Toni Shalifoe? Fuck. Toni is captain of the Varsity Girls Basketball team, 5'3, brown hair, almond eyes, tan skin in the summer, smooth in the winter. She was perfect. Not many people saw that, but I always could. I've known Toni since we were 6. She had to transfer into my first grade class because her previous school threw her out because some idiot stole her juice box, and then she flipped a desk, breaking some kids' toe. They said that 'her behavior was a safety concern to the other children'.
Our friendship was just about the last thing anyone ever saw coming. The girl who would play in mud at recess becoming best friends with the girl who made flower crowns, and pretended she was the Queen of Dallas? Yeah, okay.
But, the truth is, Toni knows me better than anyone, and vice versa. It's what I love the most about her, but it's also the thing that I don't really know how to handle.
~
"Hey. Look, I can't be here long. My mom's being a skank and I gotta be outta here by 3:30. What do you need from me anyway, Goodkind?"
I hadn't even noticed that she'd walked into the gym. Her feet were silent. One of the things that made her so good at basketball. No one knew where she'd make her next move, and before you'd know it, she'd be shooting a three-pointer right under your nose. I've been to every one of her games since middle school. Toni made it a point to wink at me in the crowd every time she made a three. I hated her for it, but it also made me feel loved, even if it were for only a second. And she knew that.
"Oh yeah, uh, that's fine. I don't think this will take long.", I mumbled. "Look, what happened in the hall earlier, can't happen again.", I said firmly. Toni looked up at me puzzled.
"What? You asking me to come here? No, I mean, it's fine. I think you're. I don't know. Kind of cool in like a...you know, whatever. You promised me Takis and an orange Gatorade if I came so I don't really see a proble-"
I grabbed her hand. Her eyes, brown like sand; met mine, blue like the tide. She looked up at me, concerned.
"No, no. Not.", I stammered. "When I got close to you I mean. People stared Toni, okay? I don't want people thinking that I'm somebody I'm not.", I choked out.
"I can't believe you!", Toni yelled. "You can't just hide, Shelby! You act like what happened this summer didn't even happen. You act like you never kiss-"
"Shut up! Shut up!", I croaked. Tears began to fill my eyes. "Because it didn't, okay? It was stupid. I wasn't thinking. It was a mistake Toni. We can't keep doing this.", I said, choking on my own tears, burning the back of my throat.
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Toni looked up at me, puppy dog eyes filled with tears. She bit her lip, the thing she does to stop the flood waters from raging from her hazel eyes.
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"Alright. Fine. I didn't want to come here anyway, you know? Like I was just trying to do something right. I guess that'll never be good enough for you though right? Have fun at the rally on Friday. Andrew's a fucking prick.", she hissed under her breath.
She stood up, stormed past me, leaving me in a gust of all that I loved most. She smelled like cinnamon: warm, sweet, but also sharp. She had passion, fire, but also, so much love in all that she was. I stood up from the bleachers, slipping on something beneath my foot. Her beanie. I grabbed it. It was an olive green Vans beanie. She wore it every day last summer, despite Texas' 100 degree summers. She looked good in it. Like, really good. The truth was, I didn't forget our summer. I didn't want to forget it, but still somehow tried so hard to. Because I couldn't forgether.
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Hi guys! I hope you liked this chapter. It's quite a bit longer than the first, which was the goal. I included the songs at the beginning to hopefully set the mood. I went into Shelby and Toni's past, mentioned briefly in P1. We learn that Shelby knows Toni well, maybe even better than Toni imagines. I can't wait to go into their summer in C3! Stay tuned on my Twitter, tonishvlby, for announcements regarding the next chapter releases!
