Just Good Friends

Chapter 11

Sam's POV

I still can't believe Chris gave me his number yesterday. I told Becca that Chris asked me to go to Homecoming with him, too. She got really excited and was congratulating me -- I don't know why. I'm not going to the Homecoming Dance with him or anybody else. He was acting really nice though... I was really surprised at how sweet he was. Ugh, I can't believe how gushy I'm sounding.

Anyway, I'm mega glad we didn't have basketball practice tonight. After the final school bell rang, everyone was running the halls and talking about the dance. I'm heading to Diggy's house for our 'Bestie Night'. It'll just be me and him since our friends abandoned us. 

As I pull up to Diggy's luxurious three-story house, my phone goes off. The tune to "Started From The Bottom" by Drake fills the space of my small car.

"Hello?" I answer the phone.

"You at Diggy's place?"

"Yes, mom."

"Okay. Have fun, sweetie. If you need anything call me."

"Okay, mom. I'll call you. Bye, G." I press 'end call' on my cell phone and slip it into my sweatpants pocket. I get out of the car and walk up the driveway to Diggy's front door. After ringing the door bell, I beat a rhythm on their door -- typical black person thing to do, but I don't care. After a few seconds, Mrs. Justine appears at the door with an annoyed then unsurprised look on her face. I smile cheekily at her through the screen door.

"Hello, Samantha. Come in, dear," she says while letting me into her quiet house. Stepping past her, I immediately head toward her refrigerator looking for a bottle of Gatorade. She always has the best flavors in her fridge.

"Oh, Sam, might as well take the whole refrigerator with you, girl," Mrs. Justine told me.

"Nah, that's okay. Can I take your snack cabinet though?" I ask, being totally serious. She shakes her head and laughs at me. 

I take a bag of cheesy puffs from her cabinet, grab a bottle of blue Gatorade, and skip upstairs to Diggy's room. I know all the rooms in their house since I've been here plenty of times. When I was younger, me and Dig used to have sleepovers and play dates all the time. We were always playing together or standing by each other or eating together. My mom even has an embarrassing picture of us in the tub together when we were toddlers. Thankfully, she's never showed it to my friends.

I knock on Diggy's bedroom door, which is halfway open, and walk into his room. He was sitting on his bed tying the black suede dress shoes that were on his feet. He had on black suit pants and a white t-shirt. What is he wearing?

"Yo!" I say.

"Hey, Sam," he looks up at me and smacks his lips, "Why you always eating up everybody's food? Don't you have a fridge at home?"

"My mom doesn't buy good food like y'all do. Plus other people's food always tastes better." I sit my Gatorade on his dresser top and open up my bag of chips.

He ignores my response and walks into his huge closet. All I hear is clothes hangers moving around. I plop down on his bed and frown a little. What was he doing? 

"You know Dig, we've been friends for a while, but you don't have to dress up for me, boy. We're just gonna be playing video games and eating. It's not so formal."

He came out of his closet buttoning up a white collared dress shirt with a black tie around his neck. He walked directly to the mirror in his room, checking himself out while concentrating on each button on his dress shirt.

"So... you want some chips?" I ask.

"No, you can have them."

"Are you gonna look at your ugly self in the mirror all night or are we actually gonna do something?"

He sighs and finishes tying his tie. He doesn't respond to me, which makes me annoyed. Now I have to get nasty. I get up and stand right beside him.

"Diggy, why are you getting all dressed up? You got plans or something?"

No reply.

"I thought today was our 'Bestie Night'? Come on, let's do some stuff..."

No reply.

"Daniel Dwayne Simmons, if you don't tell me why you're dressed--"

"SAM! You're not my mom, okay? So just stop the act and get out of my face." He walks back into his closet and a few seconds later comes back out with a jacket that matches his whole attire.

"Excuse me?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but we have to reschedule or something. Something came up and I have to leave in a few minutes," Diggy says.

"Um, where do you think you're going?" I look into his eyes trying to fish for the truth, when I see it. "It's Julie isn't it. She's got you tied around her finger."

"She asked me to the Homecoming dance," he finally admits, "And I said I would take her. What's wrong with that?"

"How about the fact that you knew you had other plans tonight? What's wrong with you Dig?! Grow some balls my n--"

"You know what, Sam? I've tried to be patient with you and hold my tongue, but you're not worth it. I'm tired of your constant nagging and negative remarks about what I'm doing. Why don't you just get a life and stop trying to control mine?"

Diggy storms out of his room, but before he leaves, I yell back at him.

"So you're gonna choose her over me? I thought we were best friends?"

He stops, slowly turns around, and says in a calm voice, "We were."