DeMar
"So Friendsgiving at my place?" Kevin asked the boys and I in the locker room as we finished getting ready after the mini scrimmage we had after school. We played a pretty good team, but our team just simply had too many better players to beat them.
"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," Paul nodded and picked up the rest of the sweaty jerseys and tossed them into the bins. He always picked up after the rest of us because he was a major neat freak. We didn't mind though because we knew damn well that we weren't going to do it. Out of all of us, he's the most appreciated man on the team.
"We're should have a Madden and 2k tournament," DeAndre said.
"Nah," Draymond waved off, "we need to have a blindfold race man."
Some of the boys chuckled while I shook my head, "You tryna make us all get hurt before the season even start?"
"Man, you a lame. I only ever raced in one blindfold race and that stuff was fun."
"You'd be the one to run into something while sprinting," Kyrie joked.
We abrupt into laughter and Dray shakes his head, "Nah, I ain't that dumb. I did knock some people over though."
I grabbed my bag and shook my head. Dray was something else man. I dapped up the rest of the boys and headed out. I covered my head with my windbreaker and walked towards the student parking. I noticed two people hugging up on each other. I didn't mean to stare so hard but they were right in front of me. One of them turned towards me and I realized it was Jimmy.
"You heading out?" He rose his eyebrow.
"Yeah, it's pretty late," I commented. After the game had ended, the coaches and referees would keep adding ten extra seconds to see what we would do in tough situations. It was fun but would get tiring once they kept doing it ten more times.
"True, I'll see you later though," he said and dapped me up. The hair and light complexion of this girl reminded me so much of Isabella, so I didn't look at her because I knew I would be disappointed. I didn't want my game vibes to be ruined when I saw her with Jimmy.
I entered my car and unlocked my phone. I usually turn off all of my notification and log out of every social media so I could be in the zone and just listen to music. I saw a couple notifications from my family wishing me good luck before the scrimmage, but I also saw one from Isabella. I unlocked it and it simply read:
From: Bear 🤣❤️
i know you don't need it but good luck!
I smiled at myself and decided to text her back and tell her that we won but I stopped myself. I looked up once more at Jimmy and that girl that was probably her and shook my head lightly. Instead of texting her, I decided to be petty and call her.
I watched as Jimmy wrapped his arm around her and pull her closer to him while listening to the phone ring. I waited to watch her realize that she was getting a phone call, but she never did. However, the phone did answer but the girl that Jimmy was with never picked it up; Jimmy was with some other chick that wasn't Isabella.
"Hello," she said innocently. I felt the knots in my stomach tighten and my throat close up.
I stuttered, not expecting for the call to be answered, "Hey-Hey."
"Hey, Rozan, you okay?"
"Yeah," I said and tapped the steering wheel lightly. "We won."
"Congrats! How many points did you make?"
"Thirty and nine rebounds, Dray got a triple-double," I informed.
"Dang, I see y'all two," she chuckled causing me to smile lightly.
"What chu doing?"
"Chilling in bed right now. I think I'm catching a cold," she sighed. I knew she was frowning by the way her tone of voice dropped.
I nodded thinking about what to do the rest of the night, "You wanna go grab some In-n-Out?"
She hesitated, "You sure? I don't wanna get you sick."
"I don't get sick."
She chuckled, "Okay, I'm ready when you're ready. Just text me when you're here."
"I'm at school so I'll be there in a few, bye Bear."
"Bye Rozan." I ended the call and grinned to myself lightly. Jimmy can be hung up with this girl all night because tonight I have Bear all to myself.
I pulled out of the school and drove to Ella's house. I got there pretty quickly and debated if I should ring the doorbell or text her. Man, f it. I quickly changed out of my windbreaker and pulled my hoodie over my head.
I walked to her door and rang her doorbell. Seconds later, I was greeted with her mother at the screen door.
"Hola, Rozan," she welcomed me with a giant smile and pulled me in for a hug. I'll be honest, I missed her hugs. They were always so welcoming and warm. "Isabella is still in her room, you can go up there if you want."
I nodded and thanked her. I hopped up the stairs quickly and knocked on her door before opening it. She sat there on her bed sitting with her legs crossed looking down towards her laptop. She had a such a beautiful smile that it made my heart warm to see her that I returned a goofy smile back.
