Still Waters

Chapter 7

"Awww shoot now!" Kenney called as I walked down the stairs to meet him. "Freet Frew!" I guess this was his way of whistling.

"Hi Kenney." I chuckled when he gave me a big hug and dipped me backwards. "You're crazy."

"And lucky. I'ma have the finest...platonic friend...out on a 'just friends' date in the whole joint." I laughed again. He held out his arm to me. "Shall we?"

"Sure." I slipped my fingers through the crick of his arm. He was scrawny, but surprisingly muscular. I gave him a once over and imagined how ripped his chest must be under that white button down. "You look nice."

He nodded in agreement. Arrogant.

"As do you."

"Thanks." I know I didn't have a crush on this boy. I looked at him more closely. "Where's your glasses?"

"Oh," his cheeks dimpled up. "I don't wear them all the time. Only when I'm tryna look smart."

"Look smart?" I let out a loud "Ha!" then asked, "Who were you trying to look smart for?"

"The professors."

"What?"

"I always wear my glasses to class, for sure."

"Why?"

"It's a proven fact that people treat you the way they perceive you."

"Uh-huh..."

"So," he held the car door open for me, "if they think that I'm smart then they'll give me 'A's." Before I had the chance to argue, he closed the car door and walked around to the driver's side.

"And how's this little theory been working for you?" I asked as he climbed behind the wheel.

"So far so good." He looked over at me and grinned. "How you think I got into Hampton?"

I smiled and shook my head. Leaning back into the cracked leather bucket seat, I saw my roommate and a couple of her friends grinning at us from across the street. I waved at them. They grinned wider and waved back.

"Friends of yours?"

"My roommate."

"Why she grinnin' like that? You must have a crush on me."

"What!" I bolted upright.

"A crush" he repeated matter-of-factly and flashed his dimples my way. "You know you like me."

"You don't know what you're talking about." I flushed with embarrassment.

But that was exactly why they were grinning at me.

Apparently, I brought Kenney's name up enough, and he called me so often throughout the day that Shayna had long since come to the conclusion that we were crushing on each other. It didn't help that Kenney was always hanging out on the VC steps and jumped up every time he spotted me across the yard, either.

"I do know what I'm talking about," he grinned wider. "I got four sisters. I know exactly what it means when some dude comes to the door or walks past and they all start grinnin' at each other."

"What does it mean then, Bud?"

He cut me a sly grin. "It means sooner or later I'ma have to get in ol' boy's ass for tryna push up on my sister."

That wasn't what I expected to hear. I burst into laughter. For some reason I was always laughing around Kenney. Maybe I did like him.

"You think I'm playin'. I will whomp somebody without hesitation for one of my sisters."