Real As It Gets

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  We made our way to the front office. I showed Travis the counselor who had his schedule. He picked it up, and we headed to my locker just as the first bell rang. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been at school for the first bell.

  “Here, put this in there,” Travis said, handing me the notebook my mom had given him as we headed out this morning.

  “Don’t you need that?” I asked.

  “For what? I get chicks to take notes for me.” He actually popped his collar like some kind of pimp.

  I rolled my eyes as I took the tablet and threw it in my locker.

  “What classes do you have?” I asked.

  He shrugged like he couldn’t care less, then handed me his schedule as he scoped out the girls walking up and down the hall.

  I was just about to say something about his schedule when Sheridan walked up. “Well, well, well. The rumors are true.”

  “What rumors?”

  She ran her eyes up and down Travis’s body. “The rumors that said Maya Morgan was sporting a new guy on her arm.”

  I groaned. “He’s not a guy.”

  Travis cleared his throat, and this fool actually raised his shirt to show off his tight abs. “Last time I checked I was,” he said. Of course, Sheridan and every other girl in a ten-foot radius started drooling.

  “I mean, he’s not that kind of guy,” I told Sheridan. “This is just my cousin. You remember—Travis?”

  Sheridan’s mouth fell open. “Oh my God! Little Travis grew up.” She pushed his shoulder. “How you gon’ come to town and not let me know?”

  We all used to hang out when Travis came down during the summers when we were in elementary school. But once he’d hit twelve, Travis hadn’t been trying to come to Miami anymore. My dad had said he preferred to stay in Brooklyn and run the streets.

  Travis looked at Sheridan and frowned like he was trying to figure out who she was. Finally he said, “Sheridan?”

  “In the flesh, baby.” She did a slow twirl.

  “Danggggg,” he slowly said. “Talk about growing up. You are so freakin’ hot.”

  “Really, Travis?” I asked. I mean, my BFF was beautiful, but with her flat chest, I didn’t know how she could ever be classified as hot.

  “Wow, the last time I saw you, you had braces and crooked teeth,” he said.

  “I never had crooked teeth,” she protested.

  “Well, you definitely ain’t no little awkward girl anymore. What happened to the little girl with pigtails I used to know?” Travis asked as he checked her out from head to toe.

  “She grew up, too,” Sheridan confidently replied.

  “And out,” he said, leaning back and looking at her behind.

  “Now, you both are about to make me throw up in my mouth,” I said. “What’s your first class?” I said, glancing down at his schedule since it was obvious that was the least of his concerns.

  Travis just kept staring at Sheridan.

  “We do have one class together,” I said, examining his schedule. “You have Mrs. McAfee first period.”

  “Oh, so you’re in with me,” Sheridan said, a huge smile forming across her face. “So I guess I’m going to have to take you under my wing and show you the ropes.”

  “That ain’t the only thing I want to get under,” he muttered.

  “Travis!”

  “My bad.” He stepped back and threw his hands up like he was surrendering. “My cousin here got me on lockdown. I got a no-chick rule. I can’t talk to any girls today.”

  “And he can’t talk to you any day,” I quickly added.

  Travis shrugged. “The pimp has spoken.”

  Sheridan rolled her eyes. “Maya, stop being so extra.”

  “Whatever,” I replied. I wasn’t about to debate this with them. The bell had already run, and since it wasn’t often that I made it to school this early, I wanted to at least get to first period on time. “Travis. Come on, I’ll show you where your class is.”

  “What kind of sense does that make?” Sheridan said. “We have the class together. I might as well show him.”

  “I can think of a whole lot of things you can show me,” Travis said, causing Sheridan to break into a big, stupid grin.

  “I’m warning you guys ...” They may have been just playing around, but I needed them both to know that their hooking up was not an option.

  “Chill out, it’s not even like that,” Sheridan said. “You’re like my sister, right? Well, that would make Travis my cousin, too.” She draped her arm through his. “So, come on, cuz. Let me show you to class.”

