Hampton University, Virginia
Friday, 3/1
"Never Knew"
{Love Like This by Faith Evans}
The silence of the classroom was overwhelming and quite scary. Any form of movement, big or small, made Professor James turn his medium-sized head and his big ears flop. Some of the students nicknamed him Dumbo behind his back. Right now, no one was a big fan of Dumbo.
Professor James walked around the class, peering over his students shoulders to assure that they weren't cheating. One student was already caught, paper ripped up and tossed out of class. No one else wanted that to happen to them next, so they focused. Tried to at least. The musty smell of Dumbo threw students off, making them cough dramatically and cover their noses to avoid the smell.
That did nothing.
"You all have ten minutes left. Please start to wrap your answering up!" James shouted, making the student he was standing near jump in his seat.
He muttered under his breath, covering his nose with his shirt and went back to his test. He was over it. Everyone else was too. Sitting on the other side of the room, Dess did her long division on a separate sheet of paper. She was glad she learned how to do problems without a calculator at an early age. It came in handy with this test.
Once she confirmed her answer, she confidently written it on her answer sheet. She went to the next problem, her last one and read it over. She pressed the tip of her pencil on important information, unable to highlight or underline. Going back to her scrap piece of paper, she proceeded to write the numbers down as she memorized the formula. A part of her made sure she remembered each and every one in her own unique way.
"Five minutes!" James shouted again in another student ear.
He didn't care and kept moving up and down the aisles, eyeing every answer sheet. A few head shakes of disappointment seeing the wrong answers. The totally off answers. The lines still blank and even a few students doodling on the side. He was an old school professor, thoughts of smacking some of his students upside the head flooded his brain. Then he remembered this was not the 1980s or '90s anymore.
The time ticked down faster than anyone wanted. A ninety minute exam now down to the remaining three minutes. The pressure was on. It was getting real. Class was about to end in two months and a mid-term exam was already kicking their ass. Finally and terrifyingly, the buzzer on Professor James desk went off. The test was over. James instructed for his students to place their pencils down, a few of them groaning because they didn't finished.
James went around collecting the papers himself to assure he got them all. While she waited, Dess made a nice stack with her papers then put her belongings away. She wasn't all that worried like others. She smiled with confidence, knowing she got a good grade. Soon as James collected all the papers, he dismissed his class. Everyone hurried, the door to the lecture hall crowded as students rushed out. Eventually, everyone was gone.
"Dess!" Noah yelled at the top of his lungs, making her turn her head around fast.
He ran over to her, grabbing his bag straps tightly. "I fucking failed!" He confessed while still speaking loudly.
"No you didn't." Dess gave him courage, but Noah knew otherwise.
"I did though." He nodded. "I didn't answer half of those questions. I was doodling on the side of my paper too. I drew Spider-Man though. You think Dumbo gonna like it?"
Dess chuckled, "Not at all. He's going to deduct fifty points just for it." She answered truthfully. Noah sigh, lowering his head. He knew he messed up.
"Don't worry though. He does retakes, completely different test but still a retake," she informed, bumping his arm for him to lift his head.
Noah did so and a smile showed on his face. "Alrighty then, imma take that retake." He clasped his hands as he thought out his plan.
"That means study, Noah!" She told him, giving him that mother-like finger point.
Noah raised his hands then started laughing. "Imma study. After this party tho," he replied.
Dess rolled her eyes. She could never get through to this boy and his school work. With a countdown already started, folks were starting to get lazy. Two months were left before they were all back in their homes, enjoying their free summer. Majority of them at least. Dess couldn't wait to go back home, sleep in her quiet room with the perfect air conditioning. She was also messing her father way more than often lately. They gotten back to their regularly scheduled phone calls, everyday at five.
Stephen breaking the news to her that he had found a lovely lady. They were taking things slow, enjoying one another presence before declaring a relationship. Dess was iffy about it, nonetheless, happy for her dad. When she went home, they all were going to go out to eat and get to know each other. Dess already had several questions ready for this mysterious woman for the meet-up.
"So, are you coming to the party?" Noah asked, bringing her back.
"Absolutely not!" Dess exclaimed dramatically.
Noah such his teeth, "You didn't have to do all that. Seriously though, why not?" He curiously asked.
Dess shrugged her shoulders. No clear answer other than she didn't want to. A frat party hosted by the one and only Ques. Though she haven't thought about Ash or Jamal for a long time, going to their event was off limits for her. She didn't want to see their faces, deal with the whispering and even possible harassment or humiliation to come. Plus, a frat party or Greek party for that matter never ended well. Someone was fighting, someone was too drunk and was taken advantage of right before people eyes.
No one said anything. Everyone vibed.
Noah nudged her to get her attention. He was still waiting for a response. He wasn't getting one since Dess located Shai and Axel walking in their direction. A huge smile showed on her face that Noah noticed. When he look up to see who she was staring at, he didn't expect an answer back. A little bit of jealousy sparked but soon faded. Slowly but surely, he was losing romantic feelings for her. They'll be gone very soon.
"Okay, I'm going to go. You should come out to the party just for a few minutes," he mentioned again to her.
"I'll think about it but I'll see you later!" Dess exclaimed as she started walking away.
