Our Love

by Sheena Binkley

I stared at Michael for a second. He is asking me out on a date! I wanted to say yes, but I already promised Eva and Ashley that I would go with them to the club that night. They were going to go with me to the homecoming game and then to the club.

  "I'm sorry Michael, but I already have plans. In fact, I'm not going to the dance."

  The look on Michael's face made my heart sink. I wanted to go out with him, but I didn't want to disappoint my girls either.

  "That's cool. I understand."

  "It not what you think though. I'm going out with my girlfriends to a club near Parker. I'm sorry."

  "It's cool. You shouldn't change your plans, especially with your friends."

  Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. Even though it was a long shot, I thought Michael would agree to it.

  "Why don't you come with me? I know its homecoming and you're the star of the team, but I would really like it if you came."

  Michael looked at me and smiled. I don't think he expected me to ask him to come with me, but it seemed like he was flattered.

  "Sure. I would like that."

  "Cool."

  "But on one condition."

  "And what is that, Mr. Collier?"

  "If you come with me to the dance. Just for an hour. And then we could go to the club. That way you can experience how homecoming is at Belmont, and I can experience how things are at Parker."

  I thought about it for a second and smiled. Although Eva and Ashley would be with me, I didn't think they would mind a little culture shock at a Belmont dance.

  "That's only fair. But there is one problem."

  "What's that?"

  "My friends Eva and Ashley will be with me."

  "They can come to the dance. The dance is not just for Belmont students."

  I nodded my head and smiled.

  "Then it settled. I'll go to the dance. "

  "Okay." Michael said.

  I smiled. It's good to make a compromise. Especially if it was with someone as fine as Michael.

  ~

  Half the day had passed, and now it was time for our extended cheerleading practice. After receiving more work from all my classes, I was beginning to wonder if I was going to able to do anything this weekend. But I figured if I stayed up late tonight and if I did some work after the pep rally on Friday, I'd be fine. As I was stretching on the grass, I noticed Kim and Brandy were coming near me. They sat down beside me and started to stretch as well.

  "Word has it that you and Michael going out this weekend," Brandy said.

  "How you know that?"

  "Please. This school is a magnet for gossip. Before long, the whole school is going to be panning you two as Belmont's new super couple," said Kim.

  If they knew that I was going out with Michael, I wonder who else knew.

  As I got up, I started to stretch my arms some more and touch my toes with my fingertips.

  While I was doing my arm stretches, I started to talk to my two new friends.

  "Do you all want to go out with me Saturday? Michael and I are going to a club near Parker."

  "I don't know; should that be your first date?" asked Brandy.

  "Nah. I was going out with my friends, so I invited Michael. It's a group outing, so you two free to come."

  Brandy looked at Kim and the two nodded their heads in agreement.

  "That's cool." said Kim.

  "Yeah. We're so tired of the Belmont crowd."

  I smiled at the two beautiful light-skinned girls in front of me. I knew that Saturday was going to be a good day. Not only was I going to see Eva and Ashley, but I was enjoying the day with the guy I'm feeling and my two new friends. Life was getting better by the minute.

  So I hope.

  After our two hour practice, we had down most of the new material we learned, which was a good thing. As I walked out of the locker room, I was hoping I would see Michael standing by my car again like he did the day before, but to my disappointment, he was not outside. During Chemistry class, we finally exchanged phone numbers, so maybe I would call him tonight.

  As I was driving down the street toward my house, Eva called asking me how was life at Belmont. Instead of talking to her on the phone, I decided to tell her everything at our favorite hangout, Chester's, which was near Parker. I had a lot of homework, but I figured seeing my best friend for an hour wouldn't hurt. As we sat at our favorite booth, I ordered a cheeseburger and a Sprite, while Eva ordered a BLT sandwich with some fries and water. As we waited for our food to arrive, I started to talk about what been going on with my life in the past two days.

  "So much has happened in just a short time," I told Eva as I sipped on my Sprite.