  I shook my head as I watched them walk away. I hadn’t seen Travis in a while, but one thing I did know, my cousin was a player. My gut told me if he and Sheridan hooked up, my BFF would be the one getting played.

  Chapter 5

  “You are so full of it.”

  I took a deep breath, folded my arms across my chest and gave Bryce major attitude. I couldn’t believe he was standing here in my face. We hadn’t really talked since our last breakup. I’d never let on how much that had hurt me, but Bryce was old news so he would get no more of my time.

  “Is there a reason you’re invading my personal space?” I asked him. He’d been waiting outside my fifth-period class like some kind of stalker.

  Bryce let out a small laugh, almost like he was mocking me. “Naw, I’m just trippin’ on you. I can’t believe you’re tryin’ to act all funky about me and Callie.”

  Was he really coming at me like this? I debated telling him off, but I didn’t even have the energy. “Really, Bryce? I couldn’t care less about you and Callie.”

  “Whatever. I saw the way you were looking at us the other day. Then you had your girl make that comment.” He had the nerve to try and look cocky like he’d caught me in a lie. He was seriously delusional because Sheridan may have been paying him attention, but he wasn’t even on my radar.

  “What do you want, Bryce?” I asked.

  He hesitated, then said, “I’m just trippin’ because I see you all hugged up with a new dude, but you want to give me grief.”

  I pointed my finger in his face. “First of all, nobody is giving you grief. Do you, boo. What part of ‘I am completely cool on you’ do you not get?” I didn’t wait for him to answer. “And number two, what are you talking about? Hugged up with who?”

  “Ol’ boy that you gave a ride to school the other day.” He shook his head like I was pathetic. “You can’t get a dude with his own ride?”

  I couldn’t help it—I busted out laughing in Bryce’s face. “What, you stalking me now? You spying on me?” I asked him. Bryce had always been the jealous type. I imagined him sitting up watching me with Travis, and burning up inside with envy. That brought another smile to my face.

  “Ain’t nobody spying on you,” Bryce protested. “I just happened to see you when you rolled up with that buster sitting on the passenger side. Then, you walking around all hugged up with him.”

  Hugged up? Then, I remembered when Travis had playfully hugged me and I’d pushed him off. Oh, Bryce was so off base it was funny.

  I almost came clean, but why give Bryce the satisfaction? Let him think whatever he wanted. I no longer cared because Bryce was no longer my problem. “If only you knew.” I looked him up and down. “But you don’t.”

  I wasn’t going to waste any more of my precious brain cells thinking about Bryce. He’d blown his chance with me. He’d find out sooner or later that Travis was just my cousin, but for now, let him think what he wanted. In fact, I kinda wished Travis were here now. He would have played right along and helped me drive Bryce crazy.

  Bryce had me worked up as I got in my car and headed home so I did what I usually did when I was in a bad mood. I called Alvin.

  I’d first met Alvin a few weeks ago when my other BFF, Kennedi, put me in touch with him so he could help me figure out who was hacking into my email account. Alvin was some kind of computer whiz (he even made a lot of money off one of his computer inv
entions). And although he could be cute if somebody took some of that money and cleaned him up, he wasn’t in my league.

  I knew Alvin wanted more with me, but he was a nerd with a capital N. He was a rich nerd, but he was a nerd nonetheless, so we could never really be anything but friends. But over the past couple of months, we’d gotten to be really good friends. We talked almost every day. Alvin had a great sense of humor and he had a knack for making me laugh. After my encounter with Bryce, I definitely felt like laughing.

  I was about to dial his number when my phone died. “Dang it,” I said, looking around for my car charger. Then I remembered that Travis had pulled the plug out and taken it inside at school so he could charge his phone. I tossed my dead phone on the seat as I wondered where he was. He’d just told me at sixth period that he had another way home. When I asked him how, he said one of his friends was coming through to pick him up. Leave it to my cousin to make friends that fast.

