After Hours was packed. Moorehead kids were everywhere, as well as the local university's students. There was no drama. Everyone was in the mood for a good time. Drinks were flowing, the music was decent and I was living it up with my people.
Chris sat laidback at some table talking to a blonde. DeAndre and Draya were boo'd up in a booth talking by themselves. They were all being boring.
Out on the dance floor Troiann and I were dancing with Marcus and Tremaine. An old TLC song was playing. Troiann danced into Marcus while I grinded my hips into Tremaine as he held onto my waist, all the while Troiann and I were singing the lyrics to "No Scrubs" at the top of our lungs. Marcus had his face twisted up, not liking the diss and I could only assume Tremaine's face registered the same expression.
"And we don't want no pigeons," Tremaine leaned down to whisper in my ear.
"Boy, 'bye, I got my own, I don't need you," I told him.
"I got a car, I got money, and I don't even have a job."
I turned around, still dancing on him. "On second thought, I'll take all of that."
He laughed and his grasp on my waist tightened.
I loved Tremaine. I really did. What we had was something special. It was funny, without him, I wouldn't be where I was, with the Ballas. It was him who had annoyed me that day I went against DeAndre. And it was him who I had fallen for hard. There were so many things I didn't like about Tremaine, but the one thing that made it tolerable was the fact that he owned who he was. I loved that about him. He knew he wasn't the type to wife a chick or fall in love, and I liked that he wasn't interested in relationships because of it. He was my best friend and despite how flirty we could be, we both knew at the end of the day that we were friends, good friends, and nothing more.
It was never awkward with Tremaine, especially after what happened in Florida. He looked at me the same way I looked at him. He would hug me if he saw me or hold me if we were watching TV or a movie together, but it was all friendly. I loved that about our relationship, there was an obvious line, an obvious distinction of who and what we were. It wasn't complicated or hard and I loved that most.
"You got two more songs then I'm taking you home, Troy," Marcus said.
Troiann rolled her eyes. "I'll give you a song and a half and I'm taking you home."
Together they seemed extra affectionate. She was even using pet names on him and he couldn't keep his hands off of her.
Taking a quick peek across the club in DeAndre's direction, I frowned. At least some of us had things easy.
"Drunk in Love" came on and it was one of those Beyoncé songs that I liked, but wasn't obsessed with as much as the radio was.
Despite my personal feelings, I got into the groove of the record, just as Omari came over.
"You look amazing," he said, standing back and admiring my attire.
Troiann and I'd gone to Cleveland that morning to go shopping for something to wear. We both purchased strapless dresses. Mine being a little bit risqué, navy blue and see-through at the sides, calling for no underwear on my part. It was something I wasn't used to wearing, but once I tried it on, Troiann said it was the one. She sent a pic to Tremaine and he'd immediately co-signed.
I got dressed at Troiann's house, knowing full well that one look at the mesh on my dress and the way it hugged my body would've sent my father into a conniption.
I patted Omari's chest. "Thanks."
"Dance with me?" he asked, leaning close to be heard.
Tremaine pushed him back a little. "Nah, bruh, I got this."
That was another thing; Tremaine had his big brother moments. If a guy approached me and he wasn't a Balla, Tremaine was quick to send him walking. In his defense, half the guys at After Hours were just out to get it, not that I needed Tremaine to voice what would've been my words.
"Stop it, Trey." I went and accepted Omari's offer and Tremaine found another girl to dance with.
I went and danced with Omari, finding him to be the polar opposite of Tremaine. Omari was respectful, never roaming over forbidden parts of my body, not that Tremaine ever did either, or groping me close. He kept it light and I liked that.
When it came to Jay-Z's verse of the song Omari rapped it to me, putting on Jay's swagger and making me laugh but also gush at how sexy he looked being cocky.
He wanted to see all the shit that he'd heard so I danced more into him and he accepted, holding me close into him and dancing on me back. It was new and different but fun.
By the time the song ended I definitely needed to sit down and cool off.
Omari led me to the bar and bought me a soda and we sat side by side, turned into each other, talking.
"How was basketball yesterday with the boys?" I asked, looking over and noticing Chris sealing the deal by getting the blonde's number.
Omari gave me a small smile. "I'm a little rusty. I definitely didn't play as much as I should've this past summer."
"You said you ran track, so I'm guessing you're a better runner than baller, huh?"
Omari agreed. "Yeah, but I wanna get better, I have something to prove. Your friends love talking shit by the way."
I could only imagine which of my friends he was referring to.
I gathered my hair into a bundle, picking it up off of my neck and fanning myself. "They'll get over it soon."
Omari watched me, eyeing my hair. "I like your hair, especially the red."
"Thanks. It's new for me, I liked it before, but this is nice too."
"Before?"
