The rest of the week is uneventful and before I know it its Saturday. I plan to spend the day in bed with ice cream, chocolate, and anything else that’s sweet. Why? One word: Cramps. I hate this time of the month. It makes me want to curl up in a ball and disappear.
Right now I’m doing just that. I’m curled up in a ball on my bed, completely covered up by my blanket. My Pops is knocking on the door, but I feel too weak to respond to the knocking.
“Ivy-Reece.” My father finally just comes in. “Are you okay?”
I don’t respond and he comes over and lifts the blanket from on top of my head.
“What’s wrong baby girl?”
“I’m a woman,” I say, looking right in his eyes, “That’s what’s wrong.”
My father’s eyes grow wide and he starts backing out of the room.
“Okay then. Do…Do you need anything?”
“No Daddy. I’m fine.”
“It’s three o’clock in the afternoon VeeRee and you’ve been in bed all day. You’re not fine. Tell me if you need something and I’ll take care of it.
“I said I don’t need anything Pops. Just go.”
“So would you like me to tell the gentleman downstairs to go home?”
Now that catches my attention.
“Gentleman?” I say popping up from under the blanket.
“Yeah. I think he said his name is Delante.”
What?
“Do you mean DeAndre?”
“Yeah! Yeah, that’s it.”
“Umm, actually, Pops. Could you maybe send him up here?”
“Up here?”
“Yeah. To my room.”
“I don’t know about that Ivy-Reece…”
“Pops! I’m on my period! You really think we’re gonna do something nasty?”
“Oh! Goodness VeeRee. Please stop being so blunt with me.”
“Then stop acting like such an over protective father.”
“Okay. I’ll go get him.”
“Thank you.”
My pops leaves the room and I hop out of my bed and run into the bathroom that’s adjoining to my room. I open my medicine cabinet, find the aspirin bottle and I quickly swallow one aspirin to ease the monster cramps. I then pull my hair back into a tight bun and try to smooth the wrinkles out of my black tank top and gray basketball shorts. I hear a knock on my bedroom door and rush to open it.
As soon as I open the door my mouth drops open in shock. DeAndre is standing there with a big fluffy teddy bear and a jumbo sized milk chocolate Hershey bar.
“DeAndre..?”
“I called Niecy to see why you weren’t responding to my texts or answering my calls. She told me in a little too much detail, but, uhh…” He awkwardly holds the bear and chocolate out to me and I laugh and take the goodies from him. After setting the stuff down on my bed I pull him into a hug.
“Thank you. This was very sweet of you.”
“Anytime.” He mumbles into my hair.
We stand there in each others arms for a while until I pull away.
“Hey DeAndre?”
“Yeah?”
“Come sit with me. I think we need to talk.”
We walk over to my bed and sit down, and I turn to DeAndre.
“What’s wrong?” He asks, looking at my face wearily.
“I need you to be honest with me DeAndre. I need you to tell me what’s going on between you and Chase Matthews.”
Almost as if someone flipped a switch on his body, DeAndre’s jaw tenses and his eyes become shuttered. His whole demeanor seems guarded.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“I said nothing Ivy-Reece! Damn!! Why can’t you just leave it the fuck alone?”
I stare at him, trying so hard to stop myself from saying something I’ll regret. He stares right back at me, almost daring me to say something.
“I think you should leave DeAndre.”
“Good idea.” He spats at me before storming out of my room, slamming both my bedroom door and the front door on his way out.
I stare at my door, thinking about what just happened. How could he go from being completely calm to being angrier than a raging bull in less than 5 minutes?
I bury my face into my pillow and let out a scream, feeling so overwhelmed.
~*~
Walking into school Monday morning is hell. I still don’t feel very well and I already have a headache starting to form.
“Ivy-Reece! What’s wrong girl?” Niecy says as she matches my stride.
“DeAndre and I had…”
Had what? Could it really be called an argument?
“You guys had what?” Niecy eyes me suspiciously.
“We had a little quarrel.” I say.
“A quarrel?”
“Yes. A quarrel.” I insist.
“I asked him what was up with him and Chase and flipped the fuck out and I didn’t want to have to freak out on him so I kicked him out as calmly as I could and he left.”
“He left?
“Yep. In a very disrespectful manner too. My father did not appreciate him slamming doors the way he did.”
All of a sudden Niecy and I stop cold in our tracks as we hear a deep masculine voice come from behind us.
“Well why don’t you say something to my face instead of bitchin’ to your little girlfriends.”
I all of a sudden get the urge to turn around a slap the black off of that arrogant brute, but instead I turn around slowly and glare at him.
“Or….” I begin, my voice laced with venom, “You could stay the fuck out of my conversations.”
“I’m gonna go to class now,” Niecy interjects, “See you later Ivy-Reece.”
“Bye,” I say, giving her a weary smile and hug, “I’ll find you at lunch.”
She agrees and heads off towards her class. I turn back to DeAndre, roll my eyes and show him my middle finger. I plan to turn around and head to class, but DeAndre wraps his hand around my arm and yanks me into him a little too forcefully.
“Listen chick,” He whispers into my ear, “I am not the one you want to disrespect. Don’t test me.”
I tear my arm out of his grasp, beyond the point of being pissed, and I slap him across his face. Almost immediately, I can see the spot start to turn red. It looks like it might start swelling. Good, I hope it does.
“Listen to me Mr. Jones,” I practically growl at him, “If you ever again in your natural life even attempt to put your hands on me I will make sure that you spend time in jail. Don’t test me.”
With that, I walk off to class, making sure to add a little extra sass into my walk.