The brightness of the morning showed that the sun was out. Chenai became closer with Taffie after the incident. Her heart felt pure, and every day was a blessing to her.

“Be my girlfriend?” Taffie proposed.

In response, Chanai smiled shyly with her face facing the ground. She was absorbed in the conservation and forget to answer, and in a flash, he kissed her cheek.

“O-Kay,” Chanai muttered. She wasn’t sure what to say, but she couldn’t admit she had had feelings for him since the day he saved her from the bullies.

After hearing Chanai’s response, Taffie’s adrenaline raced so much that he forgot himself, grabbed her by her waist, and lifted her up. It felt good that he had won the girl he had feelings for. When Taffie lifted Chenai up, she screamed and laughed at the same time, but she was anxious that he might drop her. When he realised what he had done, he put her down and rubbed his hands on his thighs embarrassedly.

“I’m sorry,” Taffie said nervously.

“I loved it,” Chanai responded while chuckling and licking her finger shyly.

On hearing Chanai’s response, Taffie’s heart wanted to jump, and he smiled and lifted her up from her thighs again. She then spread her hands wide, as if she wanted to fly. He turned around and she squeaked.

“You’re in my heart,” Taffie said, and when they were eye to eye, and lip to lip, it was uncontrollable.

While Chenai and Taffie were kissing, they heard giggles behind them, and they stopped. Mr Banda was standing behind them, and they immediately panicked because they were on the school’s premises, and in their school uniforms.

“What is this?” Mr Banda shouted. “Follow me to my office,” he continued before clearing his throat and strolling away.

While they were following Mr Banda to his office, Taffie and Chenai noticed a group of students muttering and giggling around them, but Taffie wasn’t afraid what would happen next because he was truly in love with her.

When they arrived at Mr Banda’s office, he spoke to them in an angry tone. “This is not a park, but a school,” he hissed while swaying a stick back and forth in his hands. “This is not a lovers den. Do you know what you are here for?”

“Sorry sir,” Taffie responded, then he looked down and turned to observe Chenai trembling. He nudged her elbow, but she remained nervous. She didn’t want her parents to know about what had happened, and that was what worried her the most.

“It won’t happen again and sir?” Taffie continued, pleading with Mr Banda. “Please don’t punish her, it’s all my fault.”

“Both of you will clean the storeroom,” Mr Banda ordered.

“Sir, I can’t, I’ll be home late and my mother …” Chenai responded in a shaky voice, but Mr Banda interrupted her.

“You should have thought about that when you were busy opening your mouth to eat his lips,” Mr Banda shouted.

Taffie gestured to Chenai that he had a plan, and both of them bowed their heads down with a sense of guilt.

“Get out of my office, and I want that room cleaned today,” Mr Banda shouted, pointing with his big index finger with a grey coloured nail. There were pieces of dirt in the nail, and Taffie silently laughed when he saw it.

Taffie pulled Chenai away, and they both went outside in a rash, but she was panicking and clinching her stomach. “It’s all your fault,” she said while shoving his hands away from her.

“What?” Taffie asked, sounding puzzled.

“If you didn’t lift me up and kiss me …” Chenai responded, then she looked down with a sense of guilt. She had enjoyed the kiss, yet she blamed him for everything. “I’m sorry,” she continued. “My mother will kill me today. I promised her I would be home by 4pm.” She then checked her phone and it was after two. She hadn’t gone to study in the library.

Taffie understood what Chenai was saying, and he didn’t want her to get into trouble at home.

“I ‘m just worried because we were busy playing here,” Chenai said, then she quickly hurried off and he followed her.

While Chenai was hurrying off, Taffie pulled her by her arm. “I’ll clean, you go home,” he said sincerely.

Chenai was surprised by Taffie’s good heart, but she felt guilty for not wanting to help him. She was worried that he was going to suffer her punishment too, and it was not fair. She kissed his cheek quickly but checked that no one saw her because there would be another punishment for them if they did.

“Go, we’ll talk tomorrow,” Taffie added and rushed to the storeroom.

********

The storeroom was full of dust, but Taffie knew that he had to do it for love. He knew that he had to sacrifice in order to help her, even if he had to lose an arm.

Later that evening, and a few kilometers away from Taffie, Chenai couldn’t sleep, so she looked through the window, dreaming about Taffie. She hugged her pillow tightly. The steam from her mouth and the chilly breeze in the air spread a stream on the window, then she drew a heart on it.

“I love you Taffie”

***

Tell us: Do you think it was romantic for Taffie to clean the storeroom alone, even though he was punished together with Chenai?