by L. Divine
“Nellie’s just making sure you’re okay. This is the first day back since you and Jeremy broke up,” Mickey says, taking her watermelon Blow Pop out of her mouth long enough to translate Nellie’s body language. “Everyone’s already talking about it.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty brutal,” Chance says, grabbing Nellie by the waist like she’s his property to claim. This blossoming relationship should be the talk of the town, not my breakup with Jeremy.
“Is there something I should know about you two?” I say, slamming my locker shut and leading the way out of the busy hall. I do notice people I don’t even know looking at me and whispering to their friends. Bad news travels fast, especially when it’s about the most popular cat in school and his chocolate pick of the month.
“Yeah, you should know that people are cashing in on their bets of how long you and Jeremy would last,” Chance says, looking towards South Central, where Misty has joined in the crowd. I’m sure she’s having a field day with this one. I’m surprised she didn’t say anything on the bus. But, from the looks of it, she had more important things on her mind. I’m still confused as to why KJ didn’t give her a ride. Aren’t they still dating?
“Yeah, it’s pretty pathetic what some people will bet five dollars on,” Mickey says, looking directly at Shae. I can’t say I’m surprised. Jeremy is the most popular cat at this wack-ass school and his life is of public interest.
“Only five dollars? I’m worth way more than that,” I say, making light of the humiliating situation while giving my friends a good laugh.
“Yes you are,” Chance says, letting go of Nellie long enough to give me a bear hug. “None of these dudes up here are good enough for my girl,” he says, making Nellie feel slightly uncomfortable by the looks of it. Here we go. I don’t like the idea of my best friends dating, especially not when Chance used to have a crush on me. Even though nothing went down between us, I know how females are when it comes to their men, even my girls. Mickey would have had beef with me if Nigel and I used to date. And, I know it bothers Nellie that Chance used to have it bad for me. But now he’s hooked on her and I hope she concentrates on the future and not the past.
“Yeah girl, you already got your man,” Mickey says, referring to Rah. “You just need to woman up and fight for the fool,” she says, now loudly smacking her candy-turned-gum as the first bell rings.
“Nobody needs to woman up, Foxy Brown,” I say, teasing my girl who’s still wearing the attitude of her Halloween costume. I’m glad we took pictures of that night; we all looked good. Noticing me eye my key chain before securing it into one of the many pockets on my Jansport, Nellie takes hers out and clasps it to her backpack.
“Hey, let’s all wear our pictures on our bags,” she says, taking Chance’s key chain and hooking it onto his backpack.
“What are we, in junior high?” Mickey says. Before she can protest any further, Nellie takes Mickey’s out of her purse and locks it to her backpack as well.
“No. But we can still show love, right, Jayd,” she says, waiting for me to follow suit. I take the picture off of my cluttered key chain and move it to my backpack, next to the “No More Drama” satchel Mama gave me for the first day of school.
“Are you happy?” I say, sassing Nellie as we continue to move toward our classes. “Now we officially look like the clique I never wanted to be a part of.”
“There’s a big difference between our crew and those other cliques,” Nellie says, putting one arm around me and another around Mickey’s shoulders, forcing Chance to again release her waist.
“What’s that?” Mickey says, dryly. Mickey’s not into belonging with any one set of folks, or any one dude for that matter. I know she and her man have been together since junior high, but I doubt that she’s ever been exclusive. And, according to my dream Saturday night, her unfaithful shit’s about to hit the fan.
“We’re real friends; ride or die.” As Nellie says something that sounds more like Mickey’s mantra, I see KJ and his crew looking my way. He has a big smile on his face, so I know he must be talking about me and Jeremy’s breakup. I wonder if Jeremy’s getting this kind of heat on the white side of Drama High.
“Yeah, whatever,” Mickey says. “Let’s just try to stay on the right side of our friendship from now on.” I couldn’t agree more; we’ve already had enough drama for the year, and we’re only in the second month of school. But I doubt it will seriously happen. If I know one thing about our crew, it’s that we have haters. And where there are haters, there’s always drama.
“There’s the final bell,” Chance says, pulling Nellie off toward first period as I head toward my Spanish class.
“Alright. I’ll see y’all at lunch. I have to talk to my English teacher at break,” I say. Mrs. Malone’s helping me go over my last paper. She thinks I didn’t try hard enough and wants me to revise it for an A. I wish all of my teachers were cool like her. Most of them would just let my little black self fail.
“Damn Jayd. School isn’t all about work,” Nellie says, allowing Chance to lead her away from me.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you loved this wicked-ass place,” Mickey says, following the new couple away from the quad.
“Bye y’all. And don’t make any more bets on my relationships,” I yell after them. I know they didn’t, but I’m sure the thought crossed both of their minds.
“Hey Jayd. What’s up with my girl?” Nigel says as he swoops me up into a huge hug, walking me out of my classroom as I head in, catching me off-guard. He must’ve had a meeting with his coach, who also doubles as my Spanish teacher. Thank God I’m not trying to take the AP exam in this subject because I’d fail from his inadequate teaching for sure.
