Step Up by Monica McKayhan

“Tameka’s my girl.”
    â€œI guess you forgot about the little honey that’s waiting for you at the party. The one with the light eyes and the plump booty…”
    â€œTameka’s still my girl,” I insisted, trying to convince myself just as much as I was trying to convince Jaylen.
    The truth was I hadn’t stopped thinking about Lexi since the moment I saw her. I couldn’t get the smell of her cologne out of my mind, and her eyes and banging body didn’t help much, either. She kept creeping into my dreams at night; uninvited, of course. But not unwanted. We exchanged numbers under the pretense that she would help me with calculus, but as the text messages started flying back and forth, they were about everything but calculus.
    Lexi was from Jackson, Mississippi, and was attendingGrambling on a basketball scholarship, just like me. She was the only girl in a family of five brothers, which explained why she was somewhat of a tomboy. Her schedule was hectic like mine, but we still managed to find time to text and talk at least twenty times over the course of a day. Each day when her camp was over, she’d wait for me outside the gym and I’d walk her to her dorm. I told myself time and again, “She’s just a friend.” There’s no harm in walking a friend home from practice, and I actually had myself convinced of it until the day her lips touched mine for the first time. I wanted to stop it but I couldn’t. Instead, I pulled her body closer to mine and actually wanted the moment to last forever.
    As I lay in my twin bed that night, I was confused. I already had a girl. Tameka. In fact, I had a family. Tameka was carrying my baby and she was relying on me to be there for her. But I was too busy falling in love with someone else and I didn’t know how to stop it. But I knew I had to. I had responsibilities. For two days, I avoided Lexi. When practice was over, I ducked into the locker room and didn’t surface until I was sure she’d gone on without me. I needed to stay away from her. She caused things inside of me to be topsy-turvy. She caused me to feel things that I’d never felt before, and the inner struggle had my head messed up.
    â€œAre you avoiding me?” she finally asked one day, cornering me after practice.
    â€œNah,” I lied. “What makes you think that?”
    â€œWell, I haven’t heard from you in like two days…no phone calls…no text messages,” she said, those beautiful eyes peering at me as if they could see into my soul. “I’m not sweating you or anything. I was just curious.”
    â€œNah, I just been busy,” I said and then changed the subject. “Where you headed?”
    â€œTo the cafeteria for some grub.” She smiled that beautiful smile. “You coming?”
    â€œYeah, I’m coming,” I said and started strolling beside her.
    â€œI’ll race you.” Lexi started jogging slowly backward.
    â€œYou can’t beat me, so don’t even waste your time,” I boasted.
    â€œCome on then, let’s see what you got,” she taunted. She was competitive and I loved that about her. She wasn’t soft like most girls.
    â€œI don’t wanna embarrass you,” I said. I wanted to grab her right then and hold her in my arms.
    â€œYou don’t wanna embarrass yourself.” She laughed.
    That did it. My male ego kicked in and I started running. Lexi started running, too, and almost caught me. But I was too quick for her. Bent over in front of the cafeteria, trying to catch my breath, I waited for her to show up.
    â€œWhat took you so long?” I asked her.
    â€œYou cheated, Vance. You took off running before anybody said ready, set or go.”
    â€œNo excuses, girl. I beat you fair and square.”
    â€œNo you didn’t,” she insisted.
    â€œYes, I did,” I wrapped my arm around Lexi’s neck. I had to touch