Still Waters

Chapter 18

            That night, I was back in my dorm room for only a few minutes before I heard a distant tapping just outside the window. When I looked out the first time, I didn't see anyone. But when the noise persisted, I decided to look out again, to the left and the right, and sure enough, there was Collin tossing rocks up against the bedroom window. Irritably, I snatched it open and called down to him.

"Psst!" I whispered. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Can I come up?" he called back, a little too loudly. "I want to talk to you."

I knew if I didn't go down and let him in, he'd just stay out there throwing rocks until I did. So I told him to meet me around the back entrance and quietly slipped down the back stairs to sneak him up. When we made it back to my room, I looked down the hall to make sure that no one had seen us and closed the door behind me.

"What do you want?" I asked, visible chip on my shoulder. Who did this kid think he was anyway? Yeah, sure we had been spending some time together, but we weren't going together. How did he figure he could just pop up, at my dorm room, in the middle of the night? Especially after I had just gotten away with sneaking back in, myself.

"So...where ya been?" he asked casually, then looked me directly in the eye.

The nerve of this guy! I immediately copped an attitude and put a hand on my hip. "Out. Why?"

"Just wonderin'." He picked something up off of my desk and gazed at it nonchalantly. "I came by to see you earlier, but you weren't here." He put the purple stapler back on the desk and looked at me, waiting for an explanation.

"Oh," I snapped, "so now I have to tell you where I go?"

"Naw. I'm just sayin'..."

"Just saying what Collin?"

"Just sayin' nothin'." A slow smile spread across his face. "Still got that hot head I see."

I couldn't help but smile back. "Damn skippy."

He gave me a fake laugh, then propped himself up against the desk. "I don't like that yella ass nigga."

"Who?" Like I didn't know.

"Who you think?" He stood straighter.

"Why not?"

"I just don't trust him."

He don't trust you either, I thought to myself and wondered which one of them was right.

On the one hand you had Kenney, who had never wronged me in any way since the day I met him. But at the same time, I still hadn't known him for very long. Maybe Collin saw something in him, some guy thing that only guys understood, that I hadn't been around long enough to pick up on yet. Then on the other hand, you had Collin, who I had known forever and who had already given me every reason in the world not to trust him. Unfortunately, having history with someone still meant more to me than anything - at that time - which was all the reason I needed to continue to trust Collin, and to still seriously value his opinion.

I still loved him, too. I couldn't help it.

"I mean," Collin continued, "you just met that fool and already he's tryna act like you've known him...long as me." He smiled slyly.

I grinned back at him. "Whatever Collin. Don't be jealous."

"I could never be jealous of anyone trying to be me," Collin replied cockily. "You can't improve on a masterpiece, girl."