Woke

31.)

Chris:

I was practically bouncing with excitement, when I pulled into the parking lot of my old high school.

The 5 hour drive wasn't too terrible, especially since Kiara stayed awake to keep me company. We'd left our neighborhood at around 9am and arrived a little after 2pm. Since Kiara wasn't really that big a fan of eating breakfast, we opted to wait until we got into the city to grab lunch. We grabbed takeout from Amari's, one of my favorite go-to's when I lived in the city.

"I feel like there's no point in me even asking if you're excited," Kiara smiled, "you're radiating it."

I laughed, helping her out of the car. "It's just been so long, but I feel like I never left."

"It's only been a few months, babe. This is still your home at heart."

It felt good to have a companion that was so understanding. I was initially nervous that Kiara would feel out of place, but she constantly reassured me that she was just as excited as I was for me to introduce her to my old friends. 

Kiara followed me inside towards the gymnasium. The first familiar face I saw was my old Chemistry teacher, Mr. Lawson. He was sitting at the admissions table, taking money in exchange for tickets into the game. His eyes lit up when they fell on me.

"Chris! I never thought I'd see you back here anytime soon! How've you been?" 

"Hey, Mr. Lawson." I grinned happily. "I've been great, honestly, though I miss it here a lot. I just wanted to make a short visit and show my friend here how we do things in Philly."

Mr. Lawson winked at me, before turning to Kiara. "Friend, huh... Mr. Lawson, Chris' former chemistry teacher." 

"Kiara, it's nice to meet you." She shook his hand, giving him a bright smile. "And you must be a remarkable teacher. Chris has practically been my tutor since he moved down to VA."

"He's always been a bright student. Glad to know his talents are being acknowledged elsewhere." My old teacher said, giving me a knowing look.

We paid our way in, and I grabbed Kiara's hand to lead her inside the gym. I hadn't been gone long, like Kiara had noted, but I couldn't help but marvel at how nice it felt to still have a sense of familiarity in the place I loved. The game had already started, with 5 minutes left in the first quarter. The crowd was on its feet, screaming at how Marcus had just dunked a basket and pushed the team ahead by 4 points.

I noticed multiple pairs of eyes fall on me as I walked up the bleachers to an available seat. I acknowledged a couple old peers and people I didn't know/remember, before finally sitting down. Kiara practically clung to me, and I could sense her shyness. 

"Yo, Chris!" At the sound of my name, I looked over to see Youssef, my old spotting partner for gym, waving at me from the student section. I nodded at him, but he kept beckoning me towards him. "Bring the fine girl, too!"

People began to laugh at that. I turned to Kiara. "Are you okay sitting with them?"

"Yeah, let's go." She smiled at me, though I could tell she was a bit nervous.

"Don't worry, they're cool."

Kiara nodded, and we stood up from our initial seats to make our way down to the student section. It was at the bottom of the center bleachers, right in perfect view of the game. 

"What's up, man?!" Youssef dapped me up, and I was met with a chorus of greetings. "How've you been?"

"I've been great. How bout you? How's your mom?" We sat down.