Once I was back in my dorm, I grabbed my laptop and notebook from my room and headed upstairs to Janelle's suite. I let myself in.
"Janelle," I called out, setting my keys on the counter and my bag on the floor.
"In here," she yelled from the bathroom. I walked in the direction of her voice and when I got closer, opened the door further.
"Hey," I said peeking my head into the bathroom.
"What's up," she responded as she slowly swiped mascara on her eyelashes. I walked into the bathroom and sat down on the lid of the toilet seat. "How you feeling," I asked.
"I'm feeling alright. That Tylenol definitely helped, because my head was banging this morning! Listen. I am never drinking that purple haze shooter again. I think it had absinthe in it. Had to, because that stuff is a certain death yo! MmMm never again."
She lined her lips and then carefully put her lipstick on. She looked her face over in the mirror before heading back into her room to put her makeup away. She put her shoes on and grabbed her belongings before heading towards the door. "You ready," she asked. "Yeah," I said as I leaned down and grabbed my things.
...
When we arrived to the library we checked into our reserved study room. I plopped my bag onto the table, unzipping it to pull out its contents. I picked up a dry erase marker and headed over to the board. Janelle huffed. "Girl! I know you not about to write on that board without telling me about last night." I turned around and smirked at her. "Yeah. I was." She grinned at me and laughed. "Listen. I'm not doing this with you okay," she said pulling up a chair. I laughed and leaned back into the board. "Last night was good," I grinned, "really good." "Okay, but did y'all have sex?" I scrunched up my face jokingly. "Yes. We did," I said quietly. "Girl ain't nobody in here," Janelle said cutting me off. "I know, but I don't want to brag on it either, ya know?" Janelle cocked her head to the side. "No. I don't know. What it wasn't good or something? What---" she paused, "Wayment. Lys," she said leaning in closer to me, "are you falling for him already? It's only been two months."
"Weeell," I started.
"Lys this doesn't feel too soon to you? I mean what if he doesn't feel the same way you do?"
I grinned. "He does. He told me he loved me last night." Janelle's mouth hung open. "Is that why you had sex with him?" Janelle sat back in her chair for a second and then slid back up to the edge. "Lys. You can't be out here falling for the okie doke. You too grown for that." I raised my eyebrow. "Janelle? I said it first actually."
"Oh," she said slouching back into her chair.
"Oh? What's the problem J?"
"Nothing. I'm just surprised." She gave a small chuckle.
"I'm sorry. I fail to see the humor in this. What's the issue?"
Janelle looked up at me. "Gosh Alyssa. Why you looking at me like you wanna square up or suntin'? Chill out. I'm just surprised is all," she said chuckling at me. I sighed a sigh of relief and grinned. "Sorry J. I don't want to fight your goofy behind. My defences were up cuz I didn't want to hear you mouthing off about this. I know how you can be," I said sitting down in front of Janelle. "How I can be? How I can be," she smirked. "Girl please." We laughed.
"So how'd you know," Janelle asked. I sighed. "There wasn't one particular thing that made it clear. It snuck up on me; when I was visiting auntie Jo no doubt. You know she crazy." We laughed. "I was sitting in the car with her and we were just talking and laughing, you know how my aunt is, but as we were getting out of the car and--- this is not a joke," I laughed, "I looked up at the sky and it hit me. I was like, 'darn it. I love him' and I sat back down in the car in shock. The wild thing is, aunt Jo knew the moment it happened. Janelle," I said hitting her on her leg, "she looked over at me and was like, 'You love him don't you?' Girl, I was like 'AJ how could you possibly know that? I just figured that out like two seconds ago.'"
Janelle and I laughed. "Why am I not surprised that she knew?"
"Girl! Right! Everybody in the family think she's clairvoyant or something. She be hipped to too much," I laughed. "Lys that seems like just the thing that would happen to you." I grinned at Janelle.
"Girl I gotta feeling you gon' know exactly what I'm talking about real soon."
