Romance in Kitalo City Book 1
Nella isn't looking for love. She's had a taste of it and is convinced it's not as glamorous as the world portrays it to be. She's pretty sure romance isn't for her, until she meets a charming basketball player who seem...
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Nella Lola. The girl in the shorts. Once again wearing a pair of shorts, though this time looser fitting and slightly longer. She'd walked into Mama Bee's, a small, but successful African food restaurant in Kitalo City, a suburban area where I spent majority of my life.
She seemed to be well-versed in these parts, so I wondered why I'd never seen her before the day at the store. When Mama Bee said her name in her loud voice and followed that with "Instagram queen!", I was equal parts intrigued and underwhelmed. I wasn't immediately attracted to girls who had a social media reputation. Though I kept my social media updated, I never shared too much. There were certain things that were just too personal. If I were to find myself entertaining the thought of dating, I'd prefer people who liked to live life quietly, not constantly feeling the need to tell thousands of strangers every single detail about themselves.
Why am I even thinking as far as dating, though?
I let this thought marinate in my head, hoping it would restore the sense I'd clearly just lost. Somehow though, as I sat in my dark little corner in the restaurant, I couldn't help but search her name on my app, and I was strangely excited when I actually found her. Her follower count was 57 000, but she only followed 115 people, so she was clearly popular in the corner of social media that she occupied.
Ornella Mpemba👸🏾 A 90s kid who loves playing dress up🧚🏽♀️ I STAND WITH HSS ↓ www.hsshelpasisterstand.org For business collaborations, email nellalolam@gmail.com YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/channel/BGHm8XgRj7ybg582c9Ltf4uA
Her bio alone had me curious for more. I scrolled down, tapping her most recent upload. There were four pictures in this post.
The first one was an up close shot, she was smiling in a red and black outfit, her jet black hair curly and big, dimples on full display. In the next slide, she stood tall and proud in the same outfit, which I now realized was her version of Garnett's from Steven Universe. It was really cool, she'd gone all out with shades and even padded arm pieces for the full Garnett effect. The third slide was a picture of her standing with three other people. Together they made up Garnett, Steven, Amethyst and Pearl. The others' costumes were as realistic and dope as hers. The very last one was an informational poster, which read:
HSS's subdivision, Help the Children Stand, launched today and we couldn't be more grateful for everyone who came and showed their support. All the costumes created a fun atmosphere for the children to relax and feel free to be themselves. The activities you participated in brought smiles to their faces. For the hours you spent with them, they weren't orphans, victims of violence, or kids with special needs. They were just happy children, and for that, the team at HSS is overjoyed. We look forward to hosting more events like this in future and hope to see you there. Thank You, the HSS team.
Her caption simply read, That's why the people of this world believe in Garnett, Amethyst and Pearl... And Steven😁
All of this just fueled my interest and led to me scrolling endlessly through her pictures, occasionally laughing at some of the memes and quotes she included in her posts. My scrolling was interrupted by a text message from my mom. When it popped up on my screen, I felt dazed, like I'd just woken from a deep nap and couldn't find my bearings.
