On the Flip Side

by Nikki Carter

  “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’ve got all the information I need to make a decision.”

  “You’re gonna go off the word of that skank Porche? She’s just mad because she tried to hook up with me and I turned her down.”

  He’s quite the ladies’ man these days, I see. I could believe that Porche would do that, but it doesn’t change anything about the lies that Sam has already told.

  “I was going to give you this when I saw you next. I didn’t want it to be like this ... but ...”

  Sam hands me a little jewelry box.

  “What is this?”

  “Open it.”

  I open the box and there’s a pretty diamond ring inside.

  “It’s not an engagement ring, or anything like that. It was meant to be a promise ring.”

  Before I can stop myself, I laugh out loud. This is the least perfect time for him to give me a promise ring. Promise of what? That he’ll stop telling me lies and hurting me?

  “What exactly are you promising, Sam? I’m a little bit confused, I think.”

  “I know I’ve messed up. Big-time. But everything I hid from you, everything I didn’t say is only because I wanted so much to be with you. I know you, Sunday. Everything is all or nothing. I knew if I told you about hooking up with Rielle, you would’ve never forgiven me, even though we were on a break at the time.”

  “We were on a break?”

  “Well, I can’t even say it was a break. You’d placed me in the friend zone and wouldn’t let me out, and you were flirting with Truth.”

  “I am not about to rehash all that. Bottom line, you lied to me. You are not about to turn this around and make it seem like this is a me thing.”

  I place his ring box right back in his hand.

  “So you’re not going to accept my ring.”

  “I’m not. I’m a millionaire. If I want diamonds, I’ll buy my own.”

  I quickly walk away, leaving Sam standing outside. I don’t want him to see the angry and sad tears streaming down my face. He cannot see me crying. It’s not even fair that I am.

  Pop-star status might get me VIP access in the club, but it sure doesn’t do a dang thing for my love life. I feel the opposite of VIP. I’m like the busted chick who got to the door of the club and got turned away for looking too basic.

  How am I going to get over this?

  26

  All day, after Sam’s visit, I stay in bed crying. I don’t know if I’m angrier than I am sad, but I just know the tears won’t stop coming. I’ve already used two boxes of tissue and I’m working on a third.

  Gia and Hope come back from church and they’ve got food. I can smell it.

  “We’ve got a bunch of good stuff,” Gia says.

  “Comfort food,” Hope adds.

  Gia nods as she pulls out paper plates and forks. “When you’re sad you have to eat. Good food helps release mood-enhancing endorphins into your bloodstream. It’s like taking a Prozac.”

  “She means that it’ll make you feel better. Piper and Meagan are on their way with chocolate, ice cream, and movies.”

  “Movies? What kind of movies?” I know they better not bring a romantic comedy up in here. I will hurl that thing across the room if they do.

  “I was against it, but they’re bringing scary movies,” Gia says. “I’m not a fan, but it’s better than nothing, I suppose.”

  A few scary movies are perfect. Maybe I’ll be too petrified to even think about Sam’s deceptive ways.

  My phone buzzes, and I don’t even check it, because Sam has been texting me and calling me nonstop. He keeps saying that he cares so much about me, and that Rielle is nobody. In my opinion, you don’t buy nobody a laptop. Seems to me that a nobody wouldn’t get any gifts. A nobody wouldn’t even have your number.

  Maybe if it was just them hooking up for prom night ... maybe I could’ve understood. But, it wasn’t just that. He’s still dealing with her. How could he still be dealing with her when he’s supposed to be with me? Aren’t I enough?

  “When are they going to get here with the movies?” I ask.

  “Meagan just texted me and said they’d be here in five minutes,” Gia says.

  Hope hands me a plate of food full of my favorites. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, collard greens, candied yams, and macaroni and cheese. Of course, it’s from the Busy Bee Café.

  Sam and I loved to go to Busy Bee.

  “What do you want to drink?” Gia asks. “We’ve got Pepsi, sweet tea, and apple juice.”

  “Sweet tea.”

  “I should’ve known. You’re a native.”

