Page 28 of Full Court Press

My fourth day on campus, and already, there was too much drama.

I erased the thoughts and feelings of Khalil from my mind and went to shower before I went to class.

With my hope, I prayed that he wouldn’t talk to me for the rest of the school year.

Thankfully, the day went by smoothly. I didn’t see Khalil in the class we shared together, so I was appreciative of that. But his minions were in attendance. They didn’t say anything to me, and I was happy about it. I knew it was only because we didn’t need to talk to one another since Khalil was the group manager and pretty much had his friends reporting to him.

After a day of classes, I was finally in my dorm, relaxing. Braelyn had gone to the movies with her boyfriend, so I was alone until she came back. I picked up my phone to call my mom to check in and tell her about my day.

Or morning rather.

She picked up on the third ring.

“Hey, Mommy!”

“Hey, baby.”

I instantly sat up when I heard the weakness in her voice.

“Mama, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I slept with the window open last night, and now I’m sick.”

“Answer your FaceTime.” I needed to see her face. When she came on camera, I inspected her face. Her nose was red, and her eyes were glossy.

“Why would you sleep with the window open, Mama?”

“Because I was hot. Duh.”

“We have central air. You could have turned it on for a bit. The outside weather carries a lot of germs, and I don’t want it to trigger⁠—”

“Piper, I’m fine! Don’t you start with your dramatic theories about my immune system. It’s just a little cold. I’m fine. Now, tell me what’s going on with you. How’s everything coming along?”

I sighed and laid back down, staring into the camera at her. She scared me. I was always on edge now since the cancer and was deeply concerned about her health.

“Nothing . . . What did you eat today?”

“Piper.” She gave me a look of warning, telling me to back off. Since the cancer, I made sure she ate healthy and exercised when I was home.

“Fine. Everything was okay up until last night and this morning.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“Start with what has you in your feelings.”

“I’m not in my feelings,” I lied.

“Girl, please. Tell that to someone who doesn’t know you.”

Okay. Maybe I was in my feelings a little bit. I also needed to stop being in denial about how what he did to me made me feel things and how his baby mother, in fact, hit a nerve with me.

I wasn’t mad, per se, but I was disappointed in how things played out.

“There’s this guy. His name is Khalil, and he’s the star on the basketball team.”

“Oh, Lord. I know where this is going. I bet he’s a cocky bastard, and you like him, but he done said something to get under your skin, so now you hate him.”