"I usually wore it kinkier than straight. Back when I used to dance I didn't see the point of straightening it to just let it get frizzy."
His brows rose with interest. "Wait a minute, you used to dance?"
I laughed. "Not like a stripper or anything. More like contemporary ballet. I even won our talent show at school last year."
"Why'd you stop?"
"It's a long story."
Omari seemed to understand. "I'd like to know whenever you've got time."
Sweet, not pushy. "Okay."
I hadn't talked to DeAndre about my decrease in dance, something I knew we'd clash on. He was so into the idea of my going all the way with it in college or beyond. Unlike him, I didn't want my passion to be my career. I didn't want a critic telling me what I was doing wrong. I wanted it to stay a hobby, something I loved and did for fun.
Just thinking about DeAndre set me back, making me look over again, still finding him talking to Draya.
I forced my attention elsewhere, going and taking a big gulp of my soda.
"I like that," said Omari. "That you can do something like dance. Did you video tape the talent show?"
"I heard it's on YouTube somewhere." He laughed as I made a face at the idea of it.
His eyes roamed me once more and I watched as they landed on my wrist. "That's a nice watch, I've noticed you wear it a lot. Must've come from someone special?"
Feeling cautious, I held my wrist to my chest. "You might say that."
"They must have good taste, unless you picked it out."
The whole line of conversation was suffocating me. "No," I let out, "it was a surprise." A surprise that led to my first kiss, which almost led to my having sex for the first time. Not that any of it mattered any more.
I didn't want to think about it or the watch. I wore it because the gesture itself made my heart swell.
"Yeah," I said.
"Well—" He wasn't able to get the words out before Tremaine came over.
"I need to talk to you," he said, appearing serious.
I started to stand up. "Is it private?"
"Trey," Omari said, staring at him and shaking his head.
Tremaine let out a breath through his nose before facing Omari, tilting his head to the side. "Problem?"
"Yeah, we were talking," said Omari.
Now Tremaine was snorting like it wasn't a big deal. He gestured at Omari as he shook his head. "You the type of dude that was super nerdy, got beefed up, finally got his first bad bitch and now don't know how to act."
Omari's lips twitched and then he frowned. "I'm not like that."
Tremaine didn't care; it was obvious as he turned back to me. "We gotta talk."
"Trey," I sighed, sitting back down. "Be nice."
"He can chill. It's not like I'm about to say I wanna pound your cervix or anything."
Tremaine Dickenson. "Really, Trey?"
He gave me a smile. "I have something to say and you can't judge me on it."
"Should we be alone?"
Tremaine shrugged, waving Omari off. "Nah, she can hear it too."
I wanted to warn him again about his rudeness but he held his hand up to stop me.
"I need your help."
"With?"
"It's not until later in the year, but I want your help when it comes to getting in the school play."
I started to blink away my confusion but then it hit me. "Sure, Trey, what's her name?"
He smiled as he knew he'd been busted. "Castidad Iglesias."
The name appeared vague at first, but the image came to mind. A Latina with luscious lips, long dark hair, honey colored skin, plenty of breasts and a curvy butt and a thin waist. She was the definition of a vixen, except she was like me, stuck to the books and avoided drama with boys for as far as I could tell by seeing her around school.
"You just had to pick a tough one, huh?" I asked.
"She's been on my radar for a minute. I was hoping she'd show up tonight, but nah."
If he were serious it was going to take a lot more than his usual BS to woo Castidad. She wasn't a regular bird and he'd have to come correct.
"It's definitely gonna take some romance. Have you ever done anything sweet? And don't say holding a girl's hair back either."
Tremaine rubbed his chin. "I mean, I'm good to you, aren't I?"
He had his own way of being sweet. "Are you willing to wear tights? This is the school play."
Omari laughed and Tremaine smirked. "I ain't got anything to be ashamed of Cree. It may be all I really need to get her."
"Do you like her or are you trying to bed her?" I needed to know point blank.
Tremaine squinted. "I'm trying to smash. The last thing I need is to end up like Marc and Dre, out here in love and shit."
"Dre's not in love and Marcus is happy," I corrected.
"Dre's in love all right, Cree. Been like that for a minute, too, but I like it for him, he's got good taste."
I wanted to throw up. Even if I felt for Draya, I just didn't see the romance like I did for Marcus and Troiann.
I let it go. None of it mattered. None of it.
I wouldn't help him woo and break Castidad, not that he really had a chance. "I'm only helping you with the play, that's it."
Tremaine leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Thanks, trust, I can handle the rest on my own." He stood back and looked over at Omari, nearly frowning. "I'ma let you get back to Omariana before she starts whining about her period."
Tremaine was gone before I could scold him about his rudeness towards Omari.
I looked over at him, frowning. "Sorry."
