run of the mill.

10th

But when he woke up, the sun was spilling through the window brighter than it ever did in his room. He yawned and tried to get his eyes to adjust and remember where he was. The sweet smell of something like flowers hit his nose and he remembered T's bed. Shawn sat up and wiped his eyes with the balls of his hands. He heard the faint sound of music and smelled something very nice in the air when he noticed Beyonce sitting at her desk.

She had her long legs crossed in the wide chair, letting them shine and shimmer naturally in the sun. Her hair was held off her neck with a pencil and Shawn could see white headphones in her ear, letting him know that she was listening to music. She bobbed her head and wrote down something diligently. It was a notepad, Shawn observed as he stood up and stretched. He looked around her room and spotted a clock. He shook his head at the early hour.

"Mm... mm.. " she hummed quietly as she wrote down her notes. "... put you in a log cabin, somewhere in Aspin... mm... mm..."

Shawn smiled at the site. Beside her sat a plate with a napkin over it and something smelling especially good.

He reached to uncover it and Beyonce jumped when she saw his hand. He only smiled since he was so tired and could still barely see through his blurry eyes. Beyonce pulled out of headphones. "Asshole," she mumbled.

Shawn found the sausage, eggs, and biscuits and nodded his approval. "Where you get this?"

"Someone's always cooking in the morning. I decided it was my turn. That's for you."

Shawn nodded and put the food in the small microwave. "What you doing today?"

Beyonce sat back and sighed. "Shit, I got some tutoring at noon. And after that there's some park concert that T said I should hit up. I might go. It could be fun. You?"

Shawn shrugged. "Practice. Coach is really riding our asses this year. I don't know after that. I'll probably call Kim."

"Oh she called you by the way." Beyonce handed him his phone off the dresser. "Been ringing all morning. Woke me up."

"You answered it?"

Beyonce shook her head. "Na, I figured at least one of us should be getting some."

Shawn laughed and yawned. There was a ding and then he got up and went to the little microwave. "Well, look," Beyonce said. "I gotta get ready to go because I've got a hair appointment before I tutor so you need to be gone when I get out the shower."

She closed her book and turned off her ipod. She stood up and grabbed her towel off the back of her door. She walked to Shawn, who was too busy inhaling the eggs to take notice that she was throwing him out. "Your shoes are by the door bighead, I'll see you later."

"Call me," he said as she left the room.

He finished his food and did in fact leave. There were of course a few stares but he said nothing as he slid his white hoodie over his head. He pulled out his cell phone and pressed dial 2 for Kim. Seven missed calls.

"Where are you?" Kim said, completely skipping a greeting all together.

Shawn rolled his eyes. "On my way back to my room. I stayed at a friends house."

"What friend? And why haven't you been answering your phone?"

Shawn unlocked his car door and hopped inside. "Cause I just got up like an hour ago."

"You been up for an hour and you ain't called me back? What's going on with you?"

Shawn put his head on the wheel and sighed away from the phone. This was the same shit he was so damn sick of. She was really overstepping her boundaries and forgetting that this was a relationship of mutual understanding and a couple effort. And she was making everything one-sided. She was misunderstanding what she was asked of in this.

"And what friend Shawn? You haven't told me which one yet."

"That's because it's none of your business."

Shawn drove home to the constant bickering of Kim in his ear. She yelled about him keeping secrets and not wanting to be with her anymore. She made three or four references to spending some time apart and it wasn't a bad idea. Shawn didn't say that aloud of course, but he had been thinking it. He was so tired of her. It didn't make any since. The whole relationship didn't make any since either. And he was sick of trying to make since of something that he himself didn't understand. It was like trying to understand why, exactly, fat girls had a thing for skinny men. They just do. Shawn slapped his alarm clock and frowned at the early hour it displayed. Rolling over, he looked at the ceiling for a second, trying to let his eyes adjust to the blurry site that was his vision. He sat up and stretched tiredly. Then he grabbed his towel and other toiletries and headed down the hall to his dorm bathrooms.

Shawn showered and made sure to wake up fully while he was in the warm water. When he got out he handled all of his personal hygiene business at the sink and headed out of the white, dreadfully plain room. Since it was so early on a Sunday he was the only one up with the exception of one or two people and the dorm supervisor.

He had just made it back to his room and was about to close the door and get dressed when someone called him. He looked out in the hall and spotted Zay, a pretty good drum major and associate he supposed. Shawn dapped him up. "Was up nigga?"

Zay shrugged and entered the room behind Shawn. "Shit chillin'. Just got back from D.C."

"Oh yeah how was it?" Shawn went to his closet and chose looked around for something to wear. He needed to do laundry something serious.

Zay sat on the twin size bed that was still empty since Shawn didn't have a new roommate just yet. "Straight," he said somberly. He watched Shawn throw a black turtleneck sweater on the bed and then some darker jeans. When he kicked the shiny black dress shoes from his closet Zay asked him where he was headed so early.

"Church," Shawn stated simply as he yawned.

Zay nodded. "Not that you need the blessing."

Shawn poked his head out of his closet and looked at the person sitting in his room. He smiled a peculiar smile with a curious nature behind it. "What?"

"Nigga, how the hell you manage to get two females at the same school, in the same dorm, on the same basketball team?"

The smile left Shawn's confused face and he looked on with genuine curiosity. "Man Beyonce and Kim!" Zay continued. "That's what I'm talking 'bout! So is she exclusive to you or is Beyonce puttin' out?" Zay rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Shawn rolled his eyes. This wasn't the first time he had had this conversation and he was almost certain it wouldn't be the last. Everyone was beginning to see him as some sort of icon because of the relationship he had with Beyonce but they didn't know anything about it. There was so much more to the relationship that he had with Beyonce. She was a real friend, nothing more and nothing less. She was one of the only real friends he had.

"Yo," he said going back into his closet. "Me and Beyonce is just friends. And I ain't cheating on Kim."

Zay seemed a little deflated but the sadness only lasted a second and then he was back to his original giddiness. "So she's available? That's was up?"

The thought of anyone, let alone that short as nigga sitting on his bed, ever getting that close to Beyonce pissed him off beyond belief. His blood boiled and he clutched the undershirt he had been holding tightly and bound out of the tiny space. "Ay, don't fuck with her like that."

"Why not, was yo problem?"

Shawn didn't know. Hell he had asked himself the same question when he heard the defensive words come from his mouth. And he didn't care what it was. He had no idea why he acted the way he did... and he didn't regret it.

"Nothin'," he mumbled as he walked over to his ipod stereo. "Just leave her alone."

He pressed play on his 'Gospel' playlist and started getting ready for church. Zay left a moment later and said nothing else about the situation. He waited until he heard his door close before he sat down and got his thoughts together while 'Yes' by Shekinah Glory played. He had a lot to think about. And even more to pray about at church today.