"Wow. Your heart is going wild."
"I know. It's because of you."
"I didn't know I could do that to you."
"You do everyday."
I smiled as we leaned toward each other for a kiss. As I looked at the mahogany clock hanging on the wall, I realized how late it was.
"Time really does travel fast," I said while sitting up.
"What's the hurry? We have plenty of time," Michael said as he was trying to pull me back down.
"No we don't. Chris and Ashley should have been here by now."
"I'm glad they weren't," Michael said while laughing.
"You're right, but the party is about to start in an hour. We haven't even decorated. We haven't even got dressed yet," I said in a panicky tone.
"Calm down girl. Don't worry about it. We will have everything under control before everyone gets here. Now why don't you get dressed while I get everything ready."
I smiled as Michael kissed my forehead.
"Sure,"
As I got up from my comfortable position, I went toward the bathroom to take a much needed shower. As I turned on the water, I let out a long sigh. The feelings I thought were lost with Michael came back today with a vengeance. I didn't know who I wanted to be with. I love Michael, but Derrick has always been my first love. As I stepped into the shower, the thought of Michael and Derrick surfaced into my mind as the warm water begins to smack me in the face. I didn't know who to choose, but I better make my decision soon, because I didn't know if I could handle playing with two men's emotions.
26. Michael
Where is Chris? I asked myself as I was putting out a bowl of chips on my coffee table. Chris was the one who thought of having this party and he's nowhere to be found. As I looked at my watch, I realized the party was about to start and I hadn't even got dressed. As I looked around the apartment, I had to smile at how good the place looked. I did a great job putting everything together in a short time. As I went over to my stereo, I put on Drake's new CD and waited for Charlie to come out of the bathroom.
"Char, how long you going to be? I have to get ready too," I yelled to the bathroom door.
I went over to my closet to pick out a blue colored Polo shirt and dark blue jeans. At the moment, it didn't matter how I looked for the party. I really didn't want to have this party. But since Chris decided to invite people, I couldn't cancel. As I was looking for my blue tennis shoes, I decided to opt for another outfit, when Charlie walked out of the bathroom looking gorgeous as ever. The time she took getting ready was well worth it as she sashayed over to me wearing an aqua blue off the shoulder shirt over a black miniskirt. Loose curls were cascaded around her beautiful face as she gave one of her brightest smiles.
"Sorry I took so long. I had to work with my hair for a little bit."
"You look amazing," I said as gave her a kiss on her cheek.
"Thank you Mr. Collier. Now why don't you start getting ready while I finish getting everything together?"
I smile as I grabbed my new outfit, a black Polo shirt and tan khakis, and headed to the bathroom. While I was running the water for the shower, the doorbell rang.
"Charlie, can you get that!" I yelled from the bathroom.
"Sure," she yelled back.
I smiled as I step into the shower. I have a feeling tonight is going to be a good night.
Charlie
I ran to the door and answered it. The smile I had on my face quickly disappeared when I saw who was standing on the other side.
"What are you doing here?"
Danielle and Derrick smiled at me as they walked inside the apartment.
"Nice to see you too, Charlie. Where is Michael?" Danielle asked.
"Why are you here? How did you know where Michael lived?" I asked as I looked at Derrick.
"Danielle invited me," Derrick said. As he walked in, he leaned over and whispered in my ear.
"Are you jealous?"
I looked at him and sighed.
"I think you two need to leave. Michael doesn't need you two causing any trouble."
"Why? Is there a reason why Michael wouldn't want us here? Or is it you who doesn't."
I looked at Danielle, ready to give her a beat down, when I saw Michael come out of the bathroom. He looked at the two uninvited guests and sighed.
"Why are you two here?"
"Hello to you too, Michael. I heard about the party from some girls at school and I decided to drop by. I hope you don't mind," Danielle said in an innocent voice.
I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"The party doesn't apply to you. And definitely not you, Marberry, so why don't you two leave."
"Hey, no one said this was a private party," Derrick said.
"Yeah, but this is my house. I can invite whoever I damn well please."
"Whatever. Danielle invited me."
"Can everyone calm down please?" I said.
I was about to go over to Danielle to escort her out, when Chris and Ashley walked through the door.
"Sorry we're late," Chris said slowly. He looked at Danielle and Derrick with a confused face.
"I didn't invite you two."
"We invited ourselves and we're not leaving until we get something straight."
"Oh, and what is that?" I asked.
"Why don't we wait until the party starts, shall we. I think everyone would like to see what I'm giving Michael for a belated birthday gift."
I looked at Derrick, who gave me a shrug. Whatever Danielle was going to do, it was not going to be from the heart.
"You know what; I don't care if Danielle or Derrick is here. Nothing is going to spoil this night. So let them stay," Michael said.
I looked at Michael as if he'd lost his mind.
"What?" Me, Chris and Ashley said in unison.
"It doesn't bother me that they're here. Y'all can stay and have a good time."
