Still Waters

Chapter 22

Junior year didn't get any better. Not only did Collin intentionally plan something for us to do every time Kenney and I were supposed to go out and, more often than not, even when Shayna and I had plans, his little temper tantrums and "quit ignoring me" speeches had started coming more and more frequently. By the middle of junior year, Shayna hated Collin, and I was afraid that she would eventually tell Drama, who in turn would tell Kenney, how she felt. I asked her not to, and after a while told her to mind her own business, so you know how that goes. It was only a matter of time before she started hating me, too. Even Kenney only occasionally called me by the middle of Junior year, and even then it was more like a "just calling to check on you" sort of thing. Last I heard, Kenney and his girl had started getting pretty tight, anyway so I figured he didn't really have a whole lot of time to spend on me, regardless.

I never did make it out to Aunt Jasmine's meeting, either. Kenney told me that she had Drama give a talk in my place. Apparently, he had everyone's undivided attention, talking about the New World Order and how we were on our way to being a cashless society...all the stuff that used to strike fear in the hearts of us darker American citizens before it ended up being true and, unfortunately, to most no big deal. Drama was always talking about something, and every single time he had people ready to go out and overthrow the government by the time he was finished.

"You should have seen it," Kenney told me afterwards. "You would have thought he was Fredrick Douglass making a Fourth of July speech."

I didn't really see Kenney too much after that.

Looking back, Collin knew exactly what he was doing. He had successfully alienated me from all of my friends in less than a year. And he was so smooth about it, I didn't even realize they were gone. The only thing that I paid attention to was what Collin wanted, and what he needed. I had even picked up the habit of rushing home immediately after class, just so I wouldn't have to hear Collin's mouth about whether or not I was avoiding him. He was such a baby! He would get mad at the dumbest things, and then go off in a huff like a spoiled rotten brat. The crazy thing was, when he left, I would run after him. I never wanted him to leave me after an argument. There was just something about the idea of him walking away from me angry that I couldn't take.

Second semester, junior year, Shayna and I made amends and moved off campus together. She was always trying to get me to go to church with her. I didn't really have a problem with it, but Collin hated "church folk" and swore they were all hypocrites. I could kind of see where he was coming from, though. His father had made them go to church every Sunday and look how he treated his family.

I was a lot happier living with Shayna than I was living by myself. At least then I didn't feel as alienated as before. Drama would come over all the time, too, which made me feel even better. He and Shayna, I could tell, were completely and totally head over heels in love with each other. It was sickening, but cute. They were always hanging on to each other's every word. Drama was the only one who I had ever seen Shayna pay that much attention to. It was so cute. I loved seeing them together. They acted like they were already married, yet swore up and down that they weren't even dating. I knew better, though. They might not have realized the truth yet, but I did.

After a while, I got tired of Collin and broke up with him. Shayna told me it was about time. Drama never acknowledged other people's personal matters unless you asked him to, so of course he had no comment. Kenney just rolled his eyes when I told him, like he thought I was lying, but he kept his mouth shut. He did start coming over a lot more after that, though, and even went to church with Shayna and Drama on several occasions. For some reason, he never brought his girlfriend along, but I know that he wanted her to go with them. I don't know why I didn't go. I guess after listening to years of Collin preach about the evils of church, I had actually started to believe it.