Chasing Romeo

by A. J. Byrd

  I can’t believe it. It’s the first time in history that Tyler actually likes a boy—my boy.

  Not good.

  “I’ll catch you guys later,” I tell them and rush off to my locker, thinking. If what Nicole shared with us is true then that means Romeo is technically available.

  I stop by a downstairs bathroom and refresh my makeup. But looking at the image staring back at me, my spirits plummet. While I tend to think of myself as pretty, I’m nowhere as beautiful as Phoenix or any of her cronies.

  How on earth am I going to steal someone like Romeo away from her? I shake my head and rush to my locker. I’m there two seconds before Romeo shows up. He hits the metal door and like before it pops open.

  Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him.

  I open my locker.

  “Hey, um, what my boy said—”

  I glance over stunned to see him actually talking to me again.

  “—he didn’t mean anything about it,” he says. “Shadiq was just playing around. He can be a real ass sometimes.”

  Breathe. Breathe. Oh-MY-GOD!

  He sort of ducks his head. “So are we cool?”

  He’s talking to me. Say something. “Um, yeah. I was thinking about getting rid of these old clothes anyway.” What in the hell did I say that for? I just made this outfit a couple weeks ago.

  Romeo looks me over. “I think you look cute.”

  OH-MY-GOD! Breathe. Breathe. “Thank you,” I manage to say.

  He winks, closes his locker and strolls off.

  I watch him melt into the crowd with a secret smile. “He is sooo gonna be mine.”

  chapter 7

  Tyler—Hoop Dreams

  Wouldn’t you know it. Anjenai and I end up in gym class with the Red Bones. Even though I can hear them buzzing and snickering behind our backs, this time I change up my game and decide to ignore them.

  Anjenai, on the other hand, looks like she’s more bothered by their cattiness than I am for a change. I know this isn’t how she envisioned our first day at high school. I feel bad about that because it is sort of my fault.

  Me and my temper.

  I attempt to apologize, but she just waves it off and flashes me a smile.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she says. “We’ll make lemonade out of lemons.”

  I smile and appreciate her trying to make me feel better about the situation. Out of the three of us, Anje is what I’d describe as the brainy and sensitive one. She’d even turned down the opportunity to advance to the tenth grade just so she would stay in the same grade with me and Kierra.

  Anjenai is cool like that.

  Despite being described as a tomboy, I’m not really all that into sports. Never have been. Of course I’ve played the occasional hopscotch, double Dutch and even a little tetherball, I just never really cared to get all sweaty. So in gym class today Coach Whittaker gave a soul-stirring speech about the game of basketball and how close Jackson High has come to winning the championship for the past four years that I actually find myself thinking about trying out for the team.

  Crazy I know.

  Being the first day of school, the class didn’t have to dress out. None of us had any clothes to change into. Still Coach Whittaker had racks of basketballs lined up, wanting to see how many of us could make a basket.

  I’m not a complete stranger to the game. At Oak Hill, a lot of the boys in the complex play at the half court near the crappy playground, plus my dad is a college basketball junkie.

  I lean over and ask Anjenai what she thought about joining, and she gives me a casual shrug that really tells me she isn’t all that interested.

  The court is divided in half. The girls take one side with Coach Whittaker, and the boys take the other side with Assistant Coach Smith.

  We all have to participate, whether we are in sneakers or not. The assignment is just to take turns at the free-throw line and try to make a basket.

  As expected, most of the girls are pathetic.

  The Red Bones must have decided to make a game of who could throw the ball nowhere near the basket the best and then collapse into a fit of giggles.

  I watch Phoenix’s fake smile, fake laugh and fake everything else and wonder what Romeo sees in a girl like her.

  Eventually, it’s my turn. I take the ball, bounce it a few times, aim and fire it off. The ball glides into the basket with a whish.

  The girls clap.

  “Go again,” Coach Whittaker says.

