Chapter 10 Flashback – Summer Before Twelfth Grade
Flashback – Summer Before Twelfth Grade
“C’mon, guys. You never want to go out,” Meaghan said, pleading with Lynx and Fateema. “Our last year of high school is starting in two weeks. Let’s go have some fun.”
One of their classmates was throwing their annual back-to-school party, and Meaghan was trying to convince Lynx and Fateema to go.
“The four of us went last year, and it was cool,” Joaquin reasoned.
Fateema sighed. Although her social circle had grown a bit since middle school, it still seemed as if she was the most disliked girl in her school.
“If Lynx goes, I’ll go,” Fateema announced.
“I guess you aren’t going,” Lynx said nonchalantly. “Y’all know that’s not my kinda crowd.”
“Ha.” Octavia laughed. “You don’t know what kind of crowd it is, but you’re right. No crowd is your kinda crowd. You barely like people.”
“Whatever, Tay. I’ve been doing my best to stay out of trouble. One of the ways I do that is by avoiding situations that could be trouble.”
“Lynx, you act like you’re a reformed felon or something. Yes, you were a troublemaker back in the day, but that was a long time ago. You’ve matured and kept your nose clean for years. Come out with us,” Adam urged.
“I was never a troublemaker, but trouble seemed to find me,” he corrected his friend while considering her words.
The five of them looked at him, their eyes pleading with him to reconsider.
“Fine. I’ll go, but if people start doing dumb shit, I’m leaving.”
“We’re all leaving if that happens. Let’s go,” Adam said.
Only Lynx and Adam had cars. As usual, Fateema rode with Lynx while everyone else rode with Adam, which had become the normal practice, except on the rare occasions one of the girls hopped in with Lynx and Fateema.
“You don’t wanna go, do you?” Fateema asked once they were alone in his car.
“You know I don’t.”
“Then why’d you agree?”
“Because you looked like you wanted to go.”
“I didn’t—”
“It’s cool, Bunny. If shit gets too wild, we can leave.”
They followed Adam to Demarco’s house. Lynx groaned when they arrived because the block was packed with cars.
“Do you think all these cars belong to someone at Demarco’s party?” Fateema asked.
“Probably, and I bet each car probably had two to four people inside.”
“Wow.”
“Exactly.”
He found a parking spot down the block and around the corner. Once he parked, he helped Fateema out of his car, and they began walking to the party's location. On the way, they met the rest of their friends.
“They must have a big backyard,” Fateema commented.
“Demarco’s family got money. They own the lot next to their house and use it as their yard,” Joaquin informed her.
“Nice,” she replied.
The music became louder as they approached their destination. Once they reached the house, they entered through the tall iron gate. The yard was packed, the music was loud, and everyone looked to be having a good time.
While their friends scattered amongst the crowd to socialize, Lynx and Fateema stuck together. They walked through and around groups of people, briefly greeting the ones they were cool with from school.
“Damn, Fateema!” a male voice exclaimed.
She turned to see who it was, but he didn’t look familiar, causing her to wonder how he knew her name.
“Umm, hi.”
“Where’d all that ass come from?” the boy said.
“Excuse me?”
Fateema didn’t get much attention from boys during the first two years of high school. Although beautiful, she was still very much a tomboy, dressing in baggy jeans, loose-fitting sweats, gym shoes, T-shirts, and hoodies most of the time. The boys couldn’t see past that and rarely approached her.
However, she’d blossomed over the summer before junior year. When she returned to school, she almost didn’t recognize herself when she looked in the mirror. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who noticed the difference. The boys were vying for her attention.
It felt good to be noticed, but she didn’t let it go to her head. Their sudden interest in her didn’t feel authentic, so she paid them no mind. Besides, she didn’t know the first thing about talking to boys.
“You thick as hell. You definitely didn’t have all that ass the last time I saw you.”
Lynx didn’t hear the boy's initial comment to get Fateema’s attention, but he heard his last statement.
“Are you serious? Learn some respect!” Lynx barked.
“Here you go with your proper, by-the-book ass. You don’t even like girls, so mind your fucking business.”
Before Lynx could get in the boy’s face, Fateema got between them.
“No, Lynx!”
Even though Lynx wasn’t an athlete, he was highly trained in martial arts, which only his friends knew. He had a tall, lean, muscular build, and Fateema knew Lynx could seriously hurt someone if pushed. The guys mugged each other before the other guy turned and walked away with a smirk.