She chuckled and opened out her arms for me to hug her, "I didn't think you'd actually come in. You could've just texted and I'd be out."
"I know but I felt like being extra," I laughed and sat down on her bed.
"Well since you're here already, let me just finish this essay real quick and then we can head out."
"Ight," I said and leaned back on her bed. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through every thing and checked my snap. I don't remember when but I ended up falling asleep, because I was being pushed by Isabella.
"You sure you wanna go or you just wanna stay in and watch a movie?" She asked. Her laptop was closed and now on her dresser. I checked the time to see it was now midnight.
"I'm hungry." But I sure was exhausted too.
"My mom has some extra pozole if you want some," she commented. I noticed she had on some bunny slippers and pajamas. She looked cozy making me want to just hold her in my arms.
"What's that?"
"It's like a Mexican stew."
"Okay, I'll try some." I slowly got up and stretched my arms. I pulled my hoodie over my head since I had the chills all of a sudden. I guess Isabella noticed I shook.
"Sorry, my mom usually puts the temperature extremely cold because somehow the cold air kills the germs."
"It's fine. Hey, how come you weren't at the game tonight taking pictures? I barely noticed now that you weren't there."
"Scrimmages aren't mandatory for us to go, and since I had a cold I decided not to go."
"Oh, that makes sense."
She faced me as she went down the stairs, "Aren't you gonna tell your parents that your staying away from home late?"
I smirked, "They know I usually be staying late on Friday's. They know all that."
"Pssht, what do you be doing then staying out past midnight?"
I rose my eyebrow, "Do you really wanna know?" She shook her head and I chuckled to myself. "I'm just joking, I don't be doing any of that nasty stuff that you were thinking. I don't play like that."
"I'm surprised."
"How? You know I don't have any girls, like who would I even talk to?" I asked and she shrugged. "Exactly. I talk to no one these days. It's grind season."
"That's wassup," she smiled.
I thought about Jimmy and how Isabella was basically playing herself. I know I should tell her but I'm not sure how to. I guess I'll just try to tell her once we go back in her room.
She grabbed a styrofoam cup and poured a small amount and then asked me to try it. I grabbed the spoon and ate the stew. It was pretty good to my surprise. I was expecting it to be nasty.
"Do you like it?" She asked.
"Hell yeah," I nodded and handed her back the cup to fill up.
She chuckled and filled up the cup to the rim. Her mom sure did know how to cook man. She grabbed some napkins and then I followed her back upstairs.
I sat down on her couch and dug in. As I was eating, she was still completing her homework. I think all the AP classes were taking a toll on her. Like who actually completes homework on a Friday night?
I watched her small features and gestures she'd make while studying. Her forehead would crease every time she wrote something down, and when she searched something up, she would press her pen against her lips.
Once I finished I placed the cup on the ground and pulled the blanket she had on her couch over me. I laid down and took out my phone. I sent a picture of her to Kyle who then replied:
I see you two .. better not be doing the nasty. 👀
I chuckled and shook my head. I knew Kyle was gonna say some thing as if he was my momma. He always wants me protected.
"Rozan you can come up here if you want so you could lay down," Isabella said. She looked at me while resting her head on her hand.
"Or you can come over here and cuddle with me so we could watch a movie," I suggested.
"I'm still doing my homework and are you sure? I'm sneezing."
"No one does homework on Friday nights, Bear." I complained. "And I could care less about you sneezing. C'mon so we could watch Moana."
She sighed and shut her MacBook. "I'm only coming because I'm cold and you're a ball of heat."
"You saying I'm hot?" I smirked. I watched her cheeks darken as she grabbed the remote.
"Shut up, Rozan," she grabbed the blanket moved it so she could lay down next to me.
Or at least I thought she was gonna lay beside me but instead she lied on top of me. She shifted to the inside of the couch and let one leg intertwine with mine. Her arms wrapped around my waist and she rested her head on my chest. I'm not even gonna lie, I felt so comfortable that I wouldn't trade this feeling for anything else.
I wrapped one arm near her waist not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable and the other near her shoulders. I then put on the movie.
