"Wow. You paint?"Amari asked, shoving ice cream in her mouth. Jermaine had asked her to come and get ice cream with him on her lunch break.
"Yeah. Just for fun though. My mom taught me."He replied modestly. "What about you? What do you do for fun outside of being pre-med?"
"I really never have time for fun. If I'm not in class or working, I'm studying with my girlf-...with my friends."She replied, correcting herself quickly. Amari had been spending time with Jermaine for the past two weeks and the bond they started to grow was far from a friendship. She still hadn't told him about Erin and nobody knew about him outside of her mother.
He was like her little secret. "May I ask you a question?"Jermaine asked and Amari nodded her head, "Sure."
"When we met, you told me you were in a relationship. Your boyfriend don't mind you spending all this time with me? No disrespect, but if you were my girl I'd feel some type of way."He explained and Amari started laughing.
"Well...I don't have a boyfriend, I have a girlfriend."She replied, nervously biting the inside of her lip.
"Oh really? I wouldn't have guessed that at all."He laughed, continuing to eat his ice cream. "How come you haven't told me about your girlfriend? You've told me about everyone else."
"It Just slipped my mind I guess."She chuckled nervously and Jermaine laughed. "Somebody you love doesn't just slip your mind, Amari."
Deep down, Amari didn't tell him about Erin because she was feeling him more than her at the moment. Erin was a great girl, but Amari didn't know if that was what she wanted anymore.
"May I ask you question? Don't get offended though."He faltered, grabbing her hand.
"You could ask me whatever you want."Amari smiled and placed her hand under her chin.
"You ever been with a guy?"Jermaine asked, putting his ice cream down.
"I haven't. I don't think I've ever even thought about one."She chuckled nervously, and shrugged.
"Do you think there's a reason for that? I'm not trying to get all on your business, I just want to understand as a friend."He explained, holding his hands up. He was really hoping not to offend her.
"Honestly, I think I kind of forced myself to like women. If that makes since, I mean I've always found girls attractive but I think I've really been scared to fall in love with a man."Amari sighed and bit down on her bottom lip.
Jermaine knit his eyebrows together as if he was trying to understand. "Explain."
Amari took a deep sigh and ran her hand over her face. "I think it has something to do with my mom and dad."
"Why? You told me that they were the perfect couple?"He asked, still confused.
"They are! That's what scares me."She sighed. "Don't get me wrong my mom and dad are the epitome of true love, I can probably count on one hand how many times I've seen them fight. It's just that when my dad disappeared, my mom had this like downward spiral. It was like she couldn't live without him and she even spent a year in an institution."She explained and Jermaine started laughing.
"Sorry for laughing, that just seems kind of shallow to me. You don't think that the same thing could happen if you fell in love with a woman? Love is Love Amari and no disrespect to your mother, but she probably had those issues long before she met your dad. I mean I'm sure there's a lot you don't know about your mother. After all, you did say that you and her just started to getting close, since you were five."He explained and Amari made a face that he couldn't read.