As I was about to go over to Michael to find out if he was drinking in the bathroom, Danielle walked up to me.
"Michael said it was fine."
"Leave me alone, Danielle."
"I suggest you be nice to me, Char. I have everything I need to destroy you at Belmont and with Michael."
I turned around and looked at Danielle.
"What you have on me, Danielle?"
"You don't think I know why you transferred to Belmont? I know what you did, and after tonight, everyone will know. Not only will Michael dump you for the skank you are, but everyone at Belmont will hate you for it."
"You don't know anything about me."
"Well Char, I guess you have to wait and see," Danielle said as she went over to the couch. She sat down beside Derrick and gave a little smile at me.
I looked at the two and sighed.
I could tell that tonight was not going to be a good night for me.
Michael
After a few minutes of questioning what I'd just done, I walked out of the bathroom and sighed. Why did I let my ex and my girl's ex in my apartment, let alone tell them to stay? As I was going into the kitchen, Charlie came over to me and pulled me back into the bathroom. She closed the door with an angry look on her honey-colored face.
"What on earth possessed you to let those two stay?"
"I thought it was a good idea. I figured those two needed to see how happy we are. Maybe if they see it, then they will leave us alone."
"You're not getting it. Those two will never leave us alone."
"Maybe so, but what does it matter if they stay? It's not like I would be paying any attention to them anyway."
Charlie looked at me and shook her head.
"You're making a huge mistake Michael," she said as she was about to open the door.
As she was leaving, I quickly closed the door again.
"I need to tell you something."
Charlie folded her arms across her chest.
"I decided to go to University of Houston instead of Northwestern."
Charlie gave me the same crazy look
that she gave me earlier.
"What! Why would you do that? You had your heart set on Northwestern."
"I know, but things changed. Charlie, I want to be with you, and I figure if I go off to Northwestern, then things wouldn't be the same for us."
"Michael, are you listening to yourself? You told me that you wanted to go to Northwestern since you were a kid. Why would you jeopardize that for me? Don't go to U of H because you want to be close to me."
"What are you talking about? I thought you would be happy that I wanted to stay for us."
"Don't get me wrong, I would miss you like crazy if you went off to college, but don't miss your opportunity because of me. Don't stay here on my account."
I sighed. "Why do you want me gone Charlie? Is there something you want to tell me?"
I know I was getting on Charlie's back, but I couldn't believe how angry she was getting. I thought she would be happy that I wanted to stay in Houston and be with her.
"Michael, you have a 4.0 GPA. You could get into any college imaginable. Why would you want to settle on going to U of H?"
"You're going there."
"Yeah, because I chose to. But you, I know you don't want to go there. You're just doing it because of me. That's why I'm so upset with you. I want you to go to the college you had your heart set on. I don't want you to wonder what could have been."
"I made up my mind and I'm sticking to it," I said as I opened the door.
As I walked out of the bathroom, I saw Brandy standing by the TV looking like she had been crying. I walked over to Brandy and put an arm around her.
"What's wrong?"
Brandy looked at me and put her arms around me.
"Brandy, what's wrong?"
After a few minutes of listening to Brandy crying on my shoulder, she pulled apart from me and took a deep breath. She started to look around the room with fresh tears streaming from her brown eyes.
"You're scaring me, Brandy."
"Please, just give... me a few.. . minutes," Brandy said in a stammered tone.
I looked at Brandy while she tried to regain her composure.
She took a deep breath and looked at me.
"I tried to wait to tell you this, but I couldn't find the heart to tell you. I tried each and every day to tell you, but since you're with Charlie now and you have enough on your plate with Danielle..."
"What's going on, Brandy?"
"I'm still in love with you, Michael. I never stopped loving you."
I looked at Brandy with a sad look on my face. Why was Brandy doing this to me? I went to the nearest place, which was the couch, and quickly sat down.
"I know I shouldn't have sprung this on you, but I couldn't keep it in anymore. I tried hard to move on, but I can't. And every time I look at Steve, I think of you."
I looked at Brandy with a perplexed look.
"Why Brandy? Steve doesn't look like me."
"But he could."
When Brandy said that, the comment hit me like a ton of bricks. Everything seemed to come to place as I looked over at the blank TV screen.
"You never told me who the father was Brandy."
Brandy looked at me speechless. From the expression on her face, I knew right then who the father was.
"Why you didn't tell me Brandy? Steve is two years old!"
"I couldn't Michael! Not after what happened with your parents and how they used to treat me. I didn't want Steve to experience what you or I had to go through."
"Oh, but you decided to lie to me about the fact that someone else was the father, when all along I was."
"It not like you weren't there for Steve."
"I can't believe this," I said as I put my head in my hands.
I couldn't believe Brandy would do this to me! First, it was Danielle and her vengeance towards me and Charlie, Eva and her vengeance towards me, and now this!
"I really don't need this right now," I said in a low voice.
"I'm so sorry Michael. I know this is not a good time."
