"You're doing so well with the horizontal bar, baby."Coach Cynthia said as she gave me a proud smile.
"Thanks coach."I said as I moisturised my hands with my lotion after dusting off my hands.
"You'll do amazing for the alumni weekend."she said proudly as I began to pack up the equipment with her.
"You need to rest."
"I can't. I have this assignment to do and ugh my lecturer is very demanding."I mumbled as we both made our way out the gym.
As I made my way to my dorm I began to Google a couple of source for my document that I didn't even notice that I had made it to my dorm building elevator.
"Imani."Simone announced as she gestured for me to make my way towards them.
"Imani this is Erica."Simone casually said with a big smile as she pointed towards me, I looked up at the girl and held out my hand in which she shook.
"Erica, this is Imani. The girlfriend."Simone said putting emphasis on 'girlfriend' which made me curiously look down at Simone who was sitting on the couch.
"Oh."Erica simply said with a disappointed look on her face as she nodded with a fake smile.
"Nice to meet you."I responded as I gave her a warm smile, she nodded before she said bye and left.
"Do I know her?"I nervously asked as I let Damon grab my waist and pull me onto his lap.
"Girl, that girl was telling us about how she knows baseball obviously flirting with Damon. When I told her he has a girlfriend she had the audacity to say: 'I don't see her here.' "Simone mocked which made me giggle.
"She's going to be checking out something but definitely not the game."Keisha joked which made me laugh.
"Listen I have an essay due just now at midnight."I said as I looked down at the time and got up.
"I have to go."I said before I gave Damon a peck and hugged everyone.
I then jogged to my dorm room and began my essay, it took me 2 hours to finish and proof read but I eventually finished it. When I finished it a took a shower and went back to my room to meditate, pray before I drifted off to sleep.
"I think she love me, 'cause I got the check on me
Wan' spend the day and flex on me
Put a curse and hex on me
Scratch out my name, put the X on me
You should come check on me
Talk dirty and caress on me
Fuck it, might as well get undressed for me."I nervously sang as a paced up and down my dorm room until I heard a knock on my door which made me jog towards it and open it, that's when I saw JR with his knuckle still strunch up as if he was about to knock again.
"I was not expecting you to be here or open the door so fast."JR said as he looked up at me with a small smile.
"I was about to leave anyway."I muttered as I shrugged my shoulders which made him nod his head.
"I thought I was coming here to vent a little but I think you need it more than me."he said as he looked at me in concern.
"No, no. What do you need?"I asked as I gave him a small smile.
"I am your friend, Imani. Tell me what's going on."he asked as he shut the door behind me before he gestured for me to sit down on my bed.
"I have my first competition this afternoon and I am really nervous."I admitted as I looked up at him.
"You've been practising for months. You got this."he said as he gave a proud smile.
"What if I hear that pop on my wrist again, JR. I can't, I can't. I haven't even been doing this for awhile and I feel weird."I mumbled which made him pull me into a hug, a long hug until I slowly began to slump my shoulders and hug him back tightly.
"Your hugs heal people so I'm hoping this calms you down."he said before he pulled away from the hug.
"Listen. I might not be able to go there because of the baseball match but you got this. I know you do."he proudly said as he gave me a small smile.
"You got this. You went to the Olympics, Imani James. You can do anything. Grab your bag."he said as he pointed toward my bag which made me smile and nod my head before I grabbed my duffle bag.
"Now let's go eat. You need to eat something."he said as he held out his arm which made me smile before I held onto it and left my dorm room.
As JR and I walked out of my dorm room and made it to the main area of the dorm I saw Simone and Damon sleeping on the couch, but Simone had her head on Damon's shoulder which took me off guard.
I saw Keisha emerge from the elevate with a guy about our age and they seemed to be talking about Simone but they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw what I was seeing.
"Bro."JR loudly said as he clapped his hands which made Damon jump a bit in fright and looked around before he moved his shoulder making Simone head fall which made her wake up and look around, when she saw the guy behind Keisha she jumped up in fright.
"Jordan! Hi baby."Simone nervously said as she looked up at Jordan.