Janelle chuckled. "Girl don't go Auntie Jo on me. One is enough." We laughed.
"I'm serious though. I want that for you. You deserve it."
Janelle grinned. "Thanks Lys. So what else happened," she asked perking up.
"Well, he dubbed himself my boyfriend this morning."
"Are you serious?"
"Girl yes. He asked what I was doing today, so I told him that I was coming here with you and he gon say 'we could go together, but I ain't trynna be the boyfriend that imposes on you and your friends.'
"Whaaat. No he didn't," Janelle chuckled. I nodded my head. "Yes. Yes he did," I chuckled. I stood up to go back to the board. I could feel Janelle's eyes on me from behind me. "So y'all official?" I grinned to myself as I wrote on the board. "Yeah. I think so." "Who would have thought that two months ago Alyssa would be in love? I am so happy for you." I could hear the sincerity in her voice. I briefly turned around to look at her. "Aw. Thanks J."
...
When Janelle and I got back into her suite later that night, we sat down with our Chick-fil-A and emptied out its contents on the counter. "So have you talked to Vic at all recently?" Janelle ate some of her fries and sighed. "No. Ironically enough he's been "busy" since then, as if he knows what imma say. And I don't want to be rude and break up with him via text, but now he's difficult to reach. What do you think I should do," she asked turning to me.
I nearly choked on my drink. "Excuse me? You're asking me?" "Yeah," she said nonchalantly. "Well for starters it's only been one day that you've tried reaching out to him. Give it a couple days and try again. If he still is not answering your text or calls pull up on the kid and find out what's going on." Janelle sighed. "I thought about doing that, but I really don't feel like hunting him down."
"Call him now. It's Saturday night. He might not be busy." Janelle pulled out her phone and called Vic only for her call to be forwarded to his voicemail. "Okay. I'm convinced that he's ignoring me." I raised my eyebrow. "Girl. Here. Use my phone." I slid my phone over to her and she dialed his number. After a few seconds Vic picked up. "See," she mouthed. "Put him on speaker," I whispered. Janelle chuckled silently and put him on speaker.
"Hello?"
"Hey Vic. It's me, Janelle." Vic didn't respond for a moment. We could hear him whispering to some people in the background. "Yeah Janelle what's up?" "I was calling to let you know that this was fun while it lasted, but I can't do this anymore with you." People could be heard in the background trying to hold back their laughter. Vic quickly took Janelle off speaker and the noise around him was silenced. "Whatchu mean?"
"Vic I'm just tired. You don't do it for me anymore. The fact that you wouldn't even answer my calls just reaffirms how I've been feeling about you. I want to be in a relationship, but not with you. I know that you can't give me what I need. I knew that from the jump which is why I agreed to just sex with you, but now that I'm looking for something more, I'm calling it off."
Vic was dumb founded on the other end of the call. Janelle and I both knew that that was not what he expected to hear which was why he had her on speaker in the first place. He was trying to make a fool out of her, but Janelle and I both knew that she was too smart for that.
"Cool I mean I was gonna end it with you anyway. That's why I've been ignoring your calls." We could tell that the phone had been put back on speaker. Janelle rolled her eyes. "I just didn't know how to tell you, because I didn't want to embarrass you forreal." Janelle and I burst out into laughter when Vic was right in the middle of a sentence, and then she ended the call. "See I knew I wasn't tripping."
"I'm weak at the fact that he was trynna put on for his friends."
"Girl I know right. He was trynna have me out here looking stupid, but you already know I'm fo', fie, steps ahead of that nigga." Me and Janelle slapped five and laughed. "I know you are." Janelle looked at me and smiled. "Now I'm on to the next and I don't have to stunt or prove nothing to nobody."
"That's what I'm talking about. Getchu somebody who on your level. Who ready for what you have to offer." Janelle hit me on my arm. "Yes. I was just thinking that. Thank you!"
