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Monday morning, most of the crew dragged themselves to Science class. Mark, yet to recover from the weekend, had his head down on the desk.
Jason poked Chasity when Professor Jones walked in and started writing on the blackboard. “Quiz today,” Jason groaned.
“What? Now?” Chasity exclaimed loudly enough to attract the professor’s attention.
“Yes, now. Put your books away.”
Emily raised her hand. “What is it going to be on?”
“Chapters five and six. They were assigned last week before you went home for Thanksgiving break,” Professor Jones answered, voice laced with frustration.
“Sorry,” Emily mumbled and slumped down in her seat.
“Come on, Professor Jones,” Mark objected. “How do you expect people to study over the holiday?”
“Because Mr. Johnson, this is college. Not high school. College. I expect you to work hard and study hard, no matter what time it is, or what holiday,” he responded, folding his arms.
“Why don’t you just do us all a favor and make the test for next week?” Mark pleaded.
“Mr. Johnson, don’t make me throw you out of my classroom for stupidity.” Professor Jones warned. “Now, clear your desk right now, or I’ll give you a zero.”
“Um, I have cramps,” Chasity said, offering the only plausible excuse she could think of. “Can I take it another time?”
“Miss Parker, you’re on thin ice already due to your smart mouth. Don’t test my patience.”
Chasity rolled her eyes and sighed as she cleared her desk.
“Damn,” Jason complained, clearing his desk.
“I sure am glad I studied over the break,” David murmured.
“You would study over a break, you dork,” Mark jeered
“Make fun of me all you want,” David shot back, “but don’t forget to tell Mama Johnson why you failed yet another test.” David’s dart hit its target. Mark pounded his fist on his desk; he knew his mother didn’t mince words when it came to school work.
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“Wouldn’t you know, Public Speaking just had to be the first class after break,” Sidra complained. She hated this class. “Whole thing is a waste of time, anyway.”
“It’s great for Alex,” Malajia said idly, frowning when she noticed the nail polish on one of her nails had chipped. “She loves giving lectures anyway, no matter how much nobody asks for them.”
Alex didn’t bother to reply; she just elbowed Malajia in the ribs. She would have done so harder if she hadn’t been sure that Malajia would let out a scream. She couldn’t believe how quickly her roommate had jumped to Chasity’s defense last night.
“Knock it off,” Sidra whispered, noticing that Professor Lawrence had looked up. “I don’t want to attract any attention. I’m already drowning in this class.”
“Let’s start with your speeches,” Professor Lawrence proposed, putting down the papers she had been shuffling. “Remember to keep within the five minutes allowed.”
“What speech?” Alex asked.
“The speech on World War II that you’re supposed to give today,” Professor Lawrence responded.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Malajia grumbled and tossed her pen down. “Who cares about World War II?”
Unfortunately for Malajia, the lecture hall had excellent acoustics. Professor Lawrence set her glasses down on the podium. “Miss Simmons, World War II was chosen for the assignment to give you practice addressing important issues and events. Shall we get on with it without you wasting any more of our time?”
Malajia rolled her eyes, “Whatever,” she mumbled.
“Man, I knew that I should’ve done some homework over the weekend,” Josh moaned. “That’s what I get for messin’ with y’all.”
“Nobody had to twist your arm to make you come with us, Joshua,” Sidra pointed out.
“Hold on. I thought that we agreed that you would never use my full name in public.”
“I lied,” she said, grinning at him. He hated being called Joshua.
“Oh okay. You wanna start exposing hated names huh? Sidra Ophelia Howard,” he shot back, knowing full well that Sidra hated her middle name.
“Eww, what the hell is an Ophelia?” Malajia broke in laughing.
Sidra glared at Malajia, then turned her attention back to a laughing Josh. “Joshua, you are so dead,” Sidra promised.
“Ah, I see that we have some volunteers,” Professor Lawrence said, interrupting their exchange. “Miss Howard, you can go first.”
“Huh?” Sidra exclaimed.
“Yes. Followed by Mr. Hampton.” Josh let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back in his seat.
Malajia’s burst of laughter came to an abrupt halt.
“Miss Simmons, you will present after Mr. Hampton, then Miss Chisolm.”
“I’m so not prepared for this,” Alex said as she covered her face with her notebook.
“Man,” Malajia whined. “I knew I shouldn’t have come to class today.”
Sidra stood up and walked slowly to the podium.
“Five minutes,” Professor Lawrence reminded.
“Five minutes?” Sidra echoed. “Can’t I just take my zero and sit down?”
“No, that would just be too easy. Now get started.”
