by Nia Stephens
“Don’t worry, you will.” He lifted her hand to his lips, giving it a gentle peck.
Chapter 6
She Got Game
“Gemma, honey,” her mother called from downstairs. “You have a phone call.”
It was early Friday morning. Who would be calling her this early, before school? The only person she could think of was Maria and she had already talked to her late last night after her date with Christopher.
“Hello?” Gemma said into the receiver. Upset that his sleep had been disturbed, LeBron jumped off her bed. He circled around and around and then plopped down into his little corner and began snoring.
“Hey,” Christopher said. “I just thought I’d give you a call and tell you I had a great time last night.”
At first Gemma was surprised that he would call so early but then her surprise was replaced with excitement—and a little bit of relief. She had been worried that he may have been put off by her decision not to hook up last night, he had ended the date so abruptly. But since he called her first thing in the morning, he must be cool with it.
Then she said something that surprised even herself.
“Would you like to come to my game tonight?”
“I’d love to.”
At breakfast, her dad was reading the sports section of The Orange County Register while her mom was flipping through her Soap Opera Digest.
“How was your date last night?” her mother asked.
“Do I need to round up the cops on this one?” her father added in typical fashion.
“Nah. This one is cool,” she said. She nearly burst out laughing at the stunned expressions on both of her parents’ faces. Usually their daughter would complain about what a jerk the guy was.
“That’s great,” her mother said, beaming. Her dad studied her suspiciously.
“So, you can’t come to my game tonight?” Gemma asked her father.
He put the paper down and shook his head. “I’m sorry, honey. I can’t. Remember I told you The Man has me doing some file clean-up?”
Gemma remembered. She was just checking to make sure. “That’s okay. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of people there to cheer me on.” She grabbed a slice of toast and headed out the door.
Later at school, Gemma and Maria sat outside in the quad waiting for the first bell to ring.
“So you don’t think it’s weird he called so early this morning?” Gemma asked.
Maria shook her head. “Nope. It just means he’s into you.”
“I don’t know,” Gemma said. “If I called him the next morning he’d deem me desperate, clingy, and demanding.”
“Let me explain something to you,” Maria said. “Guys don’t have that same three-day rule as girls. They can call whenever they want. If you’re a girl and call before the allotted three days, then you’re right—you’re pathetic. If a guy does it, it’s all right. It’s not fair but it’s the law of nature.”
“Did you just make that up?” Gemma asked.
“I’m telling you, that’s how it is. I can’t believe you have been dating this long and don’t know that.”
“I can’t wait until he sees me play,” Gemma said. “I just hope I don’t make a fool out of myself.”
“You won’t feel weird having him there?” Maria asked. “You know, the whole white thing.”
Gemma looked at her friend disbelievingly. “Weren’t you the one that said that whole white thing wasn’t a big deal?”
“Yeah, but now you’re going to be around a bunch of kids you know. Before you were around a bunch of strangers.”
“Way to make me nervous!” Gemma exclaimed. “Why are you saying all this to me now?”
“What about your parents? What did they say?”
“My mom doesn’t care, but I haven’t told my dad yet.” Gemma hoped that it wouldn’t matter to her father that Christopher was white. He’d always trusted her judgment and had no reason not to now. Of course, she had never brought home a white guy before.
Was this going to be more complicated than she had anticipated?
C’mon! Aim, relax and shoot, Gemma told herself. She took in a long breath before releasing the ball. It hung in midair for eternity before it swished into the basket. The final buzzer went off and the crowd cheered wildly. Gemma and Taylor Collins, J. Marshall’s six-foot center, slapped high-fives as the rest of the team congratulated their winning combination of Taylor’s pass to Gemma to score the final two points of the game.
Although there were no winners or losers in this Friday night exhibition game, Gemma ended up scoring the highest number of points in her high school career. She had almost pulled out her secret weapon—her dunk that she had been practicing for weeks—but decided against it. The game was going too well and she didn’t want to risk it, especially with Christopher up in the stands.
As the crowd piled down onto the court, Gemma spotted Christopher headed in her direction. Judging by his expression, he appeared to have been thoroughly impressed with her performance. She did kick a little butt tonight and with Christopher cheering her on, she picked the perfect time to showcase her talent. She was just thankful he didn’t feel uncomfortable about coming to watch her play. She was even more thankful that she didn’t feel strange about it.
“Yo, that’s what’s up!” someone behind her said. She immediately recognized the voice. It was Ethan Jackson.
“Hey, Ethan,” she greeted him.
“Good game. I have never seen skills like that on a girl,” he told her.
“Thanks, I think,” Gemma said, finding his praise slightly backhanded.
“Do you want to go grab a pizza later?” Ethan asked.
Gemma never had a chance to respond. She felt arms wrap around her waist. Christopher leaned in and kissed her cheek. “You were amazing tonight,” Christopher said, glaring at Ethan over Gemma’s shoulder. Immediately Gemma recognized the battle of the testosterone going on. She found herself enjoying the attention.
Ethan backed down first. “I’ll catch you some other time,” he said, then walked away.