  I make three more baskets, and then the coach directs me to throw from the right side of the court, then the left. The left, apparently, is my weak side. All in all, I think I did all right.

  “Very good,” the coach says and then asks me my name.

  I toss the ball to Anjenai. Honestly, I don’t think that she would do much better than the other girls. I’m not dissing my girl, but I never pictured her as the athletic type either.

  I squash that line of thinking the minute she makes the first basket, then the second. Soon, the coach is also repositioning her to different spots on the court.

  She makes every basket.

  Coach Whittaker moves her farther back. But it doesn’t matter. Anjenai makes them all. Then at last, she is moved to half court.

  The boys stop playing to watch as well.

  Anjenai bounces the ball a couple times, her face set in heavy concentration. At last, she finally takes aim and fires off her shot.

  I’m literally holding my breath as the ball flies through the air. But just like the other balls, it flies into the basket like it had a homing device.

  The entire gym erupts into cheer, and everyone races to congratulate her.

  If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it. I run out to my girl, give her a high five and then wrap my arms around her.

  “Girl, where did you learn to shoot like that?” I yell above the crowd.

  A smiling Anjenai shrugs. “It’s just geometry.”

  “No. That was amazing,” I shout. And it was. It was like crazy 1990 Michael Jordan stuff.

  “All right, everybody. Calm down,” Coach Whittaker shouts.

  Anjenai and I continue to jump up and down. I’m so proud of her, I can’t stand it.

  “Calm down,” the coach repeats.

  I then notice Romeo standing in the crowd. How had I missed him in the class? One thing for sure, the admiring glint he’d shared with me earlier was now directed at Anjenai. Something kicks me in the gut.

  Something like jealousy.

  chapter 8

  Romeo—Who’s That Girl?

  I have never seen a girl shoot like that in my entire life. The girl has completely blown me and my boys’ minds. I know Coach Whittaker is gonna make sure she gets her on the girls’ basketball team, for real.

  One look at the coach, and I can see that she’s practically salivating over the possibilities for this year’s team. And I don’t blame her.

  “Who is she?” Chris shouts from my right.

  “Looks like she’s friends with that girl you were talking to earlier,” Shadiq adds.

  It’s then I notice Tyler hugged up around the mystery girl’s neck.

  “Yeah. Yeah,” Chris says. “She was at the lunch table, too.”

  I finally bob my head, remembering. I start to move through the crowd. When I get near, her eyes turn toward me, and I have to admit, the girl has a nice look about her. She seems friendly with an honest face. Her long, curly eyelashes have a way of hooding her emotions.

  “Where did you learn to shoot like that?”

  “It’s my first time,” she says.

  I blink in surprise and wonder if I misread her honest face. First time? She’s gotta be kidding me.

  “Well, you’re certainly a natural,” I say. “I know I’d kill to be able to shoot like that.”

  “It was easy really,” she admits.

  “Easy?” Chris echoes close to my ear. “C’mon. The girl gotta be playin’ us.”

&nb
sp; The coach finally calms the crowd. “Okay, honey, what’s your name?”

  “Anjenai Legend,” she tells her.

  I repeat the name to myself and think it does have the ring of a star athlete.

  “Have you ever thought about trying out for the girls’ basketball team?”

  She looks toward Tyler and shrugs. “No, not really.”

  “Well, you definitely should,” I say.

  “That’s right,” the coach adds, trying to keep her excitement below the radar.

  “I don’t know.” Anjenai hesitates, glancing between me and the coach before turning her attention back to Tyler. “What do you think?”

  Tyler lifts her shoulders, looks at me. “I don’t know. It’s up to you.”

  Anjenai looks scared to commit to anything. “Well, to be honest, I may be able to stand and throw, but running and throwing is another matter. I’m not all that coordinated.”

  “Well, that’s what practice is for,” Coach Whittaker says, not willing to give up on a potential star.

  “Yeah, I could show you a few moves too, if you like,” I offer.