  This makes me laugh, because it is so true. Sweet tea is like water to me. We probably drank more tea than any other beverage in my house growing up.

  Sam loves my sweet tea.

  I take a huge bite of food and try to push the thoughts of Sam out of my mind. This macaroni and cheese is so good. I don’t know what Gia meant when she talked about endorphins, but if it means good enough to slap yo’ mama, then I agree.

  “It’s good, isn’t it?” Hope asks. “This is how my mother cooks.”

  Gia laughs out loud. “Your mom is not this good a cook.”

  “I know you’re not talking. Your mother’s pancakes taste like shoes. And not even fly shoes. They taste like Payless shoes.”

  “Okay, I’ll give you that. My mother cannot cook.”

  I crack up at the back-and-forth cousin banter. If they’re purposely doing this to distract me, then it’s working, because they are too funny.

  There’s a knock on the door, and it’s Meagan and Piper. They’ve got huge grocery bags and movies.

  “Okay, so it’s going to be an Aliens marathon. We’ve got Alien, Aliens and Aliens III and Alien vs. Predator. Then, we also got Takers.”

  “What does that have to do with the alien theme?” Gia asks.

  “Absolutely nothing. But it’s a movie full of hotties,” Piper says. “Hotties are good, right?”

  We all burst into laughter. My phone rings, and this time it’s Mystique. I know her ring tone. This one I will answer.

  “Where have you been?” Mystique asks instead of saying hello.

  “Here, in my dorm. What’s up?”

  “I’ve been texting you all day, and you hadn’t replied. It was like you fell off the face of the earth or something.”

  I roll my eyes at her dramatics. I’m about five seconds away from saying something crazy. Not in the mood for anyone being theatrical today. No one except me. If I want to throw a tantrum I will.

  “What’s going on?” I ask. “What’s so important?”

  “Do you know about this thing with Bethany supposedly being pregnant?”

  Big sigh. Not caring about Bethany’s foolishness right now. But of course, Mystique doesn’t know what’s going on with me. If she did, she’d be more sympathetic. I think.

  “Yeah, I know about it.”

  “So when were you going to tell me? Evan is going to freak out! She’s got a record coming out in the spring. She can’t have a baby.”

  I shrug. Not my issue. “What do you want me to do about it?”

  “Convince her not to have it!”

  “I can’t do that. Plus, I can’t even think about that right now.”

  “Why not? What’s the matter with you?”

  “Nothing. What’s up with Zac’s love child?”

  Groan from Mystique. “Well, we’re at least talking now, but he still won’t give me an answer one way or the other. I’m pretty sure it’s his kid by the way he’s been acting.”

  “Wow. Well, keep me in the loop on that.”

  “I will if you answer your phone.”

  “Call me. Don’t text me.” I can’t take the chance of seeing one of Sam’s begging text messages.

  “Okay. Evan is calling a Reign Records meeting for later this week. It’s going to be at Zac’s house.”

  “Is Dreya going to be there?”

  “Yeah, I think so. I heard
she finally got settled in at Evan’s house. She had the master suite redecorated.”

  That makes me sad. Dreya is too young to move in with a man, but neither she nor Evan see anything wrong with it because she’s legal. My aunt Charlie didn’t try too hard to stop her either. I think if it had been some broke dude with no cash, that no one could’ve stopped Aunt Charlie from regulating. But because Evan is worth three hundred million dollars, he gets a pass.

  “Dreya is an idiot,” I say. “I hope she gets what she wants.”

  “She wants to be the biggest star in the world. Evan will try to make that happen.”

  “At whose expense?”

  “Anyone who gets in his way, I guess.”

  “Well, let me get off the phone with you. My friends are here, and we’re about to watch movies. Catch you later.”

  “Don’t forget to talk to Bethany.”

  “Whatever.”

  I disconnect the call and take another bite of food. “What are we watching first? Aliens or hotties?”

  Gia plucks a movie out of Piper’s hand. “Let’s save the hotties for last.”