“Nothing much. Aren’t you going to be late for class?” I say as he puts my Nikes back on the ground.
“I’m an athlete baby,” he says, showing off his hall pass from Mr. Donald. “We’re always excused.”
“Whatever Nigel,” I say, pushing the heavy door out of his hands and passing him up. As I enter the classroom, I notice a new girl is sitting in my seat. She looks a little shaken so I’m not going to sweat her today. I’ll just have to be here a little early tomorrow morning to stake my claim.
“Have you talked to my boy this morning?” he says, escorting me to my temporary desk as the rest of the class makes their way into the chilly room. First period’s always the coolest. I don’t know if it’s because of the morning frost or the air conditioning they use to keep us awake, but I’m always glad to get out of this room.
“No, but he texted me a little while ago. I’ve just been too preoccupied to hit him back,” I say, only telling half the truth. Ever since his girl started texting while we were together yesterday, I’ve been rethinking just how attached I want to get with Rah right now. I’m just glad he’s not at my school everyday. He would be too irresistible for me to think twice about getting back with him if he were up in my face all of the time. Being at South Bay High does have its advantages.
“Well, you know he doesn’t like to be kept waiting,” Nigel says, grinning and showing off his bright smile. Mickey doesn’t have a chance against falling hard for Nigel. I just have to help all of us not get hurt by the heat their forbidden love is stirring up.
“Yeah, I remember well. And you will both remember that I don’t play games,” I say, taking my seat as Mr. McDonald writes today’s agenda on the board.
“Yeah, whatever Jayd. You’re a trip. Just hit him back,” Nigel says, finally leaving the room and me to my thoughts. I can’t handle Rah and my first day broken up with Jeremy at the same time. I’m not looking forward to third period. I know Tania’s got to be glowing over the news of us breaking up. I just hope she doesn’t say anything to set me off because the last thing I need is more heat in my fire this morning.
After first period, second period was a breeze because we watched The Color Purple in class, comparing it to the novel, which we read last week. I love Mrs. Malone’s book li
st. She makes the best selections and also the most diverse. Our summer reading list included works from Sandra Cisneros, Zora Neale Hurston and Julie Dash. I don’t know if any of those authors will be on the AP exam for sure, but I enjoyed reading them anyway.
“Can I just rewrite my paper on Alice Walker’s literary voice rather than Virginia Woolf ’s,” I ask, whining about my last assignment. I hated reading A Room of One’s Own. Not because Woolf ’s writing sucks, but because I don’t like her style. It just doesn’t speak to me. And that’s exactly what I tried to express in my paper.
“I like your critique of Ms. Woolf’s voice,” Mrs. Malone says, propping herself up onto the desk in front of mine, displaying her cream and turquoise moccasins. She looks like she just stepped out of a New Mexican tourist guide’s brochure. “You just need a more solid argument,” she says, handing me a paper heavily marked in red. Damn, that means hella work on my end.
“It doesn’t look like you liked much about it,” I say, flipping each of the five pages, revealing more red ink as I go along. It looks like she bled all over it.
“Jayd, all of these notes aren’t bad. Don’t always expect the worst,” she says, leaning over and turning to the third page. “Take for example this page. I wrote a paragraph explaining how this is where your actual thesis begins instead of being on page one, which is where it belongs. This is your rough draft, Jayd. Turn in the final one to me by Friday,” Mrs. Malone says, closing the paper and placing it on the desk in front of me. “I’ve seen you do much better. But you’ve seemed a little distracted lately. Everything okay at home?”
“Yes, everything’s fine,” I say, looking at her wall clock, ready to roll. There are only five more minutes left in break and I really could use a Snickers right now. Mrs. Malone’s always looking for some after school special type of conversation with me. She’s cool, but I’d never tell her all of my business. Mama would hang me where I stand if I ever told any of my teachers about my home life. I learned that lesson very early when I was in elementary school.
“Is everything okay with Jeremy?” she says, like we’re old girlfriends having tea. Ah, hell nah, let me nip this one in the bud right now.
“Jeremy’s no longer my concern,” I say, rising from my seat, wounded report in hand. “I’ll have the paper back to you by Friday and thank you again for letting me rewrite it,” I say, marching toward the door. Damn, there’s the first bell. Now I’m going to have to go to third period without my chocolate fix. I really hope everything’s cool with both Jeremy and Tania. Any more irritation and I’m liable to bite someone’s head off.
“Jayd, if you ever need to talk, I’m here. I know breaking up seems like the end of the world, but it’s only high school,” she says, whimsically dismissing my feelings as a school girl crush. Even with Rah winning the battle for my heart, I still feel for Jeremy.
“Thank you, Mrs. Malone,” I say as I walk toward third period. Right now I just feel out of control of my feelings, like they’re marching to their own beat and I’m along for the ride.
“The key is to be in alignment with your feelings in order to control the situation,” my mom says, sounding more like Mama than herself as she invades my thoughts.
“Not at school,” I say aloud to my mom as she coquettishly grins in my head. She’s having too much fun with her born-again powers. But, I know she’s right. I have to get my mojo back, as Netta would say, and fast.