He shrugged. "That's just the way he is, I just gotta get used to it." Omari leaned over to be heard over the music. "But you know you shouldn't encourage him, right?"
I wagged my finger. "Castidad Iglesias is never going to give it up to him."
"What makes you so sure?"
"If she's a smart girl like I think she is, she won't."
"Or maybe he'll end up falling hard for her."
That was a rare possibility. "Fallin' hard or playin' hard, we'll see."
Omari ordered me another soda and we got back to talking.
"So no 'bad bitches' for you, huh?" I asked, noting that he'd said he wasn't into that.
Omari shrugged. "I've never heard my father call my mother a bitch, and I wouldn't like it if he did. I wouldn't like it if someone called my sister a bitch if I had one. You're a nice girl and I wouldn't want anyone to call you a bitch. Bitch is a derogatory term, bad means negative, putting those two together doesn't equal something positive to me. Bitch is bad."
I couldn't breathe. His words were more than true, they were a staple.
I placed my hand on his. "Thank you."
He grinned, but still looked confused. "For what?"
"I've been hanging around the boys for so long I forgot that. I needed to hear that. I deserve better than being someone's bad bitch, I deserve to be—"
"Their woman."
I nodded. "Right."
"It's not so different here than it is in Cleveland," said Omari. "The guys on my team were a lot like Tremaine, always hitting and quitting girls. It's never been my style; I can't just pick a random girl and sleep with her. I want it to mean something. Not that I haven't had sex, but I've learned in life that it should be with a person that matters. Sure it's good and causes sensations, but if the person is just some stranger, the feeling won't last or even linger."
He was perfect. He said and felt all the right things.
"W-wow," I said. "You're definitely the type of guy to take home—to your parents."
He reached out and took my hand, squeezing gently. "What's one important thing life's taught you?"
"That you can't always have what you want, that sometimes life works out in ways you don't want it to."
"Or maybe life knows what's best for you and gives you new and better opportunities."
My lips were trembling to frown, but I forced a smile on my face. "Right."
We sat there at the bar talking. It seemed like we'd just started talking when I looked over and realized the club wasn't as packed and the clock on the wall read of an hour that was beyond my curfew. We'd been talking for hours and I'd just noticed.
"Oh my God, it's so late." I stood from the bar. Troiann and Marcus must've made good on their word because they were gone and as was Tremaine and Chris.
"Need a ride?" Omari asked.
"Uh, yeah, if it's not any inconvenience."
"What am I gonna do, let you take a cab home?"
I was really starting to like him, a lot. "We should get together and watch a movie sometime."
Omari placed his hand on the small of my back as he led us to the exit. "I'd love that."
Along the way to the door we bumped into DeAndre and Draya who'd also stayed behind.
Draya looked to me and gave a friendly wave and smile. I was too busy noticing her arm around DeAndre's waist to return the gesture.
"Hey, Cree, you look amazing," she said.
"Thanks, you too." I wasn't even sure what she was wearing, my eyes were locked on her touching him.
DeAndre looked at me, barely catching my gaze. "You should come over tomorrow night, we can watch a movie."
I didn't want to, but remembering our promise, I nodded anyway. "Yeah."
DeAndre looked to Omari, scratching his head. "And uh, the boys are coming over tomorrow afternoon, you should come through. We won't be playing ball."
Omari smiled. "I'm going to practice, Dre, and I will get better. Maybe even better than you."
DeAndre kept his cool while Draya smirked and leaned into DeAndre. "We'll see about that one."
"I'm not the best," Omari began.
"I'm not surprised, you are from Cleveland," DeAndre added.
It wasn't really a diss, Cleveland just sucked in general.
But Omari obviously repped hard because his expression changed as he eyed DeAndre. "Like I said, I'm not the best, but I will get better. Before you know it, I'll be taking your spot on the team and maybe even your girl."
That was a jab, even I could see that.
DeAndre licked his lips, a cocky grin on his face as he shook his head. He looked to Draya and they shared a brief smile. He turned to Omari and sized him up. "When it comes to this basketball shit, I'm the hardest, regardless of who comes to my school." He reached out and patted Omari's arm. "But if you're lucky, I'ma let you ride my bench." With a single wink, DeAndre was gone, leading Draya away.
Hours. I'd spent hours with Omari talking and getting along, and DeAndre just had to come and ruin it. Of course they were being typical males, fighting over who had the bigger dick.
Ugh.
Omari looked to me, shrugging. "Motivation, huh?"
" 'Steal his girl'?"
"Draya's pretty, but I was just kidding."
I shook my head. "Tremaine can teach you a thing or two about shit talk, Omari."
"I'd rather be the nice guy instead."
"Good," I said, "because I like the nice guy."
With his arm around my waist, Omari led me out of the club, ending our night.
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"U Got it Bad" – Usher