“Yeah, that’s because youhaveto be around him. Besides, you two of have been weird for the last week. I really thought this whole thing would have been sorted out by now. Especially after the discussion he had with me and Mama.”
I turned further around to look Keyon directly in the face. “Wait, you guys had a discussion about me?”
“Of course, we did. Look, I told him not to let the whole baby daddy thing get to him, and—”
Furious, I hopped out of my seat and headed right to the front of the bus.
Shoving Law in the arm, I blurted, “How dare you tell people my business?”
Confused, he straightened up in his seat. “First of all, calm down. Second, what are you talking about?”
Just as I was about to respond, a sharp turn into the school parking lot forced me to fall back into the seat across from him. It was embarrassing as hell, but I was grateful for the wakeup call. I was so pissed off that I’d forgotten that we were on a bus full of teenagers.
Taking a deep breath, I stood back up and motioned for everyone to start making their way off of the bus. Eyeing me suspiciously, they didn’t move as fast as they normally would, and I knew my outburst had a lot to do with that.
But I didn’t have time to give in to their intuitive glares and whispers. I needed their asses off the bus and in the car with their parents. Because the moment they were all on their way, I was going to let Law have it.
Unfortunately, a few parents took longer than I’d hoped, and I wasn’t able to stick it to him like I wanted to. I had to get home.
“Alauni,” Law said, hurrying to meet me at my car. “What was all of that about, earlier?”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t even have time to talk about it, right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m a chaperone at the prom, and I still have a lot of shit to do before I have to be back at the school.”
“I get that, but you can at least take a few minutes to—”
“No, I can’t,” I slammed the door, started my car and sped out of the parking lot.
The time that it would take to give Law the chewing out that he deserved wasn’t available to me, and I wasn’t going to chance it. Honestly, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it probably wasn’t even worth it. What was the point in arguing with someone that didn’t even want to be with me? I shouldn’t even care anymore.
Law and I were done.
As soon as the season was over, we wouldn’t even have to breathe the same air for a while. He would go on about his life and I would be able to go on about mine. Even if it was only for a short while, it was long enough for me to get the time and space that I needed to get over him.
That time couldn’t come soon enough.
34
Law
“What exactly did you say to Coach Jeffers while we were on the bus?” I questioned while standing in Tokyo’s bathroom fixing Keyon’s tie.
Trying to pretend like he didn’t know what I was talking about, he turned his head away from me and shrugged. “I’m not sure I know what you’re referring to.”
“Oh, you definitely know what I’m referring to. How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of grown folks business?”
“I mean, I didn’t really say anything,” he replied. “I barely got the words out before she was rushing to the front of the bus.”
Unconvinced, I said, “Mmhmm, what did you say, Key?”
“I was trying to see if she was going to come to my graduation party, but she seemed hesitant. I knew it probably had something to do with you, so I was just letting her know not to let that deter her.”
I frowned. “Did she say she wasn’t coming because of me?”
“She tried to claim that wasn’t the reason, but I’m not stupid. No woman wants to be around a man that kicked her to the curb.”
