Set sail my love

1

"Papa was a rolling stone..." My music blasted into my ears from the phone in my back pocket. "Wherever he laid his hat was his home!" I hummed and bumped to the song, it's one of my old time favorites courtesy of my dad introducing it to me. Speaking of my mom in his home was a taboo. After she left us for a chance to pursue her dreams as an artist, against my father's better judgement of course, he got even more controlling and it drove me straight out the door and to my grandma's doorstep in Capetown. I couldn't live under his roof but nana was so welcoming. I haven't visited him since although we talk every week on the phone.
"Hey mama I heard papa called himself a jack of all trades..." I began singing lowly as I unpegged my linen from the lines and folded it neatly into my laundry basket. "Is that what sent him to an early grave!" Even unintentionally I still score the high key. I prided myself as I continued taking down my stuff from this particular line. I finished off and moved onto the next line which was directly opposite the residence fields. This is an open space outside where students can hang out and play touch rugby or whatever else it is people do when they are not it lectures. I wouldn't know. I usually try to avoid putting myself in situations where I end up getting invited or finding out. I'll say I'm such a straight forward person. I came here to get an International Relations degree and that's what I've been focusing on for a year now. I recently moved off campus because the pressure was immense to participate in team building activities or extracurriculars and that's just not my scene.
I was making headway with my clothes when I saw two shadows grow taller on the ground and I looked up.
"If it isn't the antisocial Queen herself. What? Are we too poor for you to hang out with us?" Karabo a drama major in my residence said as soon as she got close enough for comfort. So a lot of people think I'm a snob or something because my dad's into politics, I've never been inclined to explain myself.
"I have a name you know." I said paying as little attention to her as possible because I knew that would piss her off.
"Lira. We know you." She said with a fake smile plastered on her colorful face. "Could you be kind for once we're actually here as friends."
'Friends' I thought. They certainly had my attention now. I stopped folding the pillowcase in my arms and looked right at her as she spoke.
"I'm listening." I returned a fake smile of my own.
"We're throwing a party tonight in Plaxey's room and we want you to come over." She drawled.
"Yeah the whole floor's gonna be there. You can bring a friend if you want." I didn't miss the giggle Plaxey swallowed as she said that to me. "Just don't bring that weird girl you're always hanging out with she creeps everyone out." She added on and I was not surprised. Disappointed a little but not surprised.
"Yeah no don't bring Julia." Karabo agreed.
"You mean Jessi? We're dating of course I'm gonna bring her." I said snuggly and reveled in the ugly looks they both threw my way at my words.
"umm...sorry? yeah see you later. Do come." Plaxey said and they tried to quickly scurry away.
"Plaxedes what time d'you want us there?" I shouted when she was a fair distance away knowing fully well that she hates her whole name.
"8. We're shutting down early for the Slut Walk tomorrow." And they hurried away probably to a groupie in the theatre on campus five minutes away. We stayed at a residence not far from there, perks for those who want to be alone.
I smiled to myself for my natural ability to piss everybody off and still see them trying to get to me despite my unreliability to show up at any party I'm invited to. Sigh. I had just plugged my ear bud back in to continue with my laundry when a sharp pain emanated from my butt and the heat crawled all the way up my back making me cry out. I turned to see what had hit into me  with my hand on the painful area and there was the object of assault a foot away from my foot. Pun intended ha!
It was that darn rugby ball the boys were playing with and I instantly got so angry I wanted to make them pay for aiming at me. I went to pick it up when I heard them yelling at me to throw it back. Such pigs they were. They were so lucky I can't see very far and I obviously couldn't spot their faces from where I was. So I did the mature thing anyone should do in such a situation. I didn't pick up their ball. In fact I flipped them all the bird and went back to folding my stuff. I was so mad I didn't even realise I hadn't plugged my ear buds back in until I heard this velvet voice caressing my ear drums and make music because it sounded out of breath.
"Hey," he said breathlessly but my mind was already mush. "why didn't you throw back our ball? Don't tell me you can't make 30ft." He teased and that's when my mind snapped back to its anti social nature. I clicked my tongue at him and went back to hanging my laundry.
"You got it now fly half so why are you still standing here?" I bit out but he wasn't phased.
"Actually my name's-"
"Chase Waters." I didn't look at him, "I'm not deaf you know."
"And you're Lira Vuur. I pay attention too." He actually smiled at me. He looked flushed but I owed that to the fooling around they were doing. "You been staying here this whole year?"
"Yeah." I clipped and he sort of looked away for a minute.
"How come I don't really see you around? Unless you're doing your laundry or coming down from your room to check if the hot waters been switched on."
I shrugged in response but he wasn't having it. "Listen, there's this party tonight on your floor and I think you should come."
"Karabo already invited me." I stated confidently. I don't know why the thought of him thinking I had no friends was bothering me.
"Great. So I'll see you there?" He looked as hopeful as a kid on Christmas morning. A part of me wanted to be the gift he had asked for. But I knew better.
"Maybe." I shrugged him off and turned back to my lines. His boys were yelling out for him to come back when I started picking up my basket so I could head back inside.
"Here lemme hel-"
"Go back to your game fly half." I cut him off and hauled it over to the other side so I could carry it in on my waist. I could feel his eyes on me as i walked away until I got to the door.
The rest of my afternoon flew by really fast because I was doing what I love, I was making music. As I sat by my mixer and MacBook I kept messing around until I brought out a satisfying techno mix of "love me now" by John Legend. By the time I got out of my room it was nearing 20.30 and I knew I wasn't up for going to Karabo's party.
Instead I picked up my iPhone and called the one person I could actually stand in this whole city. She answered on the first ring.
"Guess who I spent the afternoon tanning with?" Jessi could barely contain her screech and I knew I had to engage.
"Milo?" I asked.
"Fuck no! Why would I be hanging out with him after what her did with Karabo?" Milo is her ex who we caught jerking off to porn he made with Karabo. He's been begging for her forgiveness for over half a year now.
"I never know with you," I laughed. "Hot plumber who had the summer job at your mom's mansion?" I guessed again.
"Yes! Omw Lira! I swear if I don't have his palm imprinted all over my back side at this point then I don't know what didn't happen." I laughed so hard at her excitement, she had a thing for older men in uniform.
"Are you going to see him again?"
"Oh I'll see him alright, probably this weekend when my mom's away in London for a Victoria Secret photoshoot." Her mom's a world renowned photographer who gets called in all the time to shoot big celebrities.
"So not tonight then?"
"Nope. I'm snuggled up in my snuggie and I'm fattening my ass with Gelato's berry surprise."
"I'm gonna need you to get here in 15 we're going ice skating."
"Finally! What took you so long?" She asked just before we hung up. I wasn't going to tell her about Chase yet. She was probably going to brush it off and tell me to forget about him for my own good. But I had nothing to forget. He only spoke to me out of courtesy. It's not like I was expecting him to whisk me off on a speed boat into the waves of September or something. It's not like I was going to drop Kai Jensen, my long distance lover of two years for a short lived fling with Chase Waters. It's not like I was going to cross my father like that despite his incessant warnings to stay away. I should've told that to my heart, it was veins deep swimming in those piercing blue eyes that sparkled something in me back to life.

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NOT PART OF THE BOOK; Hi everyone!! This is my first writing on Wattpad and I hope y'all enjoy it. I'm setting the scene in south Africa where Chase and Lira are in their second year at the University of Capetown. I hope y'all like it and please do comment if you have suggestions or anything else you'd like me to incorporate☺️☺️