“He looks like trouble, and that’s the last thing you need with senior year about to start. C’mon,” Fateema urged, pushing him backward.
She was right. They both already had scholarship offers from several universities, and he didn’t need to put them at risk. He eventually turned around, and they continued walking around the yard.
“We haven’t even been here five minutes, and the bullshit has already started. I should be used to guys checking for you at this point.”
“Ha! Checking for me? You’re funny. No guys have ever ‘checked’ for me. They make comments, but none of them are trying to talk to me on some real shit.”
“Bunny, the comments they make are their way of checking for you. Niggas are just dumb and don’t know how to talk to girls respectfully. Ever since your body transformed, niggas stay saying some slick shit about you.”
His words piqued her interest in what boys said about her.
“What do they say?”
Lynx didn’t have a problem being honest with Fateema, even if it might hurt her feelings.
“Stuff like what that guy said. Basically, they just want to have sex with you.”
She knew that to be true, so she didn’t let the provocative compliments pull her into their webs.
Talking to boys other than Lynx, Joaquin, and Adam was foreign to Fateema unless he was classmate and they were talking about schoolwork.
Until she interacted with someone who seemed to genuinely like her, she’d continue to keep the opposite sex at arm’s length.
“Lynx, hey. I’ve never seen you out,” a girl said when she approached them.
“Hey, umm…”
“Presleigh.”
“Right. Presleigh, this is my best friend, Fateema.”
The girls exchanged greetings, and Fateema noticed Presleigh’s was a little dry. It didn’t surprise her because she was used to the girls who smiled in Lynx’s face being irritated with her presence.
“Why don’t you come out more?” she asked, linking her arm through Lynx’s.
He shrugged. “I don’t like to be around large groups of people I don’t know. I prefer small, intimate gatherings.”
“Intimate, huh? I like how that sounds. When are you having one?”
Lynx looked down at the girl, confused. “Having one, what?”
“An intimate gathering. Actually, we can plan one of our own.”
Fateema rolled her eyes before saying to Lynx, “I’m going to find the girls.”
“Okay, I’ll be right here,” he replied.
As she walked away, she shook her head. It was crazy how many girls liked Lynx and how nonchalant he was about the attention he received from them. She knew her friend wasn’t gay but could understand why those who didn’t know him might assume.
Lynx didn’t display the typical aggressive male energy that most boys his age possessed. His demeanor was very calm, cool, and collected. He wasn’t quick to anger and didn’t let much get him riled up. However, it was hard to calm him down when he got upset.
Since he didn’t go around talking loud, grabbing his dick, being overly assertive toward women, and didn’t behave in typical teenage boy fashion, people made assumptions about him.
Fateema walked around until she spotted Meaghan and Octavia on the deck.
“Hey, where’s Lynx?” Octavia asked when Fateema stood next to her.
“Talking to some girl named Presleigh.”
“Presleigh, the cheerleader?” Meaghan questioned.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her, so I have no idea if she’s a cheerleader.”
Octavia and Meaghan were more social than Fateema, so they knew more people than she did.
“I hope it’s not her because she’s dating that guy who got expelled last year for bringing a knife to school,” Octavia said.
“I’m sure it’s her because, how many girls named Presleigh do you know?” Meaghan asked. “Where are they?”
They turned around to look down into the crowd. Fateema looked in the spot where she’d left him, and surprisingly, he was still with Presleigh, looking very cozy.
She pointed in their direction. “They’re standing under the gazebo over there.”
Octavia gasped. “That’s her, and she’s all in his face, knowing her man is crazy as hell.”
“Is he here?” Fateema questioned.
“I haven’t seen him, but we need to let Lynx know he should be careful talking to that girl,” Octavia said.
“Maybe they broke up,” Fateema reasoned.
Meghan whipped out her phone and swiped the screen a few times. When she found what she was looking for, she held her phone so that Fateema and Octavia could see it.
“Unless they broke up two hours ago, they’re still together,” Octavia said.
“Oh, God, that’s her boyfriend? Him and Lynx exchanged words when we first got here. Lynx got in his face, but the guy walked away before it went any further.”
The girls quickly exited the deck and headed toward the gazebo, where Lynx stood. He looked up and saw his friends approaching him with concerned expressions.
“Lynx, watch out!” Fateema shouted.
As Fateema’s warning reached his ears, the look on Presleigh’s face changed from a coy smile to shock. The combination of the two caused Lynx to turn around just in time to duck and move out of the way.
