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“That’s what you say, but I’m sure she thinks of you as her boyfriend.”
“So can you hang out or not?” He jumped right to the point.
“Well, if you’re not afraid that Bernita might catch you, I guess I can hang out with my friend,” I said jokingly.
“Ha, very funny, Anna. Have your mom drop you off at the bowling alley around 8:00 p.m. Saturday.”
“Wait. You’re not inviting Bernita, are you?” I asked, fearing that his judgment was still clouded.
“No. It will be just you and me. I need a break from her. I want to hang out with my girl,” he said. I liked the sound of that. I only wished he had said “girlfriend.” But at least I knew that I still had a fighting chance.
“Okay. I’ll see you then,” I said.
five (#ulink_e772197b-0eaf-5a33-abb0-0708dffd5a4d)
I arrived at the bowling alley ahead of Jeremy. When I went inside I discovered that it was cosmic bowling night, which meant there were dancing lights, hot new music, glow-in-the-dark lanes, pins and balls. It was so cool to step inside and suddenly notice how everything glowed. I sat down in a common area and sent Jeremy a text.
Where u @?
I will b there in a minute.
Ok.
A short time later Jeremy arrived and joined me.
“Are you ready to have some fun?” he asked as he gave me a hug.
“Yeah.” I smiled. We rented red-and-blue bowling shoes and got our lane assignment. We each searched for the perfect bowling ball before beginning the game.
“Do you want some food?” Jeremy asked.
“I’m not hungry right now. Maybe we can get a sandwich later,” I said.
“You’re really cool to hang with, Anna,” he said with the cutest smile, and his eyes seemed to make promises that his mouth refused to admit.
“You’re just now figuring that out?” I laughed over my words and playfully punched his shoulder.
“Ha-ha,” he answered with sarcasm. As we bowled, I noticed that he kept checking his cell phone and it was more annoying than walking into a spiderweb.
“Are you going to pay attention to how I am kicking your butt or are you going to fumble with your phone all night?” I asked.
“You’re my friend, right?” he asked.
“Of course I am,” I said, hoping my agitation didn’t come through.
“Check this out. Bernita sent me a text message and asked where I was. I didn’t feel like any drama, so I told her that I was at home. She just sent me a text message saying that I’m lying and sent me my exact location. She’s been doing that for the past few days and I can’t figure out how she’s doing it.”
“Let me think for a moment,” I said. Sitting down on a nearby chair, I pondered how Bernita was pulling off her trick. “Did you give her your cell phone recently or let her keep it for a while?” I asked.
“No. Wait. She sold me her iPhone 4S because she noticed the screen on my iPhone 3 was cracked. She used some of the money I’d given to her to upgrade to the iPhone 5.”
“Let me see your phone,” I said and held out my hand.
“Here,” he said, handing it to me.
“Does this thing have cellular service?”
“Yeah, I had it switched on when she gave it to me,” he said.
“She’s tracking you somehow,” I told him as I searched through his apps.
“Now, that’s creepy.”
“I told you that Bernita was bad news. Has she given you anything else that she could be using to track you with?” I asked.
“No,” he assured me.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Seeing if she downloaded something to your phone,” I said.
“I’ve already checked. I don’t have any new apps.”
“Oh, really. Then what’s this?” I showed him the tracking app that she had downloaded and hidden within one of the folders of another application.
“What? Are you kidding me?” he said as I gave him back his phone.
“Bernita is stalking you.”
“What the hell!” Jeremy said angrily as his thumb rapidly tapped on the screen of the phone.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Deleting this app,” he said. I wanted to tell him that he needed to also delete her, but that wasn’t my place to say.
“Can we bowl now?” I asked, wanting to move on and enjoy our evening together.
“Yes,” he answered. At that moment his phone rang.
“Dang, boy! Turn that thing off.” My voice was intense enough to spark a fire.
“It’s Bernita,” he said and picked up the phone. He told her that he knew about the tracking app that she’d downloaded to his phone and how he wasn’t cool with what she’d done. He listened as she gave some lame explanation and then finally told her not to call him anymore.
Yes, I thought and tried to contain the urge to do a happy dance where I stood. It made me smile when I heard him remove her from his life. Now there would be room for me to get extra close and work on getting him to see me as the girl of his dreams.
six (#ulink_4d3e01a2-de14-5860-82b6-be2e43e2a88c)
Lauren and I decided to go to the boy’s basketball game at school the following Friday. I didn’t care so much about the game as I did about watching Jeremy play. We had just sat down on the bleachers with popcorn and bottled water. Our school was playing our rival team, which meant that the die-hard basketball fans at my school came out in strong numbers to show their support.
My school’s team had just come out of the locker room to warm up. The pings of multiple basketballs being dribbled wafted through the air. I spotted Jeremy with a red, white and blue basketball. He dribbled like a professional NBA player and made handling the basketball look effortless. He dribbled toward the basket, did a spin move and then a smooth finger-roll layup.
“He is so cute,” I said to Lauren.
“And from what I can tell, he looks like a pretty good ball player, too.”
