Read Online Ipods in Accra by Sophia Acheampong - Free Book Online Page A

waved at me from her seat. She probably thought I was being polite by waiting for her bus to leave!
    My phone beeped.
Nick:
W R U?
Me:
I’m in Wood Green.
Nick:
What? That’s miles away. You’re meant to be here with me!
Me:
Just kidding. B there in 10. I can’t stay long tho.
Nick:
Whatever, hurry up!
    Well, at least he still wanted to see me. I couldn’t bear the thought of being around him for longer than I had to, so I had lied about needing to leave. I’d rather be alone than have him go on and on about Sanari, Miss Wonderful!
    I walked up the drive to Nick’s house. It was a detached house in the posh side of Pinner. His drive could fit four cars easily and his garden was the size of a small field. I’d heard Nick’s mum and mine discussing the house and she said they’d got very lucky with it, as it belonged to an old friend of Nick’s grandparents and they’d sold it to Nick’s parents at a heavily discounted price. It looked really Gothic on the outside and totally modern on the inside. I rang the door bell.
    â€˜Come on then, dump your stuff down here,’ Nick said, answering the door.
    â€˜Well, “Hello, Makeeda, how did your exams go?” would be nice, but I’ll start dumping,’ I moaned.
    Nick closed the door and stared at me for a while.
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Nothing,’ he said, and I followed him into the other living room.
    In Nick’s house there were three living rooms – the poshone, the one he shared with his brother Paul and the one that was more like a study. We were in Nick and Paul’s room, which was almost as neat as the other two except it had posters and film quotes on the walls. Their mum had dissuaded them from putting up posters of glamour models in bikinis by saying that for every poster of a model under twenty-five, they had to put one up of a woman over fifty-five, so Nick and Paul had decided to put up quotes from their favourite films instead. There was an air-hockey table in the corner next to a sound system and a flat-screen TV that I knew Nick and Paul saved up for last year. There were huge comfy sofas and a small coffee table in front of the wall with the TV.
    I sat down, slipped off my shoes and tucked my legs under me. I felt really tired. It had already been a long day. I suddenly yawned loudly.
    â€˜Hey, hey, hey! Don’t fall asleep; I’ve got popcorn, water, juice and nachos.’
    â€˜You’ve got all that to watch a film?’
    â€˜Uh huh, I wasn’t sure what you’d want,’ Nick said, blushing.
    â€˜OK, have you got a glass?’
    â€˜Oh, yeah!’ Nick said, smacking his forehead as he rushed to the kitchen.
    This was really weird. Nick had never ever treated me this well before. I mean, he usually told me to help myself – unless his mum was around, then she made him serve me. As he placed the glass in front of me, I noticed his hand was shaking slightly. He seemed almost nervous around me.
    â€˜Are you OK?’ I asked.
    â€˜Yeah, why?’
    â€˜Nothing.’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Nothing.’
    We started watching the film. At first he was sitting in a chair that was in the corner, until I told him to sit beside me. As he did, he unfolded my legs and placed them across his lap. I was a bit surprised but too tired to say anything. He hadn’t done that in ages. We used to be really comfortable like this, but it all stopped when I started going out with Nelson.
    â€˜Makeeda?’
    I opened my eyes. The movie was paused at a scene I didn’t recognise. I’d felt so exhausted from my vaccinations earlier that I must have dozed off.
    â€˜Oh, how long have I been asleep?’
    â€˜About an hour,’ Nick said, smiling.
    Oh no. You can’t impress a guy whilst sleeping. In fact, as I wiped my mouth, I knew I must have been drooling! It didn’t help that Nick handed me a tissue. I began moving my legs and, as I