I really wish she wouldn’t touch me. How does she know she’s going to ace her test today? I think she’d be lucky if she got a C, especially the way she’s been at our sessions. She’s just not a responsible student. Plus, the championship game is today- there’s no way she’ll be able to fully concentrate.

“I think you will too, if you give it your all. You can do anything you put your mind to, Nicole.”

“Okay, so quiz me on the formulas!” She said eagerly. I wonder what Melanie’s doing. “Standard form for an ellipse.” I left her house early this morning.  When I got home, Robert was already up and drinking coffee in the kitchen. Asshole. I hate him. He ruined everything. But, the game is today, so I’m trying to put all of that shit behind me.  “Justin? Are you listening? Was that right?”No, I’m not listening. “Huh? Oh yeah, that was right…good job. Hyperbola.”  Good grief, I want to get out of here. “Good. What’s the quadratic formula?” Since there’s no practice today, I get out at 2 o’clock instead of 3 because basketball was my sixth period. So, I think I’m going to go hang out with Deanna and all of the others. Danielle and Jared are supposed to be coming in today. Chris couldn’t make it because he’s in the Bahamas on vacation, and Lance is on business with his dad. If it were me, I would’ve come and watched my friend play basketball…no, maybe I wouldn’t have. Oh. Nicole’s looking at me, I pulled out a sheet of paper, “Um, graph this. It’s going to be a parabola, not a line.”

“Okay,” she said softly and began to work. She seems like she knows what’s she’s doing for once. She finished, and showed me the paper- it’s correct! How the hell did she just learn all this stuff in a day?

“Good job,” I said as calmly and as non-suspicious as possible, “So, if this equation were an inequality, and I added another inequality equation to the system…” I looked at her to see if she’s paying attention. She is. “…That equation being a line, where would you shade?”

Nicole graphed the other line and shaded the plane perfectly. She smiled at me, and waited for me to give her something else to do, so I gave her an ellipse to shade and graph. Haha. She handed the paper back within three minutes, and everything’s right. Crap! I mean… wow she’s smart. Why is she getting this right?

“I studied a lot last night, and apparently it’s paying off,” She said proudly.

Did I say that out loud? “Uh…yeah, you’re doing really well. You might even get an A on the test, if you keep it up.”

Nicole smiled again, “Justin, I’m so excited for the game tonight, aren’t you?”

I nodded, “Yeah, it should be a good game.”

“Why are you acting so nonchalant about it?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re just like, ‘yeah…it should be a good game’,” she made a funny face, and mocked me. But, then she laughed afterwards.

I’m not laughing, bitch. “Because I don’t like to get all worked up until it matters. I’m not going to waste my energy at school.”

Nicole nodded her head, “Well, there’s a rally toward the end of second period, so I have to be hyper and shit.”

“But you really are excited, though, aren’t you?” “In some aspects, yes. I’m excited because I want to y’all to win, and because it’s senior year. Then, because we’re playing Englewood. Let me tell you how much shit is riding on this game, man.” Here she goes, “Last year, we played Fenger in the championship game because Jerome scored the winning three pointer at the buzzer during the game against Englewood.”

“I bet they were pissed.”

“Hell yeah! There was a shooting afterwards and the whole place had to be evacuated. But, anyway-“

“Wait,” I interrupted, “I have a question. Why are there always shootings when we play Englewood or Fenger? How come there are never shootings at the other schools we play? And how come the shootings always happen at our home games? They never happen when we go to their schools.”

“Because, first of all, this is South Side Chicago. Second of all, they’re not going to shoot up their own school, Justin. Besides, our school has the most recent technology and shit in the district, so they’re jealous.”

This school is pretty nice. We didn’t even have three stories and this big ass, wannabe city library at Hillside- and that’s a prep school.

“People have been waiting for this game for years, man,” Nicole said excitedly, “you’ll hear more about it as the day goes on, but this game isn’t just any championship. The starters on Englewood are seniors just like y’all are, so this game means a lot to them as well, and the hunger is there. Englewood always gets put out of the finals right before the championship game.”

