His long body unfolded into a standing position where he towered a full foot over Lizzie.
“Dude, I hate your phone.” Todd shook his head, eyeing the phone with disdain. “It rings every time we…” He dropped down onto the sofa dramatically, pouting.
Lizzie pretended to check the missed call, even though there was none. “It’s Mina. JZ should be here any minute to get us,” she practically sang, giddy that once more, her fifteen-minute make-out alarm had done its job.
Todd ran his fingers through his unruly locks, gathering himself. He looked shell-shocked and Lizzie, almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
She felt (a little) bad for having to trick him, but she couldn’t trust herself anymore to untangle herself from the increasingly hot and heavy make-outs. At some point, they were going to stop working. Either Todd was going to throw her phone out the window—he was eyeing it now like he wanted to—or simply not let her jump up like someone had lit her pants on fire to check it.
She knew the day was coming. That’s why it was time for the virginity pact.
Satisfied with herself, she plopped down beside a silent and pouty Todd.
“I’m starved. You?”
“Yeah, but not for pizza,” Todd said, making googly eyes at her.
Lizzie planted a prim peck on his lips, allowing it to turn into a bit more before pulling away. Todd reached out to pull her back, but Lizzie was up in a flash, laughing as his hand swiped her tee shirt, catching only air.
He scowled, chiding her playfully. “Tease.”
“Sucker.” She sprinted clumsily as he chased her up the stairs.
The door bell rang as they reached the landing.
She hadn’t planned it, but the cavalry had arrived right on time anyway.
Gldngirl
“Sumthing is gon’ get done.”
—Chris Brown, “Poppin’”
Mina looked at her cell phone, then stared out the sliding glass door of the sunroom for the hundredth time.
She and Brian were supposed to meet the clique at Rio’s Ria at seven. She’d been waiting for him to swing by and pick her up for twenty minutes. He hadn’t answered her text or calls, and she was decidedly annoyed. With a quick holler, “Ma, Daddy, I’m gone,” she began the ten-minute walk from her house to his, hurrying to beat sundown. She hated walking down Dogwood at night—too many trees and not enough street lights.
She reached his house right before the last slice of sunshine fell permanently beyond the thick tree line of the cul-de-sac. Before she could knock, Brian’s mom, a light golden-complexioned woman as tall as her son, a model in her teen years, opened the door.
“Hey, Mina. Come on in.” Mrs. James yelled up the spiral stairway. “Brian, Mina’s here. Timmy, come on before we miss this flight.”
Brian’s father thundered down the stairs, carrying a travel case ridiculously small and feminine for his tall stature. A former NBA baller himself, he was the older, darker chocolate version of Brian. He saw Mina eyeing the bag and laughed. “See, now you’re hollering for me, and I was just trying to get your bag,” he said.
Mina and Mrs. James laughed, sharing an unspoken joke as he handed the bag off as if it were a ticking bomb.
“Hi, Mr. James. Hope you guys have a good trip,” Mina said.
Mr. James rolled his eyes. “I can think of a million other things I’d rather do. Weddings,” he said like the word tasted bad in his mouth.
Brian came down the stairs two at a time, got last minute instructions from his parents, kissed his mom on the cheek, and saw them out the door. When they were gone, he turned to Mina, his eyes twinkling. “You hot ’cause I took so long?”
His lips brushed hers in a quick, affectionate peck.
Mina rolled her eyes. “I thought you had left me behind.”
“My father didn’t want to go. So he was dragging, and that gave my mother the chance to give me a few extra To-Do’s.” He shook his head, mildly disgusted. “Alright, hold up. I need to check on the pool. We’re pumping it out.” He sighed, scowling. “I don’t know why my father decided to do it before he left instead of when he came back.”
Mina laughed. “He probably thought it would give him a reason to stay home.”
Brian agreed as he made his way to the back of the house. He walked outside through a set of French doors into the growing darkness and disappeared around the side of the large house.
Mina followed him as far as the kitchen, then sat at the counter where Brian’s laptop was open to the Internet. She started to shut it down for him when a message popped on the screen.
Gldngirl: so whus up B, do u want an early graduation gift or what? ?
Mina’s breath caught in her throat.
Her emotions churned into a tornado, going from an EF0 to an EF5 in seconds.
Who was Golden Girl?
And exactly what kind of graduation gift did she have in mind? As if Mina had to ask.
Her hands shook. She glanced in the direction Brian had gone, didn’t see him, and scrolled up to see the earlier portions of the IM discussion. Her fingers trembled so badly as she tapped the laptop’s mouse pad, that only every other tap registered.
Her heart was in her mouth as she head checked outside to see where Brian was. Finally, she realized if she kept her finger on the button and rolled her finger over the magic mouse area, the cursor would zip to the top of the screen.
Duh!
She read the entire IM conversation, the spit drying in her mouth as she leapt into the middle of the conversation, the fly on the wall.
Gldngirl: what up B?
BJBBoy: ay girl nuttin
Gldngirl: u haven’t been around da way in a while. 2 good for ur old set?
BJBBoy: Busy. Graduation, ballin, gettin ready 4 school
Mina’s jaw clenched. Hello, busy with a girlfriend, too. How come he didn’t mention that?!
Gldngirl: oh word, I heard u got into Duke. Go boy!
BJBBoy: yup. Full scholarship
Gldngirl: daddy’s connections still hot like fiya
BJBBoy: go head w/dat u know ur boyz skillz fiya on their own!!! Believe dat
Gldngirl: LOL I hear dat. U know I know. Speaking of skillz…b4 u roll to Duke u gon’ bless a chick w/those other mad skills u got?
Mina’s heart did a karate kick. Her eyes scanned the screen so fast trying to read Brian’s reply, she had to read each sentence three times to process the words.
BJBBoy: there u go tryin get a dude in trouble. I ain’t messin w/u and dat crazy azz Dre
Gldngirl: Me and Dre so over. Damn B it’s been a minute since we talked. Me and Dre been over 4ever
BJBBoy: word?
Gldngirl: if ur azz came back to DC more than evry blue moon u might know dat. Ur boys ain’t tell u?
BJBBoy: naw. I be in DC next weekend
Gldngirl: real talk u tryin roll thru? get u a early grad gift. Don’t sleep on MY skillz
BJBBoy: LOL don’t play. U gonna fug around and get ur ass tapped
Gldngirl: um-huh thas the whole point!!!
BJBBoy: