Cool Like That (10 page)

S
ienna makes good on her promise to be up in the morning for church services. It looks like she’s told the entire crew too because Xavier, Sushil, Ricky, Melody, and Sienna’s roommate, Janine, are all standing with me in the lobby waiting on Rashad. Her hating is out of control. She knows that this is supposed to be a me-and-Rashad thing, and she’s invited half the program.

Rashad laughs out loud when he finally joins us. “Group outing, huh?”

I shrug. “Yep, pretty much.”

It was my plan to keep my activities with Ricky and Rashad separate for the rest of the summer. After hanging out all day at the Statue of Liberty with Ricky and thinking about senior year, I know I’m feeling him just as strong as ever.

These are two worlds that are not supposed to meet!

“Let’s go then,” Rashad says.

He sounds somewhat irritated, but the way I see it, this is all his fault. If he didn’t want anyone tagging along, he shouldn’t have asked me to go in front of them. He’s the one who put everyone in our business.

On the subway, I choose a safe seat between Melody and Xavier. I want to sit next to Rashad, but I wouldn’t dare throw that in Ricky’s face.

“So, Ricky, Gia tells me you play football at your school back home,” Rashad says.

“Yeah, I do.”

“What position do you play?”

“QB one.”

Rashad laughs. “Sorry, I don’t speak jock. What’s that?”

“I’m the starting quarterback.”

“Gotcha.”

Ricky narrows his eyes. “Gia tells me you like poetry.”

“Yes, I do. Spoken word too.”

“Sorry, I don’t speak lame,” Ricky says.

I scoot to the edge of my seat, ready to leap between them if they go to blows. Some girls like to see guys fighting over them. I’m not one of those girls.

“Seriously?” Sienna asks. “Y’all beefing over Gia? For real?”

Why does this girl insist on being a hater?

“I’m not beefing with anyone,” Rashad says. “But I can’t speak for Ricky.”

“We’re on our way to church, y’all,” I say to interrupt the madness. “Let’s think about the goodness of the Lord and not drama!”

I guess I put the mama mack down on everybody because for the rest of the ride everyone is pretty much silent. It’s not helping cut down on the mean mugging, but, still, it’s better than them flexing on one another.

We step off the 1 train at Times Square to catch the E train that takes us over to Jamaica. Sienna stumbles off the train and clutches her midsection as soon as she steps onto the platform.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She shakes her head and then slaps her hands over her mouth and runs to a garbage can. She barely makes it before she spews out what looks like an entire day’s worth of food. I close my eyes because I cannot see vomit without getting sick to my stomach.

“Maybe we need to go back to the dorm,” Janine says.

“You don’t look so good at all.”

Sienna shakes her head. “I’m fine. I just need some water.”

“And gum,” Melody says.

I’m glad somebody said it because I’m not rolling with her if she’s got a serious case of dragon breath. No, no, and no.

Rashad says, “If you’re sick, you should go back and lie down. We’ve got a long way to go still. What if you get sick again, and on the train? You won’t be able to change clothes. Ricky, why don’t you be a gentleman and see the girls back to the dorm?”

Ooo! Rashad is dead wrong for that. I do not endorse, in any way, shape, or form, Rashad trying to clown Ricky on the sly. It is the opposite of cool.

“I’ll take them back,” Sushil says, saving Ricky from responding. “Ricky and Gia haven’t been in the city long enough to be leading the pack on the subway.”

Rashad nods, rolls his eyes, and then walks toward the E train that’s coming. I guess we’re supposed to follow him and his ego over to board the train. This is not a good look on Rashad. I don’t like hater Rashad.

But let’s ponder for a moment what’s going on with Sienna. She must have gone out last night and had too much to drink yet again. I don’t understand why getting completely wasted is a fun thing for her. The girl has got some serious issues.

This train, for some reason, is more crowded than the first one, and there really isn’t a choice of seats. If I want to sit down, it has to be next to Rashad, so I squeeze in next to him and an elderly woman.

“Hey, Princess,” Rashad says.

“Don’t you ‘Hey, Princess’ me,” I fuss. “You don’t have to be like that toward Ricky. He’s my best friend, you know.”

“Be like what? I don’t care if he’s your best friend. He’s in my way. I’m trying to be with you, Gia. Do you not get that?”

“Be with me? You’re not even gonna see me after the summer.”

“Who says?”

“I’m going back to Cleveland, and you’re going back to Atlanta.”

“I know, but we can e-mail, call, and text one another, right?”

Somehow I don’t believe he’s this gone over me after a couple weeks. “Seriously, Rashad, what about senior year back at your school? You can’t tell me you don’t have a girl waiting on you back home.”

“Actually, I don’t.”

For the second time, Rashad catches me off guard and plants a kiss on my lips. And again I’m frozen in time. I close my eyes and inhale and taste the cinnamon scent on his breath.

“Back up off her,” I hear Ricky say from across the subway car.

Now he’s moving toward us, looking mad as I don’t know what. Rashad does back up, but he’s laughing at Ricky. “Why can’t you let her decide without sticking your tongue down her throat?”

“Because she likes it. She doesn’t stop me.”

Ricky looks at me like he wants an answer. I don’t know what to say. I do like Rashad’s kisses; I’m not gonna lie.

“Rashad, this is not the time or place for that, and you know it. We’re on our way to church,” I say.

This is the best I can do without telling a bold-faced lie. Ricky looks at me like he’s totally disappointed. I hate to see his feelings hurt, and for that reason Rashad has just lost cool points with me.

We get off the E, and we have to take the Q05 bus the rest of the way. Thank goodness we timed the trip right. It would’ve been all bad if we had to stand together waiting for a bus. Fortunately, it’s coming as soon as we leave the subway station.

On the bus I score a seat next to Melody. I don’t know where she’s been anyway! She’s definitely not doing her job running interference. Ricky and Rashad almost came to blows on the subway.

“Gia, you’ve got them both open. You know that, right?”

“I understand about Ricky. We’ve been crushing for the longest, but I don’t get Rashad. What he just did on the subway seemed unreal.”

“I think he only did that to get Ricky mad though.”

I nod but ponder the conversation we had. He was talking about taking this beyond the summer and into senior year. That feels impossible, seeing that I’ll be in one city, and he’ll be hundreds of miles away in another city. That’s crazy.

But maybe this is why I imagined Ricky with that other girl. Maybe I’m the one who’s gonna kick him to the curb. Maybe I won’t have a prom date, because my boyfriend will be in another state.

That can’t be it, can it? I really do like Rashad, but I can’t see me spending my entire senior year of high school having a long-distance boyfriend in another state. That just doesn’t even make any sense, especially when I have Ricky here willing to be my boyfriend.

Well, he’s willing for now. He looked really mad when he saw Rashad kissing me and was defenseless to stop it. His pride won’t let him do anything remotely close to fighting Rashad for me. I have to be the one to make the choice.

But I don’t know what to do. I don’t want it to be my decision. I just want one of them to get out of the way.

But which one?

We get to our stop after a short ride. Melody and I are off last, and I’m concerned because as we get off the bus, Ricky and Rashad are talking. I don’t know if I want to hear what they’re talking about. But it can’t be too bad because they’re not punching each other out.

“The church is over there.” Rashad points. “Come on. Service is about to start soon.”

Ricky doesn’t look completely cool as he strolls next to Xavier, but he does look less mad than he did on the subway. I don’t know what they were talking about, but I hope it wasn’t anything crazy like them deciding I was too much trouble. How crazy would that be? I am a lot of trouble, but I’m totally worth it.

I walk up to Ricky and tap him on the shoulder. “What’s up, Gia?” he asks. His voice sounds a lot calmer.

“I’m sorry, Ricky. If I had known Rashad was gonna do that, I wouldn’t have let him. He keeps catching me when I’m not ready.”

Ricky nods. “Yeah, that’s what he said. He apologized for disrespecting me.”

“For real?”

“Yeah, I totally didn’t expect it. He said something about really liking you but that it’s no reason for him to hate on another dude.”

“Wow.”

“But, Gia?”

“What?”

“I’m gonna need you to back up off me right now. You smell like his cologne, and that’s just making me mad. How you gonna step to me smelling like another dude?”

I sniff my top. “I guess I was crammed against him on the subway.”

“It’s all good. But check it out: after church, you’re going back to the dorm to change, and we’re going on a date. A real date. Just us.”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“I’m asking. You haven’t spent any alone time with me since we got here, but Rashad has had plenty of time to make his little moves.”

This is true. Ricky and I have been only in group activities since we landed in New York City. I guess I do owe him that. “Okay, what are we doing?”

“Well, I’m not Rashad. I can’t take you on a tour all over the city. But we can go to ESPN Zone. I know where that is.”

A huge smile spreads across my face. “I’d love to go with you, Ricky.”

We follow Rashad into the church, and an usher leads us to some seats in the balcony. We get here just in time because service is starting. Guess where I get to sit? Between Ricky and Rashad.

I really feel like a queen bee right about now.

You know how, like, with bees, the workers spend all their time making sure the queen is healthy, happy, and full? It’s kinda like that with Ricky and Rashad. It’s like they’re taking turns making sure I’m content and having a good time in New York. It’s weird, but, strangely enough, I’m enjoying it.