  “Are y’all ready for final exams?” Hope asks. “My dad is going to freak out if I don’t get good grades.”

  “I’m ready. I don’t think I’m going to have a problem on any of mine,” Gia says.

  Piper says, “I just can’t believe the semester went by this fast. I mean, it seems like we just got here and now we’re about to be done with the first semester.”

  “I’m not worried about exams either,” I say, “but I do have to study. I’m not one of those people who can cram for tests. I’ve been hitting the books whenever I can, but I’m not sure it’s enough.”

  “How do you even find time to study? It seems like you’re always at the studio or at the club or somewhere,” Meagan says. “I admire you, though, because I couldn’t do it with all those distractions.”

  There’s another knock on our door. I have no idea who that could be since we’re all here.

  Piper opens the door. It’s DeShawn. He’s got a greasy-looking bag in his hand.

  “Oh, I see y’all already have food. I was just bringing Sunday some pizza from my favorite pizza shop.”

  “DeShawn! That’s so sweet,” I say. “Give it to me! If I gain ten pounds by the end of next week who cares! I don’t have a boyfriend anyway!”

  “Aw, don’t say that,” DeShawn says. “You and old boy are gonna work it out. He’d be stupid not to beg your forgiveness.”

  DeShawn brings the pizza over and gives me a hug. He feels strong and his cologne is incredible. But I’m so not thinking about how hot DeShawn is right now. I’m thinking that I have to stay completely away from him, because all boys are the same. Players. All they need is a groupie and the opportunity.

  “Thanks for the pizza, DeShawn. I appreciate it,” I say.

  “Okay. Call me if you need anything.”

  I nod and smile. I have no intention of calling him, but there’s no need for me to hurt his feelings since he’s being so nice to me.

  When DeShawn leaves, all of my friends burst into laughter. “What’s so funny?” I ask.

  “Nothing except the fact that DeShawn is so pitiful,” Gia says. “He’s been digging you ever since that video shoot y’all did.”

  “I know. He’s nice, but I’m not about to get with anyone else anytime soon. Sam messed it up for all the boys on all the campuses.”

  Meagan shakes her head. “My grandmother says, ‘one monkey don’t stop no show.’ You need to just dust yourself off and get back in the saddle.”

  Piper raises her hand. Gia says, “Yes, Piper.”

  “Excuse me, I’m having a really hard time believing that anyone in Meagan’s family said that. There was a double negative somewhere in that sentence.”

  This makes everyone crack up, including Meagan, who is not really all that cool with jokes about her family.

  “Don’t hate on us because we’re bougie,” Meagan says.

  “Turn on the movie!” Hope says. “I’m ready to see Sigourney Weaver kick some alien booty.”

  Even though there’s that ever-present pain in the pit of my stomach whenever my mind wanders back to Sam, the laughter is helping. A lot. My mother always says that laughter is good for the soul. I guess it’s also a good remedy for a broken heart.

  27

  “Teen Cosmo wants to have you on the cover of their magazine next month.” Evan catches me by surprise with this, because we’re not anywhere close to talking about photo shoots.

  We’re at Big D’s studio working on some music for Dilly’s album. Well, me, Dilly, and Big D are working on music. Sam was instructed to leave some pre-recorded tracks, so that I don’t have to see him. I’m only doing the hooks for the songs, because Dilly writes his own lyrics. He’s a true emcee.

  “Why do they want me? I’m not a model or anything like that.”

  Evan laughs out loud. “Oh, sweetie, by the time we get done with you, you’re going to be a model, actress, singer, songwriter, and all of the above. We’re just getting started.”

  “Okay ...”

  “But for this cover, they want you because you are in college and in the music industry. They’re doing an issue on the best colleges for fabulous girls.”

  “Sounds hot. When is the photo shoot?”

  “In a week or so. They’re going to do it at a studio in downtown Atlanta. They’ll have several different backdrops and all of them something scholastic.”

  I wonder if Dreya’s heard about this. She’s probably going to throw a hissy fit, and talk about all of the opportunities that Reign Records is making for me and not for her.