Christopher then turned Gemma completely around so they were standing face-to-face. He leaned down and kissed her again, a much more intense, deeper, tingling-to-her-toes kiss.
When they came up for air, over Christopher’s left shoulder Gemma spotted Ethan on the sidelines. He had been watching them the entire time!
This night just gets better and better, Gemma thought as she and Christopher walked out the gym door, arm in arm.
Gemma, Christopher, Maria, and Manny sat in a cozy booth in the back of Gino’s pizzeria. Earlier, at the game, Gemma had been impressed when Christopher offered to take her out for a special celebration and asked if her friends wanted to join them. Maria had missed the game because she had to babysit.
“You should have seen her play, Maria,” Christopher said excitedly. “No offense to girls but Gemma here was playing like a dude.”
Maria exchanged a quick glance with Gemma when he said the word dude. Gemma raised her brow as if to say, Doesn’t count—a different context.
“She really was amazing tonight,” Christopher declared. Gemma grew warm with all of his praise but she had to admit, she was enjoying it. Christopher placed his fingertips under her chin, pulling her face to his. Gently, his lips swept across hers. “It was great watching you,” he whispered softly.
“Okay, quit the smooching,” Manny said, interrupting the moment. “So how did you get into surfing?”
It was a blatant attempt to change the subject. Every time Christopher said something sweet to Gemma, Maria would reach under the table and pound Manny with her fist and ask him why he never said those kinds of things to her.
“Been doing it for years,” Christopher said.
“Is surfing dangerous?” Gemma asked. She remembered the amazing moves she’d seen Christopher doing on his board.
Christopher shrugged. “Can be, I guess. I’ll tell you what scared me—I was out there trying to catc
h a wave and a shark started swimming around.”
“No way! What did you do?” Maria asked.
“Got the hell out of there. What do you think I did?” Everyone laughed.
“I’m telling you, yo, I’m ready to surf,” Manny told a skeptical Maria.
Maria rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You hate water. The day I see you surf is the day I join the football team.”
Gemma smiled, watching Manny, Maria, and Christopher all share in the laughter. Not once did the fact that Christopher was white enter into any of their interactions. They were all getting along great.
Minutes later, Ethan sauntered through the door with his crew. As Ethan and his boys sat down a few booths away, Gemma noticed them tap each other and then nod in her direction. Gemma turned her attention back to Christopher but every once in a while found herself glancing at Ethan’s booth. A few of his boys cracked some jokes and started laughing.
You’re just being paranoid, Gemma, she told herself. Still, she caught herself wondering if they were talking about her and her white date. Who cares what they think, she decided. She was having a great time—and she wasn’t going to let anyone spoil it.
“Did you have a good time?” Christopher asked as they sat in his car in front of her house. Gemma nodded as she gazed into his blue eyes. It was still early and she considered inviting him in but decided against it. Forewarning her father was a much better tactic than ambushing him with the fact that Christopher was white. His thinking aloud might just embarrass all parties involved—especially her.
Christopher leaned over and kissed her. Her body began to tingle at the touch of his incredibly soft lips. Gemma placed her hand on the back of his head, deepening the kiss. For a minute she felt like she was floating in air. She crashed back down to earth when she felt his fingers fumble around with the buttons on her blouse. Still in the midst of their kiss, she gently removed his hands and placed them on her waist. After a few more minutes, once again she felt his hands cup her breasts and then he began fumbling with her buttons again.
She pulled away. “Can we just chill a minute?” she said.
Christopher shrugged and flopped back into the seat.
For a minute they both sat in silence in the car until finally he said, “I understand. We can slow down if you want.”
His words told her one thing but his frustrated and disappointed expression said another. Gemma figured it was probably safe to start the countdown to the end of this relationship.
“Hey, listen,” Christopher said. “I’m throwing a party tomorrow night. Do you want to come?”
Completely surprised by his invitation, Gemma hesitated. On the one hand she had a great time with him and they clicked. But on the other hand, she felt as though he was pushing too hard for sex. Another important factor that had not even come into play yet was her father’s reaction to the entire thing. Definitely something to think about.
“Can I call you in the morning?” Gemma asked.
“Sure thing,” Christopher said.
Good, she thought as she climbed out of the car. I really need to think about this ...
IF YOU THINK GEMMA SHOULD KEEP DATING CHRISTOPHER, THE SURFER DUDE,
turn the page.
IF GEMMA SHOULD TELL CHRISTOPHER GOOD-BYE,
turn to page 229.
If you think Christopher and Gemma should go out again, keep reading to find out what happens.
Chapter 7
Wipe Out!
“I like him,” Maria told Gemma over the phone. As soon as she got out of Christopher’s car and went inside, Gemma had run upstairs and called Maria. “Even Manny was impressed and he don’t like nobody,” she added, laughing.
“Yeah, I like him too,” Gemma admitted. “I think I’ll go to his party after all.”
“He invited you out again?” Maria asked. “Oooh, that boy’s in luuuuv.”
“I guess ...”
