Chasing Romeo

by A. J. Byrd

  Anjenai chokes on her pizza. “Principal Vincent is your aunt?”

  “Yep. You got to love that.” He smiles. “She can be tough but she’s cool.”

  “Wow. Here I thought you were getting all this special attention because you are the star football player.”

  I smile. “I had a pretty good season last year as a freshman. This year we’ll have to wait and see. Are you coming to our first game Friday night?”

  She shakes her head and eases back into her seat.

  “You have to,” I say. “I need you to cheer me on.”

  “You have plenty of people to cheer you on.”

  “Maybe I want one more.”

  Her dark gaze meets mine, and I feel this sense of falling off a cliff. “It would mean a lot to me.” She sucks in a corner of her bottom lip, an adorable habit I’ve noticed.

  “I don’t know,” she says.

  “There’s even an after party at Shadiq’s house. Everybody who’s anybody is going to be there. You should come.”

  “I hardly qualify as being one of the cool kids.”

  “Sure you are. You’ll be there with me.” I don’t know why I’m pushing so hard. I just know I want her there. I want to spend more time with her and explore these feelings I’m having.

  “I don’t know,” she says. “We’ll see.”

  This time, I decide not to pressure her further. I change the subject to tomorrow’s Spanish test and then to whether or not Mr. Carson wears a hairpiece. This is a subject of great debate for years from what I’ve been told.

  The hours slip by, and she tells me the story of her and the BFFs. Before I know it, it’s ten o’clock and the restaurant is closing.

  “Oh, my God. My grandmother is going to kill me,” Anjenai says, leaping to her feet. “We gotta go.”

  We quickly scramble out of our booth and hit the road. As I’m flying across town, my mind is spinning on how to ask her out again. “So we’re going to hit the gym again tomorrow?”

  “Maybe,” she says fidgeting in her chair. “If I’m not grounded after tonight.”

  She directs me to Oak Hill apartments—and I have to admit, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. Everyone at school calls Oak Hill “the hood” and I half expected to see drug dealers hanging out on every street corner or junkies milling around. When I don’t see that, I breathe a sigh of relief. A thug I’m not. Sure, some of the potholes could be fixed, but for the most part, the place is pretty clean.

  “Don’t worry. You’re not going to get robbed.”

  I glance over at her in her seat, my face hot with embarrassment. “I wasn’t thinking—”

  “It’s this first building,” she says, unsnapping her seat belt and reaching for her backpack.

  Great. Now I’ve made her mad. I pull into a vacant spot and shift the car into Park. “Look, Anje.”

  “Forget about it.”

  We’re silent for a moment, and then I finally get up enough nerve to tell her, “I had a good time.”

  “Me, too.” She reaches for the door handle again, but stops. “I have a favor to ask you,” she says.

  “Okay.” I watch her expectantly, but she stalls for a few seconds.

  “Can we not tell anybody about tonight? I mean, we’re just…hanging out. Right?”

  I blink at her, stunned. She doesn’t want anyone to know that we were together tonight?

  “I had a nice time and everything,” she assures me.

  “But?”

  “But, well, I just don’t want people to get the wrong impression”

  What the hell? I shift in my chair and try to examine what she’s not saying.

  Anjenai continues. “We have different friends, and I’m not too sure they’ll understand what exactly it is we’re doing.”

  “Are you saying that you’re embarrassed to be seen with me?” I ask, incredulous. What the hell is happening? Did I just fall into the twilight zone? Here I am thinking I’m feeling this chick and she shoots me down? This isn’t making any sense. “C’mon. Tell the truth. You have a boyfriend, don’t you? You can tell me. I won’t get mad or anything.”

  “No. No. I swear,” she says, her bright eyes shining and almost convincing me that she’s telling the truth.

  “Then why don’t you want anyone to know about tonight? I mean—” I shrug and then decide to lay it all on the line “—you gotta know I’m feeling you right now, right?”

