To The Woman He Loves 2

by Theresa Hodge

  “You’re right mom, but it isn’t the same,” I breathe in slowly. I’m convinced it will never be the same. I just can’t see myself feeling comfortable in my new school. For me, meeting new people now, people so different from my friends and me at Gadsden, in no way means making new friends. It means having to endure a year in an all-white school with strangers, away from everything I knew. It means not seeing my best friends every day, not eating lunch with them and joking around between classes. It means being alone with a bunch of unfamiliar people. And even if the kids here turn out to be fun and friendly, they would still not be my friends from Gadsden. A few flights during weekends and breaks aren’t going to help; I ponder to myself.

  “Good morning to the two most beautiful girls around.” My dad strolls into the kitchen grabbing mom around the waist, dips her in his arms, and plants a loud kiss on her lips.

  “Eww, get a room you two,” I pretend I’m grossed out by the display of their affection, but I love knowing that my parents love each other as much as they do. Half of my friends back home in Gadsden, their parents were either divorced or single mothers.

  “Hahaha,” my dad laughs letting my mom go. He strolls over, places a kiss on top of my head and sits down at the table. “Very funny Blu. You just wait until the day some lucky fellow sweeps you off your feet like I did Tracie,” he brags speaking of my mom. He picks up his steaming cup of coffee that mom poured earlier and takes a sip.

  I notice how my mom’s eyes light up as she stares at my dad before walking back to the stove to bring the rest of the breakfast to the table. “Here you go, Charles.” She places a plate before my dad, before sitting down to the table with her own.

  “Thank, you sweetheart,” he says before returning his attention back towards me and gives me a serious look. “Blu, I want you to drive safely to school, no talking on the phone, no texting, and pay attention to other motorists on the roadway. Some don’t drive with the sense the good lord gave them.”

  “I promise I will follow all the rules dad. Please don’t worry about me.”

  “It’s our job to worry,” mom cuts in to say.

  Listening to dad and mom lay out the different rules for me for the thousandth time, my mind drifts, and I wonder what my new school will be like. I wonder if the kids will be as nice as the ones at my old school, and I wonder what the teachers will be like. But most of all, I wonder if there will be many dark faces like mine walking through the halls of Gulf Shores High. I had searched the internet and thumbed through several brochures, but all I saw were Caucasians and a few other ethnicities, other than my own, represented in the student’s images portrayed. Seeing that got me worried I would stick out like a sore thumb as soon as I step into the school.

  “Finish up Blu,” my mom’s cheerful voice cuts into my thoughts. My stomach clenches in knots as I realize it’s time for me to leave.

  “I’m all done,” I say, getting up from the table to take my plate and glass to the kitchen sink.

  “I’m heading out too, honey,” my dad tells my mom. “If you need me for anything and I’m tied up in a meeting, just leave a message with my secretary. The same goes for you, Blu. I want you to be brave, have confidence in yourself, and this new school year will zoom by, and before you know it, you will be going off to college,” my dad assures me.

  “I agree with all your dad says,” mom speaks up.

  “Thanks for the pep talk.” I put on a brave front and walk out of the kitchen with my dad. I gather my book bag and purse that I placed by the front door the night before. Dad picks up his leather briefcase, and we walk out the door together. Dad gets in his SUV, and I get into my Honda Accord, toot my horn at my mom, who’s waving from the doorway, back out of the driveway and drive towards the direction of my school which is only fifteen minutes away, depending on the traffic and weather conditions.

  As I start the drive to the school, nerves overcome me once more, and I turn on the radio to drown out my thoughts. I’m closer to finally getting this day over with.

  ***

  Gulf Shores High School looms before me as I park my car in the parking space designated for student drivers. A group of students in uniforms like mine lingers around their parked cars. A group of girls stares at me as I get out the car. Grabbing my book bag, I close the door and hit the lock button on my keychain. I smile as I walk by the group of girls but neither one of them smiles back. All they do is follow me with their unsettling stares. They aren’t even trying to be discreet about it. One girl with a chin length bob haircut, loudly whispers as I pass. “I see we have a new black token student for the year.” I can hear their laughter as I continue towards the front of the school, but I won’t give them the satisfaction of my reaction. Staring straight ahead and adamant not to turn around, or even slow down, I fight to keep my head up as I walk through the double doors and into the School building. Pausing, I dig into my handbag to pull out the map of the school. Gazing at it like it’s a maze, I begin to frown as I stand in the hallway.

  Students pass me by, and no one seems to care that I am standing in the middle of an unfamiliar school not knowing the direction to the office. “Excuse me,” someone says after bumping my shoulder, and I drop the map in my hand. I start to bend down to pick it up, but the same voice stops me. “I got it.” I stand back up straight, so we don’t bump heads, and the voice speaks again. “You must be a new student,” a boy says when he faces hands and me over the map.

