Sex, Love, and Basketball *Books 1 and 2* (Slowly Editing)

23. Talk To Me

"No, but I will be." I forced a smile. "I'm gonna let my dad know that I'm ready to go home. Thank you for not keeping this from me."

I stood up and folded the piece of paper before putting it in my pocket. Despite how the words on the paper made me feel, I felt like I had a piece of my mom. Just to know that she held the paper and wrote the words on them made me feel connected to her in some twisted way.

What kind of person latches on to a suicide letter?

"Nadia, if you need to talk or anything you know I'm here. If you find yourself not being able to be okay again, talk to me. Talk to you your dad. Talk to Dani. Just please don't keep it in. I already regret showing it to you because I know how you are before you shut down."

The worry and fear was obvious in Malaya's voice. She always tells me how similar I am to my mom in some ways and I think she's scared that we might have something terrible in common.

Cowardice.

"If I need to talk about it, I will. I promise." I said forcing another smile.

I gave Malaya a hug and left her room before she could say anything else.

-

Daniella

Getting to spend time with my family over the break was great, but I was happy to be back on campus. Not only was I sick of being a third wheel to Aniya and Jayla, but I missed Nadia like crazy.

Nadia and I haven't really been communicating much. We texted here and there, but when ever I called or tried to FaceTime her, she was busy. Distance really wasn't our thing, so I was happy that we were reuniting today.

Once I was settled into my room I rushed to Nadia's room. I didn't even know if she was back on campus because she won't answer her phone. I figured she had a good reason for that.

I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. I got excited when I heard the lock clicking, but I frowned when AJ came to the door.

"What's up, Dani?" AJ said stepping aside so I could come into the room.

"Hey, where is Nadia?" I asked looking at my girlfriend's side of the room.

"I haven't seen her. Chastity and I have been here for a minute, so I don't think she's back yet." AJ shrugged.

I pulled out my phone and tried calling Nadia again, but this time the phone didn't even ring. It went straight to voicemail.

Is she mad at me? I haven't even done anything.

"Where's Chastity?" I asked.

"She's in the shower. She should be-"

Just as AJ was speaking, the bathroom door opened and Chastity walked out in a towel.

"Hey Dani." Chastity smiled flashing her braces and I smiled back.

"Hey. Do you know when Nadia is coming back to campus? I can't get in touch with her for some reason."

"I'm not sure. I haven't spoken to her either."

"Can you try calling her? I keep going straight to voicemail." I asked and Chastity walked over to her nightstand and grabbed her phone.

"Wait. Are you two in a fight? I don't want to get in between." Chastity said looking worried and I shook my head.

"If we're in a fight, I have no idea why. I've barely spoken to her since Thanksgiving." I spoke with a little bitterness in my voice.

"Oh wow. Let me call and see if she answers for me." Chastity said scrolling through her phone and then putting the device to her ear.

Chastity frowned before taking the phone from her ear.