Sarfoa was asleep when we got home. Chidi carried her upstairs to our room. After he tucked her in, he walked over to my side of the room and just grinned.

“Don’t you dare say it.”

He held his hands up. “It’s just how I imagined it to be, right down to the books stacked by the wall because you don’t have enough space on your bookshelf.”

His grin got even wider when he saw I’d replanted the cactus plant he’d given me into a small flower pot and it was sitting on my desk.

We went downstairs and I switched on the TV. ‘Who Wants to Be Rich’ was almost over. We watched in silence. I watched the screen but my mind was elsewhere reliving that first kiss.

“I should go now,” Chidi said when the show was over.

I walked him to the front door. I didn’t open it, neither did he. Instead he reached over for me and we started kissing again. I pushed myself closer and wrapped my hands around his neck. My fingers disappeared into his hair. His lips on mine were insistent and demanding. I took one hand out of his hair and pushed it under his shirt. His skin felt warm and alive. He grabbed me tighter and kissed me deeper. His breathing was as laboured as mine. I unbuttoned my shirt.

“Don’t, please don’t. I shouldn’t, I can’t,” he whispered as his hands groped me further. Then he pushed me away and took a step back.

I took a step closer.

“Gyikua, don’t.”

“I want to.”

“I won’t be able to stop myself.”

“I won’t want you to.”

“It’s wrong.”

“No, it’s not. I don’t believe anymore.”

“But I do.”

I took another step towards him. He took a step backwards. He straightened his shirt. He looked like a caged animal, his eyes checking the distance to the door, but I was in his way. I relished the power I had over him. I’d never felt this good before or this alive.

I took a step. Another. He remained where he was. By the next step I was on him, kissing him again. He kissed me back and held me even tighter than before. I could feel his resistance slipping. I felt his hands under my open shirt, cupping my breast in my bra, caressing my skin. My skin felt like it was on fire. Each time he touched me, a thousand sensations went through my body. It was as if my body was only made up of nerve-endings.

I pulled his T-shirt up, he pulled it the rest of the way and I tugged it free. I was still holding his shirt when he bolted out of the door. Two seconds later his car started and he was gone. I looked at his T-shirt in my hand. The story of Joseph in the Bible came to mind. Mrs Potiphar must have felt the same way I was feeling when Joseph bolted.

I locked the front door and went upstairs to take a shower. Then I ironed our uniforms. I folded his T-shirt and put it in my school bag. I called his number several times. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to say but he didn’t pick up. I tried it once more and was told it had been switched off or was out of coverage area.

I climbed into bed with a million and one thoughts rushing through my mind, each demanding to be savoured but there was only one thought I let my mind dwell on. That first kiss.