Step Up (11 page)

“We'll let you know,” I told Sean.

“Let him know about what?” Jade was all up in the business all of a sudden; her newfound friend, who happened to be Sean's friend, Calvin, was standing close by.

“We're thinking about going down to Grambling with Sean on Thursday,” Indigo explained.

“That's it. We're just thinking about it,” I stressed.

“I wanna go.” Asia approached and joined the conversation, too.

“Me, too.” Tymia came out of nowhere.

“Why don't we all go,” Calvin suggested. “I can probably get my dad's Suburban. It seats nine people and as long as y'all don't pack too much stuff we could probably do it.”

“Yeah, you know how girls get carried away with all the shoes and clothes and stuff,” Sean said.

“The gas will probably kill me, but it'll be worth it to hang out with Jade a little bit.” He gave Jade a smile.

“I didn't say I was going,” Jade teased. She was all smiles, too. Whatever she and Calvin were talking about earlier had her blushing, and it was obvious that they liked each other.

“You should consider going. That way we could get to know each other a little better.” Calvin didn't have to do much convincing before she agreed.

“Okay,” she said.

It seemed that the conversation had gone from “we'll think about it” to “what time we getting picked up on Thursday” and nobody had even considered what we were going to tell our parents. I could barely sleep that night as thoughts of Vance raced through my head. Seeing him was long overdue. As I mentally picked out the outfits and shoes I would pack, I knew that Thursday would take its time coming around.

Vance

With
my size-eleven Jordans spread across the floral comforter, the lights dimmed and the scent of some sweet-smelling candle floating through the air, I wrapped Shay in my arms. Kissing her was like sucking on a peppermint because she had just popped one into her mouth. My hormones raged out of control as her head rested in the center of my chest. As music played softly on the stereo, I shut my eyes and wondered where the night would take us. I knew that sleeping with a girl had its consequences, especially since I was already dealing with a pregnant girlfriend in Atlanta.

In addition to my relationship with Tameka, I had a girl on campus that I was starting to fall for, too. She was definitely my type…athletic, smart, had a sense of humor…everything I wanted in a girl. Tameka represented what was right while Lexi represented what felt good. And now here I was adding to the equation. Shay was beautiful and sexy. She wasn't quite the type of girl I would take home and introduce to my mother. She was known around campus as hot and easy to get into bed, especially if you were an athlete. She was one of the groupies who hung around the gymna
sium hoping that one of the basketball players would show just a little bit of interest in her. In my mind, she was simply a quick toss between the sheets.

She lifted my arms and pulled my shirt over my head and began planting soft kisses all over my chest. My self-control was slowly fading away as I lifted her shirt over her head. Her brown breasts were plump beneath her pink bra. Her stomach was flat and sexy with a silver navel ring glistening in the darkness. She removed her skintight jeans and dropped them to the floor. I did the same, but not before searching my pockets for a condom. I searched in each pocket thoroughly and couldn't find one. I pulled out my wallet and checked the compartments, too. Nothing.

“I don't have a condom,” I announced. “You got one?”

“No, Vance. We don't really need one. Just go with it.”

“Nah, I don't roll like that. Gotta use protection.”

“I don't have no STDs or anything. I'm clean.”

“I believe you, but before I lay with someone I gotta protect myself.” I sat up in the bed. The mood was different. As much as I wanted Shay, I knew that it was stupid to move forward.

I stood, slipped my jeans back on.

“What're you doing?” she asked. She seemed to become angry.

“Hey, baby, as much as I want this right now, we can't afford to be careless. There are too many diseases out there…”

“Diseases? You think I got a disease?” She was standing, too, with her hands on her hips. Her pink underwear was looking all cute in the moonlight that crept into the window.

“I'm not saying you got a disease. I'm saying that I don't get down unless I got some protection. And you shouldn't be sleeping with anybody unless they do the same. You feel me?”

“Yeah, I feel you, Vance. You're just a tease is all you are. Brought me all the way over here for nothing!”

She was scaring me; made me want to take off running as far away from her as possible. But I played it cool. “Sorry you feel that way, Shay,” I told her, grabbed my shirt from the floor and headed for the front door. She ran after me and pushed me from behind. When she began to yell all sorts of obscenities, I knew it was definitely time to go.

Before I approached the door, a key was stuck into the lock from the other side and the front door swung open. A group of at least five giggling girls rushed into the apartment. The leader, a light brown girl with short curly locks, looked me square in the eyes.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“I'm, uh…” It was as if I'd forgotten my name as a familiar, angry pair of eyes popped up from behind Curly Locks and looked right into mine.

“His name is Vance,” Lexi said as she pushed her way into the apartment. She gave Shay, who was standing behind me, a look of disapproval as Shay stood there in her pink underwear.

