Eyes Wide Open

Chapter One

Morayo's legs were starting to feel like jelly as she pumped them around the track for the fourth time. The ache in her muscular thighs didn't free her mind like it usually did, but it at least caused her rapid thoughts to become a buzz instead of the incessant swarming it was before. At this point, she was emotionally drained and tired of crying. 

Electing to stay in bed for the entire day, Morayo missed both of her classes yesterday. She didn't even remember falling asleep two nights ago, only her silent suffering as she soaked her pillows with her tears and did her best not to alarm Danielle by releasing the screams that were trying to climb from her throat. 

"Whassup, Morayo," she heard a low voice call out to her. At first she thought she was imagining things because when she started to slow down, she gazed around and saw no one. Her heartbeat was still beating a fast rhythm as she looked up to the bleachers at a group of figures barreling down, one of the tallest sticking out to her as he nodded and started in her direction. Her lips lifted into a reflexive smile as she recognized the guy as Ray, Reggie's best friend, but not a second later, a sour taste settled on her tongue. Does he know about it? was the question that filled her mind.

Ray reached out to Morayo and pulled her into a brief hug. He was the only friend of Reggie's that was allowed to do so, and that was only because him and Reggie had been cool since middle school, and he knew Ray only saw Morayo as a sister. Morayo stiffened slightly but tried to act natural by wrapping one of her arms around him halfheartedly before pulling away.

"You cool?" Ray asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. Morayo wanted to scowl and ask him how the fuck could she be okay when Reggie was screwing her cousin, and he probably knew about it, but instead she just shrugged in good nature and smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. I just didn't want to get sweat all over you," she said, backing away and going to a bench to grab her towel to play it off. As she used it to soak up the sweat from her forehead and around her neck, she took note of his attire; a gray and blue long sleeve shirt, blue training pants, and running shoes. Looking over at the football field where the other guys were setting up, panic immediately began to rise in her chest but she tried not to let it show on her face.

"So what are you guys about to do?" she wondered, knowing that they had been practicing nonstop for the last week.

"We're about to run some drills," Ray said, glancing over his shoulder at his team for a minute. "You're the last person that can comment on someone overdoing it," he finished with a smirk, like he read her mind.

"Is Reggie coming?" she blurted out. She couldn't help it. She had meant to wait a few more minutes so the question could come casually, but the thought of seeing him at that current moment made her ache more than any physical activity could. An indistinguishable look swept over Ray's face for a moment, and then it disappeared and a grin took it's place.

"Nah, sorry. Your man couldn't make it this morning, said something 'bout being called down to the shop." She wanted to sigh in relief, but she held it in. If Reggie was down at Ant's Auto Shop, he would be there for a while putting work into the cars that came through, and she also knew that he never liked to come see her directly after he finished up there until he went back to his frat house and cleaned himself up. Morayo's eyebrows furrowed as a sudden thought hit her. What if he wasn't called into work today? He didn't have classes on Wednesdays so it wouldn't be hard to back up his truth about being away from campus.

She peered up at Ray, staring into his honey-brown eyes to see if she could detect a lie. He stared back for a second before raising his eyebrows in confusion. He was telling the truth, and that meant that if Reggie was off fucking around, he had lied to Ray about it as well. That bitter taste came back to her. This time at least. Ray frowned and clamped his large hand onto Morayo's shoulder, bending his head a little to get a better lock on her eyes.