't be your girlfriend", I replied.

He sent a disappointed emoji and I really felt bad for him but it was better that way. If I had quickly said yes, I don't know what would have happened to me, I had to find a way to make him assist me.

Even after saying no to him, we were still good friends. We kept talking with each other on daily basis as usual. There was no awkwardness between us, it's like he never asked me to be his girlfriend.

Things started changing, he was rarely online again, for weeks he never replied to my messages. I was confused, I didn't know what happened, if he wasn't going to talk he should have known. The following day, I saw his message, he apologized saying that he was really busy at work and didn't have time for himself so I forgave him.

"Honey, when is your birthday? I'd love to get you something special", Scott said.

"my birthday had long passed, it was on the 25th of January", I replied.

"oh too bad. Anyways, I can prepare for next year, I have 3 months to prepare. what do you need? iPhone, money, jewelry, I'll give you anything you want to the best of my abilities"

"no honey, I don't need your money or any of those things you mentioned. There's only one thing I need from you".

This was the opportunity I was waiting for.

''What is it you need? Tell me, I'll give you'', he seemed so eager to please me. Now that things were happening in my favor, I was not going to let the opportunity slip through my fingers. '' wait, I think I may know what you need, I would prepare your Visa so you can come to visit me. How about that?''

'' not bad. I'm just 16, there is no way my parents would let me come over to America just to 'see a friend' they'll need something more convincing and besides the transportation fee is quite expensive'', I said and added a sad emoji.

''So what are you trying to say now?'' Scott asked, he sounded annoyed.

'' can you please give me time to come up with something, a day or two?'' I asked

The following day, I gave him my 'brilliant idea'. ''There is a way I could come over and my family would never have a problem, in fact, they'll be so happy to see me go''.

''ok, tell me''

'' I want to study there ''

'' honey, that is not a problem, of course, I can do that, you'll study at the University of Houston ''

'' One more thing, I don't just want to study there, I want to get a scholarship. can you do that for me?''

'' Yeah, I have friends who can help me, 3 months. Give me 3 months and I'll get you everything, passport, boarding pass, everything you could possibly need.''

I was elated, this is it. My dream. My ambition. My life. It felt too good to be true, I felt like I was dreaming.

Come January, I'll be saying bye-bye to Africa.

No matter what happened, I refused to tell anyone about this, not even my little brother who I tell all my secrets. I wanted to surprise them when I show them my documents, I had already planned my speech. The following day, I didn't get any message from Scott, same with the following days. I assumed he was chocked up with work and wasn't free. Two weeks, three weeks, a month, nothing. I couldn't believe it, that night I cried myself to sleep, I couldn't believe that I fell for an imposter. This person created a fake identity and I stupidly believed him, I worshipped and adored him, I took him as my savior. I hated myself for not being able to see through him, I hated him for deceiving me. I wanted to block him but a tiny part of me was still hopeful, I still prayed and believed that it's just a misunderstanding and that he will come back apologizing.

It was a cold November morning, the harmattan season was severe, I was on my way to where I did my training, I decided to download a song my sister was talking about. As soon as I switched on my mobile data, a notification from messenger popped up on my screen, I clicked on it and almost dropped my phone in shock. A message from Scott Mills! I almost screamed in excitement inside the bus but I contained my happiness.

He said his phone had some issues so he couldn't get in touch, I asked about the scholarship and he said he was still working on it.

I was scared he was fake, it was all fake.