Crossroads

Three

Crossroads | Chapter Three

"Where you sneaking off to?" I stopped in my tracks. It was Wednesday and I had to go see my father during his visiting hours. We had a lot to talk about considering his friend stopped by the apartment the other day. Thank goodness my mama wasn't home otherwise she would have been bugging. Asking all kinds of unnecessary questions I wasn't ready for. My heart sped to the sound of his husky voice.

I damn near froze in place holding tight to the strap of my handbag. For three months I have been sneaking out of this door and not once had I noticed him here. This was the first time ever that I'd been caught by anyone. I could feel his eyes behind me piercing through the white tank top I wore. It was hot out today and I decided to wear my hair in space buns. My handbag was placed casually on my shoulders as a accent to the ripped jean skirt I sewed last week. I looked down smiling at my work. I was still getting the hang of making my own clothing, but in my opinion I looked pretty damn good.

Okay, Ranella we got this. Just play it cool. I placed my hand up to my mouth to check my breath. It was still minty fresh. I slowly turned around. A wide grin placed upon my lips, "I should be asking you the same thing since we all up in each other's business." At this point my hand was rested on my hip. I hadn't even noticed that I did it. It just happened so fast. I saw a smile exposing those dimples I adored so much from afar. Who in the hell would of thought of the day I'd be speaking to Chaquelle Roberts.

His back was rested against the brick-wall with one foot up against it as well. There was toothpick in the corner of his mouth and his hands were tucked into the pockets of his jeans. I took the time analyze him close up as we stood a few feet from one another. His solid frame was completely covered by the gray t-shirt he wore but you could tell he didn't do much working out. His lips held a light pout after releasing his smile. He rested his head back and stared at me for a moment, "You got a lil mouth on you. I kinda like that sassy shit. But since I ain't rude like you I just needed to get up out of there. Teachers was bugging."

My grin slowly died and turned into a smirk. Why am feeling so damn giddy inside?Get it together, Nell. I shifted my weight onto my left foot and attempted to fix my hair even though there was nothing wrong with it. I felt myself getting nervous not willing to open up to him about my situation. I was a bit embarrassed that my father messed up our family's name, but at the same time people didn't know the half. I contemplated for a moment trying to figure out the words to say before I lost his interest. "I was headed to the train station. I guess you can say this is my Wednesday routine. I ain't really got much better to do in there anyway."

He nodded, "Mind if I take that train ride with you? I ain't really trying to go back inside."I wanted desperately to say no, but this was like the perfect opportunity to get to know him. The girls were supportive enough to give me the okay to make male friends. I just never worked up the courage to do so. I'm pretty sure I could just call Mr. Willis and ask him to the let me in at a later time. I mean I am in school for goodness sake.

"That's cool. I usually come back around before school ends, but I got a couple of things to do, so I might have to branch off a little early."

He stood up from the wall towering over me, "I'm cool with that. What you want to get into?" He asked so casually as if he knew me. It was kind of hard not to be comfortable since I've spent lunch hour every other day studying him. I learned so much from simple observations. How he sometimes separated himself from his crowd of friends when something was on his mind and how he spent his spare time doing homework in the library that I'm sure was overdue. It was those simple things that attracted me to him, but in the back of mind I kept reminding myself of his girlfriend.

"If it's cool with you we can sit in the park and just chill."

"That's cool." He stated before leading the way to the train station. To no surprise the station was empty like usual. We sat in the back across from one another. I'm guessing he didn't want me to feel uncomfortable if he had gotten close to me, but I wanted him near me. I saw him scrolling on his phone probably on Twitter or Instagram. I didn't invest my time too much into social media instead I chose to read books and lose myself through intriguing chapters. I pulled out my book from my handbag placing the bookmark out of its saved place.