"I don't know what Ron sees in her," I said to myself as I watched him from a distance, flirting with this girl. Ronny, I think her name is. How ironic is that? Ron and Ronny. If they really get together they'll be some corny motherfuckers. Can you imagine them with kids? They gon' name their babies Roneisha and Ronda! Rondelle! Oh my Lord! Ronette! Listen, they better not do no stupid shit like that.
"Alyssa," Janelle called out to me breaking my concentration from Ron. "Shit,"I mumbled to myself. "Huh! I ain't doing nothing." I turned around as she approached me. "Lys were you stalking Ron and that girl again?" "No. Why would you think that? I was just sitting here waiting on you."
"So why you looking around like you stole something?"
"Girl whatchu talking 'bout?"
Janelle sucked her teeth. "Girl quit playin'. You ain't fooling nobody. You sound guilty as shit. Anyway are you coming to the party tonight? I heard Kevin'll be there," she said grinning.
"Ok," I said nonchalantly. "What does that have to do with me?"
"Girl whatchu mean what does it have to do with you? You haven't heard the rumor mill talking? Kevin's been asking about you."
"What! Girl stop playing. That man is not thinking about me," I said pulling away from her and walking back to our dorm. She followed behind me. "Well I beg to differ."
I sucked my teeth. "And even if he did why do I care? He's never said two words to me. You buggin' sis."
Janelle grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Like hell I am. Out of all these lil heifers chasing him around campus, you are the one that he's interested in."
I just stood there looking at Janelle like she had lost her mind. She looked at me a bit confused. "A lot of guys been trynna get your attention lately. Kevin isn't the only one," she said matter-of-factly, "and you don't seem the least bit fazed." I just kept staring at her. "Oh my goodness! You really don't know! Lys, how have you managed to ignore every dude on campus that has been trynna talk to you?"
"Because it's not the one that matters," I said rolling my eyes.
"Girl you got your head so far stuck up Ron's ass and he ain't even thinking about you! When you gon' stop worrying about him? Listen Lys, you gon' be single for a long time if you waiting for his ass to make a move. Move on."
"Uh, ma'am? That's easy for you to say. You ain't checking for nobody right now."
Janelle scoffed. "Yes I am."
"Who?"
"Vic!" She shot back.
"Hol' up. Victor, Victor? Uh uh. That's nasty. You do know his favorite pastime includes hoeing right?"
"See. There you go. Thats why I can't tell your ass nothing. I don't need you judging me.
"Janelle. Come on. If it was anybody else I'd understand, but it's Vic. You can't be serious?"
"And what if I am?" She rolled her eyes and walked away from me. "You are unbelievable."
"Janelle. Wait," I said trying to catch up to her.
She stopped and turned to look at me. "What? Why can't you just be happy for me?"
"Because you deserve better than him."
"And you deserve better than Ron," she stated confidently. "He doesn't even notice you half the time. These other dudes around here do. Get a fuckin' clue!"
"Oh and Kevin is better for me? I barely know the nigga."
"Well you could," she snapped back. She took a deep breath. "Look. You either be woman enough to get the man you want or stop bitchin' about it."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me Alyssa! Damn! I can't be like you. Quiet and virginal," she snickered, "and I don't want to be."
"Janelle come on that's not funny. You know I am not a virgin," I said leering at her.
"Does your pussy know that," Janelle asked as she cocked her head to the side. How long has it been?" I lightly chuckled. "Seriously J? You had to go there?" Janelle broke out into a grin. "I'm just saying," she shrugged.
I laughed. "I mean it has been a while, but ya know, like most modern day women who can't find a good man, I do what I have to do. And right now that's gonna have to suffice."
"Lys, I hear you, but nothing's stopping you from finding a good dude, you just gotta be open to the possibilities. That's what I'm doing."
"With Victor?"
"Yes with Victor damnit! I'm not gon' say it again! Listen, all I'm saying is, I just want to live a little and have fun. Even if that means going on a date with Vic and getting to enjoy being with a man. I actually like him and I'm going to go out with him if I want to and have a good time."
"Janelle," I said in protest.
"Don't Janelle me Lyssa. I'm a grown woman and I'll make my own decisions. And besides, I haven't been having too much fun lately and especially not with your ass. Loosen up a bit Lys. Go on a date with a beautiful man and let him make you feel good. When was the last time you let someone hold your hand or kiss you?"
I was completely stumped. "I-I"
"See. You don't even remember," Janelle said cutting me off. "Listen to me. Tonight you're going to the party and you're going to have a good time. You're going to dance with Kevin. Maybe let him take you out later and if he decides he wants to kiss you, let him. Please for once in your life loosen up. You have the rest of your life to be uptight and hung up on one guy, but today is not that day."