A huge smile presented on her face was reciprocated when Shai saw her coming. She fell right into his arms, rocking side to side as they hugged tightly. It was the first physical touch they had during this entire midterm week. They barely saw each other and only texted to say good morning and good night. Dess was either in the library, studying late night or early morning.
Meanwhile, Shai had started his own workouts since basketball season had came to an end. There was no championship game for them. They lost in the first round of the playoffs. His mind had been over the team anyway, so it didn't bother him at all. Everyone on the team were strangers all over again.
"Couple goals!" Axel sung, waving his hands in the air. He started laughing, Dess doing the same.
"Hi, Axel," she greeted him.
"How's everything?" She asked, grabbing Shai arm and wrapping it around her waist.
"Everything is pretty good," Axel answered confidently. Dess nodded her head and could see it.
He was no longer walking around with a sadden look on his face. Neither was he staying in his room and away from the group. He was now out and about, smiling from ear to ear, making jokes, and laughing loudly. He wasn't all the way healed or over the death. He had his moments where he cried a little bit. However, he didn't allow himself to fall into another depression. He was good for right now and he was alright with that.
"That's good to hear. It's nice to see you smiling," Dess mentioned. She held her hand out and they did their new signature handshake.
They ended in a fist bump then shared a harmonious laugh. Shai shook his head at the two of them.
"Y'all done?" He asked, moving his hand from around Dess.
"Don't be jealous," she lightly pushed him and he suck his teeth.
"We done. I gotta go anyway and meet up with Keith dumbass. There's a party later. You still coming?" Axel asked Shai while dapping him up.
"Yeah, I'll be there." Shai answered.
"Aight, see y'all lovebirds!" Axel exclaimed before continuing his walk to the library.
"Bye!" Dess waved. She turned around quickly to face Shai and crossed her arms. "I didn't know you were going to the party."
"I wasn't but Axel said that he's DJ-ing and asked for me to be there for him." He answered. He grabbed her arm, moving her out the way of the pathway and to the empty bench.
He took a seat then continued, "Were you thinking about going?" He asked.
"Not really but since you're going I'll be there too making sure no bitch twerk on you." She rolled her neck, resting her hands on her hips.
"Only chick that's twerking on me is you."
"Best believe it."
🏀
"Who fuckin' tonight?" Kash shouted in the microphone, receiving screams and shouts from the crowd.
He smiled hugely when a few girls near them looked his way. He gave them a wink, reminding himself to find these chicks later and see what their vibe was. He continued speaking in the mic while Axel stood beside him playing the music. He bobbed his head while Love Like This by Faith Evans played. He gave Kash an elbow hit, the signal he always gave when he was about to switch a song.
Kash nodded then brought the mic back to his lips, "Ayo, that's why I fucked yo' bitch—" he pointed the mic to the crowd and they finished the line.
As soon as they were finished, Axel scratched his disk then turned a dial as Hit 'Em Up by Tupac started playing. Everyone broke into rapping along with Tupac. Kash jumping up and down, hyped while he rapped too. Axel smiled, continuing to bob his head and playing around with his machine. Adding reverb and some distortion to the song.
His own personal musical touch. The crowd was feeling it. Their cups in the air while they rapped to the people surrounding them. Everyone was enjoying themselves after a long stressful week.
"Hey DJ!" He heard someone shout loudly. Looking up, Axel's attention landed on Ashley who stood on the opposite side of the gate in front of him.
"Ash?" He questioned, pushing back his headphones.
"Hello!" Ashley continued yelling in order to be heard over the music. She was now standing on her tippy toes while leaning in.
"I thought you weren't coming out?" Axel questioned, yelling as well. Ashley looked around at first. There was people everywhere, standing around and bumping into each other. This was no longer her vibe.
She faced him, "No, I was not going to come out. But I heard your music all the way from my dorm and couldn't sleep," she responded.
"My bad," Axel apologized.
"It's fine. You have this place jumping."
Axel nodded his head in agreement. He didn't want to sound cocky but he was the best DJ out here. He played what the people wanted to hear, gain them mixes that no one could outdo. This night was one they'll talk about forever.
"Hey, come around." He ordered, reaching his hand out. Ashley smirked, grabbing his hand and he guided her around the gates.
She entered then stood beside him. Her attention landing on his mixing machine hooked up on the table and the software up on his laptop. He was a real life music artist and she liked that.
A lot.
"This is impressive," she mumbled to herself.
She wanted to touch the buttons that he was touching. Stand in front of him and allow him to guide her. But he was working and she didn't want to interrupt. Kash spoke again in the mic while Axel did another transition to the hood classic, No Flockin by Kodak Black. Axel glanced back to see how she was doing once he was done. They made eye contact, Ashley giving him a small smile.
He stepped to her and leaned down so he was close to her ear. "You okay?" He questioned.
Ashley nodded. "More than ever."
Axel smirked, backing away. He said wassup to his folks that walked by his station. After a while, he placed his attention back on Ashley who was watching closely. This time she didn't look at him but she knew he was looking. As soon as he turned away, she smiled to herself. She liked being over here.
🏀
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Discussion Board:
1. story is slowly coming to an end y'all😕
2. expect updates to start being frequent since I kinda wanna wrap this up and have part 2 out later this month, but are y'all ready for sophomore year?
3. Imma ask this again when the story is officially complete but for right now lemme hear y'all predictions so far, if you have any, on part 2