“What’s wrong?”
“Well, thanks to your little stunt I’m being benched for the entire first half of the game.” He glares at me.
“You have scouts coming. Do they know that?” I ask.
“It doesn’t matter Sid.” He sighs. “I threw the first punch and I have to suffer the consequences.”
“I’ll talk to Coach Treggle and tell him it was my fault.”
“No. You’ve done enough?”
“Are you really blaming me for this?”
“You called his mom a hoe Sid.” He points out.
“So, he called me one. How does that make this my fault?”
“You call him a name back, that’s the way it works, you don’t bring his mother into it.”
“My bad then, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you into trouble.”
“I have to go. I need to practice sitting on the bench.”
Drew walks away shaking his head at me. Upset, I want to leave, but Drew is my ride home. Its not like I can just leave. Besides, it’s my duty as his girlfriend to be supportive, even when he’s riding the bench.
He looks miserable the entire first half as his team trails the visiting team by twelve points. I was happy to see coach Treggle put him in the second half of the game. Drew is amazing on the court. He handles the ball better than anyone I know and he can dribble with both hands so he doesn’t really have a weak spot. They end up winning the game by nine points.
To celebrate, the team is going to a party at Xerxes’ house only I’m no longer invited. Drew’s the one who hit him and yet he still gets to go.
“Are you going to the party?”
“I’m not the one who’s disinvited, so yes.” Drew nods.
“I think you should stay and hang out with me.”
“And do what, watch the Disney channel all night? I don’t think so Sid, but I’ll call you later.” He laughs.
“Are you’re seriously going to that party without me?”
“Yes, I am.”
“That really hurts my feelings.”
“Sidney I really need you to not be so dramatic tonight. You almost cost me the game, don’t guilt trip me and take this away from me too.” Drew sighs.
Don’t guilt trip him? What I really want to do was smack him in the face. And what does he mean he needs me not to be so dramatic? I’m not dramatic, I’m just hoping to spend time with him.
“Fine. Go.” I roll my eyes. “Go to your stupid party.”
Climbing out of Drew’s car, I slam the door behind me. He takes off without making sure I’m the house and I hurry up to my room. I’m so irritated right now that we’d probably end up arguing all night anyway.
“How was your game?” Mom stops me on the stairs.
“We won.”
“Why do you look so upset then?”
“It’s Drew. One of his friends called me a hoe so I said his mom was a hoe.” I explain. “To make a long story short, he tried to hit me but Drew protected me. They got into it and five minutes later they were friends again. Drew got benched, I got blamed and now Drew as a party without me because I’m uninvited.”
“Wait a minute. Who tried to hit you?”
“Xerxes Evers.” I sigh.
“And Drew stopped him?”
“Yes, but now he’s mad at me because he got benched during the first half of the game and there were scouts there to see him.”
“He put a lot on the line for your honor it sounds like. You should be grateful, not sad.”
OMG! What planet do parents live on? It’s like they’re so disconnected from the real world that they see things in a weird way.
“I’m sad because he’s mad at me mom.”
“Well, he sort of has a reason to be. How would you feel if someone called me a hoe?”
I should have known better than to talk to her. Shaking my head, I go straight to my room and throw myself across my bed. I tried to get some sleep but I couldn’t. All I can think about is the fact that Drew is mad at me, and how much I hate arguing with him.
Part of me hoped Drew would call me when he got home or we’d see each other over the weekend and we’d work things out, but we didn’t talk all weekend. When I see him at school on Monday, he acts like I don’t even exist. Nicole thought maybe he was still angry so I didn’t confront him about it. I let him have his space. By Tuesday I was really missing him.
Again he hasn’t said a word to me and it’s starting to bother me. I hate being ignored. Wanting to put an end to the silence between us, I went over to his house after school to be the bigger person.
“Sidney.” Mrs. Taylor smiles, inviting me in. “I had a feeling you’d be showing up here.”
“Is Drew here?”
“He’s out back feeding the dogs.” She motions towards the back door.
Following the long hallway to the back door, I open it and two large dogs jump on me practically knocking me down. “Don’t let them in or my mom will kill me.” Says Drew.
I push the dogs back with all my strength and close the door behind me. The two dogs ran back towards the yard playing with each other. I turn my attention to Drew who’s sitting on a hammock now, rocking back and forth. I can tell by his demeanor he’s still mad.
“What are you doing here Sid?”
“I haven’t heard from you in two days and I wanted to make sure we were okay.”
“You almost cost me a lot Sidney. I can’t allow myself to be distracted like that again.” He sighs.
“I’m not trying to be a distraction for you. I care about you.”
“I think we should break up.” He quickly blurts out.
Now I know why he stopped talking to me. He’s breaking up with me. I tell him I care about him and he responds by breaking up with me.
“I made a mistake Drew, I’m not perfect.”
“I know, but I can’t afford for you not to be. When you come in between me and the NBA that’s a problem for me.”
“So instead of talking to me about it, you just call it quits?”
“I can’t have a repeat of the other night Sid.” He sighs.
“So we work on it.” I argue. “We don’t just give up.”
“Not everyone I hang out with is going to be proper or respectful Sidney. You have to be willing to let that go for the sake of the bigger picture.”
“So I should have just let him disrespect me then?” I scoff.
“No, but you shouldn’t let it make you so angry that you say something stupid. What if I hadn’t been there and he would’ve hit you? I would kill someone for hitting you so I need you not to put yourself in that position.”
“I get it and I’m sorry okay.” I apologize. “Are you really breaking up with me?”
