Chapter 13: Chapter 13

~"Hmm," I moan as I savour the taste of water. My walk in the desert has drained my entire energy and the water dripping on me is a blessing from above. I open my mouth to take more but it ceases. "No, come bac―" SPLASH!~

I sit up in shock. My pyjama top is clinging to my body, cold and wet.

"Happy birthday!" Nes, Alex and Jason shout in unison. Nes is holding a pink bucket and laughing hysterically.

"Did you get that?" Jason asks Alex whose head is thrown back in laughter.

"All of it," he replies. That's when I realise that Alex has been holding a camera all this while.

"Show it to her," Nes chirps and he turns it to face me. If the person on the screen was not me, I would laugh my head off at what they are doing. The video shows me mumbling rubbish as Nes sprinkles water on me. Blessing from above indeed. When I seem too reluctant to wake up, she dumps the entire bucket on me. Thank God they don't know what I was dreaming about.

"You guys are crazy!" I shout but that only adds to the amusement as Jason goes to sit on my study chair to avoid falling. My face contorts in shame. I don't even know what to do; laugh, cry, bury my head in the ground? What!

"Look at my bed," my voice comes out like that of a toddler whining about her candy. Alex finally succumbs and drops to the ground. Nes, who was in tears and clutching her stomach to calm herself, bursts into another fit of laughter and bends down. I don't realise I have been smiling until a chuckle leaves my lips.

"Happy birthday to you―what happened here?" aunt Oya asks, looking around. She is carrying a small round cake with a candle in the middle.

Nes throws the bucket on me saying, "your birthday present." Really? Mum and dad trail behind aunt Oya.

"Kids. Did you have to wet the entire place?" Dad questions, smacking Jason, who is closest to him, in the head.

"Good question, dad," I add, stepping off the bed to blow out the candle.

"What did you wish for?" Nes asks and I give her a stolid look. "A life with quieter versions of you three," I offer the usual answer I give whenever anyone of the triplets asks me what I wished for.

Alex shakes his head in mock pity. "The heavens must hate you then." Oh Lord.

"Alex!" mum warns as the others laugh.

"What? She's wished this same thing for ever and it’s never to pass," he defends.

"Why do you guys look like one person?" I ask as I observe the triplets' matching outfit. Grey joggers with white tank tops.

"Maybe because we are triplets?" Jason answers matter-of-factly.

"So, let the birthday begin!" aunt Oya declares. "Right after you return from school, that is."

Ugh, school.

***

"Happy birthday Bella!" Mary shouts as she runs into our house wearing a hot pink ball gown with her hair held up in a large bun.

"Happy birthday Mary!" I shout as well, spreading my arm to embrace her. "You look great," I compliment and she turns around in delight.

"Why aren't you dressed up?" she asks, looking at my grey joggers and black tank top. Yeah, they shoved mine in my face when we got home from school. We took multiple pictures with our matching outfits.

"I was going to before you walked in," I tell her. "Come on, the girl army is waiting for us in my room," I say gesturing for her to follow me.

She laughs and asks, "girl army?"

"Yeah, with weapons of brushes and eyeliners and mascara, just name it," I joke and she laughs as we head for my room.

Twenty minutes later, I am all dressed up in a short black dress, stopping a few inches above my knees. Looking into the mirror, I smile at my reflection. There is so much make-up on my face but I love it. Kudos to Lima. The waist length wig on my head is cascading down my shoulders and back; Nes' choice. The grey chunky heeled shoes and bag are my choice.

"Here's your choker," Nes hands me a bold choker to complement the off-shoulder neckline of my dress. "Where's your phone anyway?" she asks and my heart drops. My phone. I purse my glossy lips, thinking of what to say.

"I lost it," I sigh, finally letting the truth out.

Nes has a surprised expression on her face and, contrary to my expectations of her laughing at me, she asks, "do you know how much that phone costs?"

"Tell me about it, Nes," I say solemnly and she huffs. Mum almost dissuaded uncle Friday from giving me the phone but he was insistent. I don't know him much but he seems to be one of the people who played with me lot when I was little because he never stops talking about how I emptied a whole pack of cereals on him while we were playing.

"What are we going to do now?" Nes asks, looking at each person in the face.

Melody shrugs, "wait."

"Till?" Alice asks, folding her arms. Since no one has the answer to that, I decide it’s time to go downstairs even though I’m nervous that someone might find out about my missing phone and how the celebration will go.

As soon as Mary and I get to the edge of the stairs to start our descent, the people downstairs start singing our birthday song. She holds my hand as we walk down to meet the people who have come to celebrate with us. I see a few unknown faces and realise they must be Mary's relatives.

"Oh my God, I love your EVERYTHING," Titi exclaims as soon as I am within earshot. I grin as we embrace.

"I am definitely asking you out," someone whispers into my ear from behind and I whirl around to see Osita. Typical Ossy.

"What a way to say you look dashing," I comment, casually slapping his arm. He feigns pain and I chuckle. Just then, the door opens and Jasper walks in carrying two paper bags.

I am surprised at myself when my heart begins to race. When he closes the door behind him, I frown in confusion. Where is she? A feeling of shame fills my mind as I realise, I was actually nervous about meeting his girlfriend. Jealous, actually.

"Ene," Kemi whispers, appearing beside me with Tosin, a friend of hers, by her side.

"Yeah?" I turn to her, momentarily distracted.

"Who’s that?" I already know she is referring to Jasper. The looks on both their faces show that they are infatuated by him.

"Oh my world, those steel blue eyes...killer!" Tosin breathes with a smoky voice. His eyes are steel blue? How did she know that shade of blue anyway?

