Danny and Maadwoa had arranged the night before to meet at the riverbank today. He said he just wanted to see her and she happily agreed. When she left the house in the morning, her aunt scoffed, saying that Maadwoa is only bringing trouble onto herself. Nana would stop at nothing to make sure that her niece is aware of how worthless she is, and it pained her to see Maadwoa so carefree and happy with the Prince. She wanted Maadwoa to hurt and suffer the way she did when her older sister died.

As Maadwoa skips in the direction of the forest with a small basket of kelewele and groundnuts for her and Danny to share, she walks past a small, run-down filling station. There were only a few workers there but no cars present. The filling station is shabby and many cars don't pass through, but it's still in business. Maadwoa squints at the boys standing there and talking, one of the faces looking familiar. She slows down when she realizes that it is Tyler, who looks like he is in a serious conversation with one of the men. She remembers that she meant to talk to him about Gifty, so she slowly crosses the street to make her way over to him.

Tyler follows the man around, who was uninterested in what Tyler had to say. Tyler continues to try and explain himself to the man, who was sitting on the ledge of the ground, stuffing a sandwich in his mouth. 

"Please, I can do anything you want me to. Even if it's just cleaning the petrol pumps." Tyler pleads, standing over the man who was busy eating. The man shakes his head.

"You are a young boy. This is not a place for you to work." 

"I am eighteen, I'm not a little kid. Please, sir." Tyler begs. He is determined to get this job. For himself, not for anyone else. He needs the money and frankly, this is what he needs to start preparing for a future. He needs to learn how to be independent and useful; maybe then he'd be appreciated.

The man sighs, glancing up at Tyler. "How do I know you are reliable? You may think this job is easy and useless, but it's like any other job and it requires time and work." 

"Sir, I am ready to work. Please, I need a job." he pleads.

The man bites into his sandwich again, still narrowing his eyes at Tyler, who gives him a hopeful smile. "Fine. Not today. You can start tomorrow."

Tyler smiles, clasping his hands together thankfully. "Thank you sir."

"Do not disappoint me." 

"I won't." Tyler assures with a nod.

With a smile, he turns around ready to walk back home. Before he can take another step, Maadwoa stops in his path. He steps back, puzzled about what she was doing there. Tyler was smart enough to know that by now, his best friend knows about him and Gifty's breakup, and he was not ready to be given a lecture.

"Maadwoa, what are you doing here? And why are you holding a basket?" 

"Danny asked me to meet him somewhere and I'm bringing him food. What are you doing here?" she counters, gesturing towards the broken sign  of the petrol station.

Tyler shrugs. "Just taking a walk." He doesn't want her to know about this job or else she would worry about it and Gifty would end up knowing. He figures he will just keep it to himself until he can make enough money from it.

Maadwoa can tell when her friend is not telling the truth, but after the incident with him and Gifty, she decides not to question him further. She grips the handle on the basket, letting out a breath as Tyler waits for her to ask the burning questions that he is positive she has. She wants to ask but she doesn't know how to approach it without provoking him.

"Yes, I broke up with Gifty. Go ahead, ask your questions." 

Maadwoa sheepishly smiles, now feeling nosy for having so many questions.

"I just want to hear your side. Why did you do it?" 

Tyler sighs, his mind going back to that day. It hurt him to think or talk about it, but it had to be done. 

"I just don't think she's the right girl for me anymore. She's changed and I can't handle it anymore."

Maadwoa's shoulders drop in disappointment. To hear Tyler blatantly admit that he doesn't want to be with Gifty made her sad. These are her best friends and she doesn't want anything to ruin their bond.

"Ty, what do you mean by that? You've been obsessed with Gifty since you first met her."

"She asks me for too much, doesn't care about my needs, and makes me feel like I'm incapable of making her happy. She literally told me I cannot satisfy her." 

Maadwoa gasps. She couldn't believe Gifty was treating Tyler like this, especially since Gifty is always talking to her about how in love she is with him.

"A-are you sure? That doesn't sound like her."

Tyler sighs. "I told you she's changed. At first I thought I was just being dramatic, but she kept acting like that. I can't be with her anymore. Frankly, I'm glad I'm free now."

Maadwoa glares at his comment. She understands that Tyler might be a little pissed at Gifty right now, but there was no need for these type of comments. 

"Tyler, stop. Did you really think this through? Gifty loves you and you love her too, at least I hope. What happened?" 

Tyler rolls his eyes. "I have thought this through for some time now, Maame. I know she's your best friend and all but--"

"She's your best friend too!" the shorter girl reminds him.

"And she will forever be my best friend, but that's all. I don't think we're good as a couple. I mean, she will always have a place in my heart, but I want to be just friends. Do you get that?"

Maadwoa stares at him intently, waiting for him to burst out into laughter and tell her that it's a joke. She doesn't recall a time that he was ever this serious about something. Tyler just stares back at her with a straight face, waiting for her to say something back. She sighs when she realizes that he is being honest.

"I understand, Ty. It's not like I'm trying to force you to be with her. I just don't want our friendship to dissolve because of this."