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Emily slumped in her chair. The group had gathered in one of the library’s study rooms to cram for tests. But Emily couldn’t concentrate.
“I completely failed that quiz.”
“Stop complaining. At least you actually wrote something,” Chasity snapped.
“That doesn’t make a difference,” Emily barked, immediately looking away. She hadn’t meant to raise her voice.
Chasity shot her a glare. “Who the hell are you yelling at?” she asked, surprised to hear more than a squeak out of meek little Emily.
Alex sighed, “Chasity, get off her case.”
“Bitch, don’t talk to me,” Chasity sneered.
Alex’s mouth fell open. “Come on. You can’t still be mad at me.”
“I said don’t talk to me,” Chasity repeated.
Frustrated with Chasity’s stubborn attitude, Alex sat back in her seat, folded her arms, and let out a loud sigh.
“At least you didn’t have to stand in front of twenty classmates and BS for five minutes, Emily,” Sidra complained.
“And bullshit you did, sis,” Alex teased, giggling. Sidra slowly turned her head and glowered at Alex.
“I know, right? By the time you got to the fifth ‘um the war was long and hard’ I was ready to fall off my seat laughing,” Malajia chimed in.
Sidra was seething so much that she started breathing hard. “Malajia, I know your simple ass isn’t—”
“Sid, relax,” Josh interrupted, leaning forward and giving her a comforting pat on the shoulder. “It’ll be better next time.”
“Yeah, right,” she groused, jerking away.
“This is my first bad grade ever,” Emily confessed.
“You’ll get used to ‘em,” Malajia predicted as she scribbled on her notebook with a highlighter.
Chasity sighed loudly. “Y’all talk too damn much,” she said, closing her book.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Malajia asked, seeing Chasity stand from the table.
“I’m going to mind my damn business,” Chasity threw over her shoulder as she headed out of the room.
Chasity settled in an isolated corner of the library and took her math book out. She needed to put some serious study time in. But of course, she couldn’t be alone for even a minute.
“What the hell are you doing over here?” she demanded, pissed to see Jason pull up a chair next to her. She’d snapped at him several times that day for no reason, but he kept coming back for more.
“I’m here to study. Just like you,” he replied, pulling his notebook out from his book bag.
“Do it somewhere else,” she demanded.
“Nope,” he calmly responded. Not wanting to move her seat again, Chasity just sucked her teeth and looked down at her book.
Jason was restless. He started tapping his pencil on the table.
“Could you stop that?” she asked, voice dripping with anger.
“I could if you asked me nicely,” he replied, eyes fixed on the words in his book.
“This is as nice as I’m going to get,” she stated flatly, “so could you stop it?”
He looked at her. “No, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because you have been rude to me all day and I would like an apology.”
“I’ll apologize to you when hell freezes over,” she sneered.
“You really think so huh?” he questioned, folding his arms. “I don’t get why you’re being so nasty to me.”
“You make me fuckin’ sick,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
“No, I don’t,” Jason responded calmly. “And why do you have to curse at me?”
Chasity stared at him. She hated the way he kept going at it with her. “Why don’t you leave?” she asked
“Why? I don’t have anywhere else to be.”
“Fine,” she hissed and shoved her notebook into her book bag again.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Away from you,” she spat, eyes flashing.
“Okay, do what you want. You always do.” He chuckled as she stormed down the library corridor. “I get her every time.”
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Sidra, completely overwhelmed, finally snapped. She stood up on her bed and yelled at the top of her lungs.
“Girl, what is wrong with you?” Alex asked, surprised at the sudden outburst.
“I hate math,” she screeched.
“You and me both,” Malajia concurred, looking down at her workbook with disgust.
Tired of the library scene that night, the girls decided to take their study session back to Sidra and Chasity’s room.
“It’s divide this and factor that,” Sidra whined, then burst into hysterical laughter. “I can’t even remember the quadratic equation.”
Alex ran over, grabbed Sidra by the shoulders and shook her. Sidra stopped laughing and regarded her friend calmly.
“Um, Alex that didn’t help me at all.”
“I’m sorry, girl, but you were going crazy there,” Alex explained. “If you need help with your formulas, just ask David. He knows everything, or so he says.”
“Oh yeah. My buddy Dave,” Sidra said, mulling over the suggestion. “I forgot that I grew up with a genius.” Alex giggled as she flopped down on the love seat. A second later, Chasity stormed in the room.
“What’s the matter with you?” Malajia asked, looking up at the angry expression on her face.
“Jason makes me so fuckin’ sick!” she snapped.