“That sucks,” I sighed.

“Hell yeah, they’ve always come really close, but never made it. Now, they want that shit. All of Calumet City will be at that game, Justin, even people not in the district, not even in the freaking area. It’s even going to be televised on local stations late at night.”

“This game is that big?” I don’t believe it.

“Yes!”

Whatever, I’m just going to play like I always do. Make my little 27-30 points, and be done. I’m done with this damn session too. The bell is about to ring in 15 minutes. “Okay, I’m gonna let you go, Nicole.”

“Aww,” she made a sad face. “Well, we can walk down together.”

Whatever. “Okay.”

We made our way out of the library, and I held open the door for her because I’m a gentleman. We walked out into the main hall and immediately I felt like I was famous. People were coming at us left, right, and sideways giving us encouraging words and stuff. It’s crazy! Nicole ate it all up, and smiled back at them, I was sure she was going to sign an autograph at one point.

Nicole touched my arm, “I have math 3rd period.” And? “Okay, well good luck. Maybe you can look over your formulas one more time during break.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “I probably will.”

We descended the stairs and walked the hallway on the second story. More people, mostly under classmen, told us how excited they were for tonight’s game.

“So, Justin. How did you get into all of those smart classes?”

I hope she’s not making an assumption of me being dumb. “I get good grades generally and I’ve always been in honors classes.”

We made our way down the flight of stairs that would take us to our lockers. I can hear everyone yelling and talking loudly amongst each other already.

She changed the subject quickly. “Who did your hair? Melanie?”

“Yeah,” I said slowly. I hope she doesn’t start talking mess.

“Oh,” she shrugged, “it’s cute. I remember when we used to do each other’s hair.”

Yeah, well you brought all the drama on yourself. Thankfully, we reached the bottom of the stairs, and the hallway is a freaking circus. Music’s playing loudly, girls are dancing around, guys are being rowdy. It’s like the party’s already started. Nicole disappeared somewhere in the crowd, and I just stood back by the stairs and watched everyone.

Samuel came over. “Hey, milk! Big day today, boy!”

Yeah, no shit. “Yeah, looks like you guys already started the celebrations.”

Samuel laughed and hit my stomach. Ouch. “You know how we do!”  He then looked me up and down. “Where’s your gear?”

What gear? Why do they always speak in code! “What? In the locker room…?”

Samuel’s happy face dropped and looked at me like I had done something wrong. “Not that gear, fool! Where are you clothes?”

I looked down at my white t-shirt and baggy basketball shorts. What is he talking about? “I have on clothes.”

“But, you usually come all coordinated and shit. You usually wear gear,” Samuel explained.

“Well…I can still be coordinated and comfortable,” I rolled my eyes and walked past him. Gear, pssh. Man, I invented gear! I always look fresh, but today I choose not too so much. Is that a crime? I think not!

*

“Where has Melanie been?” Justin asked Jerome, as he chewed on his cinnamon roll at break. His mouth was halfway full, and Jerome gave him a disgusted look before swatting the fattening roll on the floor.

Justin pushed him, “What the fuck, man!”

Jerome watched the food roll in Justin’s mouth as he yelled at him. “That shit is nasty, Justin. You’re always eating fattening shit, and always on game day, man!”

“Oh, fuck you and that low carb shit,” Justin groaned and looked down at his newly disheveled cinnamon roll. “You owe me a dollar.”

“I don’t owe you shit, man,” Jerome laughed.

“That shit ain’t funny! I didn’t eat breakfast!” Justin whined.

“I have an apple in my bag,” Jerome smiled. He was only bothering Justin to piss him off. He knew that everyday Justin always either had a hot pocket, a pop tart, or a pastry during break. Maybe he was jealous that his good friend would never gain any noticeable weight, but he didn’t care, he presumed.

Justin gave him a sharp stare. “Does it look like I want a stupid apple?”

