Would our contrast paint a pretty picture?

Coming Out pt 2

For camp, we made use of the seminary while they were on holiday. It gave us plenty of room to disrupt the meditative atmosphere though. Christiana and I worked as ushers for the most part. It was easy to build a small pattern of doing things together. I had been told I had a habit of walking in some form of ‘group’ as my friends from school often mentioned. Since then, I tried doing things solo for the most part, but this would not be one of them. 

We had just finished our meditation when Fisayo, the vice president, announced the next activity. It was a group discussion on some saints. From the schedule, it was evident that this activity was one of the frequent ones. The ushers were to pass pamphlets around and a couple of pens for taking notes. It wasn’t a big deal, at least until I was about to get the last batch and I felt Christiana’s hand on mine. 

“Oh sorry,” The words rolled off her tongue like a  hymn. “I guess it’s all finished.”

“Um…yeah…yes, we would have to share.” My skin felt warm when her hand brushed mine. This was not going according to plan. 

While I focused on the sermons and teachings given by various youth leaders and a couple of priests and nuns, it would be a lie if I said Christiana didn’t hold a huge percentage of my attention.

 

The week had been going smoothly, sadly without any skin-ship between us. We sat together during mealtimes. Sometimes with some of the volunteers like Ebube, Isek, and Ivan - interesting people really- other times it was just the two of us. That was when we would talk about anything and everything. She spoke about her mom and her late father. Told me her mom roped her into doing this at first but she didn’t regret it as much anymore. When I asked why she said “Let’s just say I’ve made a lovely friend from it”

She was studying horticulture at the University of Lagos, despite it being a very irrelevant course, her words, not mine. She said she already works for a company as a marketer and she was just doing it to satisfy her mom. Then she asked, “What do you do for fun?”

“I play a few games, and watch anime when I can these days.”

“Oh, mad! Which one’s your favourite? Let me guess, Demon Slayer? Hunter x Hunter? Or wait, it’s  AOT”

“Neh, Darling in the Franxx. Zero-Two has a special place in my heart.”

“Ohh niche anime, just chill. When I stuff your laptop with anime you’d be indecisive as f-, oh church, not supposed to swear” she giggled. 

“It’s okay, you can still receive communion today” I teased. 

Things with Christina were as normal as they could get with any of my other friends. We spoke a lot and slept later than we should have because there was always something on TikTok to scroll through together. This newfound bond was fun and refreshing. Had I gotten over my feelings? Was it just a fleeting thought? I wasn’t sure anymore. At least until we woke up late that morning and had to share a stall to bathe so we didn’t miss the first activity of the day.

Christiana had insisted that it was not weird.

“I do it all the time at my hostel. It’s no big deal” she said, already taking off her towel and standing beneath the shower. “Babe, better get in, all the other stalls are occupied with people already lining up” She rolled her eyes as she lathered the soap on her wet skin. It reminded me of the margarine my mother used for baking, soft to the touch and almost too bright for the eyes.

Was it the thought of never having this opportunity again or my desire to be punctual that pushed me into the stall? Who knows? We made it in good time.  

Throughout the morning mass, our shower lived in my head rent-free. The memory of our skins brushed up against each other; her casually passing the soap to me, our toiletries being packed together as we both left the stalls. It was something I could get used to.  I caught a glimpse of the both of us against the mirrors; our shades were so far apart, it felt like putting loamy soil next to beach sand for observation. In another life, where being together was an option, would our bodies fit? Would our contrast paint a pretty picture? Would she want to be mine?

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Author’s Note:

My people! How’s everyone? I had a lovely conversation with a lady at the bus station today and got a new colouring book, so all is well with the world yay. If you haven’t read part one check it out here

Song of the week:

Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey. I’ve been in a Lana vibe lately and I feel things are going to get tricky for our MC soon.

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