The Friend

Rodney

The smell of chocolates hovered around the kitchen as Rodney sat in a daze with his cheek resting in his palm. His grandmother's chocolate-chip cookies sat in front of him. She had just finished baking them, but Rodney didn't even bat an eye at them.

His mind was on Alicia. It would always be on her. It was seven in the evening, and it had been a few weeks since he was with her, holding her and dancing with her. Just thinking about it brought goose bumps to his skin. And whenever he thought about the way Dezzi touched her waist, he gritted his teeth. He didn't want any other guy touching her.

He hid his face in his hands. This was insane. He couldn't be possessive towards her. They weren't even friends...but he couldn't stop his thoughts from pouring in. By now, the library she wanted should be set up. He hoped she liked it. If he couldn't be with her, then he wanted her to have whatever she wanted; she deserved it.

"How come Derek don't visit me as much as you do?" his grandma asked.

"You know Derek," Rodney said through his hands.

"He keeping himself out of trouble?"

Rodney finally looked down at the cookies and didn't answer her. His grandmother knew the answer already. It was one of the reasons she kicked Rodney and Derek out of her house six years ago. They've been living on their own together ever since. She turned around and frowned at him.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Sorry, Gran," and he bit into a cookie.

She paused, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Rodney said.

She placed a hand on her hip, "You didn't drive out here to see me for what's bothering you to be 'nothing'."

Still, Rodney couldn't bring himself to bring it up so he remained silent, studying the table. Grandma watched him for another minute.

"...is it that girl?" she asked finally.

"No...yes," he said.

Rodney felt weird admitting it, but it was the truth. He sat up as his grandma stopped what she was doing. She stood at the sink, her back turned away from him. He knew that she was hiding her smile and it made him smile sadly. All his grandma ever wanted to hear about if it wasn't work was about the girls Derek and he were dealing with. And while Derek never allowed himself to deal with any, Rodney dabbled in a girl here and there, but it was never serious enough to mention it to his grandma. His grandmother pulled back the chair next to him and sat in it.

"You apologized, right?" she asked.

Rodney said, "I did."

"And you guys worked together?" she asked and he nodded, "So, what's the problem then?"

He couldn't get Alicia out of his mind—that was the problem. He was having all these weird feelings for her and was jealous over Dezzi...

"Now that you guys were able to work together and you apologized, you can't get her out of your mind?" she asked.

"If you want to get to the point...kind of...I'm just trippin'," he said.

"Boy, no you're not. You kids nowadays are afraid to show your true emotions. Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" his grandma asked.

"It wouldn't work."

"How do you know?"

"We're too different."

"What?"

"I mean she—she has her whole life ahead of her."

"You don't think she likes you back?"