Nothing Else Matters

by Leslie DuBois

"Scott's car was here pretty late last night. Is there something going on?" Walter asked his daughter when she came down for breakfast.

  The huge smile on her face was enough of an answer.

  "So, tell me something, Rey," he said, sitting down at the table. "Does La Cienega smile when you're with him?"

  "Daddy, when I'm with him, La Cienega does back flips."

  Chapter 15

  Nov. 4th

  "What are you so happy about this morning?" Sam asked as I came downstairs after my shower. I had finished my "triple five" as Sam liked to call it. The "triple five" was my daily five a.m. five mile run topped off with fifty-five bicep curls.

  Apparently, I was whistling to myself. I didn't know what to tell her. I couldn't very well come right out and tell her the truth. That I was in love with Reyna. So I just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

  "Um, Amber broke up with me." I sat down at the breakfast table next to Stu, who had started giggling so much milk was spilling out of the corners of his mouth.

  Sam looked at both of us like we were idiots. "Well, good. That girl had a stick up her ass. She was probably just after your money anyway."

  "Sam, I don't have any money. You act like I've signed a contract with a team or something already. I'm still in high school."

  "Well, it's just a matter of time. You're almost guaranteed to be a major player in any professional sport you choose. I mean you're a high schooler with a ninety-seven mile per hour fast ball for God's sake." Sam stopped talking while she turned on the blender for our morning energy drink. "Which reminds me," she continued while she filled two plastic cups, "have you ever considered skipping college all together and going straight into Major League Baseball? I know an agent who can represent you."

  "I want to go to college, Sam," I said, taking the cup from her and gulping the disgusting liquid.

  "Don't write it off immediately. Do you know how much money you stand to make? Why not make the money now and go to school later? Just think about it. I made an appointment with that agent for next Tuesday after school."

  Sam sat at the table and opened the newspaper as if the conversation was over. I would be meeting with that agent next week and if Sam had anything to do with it, I'd have a contract signed within minutes.

  "What if something happened to me? And I couldn't play sports anymore?"

  Folding her newspaper down, she stared at me and said, "What are you talking about?"

  "Nothing."

  "Why are you massaging your wrist? Did you hurt it?" It sounded more like an accusation than a mother genuinely concerned about the well-being of her son.

  "What?" I looked down and saw that I had been rubbing my wrist while rotating it in small circles. A burning sensation radiated from the joint. "Oh, um, no it's fine. I think my watch must have given me a rash."

  This satisfied Sam and she went back to reading her paper.

  Stu sighed, however and said, "You don't wear a watch." Thankfully, Sam didn't hear him, or if she did she pretended not to. If she thought something was wrong with my throwing arm she'd probably make me do curl presses until I was numb.

  I downed the rest of my shake and grabbed my car keys. "Stu, if you want a ride to school you better light a fire under your tail." Stu shoveled the rest of his cereal into his mouth, and then hopped up from the table.

  "You two have school today? It's election day."

  "Nice, Sam. Way to keep involved in your kid's lives," Stu said, shaking his head.

  "Private schools don't get the day off," I volunteered, trying to calm the waters before another screaming match broke out between Stu and Sam.

  Sam glared at Stu for a moment then snapped the newspaper back in place choosing to ignore his sarcasm.

  "Let me know what the paper says about your ‘Mother of the Year' award." Stu just had to throw in an extra jab at her before leaving.

  "You know, you two just may get along a little better if you stop being so sarcastic and caustic to her all the time," I told him as we got in the car.

  "You think I want a relationship with her? Please. As soon as I turn eighteen, I am out of this house and I will never speak to her again if I can help it." Stu crossed his arms and stared out of the window.

  I went to turn the key in the ignition and the pain in my wrist shot all the way up my arm. It felt as though someone had taken a razor blade and slit my left arm from wrist to shoulder. It hurt to breathe. My shoulder locked in place. It hurt even to think about moving.

  "Scott, what's wrong?"