Just then Leroy, Samuel, Mike, and Damien came up and stood next to Justin and Jerome. Justin leaned back on the set of lockers behind him, and purposely hit his head on one.

“Justin,” Jerome said, “It’s just a cinnamon roll. I buy you another one at lunch, if it means that much.”

Justin pouted and looked in the other direction.

Leroy laughed, “Justin, I’m gonna miss your dramatic ass.”

All of the boys laughed and patted Justin, but he swatted them off vehemently. He then proceeded to laugh as well.

Mike looked Justin up and down, “You look…comfortable.”

Justin rolled his eyes, “Y’all are worse than the girls. I can’t come to school one day looking comfortable? Now I know just how cool I really am at this school,” Justin smiled with fake conceit.

All of his friends rolled their eyes at him before waving their hands at him, and mingling with the other students occupying the hallways. Suddenly, he saw two girls walk through the hallway in baggy sweat suits that looked to be about three sizes too big on them. The big, black suits sagged on their bodies, and their faces remained hidden under the large hoods of the jackets. Justin’s eyes followed the girls, and he curiously turned his head in their direction as they continued down the hall. Jerome, who was across the way, had been staring as well for he asked Justin who it was. Justin shrugged and they slowly walked behind the mysterious girls. Jerome tapped one of them on the shoulder, and he and Justin jumped when they turned around quickly, their heads bowed.

A crowd had formed to watch the two. Justin looked at Jerome with a perplexed look on his face, but his confusion was interrupted when he began to hear snickers come from inside the sweat suits. Justin reached over and pulled the hood off of the head, only to find Melanie laughing at him. Jerome rolled his eyes, and unveiled the other ‘mysterious girl’ who just so happened to be Chasity.

Even though Justin was relieved and happy to have seen his girlfriend for the first time that day, his face showed aggravation. “What the hell are y’all doing?”

Melanie sobered up, and pushed Justin’s shoulder slightly. “Sorry, daddy,” she said sarcastically, “please don’t ground us.”

Chasity laughed, “We went to Englewood to spy, and these were our disguises.”

Jerome nodded as Mike, Samuel, Leroy, and Damien came up. “So,” Jerome said, “did you find anything interesting?”

Melanie shrugged, “not really. At their rally, the coach said that everyone will be extremely surprised.”

“Yeah,” agreed Chasity, “their student body was hyped for whatever their surprise was though.”

“But,” Melanie raised a hand and her voice. “There were signs that bashed us everywhere!”

“For real?” Damien asked, and Justin rolled his eyes.

“What did you expect, Damien?” Justin asked, “for them to be like, ‘Calumet is so cool-it’s okay if we loose!’?”

Damien shook his head, “No,” and that was all he’d said. Everyone in the conversation was quiet to provide time for Damien to say more, but he didn’t and remained quiet.

“Um…” Melanie started awkwardly, “well there was some about Damien that said, ‘Dominate the dominator.’. Then, there was one about Justin that said, ‘spoil the milk’ or some lame shit like that.”

“Yeah,” Chasity agreed, “their lines were dumb.”

Nicole pushed through the small crowd slightly. “So, you weren’t at our rally because you were snooping?” Joya joined Nicole’s side and crossed her arm’s over her chest. “That was pretty low of y’all to leave your team, just to do dirty work.”

Melanie shook her head and rolled her eyes, “Y’all seem to forget that a captain was there. Victoria called me and told me that the rally went fine, so shut up and don’t come at me with that  shit because I’m already one step ahead of you.”

Chasity stepped forward. “And y’all have some nerve. Now, you know y’all bitches were up at Fenger doing the same damn thing last year.”

Samuel stepped in between and waved his arms. “Ladies, don’t fight! Increase the peace. Now, if y’all wanna take off some clothes…we’ll clear a space.”

