to my locker, open it, and I swear there are now more of Adonna’s things in there than mine. She got two pairs of shoes and all kinda magazines over the bottom. It’s like she left me just enough room for my own books. Nice of her.
I kneel down and dig around for my stupid history book for first period, probably buried under Adonna’s junk. I’m pulling all of her stuff onto the floor when I hear, “You sure one locker is enough for you?”
I look up and it’s Nashawn staring down at me with his arms folded like he’s a teacher or something.
He clears his throat. “Young lady,” he says, “don’t you know you’re creating a safety hazard in the hallway?” He tries to make his voice all deep and grown-sounding. “Not only that, but you’re messing with a very handsome man’s ability to get to his own locker.”
“ Handsome? Man? ” I ask, looking around. “Where?”
“You trying to be funny?” He smiles down at me. “Good thing my ego is so strong.”
“And big,” I mumble loud enough for him to hear.
He laughs and goes, “Everything about me is big.”
I don’t look up, but before I can even think about what I’m doing, I say, “That’s not what I heard.”
Nashawn don’t stop laughing. “Okay, good one. I like that.” He steps over the books to get to his locker. “But tell all your friends, that’s big, too.”
I laugh, but it comes out real nervous-sounding and—I don’t know why—I get that weird feeling in my stomach again and just start throwing Adonna’s stuff back into my locker. I put the books I need in my bag and all of a sudden I just wanna get away from him fast. Before I can, he asks, “Where’s Adonna? Second time this week I’m seeing you without your Siamese twin.”
I slam my locker closed. “She’s um—” I don’t wanna tell him Adonna’s out there, probably standing around with her friends still laughing about that girl getting jumped. I mean, he’s one of the only kids inside the school, not out there acting stupid, and I don’t wanna say something that’s gonna make Adonna look bad to him. “Um, I don’t know,” I tell him. “Probably in her homeroom already.”
“Or doing her hair somewhere,” he says. “That girl loves to look good.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I just go, “Well, bye.”
“See ya.” He’s not even paying any attention to me all of a sudden, probably because he’s too busy thinking about Adonna now.
So I head down the hall to my class, still feeling kinda strange. And embarrassed. I can’t believe I just said all those things to him. The only good thing is, now at least when Adonna asks me, I can tell her that Nashawn said he likes her hair and that she always looks good. She’s gonna love hearing that.
TEN
At lunch, I’m sitting with Adonna, Tanya, and these two juniors, Malcolm and Craig. And since there are guys around, Adonna isn’t losing her mind over Nashawn, at least not out loud.
When me and her were in line to buy our food, I told her what he said about her, and she was all like, “He said that about my hair ? What about the rest of me?”
“He said you look good, not just your hair,” I tell her. Sometimes Adonna gets like that. She don’t hear what people are telling her.
“I know I look good,” she said. “But why is he telling you that and not me ?”
This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. Probably shouldn’t have even said anything to her.
And now Tanya is sitting here talking about how she don’t know if she’s gonna be able to cry on cue this afternoon during dress rehearsal, but she knows for a fact that she’s gonna be able to do it for the real showcase when the audience is there. In all the rehearsals so far, she just been fake crying, and it’s reallyfunny, but I know I’m not the only one that’s nervous that she’s not gonna be able to do it when it counts.
Adonna’s isn’t even listening to her. She’s watching Nashawn and trying to be
I kneel down and dig around for my stupid history book for first period, probably buried under Adonna’s junk. I’m pulling all of her stuff onto the floor when I hear, “You sure one locker is enough for you?”
I look up and it’s Nashawn staring down at me with his arms folded like he’s a teacher or something.
He clears his throat. “Young lady,” he says, “don’t you know you’re creating a safety hazard in the hallway?” He tries to make his voice all deep and grown-sounding. “Not only that, but you’re messing with a very handsome man’s ability to get to his own locker.”
“ Handsome? Man? ” I ask, looking around. “Where?”
“You trying to be funny?” He smiles down at me. “Good thing my ego is so strong.”
“And big,” I mumble loud enough for him to hear.
He laughs and goes, “Everything about me is big.”
I don’t look up, but before I can even think about what I’m doing, I say, “That’s not what I heard.”
Nashawn don’t stop laughing. “Okay, good one. I like that.” He steps over the books to get to his locker. “But tell all your friends, that’s big, too.”
I laugh, but it comes out real nervous-sounding and—I don’t know why—I get that weird feeling in my stomach again and just start throwing Adonna’s stuff back into my locker. I put the books I need in my bag and all of a sudden I just wanna get away from him fast. Before I can, he asks, “Where’s Adonna? Second time this week I’m seeing you without your Siamese twin.”
I slam my locker closed. “She’s um—” I don’t wanna tell him Adonna’s out there, probably standing around with her friends still laughing about that girl getting jumped. I mean, he’s one of the only kids inside the school, not out there acting stupid, and I don’t wanna say something that’s gonna make Adonna look bad to him. “Um, I don’t know,” I tell him. “Probably in her homeroom already.”
“Or doing her hair somewhere,” he says. “That girl loves to look good.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I just go, “Well, bye.”
“See ya.” He’s not even paying any attention to me all of a sudden, probably because he’s too busy thinking about Adonna now.
So I head down the hall to my class, still feeling kinda strange. And embarrassed. I can’t believe I just said all those things to him. The only good thing is, now at least when Adonna asks me, I can tell her that Nashawn said he likes her hair and that she always looks good. She’s gonna love hearing that.
TEN
At lunch, I’m sitting with Adonna, Tanya, and these two juniors, Malcolm and Craig. And since there are guys around, Adonna isn’t losing her mind over Nashawn, at least not out loud.
When me and her were in line to buy our food, I told her what he said about her, and she was all like, “He said that about my hair ? What about the rest of me?”
“He said you look good, not just your hair,” I tell her. Sometimes Adonna gets like that. She don’t hear what people are telling her.
“I know I look good,” she said. “But why is he telling you that and not me ?”
This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. Probably shouldn’t have even said anything to her.
And now Tanya is sitting here talking about how she don’t know if she’s gonna be able to cry on cue this afternoon during dress rehearsal, but she knows for a fact that she’s gonna be able to do it for the real showcase when the audience is there. In all the rehearsals so far, she just been fake crying, and it’s reallyfunny, but I know I’m not the only one that’s nervous that she’s not gonna be able to do it when it counts.
Adonna’s isn’t even listening to her. She’s watching Nashawn and trying to be
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