"What do you think of this one?" Asha twirls around dramatically in the floor length dress, emphasizing the ball gown ruffles that flair out from her hips.
I look up from my phone as I take in the sparkling white dress. "Hun, its senior ball. Not your wedding day."
"It might as well be my damn wedding," Asha spins around once more as she gazes over her shoulder into the floor-to-ceiling mirrors, "because either way all eyes are going to be on Femi and me."
I roll my eyes as I look back down at my phone. "Whatever you say, ma."
Asha steps back into the tiny dressing room as she starts to change, the curtain swishing closed as she continues to speak to me. "Shouldn't you be the one trying on all of these dresses? Senior ball is next week!"
I crinkle my nose at the suggestion. "Why would I buy a dress for a dance I'm not going to?"
Asha forces her head out of the curtain, her bare flesh nearly flashing to the other three people in the waiting room. "What do you mean you aren't going?"
"I mean exactly that. I haven't bought a ticket or anything."
Her entire face scrunches in confused anger. "Hasn't your boyfriend asked you to the dance or bought your tickets or anything?"
I chose not to answer her question, instead directing the conversation elsewhere as I look back down at my phone. "I thought we were supposed to be getting lunch? Lunch period is going to end in 10 minutes, we barely have enough time to hit up a drive thru."
"I know you're just trying to change the topic, Ken." The sound of the curtain closing again emphasizes the silence between us.
A few minutes later Asha reappears, her street clothes donning her slim figure as opposed to the dresses she's been trying on for the last thirty minutes.
"The last day to buy tickets is tomorrow." Asha walks over and pulls me up from my seat, looping her arm through mine. "So think of it this way, if Shills doesn't shape up and ask you within the next 28 hours you can always come with Femi and me."
Her offer makes me cringe even more, drawing to mind homecoming last year and the year before where I was sitting on the fucking bleachers watching them grind in the middle of the fucking gym for three hours of my life.
"I'd rather stay at home with the twins," I laugh off the awkwardness as we make our way out of the shop. "I wasn't stressin bout Ball last month, I'm not stressin bout it now."
"Sure you aren't." Asha laughs lightly, although I detect something else in the giggle. "Let's hit up Arby's before we head back to school."
I push off the sinking feeling in my stomach to the back of my mind as I follow Asha to her car. "Yeah, Arby's sounds good."
●●●
The blaring of the final bell shocks me out of my unfocused state. I slowly gather my stuff that is spread over my desk. After tucking everything into my backpack I trudge into the hall, exhausted from an entire day of pretending like I care about anything. As I'm making toward the stairs that will lead me to my locker on the first floor I feel an arm slip around my shoulders and another hand slip into the crook of my arm that is struggling to hold all of my textbooks.
"Were y'all gonna help me carry these books or just make it harder for me to do it myself?" I laugh helplessly as my Econ book nearly slips off of the stack.
Michael scoops it up before it hits the ground, while Femi grabs another book from the pile in my arms as we start to walk down the stairs. "Why do you have all of these books anyways?"
"Maybe because my teachers require them and I actually care about my grades because I don't have a full-ride athletic scholarship to FSU." I can't help some of the animosity that drips throughout my tone.
"Hey," Michael says, pulling me a little closer to him as we leave the staircase and start to walk down the locker-filled hallway, "I tried to convince you to tryout for the team freshman year."
I look over at Femi and roll my eyes, before I look ahead to see Asha leaning against my locker. But surprisingly, Shills is right next to her talking intently about something. I pick up the pace a little bit to get closer to them, hoping to catch what they're talking about.
Before I am a couple lockers away Femi calls out to Asha, interrupting the conversation I wanted so badly to overhear.
Shills smiles at me as he takes a step toward me, but his smile falters as he looks from Michael's arm around shoulder back to my eyes. I brush Michaels arm off of my shoulders, but I don't walk over to Shillls, instead I walk over to open my locker and start putting my books away. I try to ease drop on what Femi and Asha are whispering about, hoping the Femi was as curious as I was about what Shills and Asha were discussing.
"So, did you wanna come over?" Shills asks from right beside me, shocking the hell out of me.
I suck in a deep breath, focusing on him instead of being nosy. "I actually have to go to work after I drop the off kids at home."
"Oh, yeah." Shills clears his throat. "Of course."
I look away from the disappointed look on his face to grab my books from Femi and Michael and exchange them for the ones I'll need tonight. "But I should be free tomorrow night!"
"Actually," Femi interrupts, "We're all supposed to be hanging out at Michael's tomorrow night for movie night."
I frown, trying to remember when I agreed to that. "Well, then Shills can just come with us."
All four of them pause, apparently shocked by my suggestion. I look at them in confusion, wondering why they're so surprised. I mean, Shills and I have been dating for almost month now. None of them should be surprised by the idea of my boyfriend and my friends hanging out together.
"Actually, I already agreed to hang out with the guys tomorrow night, since I've blown them off the past couple Fridays." Shills smiles apologetically, scratching the back of his head.
"Good, that's solved!" Asha says cheerfully as her nails click against her phone.
Femi elbows Asha roughly in the side and I laugh at her surprised squeal, shaking my head as I slam my locker closed.
"I gotta go before I'm late to work," I wave goodbye as I start to walk toward the parking lot.
I'm not surprised to sense Shills fall into step beside me, his arm brushing against mine with every other step.
"Sooo..." I segue awkwardly, trying to figure out how to ask my question without seeming to nosy. "What were you and Asha talking about?"
"Huh?" He says, looking over at me surprised. "Oh, uh, nothing really."
I don't believe his answer but I chose to leave it alone, spotting Jazzy already waiting by my van. "So, even though we can't hang out tomorrow I'll still stop by after school to pick up Chi, okay?"
He smiles absentmindedly at me. "Yeah, yeah, of course."
I stop walking a couple of feet away from my van, turning to give Shills my full attention. "Is there something going on? Like, something I should know about?"
Shills laughs immediately, trying to put my worries at ease as he pulls me into a hug. "There's nothing to worry about, Kenedi."
He kisses my forehead lightly before he lets me go. I kiss his cheek in return before I start to walk backwards toward the van.
"If you say there's nothing to worry about, then I won't worry!" I draw an easily smile to my face as I dig the keys out of my pocket and unlock the van so Jazzy can get in. "I'll call you after dinner, okay?"
He nods and takes a few steps back toward his car which is parked a few stalls away. "I can't wait."
I laugh sheepishly before I wave to him as I turn on the van and start to pull out of the parking lot.
"At first it was cute to see y'all together," Jazzy says, skipping over a greeting, "but now I have to fight the urge to vomit whenever I'm around you two."
I punch her in the arm as I make my way to the elementary school to get the kids, although I'm slightly grateful for the distraction.
If he says there's nothing to worry about, I won't worry.