"Baby."Damon nervously muttered as he stood up and walked towards me.
"It's okay."I awkwardly said before I step away from them and walked towards the elevator.
I didn't want to feel sad because I knew Damon wouldn't do that to me but a part of me is kind of shocked especially since everyone was already speculating that him and Simone were dating.
Simone and I are friends so I didn't want something as petty as this get in the way of our friendship but at the same time Damon and Simone have never put boundaries to their relationship which made me feel uneasy.
"Baby."Damon stammered as he followed behind me and got into the elevator with me.
"Damon, I'm not mad."I insisted as I looked at the elevator numbers, I grabbed my phone and texted JR.
JR:
don't forget the breakfast on me. so you can tell me what's going on.
"Doesn't sound like it."he replied as I placed my phone in my pocket.
"I'm not."I stated as I shrugged my shoulders.
"Then look at me."he simply stated which made me look up at him with a straight face.
"Okay, now bye. I'll see you after practice."I said as I watched the elevator door open before I made my way out of the elevator.
I looked down at my phone a couple of times as I walked down the corridor and I didn't have a choice but to go to Doctor Brown's office.
I knocked a couple of times and before I could knock a couple of more times she opened the door.
"Hey sweetheart."she said as she gave me a small smile which slowly began to fade when she saw the frown on my face, she opened her door wider and let me in.
"I didn't know who else to turn to. Nate is out of town, Keisha is somewhere and I--i just need someone to talk to right now."I mumbled as I sat down on the chair opposite her office chair but she sat next to me.
"What's the problem baby?"she asked as placed her hand on my knee.
"This might sound so trivial and crazy but I saw Simone sleeping on Damon just now and I'm not mad but I'm upset."I muttered as I looked up at her.
"What are you upset about?"she asked as she rubbed my knee.
"I don't know what to be upset about. Simone is my friend and I know she would never do that to me and I know Damon wouldn't do that to me as well but I know he would feel some type of way if I was sleeping on JR like that."I explained as I looked up at her.
"What else? You're not done, get everything out of your chest."she asked as she placed her hand on my cheek.
"I am so scared to do this competition tomorrow. I am so scared. I haven't done gymnastics in a while and I'm so scared that I might not do a move right. I've been practising for months but I feel like I'm a beginner, not that there's anything wrong with a beginner but I am so scared."I admitted as I looked up at her and eventually began to tear up which made her hug me tightly.
"Your feelings are valid baby. They're valid. I need you to cry it all out. After this we're going to get you some breakfast because I know you haven't eaten anything."she muttered as she hugged me tightly.
"Sounds good?"she asked as she gently pulled away from the hug and gave me a small smile. I nodded in response which made her grab a couple of tissues and hand them to me.
"Let's go get you something to eat, we can walk and talk."she offered as she gave me a small smile.
"How did you know I like to walk and talk?"I joked as I looked up at her with a smile which made her tense up a bit.
"My sister was just like you."she said as she playfully nudged me with a smirk.
"Let's go."she said as she gestured towards her door in which I walked towards and kept it open for her.
"Breakfast on me."she said as she gave me a smile and we walked off to the café.
As we walked to the cafe I had completely forgot what I was mad about and we were talking about other things.
"No way. You worked with celebrities?"I asked as I took a sip of my smoothie.
"A couple and they were all fools."she said which made me laugh.
"No, no. Were they men? Did you date them?"I asked which made me squint her eyes at me before she rolled her eyes which made me laugh.
"I knew it!"I squealed as I looked at her in shock.
"Hush, girl."she sheepishly said which made me giggle and nod my head.
"I have to go to practice just now."I said as I looked down at my wrist watch.
"No, you need to go. You have a big day tomorrow."she said as we both got up and pushed our chairs in.
"I really needed this. I have enjoyed my morning. Thank you so much. You remind me of my mom."I said as I hugged her tightly.
"Don't worry about it, baby. Call me anytime you need something."she said as she gave me a smile before I gave her a last hug and walked away.
"Coach. Do you know who we're competing against tomorrow?"I asked as I stretched my leg on the highest balancing block that she had placed.