“Hey Jayd,” Jeremy says, walking into our class right as the bell rings and taking the seat next to me, as usual. I guess some things haven’t changed.
“Hey,” I say, unable to muster anything else. I’m still so upset with him for not claiming his and Tania’s baby because he’s afraid of his dad disowning him, but I also feel guilty because it was an easy way out for me to be free to explore something new with Rah. But Jeremy doesn’t have to know all that.
“Good morning class,” Mrs. Peterson says, barely looking up from her desk. “Your assignment’s on the board. Your quiz will be at the last fifteen minutes of the period. If you must talk, make it quiet please.” Before returning to her newspaper, Mrs. Peterson looks up at the opening door ready to attack whoever’s walking into her arena late. “Thank you for joining us this morning,” she says a hella salty to a tardy Tania.
“Well, it’s the least I can do, considering it’s my last morning at South Bay,” Tania says, sliding an envelope across the teacher’s desk, as giddy as ever. She turns around to wink at Jeremy while giving me a sly look. She then walks to the back of the classroom to where her followers are seated and collects money while Mrs. Peterson signs her release papers. I know this trick didn’t place a bet on me and Jeremy.
“Jeremy,” she says, leaning across my desk, right in striking distance. “It’s been real,” she says, blowing him a kiss as she cuts her eyes at me. “And, so sorry the two of you didn’t work out,” she says, showing off her fifty-dollar bill and blinging engagement ring, before walking back toward Mrs. Peterson’s desk. The broad’s lucky she’s pregnant. Otherwise, whipping her ass might be worth the automatic suspension from school.
“What a bitch,” Jeremy says under his breath, but loud enough to make the students around us giggle. Well, at least Jeremy and I are in agreement about something.
“Yeah, I think our breakup is worth a whole lot more. At least a c-note,” I say, breaking the iceberg between us. I would love it if we could still be friends. I genuinely like the cat and love vibing with him.
“I agree. At least a hundred. I wish they’d let me in on the bet. I could have made a killing,” he says, taking his books out of his backpack and turning to our assignment. With Tania’s grand exit over, it’s back to work in Government class.
“I hear you. What would you have wagered?” I ask, copying the notes from the board into my notebook. I miss going back and forth with Jeremy. We seemed to lose our spark amidst all of the relationship baggage. It’s nice to be on the path to friendship again, even if it’s still awkward. Like Mama says, time heals all wounds or makes you forget what you were fighting about in the first place.
“A million dollars,” he says, looking as serious as a heart attack, catching me off guard, much like Nigel did earlier. “I would’ve bet that much that we’d stay together, if the situation and timing was different.” I now realize Jeremy feels as bad as I do about us breaking up. The difference between us is that he has no one to catch his rebound. My phone vibrates with another message from Rah, making me blush. Damn, this sucks. Now I really feel uncomfortable.
“Quiet please,” Mrs. Peterson says, ending the heat for now. I hope Jeremy and I can really be friends, even if he does find out about me and Rah. But for now, I just pray that we can all chill for a minute before crashing head-on into each other.
START YOUR OWN BOOK CLUB
Courtesy of the DRAMA HIGH series
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The following is intended to help you get
the Book Club you’ve always wanted
up and running!
Enjoy!
Start Your Own Book Club
A Book Club is not only a great way to make friends, but it is also a fun and safe environment for you to express your views and opinions on everything from fashion to teen pregnancy. A Teen Book Club can also become a forum or venue to air grievances and plan remedies for problems.
The People
To start, all you need is yourself and at least one other person. There’s no criteria for who this person or persons should be other than having a desire to read and a commitment to discuss things during a certain time frame.
The Rules
Just as in Jayd’s life, sometimes even Book Club discussions can be filled with much drama. People tend to disagree with each other, cut each other off when speaking, and take criticism personally. So, there should be some ground rules:
1. Do not attack people for their ideas or opinions.
2. When you disagree with a book club member on a po
int, disagree respectfully. This means that you do not denigrate other people for their ideas or even their ideas, themselves, i.e., no name calling or saying, “That’s stupid !” Instead, say, “I can respect your position, however, I feel differently.”
3. Back up your opinions with concrete evidence, either from the book in question or life in general.
4. Allow every one a turn to comment.
5. Do not cut a member off when the person is speaking. Respectfully wait your turn.
6. Critique only the idea (and do so responsibly; saying, “That’s stupid!” is not allowed). Do not criticize the person.
7. Every member must agree to and abide by the ground rules.
Feel free to add any other ground rules you think might be necessary.
The Meeting Place
Once you’ve decided on members, and agreed to the ground rules, you should decide on a place to meet. This could be the local library, the school library, your favorite restaurant, a bookstore, or a member’s home. Remember, though, if you decide to hold your sessions at a member’s home, the location should rotate to another member’s home for the next session. It’s also polite for guests to bring treats when attending a Book Club meeting at a member’s home. If you choose to hold your meetings in a public place, always remember to ask the permission of the librarian or store manager. If you decide to hold your meetings in a local bookstore, ask the manager to post a flyer in the window announcing the Book Club to attract more members if you so desire.