The first time I saw Mante was the first time I felt magic. I can't properly describe it but I felt something electric, a small faint buzz that made me feel energized and weak at the same time. It was one of the million reasons I was sure he was my soul mate.
Mante and I’s love story was very cliche. We went to the same primary school, and I disliked Mante with everything in me. He was the school's timekeeper and he had the most feminine voice ever. Mante was also badly behaved; he would say things like, “You're not very smart." he would point at a classmate and giggle with his friends.
“I hate the smell of your lunch," Mante would say. "Every time I brought homemade food to class, mind you, that was the only interaction we ever had.
Every time I saw him, I scowled, upset by his very presence, and every time he was punished I would giggle and stare at him with my poker face. It was an all-time rival. I'll tell you that, after graduation, we went to different secondary schools and lost touch.
Six years went by and somehow we got each other's numbers and started talking again. After the first week, we got bored and stopped talking but it was clear things were different. Our childish rivalry had ended and we had settled all our scores.
A year later, I got a “Hey" text from him. He had slid in to check up on me, and I found that heavenly because that period was extremely hard for me. He felt God sent. And that was it, just like a magic spell was cast we couldn't stop talking to each other, we had everything in common apart from the fact that I preferred books and his movies but it wasn't that far off.
He was everything I ever wanted, and I was him. The first day he sent that voice note, I didn't hear a trace of the feminine voice; it was as deep as Samuel L Jackson's picture “Hey Mama” because that's what he said to me. Mante was 6’1, which is amazing for a girl my height, and had a build and face like the Greeks, absolute perfection. I was on cloud 20 Every time I thought of him, my feet were always up because I was giggling and kicking them so often. I'm lucky I can't physically turn red as a tomato because he was making me blush daily. My friends loved him, I loved him and I was extremely happy until our second date night.
Every week Mante and I met up twice. On days we were low on cash, we would buy snacks and meet up in a park and share them with each other and go over our plans and goals together, then just cuddle and laugh. I look forward to these sessions a lot. And so, on this particular day, I styled my hair, prepped my outfit, and sprayed a lot of perfume. I knew he would talk about it throughout our meeting so I took extra time getting ready.
“You're the prettiest being I've set my eyes on ever," he said as soon as I leaned in for a hug.
I started chuckling nervously and hit his arm lightly, avoiding his eyes.
“Stop the whining jare," I said and looked away. He smiled and continued and my grin was as wide as a Cheshire cat.
“I think you look dashing too, Mante," I said as I stared into his surprised eyes. Mante never got used to getting compliments, and so, in his lack of words, he pulled me in. When he finally let me go from our hug, he was blushing and hurried to set our snacks on the mat. I sat down beside him and giggled at everything, it was one of the silly love infections.
The date was going great; I was happy with my boyfriend and stuffed with yummy snacks until we played a dumb game of switcheroo. All I remember was dropping his phone, his eyes searched my tear-filled ones with panic. He grabbed my hands, but I pulled away; I felt the magic, but it was faint. My heart was aching from what I had just seen. I was devastated.
“Had it all been a lie?" I thought as I watched him grab his phone to check what had upset me. The silence was uncomfortable; his face dropped, and he looked at me with an apologetic face.
I couldn't stand up. My legs felt heavy, I was tired. It felt like something was sucked out of me. Then he spoke.
" That text was way before I loved you, Sherah.” I was silent, but tears kept flowing.
“I was a dare?" My voice was breaking and I was so glad we were alone.
" Baby, please, it was a stupid dare, and I didn't go through with it.” he reached for his phone and hastily unlocked it, looking at my reply. I said no after the laughing emoji that I could never hurt you like that.
Hesitating, I took the phone and searched for the content. My heart felt the cracks lessening. He had told his friend off but the seed of doubt was already planted. I read everything, and I felt my tears stop, my chest beat normally, and when he cleaned my tears, I felt the magic come back. I had overreacted.
“So you don't hate me?" He chuckled
“I could never, mi amor." he pulled me in, and I let my tears stain his shirt. We were ok. We were fine.
I felt my body feel light and the world was ok again. We sat down in silence for a few minutes before we spoke about the situation again and settled it once and for all. We packed up our remaining snacks, dropped our mats, and walked towards the road.
“I love you, mi amor. I would never hurt you I promise" he squeezed the palm that he held.
“I love you too, Mante, let's never play switcheroo again." He laughed and shook his head in agreement.
“Whatever you want armor, whatever you want."
The image is not mine