"I'm not telling you because you go and Google the person then you start to overthink."She simply said as she looked at her clip board.
"Coach."I mumbled as I looked up at her.
"You'll see tomorrow but she's from another campus."she nonchalantly said as she looked down at me.
"Okay, okay."I said as I giggling which made her crack a smile.
"Okay, we're done for the day. See you tomorrow morning. Your horizontal bar and balancing beam is really good."she said as she gave me a small smile and tapped my knee with her clip board.
"You need to shower and get ready for the dinner. Go."she said as she grabbed my bag and handed it to me which made me nod and jog to my dorm.
I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and realised that Damon had called me a couple of times.
I decided to call him back and after a few rings he answered immediately.
"Baby, hey."he said as I walked into my dorm.
"Hey, sorry. I was at my practice."I muttered as I placed my bag on the floor and grabbed my toiletry bag so I could.
"You still coming to the alumni party?"he asked as I walked towards the bathroom.
"Uh. I think so. I don't know. Do you want us to go together?"I asked as I stopped in my tracks.
"Of course baby. I'll wait for you. I'll come up to your dorm."he said which made me shake my head
"No, no. I'll meet you there. Save us a spot."I said as I placed my toiletry bag near me.
We said our finally goodbyes before we hung up. I took a long shower before I rushed back to my dorm room to get dressed and curled my short hair into a bob.
"Imani. I haven't seen you since the morning. You alright?"JR asked as soon as he spotted me.
"I'm good. I had practice this morning. We can have our breakfast again tomorrow morning."I said as I gave him a small smile.
"You okay?"he asked as he looked at me in concern.
"I'm good. What did you need to tell me?"I asked as I gave him a small smile.
"Simone tells me that Professor Amara took a break from college for a long time so maybe she could have had a baby in that time but my dad was bonding with Damon so much today."he explained as he looked up at me.
"That's a good lead though. Why don't you both take a DNA test instead of doing all of this?"I asked which made him shake his head.
"I don't want to do that to him. He isn't even looking for his biological parents."he mumbled but quickly changed his face which made me look up to see Damon walking our way.
"You better come to my competition tomorrow afternoon."I said changing the subject as I gave him a small smile.
"Of course, wouldn't miss if for the world."he said as he gave him a smile.
"You came baby."Damon said as he wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.
"Of course. I just arrived. I couldn't find you so JR kept me company."I said as I gave him a small smile.
"Yall enjoy now. I'm going to go look for my pops" JR jokingly said as he walked away.
"You look beautiful baby."he said as he leaned down to kiss me a couple of times.
"Thank you. You look good too."I muttered as I looked up at him.
"We need to talk, I don't like you being mad at me like this."he said as he led me outside but I stopped in my tracks and walked up to the table where Simone was sitting.
"Damon I'm fine. Let's enjoy this party."I simply said as I sat right next to Simone, I greeted everyone at the table and sat down.
During the party I was avoiding both Simone and Damon which wasn't that hard to do because I kept talking to everyone else around the table and I made sure that I went to JR's table.
After the party Damon walked to me my dorm room.
"Imani, you have to talk to me. You can't keep avoiding me like this."he said as he gently grabbed my waist and pulled me me closer to him.
"I'm not avoiding you."I mumbled as I looked away from him.
"Imani, please."he pleaded placing his hand under my chin and made me look up at him.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pecked his lips a couple of times before I pulled away.
"Damon. You need to let me know what's going on with you and Simone."I muttered.
"Nothing baby. Nothing. I promise you it's nothing. I love you so much and I'd never do that to you. You have to believe me. Yesterday we just fell asleep on the couch and that's it."he pleaded as he pulled me in closer for a hug.
"I promise."he mumbled against my shoulder before he kissed my forehead.
"I believe you."I mumbled against his shoulder.
"When there's something wrong you have to tell me, baby. I can't have you being mad at me like this."he said before he pulled away and pecked my lips a couple of times.
"I will."I muttered as I placed my hand on his cheek.
"You need to sleep you have a match tomorrow."I said as I looked up at him with a small smile.
"I love you, Imani."he said which made me smile up at him.
"Uh, love you too."