“I second that motion,” Lo says.
I roll my eyes heavenward.
“You want pictures too?” I ask Saint.
“Nah, it’s only one girl for me.”
Lo and Micah exchange glances.
Saint took the news of my pending move the hardest. He has a crush on me, but I don’t reciprocate his feelings. I wish he never tried to change the status of our relationship. It’s made things awkward. Saint’s attractive, but he’s like a brother to me. He’s an inch shorter than Micah’s six feet and resembles Freddie Prinze Jr. circa late nineties—dimples and all.
“Why do you keep denying what’s between us?” Saint asks.
“It’s stupid to fight on our last night together. Drop it, please.”
“Fine!” he yells and storms to the front of the house.
“He holds a torch for you,” Lo says. “Would it kill you to try?”
“You think I enjoy hurting him? Would it be better to lie and lead him on?”
“I love you, girl, but it’s good you’re moving,” Micah states. “It’ll give Saint a chance to stop obsessing over you and maybe even start dating.”
My stomach churns at the thought of leaving Los Angeles on bad terms with Saint. I take a fortifying breath and go after him. He sits on the porch steps, peering at the starlit sky.
“Hey.” I perch beside him.
“I hate fighting.” He twirls one of my knotless braids around his finger.
I got the popular style done yesterday. The medium size braids fall to my hips.
“Me too.” I lay my head on his shoulder.
“Pressuring you is unfair. Forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
“Come on.” He nods towards his motorcycle. “Up to burning rubber?”
Saint’s parents gifted the Kawasaki to him on his eighteenth birthday. The rest of us are still seventeen, and boy, does he rub it in.
“Hell yeah.”
We pop on helmets and settle onto the bike.
Saint starts the engine and adrenaline floods my veins. The hum and vibration of the engine is therapeutic to my soul. He zooms down the street and I sigh blissfully. I’m going to miss this.
I organize my spacious closet while singing Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain”. My impressive new residence has three bedrooms, four baths, a basement, and an attic. It’s surrounded by woods, and the nearest neighbor is five miles down the road. Kinda gives meFriday the 13thvibes.
My bedroom is double the size of the one I had in Los Angeles and has a bathroom too. Thank God for small favors. The topping on the cake is that the newlyweds’ room is upstairs and mine is on the first level.
I value my privacy, and I’d be traumatized foreverif Iheard my mother and Michael doing the nasty. That’s a disturbing thought. I prefer to think of them reading Bible verses at night and abstaining from all sexual activity. I’ve stayed in since arriving in Montgomery three days ago to unpack, but today, I’m sightseeing and applying for jobs. Maybe I’ll bump into some peers during my excursion.
Orientation for Mom and Michael started yesterday. They won’t be home until five.
My cell phone chimes, and I go grab it off the dresser.
Lo: How you holding up?
