Even though I didn’t tell him to come, I’m not surprised to see Terrell outside Niveus after detention again. I didn’t see Chiamaka today either, but I bet she rushed out as soon as she finished.
I knew I’d have to talk to Terrell eventually about what happened yesterday in the park, but I didn’t think it would bethissoon.
What am I even gonna say to him?
Sorry for kissing you—I’m not over Dre and I probably did that because I missed him.
I pretend to check a message on my phone, heart beating fast, knowing he’s waiting for me to come out.
After a few moments of aimless scrolling, I pocket my phone and walk down the steps toward him.
I approach the gates and see him clearly, on his bike waiting, in a huge gray hoodie and sweats.
“Hey,” he says, staring at me. I feel naked under his gaze. I think that’s Terrell’s superpower, making me nervous.
I wonder how long he’s been out here.
Just as he says, “Are you okay?” I’m saying “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” he asks.
“Kissing you, then running away. I just broke up with my boyfriend on Friday. I wasn’t thinking, and I probably made things really weird. I’m sorry.”
Terrell looks at me, then down at his hoodie, which I’m wearing again. It’s warmer than any hoodie I own.
“Can I walk you home?” he asks.
I wasn’t expecting him to say that, but I nod anyway.
We start walking, Terrell dragging the bright-yellow contraption he calls a bike along as I stroll next to him.
“Does he go to your school or something? The ex, I mean,” Terrell asks suddenly.
“No.” I look at Terrell now. “He’s just a guy from our neighborhood.”
“What’s his name? I might know him.”
I hesitate. “Andre Johnson.”
Terrell goes quiet again.
“So, he was the one who told them to do that to you?”
I shake my head. “He got angry because the messages Aces was sending were making people start to suspect things about us, so he broke up with me.”
“You don’t deserve to be treated like that.”
“I doubt Dre told them to.”
Terrell shakes his head. “And so what if he didn’t. Did he check on you?”
“It’s not easy for him, he’s had a hard life,” I say, even though I doubt it’ll make a difference in Terrell’s mind.
“We’ve all had fucking hard lives—doesn’t mean I’m gonna be an asshole about it.”
“He has a boss who’d hurt him—”
“So if not him, you? Andre can sit there and be okay with them beating you, just because he doesn’t want to deal with it himself—what a fucking pussy,” Terrell says angrily.