I tried to protest.
"Uh uh. No bitch. I don't want to hear it," she said putting her hand in my face.
"Janelle stop fuckin playin with me," I said moving her hand out of my face.
"Lys at least give it a try. Please."
"Fine," I huffed.
Janelle let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God. Now let's go figure out what we're wearing tonight and maybe, I don't know, take a shot cause you literally just stressed me the fuck out," she teased.
We headed inside of our dorm and up to her room to raid through her closet. Tonight was going to be interesting.
......
I showed up to the party with Janelle. I wore a short, little black dress with a low v-neck cut that was a little more revealing than what I would have liked, but I looked good so I wasn't complaining. As soon as Janelle saw someone that she knew she left me holding up the wall by myself. I kept checking my phone out of habit. I was ready for the night to be over before it even began. I stood on the wall shifting my weight from one foot to the other. These five inch heels were cute and everything, but I was ready to take them off. Before I could even wrestle with the idea, Kevin approached me.
"Hey," he said as he stood in front of me.
"Hi." We stood in silence for a moment. "I'm assuming there's a reason why you're over here---" I said waiting for him to give me his name.
"Kevin," he said with a look of confusion. "Kevin Davis," he said slowly hoping that I would catch on.
"You look surprised. Why," I asked him. He shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing. I---I'm just surprised you don't know who I am."
"Why? Are you supposed to be a big deal around here or---" Kevin was speechless. He didn't know what to say.
"So," I said trying to pick the conversation back up, "is there a reason why you're here---Mr. Davis was it," I said with a smirk.
He grinned. "Ahhh okay. You're fuckin' with me," he said as he briefly looked down at the floor and chuckled. "Kevin works just fine you know?"
"I know," I smiled. I pushed myself off the wall and grabbed his hand. "How about that dance Mr. Davis? I'm assuming that's why you walked all the way over here."
He couldn't stop smiling. "Yes it is Ms. James," he said as he danced me over to the dance floor.
I grinned as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "So you know my name?"
Kevin put his hands on my waist. "I make it my business to know everyone's name," he grinned.
"Mmhm. Whatever."
"What? It's true," he laughed. "What are you afraid your cover's blown?"
"Maybe if I were hiding something," I grinned.
"Touché."
As we continued to dance I noticed everyone kept staring in our direction. "Okay. Am I tripping or are we drawing attention," I said underneath my breath.
He smirked. That's what happens when you're with Kevin Davis." He started acknowledging the different ones who were watching us and making eye contact with his friends across the room like he just won a prize.
I scoffed. "You know what. I ain't with the bullshit." I moved his hands from around my waist and left him standing by himself.
I left the building and stood outside for some fresh air. I quickly stepped out of my heels. It was such a relief. After standing outside for no more than thirty seconds Kevin came after me.
"Alyssa. What happened?"
He didn't have to pry an answer out of me. I got right to it. "We were in there having a good time and then you just adopt this whole 'I'm the shit' attitude when your friends and different ones saw you dancing with me; and honestly I am not here for the games. Like, there's nothing wrong with being confident, but when it comes at the price of making me look like some prize it's not okay."
"I didn't mean to offend you. You're right. I was out of line and I'm sorry."
I stood posted on the brick wall with my arms still folded. I could see him eyeing me over for the third time tonight. I looked at him from my peripheral and he started grinning. "Well," he said. I sighed. "I forgive you."
"Good. So what do you say we get out of here? Go for a drive maybe? If you're not still one hundred percent mad at me."
I leered over at him. "How do I know you're not crazy?"
"You don't. I guess you're just going to have to trust me," he said offering a smile. "What do you say?"
I grabbed my shoes off the ground and gave in. "I mean shit. I don't have anything better to do."
"Well come on then," he said grabbing my hand and pulling me off of the wall.
Once we approached his truck he opened the passenger door for me. "Thank you." He walked over to the driver's side and got in. We drove for a few minutes in silence before anyone spoke up.
"Sooo..."
"Sooo, what," he asked quickly glancing over at me and returning his attention back to the road.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"It's a surprise."
"Wow. You've only known me for two seconds and you're already throwing me surprises," I joked.
Kevin chuckled. "Well if you saw what I saw, you'd understand why," he said half jokingly.
I gave a soft smile. "And what do you see?"
Kevin kept his eyes steady on the road with one hand now on the steering wheel, the other stroking his chin in thought. He smiled. "I see an intelligent, vibrant, and stubborn young woman."
