Chapter 3: Chapter 3

: HONEY

→Narrator: ASA

"I'm so sorry." The voice said.

And I froze.

That voice. That accent. That European accent, weathered down a bit from spending a whole year in Nigeria, that coated his words, making them sound so much more exotic than just words.

That was how I knew who it was before I even had to look.

Kam... Of course, that's not his full name. He was Kamsiyochukwu De Angeles. But he showed up at our school last year as the new kid, declaring that everyone called him Kam. With his bright, intriguing personality, he got sucked immediately into the popular crowd.

He had bronze skin, setting him apart from most of us, a testament to his part Caucasian heritage. That mop of chocolate brown hair that was uniquely his and a face that belonged on a canvas or a sketchpad. A face that people would pay millions to see at a museum. So artistically imperfect that all the flaws looked perfect. High cheekbones, mischievous eyes, dimpled cheeks, enigmatic smile was a summary of who Kam was.

"It's okay." I murmured, as I squeezed the hem of my skirt, and sighing at the hideous pink stain.

I looked up at him, sighing in frustration, only to find out that he was already looking at me. Frozen in static shock.

I froze too... Electricity, zapping my spine. I'd never been so close to him before. Never seen him upfront. Always from a distance. A lump, the size of a planet lodged in my throat, threatening to choke the air out of me. He was looking at me... Like he knew me. Like he recognized me. Large, bright honey irises, swallowing his dark pupils.

Suddenly, as if snapping out of whatever had entranced him, he shook his head, curls of mahogany and chocolate, bouncing off his face. He blinked at me. "Sorry for the... Uh... Awkward stare down." He flashed that cute, sunny smile at me, rubbing the back of his neck. "You..." He frowned, dropped his hand, sinking back into his thoughts as something like remorse, eclipsed the personified sun, in front of me. "Y... You... Remind me of someone."

I rolled my eyes. He probably used that line on every girl he met.

"I... I... Know you," He said, "I've seen you before... At school."

"Yeah. We go to the same school. I see you around too."

"I'm really sorry for spilling your drink."

"It's fine. Really."

"No it's not." He insisted, his accent, curling over the 'n' and omitting the 't'. "Let me get you another drink."

"No, really. It's fine." I averted my eyes from those warm brown eyes. The colour of creamy chocolate. Of brushes of honey and cognac.

"Hey. It's the least I can do after spilling your drink. Please don't say no. I'll buy for your friend too?" Dimples flashed shamelessly as he blessed me with that goofy grin I'd only ever seen from afar. Never close up.

Something about his happy grin made me scowl and want to wipe it off his face. Like he was so sure I'd give in to that smile.

"Seriously. I'm fi-oof."

Kosi just kicked me in the shin.

"She means she's fine with it," She said hastily. "Don't you?" She turned to me, winking at me so fast, an epileptic patient had nothing on her.

"Err. No, actually, I meant- Ouch! Kosi. What the hell?!"

She kicked me again. Harder this time.

"Excuse me a minute, let me have a word with my friend." She smiled apologetically, turning away from Kam and pulling me along with her.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I hissed at her.

"Setting you up." She clarified. "Don't fuck this up."

"I'm not interested." I told her. "And neither is he. That's Kam, Kosi. Kam!"

"Duh?!" She rolled her eyes. "And he's offering to buy you a drink not asking for your hand in marriage. Don't be such a spoiled brat."

"Me?" I spluttered. "Spoiled brat?"

"Look." She sighed, massaging her temples like I was giving her a headache. "He's just being polite, offering to buy you a drink after spilling yours. The least you can do is take up his offer."

"If I end up drugged, raped and murdered, I'm haunting you for the rest of your life."

"I love you too, sweetie." She blew a kiss at me, turning back towards Kam who was looking at us with a funny curious expression, his head cocked to the side as he observed us whispering together.

"Have you finished plotting my demise?" He asked playfully, those warm brown eyes twinkling.

"Yes. You get to pick your poison. I promise it'll be painless." Kosi laughed, adopting a flirty tone.

"Funny, I remember this one time, back in the UK. My guys thought it would be funny to put Tramadol in my drink."

"No way!" Kosi gasped, slapping her mouth. A childlike shock in her dark brown eyes.

"Yes way!" He responded, easing into a conversation with her.

I sighed at how easily she could strike up and maintain a conversation so easily with someone she hasn't even spoken to before.

She led the way, chatting easily with Kam and I found myself fading away in the background. As always... Always fading. Always blurring.

I sat on the barstool and waited miserably as the bar tender mixed our drinks.

"So, my name's Kam." He introduced.

"I'm Kosi... But you probably already know that." She smiled that smile that have reduced boys to putty in her hands.

When everywhere went silent, I looked up at the both of them, only to find them blinking at me.

"What?" I asked, sipping the drink the bartender had handed to me. Nearly choking at the tangy fruity taste.

