Isaiah Bryant
When I got home from my afternoon class, I was shocked to see Derek and Russell standing outside my door.
"Don't you have a game tonight?" I asked. This time I was sure they had a game Friday night and not Saturday.
"Yeah," Derek said. "We've got to go soon, but we wanted to help you pick out an outfit for tonight."
I unlocked the dorm room door and went inside. They followed me. I closed the door behind them.
"I'm not going to your game tonight," I stated.
Derek chuckled. I couldn't figure out why he always laughed when I said that. It wasn't funny. He was so weird. "Not for the game," Derek said, "for your date with that guy."
"That guy hasn't called me," I said.
"He's going to," Derek said. Russell was already rummaging through my clothes. "I can feel it," Derek went on.
I rolled my eyes, but let them go through my clothes. I hoped Derek was right. I hoped Eddie was going to call me tonight for a date. I hadn't heard from him since he said he would call me and that was exactly a week ago. I wasn't that worried about it. I believed him when he said he would call me and he did seem the type to call me last minute. He wasn't really the chatty type to call me during the week just to talk either. Which was fine because I really did need to focus on my studies. I couldn't lose this scholarship.
"Not those pants," Russell said to Derek who had just pulled tan pants out of my dresser drawer. "He needs to wear these black ones." Russell pulled out the black ones and set them neatly on top of the dresser.
"Why does it have to be the black ones?" Derek asked.
"Because his cute little ass looks great in the black ones," Russell said and then he reached over and pinched my butt.
"Hey," I said and stepped away from them.
"What? He touched your ass," Russell said indicating Derek.
"That was a one night stand," I said, "and before he got together with you."
"So," Russell said. "What he touches, I get to touch."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not something for the both of you to mark your territory on."
They both stared at me blankly for a moment before they turned to look at each other. "You're right," Derek said, "his ass does look better in the black pants."
"Considering how skinny he is," Russell said, "his ass and his cute face are the only things going for him."
"You're right," Derek said.
I sighed and moved to sit on my bed. I just let them do their thing as they rummaged through my clothes.
"Did you eat today?" Derek asked me without taking his eyes off his task.
"Yes," I said.
"You didn't send me a picture."
"I had cereal for breakfast."
"No lunch?"
I hesitated.
"Make sure this guy treats you to a large dinner then. This shirt," Derek said and pulled out a red button up shirt.
"Great choice, babe," Russell said. They stared at each other a moment and then crashed their lips together in a rough make out session. I moved to Levi's bed so I would have a better view as their hands wandered over their sculpted bodies and their lips devoured each other's. I even saw tongue action. I was still the only one who knew they were together so they couldn't make out in too many places.
As much as I enjoyed the show as they grabbed each other's butts and pulled each other even closer, I said, "You have a game tonight."
They pulled away from each other and Russell cleared his throat.
"Right," Derek said and took a deep breath. "Send me a text later and let me know how it goes."
"He might not even call me," I said as I followed them to the door.
"He's going to call you," Derek said. "Wish us good luck on our game tonight."
"Good luck," I said.
Derek smiled widely as the two of them left. Good luck? Since when did Derek brainwash me? Oh well.
I went to my bed and pulled out my laptop. Whenever I thought of Eddie, I got a strange feeling in my chest. It wasn't just that my heart would beat faster and my stomach would flutter with excitement. It was the fact that I should be concentrating on school and nothing else. I had never felt this way around anyone. Not Juan, not Latisha. This feeling that I could only describe as hope. Which was even weirder by the fact that he flat out told me he loved someone else and even slept with them whenever they came over. I knew our dating wasn't going to change that so why was the hope there in the first place?
I did my homework and then studied ahead in the syllabus. The evening went on and still no call from Eddie. Maybe I should send him a text first, make sure he wasn't changing his mind. He didn't seem like that type of person. I really didn't know much about him. I had only met him twice, but it felt like I knew the core of him even if I didn't know the details.
It was almost seven when he called. "Free tonight?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. I was already scrambling to put my laptop away.
"Then I'll pick you up in five minutes," he said and hung up.
Five minutes? I should have gotten dressed earlier. I just didn't want to mess up the clothes Derek and Russell picked out for me if Eddie ended up not showing up. I hurriedly got dressed and brushed through my hair. I readjusted my glasses and stepped back to look at myself in the full length mirror. I turned a little to look at my butt. I just thought it was scrawny. I couldn't see what Derek and Russell saw in it.
There was a knock on my door which surprised me all over again. I assumed he would just send me a text when he got here and I would go down to meet him.
I opened the door and Eddie stepped in. He looked around. I looked around too not sure what he was looking for. Maybe for signs of Levi's drugs again. "No Levi?" he asked.
"Haven't seen him since this morning when I left to go to class and he was still snoring in his bed," I said.