“O-kay,” Malajia drawled, fixing her gaze back down at her book.
“Shut up, Malajia!” Chasity yelled.
“What?” Malajia protested loudly. “I didn’t even say anything.”
“Look,” Alex broke in. “Everybody’s on edge with finals coming up. Let’s take it easy.”
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Long hours spent cramming began to take its toll. As fatigue set in, tempers flared at the slightest provocation. Up all night studying, no one was in the mood to talk when the group crowded into their usual booth by the window in the cafeteria. The heavy silence weighed on Emily.
“So,” she asked, “is everybody enjoying their lunch?”
“Are you serious?” Malajia scoffed, going back to her turkey wrap.
“It’s just so quiet,” Emily stammered, looking around. “I feel like everybody’s mad at each other.”
“So?” Chasity inquired nastily, raising an eyebrow.
“Not everybody has to be evil like you, Chasity,” Jason interjected, trying to get a rise out of her. She was too stubborn to have an ordinary conversation with him.
She slowly turned and looked at him. “Are you trying to piss me off?”
“No,” he lied. “That seems to be how you are every damn day.”
“Jason, leave her alone,” Alex advised.
“When are you going to learn to mind your own business, Alex?” Jason asked calmly as he continued to stare at Chasity. Alex made a face at him.
“Thank you, Jason,” Malajia exclaimed, picking up a piece of red pepper that had fallen out of her turkey wrap. “Somebody else has finally said it.” She dropped the pepper back on the plate as Alex nudged her.
“Jason, I don’t know why you continue to talk to me,” Chasity complained. “You know that I can’t stand you.”
“And you know that’s not true,” he shot back.
“Yes, it is. You are not good enough to talk to me. When are you gonna realize that?”
Jason’s easy smile disappeared, his expression hardened. “You know what? I’ll see you guys later,” he said and grabbed his book bag.
Chasity closed her eyes, hoping to shut out the look on Jason’s face. She couldn’t believe the words that had come out of her mouth. She hadn’t meant to insult him, she simply wanted him to leave her alone.
“That was so ignorant, even for you,” Alex charged.
“Alex, not now,” Chasity murmured as she watched Jason walk away. She was in no mood to hear one of Alex’s lectures.
“Look, in Chasity’s defense, he shouldn’t have been bothering her,” Malajia chimed in. “I mean, come on, why would he take that to heart? Mark doesn’t, and I say it to him all the time.”
Mark looked at her, confused. “No, you don’t.”
“I don’t? Well, maybe I just think it,” Malajia corrected and took a sip of juice. “Bottom line—Alex, leave Chasity alone.”
“Why is everybody so damn cranky?” Mark asked, looking around at the tired faces.
“Because we were up all night,” Josh spat out as he rubbed the back of his neck.
“Doing what?” Mark asked with a frown. “And why wasn’t I invited?”
“We were studying, you moron,” Malajia explained in a condescending voice.
“Why?”
“Is this ‘ask dumb ass questions day’ or something?” Chasity wondered aloud.
Alex shook her head. “Why wouldn’t we be studying?” She tapped her fingers on the table, waiting for his stupid reply; she knew that he’d make one.
“Studying is a waste of time.” He fixed his book bag on his shoulder. “All you have to do is pay attention in class, and you can pass any test.” His tone was full of confidence.
“But you don’t pay attention,” Josh objected.
“Please, I got this final thing in the bag. I got it all up here,” Mark claimed and pointed to his head.
“But there’s nothing up there,” Sidra exclaimed. “There never has been.”
“Go pop a damn pill or something,” he shot back at her, the smile wiped off his face.
“‘I got it all up here.’ Please,” Josh mimicked.
“Y’all are some haters man,” Mark declared, tossing a balled up napkin on the table.
Maybe it was better, Emily thought to herself, when nobody was talking.
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“Where’s Jason?” Chasity asked Mark. He looked up from the various bowling balls he was inspecting. The group had decided that they needed a breather, and a trip to the bowling alley fit the bill.
“Why? So you can insult him again?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t start it, cause your feelings, I don’t mind hurting,” she shot back.
“Instead of my feelings, how about hurting something else, sexy?” he teased and moved closer to her.
“Ugh,” she groaned, pushing him away. Mark laughed and went back to picking out his ball.
“Mark, I don’t know why you’re taking so long,” Malajia called out. “You’re gonna lose no matter which ball you choose.”
“Malajia, shut up for once,” he responded. “Isn’t it your turn anyway?”
“I’m not bowling in these damn shoes,” Malajia said and pointed to her red high heels.
