90's Hearthrobs: Male Edition

My Motivation ( 2) - Donald E. Degrate Jr.

"Well did you see who was in the car with her D? Maybe it was her boyfriend or something. Just ask her about it in class today" Jojo said handing me an orange juice from his bag as we walked up the steps to school.

"Thanks Jo & Yeah maybe.. something's just not sitting right with me man." I accepted the drink and pulled my hoodie over my head as we sauntered down the crowded hallway.

I had told Jojo about the Kali situation at the arcade yesterday. I needed some good advice & I knew he could give me some. We were walking to school alone due to the fact that Cedric & Dalvin had a basketball meeting earlier that morning. By the time I woke up Dalvin was already running out the door.

It was the next day and Kali was still on my mind heavy. But on a brighter note, a nigga was on time for school for the first time this year so I think I deserved some props.

I stopped at my locker, looked to my left and noticed Jojo had wandered off. He was talking to his crush Lisa and I smirked at him watching their interaction. Jojo was quiet, standoffish and looked mean sometimes but it was all a front.

He was a big softy, and the nicest nigga I knew. He understood how to treat the ladies with respect and because of that, they loved him.

I mockingly threw him the middle finger as he looked my way and Jojo smirked. Lisa turned to see who he was looking at and waved when she saw it was me. I gave her a friendly hug, did a pound with Jojo and made my way to class.

I made it to my seat just before the late bell rang. I looked around and noticed Kali's seat was still empty.

I tapped my doc martens against the linoleum floors impatiently and slouched back in my seat. "Don't tell me I came to this shithole for no reason" I murmured fixing to take my ass to sleep.

After thirty minutes into a boring seminar about plant algae and its mating cycle, Kali stepped into the classroom. She was disorientated and her eyes were puffy like she'd been crying.

She gave Mr. Paxton her late note and sat down next to me. She pulled out her books and smiled weakly when she noticed I was watching her.

"Hi Donald, How are you doing today?" She turned away from me, tucking a stray braid behind her ear. "I'm good K.. are you okay? Why were you crying?" I leaned over towards her keeping my voice low and stared her dead in the eyes.

She held my gaze for a minute and I saw tears start to well up in her cocoa brown eyes. I moved my hand up to wipe the tear that had escaped.

I'm not crying, I'm fine." She said turning away from me to stare at the board. "Kali, just talk to me. I'm here for you. I'm tryna help you" I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice but it was evidently impossible.

Couldn't she tell I wanted to help her, why was she acting like this? This sure as hell wasn't the bubbly, headstrong Kali I had met yesterday.

She glanced at me through tear stricken eyes,  stood up, grabbed her bag and started to walk out. I went to grab her wrist to keep her from walking away from me and she yelped in pain.

I dropped her arm, but not before I saw the big black bruise she had tried to cover by wearing a long sleeve shirt. Some classmates looked at us strangely but it wasn't enough to catch Mr. Stokley's attention.

" What the fuck?!" I growled kicking my desk as the class and the teacher looked at me like I was crazy. " I uh... A mouse just ran past my foot, can I go use the can?" I asked tryna stay calm and once he nodded I took off down the hall.

I tried to think of the one place she would run off too, and as I looked around the girls bathroom was the closest to our class. I walked inside not even bothering to see if anyone had seen me go in, this wasn't my first time so I didn't sweat it.  I had plenty of rendezvous in here so I was all but too familiar with it. Good times, good times.