The guy he’d exchanged words with earlier, who he didn’t know was Presleigh’s boyfriend, tried to sneak him. However, because Lynx dodged him, he punched Presleigh in the face. She fell to the ground, and chaos ensued.
Thankfully, Presleigh’s friends gathered around and called for help because her boyfriend continued to go after Lynx. The two boys exchanged a few blows before Lynx got the best of him, pinning him to the ground.
“What the fuck is your problem, nigga? I could break your neck right now and would be completely justified because you came after me. Find somebody else to fuck with because I’m not the one.”
Lynx pressed his arm against the boy’s neck one last time before getting up, grabbing Fateema’s hand, and leaving the party. Their friends followed close behind them.
“Y’all see why I don’t like going to this shit. I don’t fuck with nobody, but they always want to fuck with me,” Lynx fussed.
The ride home was quiet because Fateema felt terrible. Although she didn’t force him to attend the party, he only went because she wanted to go. When he stopped in front of her house, she looked at Lynx and noticed his bottom lip was swollen.
“I’m about to shower and change. Meet me in the treehouse. I’ll bring some ice.”
He nodded and watched her as she got out and went inside the house. Twenty minutes later, he entered the treehouse in basketball shorts and a T-shirt and flopped onto the gigantic bean bag next to Fateema.
“Here.” She handed him an ice pack, and he held it against his lips. “I’m sorry, Lynx. If I hadn’t—”
“This wasn’t your fault, so don’t try to take the blame.”
His speech was a little muffled because of the ice pack against his lip, but she understood him.
“You only went because I wanted to go. This kind of is my fault.”
“No, some people are just assholes and like to start shit with people for no reason. He was one of those people.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Did you know he’s Presleigh’s boyfriend?”
He looked at her and shook his head. “I had no clue. He punched her in the face and didn’t even see about her. That’s crazy.”
“Yeah. She’d be crazy to stay with him after that.”
“She wasn’t talking to me like she had a boyfriend.”
“You think they tried to set you up?”
“Set me up? Nah, I don’t think so. If you’d seen the look of shock on Presleigh’s face, you wouldn’t think so either. Her expression was what made me turn around and duck. I hope she’s okay.”
“Yeah, that whole thing was crazy. Y’all looked very cozy. You like her?”
“No, I don’t know her to like her. I was only talking to her to pass the time.”
“Why haven’t you ever had a girlfriend?”
He shrugged and removed the ice pack from his lip. “I don’t know. I never got past the talking stage with the few I was interested in. Why haven’t you ever had a boyfriend?”
“Be serious, Lynx. These boys just started looking at me at the beginning of last year. Besides, I wouldn’t know the first thing about having a boyfriend.”
“Do you want one?”
“Do you want a girlfriend?”
“I asked you first.”
“I don’t know. I guess if I found a nice enough boy.”
“Good luck with that.”
“What about you?”
“Not really. I mean, everything I’d do with a girlfriend, I do with you, besides sex.”
“Oh my God, Lynx. Are you a virgin?”
“Why you gotta say it like it’s a bad thing? You’re a virgin too.”
“I know, but I’m a girl.”
“Just because I’m a boy, I’m supposed to be slinging my dick all around the school?”
“What? No, of course not. I’m just surprised.”
“You shouldn’t be, because you know I’m not like that. I’ll be honest, though. I have had my dick sucked a few times.”
Fateema gasped. “For real? By who?”
Lynx chuckled. “I’m not telling you.”
“When did we start keeping secrets?” She bumped his shoulder with hers.
“We don’t, but I don’t want you looking at those girls sideways.”
“Lynx, just tell me.”
“Fine. It was Brenda, Mackenzie, Jackie, Lilah, and the girl from our third-period history last year. Umm, what’s her name?”
Fateema’s eyes widened when she remembered the quiet, pretty girl in their history class. “Saige?”
“Yeah, that’s her name. Saige.”
“Saige sucked your dick? Wow! I would’ve never guessed she was that kind of girl, but I wasn’t surprised by those other girls. I haven’t even kissed a boy, and you got half the girls in the school putting their mouth on your dick.”
“It’s nowhere near half, and you act like it’s nasty.”
“Boy, are you crazy? It is nasty.”
“I made sure it was clean before they did it.”
“You know what? I’m done talking about this with you.”
They laughed it off and changed the subject. As always, they enjoyed each other’s company. The last year of high school would start soon. The days and evenings they could spend talking in the treehouse were winding down, so they cherished each moment.