“Nessa, I'm here,” said Davanté into his cell phone.
Vanessa did not respond. She promptly hung up the line and ran to her front door and opened it.
“Woah!” said Davanté.
Vanessa was clearly underdressed, wearing nothing but sexy lingerie.
“You like?” she asked as she twisted her body in a seductive motion.
Davanté began to get nervous.
“Um, Vanessa, what's going on? What are you doing?” he asked her.
Vanessa shrugged her shoulders. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean, you look like…well, why are you wearing this?” asked Davanté.
Vanessa became visibly angry.
“Uh! After all I've done for you, this is how you treat me?” she yelled.
“Vanessa, come on, it's me, Davanté. I've always appreciated you. I just don't think I'm ready to take our relationship to that level,” he said.
“What? What guy says this? Usually, it’s the girl who says that!” said Vanessa.
“Well, I guess I've got other things I want to focus on and I don't want anything to mess it up,” said Davanté.
“Hm. Like me?” said Vanessa.
“No, like that,” said Davanté.
“Oh, I see. You're a virgin. Or maybe you’re gay!” said Vanessa.
“Vanessa, stop it. This has nothing to do with me. Do you really think we're ready for this?” asked Davanté.
Vanessa shifted her feet. “I guess not. I just thought you wanted to,” she said.
“I do, I do. Just not now,” said Davanté.
“When?” asked Vanessa.
“Um, I don’t know,” said Davanté.
Deflated, Vanessa gave Davanté a shallow hug. He could see tears streaming down her eyes.
“Well, at least you can come inside the house,” she said.
“Um, you know what, let me go. We'll talk tomorrow,” said Davanté.
Vanessa agreed and softly shut the door. Davanté could not believe it. All this time, he had not seen it. It seemed both Lionel and Clarence had known about Vanessa's intentions except him.
He felt slightly betrayed by Vanessa. Instead of supporting his ambitions to make something of himself, he sensed that Vanessa just did not care. She had always put herself before him.
Despite his feelings for Vanessa, Davanté made up his mind to break up with her by graduation.