  “Yeah,” I pause when I look up into a pair of light blue eyes. The boy that’s standing before me has golden skin, thick, defined eyebrows, and sharp cheekbones. He is also tall. Taller than my dad’s six feet one inch in height. I just stand there and stare at his model-like cuteness.

  “Are you lost?” he asks, and then he smiles. Well, now I definitely am. His smile takes my breath away. I look down at my feet because I don’t know why I’m feeling this way about this white boy, but my feelings can’t be swayed. I am still nervous, but now it’s due to having this guy talk to me.

  “Ah, yeah. I need to find the office soon,” I admit glancing at the watch on my arm. “I need to pick up my schedule and get to my first class on time.”

  “No biggie. Follow me, and I’ll show you where the office is. It isn’t far. My name is Jasper Hartley. What’s yours?” he asks as I follow him down the hallway. Curious glances trail us as we walk by the fellow students.

  “My name is Blu Silvers,” I barely get out before starting to trip over my clumsy feet. Jasper acts fast and saves me from falling on my face. His reflex to catch me before I fell is kind of interesting. I’m still embarrassed but really glad that I didn’t fall. “Thank you,” I say breathlessly.

  “No problem,” he says and smiles at me. “Here is the office,” he stops walking and points. “I’ll wait here in case you need help finding your class,” he offers.

  “Thanks a lot.” I smile and walk through the office doors. I am a little less nervous, and I have Jasper to thank for that.

  Chapter 2

  BROOKE

  Mean Girls

  “Brooke,” Ashley walks over to the desk across from me and sits. Her eyes are big and filled with excitement.

  “What’s going on?” I ask ending my conversation with Courtney.

  “Yeah, tell us the news, because I never see you in that big of a hurry unless you have some juicy gossip.” Courtney laughs.

  “You’ll never believe who I just saw walking in the hallway with Jasper.”

  “Who?” I blurt out. Ashley has my full attention when she mentions Jasper’s name.

  “The new black girl we saw this morning in the parking lot,” she says bobbing her head up and down.

  My jaw clenches. “I know the fuck you didn’t,” I say feeling angry. “Jasper was supposed to meet up with me this morning before we came to class. No wonder he didn’t show up, he was hanging with that bitch.”

  “Ooh, Jasper is gonna get it,” Courtney throws her two cents into the conversation.<
br />
  “You’re damn right he is,” Ashley agrees, but Courtney looks at me as if she is enjoying my discomfort. She shrugs and grins. “You and Jasper aren’t really dating, are you?” Ashley asks giving me a sly glance.

  “You know damn well that I’m not but since he is the most popular guy at this school and I’m the most popular girl, we should be. And we will be, just wait and see.” I toss back my head, still anger flowing through my blood at the thought of Jasper ditching me to be with some other girl.

  “Well, Jasper is popular but Kade Watson is just as popular and just as cute,” Courtney cuts in and looks towards the doorway as Kade enters the room.

  “What’s up people?” Kade greets everyone making a grand entrance like he usually does. It’s a good thing that Mr. Finn isn’t in or he would scold Kade for sure. But popular or not, cute or not, Kade is not the one I want. I’ve got my mind set on Jasper, and until I get what I want, no one else will do.

  “Oh my God. Look who is walking in,” Courtney says in a hush tone. I look once again toward the classroom doorway and in walks Jasper with the newbie. My jaw hung down slightly and I cannot remove my eyes from their direction.

  Deftly, I rise from my seat. “Where are you going?” Ashley asks.

  In that moment Jasper leans down and whispers something in the black girl's ear. She smiles at whatever he said and nods her head up and down. They soon start walking and he points toward a seat. She says something to him before taking the seat he pointed out.

  “Hey Jasper,” I call out to him and wave him over once he looks my way.

  “Hey Brooke. What’s up?” Jasper walks up to me.

  “Who is that girl you walked in here with?” I lean in close just to get a whiff of Jasper’s cologne. He always smells so good.

  “Oh, that’s the new girl. Her name is Blu Silvers,” he replies.

  “What the hell type of name is Blu Silvers? She must be from the ghetto,” I say snidely.

  “Hehehe,” Ashley and Courtney both laugh.

  Jasper frowns and looks down at me with a glare in his eyes. “I can’t believe that you have to be so rude all the time Brooke, and I see your two cohorts fall right in line along with you.”

  “And I can’t believe that you stood me up for a duck looking girl with fat lips,” I reply looking over at Blu. She looks over at me as if she felt me watching her. I sure hope she can feel it. I narrow my eyes at her and place my hand against Jasper’s chest to show her who he belongs to. No girl can expect to just stroll into the school one morning and snatch Jasper away from me, and get away with it. Especially some new ghetto girl. I turn back to Jasper, my hand still on his chest, and glare his way. “Or, did you forget that we had plans?”

