I THOUGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED SINCE IH AD MET HIM IN THE HALLWAY AFTER 3RD PERIOD. IT HAD ALL HAPPENED SO FAST. FOR EIGHTEEN YEARS, ID LIVE MY LIFE IN A NORMAL WAY, CRUISING ALONG A COURSE THAT SEEMED SO PEACEFUL, SOMEWHAT PREDICTABLE, T...
Cole turned to see what I was looking at and stopped short for a moment. I could see the side of his face as he looked past me to Jaida. He looked down embarrassed as if he'd been caught doing something, then glanced at me and back to Jaida.
She looked perplexed as we closed the distance between us.
"Cole, what's going on?" she asked in a worried tone, just as the lunch bell rang.
"Uh, nothing. I need to talk to Khalil about, uh... some tutoring stuff. That's all," he said nervously, looking everywhere but at her.
She wasn't buying it. "You have been crying!" she exclaimed.
"Khadeijah said so, and she also said that you and some other nigga almost got in a fight over Khalil -- that y'all were talking about suicide and he told you to leave Khalil alone. It didn't make sense. I'm really confused, Cole. What's going on?"
She seemed almost scared. It made me feel sorry for her.
If Cole somehow wanted me back now -- though I didn't think I would go back to him, but if I were to -- what was he going to do about Jaida? I assumed that she was in love with him. I didn't want to see anyone hurt, and it seemed like she didn't deserve to be hurt any more than any of the rest of us. I wanted to tell her I was just as confused.
Cole was squirming uncomfortably, trying to figure out how to handle this situation.
"Umm..." he began. "Look, Jaida, I can't tell you anything until I talk to Khalil." He paused to gather his thoughts for a moment, "I'm trying to work some things out. I'll call you tonight. We'll talk then, 'kay?" He didn't wait for an answer. He started walking, glancing to make sure I was following, but never looked back at Jaida. I felt guilty.
Jaida stood frozen to the spot, questions on her face. I had to nearly trot just to keep up with his long purposeful strides. I looked back at her a couple of times as Cole headed towards the athletic and arts complex at the far end of the campus.
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"Where are we going here?" I asked.
"To a private place we can talk."
"What about what Khadeijah said? If she really truly saw what happened, it'll be all over school before the end of the day, y'know," I cautioned him.