"Hmm," he said with a stoic expression. His eyes flitted to Levi's made bed. "I need to stop at the club just to make sure I'm not needed," he said. "Then we can go do whatever you want."
"Okay," I said. I made sure the door was locked behind me and then stepped beside him as we went to his car.
"Anywhere you want to go?" he asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.
"Derek says you have to feed me." I didn't say that on purpose. It wasn't something I thought about ahead of time, it just came out.
A small smile came to the corner of Eddie's lips and it made my heart flutter. "I can do that," he said. "Who is Derek?"
"My..." I stopped myself when I realized I was about to say 'friend'. "My not friend?"
His smile widened. "Sounds like a friend," he said.
"I guess," I said. "How did he trick me into being friends?"
Eddie laughed at this even though I hadn't intended it to be funny. I was serious. I couldn't help but smile as he laughed.
"Anything you want to eat?" he asked.
"I don't travel far from campus," I said. "I don't know what's around."
"How about Thai food? Do you like it?"
"I've never tried it," I said.
"Do you want to try it?"
"Yes," I said.
"Thai food it is then," he said.
He parked in the same parking spot at the club he had been in before. I followed him into the club through the back. It was busy again. People were dancing, music was going and the bar was crowded. He made his way to the bar expertly weaving through the crowds. I went less expertly and kept bumping into people or they kept bumping into me.
Eddie nodded to the bartender when he arrived at the bar. The bartender nodded back. He finished with the people he was serving and then came to Eddie.
"Hey, Eduardo."
"Hey, Jose. Zach need me tonight?"
"He hasn't said anything to me about it," the bartender said. "Who's this?"
"Not your concern," Eddie said.
"Hmm," Jose said, "then you should probably tell Levi to stop telling everyone he set you up with his roommate."
Eddie's head dropped. "He's here?"
Jose pointed to the dance floor.
"I'll be right back," Eddie said to me. I watched him as he crossed the floor to Levi and Marcos.
"So it's true you and Eduardo are dating," Jose said to me drawing my attention back to him.
"I don't know if I'd call it dating," I said because this was technically our first date, Eddie already told me he loved someone else, and he seemed like a private person. I doubted he told too many people he loved someone who didn't love him back but decided to date me anyway.
"Huh," Jose said. "Levi is telling everyone you hooked up with Eduardo in your dorm room."
I rolled my eyes.
"Not true I take it," Jose said.
"Definitely not true," I said.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Jose said. "Everyone knows Levi exaggerates."
"Let's go," Eddie said to me as he came back to my side.
"Bye," I said to Jose.
"Goodbye whoever you are," he said. "I hope you come back soon."
Eddie led me back through the club to the parking lot.
"Levi is telling people we hooked up in my dorm room," I told Eddie when we got back in his car.
"Levi needs to learn to keep his mouth shut," Eddie said.
I agreed with that. Eddie headed across town. The Thai restaurant was crowded this time on a Friday night. I didn't think I was hungry, but my stomach growled at the smell of delicious food. We had to wait twenty minutes to be seated. We didn't talk much during that time. There were too many other people around us waiting. We looked over the menu while we waited. There were many interesting dishes I wanted to try, but wasn't sure I would like. We were led to a small table for two in a corner. I decided to go with the Pad Thai. Eddie ordered the Drunken Noodles. I ordered water to drink because it was free and I was a little worried about spending too much of his money. When he ordered a cola, I wanted one too. I didn't say anything though.
"Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" he asked after the waiter left.
"Go ahead," I said.
"Who is Aunt Viv?"
"Oh." I wasn't expecting that. I probably should have. Last week, I gave him my phone to input his contact info. It didn't dawn on me that he would see my other contact names. Of course he would. He had to go to my contacts to enter his phone number.
"Is she someone who is like an aunt to you? Because you indicated you don't have family."
I placed my hands on the table face up and stared at them. My phone was heavy in my pocket. "She is my actual aunt," I said. "We're not that close. She wants to think we are, but she would throw me under the bus any day to save her own children. I have family - Aunt Viv, cousins - but I don't have any close family. I have a mom and dad out there somewhere, but I don't really ever need to see them again. My mom left when I was five. My dad disappeared a few years ago. The only close family I had was my brother and he's dead now."
"Sorry," Eddie said.
I shrugged. I was going to say 'it is what it is' but my throat closed off. I rapidly blinked away the tears in my eyes before they became too prominent. "There is someone who is...was closer than family. She was my best friend growing up. But after my brother died she told me to leave and not look back. Not even for her. So that's what I'm doing."
"And who is Derek?" he asked. "This new friend who isn't a friend."