  He rolls his eyes. “Nope…didn’t forget, but something else came up.” I open my mouth and want to spew nasty words his way, but he continues. “You are so childish,” Jasper says with a hard edge to his voice and backs up so that my hand slides down from his chest. He gives me a look of disinterest at best before he starts to walk away.

  “Wait, I’m sorry okay,” I place my hand on Jasper’s wrist stopping him. “Can we have lunch together this afternoon?” I pout and flutter my long lashes. I know how to bag a man and Jasper was on the verge of being mine, so I don’t want to screw that up.

  Jasper’s eyebrows rise and he regards me with an unreadable look in his blue eyes. Sometimes I wish I could read that look, but I know that those eyes, just as unreadable as they are, are a part of what makes him who he is. They make the challenge of getting him just for myself all the greater, and make me adamant to face that challenge even more.

  “Maybe, guess we will see,” Jasper replies and walks off to take his seat. He sits beside the new girl and all eyes around him widen, and a couple of mouths fall open. Unbelievable, I think to myself, but I never let my thoughts show. Instead, I go back to my desk. I take a seat and keep my eyes toward them, watching them.

  I hear mumbling behind me and I turn around in my chair when I hear Ashley mention my name. The words were incoherent, but my name was on her lips. “What did you say about me Ashley?” I arch an eyebrow and Ashley looks a little uncomfortable.

  “Oh, it was nothing. Nothing at all,” she repeats. Her words were different from the expression on her face.

  It is Courtney that doesn’t seem to mind throwing Ashley under the bus. “Ashley made me a bet,” Courtney tells me with laughter in her tone.

  “What kind of bet?” I ask.

  “Shut up Courtney. You don’t have to tell everything you and I talk about. Damn it,” Ashley curses.

  “One of you better tell me that I'm not the subject of your bet.” I narrow my eyes and glare at my two friends.

  “All I said was, I wonder who can get Jasper to have sex first, you or the black girl. Courtney says you can because there is no way that Jasper will sleep with a girl like that. But you know that I like to play the devil’s advocate, and I am on the fence about it. That’s when I suggested to Courtney to put a wager on it.”

  “You two don’t make a bit of sense. First of all, how do we know the new girl wants to have sex with Jasper? Second of all, even if she does, there will be no competition,” I reply with confidence.

  “You haven’t gotten him to have sex with you so far, Brooke, and we all know how hard you try. I’m pretty sure that he’s slept with most of the girls on the cheerleading squad anyway,” Ashley admits. “Maybe the black girl will get lucky before you do too.”

  I open my mouth to respond to the provocation and set Ashley straight, but she’s saved by Mr. Finn.

  “Good morning class. I’m sorry that I’m running behind schedule today, but I’m here now and it’s time to jump in with both feet and get this new school year started. I think we have a new student this school year,” Mr. Finn says while looking around the room. “Oh yes, there she is.” Everyone’s eyes follow Mr. Finn. “Do you want to introduce yourself and tell us where you’re from, Miss Silvers?”

  Blu stands and looks around the room nervously. I look over at Jasper and he’s staring at Blu. She glances over at Jasper, he smiles and she returns his smile, before she faces forward and begins speaking. “Hi, my name is Blu Silvers and I’m from Gadsden Alabama. My parents and I moved here over the summer because my Dad’s job transferred him here,” she addresses the class in a soft voice before retaking her seat. She exchanges glances with Jasper again and he gives her another reassuring smile. I swear, all this smiling back and forth makes me sick to my stomach.

  “It’s good to have you here Blu. I trust that everyone at Gulf Shores High will make you feel welcome. I’m here at your disposal if you ever have any questions,” Mr. Finn says before moving on with class and I fume in my seat the entire first period. No new girl is going to walk into this school and steal my man.

  “The bet is on,” I say to Ashley and Courtney. “I will be riding Jasper’s cock before this month ends and I will take the money you two bet on me,” I brag.

  “Okay, deal, but you will have to pay Ashley and me double if you don’t get him into bed,” Courtney adds.

  “And you have only thirty days to do it, starting right now,” Ashley agrees.

  “Shit,” I say to myself, knowing I have my work cut out for me. I’m not stupid. I know the difference between how I and the new girl look, and I know I got her beat on that field. What’s worrying me are all those smiles and glances, Jasper sitting so close to Blu and whispering in her ear almost as soon as he met her. I don’t know what she did to him, but I’m going to have to make extra effort to top that. But on the outside, I know I ooze confidence, and I don’t reveal my uncertainty to my friends.

 

 

 
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