  She blinks up at me wide-eyed, while the base of her neck darkens as if I’ve embarrassed her or something.

  “Really?” she asks. “You would teach me?”

  I shrug. “Sure. Why not?”

  Out of nowhere, Phoenix slinks to my side.

  “Baby, do you think that’s such a good idea?” She glances over at the girls. “Really, when do you have time to babysit a freshman?” She chuckles and then her girls join in.

  Anjenai lowers her head, and I feel sorry for her having to put up with Phoenix’s antics.

  “Grow up,” I whisper with a look of warning.

  “What?” she asks, sliding on her innocent act. “I’m just saying between school, football practice and me, when will you have the time?”

  “I’ll make time,” I stress and then look back at Anjenai. “I mean it. I’ll do it. I don’t mind.”

  Anjenai’s pretty gaze bounces between me and Phoenix. Finally, she tilts up her chin. “I’d like that.”

  “Good, then it’s settled,” I say.

  Coach Whittaker gives me a thumbs-up and a relieved smile. “Thanks, Romeo.”

  “No need to thank me.” I glance at Anjenai. “I’m actually looking forward to it.”

  chapter 9

  Anjenai—Be Still My Heart

  The rest of the school day floated by like a dream. Romeo is going to teach me how to play basketball. Me. Alone with him. I can’t believe it.

  Suddenly, I’m not so worried about the principal’s call to Granny, my Saturday detention and the BFF’s fight with the Red Bones. Unfortunately, my girl Tyler doesn’t seem so excited for me anymore.

  Of course I know why. It’s strange. She’s busy pretending not to care while I’m busy pretending not to notice. What else can we do? For the first time in our lives, the three of us like the same boy when in reality we have about a snowball’s chance in hell of luring him away from the most popular girl in the whole school.

  Climbing back onto Mrs. Barksdale’s bus, I quickly crash back down to reality. Billie Grant might have spent her first day of school at the hospital with a broken nose, but her crew was sitting huddled at the back of the bus waiting, it seems, for the BFFs to make their appearance. The moment they spot me, their eyes blaze a hole straight through me.

  How did I forget about them?

  And why, oh why, didn’t I wait for my girls before I raced out here? My first impulse is to sit at the front and not go anywhere near the back. It’s not that I’m scared; it’s just that I’m in enough trouble. Seeing how everyone is watching, I boldly walk toward the center of the bus with my head up, ready to throw down if the situation is necessary.

  I toss my backpack into an empty seat and finally sit down.

  “Yeah, you better not come back here,” one of the girls shouts.

  I turn around in my seat and toss her the bird.

  The other kids on the bus snicker and laugh.

  While I wait for Kierra and Tyler, I glance out my window toward the front of the school, where some parents pick up their kids, and see the Red Bones talking and laughing like they don’t have a care in the world.

  Though I can’t stand them, I can’t help but wonder what life must be like for them. According to Nicole, Phoenix’s family is obscenely rich, and her parents give her free rein to do whatever she wants. I can’t even wrap my brain around that.

  It’s clear most of the girls at Jackson High envy them, despite their constant talking behind people’s backs, and I’m beginning to wonder if I’m one of them. The idea of going where I want, buying what I want and being draped on Romeo Blackwell’s arm didn’t seem like a bad life to me.

  Kierra rushes onto the bus and races to my side.

  The girls in the back boo and hiss.

  Kierra glances up and shoots off two birds. “Losers,” she shouts and then returns her attention to me. “You’ll never guess what happened to me!”

  “No. You’ll never guess what happened to me,” I say. “But you first.”

  “You know that boy Romeo?”

  I stiffen, my smile suddenly feeling strained. “Yeah.”

  “Well, remember I told you our lockers are next to each other, right?”

  I bob my head.

  “After lunch, he comes up to me and apologizes for his lame friend dissing my outfit and then he tells me that he thinks my outfit is cute!” She grabs my hand and begins bouncing in her seat. “Can you believe it? He actually said I was cute!”

