Read Fitting In (Is Hard to Do) Semester 1 Page 7

“DO YOU THINK IT was wise to send those two together to get some bottled water?” Hunter ask me as I search through the dresses I designed.

  “Uh, yeah! I’m not drinking no faucet water.”

  “Girl, I’m saying because the two of them were so heated when they left.”

  “They are not about to be fighting over that mess. Besides, dudes don’t really fight over stuff like that. Girls, maybe. Well… not me…” I look at my hot like fire nails and blow on them as if they were just painted. “I’m not trying to break a nail fighting no THOT.”

  “If you say so… let you find out Roman got a side chick, I bet you break all them nails off yourself.”

  “And you ain’t never lied! But I guarantee that wouldn’t be the only thing I’d be breaking.” I find the dress and hold it up to me in order to show Hunter. She doesn’t see because she’s too busy texting. I walk over to see who was more important than my designs and she holds the phone to her chest.

  “Dang!”

  “Let me see.” I try to snatch the phone from her but she holds onto it even tighter and throws herself onto my bed so I couldn’t get to it. “Is it that serious?”

  “Obviously!”

  “Well fine… if you want to keep secrets, I’m not giving you this dress.”

  “Geesh, Symph… do you want to see my man’s thang-thang that bad?”

  “Ew! He texted you a pic? While he was walking to the store?” Hunter gives me a blank sarcastic stare. I hand her the dress and tell her to try it on.

  “I like this!”

  “I know right!” She heads out of my room and I stop her. “Where you going?”

  “To the bathroom to try it on.”

  “So try it on… why you have to go to the bathroom? It ain’t like we ain’t never changed in front of each other before… unless you have some wholly molly granny panties on.” I crack up laughing.

  “Nah, I have to use it so I figure I’d just change while I’m in there.”

  “Why you gotta take your phone too? I know you’re not thinking about texting him any pics back from my bathroom? She laughs, turns around, and looks at me with a mad face. I wave her off and say, “Hurry up I want to see it!”

  Hunter goes to the bathroom to change and comes back and the dress looked better than I had imagined it. “Girl, yes! That is definitely you!”

  “I know right! Girl, you outdid yourself on this one!”

  “That shade is perfect with your skin tone!” I grab by cell and start snapping photos.

  “Unh unh… my hair is not done for all that!”

  “Please, Hunter… I am not interested in your face! I am getting the dress and the dress only.” I like to take pics of my creations and place them in my design book. In it, I have the beginning sketch along with a sample piece of the fabric and a pic to complete each design. “I’m going to have to start charging you.” I tell Hunter as she returns to the bathroom to change out of the dress.

  ♥♥♥

  After I come from grabbing me a chocolate milk, I see an extra tray sitting at our table in front of a pink and purple backpack. "Whose is this?” I ask curiously.

  "I think that's what's-her-face.” Quincy snapped his fingers as if it were a mechanism for jump-starting his memory. "Damn, what the hell is her name? You know, the one girl that was at the park the one day."

  "I know it ain’t the freshman, Amber.” I say looking at the stupid backpack in the chair.

  "Yea... Her. Thought you ain’t know her name.” Quincy teased.

  "Why the hell is her stuff at our table?"

  Q shrugged his shoulders and continued eating as if he really didn't care. "I dunno. Think Ro or Hunter told her to come over here."

  "Why the hell would they do that?"

  Quincy pushed his tray away from him and looked at me as if I was irritating him. “I said, I don't freakin' know! Now should I stop eating just so I can accommodate you in a freakin' game of 20 questions?”

  Sometimes.... No, scratch that! At all times! I can't stand Quincy's dumb ass! "I don't know whose bed you climbed out of the wrong side on but you might need to go back and try it again. Don't take it out on me because you’re unsatisfied!"

  "I climbed out of yours!"

  "Nigga you wish!"

  The one thing I hated about Roman was that he always had to play the Good Samaritan. Well, I guess that's where he and I were different. The more I stared at her tray, the more it pissed me off. I know this chick ain’t trying to get in where she wished she fit in. I slam my bag on the middle of the table, sit my food and myself down, and slide my bag across the table, sending Amber’s food crashing to the floor. “Oops!” I said looking at her fries, burger, and salad co-mingling together on the floor.

  “Now that was just dumb, stupid, and selfish!” Q said as he eyeballed the mess on the floor. "I know you did that shit on purpose too!"

  Great! Usually no matter how much Quincy got on my nerves, he always appreciated one of my good jokes or devious plans. I guess Roman must be rubbing off on him. "Don't tell me you getting soft on me Q."

  "He'll naw! I'm just saying, you could have given a nigga a heads up... I could have grabbed those damn fries!"

  As we sat there laughing at the mess on the floor, I see Roman and Amber walking towards us with food trays in their hands and Hunter walking towards us empty handed coming from the restroom. At this moment, I'm puzzled like a mug. "Q? Are you sure that was Amber's tray?"

  "It was sitting right there in front of her bag!” He assured me.

  That nigga bet not have played me!

  "What the heck!” Hunter yells referring to what appears to be her food on the floor.

  At this point, I was speechless. Technically, I would just tell my girl the truth right here and now and possibly just buy her another lunch. But hell, I can't look like an ass in front of that nobody ass chick. And I damn sure can’t afford no more points adding up on Roman's bad side. But then again, forget 'em both because somebody invited that thot over here. So regardless whose food it was... It's gone now! "I didn't know it was your food?” I said to Hunter who was looking at me as if she wanted to kill me. Damn, was the bitch that hungry? She can swerve with all that!

  "Would that have made any difference? Knowing whose food it was?” Roman the rescuer spoke.

  "What do you mean; would it have made a difference? I wasn't the one who put it down there!” I lied trying to save my own ass. "So yeah it may have made a difference because if I had known it was Hunter’s I would have got her another lunch."

  "But why would you have done that if you didn't do anything to it in the first place?"

  "Roman... You ain't the only nigga that can have compassion! You act like I don't have a decent bone in my body!” Sometimes I hate his self-righteous ass!

  I pleaded the fifth and then Quincy spoke. "Dang bruh! It was an accident, okay? I dropped the shit down there, so what!"

  “So what!? That was my food Quincy! Now what am I supposed to eat?”

  "Mr. Q!” Mr. Morrison yelled from the other side of the cafeteria. "I'm a little jealous. Seems we had a lunch date, and you stood me up! So you can spend the rest of the lunch period in my room now and for the rest of the week!"

  Everyone in the cafeteria looked at Quincy and "Oh’d!"

  “What you in for?” Roman asked.

  "Man he caught me flickin' his class the other day. This some bullshit!"

  "Well, least he didn't suspend you."

  "Better for me if he did.” He looked at Amber. "Hey Newbie... Pick that up for me.” Without even thinking about it, Amber started to pick the food up from the floor.

  "You ain't gotta do that.” Roman said as he moved Amber out of the way and cleaned it himself.

  My stomach turned and suddenly I didn’t have an appetite for my untouched food anymore. I slide my tray towards Hunter, “Bon appetite,” and get up to leave.

  It pisses me off how I have always been there for Roman at his every beck and call and
he gone play me like that! As far as I'm concerned, he can do whatever the hell he wants to and with whoever he wants to do it with! I knew it was something I didn’t like about that girl. She always is staring at Roman or me. For a minute, I thought that maybe she was a lesbian but when I see how she has to act all shy around Roman. Thotianna please! I am far from stupid or naïve and his dumb ass is just falling into the trap. As far as pimple faced chick is concerned, she just made my shit list!

  ♥♥♥

  september

  8 CHAPTER EIGHT

  Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too.

  ~Will Smith