I gasped. "Wow. You think I'm stubborn," I chuckled as I leaned back into my seat.
"Yeah. I can tell. I come from a family of stubborn women, but they are who they are with good reason," he laughed.
"Hahaha," I mocked. "You forgot one," I stated.
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Beautiful, sexy, fine as hell," I said jokingly. "Any of those adjectives work.
Kevin quickly looked over at me with a grin that extended out onto the open road in front of us. He refocused his attention back on the road. He chewed casually on his gum as his lips curled into a subtle smile. He ran his right index finger back and forth on his lips in thought.
Kevin laughed. "That was three actually, and anyway I didn't forget, I just didn't want you to think that, that was all I noticed about you." He was silent for a moment. "You are beautiful though."
I smiled and snuck a glance at him. "Thank you. You're not too bad looking yourself."
Kevin smiled. "What? Was that a compliment?"
"Well, I am capabale of giving those out every now and then." We both shared a laugh.
"So tell me something about yourself Alyssa."
"What do you want to know?" We were slowing down at a red light now.
"Uhh. Where are you from," he asked as he drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel.
"Shreveport."
"Louisiana?"
"Unless there's another Shreveport we don't know about. What about you?"
Kevin laughed. "Jackson, Mississippi."
"Huh. Okay. Siblings," I asked.
"Two older brothers and a younger sister. She's sixteen. What about you?"
"I have five siblings; three older brothers, two sister's. The youngest sister is nineteen."
We turned down a long road and arrived in front of a dock with a large lake laying out before it. "Here we are," he said parking the car.
"It's beautiful," I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the car door.
Kevin joined me at the front of his car and sat on the hood of the truck. He motioned for me to join him.
I spoke first. "So tell me the truth. Why did you approach me? What do you want from me?" I never took my eyes away from the lake.
He sounded confused. "I don't want anything from you. I saw you on campus a couple of times and my only interest is to get to know you."
I had to admit I was pleased with his response. "Well what do you know. It looks like J was right afterall."
"I'm sorry. I don't follow. Who's J and what were they right about?"
"My best friend, Janelle, told me that I had caught the attention of Kevin Davis, but I didn't believe her," I said as I turned to look at Kevin.
He grinned and moved closer to me. "Oooh. Okay. So you did know who I was when I approached you?"
I smiled back at him. "Yes."
"So why did you--"
"I was just messing with you; trying to have some fun. Since I apparently don't do that enough, but I have to admit it was nice seeing the look of surprise on your face when you thought I didn't know who you were."
"Oh you thought that was funny?"
"I did," I said chuckling in thought. "You didn't back down though. I like that about you." He looked over at me for a brief moment before he returned his gaze back to the lake. He smiled.
"So why are we here?"
Kevin exhaled. "I thought it would be a nice place for you to come and relax. You looked like you needed a place to run."
"Aw man did I? I was going for something more subtle," I joked.
Kevin laughed "Surprisingly you're kindof funny."
"Really? What did you think I'd be?" Kevin looked down at the ground. "I don't know. Shy, quiet, unassuming, which you definitely are unassuming---I mean maybe not in that dress but---" "Watch your mouth," I said playfully hitting his arm. He laughed and looked back up at me, "but you got this real cool way about you that I like. I don't know how to explain it right now, but I'm glad I caught you before you ran. I would have missed out on this tonight.
"What do you mean 'before I ran'"
"Well, when I caught up with you outside your shoes were off---"
"Oooh. 'I needed a place to run.' Got it," I said making the connection.
"You're smart. You know that," he teased. I laughed and playfully hit him on his arm. "Stop it."
"You know, other than that moment I usually never can tell what you're thinking or feeling."
I looked at him strange and cocked my head back. "You've been watching me?"
Kevin chuckled. "It's a lot less creepier than you think. I've noticed you a few times in the isle of the library doing work or walking from class. You always seem so devoted to whatever your doing, rather speed walking across campus," he chuckled, "or sitting down at a table reading."
I laughed for a moment. "You're very observant. I didn't know anyone was watching me."
Kevin put his head down. "Now I feel really awkward."
"Um. I think that's supposed to be my job," I teased.
Kevin laughed feeling more comfortable as if I gave him some sort of relief. "I can't belive I'm about to say this but---" I raised my eyebrow and looked at him.
"Say what?"
"That interaction you saw with my friends earlier wasn't really what you thought, but it was."
"Okay Kev you gon' have to elaborate, because I don't know what you mean."
