Page 49 of Full Court Press

“N—” Braelyn cleared her throat. “No, it’s not.”

“Bullshit! I call bullshit!” Sabrina exclaimed as she and her crew laughed.

“Damnnn, nerd girl out here being a triple threat!” Amos exclaimed while everyone laughed except for me, Braelyn, Khalil, and my girls.

“Oh, piss off, herp!” Braelyn exclaimed, sticking up her middle finger at him. Khalil coughed, trying to hold in his laughter. I didn’t get the joke for about five seconds, then finally caught on. I remembered Braelyn telling me he had herpes.

Allegedly.

“Aye, you need to chill with that shit. I ain’t got no fucking herpes,” Amos seethed.

“A’ight, y’all, chill,” Jalen said, also trying not to laugh. “She said it’s not true, so let’s move on. It’s your turn, Braelyn.”

She rolled her eyes, then looked at me. A smile grew on her face.

“No,” I told her as she laughed.

“Aww, come on, bestie! Play with me. Don’t leave me hanging.”

“Fine. Dare.” I chose.

“Hmm, what’s a good one? I dare you to give Khalil a lap dance.”

I shook my head. “I absolutely will not.”

“You’re no fun.” She pouted.

“Take a shot then,” Reginald from our psych class said. I took one of the shots off the tray and tossed it back.

“Nobody wanted to see that shit anyway,” Sabrina mumbled. My eyes pinned to hers as she and her girls snickered.

So much for squashing her little beef. Okay, bitch.

“Cumbrina . . . I mean, Sabrina,” I corrected. Again, laughter erupted as her eyes turned to slits.

“I don’t want you asking me shit. Choose someone else.”

“Scared?”

“I’m not afraid of anything. It’s funny how you have all this mouth when I can easily get your ass expelled. You want to try to hold something over me, but I promise, if you’re not careful, I’ll have you transferred in a heartbeat. So, as I said, choose. Someone. Else.”

“Aye, you doing too much, Sabrina. I don’t know what y’all got going on, but all that ain’t even necessary,” Khalil spoke up.

“It’s okay, babe. I know I got her nervous, so she wants to threaten my education. That’s all the leverage she has against me. What I have will destroy this whole façade she’s putting up.” I stood from his lap while staring at her. “I don’t know what I did to you, Sabrina. But just remember, you keep poking at me, thinking because your family owns half the school, you can keep being a mean girl and try to bully me—ain’t gon’ work.

“You can threaten to get me expelled from the school; I actually got accepted into Yale anyway but wanted to come to an HBCU instead. You only have one more time before I have you somewhere trying to commit suicide.”

“Damn,” I heard Jalen say as he shook his head. I could see everyone’s faces set in confusion and wonderment about what was happening between us. Sabrina wanted to throw rocks and hide her hands, but I was serious about this being her last time trying to bully me.

“You guys can have this. Unlike some people, I have decorum and empathy for others. You ready, babe?” I asked Khalil.

I could see the amusement resting on his face as he stood. “After you, Mi Amor.”

“Aww, don’t leave. Y’all literally just got here,” Gennel said.

“I’m not in the business of staying around people I don’t like,” I told her.

“Let her go. We were having fun until she came anyway,” Sabrina voiced.