The guys nodded their heads and laughed, but the girls rolled their eyes and dispersed. Chasity also managed to slap the back of Samuel’s head. Justin followed Melanie to her locker, and once she reached it, he put his arms on both sides of her so she wouldn’t budge left or right. Justin grinned when she chose to ignore him by continuing to pull her books out.

“Don’t act like you don’t see me here,” Justin said lowly.

Melanie chuckled and turned to face him. “I knew you were standing behind me, Justin, that big ass head of yours made a shadow. I couldn’t even see which books-““Don’t talk about my big head,” Justin interrupted, “unless you’re talking about the one in my pants.”

Melanie rolled her eyes, and pushed him away from her, but he wouldn’t move. Neither did his sly grin. She then tried to go under his arm, but he grabbed her and pulled her into him. She liked his roughness.

“Where are you going?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Melanie said as she stared into his twinkling eyes.

Justin wrapped his other arm around her waste and pulled her close so that she was in between his body and the locker. She hated public displays of affection, and he knew that, but didn’t care. He played with the hairs that fell from her sloppy ponytail and onto her neck, letting his fingers slide across her neck and collarbone flirtatiously.

“What are you doing, young man?” Melanie grinned.

“Touching you,” he looked up at her, “do you have a problem with that?” Melanie was about to reply, but he put his hand up. “Don’t even let out one of your smart ass comments,” he ordered and Melanie laughed. “What are you doing after school today?”

“Running like 50 errands,” Melanie over-exaggerated.

Justin pouted, “Meaning you won’t have time for your hunk-a-burnin’ love?”

Melanie laughed, “Sorry, I just have a lot of stuff to do, and I’m going to be all over the place. You can come if

“I don’t get bored when I’m with you,” he said, causing Melanie to blush. “But, it’s cool cause I have my own shit to do.”

Melanie rose her eyebrows, “Oh really? Like what?”

“Like entertain my friends from home, and think about you. And that takes a lot of time.”

Melanie wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her nose against his. She was standing on the balls of her feet, and her baggy sweat pants still touched the floor beneath her. “You’re too cute, you know that?”

Justin made a face, “Pssh. Girl, please. I’m more than cute.”

Melanie rolled her eyes. “You’re a cocky bastard, that’s what you are.”

Justin smiled, “Thank you,” and proceeded to kiss her sweetly. “So, when are you planning on taking off those rags?” he asked and looked down at her oversized sweat suit.

Melanie moved back from him, realizing that she’d forgotten the way she’d looked, and swiftly did away with the suit. Justin stared at her as she stood before him in a thin long-sleeved shirt, which had six buttons toward the top, and the top three were unbuttoned. Justin looked down at her cleavage and back up at her.

“How ‘bout you button up that shirt?”

“No,” Melanie protested. “Why should I?”

“Because I don’t want everyone else taking part in my pleasure.” Melanie rolled her eyes, and folded her arms over her chest. “And, while you’re at it, put back on those baggy sweats. You don’t need those tight ass jeans on do you?”

Melanie laughed and pushed past her boyfriend, thankful that the bell had just rung. “Boy, please.” Playfully she switched her hips on her way to the next class.

Justin called to her, “I’m looking out for you, girl! You might get a yeast infection or somethin’ with those tight jeans on! All UP in the da dun duh da!”

**

Melanie sighed with content as Justin nipped at her neck softly, and he was just as content because she was straddling his lap. They were carrying on with their lunchtime display of affection, something that Melanie used to hate when she was dating Damien. The two only paid attention to themselves even though everyone else in the cafeteria was watching them.

“What did I tell you about that shirt?” Justin mumbled.

Melanie grinned because she loved it when he tried to become possessive and authoritative with her. He wasn’t serious, and they both knew that, but he loved playing the role. She found him sexy when he pouted and growled at her. Justin hated it when she laughed at him, though. It made it harder for him to keep his angry face.

“What are you grinning for?” He asked again. “You need to button up that damn shirt.”

Melanie laughed again and began to unbutton her shirt. “What if I just left it like this?”