"A football player at the university," I said. "I really don't know when we became friends because I was determined not to have friends. He just kinda found his way. It actually started as a one night stand." I watched him closely to see his reaction, but he didn't even bat an eyelash. "That was all it was supposed to be. I actually helped him get with his current boyfriend."
There was a moment of pause and then Eddie said, "And he told you to make me feed you?"
My hands twisted together on the table. "I tend to forget to eat," I said.
He raised an eyebrow at this. "How can you forget to eat?"
I shrugged. "I just get caught up in my school work. I don't really feel hungry often."
As if on cue, the waiter came back with our orders. Talk was put on hold while we had the first few bites of the food. I liked Pad Thai. My eyes drifted to his noodles. I was curious as to what Drunken Noodles tasted like. I must have been obvious about it because Eddie smirked and held out a bite of his food to me. I hesitated for one brief moment and then ate the noodles. I liked Drunken Noodles too.
"It seems like you have a lot of people around you," I said after several more bites.
"Not friends," he said. His eyes dropped to his noodles.
"You don't have any friends?"
His face remained stoic, but there was sorrow in his eyes. "Not anymore. I ruined the one great friendship I had."
"Is he your unrequited love?"
His eyes drifted back to me. "Yes," he said, "but that isn't why the friendship was ruined."
"Why then?"
His eyes dropped back to his noodles. "It's probably better if there are certain things you don't know about me."
"Like your job?" I asked.
My heartbeat quickened when he looked back at me. "Yeah," he said.
"You work for a guy named Zach? Doing what?"
"I just told you it was better if you don't know."
"Just generalities," I said. "You don't need to tell me the details. You beat people up?"
"Sometimes."
"And?"
"And I'm in charge of training new recruits."
"I see," I said. And I understood exactly what he meant. I let the subject drop.
"How is school going?" he asked.
"Good," I replied.
"You can't let your grades drop," he said. And my heart sped up again as if that was the sexiest thing anyone could ever say. There hadn't been too many people in my life to encourage me like that. My brother and Latisha and on occasion, Juan.
"I won't," I said.
I ate all of my Pad Thai. I stared down at my empty dish when I realized I hadn't taken a picture of it and sent it to Derek. He would probably still be playing football, but he would want me to text him so he could see it when he was through. I brought my phone out of my pocket and took a picture of the empty plate.
Me: He took me to a Thai place. Pad Thai is delicious. I ate it all.
It wasn't until I put my phone away and looked back at Eddie that I realized how strange that must have seemed. "I have to prove to Derek that I'm eating," I said. "He thinks I'm too skinny."
A small smile touched the corners of his mouth. "I like Derek," he said.
When we got back to the car and he pulled out of the parking lot, I quickly realized he was taking me back home. I tried to hide my disappointment but must not have succeeded because he said, "Next time I'll try to spend more time with you. Zach sent me a text and there is something I have to do."
"Okay," I said. I felt better knowing our date was cut off due to work.
He pulled into the dorm parking lot. "You don't have to come up with me," I said as he got out of the car with me.
"I'll be more at ease if I see you enter your dorm," he said.
"Okay."
We walked close side by side. Our shoulders bumped. At first I thought it might have been an accident, but then his pinky finger curled around mine. My heart tried to leap out of my chest at the contact. It was a simple gesture, but somehow more intimate than the one night stand with Derek.
"Well, here we are," I said when we arrived at my dorm room door. His finger slid away from mine. He stood in front of me. His handsome face drew closer to mine and my heartbeat tripled. His lips gently touched mine. It was a chaste kiss, but one that made my soul burn.
He pulled away too soon and said, "I'll call you." Then he nodded with his head that I should go inside.
I went in and closed the door softly behind me, but then I rushed to the little window between mine and Levi's bed. I peeked out the blinds. It wasn't a great view. It didn't lead to the city or even the university but to the parking lot. I had never really looked out it before. I watched as Eddie reached his car and drove away.
That had been my first date ever and I could safely say I loved it. I sat on my bed and sent Derek a quick message to let him know it went well. I got a reply from him close to midnight with a simple thumbs up and a 'good boy'. They must have lost the game or he would have told me they won. Maybe Derek and Russell were having consolation sex and that was why the text was so short.
At about four in the morning, Levi woke me in his drunken state as he welcomed Marcos and two young women into our dorm. He ignored my scowl as he made his way over to me.
"Tell me about date with Eduardo," he slurred. Definitely drunk and probably high too. "Did you have sex? Did he sex you up good?"
"Get out of here, Levi, or I'm going to tell Eduardo." I almost said Eddie, but caught myself. If others knew him as Eduardo, that's probably how he wanted to keep it.
Levi's face blanched at the mention of Eddie. "Let's go," Levi said to the others.
I waited until they left the room before I settled back on my pillow. Eddie was coming in handy for a lot of things.