The praise dancers start up about twenty minutes into the service. They are awesome! It’s nothing like our little unprofessional dancing back home. There are some girls who are obviously trained in ballet and modern dance. Their high kicks, jumps, and twirls are mind-blowing, and the song is great too.

I find myself standing and watching the dancers with all my attention. The beauty of it makes me forget that Rashad is sitting to the left and Ricky is sitting to the right.

I don’t take my seat again until the dancers are done. Everyone claps for them, but no one is clapping harder than me.

“I told you you would like it, Princess,” Rashad whispers in my ear as I sit down.

I feel like Rashad has just given me a gift, and I don’t even think he knows how special it is. “Thank you” is all I can muster in response.

After the service is over, Rashad takes us down to the first floor of the sanctuary so we can meet his friends. One of the dancers runs up and hugs Rashad. She’s still got her dance apparel on, complete with glitter on her face that promptly gets all over Rashad. She kisses him on the face like they are very well acquainted.

I feel a twinge of jealousy in the pit of my stomach. When Rashad kisses her back, I feel like I could choke that girl. She better be glad we’re in the house of the Lord.

“Brielle, meet my friends from the program. This is Gia, Ricky, Xavier, and Melody. Guys, this is my friend Brielle. We met last summer.”

“It’s nice to meet you all. Welcome to our church!”

Her New York accent is thick, like she’s never been anywhere else but Jamaica, Queens.

“I enjoyed the dancing,” I say. “It was really awesome. Thank you.”

Brielle smiles. “Oh, my God, where are you from? You sound almost as country as Rashad.”

Rashad says, “I don’t sound country!”

“Yeah, Rashad. You kinda do,” Ricky says.

Melody adds, “You all sound ridiculous to me!”

“Right. You’re Miss Boooooston,” Xavier says, exaggerating Melody’s New England accent.

The conversation is pretty funny, but I can’t stop looking at Brielle. She’s almost in a trance gazing at Rashad, like she’s completely gone over him. He says she’s just a friend, but I’m thinking she’s a lot more than that.

And I bet she thinks so too.

“I
challenge you to a duel,” Ricky says as we’re seated at our table at the ESPN Zone in Times Square.

“Oh, really? What kind of duel?”

“Air hockey!”

“Okay, Ricky! It’s on!”

He smiles at me, and for the first time all day he doesn’t look stressed and annoyed. He reaches across the table and touches the butterfly clip I returned to my braids for this afternoon’s date. “You’re wearing my barrette. I thought you’d gotten rid of it.”

“You’re crazy. I’d never do that.”

I don’t tell him that the reason I take it out so much is because I can’t constantly be thinking of him while I’m out with Rashad. I’m not that good of a player.

“Do you want something to eat first?” Ricky asks.

“Yes, of course.”

He opens the menu and then looks at me. “I think you want a cheeseburger today with fries and a Coke.”

“Very good. I am definitely hungry enough to eat a man-sized burger right now.”

“I’m sure. It takes a lot of energy to be a female mack.”

“Boy, stop.”

The waitress comes to the table, and he orders food for both of us. I like that he does that. I don’t know how to explain it, but it makes me feel like a girl. Sometimes I want to feel like that.

“So what was up with Sienna hurling everywhere?” Ricky asks.

“I don’t know what’s up with her. She needs to stop drinking like that before something happens to her.”

“What if she’s really sick though? Like maybe she has a bad case of the flu.”

“All the more reason for her to stop with the alcohol!”

“You ever been drunk?” Ricky asks.

“Umm…no! And if I had been, you would already know about it. What’s wrong with you?”

“Gia, there’s a lot of stuff I don’t know about you. Like, I didn’t know you loved praise dance like that.”

“So you don’t know everything about me. I think that’s good, right? Wouldn’t it be boring if you already knew everything?”

“I guess. I’ve been thinking about our dance step, and this time I want it to be a little bit hotter. I want us to almost look like we’re slow dancing, but on a fast song.”

“Sounds hot. What made you think of that?”

“Maybe I’m tired of seeing other people push up on you. It’s my turn to push up.”

“Go for what you know then!”

For some reason, this new declaration from Ricky excites me. He’s never been assertive before. It’s like he’s always just known he had me without putting in any work. Rashad is making him rethink his whole strategy.

“Talking about pushing up, you know Kevin is talking to your sister, right? He’s already picking out prom dresses for her to wear.”

“Only Kevin would pick out his date’s prom dress.”

“Yeah, he said he wanted something reminiscent of
Gone With the Wind.
”

I shake my head. Kevin is always gonna be Kevin, I suppose! I remember when just a couple years ago he was crushing on me too. I think he gave up when it was obvious who I was really digging; plus Candy swept him off his feet with her long braids.