  Her eyes bulge again, but it isn’t until that smile and those dimples hit me that I get my answer. She is feeling me. I turn in my seat so that I’m facing her, and when she remains silent for a moment, I can’t help but reach over and brush a few braids off her shoulder.

  “To be honest, it’s complicated,” she admits.

  Why do I like that she’s playing hard to get? “What would you do if I kissed you again?”

  She sucks in a breath. “What? Right now?”

  “Right now.”

  She continues to smile but she looks nervous. “Come here,” I say.

  Anjenai hesitates a minute, but then finally she leans forward, and when she gets close I tip up the bottom of her chin and finally kiss and savor the taste of her mouth.

  This kiss is absolutely amazing, and I can literally feel my heart pounding against my chest. For a fleeting moment I wonder what she would do if I place my hand against her chest. But at the last moment I fight the urge of going too fast. Something tells me that Anjenai isn’t one of those kind of girls.

  When we finally come up for air, I can’t help but continue nipping along the line of her bottom lip. She tastes that good.

  “We better stop,” she says.

  “Why?” I ask, fully aware I sound like I’m whining.

  “Someone will see us,” she whispers.

  “So?” I can’t help but kiss her again. This time a little deeper. Instead of trying to cop a feel, I pull her up against me so I can feel the rise and fall of her chest against my own. I gotta be honest: her soft breasts give me a hard-on so strong it’s about to bust out of my jeans.

  Anjenai must’ve felt it because she immediately jumps back, and I can’t help but laugh. “Calm down. It’s not going to hurt you.”

  “I better go inside.” She reaches for the door again.

  “Wait.” I grab her arm. “We still haven’t settled this thing about you not wanting people to know about…you know—us.”

  “Come on,” she says. “We travel in different circles.”

  Now I get it, but just before I open my mouth I think about what my own friends are going to say about me dating an Oak Hill chick and a quiet brainiac one at that.

  “All right,” I agree reluctantly. “We’ll keep this between us…for now.” Then I meet her gaze dead-on. “But I meant what I said. I’m definitely feeling you.”

  Her face lights up, and I find myself smiling again. “Do I at least get a kiss good-night?” Even through the dashboard lights I see her blush as she nods her head. I lean forward and brush my lips against hers. This kiss is just as sweet as the others and equally hard to end.

  “Come on. I’ll walk you to your door.” I reach for my door handle.

  “No!”

  I jump and then frown at her.

  “That’s not necessary. People might…”

  “All right. All right. You made your point.”

  “Thanks for understanding.” She leans over and kisses me on the cheek. “I gotta go,” she whispers with a smile and then jets out of the car and dashes into her apartment building. Maybe she should consider the track team as well.

  Still excited, I shift the car into Reverse, but before I pull out, my gaze sweeps across the apartment complex and crashes into Tyler Jamison holding a large garbage bag.

  Our eyes stay level for a few long seconds before she turns and walks away.

  chapter 21

  Tyler—Deceived

  I can’t believe this shit. That bitch lied to me. I can literally feel the anger roll off of me in waves.
Didn’t we all make a deal to stay away from Romeo? Now here Anje is creeping and making out in the middle of the night in his car.

  His car.

  I can’t help but stomp my way through the spiraling complex to the public garbage compactor. What the…! What the…!

  I reach the large metal compactor, and with one big powerful swing, I send the bag hurtling into the trash. Too bad it wasn’t Anje I was tossing in there. Maybe it would make me feel better. I take the opportunity to laugh out loud. Of all the people in my life, I thought I could always count on my girls. Now this shit.

  I turn and start to head back to the apartment, but I stop at the first curb I come to and plop down onto the hard concrete. I need to think. For the first few minutes I can’t stop wishing that Anje was standing here right now. I swear to God I would snatch every braid out of her lying head.

  Is it too much to ask that you can trust somebody in this world? I exhale, shaking my head and then glancing up at the starless night.

  Of course you can’t trust anyone. Your own damn mother walked out on you.