“Malajia, you’re supposed to rent shoes, you flippin’ idiot,” Sidra snapped.
“Listen heifer, you need to calm down,” Malajia recommended. Even when she was a kid, Malajia remembered, Sidra got cranky when she was stressed, and right now her anxiety level was off the charts.
“Can you just rent the damn shoes so we can finish the game please?” Sidra responded, exasperated. Malajia, ignoring Sidra’s nasty tone, stood and proceeded to the nearby shoe counter.
Emily finished tying up her bowling shoes and glanced up. She’d been going through a rough patch, and was happy she’d been asked to tag along, although bowling was not her thing. “I’m going for some drinks, anybody want one?” Seeing hesitation all around, she laughed. “My treat.”
“In that case,” Alex put in and, then the orders came fast and furious. Emily’s eyes widened at all of the requests that were being made of her.
“I want a cola, some nachos, two hot dogs and some pretzel bites,” Mark stipulated.
“But....”
“Damn boy, are you trying to stock up for winter or something?” Alex exclaimed.
Mark rolled his eyes and let out a loud sigh. “That joke was wack, Alex.”
“Orange soda and some nachos for me,” Malajia put in, sitting back in her seat, shoes in hand.
“But I was just gonna buy the drinks,” Emily protested as she started counting her money. The check her father had sent wasn’t going to last long at this rate.
“But I want nachos,” Malajia whined.
“Buy them yourself,” Mark instructed and shrugged. “Can one of y’all help me out? I’m a little strapped.” Everyone ignored him. “Is that how it is? Some friends.”
“Man, stop whining,” Josh said with a laugh. “I’ll pay...again.”
“Thanks dude, one of these days I’m gonna pay you back,” Mark promised, eagerly rubbing his hands together.
“Boy, you’ve been saying that since middle school,” Sidra observed, turning up her nose when Mark blew her a kiss.
Jason turned up before Emily came back with the drinks. He’d been at practice that afternoon and then met with his study group.
Chasity had been on the lookout. As soon as she caught sight of him, she walked over. “Hey,” she said nonchalantly.
“Hi,” he responded and turned away.
She hated feeling guilty about how she’d treated him earlier. In the past she could say anything to anybody and not give a crap. But this time she knew she had gone too far.
“You still mad about what I said to you earlier?” she asked, grabbing his arm.
“Yes, I am. You’ve said some pretty nasty things to me, but that cut,” he said and set his book bag on the floor. “You owe me an apology.”
Chasity frowned. She detested the word “sorry”, and didn’t want to be the one to say it. He shook his head and started to walk away.
“Wait a minute,” she said, blocking his way. “Look I’m...I’m so...”
“It’s not that hard to say,” Jason prompted, folding his arms.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m sorry,” she blurted out.
Jason stood still for a few seconds, and then a big smile creased his face. “You’ll apologize to me when hell freezes over, huh?”
Chasity stiffened when she heard her words tossed back at her. “What?”
“I have proved you wrong yet again. Last time I checked, hell was still hot.”
Chasity gasped, anger bubbling up. “You made me feel guilty just so you could prove a fuckin’ point?” she asked angrily.
“I didn’t make you feel anything, Chasity. You did that on your own,” he answered evenly. “It also proves another point of mine—that you have a heart somewhere under all that anger.”
“You fuckin’ bastard,” she hissed. “That is the last time that I will ever feel bad over you.”
“Chaz, come on,” Jason pleaded, reaching for her arm.
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped, smacking his hand away. Jason ran his hand over his head as she stormed off.
Alex and Sidra were watching the encounter by the rack of bowling balls. “Another lovers’ quarrel,” Alex concluded.
“I wish that they would just sleep together and get it over with,” Sidra confided. “Sure would make our lives easier.”
“But a lot less entertaining,” Alex said with a laugh.
On the other side of the rack, Josh and Mark had just chosen their bowling balls. The lengthy selection process involved discussing the merits of various weights and colors.
Unfortunately, the holes in Mark’s ball were a tight fit for his big fingers. Josh had the opposite problem.
“Guys, enough already. Just switch balls,” Sidra suggested.
“I don’t want his stupid ass ball,” Mark shot back. “This is a lucky ball.”
“And where is the luck, Mark? In your ass?” Malajia inquired, pointing to the score sheet. “Because it definitely won’t show up in your game.”
Mark glared at her. “I’ve had it with your comments,” he swore.
“It’s not my fault that your bowling sucks ass,” Malajia jeered, shrugging.
He pointed to her as she took a sip of her soda. “It’s not gonna be too many more ‘ass’ comments from you,” he warned, causing her to spit some of her soda out as she chuckled.