  I got on the freeway, and was just about to head home, when I decided to make a right and go by Alvin’s instead. I was off today and I needed some laughter to pull me out of my funk (before Bryce had come trippin’ with me, I’d found out I had flunked yet another test). Alvin was just the man to cheer me up. I smiled as I thought about the first time Alvin and I had really hung out, at our winter dance. J. Love had tried to punk him there. Alvin had showed me then that he wasn’t one to be messed with. One day, he was going to make some girl a good boyfriend. If he ever got out of the house long enough to go meet someone.

  I pulled into the driveway of Alvin’s spacious four-bedroom house. At first, I hadn’t been feeling Alvin (who is twenty-one) living at home with his parents, but then, he’d explained that it was his house and his mom lived with him.

  I parked and made my way up to the front door. I rang the doorbell and waited a few minutes until I saw Alvin pull the curtain back over the little window on the door. I waved. It took a minute, but Alvin slowly opened the door.

  “Hey,” he slowly said.

  “Hey, yourself,” I replied. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing. Ummm, what are you doing here?”

  “I was just on my way home and decided to swing by.”

  The look on his face actually made me lose my smile because I wasn’t missing the fact that he hadn’t moved from the crack in the front door.

  “Are you going to let me in?” I finally asked.

  Alvin hesitated, then said, “It’s just that ...”

  “Move, boy.” I pushed him aside and walked in. I had no idea why he was acting all secretive, but I wanted to get inside. “Why are you ...” I stopped in my tracks at the sight of the pretty girl with olive skin sitting on Alvin’s sofa. She looked like a young Jennifer Lopez. She had on a low-cut blouse, which she was buttoning up as I walked in.

  “Wow,” I said, looking back and forth between him and the girl. “Just wow.”

  Alvin scooted to her side as she stood up. “Hey, Marisol, ummm, this is ah, ah, ah ...”

  I cocked my head, raising an eyebrow in his direction. Is he for real? “Um, Maya. My name is Maya.”

  “Don’t be silly, girl, I know your name,” he said with an I’m-so-in-trouble laugh.

  Marisol had an expression on her face like she wasn’t sure if some drama was about to jump off.

  “Hi, nice to meet you,” she said, sticking her hand out.

  Alvin jumped over to her side. “Marisol is a friend of mine,” he quickly said. It was then that I noticed he was wearing a cute purple polo and some baggy jeans. This was a shock because I don’t think I’d ever seen him not in a button-down shirt and slacks.

  I looked over at Marisol as she pulled her shirt down, then quietly looked up at me, then at Alvin. I was glaring at him, and he was looking at me like he didn’t know what to do.

  “Do I need to leave?” Marisol finally asked.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” I said.

  “Maya!” Alvin repeated.

  I shrugged as I folded my arms across my chest. “No, I just figured she had to get home or something.” My eyes roamed down to her too-tight shirt and too-short skirt. “You know, and find some clothes that fit.”

  “Maya!” Alvin said. “Why are you acting like that?”

  “Alvin, what’s going on?” Marisol said, looking she was about to get upset.

  I had to catch myself. I was for real tripping. I was acting like Alvin was my man. “No, I’m really just a friend,” I told her. “I mean, he can’t even remember my name so I must not be too important,” I couldn’t help but add.

  “Come on, Maya. Stop tripping,” Alvin said.

  “Seriously, it’s all good.” I fake smiled at her. “We’re just friends. I didn’t mean to interrupt what you guys had going on over here.”

  “Maya, it’s no big deal,” Alvin said. “Marisol and I were just hanging out.”

  “Oh, okay then,” I said, walking over and sitting down on the sofa. “In that case, what y’all talking about?” I crossed my legs like I was getting comfortable.

  Alvin shot me a look like he couldn’t believe me. I couldn’t believe me either. I was feeling some kind of way. In the entire time I’d known him, I’d never known Alvin to go out on a date—let alone be sitting up making out with some chick. Then, I didn’t know what bothered me more, that or how flustered he’d gotten when I’d showed up. If it truly was nothing, why was he so nervous?