  At the mere thought of my mother, I can feel tears burn at the back of my eyes. But goddamn it, I’m not going to cry over this anymore. But it’s hard trying to control my rage. I’ve been mad at the world for so long that I don’t know how to be anything else.

  Out of nowhere, a long, steady cool breeze whips through the night. I close my eyes and enjoy the feel of the wind kiss my skin and ripple through my hair. It calms me, but it also makes me feel lonely. I force myself to harden my resolve.

  In a snap, the air turns from cool to cold, numbing my nose and ears. I wish it could do the same thing to my emotions. The wish goes unanswered when the wind suddenly dies. Seconds later, I hear a rhythm of shoes slapping concrete.

  Someone is coming.

  I open my eyes in time to see a couple of girls from Billie Grant’s gang approaching. Just great.

  The two girls spot me, and their laugh cracks the night’s stillness.

  “Well, well. Look who we got here, Michelle.”

  “I see it.” Michelle looks around. “Where are those two pip-squeaks you hang out with?”

  I ignore her.

  Michelle laughs again. “I guess it’s true what they say, Trisha. The freaks really do come out at night.”

  “Then what the hell does that say about you?” I ask.

  Michelle stops laughing.

  “Dumb ass,” I mutter under my breath. Instead of scurrying off to whatever rat hole they’d climbed out of, they head my way. I exhale another long breath. “Please. I’m not in the mood.”

  “Really,” Trisha taunts. “Then what exactly are you in the mood for?”

  I narrow my gaze. “How’s Billie?”

  Their eyes mirror my hostile glare. “How the hell you think she’s doing? You and your little friends fucked up her nose.”

  I laugh in their faces. “In that case, tell her there’s no need to send us a thank-you note for the vast improvement.”

  Michelle snickers. “You sure do talk a lot shit for a little girl.”

  “This little girl is gonna kick your ass if you keep messing with me.” I stand. Kicking someone’s ass is just the stress reliever I need about now. Michelle and Trisha look me over, and I find myself involved in another staring contest.

  At long last, Michelle cracks a smile. “Chill out, Mighty Mouse. Damn. Your ass really think you’re all that.”

  I shoot them the bird and start to storm off.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Michelle calls after me.

  I don’t answer. I don’t have time for this kind of bullshit.

  “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Hold up,” Trisha calls after me.

  I hear them run up behind me. I don’t look back and brace for anything. When they catch up with me, they quickly block my path.

  Michelle holds up her hand. “Hold up now. Chill.”

  I stop. “Get out of my way. I already told you that I wasn’t in the mood for this shit.”

  Trisha smiles. “We just want to ask you if you want to hang out. What? You can’t kick it with anyone else but those two loser friends of yours?”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell them to go to hell when an image of Anjenai and Romeo kissing flashes in my head, and I fall silent.

  “C’mon.” Michelle cocks her head. “You seem pretty cool. Let’s just hang out.”

  I laugh because that is funny as hell. “Let me get this straight. I kick your leader’s ass and now you just want to hang. That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Hey, no one is our leader,” Trisha corrects me. “Besides, Billie has been foul for a while now.”

  Michelle bounces her head.

  “So I did you a favor?” I say dubiously.

  “The way I see it,” Michelle adds. “It was going to happen sooner or later.”

  I keep laughing. These girls certainly don’t know the meaning of loyalty. Then again, my own friends have a problem with that as well.

  “So what, you girls are going to try and convince to go knock off a convenience store with you or something?”

  “You sure are a suspicious bitch.” Trisha laughs. “Naw, we’re genuinely trying to be nice to you, especially since you’re out here looking like a lost puppy and shit.”

  I look them over again and finally decide what the hell. “All right. I’ll bite. Where are we supposed to be hanging out?”

  “How about over at the playground,” Michelle suggests.

  “What the hell? Do I look six years old to you?”

  The girls laugh. “C’mon. It’s not what you think. A bunch of us hang out over there at night.”