“You want me to get real nasty with you, don’t you?” 

“Maybe,” she said seductively, and began to button her shirt back up.

Justin smacked his lips, “Man, when are you going to be done with your little menstrual thing?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Oh, but it is,” Justin protested, “You are driving me crazy, little girl, and I need to know how much longer I have until I’m able to beat again.”

Melanie laughed, “I’ll let you if you win tonight.”

“For real?”

“For real, and don’t use that word when referring to sex.”

“Why not?” Justin whined, “I happen to like that word.’

“I know. You use it a lot, but it’s derogatory.”

“No, it’s not!”

“Yes, it is!” Melanie protested, “saying ‘hey, let me beat tonight,’ is not attractive.”

“It’s not supposed to be attractive,” Justin said.

“Then what is it supposed to be?”

“It’s supposed to be imperative,” Justin laughed.

Melanie laughed shortly and sarcastically. “Maybe with a hoe, but not with me.”

“Okay,” Justin said softly, “I’m sorry. I won’t say it anymore.”

“Promise?”

Justin held up his pinky finger, “Pinky promise.”

Melanie smiled and connected her pinky finger with his. Melanie looked over Justin’s shoulder and saw Nicole quickly making her way over. “Speaking of hoes,” she said softly into Justin’s ear and got off of his lap.

Justin turned around when Nicole excitedly tapped his

Nicole smiled and pulled her math test from behind her back. “I got a 94 percent, Justin!”

Dubiously, Justin snatched the paper from her hands and looked at it with his own blue eyes. Justin’s eyes widened in astonishment, for the girl who seemed to know nothing until the day of her test, had indeed scored an A-. He flipped through the pages of the test, and barely saw any red markings.

He looked up at the excited girl. “This is great, Nicole.”

Nicole took the test back, “I know! I’m so happy! But I owe it all to you, hun. You helped me so much- I really do owe you one.”

It was then that Melanie had walked away from them and joined Chasity, Rita, and Iesha. Nicole watched her ex-best friend briskly walk off and felt relief as well as happiness.

“You don’t owe me anything,” Justin shook his head. “I’m glad I could help you.”

“Well, I’d really like for us to continue our sessions. Since the basketball season will have ended by tonight, we can meet during 6th period in the library. Unless, you’re going to add a class?”

Justin shook his head, “No, I’m not adding another class. I-“

“Good!” She cheered. “Then we can meet at 2 o’ clock in the library for an hour, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Thank you so much, hun!” Nicole reached over and gave him a tight hug, before triumphantly walking away.

Justin awkwardly rose from the chair at the vacant table that he and Melanie once occupied and looked around at the lighter side of the cafeteria. He spotted Trace with Mark, and decided to walk over.

“Oh, the super star decides to pay his background a visit,” Mark snapped at Justin.

Justin looked at Mark, and smiled through his contempt. “I hope you’ll come see me play, Mark. It’d mean a lot to me, you know.”

“Oh sure,” Mark rolled his eyes.

“No, really it would!” Justin nodded, “That way you could see what an ass you are for making some of the comments you do.”

“If I have nothing better to do, maybe I’ll…swing by,” Mark rolled his eyes.

Trace scoffed, “Everyone’s gonna be at the game. You might as well go, unless you plan on kickin’ it with yourself.”

“Look Trace,” Mark barked, “I don’t need you telling me where to hang out, and who to hang out with.”

“Calm down, dude,” Justin said and took a seat across from them, where he used to sit everyday. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, seeing as though you’ve only been to one of my games and you didn’t even stay a whole quarter.”

“What can I say,” Mark shrugged, “Basketball is boring as hell, and football is the greatest.”

“That’s your opinion,” Justin nodded, “so don’t say it like it’s fact or something because there are others who happen to think the exact opposite.”

“Why do you have to make an argument into everything, Justin?” Mark asked.

“I’m not making an argument. Maybe if you weren’t so ignorant sometimes, you wouldn’t get the impression that I was trying to start an argument.”