“Shay, what's going on up in here? I didn't say you could use my apartment to get your little freak on. You said that you wanted to come here and study because you can't concentrate in your dorm room,” Curly Locks stated.

I didn't wait around to hear Shay's response to her friend. I was too busy running after Lexi who had bolted out the door and down the stairs. I thought I saw tears in her eyes before she ran, and my heart ached. I never meant to hurt her. In fact, I couldn't even figure out why I was in some strange girl's apartment, with a girl that I knew was easy, about to make one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

“Lexi,” I called out to her.

Her friendship meant more to me than a roll between the sheets with Shay, and I felt as if I'd lost it. She stopped running but started strolling at a fast pace.

“What do you want, Vance? You got everything you need right up them stairs…standing there in her little pink panties waiting for you!” She turned just long enough to say that.

This was a side of Lexi that I'd never seen before—angry. She had daggers in her eyes and was not at all interested in talking to me. She kept walking but I caught up with her.

“I don't care about that girl, Lexi…I was just…”

“Just what, Vance? You was just trying to get between her legs?”

“It wasn't even like that…” I grabbed her hand, only to have her yank it away.

“Then what was it like?” Her eyes were softer now and they were staring into mine. It was better when they were angry because the softer eyes made me feel guiltier. My heart started to ache as she waited for an answer to her question. “What was it like then?”

“Okay…it was like that. I did try to sleep with Shay. But I didn't.”

“Why didn't you?”

“Because…” I looked away, suddenly ashamed. I felt worse than I had in a long time. Hurting Lexi was bad. It hurt me inside. “Because I didn't have any protection.”

At least I was honest. She had to give me credit for that.

“That's the only reason you didn't sleep with her?”

“Um…yeah.” The truth was all that I could give her. If she wanted more, then that's all I had. After all, I was a young man with raging hormones. And Shay was beautiful and sexy. Anyone with eyes could see that. The guys on the team had bragged about bedding her; they talked about how good she was and I wanted to see for myself. Wanted to see what all the hype was. “It ain't like we're committed or anything…you and me. I thought we were just kicking it.”

“I guess that's what it is then. We're just kicking it.”

“Yeah, 'cause you got that dude back in Mississippi…what's his name?”

“Tyrone,” she whispered, “and I don't want him. If I wanted him, I wouldn't have been hanging out with you.”

“I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to hurt you, Lexi. What were you doing over here anyway?”

“The girl that lives there, Andrea, is one of my best friends. She's on the basketball team. We hang out at her place all the time. Nobody felt like partying tonight, so we were headed over to her apartment to watch some movies and maybe order some pizza. You said that you needed some space, wanted to be alone, remember? I didn't expect to find you there with…Shay Taylor…one of the biggest hoochies on campus. I knew that everyone else slept with her but I thought you were different.”

I wanted to believe that I was different but the truth was, I wasn't. I didn't have a response for Lexi. I didn't know what to say.

“You and me…we just friends, right?” I asked.

“I thought we were more than friends, Vance. I thought you were feeling me, like I was feeling you.”

“I am feeling you, but we never really talked about it like that.”

“You mean like a commitment or something?”

“Yeah, we never made any commitments or anything.”

“So that's why you thought it was okay to sleep with Shay? Because we didn't have an official commitment?”

“Something like that.” I said it but wished I hadn't. The truth of the matter was I couldn't really commit to Lexi. I already had a commitment with someone else.

“So let's make a commitment then, Vance. Right here…right now,” she suggested, those soft brown eyes piercing me, causing my heart to bleed. I wished I had the guts to tell her the truth. She deserved at least that.

“Right now?” I asked.

“Right now,” she repeated.

“I, um…I can't…”

“Fine, Vance. Go sleep with whomever you want.” She turned to walk away.

I let her get a few steps away before I stopped her. “Okay, Lexi…you want a commitment?”

She stopped in midstride and turned to face me. “Yes. Right here, right now. I want a commitment. I wanna be the only girl that you kick it with.”

“You're already the only girl that I kick it with. Why do we have to get hung up with formalities?”

“Why can't you commit, Vance?” she asked.

“I can.” I blew air from my lips. “Shoot, a commitment is nothing to me.”

“Then fine. Ask me to be your girl.” Her hands were on her hips and I knew she was serious. I knew that I would lose in this situation either way it went. The heart of the matter was, I really liked her and I was terrified of losing her. I had to make a choice, and fast because she was waiting for a proposal.

“Aiight, Lexi. Um…” I could feel the sweat popping out on my forehead. “Will you be my girl?”

“You for real, Vance?” she asked. Why was she asking me if I was for real when she'd practically just twisted my arm?

