Chapter 17:

What’s Your Type?

Entertain Us

Malakai rested his head on his table, his eyes closed, but he wasn't sleeping. Delilah leaned to her left and gently put her hand on Malakai's head. She started ruffling his hair and said,
"Malakai, we're almost there. Just one more hour."
Malakai didn’t respond.
Delilah kept messing with his hair,
"Your hair is really soft".
Malakai swatted her hand away and lifted his head,
"Alright, stop," he said, rubbing his eyes with his left hand.
"We're not almost done. We have one more day left". He tiredly said.
"You know what I meant. Almost done for today".
Benjamin turned around to see what they were doing,
"Woah Mally, the fuck happened to your hair?".
"She messed it up", he said, pointing at Delilah.
"His hair is really soft. Have you felt it?" She said happily, with a smile on her face.
William turned around quickly.
"Na, I haven't. Let me feel it", he said, reaching for Malakai's hair.
"No! Piss off", Malakai said, flinching back and raising his hands to defend himself. Malakai got his phone and used the front camera to fix his hair.
"Do you dye your hair?" The ends of your hair are brown?" Delilah asked, looking at his hair.
"Yeah, I dyed the tips of my hair before I came to America. This is the first time I tried it. I'll probably dye it again when it fades". He said, putting his phone down.
"What about your hair? Thinking about growing it out?" He questioned back at Delilah.
Delilah pinched a few strands of hair and started twisting it,
"I'm the same as you; I cut it before coming to this academy; my hair was long before".
"Do you have a picture?" William asked, looking at her.
"Yeah, let me show you, " she said, unlocking her phone and scrolling through her photos.
She found a good photo and showed the three of them.
"You suit both", Malakai complimented, switching his gaze from the photo to her. Delilah looked at the picture herself and asked,
"Do you prefer girls with longer or shorter hair?" Delilah said, putting down her phone.
"I don't mind, I like both". Malakai shrugged.
"So you don't have a type?"
"Na, not really", Malakai said, shaking his head.
"He says this every time we ask him", Benjamin told Delilah.
"What type of girl would you go for then?" Delilah continued to ask.
Malakai's eyes wandered to the ceiling; he tried thinking of an answer that would be satisfactory,
"I guess someone who can make my heart skip".
"Is that it?" Delilah confusingly responded. She looked at Benjamin and William, who looked like they'd heard that answer before. She looked at Malakai patiently, waiting for him to be serious and give a genuine answer, but Malakai's face showed he wasn't playing for once. He finished giving his answer and had nothing else to add.
"Your heart always skips for me though", Benjamin jokingly said.
"Yeah, man, all the time", he responded sarcastically, nodding his head.
Delilah giggled a little,
"What about William?" She threw out there.
William turned and looked at Malakai.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Malakai said, screwing his face.
"Answer the question", William responded.
"Bro, you look like an alien, and your name's Willy. My heart ain't doing shit".
Delilah and Benjamin started laughing.
William closed his eyes and lifted his head to the sky. He knew it was coming; he let out a deep breath.
"My name is William or Will. Not Willy".
"Willys easier", Malakai said, supporting his point.
"Willys two syllables, Wills one. What are you talking about?"
"I'm not talking logically; I'm talking about me. It helps me sleep at night knowing I can call my best friend Willy", Malakai said, making himself laugh.
"Hate this guy, man", William said, turning around and leaving the conversation.
Delilah was still thinking about Malakai's answer. Was that all it took?
"Malakai. Were you serious? Surely a lot of girls can make your heart skip a beat". Delilah said, trying to get more of an answer.
"I guess. Don't get me wrong, I find a lot of girls attractive, but that's for my eyes and mind. My eyes are visually pleased, and my mind is thinking positively, but my heart isn't connected with the two. I don't feel anything special". Malakai said, trying to speak through his thought process.
"So you've never had a crush?" Delilah asked.
"Probably when I was younger, but I can't think of any recently. I don't know. I feel like if I were to like someone, I'd have to feel something, so I guess I'm just waiting on that feeling." Malakai spoke his mind.
"Do you know what type of feeling you're waiting for?" Delilah asked, wanting him to describe it.
"Not really, but I feel like I would know when I feel it", Malakai said, looking into space and trying to describe it.
"Fair enough", Delilah still wasn't entirely convinced.
Benjamin sat up and fixed his posture; he thought of something.
"I heard when you hear the words I love you, it increases your heart rate".
"Do you want us to try it or something?" Malakai asked.

