𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚊

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚒𝚟𝚎

Liguanea| St. Andrew|

He drove about 15 minutes and soon he turn into Liguanea Plaza and found a parking spot. We got out of the car and I followed him into Starbucks.

"What do you want?" He asked finally paying attention to me.

"Ummm I'll have a White Mocha Iced Coffee please."

He nodded and I went to find a seat. The place wasn't very full so I took the farthest seat in the corner and sat in the booth section.

ZJ soon got the drinks and came to sit in seat before me. He handed me mine before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Ready to talk?" He asked, looking directly at me. Afraid I'd choke on my drink, I just nodded yes.

"Yeah, you were pretty drunk. But don't worry, nothing bad happened."

I breathed a small sigh of relief, glad to hear that I hadn't done anything too embarrassing or stupid.

"So, what did happen?" I asked, curious and a little bit nervous about what he was going to say.

ZJ took a deep breath and began to recount the events of the previous night. He told me about how we had been talking, well mostly me because I was drunk off my ass. He explained how he and Asia had tried taking care of me when I was drunk but they were intoxicated as well, and how he had brought me to his room because all the guest rooms had people in them. Also how we had kissed and touched each other, but how he had stopped things before they went too far.

As he spoke, I listened intently, my heart pounding in my chest. I couldn't believe that he had been kind enough to try and take care of me. My crush on him was big, but he had always seemed aloof and distant, never really showing any interest in me.

When he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence between us. I sipped my drink nervously, trying to find the right words to say.

"I'm sorry," I finally said. "I didn't mean to get so drunk and make things complicated. I'm not a big drinker but when I do it never ends well."

ZJ shook his head, his dark eyes staring into mine. "You don't have to apologize. I saw Liam giving you a bunch of drinks, if anything he should be apologizing to you."

"He already did. Called me to ensure I got home safely and apologized."

He nodded in acknowledgement and a wave of silence took over the table as we sipped on our drinks.

"Wah bout your girlfriend though? I imagine she's not the type to be okay with another girl around har man, especially based off the hostile vibe she gave off last night when you picked me up."

"Girlfriend? Mi nuh keep dem sumn deh. I'm assuming you mean Melissa though, not my girlfriend. Mi and har bro cool so she always deh round mi. Kinda annoying but mi nuh too mek it bother me. Plus she's hostile with every female, she's insecure like that," he replied shrugging his shoulder.

Well there goes any chance of a relationship, such man nuh do the girlfriend sumn.

"Oh."

We fell back into silence.

After we finished our drinks, we left the place and he brought me back the house.

***
University of Technology| Papine|
Wednesday, September 28, 2022

"Him soon wife u eno... watch and see," Asia laughed as I recounted the events of Sunday night.

It was Wednesday afternoon and we were on campus waiting on Liam to join us.

"Girl stop the foolishness. He said and I quote 'Mi nuh keep dem sumn deh'. U feel the man ago wife nuh body? Plus do you see his lifestyle? Yute a drive a Benz... in a college. Mi cyan match dem style deh."

"First of all the man carry u out. Mi know ZJ like a year now and I've never seen or heard of him asking a female out, always just Melissa hitch up behind him. The fact that he not only came to your house but told you to dress appropriately then proceeded to carry to get Starbucks, which he paid for, is a big thing. He went out of his way to clear up any misconceptions about what happened at the party... best believe unu soon deh. Mi nah ask Christ."

"Who soon deh?" Liam's voice interrupted us as he came to sit beside us, along with Milly.

I was about to change the topic but Asia proceeded to tell them everything. The look on their faces was honestly funny.

"ZJ? U sure a ZJ pick u up?" Milly asked.

"No, a rass duppy come fimi."

"U sure u neva did a dream?" Liam asked "Cause my fren nuh too partake in a dem sumn deh eno."

The break continue with them asking questions and trying to make sense of the situation. Seems what ZJ did is really out of character for him.

--

When I got home I received a notification that Asia added me to a groupchat with another person. I had no idea who it was so but they were already talking so I decided to text and introduce myself. As I typed out my introduction message, I couldn't help but feel a little nervous. I wondered if this person knew Asia personally, or if they were a complete stranger like me. After a few moments, I hit send and waited anxiously for a reply. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the other person to respond.

"Hi there! I'm Heidi. Nice to meet you," the message read.

Relieved that the other person seemed friendly, I quickly replied with my own 'nice to meet you'. We exchanged a few more messages, and I learned that Heidi was a friend of Asia's and the others from school.

As we chatted, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the opportunity to continue meeting new people. In the age of social media and technology, it's easy to get caught up in our own bubbles and forget about the world outside of our screens.

Before I knew it, the conversation in the group chat had shifted to planning a get-together for the three of us. I felt excited at the prospect of meeting Heidi in person, she seems so cool over the phone.

But you can never make good judgements over the phone, so mi waan meet har in person fi see if the vibe still deh bout...

--

We took our time deciding when and where to meet up, considering how busy we were with school. We wanted to make the most of our limited free time and have a fun time together, without any guys around to ruin the vibe of a girls' day out. Even though our schedules were crazy, we were determined to find the perfect time and place to hang out and enjoy each other's company. Excitedly, we made arrangements to spend the night at Asia's house, looking forward to a fun-filled evening of games, movies, and late-night snacks. With our plans firmly in place, we eagerly counted down the days until the slumber party.

***