Chapter 2

Tashima:

      The day had crept by slowly. It started raining in the middle of my third period and my fourth period teacher had called in at the last minute so my political science class was converted into a free period with one of the history department’s teacher’s aids hovering around as a chaperone. My girl Skyler was sitting across from me text-ing her boyfriend who should have been in biology, I know because he shared the same class with Shad. She emitted a quiet giggle before locking her phone and placing the touch screen slider into her pocket and turning to me.

      “So the winter formal is coming up. Are you going this year?” she asked as she propped her head on her hand and glanced at me expectantly.

      “Do I ever?” was my question.

      “It’s your senior year Shima. You need to try and enjoy all the happenings because before you know it, it’ll be over,” Skyler voiced.

      “What would be the point Sky?” I questioned her. “It’s a formal dance, which means I’d have to get a dress, mind you I haven’t worn a dress since I was eleven, and on top of that I don’t have a date-”

      “Now you know good and well that getting a date won’t be a problem,” she interrupted.

      “Where was I when these guys were showing their interest?” /span>

      “Acting as if you didn’t want to be approached,” Sky threw back at me. “I can understand if you don’t want to deal with any of the boys here because, let’s face it, very few of them are mature enough to handle a real relationship. If that’s the case, you know I can hook you up.”

      “With who?” I asked just to humor her.

      “Terrell’s brother is single and fine girl. He has a body like, whoa!” she gushed, using her hands to help her express what she was saying.

      “Isn’t Terrell’s brother something like two years older than us?” I asked, trying to dig any info I had on this guy from the recesses of my mind.

      “Yeah, he’s a sophomore at Morehouse,” Skyler supplied.

      “If he’s all of those things, why would he be interested in me?” I asked her.

      Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t have self esteem issues. It’s just that I’m realist and I know myself. I’m not ugly nor am I devoid of personality but I’m not exactly what most guys are into. They wanted girls that were thick and looked like video chicks. I was not now, nor have I EVER been qualified as thick. Quite the contrary actually. It was just within the last year that I finally began to fill out. Before that I was way too thin and had as much curves as a wooden board.

      So you see, with all that said what could Terrell’s older brother do with me? He should be damn near twenty now and used to partying with college girls. There was no way I, the quintessential seventeen year old goody-goody, could compete with the women he was used to.

      Skyler looked at me in disbelief before saying, “Why wouldn’t he be interested in you? In case you haven’t noticed you’re a pretty girl and you’re mad fun to hang out with. On top of that you play video games, are into graphic novels, and love action movies. What guy wouldn’t want to date you?”

      Shad, I answered mentally before pushing that from my mind. “It doesn’t even matter though. The formal is in a couple of weeks and I doubt he’d agree to such a last minute thing-”

      “Why don’t you let me hook it up. If you like Allen, then ask him to the dance. If not…come anyway.”

      “Sky-”

      “This is the last winter formal you’ll ever have Shima. You can’t miss out on it,” she insisted.

      “I’ll think about it,” I told her as the bell rang.

      “I’m hooking it up. You’ll thank me later. I promise,” she spoke as she grabbed her bags and left the classroom.

Shad:

      “Can we go?” Sheena whined as she leaned against my car. I had to force myself from wincing at that. If there was one thing I hated it was a whiner. /span>

      “No,” I spoke simply. “You know good and well that I’m driving Tash home.”

      “She’s a big girl, baby. She can take the bus,” Sheena mumbled and I shot her a look.

      Sheena was my girl and so I gave her a certain amount of respect and leeway but she’d been making hints for a couple of weeks now about how much time I spent with Tash and how she wanted me all to herself. I knew the routine; females felt threatened over my friendship with Tashima and tried (some subtle and others…not so much) to force a wedge between us and I wasn’t letting that happen. I was feeling Sheena, shorty was bad, but she wasn’t about to make me ruin the friendship Tash and I had spent a lifetime building. Tash may not have ever been the most popular girl in school but she was one of the best people I knew and so I wasn’t about to let a reputation I couldn’t give a damn about, make me push her to the side. That wasn’t worth it and neither was any pussy I’ve had or will have.

      I gave Sheena a look and she sucked her teeth before pulling the passenger side door open, plopping down on my leather seats, and slamming the door. Here she go. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. I rolled my eyes, annoyed at her childishness, before smiling when I saw Tash walked out the side door next to Skyler. Tash shook her head at Skyler and waved at Terrell before turning in my direction. A smile brightened her features when she saw me waiting for her and jogged through the student parking lot to get to the car.

      “What’s up ma?” I asked her as I opened to back door for her.

      “Nothing,” she answered quickly, letting me know that she was hiding something.

      “Somehow I don’t believe that,” I told her.

      Sheena was quiet for the first five minutes of the ride, but began speaking after a mall commercial came on the radio. “Hey girl,” she called out to Tashima. I glanced in the rear mirror and saw the questioning look on her face and stifled an laugh at that. The two were friendly enough towards one another, but they were hardly friends.

      “What’s up?” she asked Sheena easily.

      “Are you going to the dance this year?”

      “I hadn’t planned on it,” she spoke with a shrug. “Why?”

      “I was just going to offer to help you find a dress-”

      “Umm,” Tasha let out before saying, “don’t even worry about that. If I do go, rest assured that I’ll have that taken care of. Thank you, though,” she added so that the comment wouldn’t come out the way I know she meant it to.

      Sheena shrugged uncaringly and bobbed her head to the Lil Wayne song playing on the radio. I pulled into Tashima’s neighborhood and slowed down to a stop in front of her house. She gripped her book bag and gripped the handle to open the door but I stopped her.

      “We still on for the gym tomorrow?” I asked her.

      “Nah. Sorry, but Sky talked me into hanging out with her tomorrow so-”

      “Don’t even worry about it. We’ll get together some other time.” She looked as if she wanted to say something about that but let it go and offered me a small smile before leaving the car and jogging to her door.