  "I see. How is the school? Is it swarming with preppies? Or is that a figment of my imagination?"

  "You're on point. It is that. But it was not what I thought. I thought it was going to be this school that had stuck up brats and barely any blacks. Now the part about the stuck up brats are true, but there are more than ten blacks who go there."

  "I bet they're stuck up too," Eva said as she drank her water.

  "Probably so, but the ones I've encountered are pretty nice. In fact, I've invited two of the cheerleaders with us to Range Saturday."

  "Really?" Eva said disappointedly. I could tell that she was not going to like who I was bringing from Belmont.

  "Don't worry Eva. They're real cool. They remind me of you and Ashley."

  "No one can duplicate us," Eva said.

  I laughed. "You right. But you'll like them both."

  "Well if you think they are cool, then I'll give them a chance."

  "Great."

  "Are there any fine guys there?"

  "Yeah. Actually, I met someone yesterday. I invited him with us Saturday, too."

  "Oh really. Who is this guy?"

  "His name is Michael, and he is really nice. Not only that, but he is Mr. All-American. The boy is in every activity you can think of at Belmont. And he is so popular; everyone there treats him like he's a celebrity."

  "Sounds like my type of brother," said Eva as she bit into her BLT sandwich.

  I looked down to my plate and sighed.

  "Well how does he look? Is he dark-skinned, light-skinned, what?" Eva said in a rush.

  "Well neither. He's really fine. He's about my height, but taller. He has the most amazing eyes you could look into, and he has blonde hair that is so shiny and gorgeous..."

  Before I could say anything more, Eva nearly choked on her fries. She looked at me with her light brown eyes wide.

  "He has blonde hair? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were saying that Michael is white."

  "Actually, he is." I said smiling.

  "So you're telling me that you crossed over to the other side? I thought you said you would never date a white guy?"

  "What difference does it make, E? Yeah I might have said that in the past, but Michael is a really nice guy. Besides, what's wrong with trying something new?"

  "Nothing, but I would have never thought you would go that way."

  I looked at Eva and rolled my eyes.

  "Listen, I don't expect you to like my choices, but if you're not going to support me on this, then whatever. It doesn't matter to me. Besides, this is our first date, and it not really a date because we're going to a club. So if you going to judge, then go ahead."

  Eva looked at me and smiled.

  "Why are you smiling? I didn't say anything funny."

  "I know. It just that you never seemed so defensive over someone, not since Derrick."

  I shook my head at the mention of my ex-boyfriend. Derrick Marberry. He was my first love. At one point. We started to date in our freshman year at Parker. We were inseparable. We could not go anywhere or do anything without the other. He was so fine, with his light colored skin, and hazel eyes, he was definitely a magnet for the female population at Parker. We dated on and off for a while, but after the many girls who tried to get with him, and his pressuring for me to have sex, we decided to
break up a few months ago. Well that, and the fact that I caught him in the girls' locker room kissing all on Theresa the skank. That was the real reason why I couldn't stand Theresa. The fact that she stole my man, and because she really is a skank. No one knows the real reason why we broke up. Even my parents don't know why.

  "Don't mention his name again," I said as I threw my napkin on my plate. I suddenly lost my appetite. "Sorry girl, I didn't mean to get upset with you."

  "It's fine. It just that I know how much you liked Derrick. He even asked about you today."

  "You actually talked to him?" I asked furiously.

  There is one rule Eva, Ashley, and I made, and that was to never talk or associate with our exes. As I saw it, Eva broke that rule.

  "I wasn't trying to. He saw me at my locker this morning and came up to me asking me how you were doing. He even told me that he would be at Range Saturday. So I'm just giving you a heads up since you're bringing your new man there."

  "Technically, Michael is not my man. Yet."

  "Whoever he is, if Derrick sees you, he will certainly be looking; because he wants you back Char."

  I looked at Eva and sighed.