“What’s wrong?” Maria asked. “You should be all giggly and excited. Is it because you’re afraid of what your dad might say?”
“Not really. I mean, yes, but I’ll deal with that. It’s that ... well, he seems to like me for me, but I also get the message that what he really wants is sex.”
“If you really feel concerned about it, maybe you can talk to him again and explain things.”
Gemma shook her head. “That shouldn’t be necessary. He should know by now.”
“Newsflash,” Maria said with a laugh. “He’s a guy! It’s their job to push a girl to her limits. It’s our job to stop them in their tracks. I thought you knew.”
The more she talked to Maria, the more at ease Gemma felt about the entire situation—that particular situation anyway.
She’d worry about her dad tomorrow.
Saturday morning it was raining heavily. Normally on days like today, Gemma and Maria hung out indoors somewhere but today Maria and Manny had made plans. That left Gemma with LeBron. Maria promised to call her as soon as she got home but that did nothing to alleviate Gemma’s current boredom.
Later she would rummage through her closet and figure out what to wear for Christopher’s party tonight. She also had plenty of time to figure out how she was going to break the white guy factor to her father. This morning at breakfast when Gemma told him about the party, her dad had peered over his newspaper and joked that he would like to meet her date sometime before the wedding. That was his way of saying Gemma had been out with Christopher enough times to warrant a formal introduction.
“Gemma,” her mother called from downstairs. “Christopher is on the phone for you.”
“I got it,” Gemma said, picking up the receiver.
“Hey,” Christopher said. “I was just sitting here bored by all of this rain so I thought I’d take a chance and see if you wanted to go to the movies.”
“Sounds fun!” Gemma figured this afternoon would be a better time for introductions, rather than wait until tonight before the party. That way, it would be out of the way and they could enjoy the evening, stress-free. Or her dad would lock her away in a tower for all eternity.
After checking her outfit, Gemma stood in front of her bathroom mirror and rehearsed how to tell her dad about Christopher. At this point in the game, wasn’t it a little too late to say, Oh Dad, did I mention Christopher is white?
Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang. Okay, now it really was too late. She was coming face-to-face with the exact scenario she was trying so hard to avoid—springing this onto her dad out of the blue.
“I’ll get it,” she called as she ran down the steps with LeBron following closely. She opened the door and saw Christopher standing there in a pair of khaki shorts and white T-shirt. He looked gorgeous—healthy, outdoorsy, and hot, hot, hot.
He stepped inside and tried to give her a hug but Gemma nervously pushed him away. “Later for that. You have to meet my folks first.” She took a deep breath and grabbed his hand, leading him to the living room, where her parents were sitting.
At first glance she could not read her father’s expression as he watched them approach. Her mother turned in her chair and smiled pleasantly.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Christopher said, sticking out a hand toward Mr. Williams. Gemma’s father lifted himself from his chair and shook Christopher’s hand. There was only a polite smile on her father’s face. Could be a ploy to throw me off, Gemma thought.
“Nice to meet you too, son. If it weren’t for the phone calls, I would have believed you were just a figment of our daughter’s colorful imagination,” Mr. Williams joked.
At first Gemma worried that her dad was making a terrible joke with his “colorful” crack until she remembered he always told her that her imagination was quite colorful. Relax yourself, girl, she ordered. Besides, her father appeared to actually like Christopher. Her mother, too.
“It was nice to meet you both,” Christopher said with confidence—a lot more confidence than Gemma felt. He turned to Gemma. “You ready?”
Gemma nodded. “I’ll meet you out by the car.”
“Okay,” he said and then turned back to her parents. “Hopefully we’ll have more time to talk next time.” He headed out the door.
Once Gemma heard the door close behind Christopher she asked her father, “You don’t have a problem with him being white, do you?”
Her father shook his head. “I’ve seen all kinds of riff-raff in my day—in every color of the rainbow. As long as he treats my daughter like the princess she is, he’s okay. He could be purple for all I care.” Then he added, “Just give me the word and I’ll have the entire Orange County police force after him.”
“Donald,” Gemma’s mother scolded. She turned to Gemma. “He seems like a nice boy.” She gave Gemma a wink. “I told you.”
“Told her what?” her father asked.
“Nothing, Donald.”
As Gemma walked out the door, she thought, That wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be. If that was an indication of things to come, the rest of the night was going to be a breeze.
After the movie the rain had stopped so they went to the beach again but this time it was Gemma’s turn to meet a few of his friends. She was pleasantly surprised to see he had friends in every shade. Jeff and Sascha were black. Lita and Ramon were Hispanic and Matt and Tina were how Gemma had pictured all his friends, blond and blue-eyed. But that was where all her preconceived notions ended. Every one of them, including Christopher, were into hip-hop music and all of them, including Christopher again, were really into extreme skating.
“You’re athletic,” Christopher said to Gemma. “Why don’t you try skateboarding?”
“She won’t do it,” his black friend, Jeff, teased. “She probably doesn’t want to mess up her hair.” Everyone laughed, including Gemma. Oh, how she loved to be underestimated.