  “Cool, just let me know where to be.”

  Dilly comes downstairs with a bag of chips and a few cans of soda. He hands me one, pops one open for himself, and sets the rest of his snacks down on the table.

  “Did you hear from Bethany?” Dilly asks.

  I shake my head. “Hear from her about what?”

  “She said she had a miscarriage. But I don’t think she was ever pregnant. Not by me anyway.”

  This is an interesting development. If Bethany was pregnant, I think she may have gotten an abortion. Mystique was pretty adamant about pushing that decision on her. Mystique probably told her that if she had the baby her career would be over, which was probably the truth.

  “She didn’t seem like she was lying when she told me. And think about it. She never wanted you to know. If she was lying, why would she want me to keep a secret?” I ask.

  “Maybe she knew you wouldn’t keep it. I don’t know. I’m just glad that it’s over. If I never see her again, it’ll be too soon.”

  Evan says, “No such luck, young homie. You’re going to be doing some shows with her. That duet you did on her record is hot, and it’s going to be her first video.”

  Dilly sighs. “Oh my God. This is a nightmare. I can’t stand her.”

  “Listen,” Evan says, “you keep that inside these walls. When you get interviewed, you let everyone know that it’s all love at Reign Records. I don’t care what beef y’all have with each other. Keep it in the family.”

  I wonder if that goes for Mystique too. She’s definitely got beef with Zac right now, and possibly has some with Dreya.

  “Are you going to marry my cousin?” I ask.

  Evan cracks up. “Nah. It definitely isn’t like that. She is having the time of her life in New York, and spending lots of cash. She would like to be the first lady of Reign Records, but she needs a little bit more polish.”

  When he says first lady, does he mean his girlfriend or something? And does the use of first mean that there are seconds, thirds, and fourths? See a smart chick asks these things, and a silly girl just takes the American Express Black Card and calls it a day.

  What am I saying? At least she’s getting gifts out of it all. I let Sam play me for free.

  “I thought Mystique was the first lady of Reign Records,” Dilly says. “S
he’s the biggest artist on the label.”

  “The first lady is whoever I say it is,” Evan says. “Trust and believe, Drama is going to be even bigger than Mystique. She’s been floundering around with absolutely no guidance. No offense to Big D. He doesn’t really know what to do with a diamond in the rough like Drama.”

  Diamond in the rough? That’s new. And not the way I would describe Dreya at all. Well, definitely the rough part, but not the diamond part.

  “Bethany has potential to blow up too,” I say. “Her voice is incredible, and she really blossoms as a solo artist. I think she always hid behind doing background vocals when she sang with me and Dreya. She never wanted to sing a lead.”

  Evan nods. “She is good, but she’s too silly. She’s going to do something to mess it up if she isn’t careful. She’s the type of artist that gets dropped from a label and no one understands why because they were so talented.”

  “Since you have so much commentary on everyone,” I say, “what do you think about me? Am I going to crash and burn?”

  “Sunday, you could have it all. You are a legend in the making. But you know what? I don’t think you really want it. I can’t understand why you’re still doing this college thing. You’re already a millionaire. All you need is a street degree. You could get one of them hanging with me.”

  “I love music, but all this invasion of privacy ... I don’t know if I want it. I feel like there are people out to get me. Every time I go out to a club, I’m wondering who’s going to say something sideways to me.”

  “Yeah, that’s all part of it. First things first though, you probably need to drop out of Spelman. I haven’t been pressuring you, but the more popular you get, the harder it’s going to be. You have to watch everyone. You won’t know who’s trying to be your friend just because of your money.”

  “None of my friends have asked me for anything... .”

  “Yet. They haven’t asked you for anything yet. Just give them a minute.”

  I shake my head and frown. “You don’t have any faith in people, do you?”

  “Nah. Everyone lets you down at least once. Set your expectations there and you won’t get hurt.”

  This makes me think of Sam. I had high expectations of him. I thought he was going to be a faithful boyfriend even though he was living in New York City. He’s let me down twice and it’s not even December yet.