"You wanna massage my hair?" She mumbled. Her voice vibrated on my chest.
"Not really, but I will," I said truthfully and then began to run my fingers through her hair. I felt her body loosen in my touch.
Throughout the movie, she would keep shifting and I was just hoping that she wouldn't excite my friend down there. That'd be embarrassing but I don't think it happened.
Her fingertips started to caress my face and I just wanted to sleep right there. I closed my eyes and sighed.
-
"D," I felt someone push me aggressively. I opened my eyes to only shut them quickly because of the lighten lamp. I looked towards the window and saw that it was still dark out. What the heck was I being woken up for in the early morning?
"What?" I mumbled once I saw Isabella standing there.
"Come to the bed with me."
I scrunched my eyebrows, "Did you for real wake me up at four in the morning just so I could go to your bed?"
She nodded innocently and hugged the blanket. I was freezing as well too, but I was more confused if anything. "Come."
I closed my eyes again on the couch and laid back down. She grabbed my arm and shook me again. "Stop, Ella."
"Please."
"No, I'm tired." She groaned and sat back down next to me. I stared at her while she stared back at me. Her hair had been tied back with a hair tie that I guess she put on while I was asleep. She crawled onto me and grabbed my face into her hands. "You sitting on me now?" I smirked.
She chuckled and shook her head, "You're a dork."
I laughed no longer mad; I was lowkey turned on. She brushed my eyebrows with her thumbs and stayed staring at me. I looked back at her and took in her dark brown orbs that could have any man on their knees.
"Shït, you're beautiful," I whispered.
I watched how when her lips curved up her cheeks were identified, "Thank you."
"Get off of me, Bear," I groaned. "Move to the side. I wanna wrap my arms around you."
She slid off of me and lied between the couch and me. I was thankful that her couch was pretty wide so I wasn't able to fall off so easily.
I tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. I knew right then and there that I broke many boundaries, but I couldn't help myself anymore.
"You look beautiful without makeup, Bear." She smiled and her cheeks kept darkening. We were only inches away and my temptation to kiss her was to it's max. I just wanted her. I wanted her before Jimmy could take her away from me and break her heart.
"Kiss me," she whispered. It was barely audible and I was caught off guard when she said that. Her eyes were closed.
"What did you say?" I asked her.
"Kiss me, Rozan," she said and looked at me again with deep passionate eyes. They weren't full of lust, if anything they were full of love like she really wanted it. I didn't want to say she was desperate.
-
"I thought about it really hard. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to kiss her but I didn't. Why not? Because she was still feeling Jimmy and I didn't want to make her confused. Let's just say that night didn't go as planned. I ended leaving probably thirty minutes later once she fell asleep because I was scared to face her in the morning. She wasn't mad that I didn't want to kiss her, but she was confused because I didn't want to tell her the reason. I know when she wakes up and throughout the whole weekend I'm going to be on her mind. I don't want to, but I'm honestly scared to tell her the truth because it's going to hurt her. She likes Jimmy, but Jimmy likes every girl. I like her too, and I honestly don't know if she likes me or just wanted to feel my lips against hers," I ranted.
"Damn, is that really want happened?" Kyle rose his eyebrow. We were just sitting in the car watching the sun rise, literally. I called him once I got home because I knew he was an early bird. We've been talking about what happened for a while in the car. We never actually went inside the house like how we were supposed to.
"Yes."
"You needa go back man."
"Why?"
"Because you don't wanna hurt her, but you leaving like that is going to hurt her when she wakes up."
"I know, that's what I said."
"That's an assholé move, bro."
I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't want to see her cry."
"She's going to when she wakes up."
"No, Kyle, I don't want to physically see her cry with my own eyes," I say getting a bit angry because he doesn't understand. "If I tell her that Jimmy is basically playing her, she's going to cry, and I don't know how to handle someone crying. It breaks my heart and it'll shatter it even more because it's basically my fault for saying something."
He shook his head, "It'll hurt her more if you knew and never told her. You're practically one of her bestfriends, D. If you knew something about Jordin that I didn't, you'd tell me right away right?" I nodded and let him continue. "Okay then why can't you tell Isabella something?"
"Because I think I'm in love with her."