  I blink at her. “Cool. That’s great,” I lie.

  “Okay. Your turn. What’s your news?”

  For a split second I debate whether to share my news, but then I perk up. “It’s about Romeo, too,” I tell her.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah.” I quickly tell her what happened in the gym, right down to the part where Romeo had offered to give me a few basketball lessons.

  “You’re kidding me.” Her eyes seem to freeze up.

  “No. It was like the most amazing thing I’ve ever done. I’m seriously thinking about joining the team this year.”

  “No, I mean…he seriously offered to give you private lessons?”

  I nod.

  “You’re actually going to be alone with my future boyfriend?”

  “What?” I laugh.

  “Well, I mean…I like him.”

  “I hardly see how that matters any. I like him, too,” I tell her.

  “We can’t like the same boy,” she tosses back. “It’s in the rule book.”

  “No it’s not.” I drop her hand. “You just made that up.”

  “Well then it should be a rule.”

  “A couple years ago we both had crushes on Nick Cannon.”

  “That’s not the same,” she snaps.

  “Why not?”

  “What are the chances of us ever meeting Nick Cannon? I’m talking about a real boy that we both know and want to…” She glances around and leans forward to whisper, “Date.”

  “You mean the same boy that already has a girlfriend?” I remind her.

  “Ex-girlfriend,” she says, smiling. “Remember, Nicole said that they broke up.”

  I glance out the window to where I’d seen Phoenix standing. Now Romeo was there, laughing and talking. “They don’t look like they’re all that broken up to me.”

  The bus driver closes the door, and Tyler is shouting as she runs toward us. The door reopens, and Tyler jumps on with a smile.

  “You almost didn’t make it,” Mrs. Barksdale says, closing the door and pulling away from the curb.

  Tyler just rolls her eyes and heads back toward us. Special note, there’s no booing and hissing at her. “Hey, what I miss?” she asks, dropping into the seat in front of us.

  “Nothing,” Kierra and I lie, scooting to opposite sides of our seat and crossing our arms.

  Tyler lifts a curious brow. “Sure doesn’t
look like nothing.”

  “Well it is,” I reinforce. Not liking one bit that I am withholding anything from a member of our group. As far as I can remember we’ve never kept secrets from one another, but something tells me that if I include Tyler into our discussion, it could stretch into a three-way argument. Assuming I’m right about Tyler’s secret crush on Romeo, too.

  Tyler holds my gaze for just a second. Something tells me that she knows I’m lying; but instead of calling me on my b.s., her gaze shifts to the back of the bus. “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

  I glance over my shoulder and see the other girls go back to mindin’ their own business.

  “Were they bothering you?” Tyler asks.

  “No,” I lie again. “Just let it go,” I tell her. “We can’t come to school every day tryin’ to beat people up.”

  She shrugs. “Why not?”

  “Because it’s not exactly how I envision my high school years.”

  “C’mon.” She smiles. “You always said that you wanted to be popular.”

  “Popular because people like us, not because they fear us. Pretty soon we’re not going to be any better than Billie Grant and those jerks in the back.”

  “But we only beat up people who deserve it. Billie deserved what she got.”

  Kierra snickers. “She has a point.”

  “What about the Red Bones? We could’ve given them their table.”

  “It wasn’t theirs.”

  “And the guys?”

  “They were rude to Kierra!”

  What was the point of arguing with her?

  “You know my dad always says if you never stand for anything, you’ll fall for everything.”

  “Yeah. I guess,” I agree. “Still Granny is going to kill me when I get home and I tell her I have Saturday detention.”

  “You mean if she doesn’t already know.”

  I groan.

  Thirty minutes later, our bus arrives at Oak Hill apartments, and as we march home we share the details of our first day at school. Come to find out, Coach Whittaker had also approached Tyler about trying out for the team.

  “Are you?” I ask, jumping with excitement. “It’ll be great if we’re both on the team.”