Kingston U: Introductions

9. grace

"Have fun?"

Grace watched as Keisha dragged herself through the door. She sat down her stuff on her bed then turned around to grab her things to prepare for a shower.

"Yeah." she smiled at her. "What about you? Did you get that boy's number or something? It looked like he like you."

Grace snorted and wrung her hands. "He looked like he liked everybody."

Keisha sat down. Her perfectly arched eyebrows pinched together. "What happened?"

Not wanting pity, Grace busied herself by gathering her things for class. She could still feel her roommate's eyes on her back. "Nothing." she lied. "We just talked for a little bit then some other girl caught his attention and he went to talk to her."

"I'm sorry, Grace."

Grace hated this.

She hated how much of a loser she felt like and she hated when whenever something like this happened, people always felt bad for her; Keisha, her brother, her parents.

It all just made it worse. It made her feel worse. Their 'sorry''s and comfort hugs and 'it'll be okay''s had the opposite effect. They just made her realize how pathetic shit was. The coddling made her feel even smaller. Like she was this fragile little girl when in reality she was just a fractured young woman, one that was already damaged and sustainable to a little more cracks.

So she plastered on a faux smile then turned to Keisha and said with a shrug, "It's cool. It ain't a big deal."

Her best friend shook her head. "No, fuck him. He wasn't that cute anyway."

He was.

And despite what happened last night, she often found herself thinking of the perfect-smiled boy.

"Well, atleast you got someone. As always." Grace teased.

She didn't know who the lucky guy was last night but it was no surprise when she told Grace she had someone to meet up with.

It was always easy for Keisha to get the guy. Grace often wondered what it felt like to be like her friend. She longed to feel even the smallest amount of attention and intimacy from the opposite sex, to even have a guy interested in her. The last time Grace had a crush on someone that even somewhat interacted with her was when she was fourteen. Of course, it went nowhere. The fact that she was a freshman and he was a junior didnt help and considering he was also her brother, Gio's best friend– yeah.

Keisha smiled and waved her off.

"Was he atleast nicer than that Dorian dude?" Grace pried.

"Yeah. He was cool."

Figuring that was all she was gonna get about Keisha's latest rendezvous, Grace gathered her books into her arms and made her way towards the door. "Well, I got class at nine thirty so I have to go. I'll see you later though."

She heard Keisha say, "Shit, it's nine!?" before closing the door behind her.