One day, I went to her room and the door was unlocked. I rushed in to inform her about our research and, to my surprise, she was naked. It happened very fast and I didn’t expect it.

“Ohh, I’m so sorry,” I said, as I walked out, “I’ll come back later.”

Somehow she didn’t respond. Things started to change after that moment, everything became awkward. The fact that I had seen her naked changed how we acted towards each other. I could feel the tension, she was more shy and reserved around me, no longer open and free. That affected our friendship and any chance of us being together, which was part of my plan. I had to go and talk to her about it. I went to her room again.

“I don’t know whether you are aware but I feel like things are changing between us,” I said.

“Really?” she questioned.

“Maybe it’s just in my head.”

“No, I also feel it…” she assured me. “Wait!” she continued, before I could interrupt her. “You saw me naked, no boy has ever seen me naked before.”

I was starting to feel the tension growing strong. “It is not a big deal,” I said, looking away.

“Really, don’t I look bad?” she asked.

“No, you look perfect,” I said with a smile, and she smiled back.

In the following days, things were slowly getting back to normal and our friendship was growing.

At the end of our first year, before she went home to Malawi, we decided to celebrate passing our exams. She did not drink alcohol, so she drank juice while I drink alcohol. After the celebration, we went back to student residence. We were excited and suddenly kissed. It happened so fast but we went with the flow. We had no idea who kissed who but we kissed.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” she said, as she turned around and ran to her room. Since I was a bit drunk, I left to sleep.

The following day, I woke up late. I rushed to her room and, to my surprise, it was locked. She had left. I called but she didn’t answer. I started getting worried. What if she never comes back? I thought to myself. I tried calling her all morning. She did not answer her phone for three days. I went home too.

Then on day four, while I was at home, I received a call from her.

“I am sorry for leaving without telling you,” she said.

“Why were you not answering your phone?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I just couldn’t,” she said, “I can’t stop thinking about what happened.”

“Me too,” I blushed.

“We will talk later, enjoy your December.” She hung up.

The whole phone call was strange. We kept in touch for the entire holidays, but somehow we never really spoke about the kiss.

Tell us: Do you think Melidia will come back to South Africa?