  I tried my best to hide the pain and play it cool. "Nothing. Um, I was just thinking that you need to practice driving. Why don't you drive us to school?"

  "You want me to drive your precious Mustang when I don't even have a permit?" He squinted his eyes. "You're in pain aren't you? I'm calling Reyna."

  "No!" I yelled, grabbing the phone away from him. Stu stared at me, stunned. I never yelled at him. I left that to Sam. "I don't want her to worry," I explained, trying to sound calm.

  I gave him back his phone then said, "Look, I'm in a little bit of pain and I have been for the past few months. But it always goes away after a few minutes. If you don't want to drive, just let me sit here for a bit and it'll go away, I swear."

  Stu looked toward the house. Sam was standing in the window looking at us, probably wondering why we hadn't left yet.

  "I'll drive," he said. Stu got out and walked around to the driver's side, letting me just scoot over out of the way.

  As he pulled out of the driveway, I closed my eyes and focused on purging the pain.

  ***

  Stepping out of her yellow Volkswagen bug, Reyna smiled at what a beautiful day it was. She took off her jacket and tossed it into the car. She wouldn't need it for the unseasonably warm weather. She reached into the back seat and pulled out her box of "I Voted" buttons, ready to hand them to anyone and everyone who exercised their privilege.

  As she walked toward the main entrance of the school, she subconsciously scanned the parking lot for Scott's car. He wasn't there yet. The dismal thought that he might be in trouble invaded her mind. She shook it off. Stu would've called her if something was wrong.

  Balancing the box on her hip, she reached for her phone to check for missed messages, just in case.

  "Let me help you with that," Derek Strong said as he whisked the box out of her arms.

  Crap! I just agreed to a date with him. How am I going to get out of this?

  "Thanks," Reyna said, her mind racing to think of something to say to break their date without hurting his feelings.

  "So, I thought after we win State on Friday night that I'd take you to Circa 1886. I have reservations for 9:00. I figure that if the game starts at six we'll beat them by 8:00. That'll give us plenty of time to change and get to the restaurant."

  "Circa 1886?" He was serious about this date. Reyna just expected that they would hang out at someone's house after the game. No big deal. But a reservation at Circa 1886 was a big deal. It was one of the most expensive restaurants in Charleston. He must have really liked her. She never even considered that as a possibility. She honestly thought he was too into himself to care for anyone else. She thought wrong.

  Derek pushed the door open and let Reyna walk through into the main hall of Charleston Prep.

  "Yeah, Circa 1886. You think after me asking you out for six months that I'm gonna take you to Burger King or something? Derek Strong doesn't operate like that."

  Reyna gave a nervous laugh, which Derek probably mistook for a flirtatious laugh. She had to think of a way to let him down easy. Before she could say anything, Shawan came running up to the both of them.

  "Reyna, you gotta see this. You're gonna be so proud of me." Shawan waved a paper in her face excitedly.

  Scanning over the paper, Reyna's eyes focused on a big 92 written in the corner and circled in red.

  Reyna screamed. "You got a ninety-two on your geometry test!" She hugged the chubby cheeked freshman
, and then they both broke into spontaneous happy dance right there in the hall.

  Suddenly, Reyna felt a pair of arms around her waist and lips on her neck.

  "What are we so happy about?" Scott asked when he released her.

  Shawan grew quiet and raised an eyebrow as she stared at Reyna and Scott. Derek, who had been smiling during the impromptu dance routine, grew angry. He shoved the box of buttons into Reyna's arms then stormed off.

  "What was that about?" Scott asked.

  "Nothing," Reyna said quickly. "He ... um ... It's nothing." Reyna stepped away from Scott, suddenly feeling the need to put distance between them.

  "Let's do lunch today," he asked still trying to hold on to her waist.

  "Okay."

  "I'll meet you in the parking lot. I gotta get to class." Scott gave her a peck on the lips, and then dashed off leaving her under Shawan's scrutinizing gaze.

  "What was that?" she asked Reyna.

  "What?"

  "Oh, you know what. You're with Scott Kincaid now?"

  "Yeah, so?"

  "You're the president of the Minority Student Association. You can't date a white guy, especially Scott Kincaid."

  "Why not?"

  "I can't believe I even have to tell you." Shawan grabbed her elbow and pulled her out of the middle of the hallway, away from the crowd and from roaming ears.

  "His mother is the biggest racist there is. Do you know that last year she actually complained to the principal that the black guys on the basketball team were getting more playing time than the white guys? I know this for a fact. My brother was on that team."

  "Believe me, I know Sam Kincaid. But that doesn't mean Scottie's like that. He loves me."

  Shawan shook her head disapprovingly. "What about Derek? Why don't you just date Derek? He's completely in love with you too. Do you know how much he's been going on about this date he has with you? You probably just broke his heart right now."

  Reyna felt a wave of guilt overwhelm her. She didn't mean to hurt Derek. And what if Shawan was right about the race issue? Maybe dating Scott wasn't such a good idea after all.

  ***

  "Were you just kissing Reyna Lewis?" Amber asked, blocking my way in to art class.

  "Yeah, so?"

  "How could ...why would ... what about us?" Amber did the puppy dog eye thing again.

  "In case you forgot, you broke up with me yesterday."

  "I did not." Amber crossed her arms indignantly, reminding me of her little sister. "I just said I needed time to think."

  "I'm sorry, Amber. But I'm with Reyna now."

  "But she's black," she whispered as if she was telling me a secret I wasn't aware of.

  "Actually, she's half black, kind of like our next president." I knew that would really irk her, especially since she boldly donned her McCain button on her lapel.

  "Wait till your mother finds out," she threatened finally moving out of the way to let me enter my classroom.

  ***

  News traveled fast about Scott and Reyna. By the time lunch rolled around, almost every member of the MSA personally told her that she could not date Scott Kincaid. For some reason, she had never considered the social ramifications of a relationship with Scott. Maybe her feelings for him had blinded her to the true racial atmosphere at Charleston Prep. She tried to think hard as to whether there had been another interracial couple at the school in her six years there and she couldn't think of a single one. There had been no blatant acts of racism besides the ramblings of Sam Kincaid, but everyone both white and black considered Sam absolutely insane. Yet, still, maybe Sam was just the only one with the courage to say out loud what everyone else was thinking.

  Suddenly, Reyna felt as if everyone in the school was staring at her when she walked down the hall. Not because of her unique sense of style with her afro, leather pants, and arm full of bracelets, but because she was breaking a taboo. Forging new territory that had never been explored: interracial dating.

  "You need to stay away from my man," Amber said, jamming a finger into Reyna's chest.

  "You've got to be kidding me." Reyna sighed and massaged the space between her eyes with two fingers. This was exactly what she did not want to happen. She was in no mood for high school drama. That was one reason she'd never had a serious boyfriend. She didn't think any boy was worth the effort of navigating the social quagmire of high school dating. Her worst nightmare was failing a test or something because she'd been too busy crying over a boy to study. And she thought it was absolutely ridiculous when girls fought over boys. From her tone, it seemed as though that was exactly what Amber Freaking Sullivan wanted to do.

  "No, I'm not kidding you. I know you've had your eye on him for years. This whole best friend thing was an act to get close to him so you could steal him away at the right time."

  "Amber, I didn't steal him away. You two broke up." Reyna spoke slowly, as if speaking to a child, since that was the way Amber chose to behave.

  "We did not."Amber crossed her arms and stomped her foot. "And even if we did...it was only like a few hours ago. I change my mind. "

  "You don't get a ‘do over.' This is not fourth grade. I am not having this conversation," Reyna said, turning to walk away.

  "I'm warning you, Reyna. Stay away from him or else!"Amber called after her.

  Reyna ignored her and went to the parking lot to meet Scottie.

