“She actually drove up to Westwood looking for me. She and my father got into an argument.”
“Hmm…,” was all she said. My heart was racing because I didn’t know if she believed me or not.
“Yeah, I guess it was pretty bad. She was crying and everything when she just called,” I added.
Sam stared at me blankly. “That sucks. I hope she’s ok. Do you think you should go see her?” She asked.
“No, she’s fine. They do that all the time and then they work it out the next day. Trust me. There’s nothing to worry about.”
I watched her carefully and was relieved when she changed the subject. “Well….then let’s figure out what we’re wearing tonight? We should match. Don’t you think that’ll be cute?” She asked.
“Yeah, sure,” I said as I lay back down on the edge of the bed, thinking about the threat my mother just informed me of. “I’ll just find something to go with whatever you pick out.”
Sam got out of the bed, put on my t-shirt from the night before, and then walked over to the closet. “You should let me keep this,” she said, looking at how the shirt fit her, already intent on stealing it from me. “It’s not like you go to Westwood anymore,”.
“Keep it,” I replied.
Her back was to me while she sifted through her clothes. This gave me a second to think. My mother asked me to stay inside, but we’d already committed to hanging out with Terrell and Maisha for the night. I could envision the look of disappointment on Sam’s face if we had to cancel. That image alone made me more determined to keep things as normal for us as possible. I’d just gotten here and this was supposed to be the time of our lives. I didn’t want to get in the habit of disappointing her and changing our plans because of the things I had going on. I wouldn’t cancel at all; we’d go the fair and I’d act like nothing was wrong. My mind was made up.
*****
Sam
“Is this the same shade of green?” I murmured. It was becoming a habit for me to have conversations aloud with myself because I’d gotten used to being alone. Deanna was hardly around anymore because she spent most of her time with Karl. If it hadn’t been for the presence of her bed and a few other personal possessions, it would be like I had my own room.
AJ being here made me extremely happy, though. No more lonely nights and I’d have someone to hang out with all the time. I was just about done getting ready for our evening out, but couldn’t decide which shoes to wear. I was stuck between my all white tennis shoes and a pair that I couldn’t quite tell if they matched my shirt or not. “Forget it,” I stated as I shoved my foot inside the all-white pair.
Terrell and Maisha were already ready and waiting for us. AJ called about thirty minutes prior to me finishing to say that he was leaving out, but I hadn’t seen him yet. The walk across the courtyard shouldn’t have taken him more than five minutes, but I assumed he got held up, maybe talking to his mom again or something. I grabbed my purse and coat and sat on the edge of my bed.
Another ten minutes passed and I started getting irritated, glancing out the window every so often to see if he was on his way. If he was going to be late, why didn’t he call and say something? With an increasingly bad attitude, I dialed his number and he didn’t even have the decency to answer. I hung up and dialed Terrell instead. When I told him that I couldn’t get in touch with AJ, him and Maisha came down to my room to keep me company. While they sat with me, I called AJ’s phone again, but got his voicemail just like before.
“Why don’t we just walk over there and get him,” Maisha suggested.