Safina Madina

13. Prom

I walk towards the stage as people parted aside to clear a path for me. All eyes are on me as I hear them murmur. I stare back at them as I stand on stage. The girl presenter places a cheap silver tiara on my head.
"We present you, your Prom Queen and King" the crowd cheer and some chant the prom king's name. The king goes offstage but I stay back.
"Excuse me" I say to the presenter. "I'd like to say a few words"
"You aren't expected to, it's not necessary " she says confused. I nod.
"I want to, I'm going to, the mic please" I say defiantly and she puts the mic on my outstretched palm.
I put the microphone back on its stand.
I take a deep breath as I close my eyes.
"Hello" I croak. I clear my throat. "Hello" I say with more confidence. This draws the people's attention back to me.
"I didn't expect to win actually, well I expected to win before today then stuff happened and I thought my name would be cancelled. If stuff hadn't happened I would have just accepted this crown and said thank you and left the stage. ........Well stuff happened. As you all know there are some naked pictures going around the internet that are allegedly mine. I could stand here denying they are not mine but I'm going to talk about something else instead. These photos were released by someone I considered a brother. Someone who I've known all my life. We dated. And we broke up. I decided to end the relationship but I had every intention to keep things cordial. So I guess he got angry. But he doesn't own me. I wanted to get out of a relationship that I saw no future in. This is his revenge. To tarnish my reputation. Well I don't care. The only thing he tarnished is the respect I have for him. God knows those pictures are not mine and at the end of the day. We're here in this world because of God. You don't matter to me. Your opinions do not matter. I'm not the opinion of people that don't know me. And I just want to ask. What do we gain by embarrassing or ridiculing others? What's the end goal of doing that? Sometimes we are threatened by people and their joy and confidence. We see them doing something we want to do but we have no confidence to achieve that. So we bring them down. If we're not winning then no one should win right. Is that the motto? ....well all I can say is now that I know where I stand with the world and him,Yaqub, I feel clean. I can be a better person. The best version of me. And I will live my life how I want. And whoever hates on me. That means I'm doing something right and you're paying attention. Goodluck with your lives and I hope we learn to mind our business. And Yaqub, if you see this, know that the game isn't over. No one does revenge like me" the room was silent as I delivered my speech. Some were recording on their phones. I'm probably going to be the topic on social media today. And believe me it won't stop them from insulting me more. You can never satisfy people. But I couldn't keep quiet.

"That was a nice speech" a voice behind me says. I am seated alone while my friends danced. I'm not in the mood to dance. Besides I'm already thinking about the punishment I'll get when I return home from my mother for sneaking out. I turn around and see Al-Amin dressed in a sharp well tailored navy blue suit. Perfection. The only words to describe how he looks. I couldn't help but smile ear to ear.
"Thankyou" I say shyly.
"I love your suit, you look like a movie star" I compliment him. He smiles.
"Well I am a movie star, I'm Leonardo DiCaprio , the jack to your rose " he jokes.
"You know he dies at the end right, in freezing water if I might add" I say. He realizes that it wasn't that nice of a comparison.
"Romeo and Juliet then" He says hopefully.
"They kill themselves" I say. He grunts.
"Give me a break" he gives up. I laugh.
"But honestly though, why are you dressed up?" I say after my laughter came to a stop.
" I figured you needed a date after all these people made you feel uncomfortable. And you need to dance at your prom. And I'm the perfect dance partner. " says Al-Amin.
"I can dance on my own. I don't need you to save me" I say. He crouches in front of me and takes my hands in his hands.
" I know you don't need me to save you. But I need you to save me. I love you. And I want to dance with you. There's no day that I don't dream of having you back with me. I want us to be together forever. And I know you have your doubts. I would too if I were you. But give me a chance. I love you. I was stupid back then. I didn't believe in love. I thought It was a sign of weakness so I let you go. But I feel my strongest when I see you. I can't imagine my life without you. You're everything I want and need. I'm never going to stop trying to get you back. I love you Safina. So please would you dance with me?" He pleads. Words like this make me weak. I'm a hopeless romantic. And I trust people too much. I believe all they say. But look at what Yaqub did to me. He swore he loved me. But why would you ever do that to someone you love. What he did has the possibility of ruining my life. Yes I broke his heart. Not even sure he even did love me the way he said he did. He's just mad that he got dumped. So no I didn't break his heart. I got out of a loveless situationship. And I want to follow my heart. My heart wants Al-Amin. But I have doubts. Because I know I love him with everything and I'm afraid that if I give him everything and I end up losing him. I'd end up with nothing. I'd never love like I loved him again. And I want to reserve that love. I'm too young to be tapped dry out of love.
" I don't like the crazy song that's playing" I say. He looks surprised. Maybe he didn't except that answer.
"You want a slow song?" He asks enthusiastically.
"Not necessarily. Something milder. I don't want my first prom dance to be with terry g. That isn't a story I'd want to tell our grandkids " I say. He smiles. Then I realized my slip up.
"I mean my grandkids" I correct myself.
" if you say so, I'll go ask for the perfect song" he says and goes away happily like a kid at an amusement park. I feel this surge of happiness in me. I know my cheeks are red right now. I'm so flushed. I let out a laugh because it's so funny how silly I'm acting. It's what I want and what I don't want. I don't want my happiness to depend on anyone. But Al-Amin is not anyone. And if he's the One. Then I want to feel this way. I want to depend on him when I'm sad. And confused. I want To be even if it's a tiny source my of happiness.
The dance was the most beautiful thing I've witnessed in terms of love. We danced like no one was watching. Thinking out loud by ed sheeran played as I lay my head on his shoulders and he wrapped his arms around my body. I felt safe. Shielded from the world. It felt like the whole world had stopped.
After the dance. We dropped Falmata. Zainab and Umm Salma at their homes. Lastly, Al-Amin dropped me at home. It was just a quiet ride. We were all smiling, all satisfied with how perfect the night turned out.
"I'm taking you out tomorrow, 6pm sharp. You can't say no. There are only two answers. Yes. Or. Hell yeah. " he said as he dropped me off.
"Uhm....hell no" I say and burst out laughing.
"Why?" He looks like he wants to cry.
"I'm grounded. I sneaked out tonight. Mama is going to kill me for tonight. It can't happen tomorrow" I say. He looks disappointed. I feel bad.
"But thanks for tonight. It was unexpected. In a good way. It was perfect. " i say to soften the hurt of being rejected.
"You're welcome. But you still haven't given me an answer Safina. I'm dying here. I want to be your boyfriend. " he says desperately.
"You said you want a chance. This is me giving you the chance. If it was a no we wouldn't be here right now. Be patient. Don't be hasty. I'm here and if you pass the test, I'll be yours" I say and I close the car door.
"I won't disappoint you" he promises. I smile and I wave him goodbye as he drives off. Goodbye my love.

Author's note: I'm back. I know y'all hate me and are tired. And maybe y'all have even stopped caring and won't even read this. I'm sorry. Writer's block. I've been so uninspired lately. Writing is not as easy as it looks. It's hard. I'm constantly doubting myself but I hope you guys like this. Again I'm so sorry for making you guys wait this long. Thankyou for being with me. And guess what. We have reached 1k reads. Whoop. Whoop🎉🎉🎉💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼. Congratulations to us. You guys made this possible. I'm so happy. Can't wait for you guys to see what's ahead for Safina and the gang. They're soon going to university and stuff is about to go down. !!!!!!!!!!!