  “Wait a minute,” Marisol said as she leaned in and stared closer at me. “Are you that girl from the TV show, the gossip show?”

  “Yep, I’m that girl,” I said with confidence.

  “Oh, wow. I love that show,” she said excitedly. “I mean, I could never do what you do.”

  “I’m sure you couldn’t.”

  “I mean I couldn’t sell my friends out like that. But you do a good job at it.”

  I just stared at her, trying to see if she was taking a dig at me on purpose or if she really was that dense.

  “So, you just stopped by?” Alvin asked, standing over me.

  “Yes. Me dropping by has never been a problem before.” I didn’t bother trying to hide my attitude.

  “It’s n-not one now,” he stammered. “I was just saying, I mean, I didn’t ...”

  “It’s okay, papi,” Marisol said, draping her arms through his. “I don’t mind sharing you.”

  Now, I knew I was going to throw up. “On second thought, I just remembered something I need to do.” I stood up. “Papi, I’ll call you later,” I said, sarcastically. “Bye, Pine-Sol.”

  She gritted her teeth, but kept her smile. “It’s Marisol.”

  “Oh, my bad.”

  Alvin gently pushed me toward the door. Once he opened it, he stepped outside with me. “Why are you acting like that? Are you mad at me or something?”

  I had to take a deep breath. Like, seriously, why was I tripping? We were just friends, and Alvin was a good guy. Why didn’t I want him to be happy?

  “No,” I finally said. “You know I’m just messing with you.” I couldn’t help it—I ran my finger along the collar of his polo. “I’m glad to see you happy. But honestly, I think you can do better than that trashy girl. But hey, that’s just me.”

  “Of course, you’d think that.”

  “I’m just looking out for your best interest,” I said innocently.

  “I know.” He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “You don’t want me, but you don’t want anyone else to have me either. I get it. I’ll call you later.”

  I just smiled because I was beginning to think there was some truth to what he was saying. “You do that, papi. Call me later.” I made my way to my car, still struggling to make sense of the strange, bubbling feeling in my stomach.

  Chapter 6

  The newsroom of WSVV was a flurry of activity. Reporters, producers, and interns were running around like crazy.

  “Where’s the fire?” I asked Sonnie, one of the news producers, as I walked up to the main desk. I didn�
�t usually make my way to this side of the building, but I’d finally gotten in touch with Savannah. She was in rehab now and had agreed to give me an interview when she got out. So, I’d left school right after lunch and come into the office to try and dig up some background info on other designer drug cases.

  “Girl, it’s a middle school that has had seven kids overdose,” she said, scribbling furiously on a sheet of paper. Before I could reply, the desk phone rang. “Hey, this is the police department calling back,” she yelled to no one in particular before snatching the phone up.

  “Wow.” I was grateful I worked on the entertainment side. I was only doing the drug stories as it pertained to celebrities. The idea of having to deal with that kind of stuff day in and day out, I definitely wasn’t feeling.

  “I guess I’ll just come back,” I mouthed to Sonnie, who had the phone nestled between her shoulder and her ear.

  “Yeah, this is major so I’m not going to be able to get anyone to help you for a while.”

  “Cool,” I replied.

  I had just turned to walk away when I heard her say, “Oh no, so four of the kids have died?” she said.

  I couldn’t take any more. The news side was so freaking depressing. I made my way out of the newsroom before they completely ruined my day.

  I had just sat down at my desk when my boss, Tamara, knocked on my door.

  “Hey, Maya. Lynn from news wants to know if you have any contact information for Chanel Jackson.”

  “The actress?” I asked.

  “Yeah, apparently, her little sister is one of the middle school kids that overdosed.”

  I leaned back in my chair. “Wow, this stuff is out of control. I just left the news department and it’s chaos.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it. We got a tip today on another celebrity. I just don’t get it. This K2 is supposed to be the cheap stuff, so why are all these rich people indulging in it?”

  I shrugged. I had long ago stopped trying to figure out druggies.