“Of course I'm for real. Be my girl. And hurry up before I change my mind.” Suddenly I was cocky.

“Shut up, boy. You are so silly.” She was all smiles then. That sad look was gone and the life was back in her eyes again. She wrapped her arms around my neck, kissed my lips. “That means that you can't be getting your freak on with nobody but me.”

“I don't care nothing about that girl back there.”

“Not just her, Vance. I'm talking about all girls. You are officially removed from the players' list.”

“Okay…so what other rules you got?” I asked.

“I wanna tell my parents. I want to let them know that we are in a relationship.”

“That's cool. Maybe your father won't break my legs now.” I laughed.

“I'll make sure Daddy behaves. He's just looking out for his baby girl.”

“It doesn't really matter. It's not like I'm gonna see your father that often. Probably won't see him again until next Fourth of July.”

“Actually, no…you'll see him on Thursday.”

“What?”

“Yeah, my parents will be here on Thursday. They're coming down to spend the weekend with me. They want to have dinner with me on Thursday night and I want you to come along.”

“I don't know about that, Lexi…I…”

“You have to, Vance. If we're in a committed relationship, then you need to get used to my parents being around. You have to come.”

She was persistent and when she gave me that look, I couldn't resist. I didn't know how to say no.

“Aiight, what time?”

“Around six,” she said. “Relax, Vance. It's not that serious.”

“Right.” That's all I could say. Thursday was just a few days away and already I was feeling trapped—like a fly stuck in a spider's web. No options, no way out and slowly dying. I didn't know what the upcoming weekend had in store for me and I wasn't very anxious to find out.

Marcus

I stood
in the middle of the floor in my dorm room, a pair of basketball shorts hanging from my hips, a wifebeater hugging my chest, my cell phone in my hand as I stared at the screen. I couldn't believe the phone call I'd just received. It was surreal—like a bad dream. No…actually it was more like a nightmare. Indigo was angrier than she'd ever been before and I couldn't get a word in. She'd used so much profanity I wanted to wash her mouth out with soap.

“You're a lying, cheating dog, Marcus!” she'd yelled.

“What are you talking about?” I had asked as my heart started to pound out of control. I was already on edge from being awakened from a deep sleep. At two o'clock in the morning, I knew that the jingle from my cell phone couldn't possibly be a good thing. I knew something was wrong when I saw Indigo's name flashing across the screen. And when I'd missed the first call, she'd called right back. She would've called back-to-back until I answered.

“You know exactly what I'm talking about, Marcus Carter. I got the photos by e-mail,” she growled.

“What photos?”

“The photos of you and…and…that hoochie! You kissed
her, Marcus. And held her.” Her voice shook like she might cry at any moment. She was hurting.

My heart beat faster than a normal pace.

“Who are you talking about?”

“Don't play dumb. You down there at Harvard messing around on me? You're supposed to be down there going to school and you all up in somebody else's arms.”

How did she know these things?

“Who sent you photos?”

“I got them by e-mail…from…I don't know! From someone who calls themselves Hollywood.”

Hollywood…Hollywood…I didn't know anyone who called themselves Hollywood, I thought as I held the phone up to my ear.

“Somebody's messing with you,” I explained to Indi.

“So you're telling me that you weren't kissing another girl?”

“Well…um…I did meet someone, Indi.”

The dead silence made me think that she'd hung up. That is until I heard the light whimpers in my ear. She was crying and my heart ached. I never meant to hurt Indigo. I wasn't even sure about what I wanted to do—if I wanted to break things off with her because I'd matured over the summer or if I wanted to hold on to her for dear life. After all, we'd been through a lot together. Indigo and I had history. I'd only known Daria for a few weeks and even though I was feeling her, I wasn't sure if she could take Indigo's place. Someone had made that decision for me by sending photos to Indigo's e-mail box. Who would do such a thing?

“Who is she, Marcus?”

“Her name is Daria.” I wanted to be honest with her. I loved Indi.

“And she goes to Harvard?”

“Yes.”

“She in the summer program, too?”

“Nah, she's a freshman here. She's taking some summer classes. Next year she'll be a sophomore.”

“An older woman.” She laughed sarcastically. “You like her, Marcus?”

“Yeah, she's cool.”

“I can't believe I've been running around here telling people that you're my knight in shining armor. Your armor is faded and rusty. And you're no knight, Marcus. You're no better than Quincy Rawlins, with his trifling behind. And I never want to see you again.”

When I tried to respond to Indigo's final comment, I realized I was talking to a dial tone. And so I stood there, holding on to my cell phone, staring at the screen as if she might call back. When I tried calling her, she let it ring; she wouldn't pick up. Whoever Hollywood was, he or
she
was making my life a living hell.