Playin' Hard (Original version)

Two

         In our eyes, one night was all you got, two if you was bad enough.

         Only simple minded people believed in that happily ever after shit in high school.

The more I sat and watched Cree, the more pissed off I became at her words.

         Troiann had known better. One look was all it took to shut her up. I guess it also went to show that Cree had no clue her best friend was sleeping with my best friend. None of us were guarded when it came to the girls we messed with and it was no secret Marcus was getting it in with Troiann.

         Troiann Nguyen was a walking weapon.

         The sound of clapping pulled me from my staring.

         Chris and Tremaine were laughing about something as they shook hands.

         Marcus was shaking his head. "They were freshmen."

         Tremaine shrugged. "Ay, we got one more year before they're untouchable, why not?"

         We were juniors, nearly seniors, nearly eighteen, and then the girls would be jailbait.

         Either way, they weren't that cute.

         Chris slapped Tremaine's chest. "Yo, Tyra's actually a sophomore."

         Tremaine nodded. "And she's on the step team. People say she look like Kelly Rowland."

         I shook my head. No, she did not. She looked more like a member of Poverty's Child than anything. "Do what you gotta do, Trey."

         "I'm just looking for a tutor," Chris said, a near desperate look in his blue eyes. "My pops gone kill me if I fail geography."

         Dude knew every Future lyric yet couldn't memorize the shit we were learning in class. Pathetic.

         "Nah, she too young to get into After Hours with us. Y'all wanna go tonight?" Tremaine asked. "I'm tryna get turnt up."

         I hated that phrase. As big of a fan of rap or hip-hop as I was, if there was one thing I despised most, it was when rappers said something in their songs and then regular, basic people started running it into the ground. First it was "YOLO" with Drake, or "cray" with Kanye and now the latest craze was "turnt up." That shit sounded especially wack coming from a nobody.

         Bobbing my head anyway, I agreed. "Yeah, we can get into something."

         Usually we went to After Hours, the local club, it was eighteen and over, with a few all-ages nights, but we never got carded. If we weren't at After Hours, we chilled out at Inferno, a strip club Chris had connections to. His cousin was a bouncer and a big fan of our football and basketball and he usually let us sneak in.

         I let the boys discuss the evening's endeavors as I once again found myself watching Cree. She was definitely a virgin, or else she wouldn't have been up on my case about my sex life. Despite her annoying attitude, she wasn't ugly. Her long dark hair was out of her face, letting her pretty features shine. She wasn't the type of girl you'd look twice at or use your best lines on, but she was definitely a pretty little thing.

         A French fry landed on my tray, distracting me.

         "You still on Cree Jacobs?" Tremaine asked, shaking his head. "Let it go, she was just talking to hear herself talk."

         Chris craned his neck to get a good look at Cree. "What happened?"

         Tremaine went over what happened in Ventura's class and afterwards. "And she was being mad rude with her stuck-up ass." Tremaine was sitting on the tabletop next to Chris, but he leaned over and slapped Marcus's shoulder. "Yo girl even tried to speak up on it."

         Marcus looked down at his tray. "She's not my girl."

         It was bullshit and we all knew it. He was just too much of a pussy to admit it was more than just smashing to him and he'd caught feelings. Punk.

         "Anyway, Cree was all, 'you got STDS' and Dre just shrugged it off."

         The more Tremaine talked, the more enraged I became. I had let Cree off easy.

         I sat up and pushed my tray away, leaning my elbows on the table. "I get stupid box, what's Cree Jacobs?"

         "One box you can't have," Tremaine said matter-of-factly.

         His use of the words "can't have" was what set me off. Who did Cree think she was? Because it wouldn't take much to have her in Troiann's position.

         Lifting a brow, I looked over towards Tremaine. "It wouldn't be that hard to show her what's up."

         Tremaine snorted and waved me off. "Cree would never give you any. Besides, why would you want it? She's a virgin."

         He had a point. There was no fun to be had with a virgin. Too much emotional baggage.

         "She would get clingy and it wouldn't even be worth it," Chris added.

         "It don't even matter. Dre couldn't get the box if he were a gynecologist." Tremaine's remark made the boys laugh. It was sorta funny, if it were true.

         They sounded like amateurs. "I can fuck her without even touching her."

         Marcus looked skeptical. "Is that right?"

         "Yeah, it is," I said. A mind fuck was just as good as a regular fuck. "Give me Troiann's number."

         Marcus slid away from me. "Why?"

         "I need to ask her a favor."

         "Nah, man, leave her outta this."

         I shook my head. Him and his light skin tendencies. "It's time to see which team she's playing for."

         "Cree's her best friend, Dre." It sounded like Marcus was whining now, which was starting to look weak.

         Yeah, he caught feelings all right.

         I held my hand out expectantly. "I'm a 'dog,' Marcus, and doggie wants the kitty."

         Begrudgingly, he handed over his phone and I found Troiann's number and typed it into my own phone.

         I was just talking shit, I hadn't any real aspirations to teach Cree a lesson, but I did want to get under her skin.

         "Hello?" Troiann answered her phone, appearing curious no doubt at my foreign number.

         "Hey," I said with faux peppiness. "It's DeAndre."

         In the cafeteria I watched as Troiann scowled as she stood from her lunch table and headed towards the girls' restroom. "What?" she hissed into the phone.

         Rolling my eyes, I said, "That's not a nice way to greet someone."

         "I don't like you."

         I picked at a hangnail, thinking nothing of her comment. "That's how you feel?"

         "That's how it is, I'm hanging up now."

         "Do that and Cree's going to get a personal picture of you and Marcus," I said casually.

         Troiann's shock was palpable through the phone. "W-what do you want?"

         I grinned, shaking my head. Too easy.

         "I'm glad you see things my way," I said. "Now here's what we're going to do..."

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"Clique" – Kanye West, Big Sean & Jay-Z. The second of the two songs that inspired the novel