|Chapter 5|
It was Thursday which meant it was time for my American History class again. Almost all of my classes were every other day classes. I had Public Relations Writing: Monday and Wednesday, World Politics on Monday, American History on Tuesday and Thursday, and lastly, Topics in Non-Fiction: Newspaper on Tuesday and Thursday.
Class was decent but Mr. Sheffield had unfortunately assigned our first homework assignment: a 1,000 word essay on the most monumental moment in American history to us.
After class, I was surprised to see Carter was waiting for me again. Shit, maybe he was interested.
I smiled, "Hello."
Carter smiled back, "Hey. You look pretty today."
I fought an intense battle with my body to hold back a blush but it appeared on my cheeks without permission anyways.
I tried hiding my blush by looking at the wall as I said, "Thanks."
I did, maybe, possibly try to look cute today for no particular reason, of course...
We walked slowly toward the elevator. I couldn't control my thoughts, my brain was in distraught. What did Carter want from me? What was he up to? Why couldn't I read his fucking mind?
I turned toward him to see him looking at me but his face gave nothing away.
Carter exclaimed happily, "So I'm having another party on Saturday, I wanted to see if you could come."
I thought through my schedule for a moment before replying, "Um, I don't know. I have a few tennis matches on Saturday, they're in the afternoon but I don't know how tired I'll be."
It was the truth but I felt weird saying it, knowing any normal girl would be jumping over obstacles to go to a party Carter Sanders was throwing and that HE personally invited them to.
Maybe to an extent, I was scared, not knowing what his intentions were with me made me feel on edge. And I still didn't understand why he was even breathing near me, let alone talking. It didn't make any sense.
I guess you could say I was pretty insecure, but being told even by your best friend that he was way too hot for made you feel that way. I loved Jess to death but she could be a real bitch sometimes.
Carter seemed unphased by my almost rejection, "You're on the tennis team here? That's awesome."
I nodded, "Yeah, been playing my whole life."
Carter and I stepped on an open elevator together.
Carter adjusted his backpack strap around his shoulder, "Well, I understand if you can't come but I'd really like you to", he added with an adorable smile.
Why why why why why?
My heart was practically beating out of my chest.
I tried to keep my voice steady as I said one single word, "Alright." It was all my brain could manage. I wanted to scream out a million questions but knew I would sound insane if I did.
Fuck, I was being so shy right now.
But Carter continued to shock me, pulling out his cell phone, "Do you mind if I get your number?"
I almost wanted to look around the elevator to make sure he was talking to me but we were the only two in the elevator so it had to be me. Wow.
I grinned, "Yeah, sure."
I spit out my digits as he typed them in on his phone. The elevator doors opened, revealing the court yard. I took a deep breath, trying to get some oxygen into my lungs that suddenly felt oxygen deprived.
Some guy yelled Carter's name, waving him over. Carter waved back and started walking away from me but yelled back, "I'll text you!"
Oh my god, did that just happen? I walked to practice, texting Jess: 'So Carter just invited me to a party on Saturday, you're coming.'
Jess texted back: 'Fuck yeah, I'll be there.'
After a few minutes of walking, I arrived at the tennis courts. I slung my gym bag down in the locker room and greeted my teammates. I took off my jeans and one of my closest tennis friends rounded the corner, walking past me to her locker. Audrine exclaimed, "Nice ass, boo. You've been doing those workouts I told you about?"
In the locker room, all of us sounded a bit gay but Audrine was as straight as they come but would definitely compliment your body if she knew you had been working on a particular area. And in my case, yes, I had been trying to get a firmer ass. I put on a pair of black spandex shorts and nodded, "Yeah, every night before I go to bed, like you said."
Audrine winked, "Made a difference!"
I smiled, "Thanks."
I had met Audrine last year when I was a freshman in college and she was a junior. I had gotten a full tennis scholarship but I still had to try out like everyone else. I watched everyone try out but was most impressed by Audrine, she was incredible. She had it all: strength, agility and talent. And for some reason, she saw something in me. I mean, I knew I was pretty good at tennis but nothing like Audrine. After my try out, she walked straight up to me and said, "You have the potential to be the next Serena Williams." I legit thought she was joking and let out a loud laugh.
But her face remained serious, "I'm not joking. Would you like to be my doubles partner?"
I, of course agreed. I couldn't believe she thought I was good enough and good enough to ditch her doubles partner that she had for the past two years. But over the course of a year, Audrine taught me so much and built my confidence up to point where I did truly believe Audrine and I were best on the team. Not to sound like a cocky prick, but it was the truth, at least statistics wise, we had won more matches than we lost.
I changed into a sports bra, a tank top and a light jacket; it was still chilly outside but once you started playing, you forgot all about the temperature. Audrine and I walked out of the locker room together and the whole team huddled up in a circle around our coaches.
Our head coach was Alex Santos, he had a heavy Portugal accent but we had all managed to get used to it. He was skinny with tan skin and short, black hair. Our assistant coach was Emily Fraser; long blonde hair, pale skin, blue eyes. They were both spectacular coaches.
Alex began his before practice speech like every other day, "Alright, so we have our first game coming up on Saturday, it's our first game since October. But we want to prove to Youngstown State that we haven't gotten rusty, that we are still as good as we were last year. Alright?"
We all nodded along with the same nervous excitement gleaming from our eyes.
Alex smiled, looking hopeful, he believed in us, "Alright, so let's work extra hard today. Start your warm up!"
This was of course the worst part of practice: the running, the lunges, the sit ups, the push ups, the shit that made your muscles sore the next day but still it was completely necessary.
Audrine and I began doing lunges up and down the court together, side-by-side. I couldn't help but admire Audrine's legs everytime we did lunges. Her legs looked like they were constructed by photoshop: long, powerful, toned. Her leg muscles were bigger than a majority of guys legs but I still found it fucking awesome.
Audrine was pretty and masculine, a badass combo. She had black hair cut into a long bob that hung to her shoulders but she always had it pulled back into the tiniest nub of a ponytail. She had flawless, brown skin and her body was just as toned as her legs. Her eyes were a warm brown color and her mouth was wide and always seemed to be in a serious, straight line during practice.
We casually talked about tennis, while doing our lunges. I remembered a time last year where I could barely manage to breathe properly, let alone talk while doing these but Audrine had taught me how.
We stopped talking for a minute and a question formed in my mind. I debated for a bit on whether I should ask or not but finally spoke, "Audrine, can I ask you something and hope this doesn't come out as super rude?"
Audrine looked at me curiously but smiled, "Sure."
I muttered, "Well, just out of random curiousity, is there a reason you typically date white guys?"
Audrine gave a short laugh. Oh good, I didn't offend her.
Audrine thought for a moment before replying, "Well, I used to date black guys. It's not that I have anything against them but simply, in my experience, I never had good luck with black guys. All that I dated ended up cheating or lying, now that's not to say that all black guys will but that's just my personal experience. You know, I've dated all different races and I've come to find that for me at least, white guys are more loyal."
Wow, I was surprised to hear that.
"Really?"
Audrine nodded, "Yeah. But also, I just find myself more physically and emotionally attracted to white men. I always have. Guess I was just born that way, I don't know. But if a black guy comes along and sweeps me off my feet, then so be it. I'll take any love that comes my way. It doesn't matter to me."
I grinned. Yes, that was why I liked Audrine.
Audrine was the one with the question now, "What? Are you wanting to date a black guy?"
I shook my head, "No."
Audrine raised an eyebrow, "Wanting to fuck one?"
We both laughed and I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything.
But my brain answered for me, 'Maybe."