"Yeah, Mally, you should try it", William said, returning to join the conversation again.
Malakai looked at Delilah to see what she thought about it.
"I don't mind, but don't fall in love". She jokingly responded.
"I doubt I will", Malakai smiled.
"Okay, you say it first. I'll see if my heart skips a beat", Malakai said.
"What? Why me?" She said, looking at everyone.
"I agree", Benjamin said.
"Ladies first", William followed.
Delilah's tilted her head,
"I'm feeling a bit of deja vu."
She turned her chair towards Malakai and sat up straight; Malakai didn't turn his chair; he just looked at Delilah. Benjamin and William secretly pulled out their phones and recorded.
"Okay. Malakai, I love you",
After that, she heard silence. Silence? Why did she hear silence? Wasn't there supposed to be background noise of people talking? She looked to her right and saw most of the class staring at her. Everyone witnessed a confession, but in reality, they didn't.
She turned back to Malakai, who was smiling like he always does. He then moved his hand to his chest to feel his heart.
"Na, I don't feel anything", he said.
Delilah was embarrassed,
"Aren't you going to say it back?" She said with a tinge of panic in her voice.
"Why would I say it back? I don't love you".
Malakai said, grinning from ear to ear, knowing what he had just done. He knew the whole class was watching and heard the confession.
"That was the deal!" Delilah complained in a panic.
"Deal? I don't remember. I don't see no contract", Malakai said, trying not to break down and laugh.
Benjamin and William were already laughing with their phones out.
"Damn, Mallys already got a girl confessing to him. You need to step up your game, Lu", David said, nudging Lucas's arm.
"I'm not a playboy' I don't know where you got that idea from", Lucas replied, knowing full well it was Malakai who started it.
"See Maria, I told you that boy is trouble. A girl confessed to him, and he's laughing in her face", Tanisha said, looking at her nails.
Maria didn't respond. She kept looking towards that corner.
Delilah knew she got played, and the worst possible scenario happened. She had to try and resolve it because those three wouldn't help. She stood up and announced,
"I don't love him; we were testing something out".
The class looked at her like she was crazy. It didn't help that her face was blushed, not from conveying her feelings but embarrassment. Malakai, William and Benjamin were dying of laughter. Delilah couldn't do anything more; she signed and dropped to her seat.
"Why're you recording?!" she shouted while trying to reach Benjamin's phone.
"We needed evidence for the experiment; this is so we can review the results later", Benjamin replied, laughing while dodging Delilah's attacks. Delilah gave up and sat there defeated.
"Don't worry; we'll get 'em next time", Malakai comforted, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Shut up", Delilah said, avoiding Malakai's gaze and moving his hand away.
"I'm never trusting you again", she pouted.
"C'mon, it ain't that deep". Malakai said, trying to fix things.
"Mally, you've done enough", Benjamin finished laughing.
"Ahhh, my stomach hurts", William said, holding his stomach.
Delilah was pissed but couldn't help but smile. She still hid her smile with her hand, finding the funny side of it all. Even though the three embarrassed her, she was glad they had gotten close enough to play jokes like that.
Malakai looked at Delilah with his peripherals and acknowledged she wouldn't talk to him, but he noticed she wasn't angry. He turned to his left to look out the window.
"Damn, it's raining again".
It was pouring down, but it didn't look miserable. From the inside, it looked calming and tranquil.
"Again? It's the first time it's rained while you're here. It's the first time it's rained in like three weeks; you've only been here for two". William said, looking at Malakai like he was confused.
"Oh shit yeah. In England, it's always raining, so I guess I'm used to the rain". Malakai's eyes stayed locked outside; he didn't look at William once while he responded. Delilah sneaked a peek at Malakai while he wasn't looking. She could see his eyes, but looking at his body language, something was different about him; a moment ago, he was crazy and laughing his head off, but now he was calm. She wouldn't call it relaxed but instead call it peaceful.
"Maybe he likes the rain. He did say it rained a lot in England; maybe this reminds him of home." Delilah thought to herself. She suddenly felt eyes on her, so she looked in front of her and noticed in the corner of her eyes that Maria was looking at her.
"Great, she's looking at me again", Delilah thought.
"Sorry I'm late; let's get started quickly", the maths teacher said, rushing into the classroom and hastily putting his books on the desk. Everyone became silent and looked at their teacher. Delilah, one last time, looked at Malakai without turning her head. Malakai was still looking out the window.
She quietly sighed, and under her breath, she said,
"Clueless".