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Orientation for night school had been pretty straight-forward. They started off by explaining the test itself and how difficult it was despite what we thought. It was separated into parts that covered pretty much everything that we would or should have learned in high school. They also explained how the rotation of classes would work. There was a balance between all the subjects and a break time in between the classes, so that we weren’t overwhelmed.
After orientation was over, I was glad to spot Adia. She was standing behind a refreshment table ladling juice into people’s cups and handing out cookies to those who wanted them. The orientation hadn’t been too crowded, but it seemed like everyone stuck around for the juice and cookies because they looked homemade. I joined the line of people and made my way up to the front.
I smiled at Adia as I saw her. “How’s it going?” I asked her. She handed me a cup and reached down for the cookies.
“Good, and you?” she asked. She was making it clear that she was busy because her attention had already shifted to the next person.
“Guess I’ll see you around,” I said.
“Sorry, but we can catch up in a little bit when I’m not busy,” she requested.
I’d asked the woman in charge if was alright for me to walk around the building. I wanted to get used to it since I’d be spending most of my evenings there. Night school went from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. each night. I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy because it was such a big commitment. Still, I couldn’t help but feel excited about the new journey.
I wandered the halls of the huge building. There were so many different programs and types of classes. Even with most of the rooms being empty because it was after hours, I was still impressed by the things that I saw. I made my way downstairs and heard some music coming from the end of the hall. I followed the sound and saw that the school had a gym with an actual workout room. It was a lot nicer than I thought it would be. It wasn’t state of the art or anything but had treadmills, bikes, and a bunch of different machines and also free weights that people could use. It was basically empty except for one guy.
He was more than just slim; he was downright skinny. He looked like he was around my age. He had cocoa brown skin and his hair was in a short, faded afro style. He was working on one of the chest machines, but his positioning was all wrong.
“Yo, my man,” I called out as I entered the room. His back was to me, but when he heard my voice, he dropped the handles and spun around.
“Yeah?” he asked. He grabbed his phone and turned down the volume on the speaker.
“Um...I don’t mean any harm or nothing, but if you keep using that machine like that, you’re probably gonna hurt yourself.” He gave me a weird look but didn’t say anything. I went on. “Trust me. I’m trying to get into physical therapy, so I know a thing or two about workouts for real.”
The guy didn’t say anything, but he did stand up. “Alright, so how do I use it?” he asked.
I got onto the machine and showed him the proper way to do it. I also explained how the positioning of his hands could help out with focusing on different muscle groups. He seemed impressed.
“Damn man! I thought you were joking or something,” the guy said. He’d been watching me for the last couple of minutes as I demonstrated some other exercises he could do. He asked about ways that he could gain weight and I told him what i knew about it but made it clear that I wasn’t a professional just yet. “My name’s Leo by the way.” He extended his hand.
I grabbed it firmly and gave it a shake. “Nice to meet you, bro. I’m Raphael,” I told him..
“Nice to meet you man. Are you here for night school too?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Were you at the orientation?”
“Yeah. I was there, but I ended up leaving early. I knew they had a gym, so I wanted to come and check it out. I figure you can’t really go wrong with some free exercise, right?” Leo smiled.
A knock came on the door behind us. There was an older Hispanic guy who was dressed in a pair of all blue pants and an oversized shirt. He was pushing around a huge cart full of cleaning supplies, so I reasoned that he was the custodian.
“Five more minutes fellas, then I’ve got to lock up the building,” he said to us in a raspy voice. Leo and I nodded and he started grabbing his phone and towel plus all the other stuff to put it into his bag.
“How are you getting home?” Leo asked me. The two of us were slowly making our way back upstairs towards the main floor so we could leave.
“I’m parked outside,” I said. “What about you?”
He looked down at his watch and sucked in his teeth. “I’ll probably just walk. I think I might have missed the last bus by now.”
“I can give you a ride,” I offered. He gave me a strange look ,so I went on. “It’s not problem really. I know how the late night travel can be.”
“Shit, thanks man. I’d appreciate that,” he said with a smile.
By the time Leo and I got outside, it looked like most of the students and staff had already cleared out. St. Luke's Academy had its own parking lot in the back that had been full a little while ago but now only two cars remained.
Leo and I looked at the owner of the other vehicle, a jet black Toyota. It was clear that it was a woman, and she must have been having car trouble. The hood of the car was open and I could see her hands moving as though she was trying to fix something.
“Damn, you see that ass?” Leo commented. I had to admit that he was on to something. The woman was wearing a pair of jet black skinny jeans that showcased thick thighs and a round ass that appeared to be soft as hell.
“Oh shit! That’s Adia,” I mumbled. I nudged Leo in the side as we got closer, because he was still commenting on her body and I didn’t want her to hear him. As we approached her, I called out her name so that I wouldn’t surprise her since the area was poorly lit. She turned around to face me.
“Hey Raphael,” she said. She wore a look of frustration as she wiped her forehead.
“What’s up?” I greeted her. “Having some car trouble? I can take a look at it if you want.”
She gave me a skeptical look that told me she probably didn’t believe I could do anything then politely declined the offer. “No, it’s alright, but thanks. I already figured it out. There’s something wrong with the spark plugs. I can get the kids in the auto shop to take a look at it tomorrow.”
“Oh, alright,” I said. “How are you going to get home?”
She looked down at her phone. “Ugh, I guess I’ll call a cab or something,” she said.
I shook my head. “Nah, I can give you a ride.”
“Are you sure?” She asked. The look on her face displayed relief.
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s no problem. You know Leo? I’m giving him a ride home too,” I told her.
She still seemed a little resistant. “I can give you gas money or something,” she offered.
“Keep your money. It’s not a problem,” I said as I helped her close the hood of her car; the three of us then started walking towards mine. “How are you going to get work tomorrow?”
“I can get a ride from my roommate,” she responded.
The three of us climbed into the car. Leo allowed Adia sit up front with me. The three of us made small talk as I drove. We stopped at Adia’s place first. She thanked me again for the ride and told me that she’d see me the following day. Leo moved up to the front and gave me directions on how to get to his apartment.
We pulled up outside, and before he got out, he turned to me. “You like her, don’t you?” he said with conviction.
“Who?” I played dumb, but he just burst out laughing.
“It’s cool, man. Your secret is safe with me. I saw the sparks flying between y’all. But I’d be careful if I were you. Adia’s cool and all, but from what I hear, her roommate is a he. Apparently. he’s visited her at the school before and they look like they’re more than just roommates.”
Before I could respond, Leo hopped out of the car and headed into his building, leaving me alone with my thoughts on my way home.