"It never a good time to tell someone he's a father," I said as the doorbell rang.
I looked over as Chris ran over to the door. As he opened it, a herd of teenagers came barging through the door as if they were a bunch of cattle. I looked in amazement as practically the entire senior class of Belmont was coming into my apartment.
"What the hell?" I said in a loud tone.
I got up from the couch and looked at Brandy.
"Don't think this is over," I said as I went to the door. I looked at Chris as if I wanted to deck him.
Before I could get a word in edge wise, Chris jumped me to the punch.
"I swear dude, I didn't invite all these people. They must have found out from someone else about the party."
"Who!" I yelled.
Someone walk into the door with a flyer in his hand. I snatched the flyer and looked at it.
"You made flyers?" I asked Chris.
"No man. You told me who to invite and I did."
I looked at the guy who had the flyer.
"Where did you get this?"
"It was in my locker Michael. Practically everyone found this flyer in their locker," he said as he walked past me.
I looked at Chris, who nodded his head in agreement. We both knew who decided to invite everyone to my party.
Danielle walked past us and smiled.
"I see you found one of my surprises. Stay tuned folks, because there more to come," she said as she went over to my kitchen table.
I looked at Chris and sighed.
"What else could possibly happen tonight?"
When I said that, Eva walked in. She looked at me and smiled.
"I spoke too soon," I said. I went over to the beer keg that someone brought in near the kitchen, grabbed a red Solo cup, and filled it to the brim. I need something stronger than beer, I thought as I picked up a cup and put it to my lips.
"This going to have to do," I said as I started to drink the cup in seconds.
I could tell tonight was going to be the night from hell.
27. Charlie
This is going to be the night from hell, I thought as I looked at the barrage of people in Michael's apartment.
"How did all these people get in here?" I asked Ashley.
"I wish I knew. But I think your boy's ex knows a thing or two," she said as she looked over at Chris, Michael, and Danielle talking.
"I swear, before this night is over, me and her are going to be sprawled out on the floor pulling each other's hair out."
"Oh, so you are going for a repeat performance? Don't you think that's why you're in this predicament now?" Ashley said smiling.
"Yeah, yeah; there is something about her that makes me so angry. She told me earlier that she has something on me. What could she possibly have?"
"With Danielle, I wouldn't put anything past her. Besides, she is dating Derrick, so anything is possible."
I looked over at the drinks table where Derrick was standing. He was drinking several cups of beer as if it was the only thing to drink on earth.
"They're not dating," I said in a quick tone.
"How you know?"
"Because I told Derrick I loved him."
Ashley looked at me as if I told her I was about to jump out of the loft window.
"You told him what?"
"Let's not talk about this here. I don't want anyone listening to us," I said.
I looked over to the couch, where I saw a couple of guys playing with an antique vase.
"Put that down!" I yelled as I ran over to get the vase from them.
I took the vase away from the table and went toward the kitchen to put it under the cabinets. I don't know where Michael went off to, but he needed to come back to secure his place.
As I was about to go back over to where Ashley was, Derrick grabbed my arm and pulled me back into the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"We need to talk."
"Not now."
"When then? I'm tired of playing these games Charlie. Ever since you told me how you felt about me, you haven't been returning my calls and when I do see you, you act like you don't want to be bothered."
"What do you expect Derrick? This is Michael's apartment. I can't associate with you here."
"I'm sick and tired of you talking about what you can and can't do. You told me how you felt, but you haven't done anything to change the situation. I thought that since you loved me, you would leave Collier and be with me, but what do I see? You with Collier. You should not be calling all the shots about what goes on between us and what you want to do with Collier."
"What you want me to do?"
"I want you to tell Collier that you want to be with me. If you don't, I will."
I looked at Derrick with wide eyes.
"Please Derrick, don't do that," I begged.
"You left me no choice," Derrick said as he walked past me. I turned around and sighed.
If Derrick tells Michael about him and me, my relationship will be ruined.
I can't let him risk that, I thought as I begin to search for Derrick through the huge crowd.
Michael
After chugging down my fourth cup of beer, I started to get a buzz. I looked around the room with a satisfied smile on my lips. If I was going to stay sane and not pound somebody into the ground, I probably would have to be stone drunk. I looked up from my fifth cup of beer and noticed Eva at the table looking at me and smiling.
"Wow, this brings back memories."
"What the hell do you want?" I asked in a grumpy voice.
"Hello to you too. Maybe you need to lay off the alcohol. You've been throwing it back since I got here."
"Why don't you leave me alone?"
"Fine, drink your way to a stupor, I don't care," Eva said as she took a cup from the table and walked off. She stopped walking, came back to the table, and threw her drink at me.
"What the..." I yelled as the sweet, sticky liquid spattered on my face and shirt.
Several people nearby stopped what they were doing and looked at the two of us ready to argue.
"You are such a jerk, you know that!"
"What have I done now?"
"I can't believe you can be so coy and cool about everything that has happened, when you know damn well what's going on."
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