“Boys!” Victoria interrupted as she sat down next to Justin, her usual spot. It was very uniform on the lighter side of the cafeteria, Justin noticed once he’d looked around and all the differences began to jump out at him. On the other side, one wouldn’t sit in the same spot everyday, for Justin often found himself choosing who to sit with.

“Victoria…baby,” Mark stressed, “Please tell Justin to stop being uptight.”

“Wait!” Justin said with intense volume. He turned to Victoria. “You’re actually dating him?”

Victoria spread cream cheese on her warm bagel. “No,” she said simply without looking up. “We’re just hooking up.” 

Justin relaxed a little. “Oh.”   

Mark nodded his head. “You shouldn’t mind, anyway. You have your own girlfriend remember?”

“I’m very much aware of that, thank you,” Justin spat.

Trace broke in and changed the subject. “So, Justin, are their any after parties?”

“I haven’t heard of any yet,” Justin said, “but I don’t go around looking for parties. I’m pretty sure Samuel’s throwing one, though. He’s been saying that he was throwing one for the last week.”

“How is he going to throw a party?” Trace asked, “Isn’t he playing?”

“Yeah, but he has people set it up for him,” Justin shrugged. “Did you go to his Winter Ball after party? That was set up during the dance.”

“No,” Mark butt in, “Trace didn’t go, he was too busy getting stoned afterwards.”

“Quit it, Mark!” Trace said forcefully.

“Mark,” Victoria said softly, “You’re starting to piss people off.”

“I really don’t care, Vicky. Justin and Trace need to know that they don’t run things.”

Justin rose from the table. “You have issues, dude. I’ll see you guys later.”

Everyone at the table wished him good luck before he left.

---* ---------*

“Then the bitch had the nerve to call him ‘hun’!” Melanie complained as she, her mother, and Chasity walked out of Rhonda’s hair salon.

The three ladies walked out to the back parking lot of the hair salon after Rhonda had closed it early because of the game that night.

Chasity chuckled and hopped into the black Expedition. “Nicole is something else.”

Melanie’s mother chimed in as she sat in the passenger seat. “Nicole is a hoe. I don’t understand how y’all were so close and then all of a sudden you don’t talk anymore. I used to do that girl’s hair.”

“I don’t know, mama. She’s changed.”

“Well,” Rhonda said, “I never told you, but I always thought she was jealous of you. Y’all both had a crush on Damien.”

“Sure did,” Chasity said.

“But I didn’t even know! I swear I didn’t know! She never said anything to me about it,” Melanie protested and backed out of the driveway.

“And she never liked being under our authority either,” Chasity said and Rhonda nodded.

Melanie’s phone began to ring Twista’s ‘So Sexy’ and she immediately picked it up. “What,” she said to Justin.

“Don’t be mad at me,” He whined.

“I’m not mad at you.”

“Yes, you are.”

“You’re going to make me mad, Justin,” Melanie said lowly.

“Babe, you don’t have a valid reason to be mad at me.”

“Yes, I do-“

“What then?” Justin rose his voice.

“Because you-“

“I thought you weren’t mad at me!”

“I’m not!” Melanie yelled.

“Then why did you say you had a valid reason to be mad at me, if you’re not mad at me?”

“Because, Justin! I would have a valid reason to be mad at you, if I were really mad at you…which I’m not.”

“I know you’re mad at me,” Justin said calmly, which pissed Melanie off even more.

Melanie pulled over and put the car in park, causing her mother and Chasity to look at her strangely. “I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. I know you. You’re mad at something. You didn’t talk to me for the rest of the day after what happened with Nicole,” Justin said. “And that situation,” he said, “has enough validity, from a girl’s point of view, to be mad at me.”

Melanie rolled her eyes, because he’d gotten her, and slouched in the driver’s seat. “Well, I’m not mad at you.”

“Stop lying to yourself. You are and you know it.” He sighed, “Fine. You may not be mad at me, but I know you’re mad at the situation.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Why is that?”