Drew looks me over and his lips slowly curl up into a smile. “No. Get in here with me before I change my mind.” He pets the space next to him.
He stops the hammock from swaying back and forth long enough for me to climb in with him and lay down. He puts his arms around me and the swaying of the hammock combined with being in Drew’s arms made something as simple as laying in a hammock seem very romantic.
“I can’t believe you ignored me for three days.” I turn to face him, tracing his lips with my index finger. “Talk to me next time Drew.”
“There’s no talking to you. You’re hardheaded.” He laughs.
“I am not.” I smirk.
Drew climbs on top of me and I go into panic mode worried my dad might see us or find out. I’m hyperventilating and Drew thinks it’s funny.
“Relax, I’m not going to do anything to you.”
He entwines his fingers with mine and holds my hands above my head with one of his hands. Drew leans in really close to my face and gently kisses me. Every time we kiss my feelings for him grow and it scares me. We’re both still seeing other people and if I fall any harder for him I’m going to be in serious trouble.
“Drew!” Mrs. Taylor shouts from the back door.
“It’s cool mom, go back inside.”
“No it’s not cool, get off of her!” She storms over to us.
“We better stop before she breaks out the holy water.” He jokes.
Drew climbs off of me and holds the hammock so I can climb out. We follow his mom into the house and Drew left me alone with her while he went to use the restroom. GREAT.
“You really shouldn’t allow him to do that.”
“He doesn’t exactly take no for an answer.” I reply.
“Still, the last thing I need is for you to end up pregnant.” She shakes her head.
“Mrs. Taylor, we’re not sexually active.”
“And I’d like to keep it that way.”
“We were just kissing.”
“Yes, but kissing leads to other things Sidney.” She points out.
“You’re right.” I nod, not wanting to argue with her.
“I know my son and that’s why I’m talking to you and not him. Drew has a bright future ahead of him Sidney and I can’t have him getting distracted.”
The house phone rang, THANK GOD, and she went to answer it. She looks over at me and then tells whoever it is she’ll be right there.
“Drew I have to go get your dad!” She shouts to him.
“Go, I’m in the bathroom!” He shouts back.
“I can’t leave you guys here alone!”
“Okay, give me twenty minutes.”
“I don’t have twenty minutes.” She complains.
“It’s okay, I’ll wait out on the porch for him.” I assure her.
I walk outside with Mrs. Taylor and she locks the door behind me. She left me sitting on the porch as she drove away, and I waited for Drew to come out. He opened the door a few minutes later and pulled me back into the house.
“Drew I promised your mom I wouldn’t.”
“I know, but I know she’s going to be gone for a couple of hours and I just want to spend some alone time with you.” He replies.
“Someone will come looking for me.”
“Then we shouldn’t waste time.” He winks.
Drew took me to his room and put on some music. I’m one thousand percent sure this is a really bad idea, but he’s not an easy person to say ‘no’ to. I’m nervous, I’m flustered and I’m starting to panic.
“Come sit.”
“Drew, I think I should go back outside.”
“Why?” He groans. “Are you afraid of me?”
“A little.” Especially alone in your bedroom, which I’m pretty sure is the last place we should be.
“Stop being a scaredy cat and sit.” He pats the space next to him on his bed. “We rarely get to be alone like this so I want to take advantage of it.”
Sitting next to Drew on his bed, my heart is beating so fast and so hard it feels like it’s trying to claw its way out of my chest. He removes my hair from my shoulder and starts kissing me on the neck. My freak out level just went from zero to one hundred. He gently turns my chin towards him and kisses me on the lips.
While his lips distract me, he applies his body weight against me. I place my arms behind me to keep myself propped up but he grabs them and his weight forces me to lie back.
“Drew I’m starting to get scared.” I panic.
“Sh. I’m not taking anything off.” He promises.
Once again I have to force my nerves to calm down. I’m a complete mess and I’m shaking. “This works better when you’re not trembling.” Drew smiles.
“I’m scared.”
“I just want to kiss you, that’s it.” He assures me.
Only that wasn’t it. Drew climbs on top of me and I try to sit up, but the weight of his body holds me down. Both my mind and my heart are racing at this point, wondering where this is going. I don’t want to end up like Trisha. I want to play ball. I want to be good.
“Seriously Sid, I’m not going to do anything.” Drew tries to put me at ease.
“You are doing something Drew, and I’m scared.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“Yes.” I nod.
Irritated, Drew climbs off of me. I quickly get up from his bed like I’m on fire and move to the doorway. “I told you I like to move slow. Why don’t we call it a day and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I didn’t wait for him to respond. I just left. He pushed me past my comfort zone and I needed a moment to get my head together. I walked into my house and my mom looked worried.
“Where have you been?”
“I was at Drew’s.”
“I knew his name was going to come up.” She rolls her eyes.
“He’s my boyfriend.”
“Yes, but all you do is spend time with him Sid.”
“That’s what couples do mom.” I smirk.
“Why do you look so disheveled?”
Because my boyfriend is a horny teenaged boy…
“Drew kissed me.” I gave her the PG version of events.
My mom laughed harder than I’ve ever seen her laugh. I looked over at Josh, Trisha and Emily who all shrug. “What’s so funny?” I ask.
“Oh honey you’re so cute and innocent. I wasn’t sure until now but my baby is still a virgin.” She cooed.
Oh God. Please make her stop.
“Ugh mom!”
Hoping to burn that conversation from memory, I head up to my room to listen to music and get some homework done. It’s one thing to talk to my parents about boys but another entirely to talk them about sex. Just hearing the word virgin come out of her mouth did some serious psychological damage.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