He chuckled. "Damn. I went from Mr. Davis to Kev in an hour. This is obviously going better than I expected," he joked. I laughed and playfully pushed him away.
"Man stop playing and finish what you were saying."
"What I mean is, the reason why it looked like my friends were hyping me up at the party was because I had been talking about you to them for months. I had been trying to get the courage to say something to you for the longest and tonight was the night. They were just hyped that I actually did it."
I was so happy it was dark and he couldn't see me blush. "Wow. I'm flattered. How'd you work up the nerve to do it?"
"Uh. Not even gon' lie," he said looking down at the ground, "the homies had to give me a pep talk cuz I was a lil nervous, but they were like 'Kev, shoot your shot. It's now or never,' so I did and here we are."
I laughed. "Wayment," I said holding up my hand. "Are you serious?"
He laughed. "Yeah."
"Damn! You got some bomb ass friends."
He chuckled. "Yeah. I do. They're pretty great ya know?"
I playfully nudged his shoulder. "Well for what it's worth, I am having a good time with you. You know if you were wondering."
He nudged me back and laughed. "I'm glad I can say the same thing about you."
As the minutes passed it was starting to get late and a draft was beginning to blow in from the lake, but I wasn't quite ready to leave.
I placed my hands behind me on the truck and leaned back. "So tell me something Mr. Davis---" I looked over at him. "How often do you come here?"
"Not as much as I'd like too, but I mean, a pretty woman like you couldn't have been a better excuse for me to come up here."
"Oh. Okay. I see what's happening. You trynna make me blush."
"Only if it's working," he grinned. He slid closer to me and started to lean in so he could kiss me.
I put my hand on his chest to stop him. "Hold on slick rick. How many girls have you tried this on," I teased.
He laughed and looked down at my hand placed firmly on his chest. He looked back up at me, then raised his eyebrow, when he saw that I wasnt backing down. "Honestly?"
"Yeah. I'm a big girl. I can handle it."
He chuckled to himself. "Just one," he said as he swiped my chin with his finger. "You."
"Good answer," I said to him as I let my hand quickly slide down his muscular chest. I smiled at him and hopped off the hood of his truck. I could feel his eyes on me as he watched me from behind. I pulled down my dress and adjusted the deep v-neck neckline. Even in the silence I could tell he wanted to finish what he was about to start, but I had other plans.
"Well," I sighed turning around to face him, "I don't mean to ruin your night or anything, but I think it's about time we start heading back to campus. It's getting kind of late. Don't you think?"
He sat up and hopped off the hood. "Ah yeah. Of course. I wouldn't want to keep you too long, unless you were cool with that." He bit his bottom lip and looked me over as he leaned his back against his truck.
I walked back over to Kevin and whispered in his ear, "I guess your not used to a challenge, but when it's worth it, it's never that easy. You gon' have to work for this."
He grinned as he watched me walk away and get in the passanger side of the car. I saw him chuckle to himself and shake his head in amusement just as he was heading to the drivers side.
"You are something else. You know that," he said as he put the truck in drive.
"So I've been told," I smiled as I got comfortable in my seat. He looked over at me with a grin and shook his head.
When we arrived back at the party people seemed to be on their way out. Kevin parked in the cut. We got out of the car. "What am I not good enough to be seen in public with you," I joked. "Now you know that's not even true," he laughed, as I joined him on the driver side of the car.
Before I could turn to walk away Kevin grabbed my hand and pulled me to the back of his car. Even in the darkness I could see his smile. "I parked here so I could do this." Kevin, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulled me in close and kissed me. My arms instantly wrapped around his neck. He caught me by surprise, but I melted into his kiss. "Geez. Could you have been any more subtle," I teased coming up for air. He stopped a moment and tilted my chin upward to bring my face closer to his. "Just enjoy the moment dammit." He laughed and I grinned into his kiss. He was so passionate and intense as his tongue danced around in my mouth. I gently tugged on his bottom lip. I daringly pulled him closer to me as I backed into the car for support. I felt him throbbing against my pelvis and wanted to scream. It had been too long since I felt that. Deep down inside, I mean really deep down inside I wanted to push him away, but his lips were too inviting for me not to stay. Before I could kiss him again he gently tugged on my bottom lip and let his warm breath brush against my cheek. I grinned at him when he pulled away. "Consider your challenge accepted," he breathed heavily. I stood up and straightened myself out. "Well played." I gave him a wink just before turning to leave. "Wait." I turned around. "I kinda need your number so I can get in contact with you." "I know. You gon' have to figure that part out on your own." I smiled and walked away leaving him speechless.