“Yes but it’s not what you think—there’s…there’s nothing going on between us.” I lied.
“Nothing? what do you take me for, a fool?! ” he barked.
“Listen dear, Somto and I are just friends but he has a huge crush on me that’s why he keeps sending me love text messages, I’ve warned him several times to stop sending me such messages because I already have a boyfriend but he has refused to stop.” I burst into tears to make him feel sorry for me and it worked to an extent. He calmed down “Why didn’t you tell me? why did you lie about him being your cousin?”
“Because I didn’t want to cause any trouble between you guys—but I swear, there’s nothing going on between us. why do you think I never replied any of his text messages?”(luckily for me, I do not reply text messages, just whatsapp messages and calls, it’s a habit I developed in secondary school)
“I never saw any reply.” he muttered.
“So you see—I’m not cheating on you.” I said sobbing.
He heaved a sigh of relief and placed his hand on my shoulder “I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have jumped into conclusions like that.I’m really sorry baby please forgive me.” He enveloped me in his arms and I embraced him warmly. ‘Phew—narrow escape’ I thought.
I pulled out of the embrace and poked his nose playfully. “Don’t ever doubt me again.”
“I won’t I promise, can I walk you home?”
I wanted to say yes immediately then I remembered that Somto was waiting for me outside my hostel according to his text. If Chuks met him there, hell would definitely break loose so I smiled and said “No baby—don’t bother, I can go home myself, I’ll call you later.” I kissed him and we parted ways.
I heaved a sigh of relief ‘that was so close, really really close!’ I muttered to myself. ‘I have to be more careful next time, I may not be able to talk myself out of trouble next time.I’m running out of lies to tell.’
I looked back to make sure Chuks wasn’t following me because I had seen many movies in which a jealous boyfriend secretly follows his girlfriend home and catches her red-handed with another guy. I didn’t want that to be my case, Chuks could never find out about Somto and vice versa. But having told Chuks that Somto was bothering me (which was a lie), I feared that he would confront him whenever and wherever he saw him again. I could imagine him running into Somto on campus and asking him ‘why do you keep texting my girlfriend even after she told you she has a boyfriend?’ or ‘why are you pestering my girl when she has made it clear to you that she doesn’t want you?’ I sincerely prayed that nothing like that would ever happen. the last thing I wanted was to be stuck in the middle of a brawl between two guys.
When I got to my hostel, Somto was sitting outside. He smiled the moment he saw me and I smiled awkwardly in return. “How long have you been waiting?”
“About twenty minutes.”
“Sorry about that—can I make it up to you?”
“Yeah.” he smiled seductively “You can make it up to me by having lunch with me.”
I giggled “you’re such a charmer. I’ll go with you but please let’s not go too far from here, infact there’s a nice restaurant at the shopping complex behind this hostel—let’s go there.” I said hastily, pulling his arm.
“hold on miss—why don’t you wanna go somewhere nice with me, are you ashamed of being seen with me in public?” he feigned annoyance.
“No not at all—I just feel very tired, I can’t go far.” I caressed his hand.
“OK, we’ll go wherever you like.”
At the restaurant, we ran into my best friend Sonia and her boyfriend Chris. Sonia and I had drifted apart since the beginning of our second year. “Hi.” I greeted her awkwardly. She rolled her eyes. “Can we talk—Somto give me a minute.” I said ignoring her rudeness. “OK, Chris give me a minute.” she scoffed.
We walked outside together. “I guess you and that Chuks guy didn’t work out…your new guy is cute though. isn’t he the one you were crazy about in secondary school?”
“Chuks and I…” I shrugged “well we haven’t really broken broken up.”
She widened her eyes in surprise “So that guy in there isn’t your boyfriend…hmm too bad.”
“He is.”
“I don’t understand…you’re still with Chuks right? ”
“Yes—it’s complicated.”
“So you’re dating two guys at the same time?” she twisted her lips in disgust “I may have lost my virginity at a young age but at least I never double dated, what you’re doing is absolutely horrible and unfair. I can’t stand cheaters, I’m going back inside.” She eyed me and walked back in. I was quite surprised, I thought Sonia was way worse than me but even she didn’t support my decision to keep the two boys I loved in my life.
When I got back inside, I was in a foul mood. I didn’t touch my food, I was in deep thought. “Baby what’s wrong?” Somto asked concerned. “Nothing I just lost my appetite.”
“Did your friend say something bad outside?”
“No, it has nothing to do with her—I’m sorry can we go home?”
He looked really upset “Fine.” he said without looking at me “I need to study anyway.” We left the restaurant and he walked me back to my hostel without saying a word to me. Sonia stared at us angrily as we walked out, I wondered what was running through her mind. I thought she would be happy to find out that I finally got Somto, afterall she was one of the few people who knew about my feelings for him in secondary school. It would have probably been better if I told her that Chuks and I were over, now she knew my secret and we weren’t even friends anymore. ‘What if she told Chuks?’ I thought in horror.
Jane double dating no good for you