“What’s up with Hope?” Ricky asks. “I haven’t even gotten a text from her this entire time.”

“I’m not sure, but I think she’s decided she’s marrying Brother Bryan.”

Brother Bryan is the too-fine director of our youth choir back home. I have to say that Hope and I both shared crushes on him, but I grew out of mine. Hope’s has gotten stronger than ever.

Ricky shakes his head and laughs. “Bryan is grown. He is not thinking about Hope.”

“Well, she seems to think he’s waiting for her to grow up too.”

“Hope is crazy.”

“That she is.”

My phone buzzes on my hip. “Oh, look. You talked her up. I don’t have to answer it if you don’t want me to. I know we’re on a date.”

“Answer it!”

“Hey, Hope. This better be important because I’m out on a date with Ricky.” Hope squeals at the top of her lungs. I have to hold the phone away from my ear. “Hope!”

“Sorry, Gia! But you’re on your first real date with Ricky! That’s hot.”

I guess this is our first real date. It would’ve been Homecoming last year, but Hope’s meddling had us all traveling in a pack. Then he was supposed to be my escort for the debutante ball, but I ended up sharing him with Sascha Cohen because she didn’t have an escort. Everything here has been group related. So, yeah. This is our first real date.

Yay!

“As I’m on my first date with Ricky, you need to make it snappy. What do you want?”

“Oh, I just wanted to tell you I decided to be a Hi-Stepper again next year. With you being the captain, I’m sure to make the A squad. It’s gonna be awesome!”

I lift my eyebrows as far as they can go. Yes, I am going to be the sole captain of the Hi-Stepper squad next year, but there was a reason Hope was bumped down to the B squad our sophomore year. She completely destroyed a very pivotal routine with her two left feet. I only made the A squad after she screwed up, and then I went on to be co-captain. Now senior year is coming, and I’m set to go down in history with the hottest Hi-Stepper squad ever.

“Gia, are you there? You didn’t say anything.”

“Umm…yeah, so how’s the weather at home?”

Hope gasps. “Gia, you aren’t going to continue that ridiculous ban on me that Valerie had going!”

“No, there’s no ban on you, Hope. I just don’t want you to get the idea that because I’m gonna be the captain, you’ve got an automatic slot. We’re gonna hold auditions like we always do.”

“Right, and then after the auditions you’re going to select me for the A squad because that’s what cousins and best friends do. Don’t try to play me, Gia.”

“Hope, can I please talk to you about this later? I’m neglecting Ricky, and he’s looking lonely.”

Hope scoffs, “I don’t care what he’s looking like. We’re talking about important stuff here. Me and the Hi-Steppers.”

“I promise I’ll call you back later, okay?”

“Gia, you better. I’m not kidding.”

“Okay.”

Ricky laughs as I press “end” on the phone. “Didn’t Hope, like, make half the Hi-Steppers fall during a halftime show?”

“I’m glad you remember that because she seems to have conveniently forgotten why she got dropped to the B squad.”

“What about the rally girls? I thought she was riding hard with them.”

The rally girls are like spirit boosters for the teams at our school. They plan parties, dances, pep rallies, and stuff like that, but they aren’t an official school-sanctioned sport. They don’t even get to go on the school bus with us anywhere.

“She was with them, but she’s ready to come back to the Hi-Steppers. I don’t know if we’re ready for her, though.”

Ricky starts bobbing his head to the song playing on the speakers. “Come on and dance with me.”

“What’s this song? I don’t know it.”

“It’s ‘Brand New’ by Drake. I like it.”

“But there’s no dance floor here,” I protest.

“When has that ever stopped us before?”

He pulls me up from the table, and we start to do a slow dance that looks like the steps we normally do, only a slower remix. I snake over to the right while he snakes to the left. Our snaps are on point, and when we bring it back, we’re nose to nose, dancing closer than we ever have.

I feel like Ricky is about to kiss me, but he doesn’t, and the music changes to a fast cut. Some Jonas Brothers song or something. It’s cool though because it was enough of a rush for us to be that close. I don’t know if I could’ve handled him kissing me right then.

“That’s what I’m talking about for our step, Gia. What do you think?”

I exhale as I sit back down at the table. “Yeah, it’s most definitely hot.”

I feel so crazy right now! When I’m with Ricky, he’s the only one I’m thinking about, but I feel the same way when I’m with Rashad. How am I ever going to choose between the two? Maybe I won’t have to. Maybe when we go home, I’ll never hear from Rashad again, and it’ll be over.

Because, for real, it doesn’t look like Ricky’s going anywhere.