They had their ways, I had mine. We were strangers. They looked cute; I was shy, but we happened to be in the same class. I was in a new high school and I had just started to develop some feelings for girls. By ‘they’, I mean Sharon and Shantell. Because I was shy, I couldn’t start a real conversation with them. That’s how it was. Not anymore.

It took me a month to start a real conversation with Shantell. Her friend Sharon had a boyfriend and other secret lovers. Shantell had never had a boyfriend, and I was hoping that I would be her first. Sharon thought that I was just an ordinary person without a life. I was from a poor background, but it didn’t mean that I was useless; that’s why I was going to school; to improve my standard of living. Sharon ordered Shantell to stay away from losers like me. She only dated guys who had cars and a lot of money. Shantell thought I was a good guy, but not good enough to date.

I never realised that Shantell and I went to the same church. She was the pastor’s daughter. It was on Good Friday when I first saw her after church. Her parents knew my mom; she was still young when they last saw her. It was before I was born, before she got married. People were surprised to see us. Mom and dad got divorced, and that’s why we moved back to my grandma’s place and the reason why I had changed schools. I was just a teen stuck between the confusion of parents; that’s all I was told.

Some girls had a crush on me, but I was trying to convince Shantell to date me. She told me that we could chat via Mxit, but I thought that Mxit was for young kids. I thought she was interested but she was playing a childish game. We dated at night, but the following day we were no longer. I kept on trying for two weeks until Bonolo, who is our class representative, texted me. She was one of the hottest girls in the school.

I used to think Bonolo hated me. She was always rude, so I was surprised that she texted me. She texted: Can you help me with Micro Economics, Chapter 2?

I was happy to help and I texted back: At what time can we start?

Shantell was busy texting on the other side but I wasn’t really into her anymore; I expected games from her.

Bonolo texted: Let’s meet in an hour’s time, at my crib please.

It was my first time going out to study with a girl, especially at her place so I replied “Okay”. Then I started giving Shantell more attention, as if she deserved it.

After an hour, I arrived at Bonolo’s place. It was very quiet and I wondered if she was alone? I called her to come to the gate. I was told to come in, as the gate was not locked, so I did as I was told. I knocked at the door. She replied to come in so I went in and she was still in her bedroom. I asked if she was ready or still busy because I could come back another time. She was taking a bath and came out in five minutes, wearing seductive clothes, as if she knew how I felt about big boobs. I kept my feelings aside. My aim was to study for that day.

“Feel free, I am home alone.” She said provocatively.

I asked for water, just so I could be alone to take deep breaths. It took us longer than three hours to complete one chapter. We were both tired, so I stood up and told her that we could continue next time.

“Why? Are you tired this early?” She asked.

It was clear that I was feeling sleepy. She asked me to sleep over because she was afraid to sleep alone. She even gave me the phone to call mom and tell her that I wouldn’t be coming home. I looked at my phone and saw 20 texts from Shantell. When I checked the time, it was very late to walk alone, so I had no other choice but to sleep over in their visitor’s room. At midnight she came to my room, telling me about a bad dream. She joined me, and we shared the same bed.

In the morning, she kissed me unexpectedly. I looked at her and kissed her back. She started taking off her clothes, but I stopped her, took my things and went home.

***

Tell us: Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you liked a person but they didn’t like you back, and the one you didn’t like liked you? How did you handle it?