“Don’t be dumb, Justin!” Melanie yelled, and her mother jumped.

“I’m not being dumb! I’m waiting on you to give me a dumb answer to my intelligent question!”

“Your question isn’t intelligent! It’s dumb, Justin! It’s dumb if you can answer the question yourself!"

“I can’t answer the question myself!” Justin yelled back.

“Then you’re dumb!”

“No! All I’m doing is tutoring her, Melanie! Geeze! Let it go!”

“I did! I told you I didn’t have a problem with it!”

“Actually you said, ‘whatever’,” Justin sighed.

“Meaning, I don’t have a problem with it.”

“But, you do!”

“No, I don’t! If you want to tutor that bitch, that’s your fucking prerogative, Justin!”

“Why do you have to curse at me like that?” Justin rose his voice again.

“Because I’m angry!”

“WHY!”

Melanie whimpered, “Because deep down I know that nothing good is going to come out of your time spent with her, that’s why, Justin!”

“Maybe if you’d learn to trust me a little bit, you wouldn’t be having these problems!”

“I do trust you!” Melanie objected.

“Obviously, you don’t!”

Melanie became furious, “WELL, it’s kind of hard to trust a habitual liar, Justin! You’ve kept shit from your own mother for years!”

“Why are you bringing up shit from the past? That’s not fair!”

“Yes, it is!” Melanie slammed her hand on the steering wheel.

“How?”

“Because I said so!”

“You can’t just make up your own rules!”

“I just did!”

“You are so childish!” Justin whined.

“I’m childish, now? At least I don’t think I’m in the fucking movie ‘Parent Trap’ or something, and am trying to bring my parents back together, when I know that shit won’t work!”

“First of all, in the movie the parents did get back together! Second of all, just because I’m trying to have a decent family, doesn’t make me childish!”

“Well, you’re stubborn too!” Melanie yelled, “You don’t listen to anyone!”

“I sure as hell listen to your childish, stupid remarks every damn day!”

“Oh really?”

“YEAH!”

“Well, fuck you, Justin! Fuck you and all your dumb

“Fine!” Justin yelled.

“Fine! Asshole.”

“Whatever!”

The phone clicked quickly, and Melanie closed her phone angrily. She was breathing hard and tears were in her eyes. Rhonda patted her daughter’s forearm and told her she would drive. Melanie quietly exited the car and sat in the passenger seat. Tears freely rolled down her cheeks because she didn’t mean half of the things she had said, and she hoped that Justin would forgive her.

“You should call him back, Melanie,” Rhonda said and pulled away from the curb. “He has a game in about 4 hours, and he doesn’t need to be thinking about that fight you two just had.”

“Well, I have to perform in 4 hours! Chasity and I spent a lot of time putting together a big ass half-time show! I’m stressing just as much as he is,” Melanie pouted.

“Well, you just made matters worse!” Rhonda said, “neither of you need to be feeling like this on such an important day.”

Melanie rolled, “Mother this isn’t the NBA Championships. It’s just the finals for high school basketball teams.”

“Y’all act like it is the NBA, so don’t give me that shit, Melanie. Justin is a good boy, and he’s just what you need. You shouldn’t have yelled at him like that. Your problem is with Nicole, not him.”

PART TWO

6:00 p.m. (One hour and thirty minutes until tip-off)

Jerome, Damien, Mike, Samuel, Justin, and the rest of the basketball team entered their large locker room that was in the back of the basketball court at the University of Chicago. The locker room at the university was twice the size of Calumet’s. Everyone was quiet as they set their things down at their own spaces and began to pull out things they’d need. Coach Robinson walked into the room and watched his quiet team situate themselves.

“Is everyone okay? You guys were this quiet on the way over as well,” He asked.

“It’s probably nerves,” His assistant speculated. “They’re starting to kick in.”

The coach chuckled, “Well, whatever it is, go out that back door and meet me in the large