I smiled at her. "You're welcome. Every woman deserves to be loved on." No sooner than I said those words, my phone rang. Janelle answered it. "Hey Kevin what's up? Whatchu doing?"
"Janelle give me my phone," I yelled. Janelle stuck out her tongue at me and walked away. She had a whole conversation with Kevin before relinquishing my phone back to me.
"Hey baby," I grinned into the phone. "Hey beautiful," Kevin responded back. "How are you," I asked him. "I'm good. I miss you." I blushed. "I want you to come over tonight. You help me sleep better," he said. I burst out into laughter. "So you wanna just use me tonight, huh?" "Nah. It's not like that. "Well. Maybe a little," he chuckled, "but I really like spending time with you." Of course I caved. "Okay. I'll see you in a little bit." "Aw you coming over forreal baby?" "Yes," I laughed. "I love you," he replied. "I love you too."
Janelle turned to me. "So you gon' just leave me like that," she teased. "I don't have to leave right away. We can still hang out J." Janelle looked at me. "Now what kind of friend would I be if I kept you from seeing your boyfriend. Go spend time with Kevin. Y'all are good for each other plus I like y'all together." "Aw really J?" "Yes really. I know my time is coming soon." "Yes it is. Sooner than you think too. I can feel it." Janelle narrowed her eyes at me. "Okay aunt Jo."
I laughed. "I'm just saying," I said before giving her a hug. "See you later."
"Later."
...
When I arrived at Kevin's house he was in the shower. I took my shoes off at the door. "Babe. I'm home," I joked. I headed in the direction of the bathroom. "Kevin," I called out just before opening up the bathroom door. "Hey baby," he said peeking his head out of the shower curtain. "You look nice." "Thank you," I grinned. "Hey Lys. Did you eat already? I cooked dinner in case you'd be hungry when you got here." "Aw you're so sweet. Janelle and I just ate Chick-fil-A, but I'd love to try what you made." Kevin turned off the water before wrapping his towel around his waist and stepping out of the shower. He walked over to me and put his arms around my waist. He leaned down and kissed me on the lips. "Thank you for coming." "Of course," I grinned as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He kissed me several times before relinquishing me from his grasp. "Go relax. Imma go get dressed."
I headed into the kitchen and opened up the microwave. Kevin had made fettuccine alfredo with broccoli and left a bottle of red wine sitting out on the counter. I tried a little bit of the pasta and was pleasantly surprised. It was really good. I went into the cabinet and grabbed a wine glass and poured me a glass of wine. Kevin walked into the kitchen in a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt.
"Did you eat the pasta," he asked leaning over me. He playfully gnawed on my shoulder and neck.
"I tried a little bit of it. It was really good."
"Yeah? I told you I could cook," he teased.
"I had no doubt that you could," I said turning around and taking another sip of my wine. Kevin grabbed the glass from my hand and put it down with a smile plastered on his face.
"What," I grinned. He pulled me in an embrace. "I'm just so glad you're here." I laughed as he hugged me.
"You're the sweetest," I said as I tossed my arms around his neck. "I love you so much," he said before kissing me passionately. He pushed me back against the refrigerator playfully.
"But," he said coming up for air, "how much do you love me?" I kissed his neck and his clavicle. "How much,"
he said mumbling against my skin.
I grinned and pushed myself up off of the fridge. I started to walk away with a sly look on my face. He leaned breathlessly on the refrigerator door. "Where you going," he asked. I turned around and smiled. "To bed. Nigga I'm tiiied," I whined. Kevin laughed hysterically. "Disrespectful." I laughed and turned to walk away. "Wait for me. I'm going to bed too. You know I can't sleep without you."
...
While Kevin slept, I laid awake. I got out of the bed and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. As I let the warm water run over me I thought about how quickly Kevin and I's relationship transitioned. I found myself wishing that more people could experience the kind of love we have found in each other. I especially hoped that for Janelle. She had loved men in the past who had wrecked her. I silently prayed that she would find someone who's love is as intense as hers is. She deserved that.