  "You ready to go?" Scott said when Reyna met him at his car at the beginning of lunch. He kissed her on the lips, and then held the door of his red Mustang open for her.

  "Scott, I'm not really hungry. Why don't we grab a bite some other time?" Reyna closed the door and took a step away from him.

  He must have sensed something more was wrong than a loss of appetite. Reyna noticed his jaw clench.

  "What's going on, Rey?"

  "Nothing. I just think that maybe we need to slow this down a bit. I mean, up until last night you were dating Amber Sullivan. Then this morning you're kissing me in the hallway. The entire school thinks I'm a man-stealing tramp or something. I mean, you should see the looks the girls on the cheerleading squad are giving me. I really ... I just don't want this drama."

  "Since when do you care about what other people think? What else is up?"

  Reyna sighed. She didn't want to tell him about the racial aspect. He wouldn't understand. He would think it was just an excuse. But it was tough going to a high school with only twelve black students. Those other eleven people were like her family. Besides their weekly MSA meetings and their Saturday study sessions, they sat together at lunch, hung out in the evenings and even took vacations together.

  They were the only ones that understood what it was like being black and attending a rich predominantly white private school. They weren't all poor and on scholarship, Derek's father, for example was a doctor, but each of them still had to struggle. The simple act of trying to repudiate stereotypes day in and day out was exhausting. But when she was with the other black students, she didn't have to worry about that. She could just be. Her relationship with Scott almost felt like a betrayal of her relationship with her black friends.

  "Can't we talk about this later, Scottie?"

  Scott closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine, we'll talk later. But, Reyna, you're crazier than a ballet dancing bull if you think I'm gonna let you go."

  Catching her off guard, he pulled her close to him and planted a kiss on her lips that she couldn't deny. No, she wouldn't be able to let him go either.

  Chapter 16

  Going to vote in a national election for the first time wasn't the joyous occasion Reyna thought it would be. She wanted to go with Scott so she could have some company while she waited in line, but he was probably off fuming somewhere, still upset that she had wimped out on lunch. She couldn't even vote with her father as he had woken up at five so he could be first in line before going to work. So there she was, standing in a line that stretched for three blocks. She regretted leaving her jacket in t
he car as darkness was falling and so was the temperature.

  She thought about her day in order to keep her mind off of the cold. Pulling out her phone, she texted Derek a lengthy and heartfelt apology for hurting his feelings. She considered trying to keep their date, but decided against it. How could she go out with Derek when her heart was with Scott?

  Reyna’s thoughts settled on her Scottie. How absurd it was that if Scott had wanted to take her out to lunch yesterday it would have been no big deal, but today because they were an item, it was unacceptable? What decade did they live in? It was 2008 for God's sake. She was about to vote for a black man for president of the United States, yet a black girl couldn't date a white boy at her high school without persecution. It was unacceptable. She loved Scottie and he loved her. She was not about to let anything get in the way of her happiness. She took out her cell phone and texted him.

  Sorry bout lunch 2day, Scott. Meet me 2night.

  Seconds later he wrote back.

  OK, luv u

  Snapping her phone shut, she no longer felt the slightest bit cold. In fact, she felt quite warm all over.

  ***

  I had been in bed since school let out. I talked my way out of football practice by saying I had to go vote, but really I just went home and crawled into bed. Reyna would kill me if she found out I hadn't voted, but I just didn't have the energy. I was so exhausted I could barely walk. I felt hot all over and my fingers would barely move for me. Thankfully, Stu had band practice and Sam was at the gym so I was able to sneak into the house unnoticed and get a little bit of rest. All I needed was a few minutes of rest. That was at 3:30. The next thing I remember, my cell phone was buzzing with a text from Reyna. It was 7:15.

  I couldn't believe I had slept for almost four hours straight in the middle of the day. After I returned Reyna's text, I called my family doctor and made an appointment for the next day.

  ***

  Scott was waiting in her bedroom when she came home from voting.

  "Hey," she said.