  I frown. It sounds like a pretty damn silly thing to do, but anything is better than going home. “Fine. Whatever.” I follow Michelle and Trisha to the opposite end of the complex to the small, pathetic excuse of a playground. There are a couple of swings, monkey bars and a four-foot slide. To my surprise, it’s also teeming with kids from school.

  “Hey, guys!” Michelle shouts. “Look what we found.”

  The gang looks up, and I suddenly suspect I messed up.

  “What the hell is she doing here?” this boy Kerosene—and no, I don’t think that’s his real name—asks.

  I lift my chin, not about to let them see me sweat. I continue to march in line behind Michelle and Trisha, preparing for anything.

  “Chill out,” Michelle tells them. “She’s cool. She’s with us.”

  All eyes continue to lock on me. Soon a few shoulders begin to shrug, and then they all resume laughing among themselves.

  I move over to one of the swings and eavesdrop on a few conversations. None of them was talking about much.

  “Yo, you want a hit?” Someone thrust a cigarette toward me.

  I start to shake my head when upon closer inspection I notice that it’s not a cigarette, but a joint. My curiosity piques.

  “Don’t tell me your ass don’t smoke,” Trisha says, looking over at me.

  Everyone’s conversation stops, and all eyes return to me.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Well, here then.” The teenager thrusts the joint at me again.

  I hesitate.

  Michelle sits down on the swing next to me. “Trust me. Whatever the hell was bothering you a few minutes ago…this is going to clear your mind.”

  I continue to stare at the joint and then very calmly reached for it.

  Trisha smiles. “Inhale and hold,” she tells me.

  I place the joint in between my lips. A few seconds later, I feel good as hell.

  BFF RULE #4

  Always keep it real.

  chapter 22

  Kierra—Peacemaker

  “What’s up with you?” I plop my lunch bag on the table and sit down.

  “What?”

  Anjenai blinks up at me like I’d just caught her doing something wrong.

  “You sure are smiling a lot lately. You must’ve aced that biology test you�
��ve been staying after school studying for the last couple of days.”

  “Yeah,” Tyler says, easing into the conversation from across the lunch table. “All that extra studying surely must be paying off.”

  Anjenai clears her throat. “I’ve told you guys how important it is for me to get good grades in high school.”

  “Still want to go to Princeton?” I ask.

  “I’ll take any college,” she says. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”

  “As smart as you are, you have nothing to worry about.” I bite into my sandwich.

  “I’m just a freshman. Anything can happen between now and graduation. I can’t take anything for granted.”

  “I hear you. If I want to make it as a fashion designer, I need to get started now. Did you know Esteban Cortazar got started at our age?”

  Anjenai and Tyler just stare at me. I swear they are useless. “He’s like the youngest fashion designer ever to show in New York’s Fashion Week.”

  “Oh,” they say collectively. But I know they don’t care. After seeing the kind of clothes the Red Bones and their minions wear day in and day out at this school, I know it’s time to up my game. I don’t know exactly how I’m going to afford it, but I can’t go out like this. I have a reputation to build. “After watching Project Runway, it’s clear there’s no time to waste in the fashion industry.” Seeing their eyes glaze over, I change the subject. “Are you girls ready for basketball tryouts this afternoon? I already have my pom-poms to cheer you on from the sidelines.”

  “I appreciate your support,” Tyler says, “but no pom-poms.”

  “Hey, guys.” Nicole pops up at the lunch table all bubbly and grabs a seat. “Guess what.”

  “What?” we ask simultaneously.

  “I decided to try out for the basketball team, too.”

  That news is greeted with a wave of silence before I remember my manners. “Oh, that’s great,” I tell her leaning over to squeeze her hand. It’s great to see her bounce back from her disastrous cheerleading tryout.

  “Yeah, great,” Anjenai and Tyler finally chime in together.

  Nicole lights up. “See I figure since I’m not graceful enough for cheerleading that surely I can run and throw a ball, right?”