  Fine time for Mr. Romeo to try to get me back. Well this time, that was not going to happen.

  ~

  After I got home, I went right to work. I finished a paper for English, and worked on some math homework. Three hours later, I was about to work on my Spanish assignment, when my cell phone started to light up. I looked over at my nightstand, and picked it up from the charger. I looked at the caller ID and realized it was Michael. As my hands started to become sweaty, I slowly pressed the "talk" button.

  "Hello?" I said softly.

  "Hey. You busy?" he asked in his sexy voice. Just hearing his voice made me tingly all over.

  "Sort of. I'm doing my Spanish assignment right now."

  "Oh. Well I don't want to bother you."

  "You're not," I said quickly.

  "I know you have a lot of work to do since you transferred, so I'll let you go."

  "Don't. I have been doing homework for three hours now, so I could use a break."

  I could tell Michael started to smile as he continued to talk.

  "Actually, I didn't want to talk on the phone. I was hoping I could see you tonight."

  A smile started to form on my lips. He couldn't get enough of me, just like I couldn't with him.

  "I don't know. It's kind of late." I said as I looked at my clock on the nightstand. It was eleven p.m.

  "I understand it's a school night and all, but I can't stop thinking about you, and I wanted to see you."

  As I looked at the clock again, I knew my parents were already fast asleep, so I didn't have a problem sneaking out. Besides, I really wanted to see Michael too.

  "Let me give you the address to my house."

  "Cool."

  As I gave him my address, I also told him to meet me in the back of the house so no one would see him. As I hung up the phone, I quickly went into my closet and pulled out a sexy but classy outfit. Even though I was probably going to see Michael for only a few minutes, I wanted to look my best. As I changed into a pink off the shoulder sweater and dark blue jeans, I went into my purse and pulled out my MAC Pushglass in Wet, Wild, Wonderful. When I started to apply it on my lips, I realized someone was whispering outside my window.

  I went over to the window and saw Michael standing outside. I went over to my closet and put on my pink Ugg boots that were sitting nearby and went to the window. The best thing about my room is that it was upstairs, while my parents had a room downstairs, and because it had an open latch window with a balcony. As I opened the window, I went outside on the balcony and luckily, the ladder was sitting pretty by the side of the house. It's not like I sneak out the house a lot, it's just that when I did, I always made sure the ladder was there so I could get out. I motioned to Michael to grab the ladder, which he did. He moved it to the window while I waited on the balcony. As I carefully stepped onto the ladder, I took a step at a time, making sure I wasn't going to fall off or make any noise. When I reached the bottom, I noticed Michael was there holding the ladder so it would be steady for me.

  When I reached the final step, I hopped off, and fell into Michael's strong arms. We looked at each other for a moment until I pulled away from him.

  "Hello," he said quietly.

  I smile at Michael. "Hello."

  He was looking finer than ever, wearing a blue shirt, black jeans, and a black leather jacket.

  "Thanks for seeing me tonight," he said as we went over to his BMW 528i, which was parked out on the street.

  "My pleasure," I said as I climbed into the passenger seat. He waited until I was inside the car before he closed the door and went over to the driver's seat. As he turned on the engine, he slowly pulled out onto the street. When we were down the street, he turned on the radio and I noticed Michael had it on 97.9 The Boxx, the hip-hop and R&B station in Houston. One of my favorite songs at the moment was playing.

  "I love this song," I said as I started to bop my head lightly to the beat.

  "I like it too."

  "I didn't think you listen to The Boxx."

  "Why would you think that? Because I'm white?"

  "To be honest, yeah."

  Michael laughed. "I listen to a lot of things, from R&B, to rap, and hip- hop to pop. I like to be diverse."

  I nodded my head and smiled.

  "So who's your favorite artist?"

  "I have so many. Let's see, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, and Usher. I even listen to Justin Bieber."

  "I do too. My friends laugh at me because I like Justin. In fact, I'll listen to pop more than rap and R&B."