“He loves the game. He’s been playing it since he was a little boy.” I had recalled a conversation we had once a few years back about how much he loved the sport.
“Look. There goes Allison with her camera.” Lauren directed my attention to the left edge of the bleachers.
“What do you think about her doing all of the videotaping she does?” I asked.
“I think what she’s doing is cool,” Lauren said, shrugging her shoulders.
“She looks just like her mom. Have you ever watched her mom on TV?”
“A few times. I’ve seen her mom interview professional athletes and celebrities. I think that is really cool,” Lauren said.
“I imagine that it must be exciting to have a mom who has those types of connections,” I admitted and then turned my attention back to the basketball floor. The cheerleaders from our rival school came out and did a few cheers for those who had come in support of their student athletes. Once they’d finished, the Thornwood High cheerleading squad stepped out on the floor, wearing our colors of blue and gold. They fired up the crowd with cheers and acrobatics. There were constant screams of support from the bleachers for the cheerleaders. Once they were done, the starting lineups of the visiting team and my school were announced. When I heard Jeremy’s name called, I shouted at the top of my voice.
“Dang, girl! Do you think you screamed his name loud enough?” Lauren had placed her hands over her ears.
“Maybe,” I said, hearing how my voice had gone gravelly.
“Yeah, you definitely did,” she disagreed with me.
“Let’s go, Jeremy!” I shouted out again just before the referee blew his whistle and started the game. On the very first play Jeremy stole the ball, pushed it up the court and did a windmill dunk that drove the crowd into a frenzy.
“Yeah! Jeremy!” I rose to my feet and shouted at the top of my voice.
My school ended up winning the game. Jeremy scored twenty-three of the sixty-three points that our team put up. After the game I said goodbye to Lauren and waited for Jeremy. When he came out of the locker room, I gave him a big hug and told him how awesome I thought he was.
“Thanks for coming to watch me play,” he said. He looped his arms through the straps of his backpack and moved toward the exit.
“Where’s Lauren?” he asked.
“Her mom came just before the game ended. As soon as it was over they left.”
“Do you have a ride?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
“Why didn’t you get a ride with Lauren?”
“Because I wanted to see you. Duh.” I punched his shoulder as punishment for not realizing why I had waited on him.
Jeremy smiled at me. “I’ll walk you home.” We exited the school and walked in the direction of my house. The night air was cool and I could see white smoke puffing up as my warm breath hit the cold air.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“A little,” I admitted. Jeremy then reached out and pulled me closer to him. I liked being in his arms. I felt safe and cared for.
“Do you know what you want for Christmas?” he asked. I wanted to say I’d love for you to be my boyfriend, but I didn’t.
“No. Do you?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t think of anything I really want this year,” he said.
“Are you sure you have everything you want?” I said and hoped he’d think about his romantic life or lack of it.
“Yeah. I’m sure,” he said. I was disappointed with his answer.
“I see,” I said drily.
“Are you going to the holiday dance?” he asked. His question caught me off guard, and I immediately perked up.
“I’m just waiting for the right guy to ask me,” I said and bumped my hip against his. He stumbled.
“What was that for?” he asked, smiling at me.
“Because I felt like it,” I said sweetly.
“What do you think about us going together?” he asked. I pulled away from him and stopped walking. I positioned myself directly in front of him so that I could see his face and look into his deep brown eyes. I studied every feature of his face. His brown skin, his lips and his expression. I wanted to make sure that I would remember every detail of the moment.
“Really?” I asked cautiously and hoped that the tone of my voice didn’t come across as a rejection.
“Never mind. It was a dumb idea.” He believed my comment was unfavorable.
“No. I don’t mean it like that. I would really like to go with you.” I hurried up and told him what I was trying to say so that he would not misunderstand me.
“Cool,” he said and looked at me. He looked into my eyes deeper than he ever had in the past. Then slowly I watched a smile form on his face just for me. I loved his smile because the joy extended past his lips and into his eyes. And his dimples only encourage me to kiss his cheeks.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah,” he said. He didn’t take his eyes off me. The way he looked at me made me feel special. I tilted my head slightly and took his hand into my own.
“Are we going as friends or as a couple?” I asked and prayed that I didn’t frighten him off with my question.
“Kiss her, fool!” I heard one of his teammates shout out as he ran past and out into the night. Jeremy was about to make a wisecrack to his friend, but it was too late.
“Where was I?” Jeremy paused. “Oh, yeah. You want to be my girl?”
“Seriously?” I asked, wanting to be extra sure.
“Yes. I’m asking you to be my girl, Anna.” When he said those words my heart went into a sprint. I stepped into his embrace and hugged him tightly.
“I am perfect for you. I’m going to be the best girlfriend that I can be to you,” I said as he lifted my chin up and placed his hands on my cheeks. He kissed me tenderly, and for a moment time stood still. I wasn’t cold. There was not a sound. There was only the stillness of the moment, which I wanted to make last forever.
“Y’all need to take the lovefest indoors,” said another teammate who zoomed by and teased Jeremy.
