Sobriety

N I N E

chapter nine: the dinner with friends (part two)

After coming to the assumption that I didn't need stitches, Keyshawn cleaned my finger and put a bandage around it.

I sat down at an island stool and watched Keyshawn finish cooking dinner by himself.

"I wish I could help," I said, bringing my right hand to rest under my chin.

Keyshawn looked over his shoulder, "You did help me. Don't feel bad about it, it's not like you meant to cut your finger."

I didn't respond, instead, I just watched him finish cooking the sausage and bacon.

When all of the food was done, he laid the food out on the counter, "Food's ready," he called out.

I heard footsteps running into the kitchen. I turned to see Renae pushing everyone out of her way so that she could get to the food first.

"Do you want syrup?" Keyshawn asked me.

I turned back around to see a plate of food in front of me with Keyshawn looking at me expectedly.

I looked down at the food and realized he gave me one of his blueberry pancakes, "You didn't have to give me one of your pancakes," I softly said.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I know, but I did anyway. So do you want syrup or not?"

I nodded my head and began eating my food that Keyshawn made for me.

When everybody finally fixed their food and sat around the island, conversation flowed naturally.

"What happened to your finger, Malayah?" James, sitting to my left, asked.

"Oh, I cut it trying to open the bacon." I said, looking down at my finger. It didn't hurt that bad anymore.

Michael laughed, "Hey Shawn, remember when you did the same thing. You cried like a little bitch."

I looked at his standing figure from across the island. There weren't enough chairs for everyone, so Keyshawn had to stand and eat.

I offered to give him my chair because I knew he was tired from standing over the stove for so long, but he refused.

"In my defense, I was cut down to the bone." He says, looking down at his food.

"Does it hurt Layah? You and I are going to start conditioning tomorrow." Renae asks, bending forward so she could see past Michael's head.

I hated conditioning. All we did was run, run some more, and run a whole lot more. At the end of conditioning, it would be a blessing if I was still alive.

I groaned, "Do we have to start conditioning this early? Volleyball season doesn't start for another three months."

"Yes, Layah. We always start this early." She responded reasonably.

"But I don't want to," I whined and picked at my food like a little kid.

I continued to pick at my food until Keyshawn spoke up, "I'm sure you'll be fine, Malayah. Running isn't that hard."

"Easy for you to say, you probably run in your sleep. Besides, you've never ran with Renae. Renae tell them what we do." I said, looking over at Renae.

She rubbed her hands excitedly, "Well, first we warm up by running twelve laps around the track." I looked up at Keyshawn's face. He had a look of disbelief on it.

"That's just your warm up?" He asked me and I nodded my head slowly.

"And then," Renae continued, "we run ten more around the volleyball court, we do about thirty-five suicides and fifty burpees."

Kendrick spoke up for the first time tonight, "that's a little.. much. Don't you think, Renae?"

She furrowed her eyebrows thinking about it, "Well, maybe it is. But it always pays off at the end."

After that, the conversation died down and we ate.

Two days from now, there was a volleyball meeting. I didn't know what to expect. I had already met the volleyball captain, Kyla, and she was super sweet.

I really hope that the rest of the team was just as inviting as she was.

"Dinner was good you guys. Thanks for cooking." Michael said, looking back and forth at Keyshawn and I.

They all nodded in agreement, getting up to place their dirty plates in the sink.

"Do you need any help cleaning up?" Savanna asks, glancing down at all of the dishes that sat in the sink.

Keyshawn shook his head and gestures at Kendrick, "I think we can handle it."

"Okay, we'll see y'all later. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow, Layah." Renae said.

I rolled my eyes in response. I've never met an eighteen year who would willingly want to wake up and workout.

Soon, it was just Kendrick, Keyshawn and I, standing in the kitchen.

I grabbed my plate and walked over to the sink, "Kendrick, you don't have to help clean up, you didn't make the mess."

I turned on the faucet. I heard him say, "Fine by me."

I began rinsing off the plates. I was only using my right hand because I didn't want to get my bandage wet.

Suddenly, the plate was pulled from my hand. I looked up at Keyshawn, "why'd you do that?"

"Because you can't wash dishes with one hand, Malayah." He replied, scooting me over until he was standing in front of the kitchen sink.

"How come you never call me 'Layah'?" I asked, leaning onto the counter, looking up at him. Not that it bothered me when he called me by my full name.

"How come you never call me 'Shawn'?" He asked, copying me.

"I asked you first," I countered.

He shrugged his shoulder, focusing on the dishes, "Everyone else calls you 'Layah', I wanted to be different. Do you want me to stop calling you 'Malayah'?"

I shook my head, before realizing that he couldn't see me, "No, I kind of like it." A lot. I wanted to add, but I decided not to.

"Why do you call me Keyshawn?" He asks, looking down at me with a smirk.

"I don't know really. I guess the same reason as you. Besides, your name is pretty cool." I said, smiling up at him.

His smile widened, one side pulling up higher than the other.

"Well, I'm going to get going. Thanks for inviting me, I had fun," I said, before snaking my arm around him and resting my head against his chest.

He hugged me back as well as he could, trying not to get me wet.

"It's no problem. Thanks for helping me cook. The pancakes were good as fuck." He replied, hugging me for a bit longer before pulling away.

I laughed and made my way out of the kitchen, "I'll see you later."

He turned to look at me, saying, "Bye, baby," before winking.

I just shook my head and smiled.

Back in the elevator, my phone vibrated with a new notification.

I pulled it out as the elevator door open to my dorm level. I continued walking down the hallway towards my room.

I looked down at the text message.

From Keyshawn: I decided to try out a new nickname. Did you like it?

I assumed he was talking about 'baby', so I typed out my response with a smile.

To Keyshawn: Definitely ;)

I pressed send and looked up only to meet the eyes of Cam.

He was walking away from the direction of my room.