“Josh, will you just go? Let’s get this started,” David prompted, gesturing toward the lane.
Josh held the ball to his chest, ready to bowl. As he drew his arm back, the ball slipped off his hand. Careening backwards, it knocked against the table. Soda cans and bottles of spring water went flying.
“Josh!” they exclaimed.
“My bad, guys. Are you all right?” Josh asked as he ran over and picked his ball up.
“Watch what you’re doing, will you?” Alex scolded as she tugged her shirt down.
“He said that he was sorry,” Mark yelled. “You always gotta prolong shit.”
“Shut up and take your turn,” Alex ordered, and pointed to the lane.
Mark walked over to the lane, squeezing his fingers into the ball. He couldn’t jam them in and kept shifting from one foot to the other, making a bunch of stupid faces.
“Come on!” Jason hollered, frustrated by Mark’s holding up of the game.
“All right!” he shouted back. “Here it goes.” His fingers stuck, and he couldn’t release the ball. The momentum sent him flying down the shiny wooden lane. “Whoa,” he shouted, and landed spread-eagled on the alley.
“Oh my god,” Malajia screamed with laughter. “You look like a total fool.”
“Mark, you are so freakin’ embarrassing,” Sidra shouted.
Embarrassed, Mark picked himself up. To cut short Malajia’s running commentary, he walked over, took three pretzels from his packet, and stuffed them into her open mouth.
Jason was the next up. Alex leaned forward on the bench. “Please don’t embarrass us like Mark did.”
“Nobody can embarrass us the way that Mark did,” he said with a laugh.
Chasity was eating some chips, waiting for Jason to bowl, when Malajia scooted next to her. “So what were you two arguing about, huh?”
“None of your business,” Chasity sneered. “Get away from me.”
Malajia sucked her teeth. “Must you be so damn evil all the time?”
Chasity checked her reply when she saw Jason’s arm going back. “Jason, your dick is out!” she shouted.
“Ooh, can I see it?” Malajia exclaimed, craning her neck.
Jason stumbled and dropped the ball. He quickly looked down at his pants, and then at Chasity, before retrieving his ball.
“What?” she replied innocently as Malajia laughed.
“That’s real cute, Chasity,” Jason bit out. “And real classy, Malajia.”
“Come on, Jase,” Sidra yelled encouragingly, clapping her hands together.
“Damn it,” he muttered, watching only six pins fall.
“Emily, you’re up,” Sidra announced.
Emily hesitated. “Um, that’s okay somebody else can go.”
“No sweetie, it’s your turn. Go,” Malajia said, giving her a nudge.
Emily held the ball for a few seconds, then weakly tossed it. Her friends watched it bounce and roll into the gutter.
“Wow, you’re getting better, Emily,” Jason joked. “This time you got it to stay in our lane.”
“Alex, your turn,” David said.
“Time to make a strike,” she murmured to herself as she stood up and grabbed her ball. Just as she was about to roll the ball, Mark started making loud noises and threw some pretzels at her.
“Quit playing around,” she barked, tossing the pretzels back.
“Hey! Stop throwing food in here,” a man shouted from behind the counter.
“Sorry,” Alex muttered and rolled the ball.
The last pin wobbled, and finally toppled over. Alex did a little dance. She’d made a strike. She couldn’t believe it.
“Hell no, Alex! How’d your non-bowling ass make that strike?” Mark asked in shock. “You cheated.”
“How could I possibly have cheated to get that?” she asked, confused. “You’re just mad because I did what you couldn’t do...Fool.”
Unable to think of a comeback, Mark made a face at her.
Alex was the last to bowl and everyone gathered around the score sheet.
“I suck so bad at this game,” Chasity commented, getting a look at her final score.
“Finally, you’re right about something,” Malajia mocked.
“And I still beat you,” she shot back.
“Last place, with an extremely sad score of seven, goes to Emily Harris,” Mark teased.
“My score doesn’t count,” Emily said, Mark looked over at her.
“She’s right, man. We said that any score less than twenty, we were gonna drop,” Josh reminded him.
“So the last place prize goes to...” Alex looked at the scores. “Mark Johnson, with the sad score of forty-four.”
“Did you have to announce it out loud?” he complained.
“That’s sad man,” Jason commiserated. “And after you boasted that you could beat everybody.”
“Oh, shut up. I challenge everyone to a rematch!” Mark hollered.
“Boy, please,” Chasity scoffed, walking away.
“What? Oh, y’all scared that I might win?” he held his arms up in the air as his friends walked away, ignoring him.