  "Really. Who's your favorite group?"

  "I love Maroon 5; I'm more into Imagine Dragons now."

  "I like Imagine Dragons too. I heard they're going to be in concert next month at the House of Blues. I would love to go see them."

  "So would I," I said smiling.

  As we continued to talk about music, I felt really relaxed around Michael. I didn't know where we were driving to, but I didn't care. Just being with him was the only thing that mattered to me.

  9. Michael

  Being around Charlie was so relaxing. I loved just hearing her talk, seeing her smile, looking into her mesmerizing eyes. When I called to ask if she wanted to see me, I didn't know if she would have agreed, but to my surprise, she did. When I saw her climb down the ladder, it seemed like she knew the routine all too well. I wondered if she had done the sneaking out thing with her other boyfriends.

  As we were driving to White Park, I knew it was way after hours, but I knew a secluded spot we could go to so we would not get caught. White Park was the place for couples to come to be alone, make out, and do other things. But tonight, all I wanted to do was be around Charlie and get to know her better. As I pulled my car into the secluded area behind some trees, I put the car in park and turned the engine off. I kept the radio on so we could hear some music. I got out of the car and went out into the mid- October night, taking in the cool breeze of fall weather. As I went around to the passenger's side, I opened the door and took Charlie's hand as she got out of the car. She closed the door and we went over to look at the view of the beautiful lake in front of us. The sky looked kind of dark, but we noticed a few stars trying to peak out under the dim night sky. I looked at Charlie and noticed she was shivering.

  "You're cold?" I asked her.

  "A little,"

  I smiled as I took off my jacket. I draped it over her shoulders and she smiled.

  "This is so beautiful. How did you find this place? I've been in Houston all my life and never knew about this."

  "I always came here growing up. Usually, this is the place couples come to be alone, but for me, this is my thinking place. I always come here before a big game, or if I'm thinking about something."

  "You never brought Danielle here?"

  "No. You're the only person."
r />   Charlie smiled as she looked at the sky.

  "What are you thinking about right now?"

  "You. Wondering how lucky I am to be with a beautiful girl right now."

  "Stop it. You making me blush," Charlie said as she looked down to the ground.

  "Well it's true. You are so beautiful."

  Charlie looked at me as she moved closer to me. As we looked at each other, another radio station, 104.1 KRBE, was playing Rebecca Ferguson, "Nothing's Real but Love." As I looked at Charlie, I took her hand and looked into her brown eyes.

  "You like to dance?"

  She smiled and came in closer to me. It felt good to hold Charlie in my arms. It seemed like we made a perfect match. As she came closer to me, I could smell the peach scent that was on her skin. We looked at each other with a look that meant we really liked each other. I wanted to kiss her, but I didn't know if it was too soon.

  As we stared at each other even longer, I noticed something drip on my shoulder. I looked up and saw that it had started to rain. Even though it was raining, neither Charlie nor I noticed. We just kept dancing to the music. And then it happened. I figured it was the perfect opportunity to kiss Charlie. So I did. I licked my lips a little and put my hand in her hair. I reached over to her and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. The kiss was everything I expect it to be. Charlie was a little surprised by the kiss, but she later gave in and put her hand behind the back of my neck. We were standing in the pouring rain kissing each other like it was going to be our last. Even though we would probably be sick in the morning, we didn't care. The only thing that mattered was that things had changed between us. And it felt pretty good.

  When we finally pulled ourselves from each other, we were back in my car and I was taking Charlie home. It was 12:30, so I knew I had to get back home since I had an early football meeting in the morning. The team was going to go over some plays for the big game. While I was driving, Charlie looked over at me, took my free hand and put it in hers. I gave her a heartily smile as I turned onto her street. When I parked my car on the curb by her house, I quickly turned off my car lights and turned off my radio. I suddenly became shy as I gazed at Charlie. Even though our relationship had changed, it still felt like we were still friends. I guess because we only had known each other for two days now.