Chapter 7

Justin and Chanice got to school five minutes before the bell rang to dismiss first lunch.

“You have calculus next right?”

“Yeah; come on, Jay, you should know my schedule by now.”

“Shut up. Just meet me in the gym after practice.”

“That’s a bet. See ya later.”

“Alright; bye Cece,” Justin replied, closing his locker door and walking off down the hallway. Chanice grabbed her calculus textbook and was closing her locker when she felt a hand on her waist…a hand that shouldn’t have been there.

“You have two seconds…” she said through clenched teeth.

“What? I can’t touch my girl?”

“Your girl!?!” she slammed her locker closed and spun around to face him.

“Are you on crack or something!?!”

“Chanice! Calm down; lower your voice.”

“Why? Are you afraid that these people will find out that you’re not perfect? That we’re not together because you put your hands on me?” Pierre got embarrassed when he realized that people had stopped what they were doing and were watching him and Chanice.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered.

“Like hell you don’t! Don’t sit up here and lie or try to pretend like it didn’t happen. Like you didn’t grab me and push me!” Chanice’s outburst had caused such a disturbance that a teacher came out her classroom to see what all the commotion was about.

“What’s going on here?”

“Nothing ma’am,” Pierre quickly responded, “Chanice is just being a little dramatic.”

“I’m the dramatic one? I’m not the one who’s harassing their ex-girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend?”

“Yes, your ex-girlfriend who’s about to be late for her calculus class. Goodbye.” Chanice tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked off calmly; like nothing had happened at all.

~*~

Chanice checked her watch for the tenth time in five minutes and sighed heavily.

“Where is he?” she asked no one in particular. She was waiting on the bleachers in the gym, like they agreed, and he was late…20 minutes late to be exact. Chanice sighed once more and gather her belongings, deciding to find another ride. She was walking out the gym when she heard Justin’s laugh. She’d recognize that sound anywhere.

“I know man! Did you see her azz though? That thang was like ba-dow!” Chanice rolled her eyes. Boys are so…ugh!

“Bout time!” she exclaimed when she saw him walk in the gym with Darrell, another one of his teammates.

“Sorry Cece, Coach was talkin’ and I lost track of time. You ready?”

“Been ready, Jay.”

“Alright, I’ll holla at ya later Darrell.” The two guys did a complicated handshake.

“Bye Darrell,” Chanice said, pulling her purse strap up higher on her shoulder and following Justin out the gym.

“Bye Chanice.” She waved and followed Justin out to his Explorer in the senior parking lot and the both of them placed their stuff in the back seat.

“You hungry?” he asked after starting the engine.

“I can eat.”

“What do you wanna eat?”

“I don’t care; burgers.”

“McDonald’s it is.”

~*~

“OMG, I’m so friggin’ full,” Chanice said, falling back on her bed.

“You should be, you just had two cheeseburgers, fries, and a shake. Damn dude!” Justin replied, sipping on his Dr. Pepper. The two of them were hanging out in her room, eating the food they’d just gotten from Mc Donald’s and rehashing that day’s events.

“So I heard about what happened today,” he said after a few minutes of silence. Chanice sighed and rolled her eyes.

“He’s such a fuckin’ prick; I hate him.”

“Well I’m pretty sure the whole world knows that by now,” he replied, chuckling.

“Well he should’ve never grabbed me. I can’t believe he even tried that shit after what he did this past weekend.”

“As long as he doesn’t do anything else….”

“Yeah, I’ll Lorena Bobbitt his azz in a minute.” Justin laughed.

“For real!” she insisted.

“I believe you Cece,” Justin replied sincerely. She got up off her bed and threw her bag in the trash can.

“I’m about to hop in the shower; I smell like outside,” she said, walking to her dresser and pulling out a pair of Soffee shorts and a tank top.

“You want some company?” he asked, jokingly.

“Jay!” she exclaimed, turning around and staring at him in shock..

“I was just playin’, damn.” No he wasn’t., but of course he’d never let her know that.

“Well answer my phone if it rings.”

“Alright.” She opened the door adjoining her room to her restroom and pretty soon Justin heard the shower come on. He sighed and balled up his bag before throwing it in her trashcan and walking over to her dresser. He started looking at all the pictures she had up there. Damn that girl had a lot of pictures! He went down the line, seeing her grow up in each of them; a lot of them were of him and her. Then he came to this empty space next to her mirror. He could tell that she’d taken off a group of pictures and assumed that they were the ones of her and Pierre. He still couldn’t believe that Pierre had actually put his hands on her. It made his blood boil just to think about it.

“Don’t make me close one more door. I don’t wanna hurt anymore. Stay in my arms if you dare, or must I imagine you there. Don’t walk away from meeeee! Don’t walk awwwaaay from me! Cuz I have nothing, nothing, nothing…if I don’t haaaavvveee yoooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu” Justin listened in as Cece sang in the shower. People said that he had a good voice, but that girl had Christina Aguilera’s pipes. He was looking at her collection of awards for the millionth time when he felt his Sidekick vibrate before it rang Britney’s ringtone.

“Hello.”

“Hey baby! Whatcha doin’?”

“Hangin’ out with Cece; we stopped for burgers after practice.”

“Oh,” Britney said offhandly, “So do you plan on coming out here today?”

“Yeah, I’ll probably be around there in another hour or so.”

“Oh,” she sighed.

“I can come now if you want me to” he said, hearing the sadness in her voice.

“Naw, stay. I don’t wanna pull you away from Cece….and I thought I was your girlfriend.”

“Britney,” Justin sighed, “Let’s not start on that right now.”

“Let’s not start what, Justin? Last time I checked you and I were dating, but yet you’re with her every waking moment of the day.” Justin sighed. He really didn’t want to have this argument with her right now.

“Look, I’m not in the mood for this right now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“So you’re not coming over?”

“I’m not feeling too good….”

“Whatever,” Britney cut him off, “You don’t have to lie to me, Justin.”

“I’m not lying to you.” And he wasn’t; her attitude really was giving him a headache.

“Fine.”

“Bye,” he said before hanging up. He swiveled the top close just as Chanice stepped out the restroom with just a towel on.

“Who were you just yellin’ at?”

“I wasn’t yellin’ at anyone,” he said, forcing himself to look in her eyes instead of the rest of her beautiful body.

“Britney, huh?” she asked, walking over to her underwear drawer and pulling out a pink thong. Justin cocked an eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me like you’ve never seen a thong before.”

“I have just….” Chanice raised a hand to silence him.

“You don’t have to finish your statement. I know you want my body, Jay.” Justin’s jaw almost dropped. Chanice couldn’t hold it any longer and started laughing.

“Damn, I was just playing….but if you wanna…” she let her words trail and sauntered back into the restroom.

“Tease.”