Teenager's Tale

‘But why was that the case?' I enquired.

  ‘Well, because you are cute Brandon. Honestly.’

  I blushed when she said this and she smiled. But what surprised me was that no girl had ever approached me about their feelings for me. Besides, I did not see myself as cute.

  ‘But how come none of those girls has ever approached me to tell me their feelings?’ I was enjoying the conversation. She cleared her throat and laughed before going on.

  ‘Well, we’ve heard that you don’t date.’

  ‘And who told you that?’

  ‘The source does not matter Brandon. What matters is, is it true?’

  I was shocked to hear that people knew about my no-dating policy, which I had always thought was a secret between me and Bagomotsi.

  ‘Well, yes, it’s true,’ and I took a last sip of my drink. I didn’t want her to ask me any further questions, so I asked her to dance with me. She must have noticed my retreat and refused.

  ‘I want you to tell me why you don’t date first, and then we will dance.’

  The girl wasn’t giving up. I gave in and told her about Esther. She was listening attentively as I did and when I was done, she laughed. I felt embarrassed. When she stopped laughing, she said something that would change my life forever.

  ‘I know this might seem a bit rude but that’s stupid. This Esther of yours has probably moved on with her life and forgotten about you. If I heard you right, you were her boyfriend about five years back, right? That was a long time back Brandon, and you guys were kids. You deserve better than keeping your hopes up for a girl you dated when you were a baby,' she preached.

  ‘But she made me promise...’

  ‘She did but she was still a child too, just like you. Like I said, she’s probably all grown up and has forgotten all about you now. Guys have probably won her heart while you are here waiting for her. Now, my advice is, get a life and move on. There are a lot of girls out there who can’t wait for you to make that move. Surprising as it might seem, I used to be one of them. Life is too short to be after one girl Brandon. Think about it’ and the sermon ended.

  I remained silent for a while, deep in thought. Such are not things you realize easily but sometimes, even the simplest of such advice can change a life. I did manage a smile.

  ‘Well, thanks for the advice Neo. I honestly don’t know what to say. On one side of the board, here I am thinking, she could be wrong. But then again, let me just say I sure will think about it. Thanks once again’

  ‘Anytime,’ and she stood up and left. ‘The dance…’ but she had already disappeared just as soon as she had appeared. For a while I sat there all alone again, stood up and went on to get another. I revisited my thoughts about what Neo had said and every thought agreed that she was probably right.

  It actually hit me that I’ve been wasting my time with a fairytale story that was probably never going to be a reality. For what had been a Romeo and Juliet story with my memories, I was set free from my emotional prison. The cloudy skies were starting to clear away.

  I sat alone until around ten at night. I then called my mom to come and pick me. When I got home I couldn’t sleep as Neo's words literally ate my heart and kept echoing in my mind: Life is too short to be after one girl.

  I eventually managed to catch some sleep when I listened to some music on my player an hour later. Bagomotsi was probably still at the party with the apple of his eye, dancing and having fun while I sat there in my bed. Maybe having a girl was the right thing to do and I was going to give it a good thought over the school/festive holidays.

  The festive season in Botswana is a time when everyone goes away to their hometowns and the characters in my story did just that. I spent the holidays in Francistown. Bagomotsi went to Maun. Even though we did chat, most of the time he was busy talking to Masego when I called. The two were truly in love and nothing was stopping them, not even the thousand kilometers distance between them since she was in Gaborone. They were more in love than ever and I just wished it was me in that situation, with my lovely Esther, the only girl I had ever loved.