P for Perfect

Chapter 14- Yamíl

We don't always know what we want– Travis

   It's a hot day for the Lekki community. If the scorching sun was not enough proof, the bottles of chilled of water in the hands of the students were. Today's the day those roadside sellers make their peak.

"If you don't start pasting Yamíl we might end up sleeping here," Osas calls from where she's standing. I want to snarl at her but instead all I see is how shiny her brown skin looks under the sun. Today is more or less free, the entire school is out on the field, listening or helping the contestants for the Council Race.

I was down for helping out Jibril and Faith from the moment Travis brought up the idea, what he so graciously failed to add was that I'd have to work with Osas. Who, as expected, has been nothing but a pain. Constantly reminding me to paste some more, or paste some where else. Or even drink water.

"Stop staring at me," she says, snapping me back to reality. She's giving me a funny look, a disappointed look, which is very uncalled for.

"I wasn't staring," I lie, even though I'm taking the opportunity to watch the graceful way she jumps down from the stone she was standing to walk over to me.

"You look dazed, have you never stood under the sun for this long?" She inquires. This is a very strange conversation.

"If you're trying to imply that I'm a spoilt brat then you're very correct."

"I was implying, not trying to," she corrects. I wait for the irritation to come but it doesn't, since that day at the party I've found myself more tolerant with her. Which is bad. Very bad.

"You two! Are you having one of your face offs again? Isn't it too hot for that today?" Travis yells from the other side of the field to us. He sighs when we don't reply on time. Osas considers me for a moment before moving ahead to paste Faith's poster on the wall behind us.

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice joins us, only that the owner of the voice didn't look as disheveled as we did. In fact, it looked like Ara just walked out of the shower.

"Hey," Osas greets naturally but even I can feel the anticipation in her body. I try to focus on the new walls I've moved too. We're on the P-block in school, it's where everyone comes to chill. And it's right in front of the field so it's a great spot for campaigns.

"You're helping her campaign," I hear Ara say coolly despite my efforts to mind my business.

"Chill, your flyers are with me," Osas replies, equally cool.

"You can paste for two people but you can't vote for two people."

"I know."

"Osas you're being very annoying you know? Why don't you ever just support me? Why do you always have to pick the people I hate?" I can tell that things are about to go uphill and I know the best thing to do is excuse myself but the curiosity gets the better of me.

"Can you stop? I have other friends I owe my loyalty to. This is just an election there's no need to get so emotional–"

"So now I'm getting too emotional?"

There's a pause.

"Aramide just leave me alone," Osas's voice sounds even more distant and closed off than ever. The sound draws my eyes towards the spot where they're standing and in the process I lock eyes with Ara.

"Yamíl, you too," she sounds pained. But I don't remember ever swearing loyalty to her. I'm still struggling to find the right words when Travis strolls over.

"Aren't you supposed to be campaigning?" He asks Ara, totally unaware of the kasala brewing here.

"I was actually, I just came to check on my friends," she gives Osas a pointed look she dutifully ignores.

"Quick question, have you decided who you'll vote for?" Ara ventures, tilting her head slightly.

"Faith, Liv and Jibril. The rest are just random guesses," he replies without missing a beat. His answer doesn't seem to have much of an effect on her though, so she resumes questioning me.

"And you?"

"Listen Yamíl doesn't have to answer you Ara, you have no idea how incredibly childish you look right now. Demanding to know who he's voting for isn't going to make him vote for you," Osas answers before I can. I watch in awe as her voice rises slightly. I might sound like a broken record but the truth is that, Osas is incredibly good at keeping her cool. Ara is a very emotionally demanding person and Osas is equally emotionally detached, I have seen Ara push her to the wall and I have seen her walk away, look away, change the topic– whatever it took to avoid conflict. But today she was replying her, even if it wasn't in the loud way you'd expect.

"Don't talk to me," Ara eyes her rather childishly.

"You don't want to talk to me? Then please walk away, because no one here will answer you except me," Osas defiantly continues. Ara looks at me questioningly and my silence is enough to answer her. Fuming, she storms out the same way she left.

I'm about to say something about Ara's state of mind when Osas silently pastes Ara's poster on the wall next to Faith's.

••••

My mind is reeling with thoughts about what happened this afternoon even as I place my scale rule on the table. TD is a subject that requires a person's utmost focus but the image of Osas pasting Ara's poster keeps replaying in my mind. She doesn't know this but lately everything she's done has done a lot to change my perspective of her. And it's only led me to think, if she's not the selfish, snobbish girl I thought she was. Then what is she.

  I'm so lost in thought (and measurements) that I don't notice when she joins me on my table. The TD lab is not empty but the only other 5 people are on tables a bit far from us. I raise my eyes to find her watching me, I want to ask her why she chose my table but I'm scared that she'll leave. And honestly, I don't want her to.

"I need help," she announces without prelude. You'd think she would've started with a greeting, taking into consideration our rocky past.

"With what?" I ask, standing straight and dropping my pencil. I know I'll regret this later, it never pays me when I leave my drawings halfway to do something else.

"You're the best in TD in our set. Mr. Samson says you're the best he's seen in the 6 years he's taught in SOHL. I'm positively terrible, I need you to help me with the drawings." Is her back always this straight or is it because she's asking for help?

"You want me to teach you how to draw?" I summarize.

"Yes."

"Um, I'm not really sure that's possible," I say honestly.

"I believe all things are possible," she urges.

"No you don't," I give her a look. She cracks a small smile and her posture relaxes just a bit.

"But seriously, I'm writing TD in WAEC."

"But Osas, you're making it sound like you're bad at it. I've seen your drawings, you're a good student."

"It's very hard for me."

"That's because you're forcing it."

"Yamíl, just say yes already," she throws her hand around in irritation. I almost laugh.

"Alright fine, I'll help you."

"Thank you." She starts to slide down the seat when a thought occurs to me.

"Hey, would you like to go to the movies?" The moment the question leaves my lips I realize how stupid it sounded. Osas pauses and I can see her controlling her emotions, bottling down the questioning look.

"I'm rather busy these days, thanks for the offer though." She politely declines. I nod understandably and watch her leave, trying to comprehend why I just asked her out to the movies. And why I didn't mention that it was a group thing.