Page 11 of The Wrong Reciprocation

Leaning over the edge of the sofa, Seraph peeked at the phone over Twyla's shoulder.

"Girl, what are you doing now?"

"Downloading a language app so I can learn Spanish."

A sharp scream came from where Sierra was perched on the beanbag.

"You'd better be lying!"

"Absolutely not," Twyla uttered thoughtfully. "I need to get fluent asap so when he takes me to meet his mother I can communicate in her native tongue. She'll love that."

"I cannot with you!"

“You outta be too sore to think this hard,” Vanessa snickered. “I must’ve missed it when you got here but I peeped you limping from the bathroom.”

Seraph starting cracking up. “She was definitely limping! I immediately knew what that meant.”

Sierra slid her a knowing grin Seraph’s way. “Yeah, I bet you do know what that means. Having flashbacks?”

Laughing, Seraph rolled her eyes. “Bitch, are you having flashbacks?”

Sierra shrugged. “Shit, I might be.”

The laughter that filled the room warmed Twyla’s heart. She loved that her friends held space for her, even when she was being a little extra. And she could admit that after going more than two years without even entertaining a date, her exuberance over Arturo could appear…concerning. However, they just didn’t understand that this wasn’t her being dickmatized—this felt divine. She felt as if her soul recognized Arturo from the first time they’d met eyes, and now that they’d slept together there was an undeniable bond there.

“So, what did your mom say when you got home this morning?”

Looking up from her food, Twyla met Seraph’s gaze.

“Thankfully, she wasn’t there. She got off work at seven but I was already home and in my bed by the time she walked in the door at eight.”

“Oh, that’s perfect!”

Sierra and Vanessa echoed the sentiment.

“How is that gonna work? If you and Mr. You Feel Like Mine get together, how will you keep her away from him?”

Twyla frowned. Seraph’s follow-up question wasn’t a bad question, but it did take her mind somewhere she didn’t want to go.

“Uh…” She trailed off, not even sure how to answer that. In truth, despite all of her future planning, that was a scenario she hadn’t considered. In her fantasy world, the two don’t even exist in the same timeline.

Vanessa stood up. “Uhn uh! Now, I know you just heard Sierra telling the girl to be serious! Why you wanna ask her some shit that’s sending her right back to delulu land?”

Laughing, Seraph nodded her head in concession. “You know what? You right.”

The conversation shifted to Sierra and her boyfriend Devin and Twyla took the opportunity to shove any thoughts of her mother and Arturo being in the same room out of her mind.

Two days later there was a soft knock on the open door of her classroom about half an hour before her lunch period. When she looked up and noticed Arturo standing there, a wide smile came across her face and there was nothing she could do to contain it. Not that she wanted to. Just seeing him in the doorway made an effervescent sort of giddiness bubble up inside of her.

Pushing back from her desk, she stood and walked toward him, scanning the room as she went. While most of her students were focused on their work and not her visitor, several pairs of eyes were locked on her visitor. She stepped over the threshold out into the hall and for a moment they simply stood there gazing at each other. Arturo's bottom lip was pulled between his teeth, and Twyla couldn't help the extra sharp cheddar cheese of a grin on her face. It wasn't until one of Twyla's students coughed that she snapped out of her reverie.

"Um…"

Arturo chuckled and shook his head. "Forgive me. I'm sorry to interrupt."

"It's okay. What did you need?"

"You."