Tyler smiles at his best friend. "It won't dissolve, okay? I might be a little upset with her right now, but I will get over it."

Maadwoa nods, looking down at the basket in her hand. She could smell the aroma of the food and she remembers that she has to meet her boyfriend. Tyler amusingly raises his eyebrows.

"Go meet your boyfriend and stop worrying about me." he teases, causing the girl to roll her eyes at him.

"Whatever. See you later." she bids, walking past him, making sure to shove him.

* * 

Maadwoa

"You just love feeding me, don't you?" Danny questions with a smile, taking another kelewele in his hand as we sit on the ground. I raise my eyebrows at him.

"We are sharing, don't be greedy. " I inform him, causing him to chuckle as I grab another one from the basket. I rest my head back on Danny's chest, listening to the sound of his steady heartbeat, as he wraps one of his arms around me. 

"Hey, I just want to let you know that I've talked to Afia. She won't bother you again." he tells me, still holding me in his arms.

I grin. "That's good because I don't want to be bothered."

"I wouldn't let anyone bother you."

With a big smile on my face, I sit up to place a kiss on his cheeks. I could've sworn I saw his face turn red when I did. He looks down at me and shrugs.

"I wish that kiss would've landed on my lips instead." he says casually, making me blush deeply. We haven't kissed on the lips yet and I feel like it's because we both haven't had our first kiss yet.

"I-I don't know how to do that." I nervously say.

"Me either. But... maybe we could learn."

My breath hitches in my throat as I stare at him wide-eyed. Is he implying that he wants to kiss me? I've never been kissed before, frankly, I don't even know how it works. I have thought about my first kiss multiple times but I never imagined it would be with a prince. I always thought I would end up kissing someone as a dare. Do I keep my mouth closed or open? Do I breathe or not? Are my eyes supposed to be open or closed because on television they close their eyes but I've also seen open-eyed kisses. Danny must notice the thoughts running through my head because he chuckles breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Forget I said that. If you're not ready --" he starts but I cut him off.

"Will you please kiss me?" I ask with a nervous smile. A smirk falls on his face as he slowly nods.

He gently puts a hand on my cheek, using his thumb to caress the apples of my cheeks. I look up at him bashfully as he smiles warmly at me. He gazes deeply into my eyes, his brown orbs hypnotizing and captivating me. I could get lost in his eyes all day. His gaze catches me off guard that I almost don't notice him slowly leaning into me. Mirroring him, I also slowly lean in, keeping my gaze on him. His eyes only break away from mine when he flickers them to my lips, setting his gaze on them. He licks his lips, making my heart beat rapidly against my chest. His eyes connect with mine again, as if asking permission to kiss me, his hand still caressing my face. I set my gaze on his lips as a signal that I'm ready to kiss him. He leans in further, closing the gap between us, letting his lips mold into mine. At first, I freeze, not knowing how to respond. My first kiss. A number of emotions were swirling through my head right now: happiness, shock, anxiety, and as cliche as it sounds, it felt like fireworks were bursting around us. The way his soft lips felt on mine, it was as if they were meant for mine; it felt taboo. Not knowing what to use my hands for, I rest them around his neck and he smiles into the kiss. Once I feel comfortable, I kiss back, letting my eyes flutter close, and holding his bottom lip captive between mine. He uses his other hand to push away one of the twists in my hair that fell in front of my face, while the other still cups my face.  He tilts his head as he sucks on my upper lip, making a smacking noise as he does. We finally part away slowly to breathe again, a gentle popping noise emitting from our lips. Feeling shy, I look away from him, smiling to myself, as I see him smiling at me from the corner of my eye.

"That was way better than how I imagined our first kiss would be." he says making me giggle.

"You...have soft lips." I stupidly say, not knowing how to respond.

"The last girl told me that." he shrugs.

I gasp, my eyes widening at him. He told me he hasn't kissed anyone before.

"W-what?"

He snorts with a laugh. "I'm just kidding."

"You better be." I mutter, leaning over to grab some groundnuts from the basket.

"I am. By the way, how are your friends?"

I sigh, remembering their breakup. I look over at him, shaking my head.

"They broke up."

Danny raises his eyebrows in surprise. "What? I didn't expect that from them. They seemed so happy."

I nod. "That's what I thought. But I guess things weren't going well. Tyler still wants to be friends though."

"I was going to suggest that we go bowling for a double date next week. I guess that's not going to happen anymore." Danny tells me.

I perk up at his words. I've never been bowling but I always see it in television and the people seem to have so much fun doing it. I mean, we can all go without it having to be a double date. It could just be a hang out. Maybe Tyler and Gifty could even work things out between them.

"Wait! We can still go. I'll drag them there if I have to. Please?" I beg, batting my eyes sweetly.

He rolls his eyes playfully. "Stop using that face on me. Yes, we can still go. I just don't want to make things awkward between them."

"You won't." I assure.

He chuckles. "Alright. It's a date then."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey people!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Why do you think Tyler wants a job so bad?

Please be sure to comment and vote! :) Stay tuned for the next chapter.

Song: Kofi Kinaata - Single and Free