"And the hair," Kemi draws out inhaling loudly. I almost choke. Jealousy stings me deep inside but don't ask me why. Before I can say a word, he walks up to me, a taunting look on his face.

"Happy birthday," he says, putting on a childish grin. Oh gosh, this is so embarrassing. I notice him sneakily sizing me up and I feel the heat rush up my cheeks. I find myself unconsciously patting my gown to smoothen out unseen wrinkles.

"Uh, Jasper, meet Kemi and Tosin, my friends from Church." Something flickers in his eyes as they land back on me. "Girls, this is Jasper, my..." the words hook in my throat as I realise, I don't even know who Jasper is to me. What I consider him as. His brows lift slightly as he waits to hear his position in my life.

Why is it so hard to think up a word?

"...my friend," I finally say and to my surprise, he starts laughing, muttering 'nice to meet you, ladies' to the girls before walking past us to meet his mum.

"Jasper." Kemi's dreamy eyes follow him before she turns to me. "Is he your boyfriend?" What?!

"I thought you said you don't have a boyfriend?" Tosin fires before I even get the chance to answer Kemi.

"Maybe they just started dating," Kemi asserts.

"Girls!" I exclaim before another person bombards me with another abominable talk about me and Jasper. "We are not dating," I say.

"Mmhmmm," Kemi starts and Tosin takes over, "myy friend," she draws out, mimicking my voice and I huff in defeat.

"Hey, birthday girl, how about we celebrate this in a special way on Friday?" Patrick suggests as he come to present his gift and I laugh. "Here's yours, Mary," he says, handing her a wrapped box. We are both standing in front of our cakes that we just cut.

"Wait, how did you know it is her birthday today?" I ask, surprised that he gave her a gift.

"Her brother, Jasper, told me. He's my friend." Shock registers on my face. Of course, he knows everyone in town. Patrick is my cousin who lives here in Lagos with his parents. He came earlier in the day with his luggage to stay with us because his parents travelled abroad for business.

"What do you say about the party?" he asks and I shake my head.

"I can't.

His shoulders drop and he rolls his eyes.

"Really? Why not?"

The expression on my face gives him his answer and he smiles and walks away. Everyone gives us their gifts and the party continues. But someone is missing. Jasper. Looking at Mary, I realise I am not the only one looking for him.

"Have you seen Jasper?" she asks, walking up to me.

"No, she hasn't," a voice comes from behind and we whirl around to see Jasper standing with two gift bags in hand. She runs to him and he hands her a bag. They hug and she skips off to meet their parents. I mentally smile at her cuteness before turning to see Jasper walking towards me.

"Your gift," he states but instead of giving it to me, he pulls his hand back and motions with his head for us to go outside. I don't respond so he grabs my arm with his free hand and pulls me towards the back door.

"What kind of a gift requires you to drag me outside the comfort of my house?" I ask as we stop close to the flower bed behind my house.

"The kind I am about to give you," he replies, not looking at me. All of sudden, I become conscious of my surroundings.

"Where's your girlfriend?" I blurt and his expression turns to one of surprise and disappointment. I immediately feel like I just ruined the moment with the question. The yellow marigolds suddenly become interesting to look at.

He hands me the bag and motions for me to open it. Weird thoughts begin to pile up in my head but what I see in the bag takes me by surprise. The exact model of my missing phone. I almost pass out. My heart could rip out of my chest right now.

How did he even know the model of my phone?

"Where did you find it?" I ask in astonishment.

"In a ditch." Okay, what? "And when I picked it up, I saw a pack nearby and decided hey, why don't I make it look new?" He has a catatonic look on his face. I huff in annoyance and slap his arm when I realise he’s being sarcastic.

"Where did you get the money for this? It's a hundred and twenty thousand naira," I say. I still cannot believe he bought the phone. With a new customized case; the only feature that is different from the last phone.

"Twenty-five. A hundred and twenty-five thousand naira," he corrects, worsening my case.

"And before you start thinking I stole the money, I didn't, okay? I earned it," he expounds but that only heightens my confusion. I was actually thinking along the lines of his parents gave him but thinking of it now, it's stupid. His parents cannot just part with such a huge amount of money like that.

"Jasper―" he does not let me finish.

"I work, Bella." One of the times he has called me by my real name. A drop of water lands on my arm and I look up to see thin puffs of clouds floating across the evening sky. I take off for the back porch but Jasper holds my arm.

"Hey, it's just a light drizzle!" he exclaims.

"I don't care. I'm raino-phobic," I stop the moment I realise the rubbish I just uttered.

"That's a thing?" he asks before bursting into laughter. I pull the strands of my hair forward to cover the embarrassment written all over my face.

"I'm sorry," he says as the mirth subsides.

Looking up at him, I decide to bring back the forgotten topic. "Where do you work?"

"You know, the normal thing to say at this point is thank you," he points out and I roll my eyes.

"Do your parents know about this?" At the question, he barks out a short laugh and shakes his head.

"I’m not like you, Audrey. I don't only have church friends." Idiot.

I scowl, "what’s that supposed to mean?"

"It means that, unlike you, I don't hide under the wings of my parents all the time. And go to church every time," he jives, much to my embarrassment.

"And who said I hide under my parents' wings?" I ask, ignoring the church part and trying to look strong. He smirks and inches closer to me. His perfume is almost choking me even though it’s not so strong.

"Oh Audrey, we both know you're a big baby. Too cute to disobey mummy and daddy," he taunts, much to my annoyance.

"Is that a challenge?" The words slip out before I know it. I also move closer to him with a challenging expression. We are now dangerously close.

"Can you handle it?" he whispers, casually sizing me up with his gaze.

My eyes expand when I realise how close we are. Shit! I am now trapped here, all as a result of my attempt at being strong. Oh God.

He leans in.