Kosi face-palmed whispering ever-so-obviously. "Your name, genius!"

"It's Asa." I grunted, rolling my eyes and twisting my face as I sipped the awful sour drink again.

This wasn't what I wanted. This wasn't where I wanted to be. But when did what I want ever matter to anyone?

"Asa." He tasted my name like one tasted sweet things. The way he said it was not the way it was meant to be pronounced. He made it sound softer. More desirable.

"No. Asa." I corrected. "Emphasis on the second half. It's short for Asachi."

"Asa." He repeated. Still not getting the pronunciation right, because his accent wouldn't allow it. I sighed, deciding to let it go.

"You're Igbo?" He asked suddenly, perking up in his seat.

I looked up at the unexpected question. Right into his eyes... And I gasped. Because he was looking at me. Right at me... I suddenly felt self conscious.

"Yes. I'm Igbo. What of it?"

He grinned. And I was starting to realize he grinned a lot, tilting his head to the side a little so that his hair flopped over his forehead, those honey brown eyes never leaving mine as if he was trying really hard to understand something.

I blanked under his intense scrutiny.

"Nothing." He said finally, shrugging. "It's just that you don't look it."

"I don't look it?"

"Yeah. You don't look Igbo."

I rolled my eyes. "And how do Igbos look?"

"Well for starters, they look strong at first glance. Kind of tough and unstoppable. Like Kosi here for instance."

"So I look weak?" I arched an offended eyebrow.

His eyes focused on mine in concentration as if mesmerized by every detail. As if he was looking at me. Looking right at me and seeing my insides. Turning it this way and that in his head. I struggled to maintain his gaze.

"At first, yeah." He said softly, looking down at the glass cup in his hands, as if deep in thoughts. "But no. At first glance you look vulnerable... Like something that needs to be taken care of. I didn't see the strength until I saw your eyes. And even then, I didn't see raw brutal strength. It was softer. More gentle and more enduring. The type of strength that could suffer for years but never speak of it's pain. The kind of strength that'd die for a loved one. Yeah, that kind of strength. The strength of a queen."

All the breath got sucked out of my lungs. I suddenly felt very naked. Very bare. Like a deer caught in headlights, transfixed at a point.

I tried avoiding his gaze but I was beginning to understand that was an impossible feat. Those honey eyes where magnetic.

He wrinkled his face and looked at his drink in frustration. "Shit, I'm spouting poetic stuff." He laughed at himself. It was a deep rumbling laughter that held you and forced you to join in it's joy.

"So um yeah. You look like a Fulani queen, to be exact."

"Fulani?" I spluttered.

"It's true."

Fulani. That ethnic group that has been rumoured to be blessed with the most beautiful African women. It didn't help that all the fulani boys and girls at our school looked like they were descended from gods and goddesses.

I look like that?

"I'm not Fulani. I assure you. Maybe my mother's part of the family may have some fulani blood, but my dad was... Is purely Igbo." I quickly corrected. Hoping they didn't notice my slip up.

I sipped more of my drink, starting to like the burn on my lips and tongue. The light headedness I was feeling. "So... Umm... What are you?"

He leaned into his chair, dimples punctuating his face as he smiled that smile that reached his eyes. Captivating. Glaringly positive. "I'm a lot of things." He said. "But I guess I'll be Nigerian today."

I was about to tell him he couldn't be 'Nigerian'. He had to claim his ethnicity, but I got interrupted.

"Yo! Kam!" Someone called from the pool area.

Kam raised his head at the person.

"We're heading out! You coming?!"

My heart sank into my stomach. I held my cup in my hands to disguise my trembling fingers, bringing it to my lips, trying to hide my disappointment.

He laughed, downing the rest of his drink and standing up to stretch. "My friends and I are heading out. It hurts to admit but I just threw the lamest party in the history of the academy. Word says the one at the beach is more fun than this. You coming?"

I blinked at him once. Twice. Before his words registered in my brain. "You want me to come with you?"

"Actually, the both of you. If you want."

It was then I realized that I had unintentionally left Kosi out of our discussion. I looked at her now and she was staring at me. Then at Kam. Then back at me. And I knew that look in her face. That conniving crafty little look of hers.

It was the look of her trying to hook me up with someone for the gazillionth time.

"I'm kind of bored too." She got up and yawned, stretching, so her crop top rode even higher, exposing more of her toned stomach, stopping right under her full breasts. "Let's go."

"Woah woah woah. Hell no. I never said I was going."

"What? You want to stay here?" She asked.

"No."

"Then come with. The night is still young. And we're heading to the beach. You always talked about how you wanted to see what the beach looked at midnight. Well, now's your chance!"

"I hate the fact that you know me so well." I frowned, knowing I couldn't win an argument with Kosi.

"C'mon." She moved over to me, hugging me to herself. I caught a whiff of her strawberry perfume. "You love me."

I do.

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