She frowned as she really focused her attention on me now. “Are you sure? I mean, you are one of the biggest athletes on campus. Does the sport in which you play not have any social issues or inequalities?”
Why is she doing this to me?For the last two and a half years, I’d been able to go under the radar and not have to actively participate in these types of things. I was a golden boy, one who let my on-court skills work for me in class.
When the door swung open, Phoebe stepped in. The professor’s eyes snapped her way. She glanced down at her watch, then back at Phoebe.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Phoebe mumbled as she scurried past to find a seat.
When she noticed me sitting only a few rows from where she stood, I figured she would go to the other side, but to my surprise, she sat directly in front of me. The smell of her curly hair wafted across my nose, making me sit up. My attention was now on the backof Phoebe’s head. I was waiting for her to turn around and look at me, but she hadn’t.
“Mr. Keyton? Are you going to answer the question?”
Phoebe still hadn’t turned around, and now I was curious why. I quickly glanced up.
“Nah, I don’t have an answer.”
The professor gave me a tight-lipped smile and moved on to the next person. I glanced back at Phoebe as I leaned forward. “So, you’re ignoring me?”
She turned slightly. “How can you ignore someone you don’t know?”
I sucked my teeth. “Oh, so you're going to act like you weren’t chilling with my friends and me?”
She scoffed. “Xavier, please. Thirty minutes of being on shrooms was hardly chilling with you and your friends. Leave me alone. Besides, you can’t even answer a question she’s asking you, but you want me to answer you. Get a life.”
I nodded slowly as I sat back. The fact that she was shutting me down like that... I didn’t know if I wanted to chase her or leave her alone. When I got Phoebe’s number and decided to take her around my friends, I didn’t think much of it, but now that she wasn’t fucking with me at all, it felt like an insult. We had gone through another thirty minutes before class ended. Before I could get out of my seat, Phoebe was gone. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to play hard to get, but she was making ithard not to get frustrated.
I pulled my phone out to text her.
I watched as the bubbles appeared and disappeared. I heard what Dio said and tried to listen, but I could see Shorty was going to make it hard. I went to stick my phone in my pocket when her text came in.
I slid my phone in my pocket and hobbled out of the class. I was pretty much done for the day, but had one more stop to make, and that was to see my coach.
Before I could even make some headway, Anika came up to me. “Hey, Xavier.”
“What’s up?”
“Um, I wanted to ask you about your friend.”
I frowned at her. “What friend, and why don’t you ask this friend yourself?”
She ran her tongue over her teeth before running her hand down the back of her short haircut. Anika was cute; she gave hood girl vibes, but the story behind her body count was scary.
“The friend you're riding bikes with.”
I bellowed a hearty laugh. “Who, Dio?”
“Yeah, him.”
I shook my head. “Wrong nigga. Anika, that ain’t the one. Trust me. Besides, he got a girl, and the last thing you want is those kinds of problems.”
She looked me up and down. “Is that ayou’re going to give me his numberor nah?”
I leaned forward. “That’s ahe’s off limits and don’t fuck with it.”
“So, maybe I should tell Phoebe not to fuck with you.”
I pointed at her. “Oh, you’re one of those. Tell her whatyou want. If you choose to approach Dio, that’s on you, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Besides, he doesn’t fuck with hoes.”
“And Phoebe fucks over niggas like you, so I guess we both have to be careful,” she finished and walked off.
