Still Waters

Chapter 5

Hey guys! My posts will be every Sunday! Please comment and vote! Thanks for reading! - Kalilah

I don't know why, but after Collin left, I turned into a real "kissing ho." I would make out with any guy, anytime, anyplace, but refused to let any of them tie me down as their girlfriend. And refused to do anything more than just kiss. By the time I got to college, I had had enough of trying to get Collin Stewart out of my system, which is ultimately what I realized I was doing, and decided to put all of my energy into figuring out what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I figured I would probably end up being an English teacher or something boring like that because the only thing I liked to do was write - and there ain't a whole lot of money in that, if you know what I mean.

I think it was my love of poetry that landed me in the sights of Kenney Duvalle. I was sitting out on the yard one day people watching and trying to figure out how, exactly, I could make a career out of poetry when up walks this tall, lanky, toffee brown-skinned boy with smarty-yarty gold wire-rimmed glasses on, like the guys used to wear back in the day. I let out an exasperated sigh and shifted my weight so that I was facing the other direction when he sat down next to me. This fool was about to try to holla. I could just feel it.

"Hello."

Sigh! I knew it. "Hi," I answered shortly and got up to leave.

The guy also stood up. "Name's Kenney."

"Natasha."

"Hmm. Natasha. That's pretty. Where'd your parents come up with that one?"

I bristled, not in the mood for small talk. "It was my grandmother's name. Where'd your parents come up with yours? The Cosby Show...Bud?"

Kenney threw his head back and laughed, which surprised me. "Wow! I haven't heard that one since the Cosby's went off the air. The last time Rudy said it was the last time I heard it. Nobody's called me Bud in a minute."

I had to smile. It was pretty childish. I don't know why I even called him Bud out loud, but I appreciated his sense of humor.

"Well...I have to go." I tried to step around him, but he kept stepping in my way.

"Practice right?"

I looked at him quickly. Who was this guy? Inspector Gadget? How did he know where I was going?

Reading my eyes, he explained. "I've seen you in the gym before. You're in Ebony Fire, right?"

"Um...yeah..."

"I'm on the basketball team. I'll walk with you."

I didn't really want him to but, then again, for some reason I did. So I didn't argue when he fell in step beside me.

"So Bud," I turned to him with a smile. "Whatchyou been doin'? Spying on me?"

"Maybe. But as cute as you are..." he grinned at me and I noticed his dimples for the first time, "who could blame me?" I couldn't help but smile back. He looked over at me thoughtfully. "You know, you're a lot cuter when you smile. I bet you used to do that a lot. Why you so mean now? Somebody piss you off?"

I almost stopped in my tracks. That was exactly what I did not want. Some lame dude tryna figure me out. Who did this guy think he was anyway? Luckily, we reached the gym before the silence that followed stretched out too long.

"Well..." I turned to him and extended my hand. "It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah." Instead of shaking my hand, he gave me a hug. "You too." When I pulled away and started to walk towards where the other girls were stretching, he called me back and tried to think of something else to say. "So...what dorm do you stay in?"

"VC. What about you?"

"Harkness."

"Oh, so you're a freshman, too?"

He nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, uh, we should get together some time and...study or something."

"We should?" I raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"Sure, why not? So..." he pulled a pen out of his bag. "What's your number?"

"Oh. Um..." he caught me off guard. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

He looked confused. "What's not a good idea?"

"This whole calling me thing. I'm really...busy. Look," I rushed on, "I gotta go. I'm already late."

"Aight then." He shrugged and put the pen up.

"I'll see you around."

"Yep. Count on it."

The way he said that made me falter in my steps and look back at him, but he was already headed toward the locker room. I laughed at myself when I realized that I was watching him walk away, which was probably exactly what he was counting on. Shaking my head, I rushed off to my own locker room to change and get back out on the court before the girls finished stretching.

The next day, I came home to find Kenney lounging on the front steps of our dorm. He was talking easily to a few of the other guys who were always lounging on those steps waiting for the girls in short skirts to walk past, but jumped up quickly when he saw me.

"Waddup Natasha?"

"You tell me, scary," I answered, slowly climbing the steps and then trying to walk past him. "Are you stalking me now?"

"Who?" He looked around like I must have been talking about someone else. "Girl, you got me bent."

"Bent?" My cousin always said that. "Where you from?"

"Houston," he replied, letting his nearly undetectable drawl drag the word out.

"Figures."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. You just say things like my family sometimes."

"Oh, you from Texas too?"

"No." And I left it at that.

"Hey." He stepped in my way when I tried again to walk past him. "If you want me to leave you alone, just say the word."

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to step, but when I looked up into his sincere brown eyes, I just couldn't do it.

"I mean...what do you want?"

"How 'bout your number?"

I sighed. "Why do you need my number? You already know where I live."

"No reason. Just wanna holla sometime. See what it do."

"See what it do?" He sure did talk funny.

I squinted at him, trying to come up with some reason not to give him my number, without appearing to do so, but I just couldn't come up with one. After I let the pause drag on a minute too long for it not to be obvious, I finally gave in.

This guy was so random.

"Ok Bud," I began with a sly smile. "But don't be calling me all times of night. You'll just get hung up on."

He laughed. "What's with this 'Bud' nonsense? It was funny at first but..."

"You smile every time I say it."

"What?"

"When I call you Bud." He grinned again. My smile widened. "See? You know you like it. Besides," I winked at him. "I like your dimples."

He was all out cheesing by then. I handed him a crinkled up slip of paper with my phone number on one side and a receipt for large fries and a chocolate milkshake on the other.

"Aight then." He took the paper and put it in his pocket. After giving me a quick squeeze around the shoulders, he headed down the steps. "This better be the right number." He flashed his dimples at me over his shoulder and headed toward the big cafeteria.

Once again, I found myself watching him walk away. Did I have a crush on this kid or what?

Impossible, I told myself as I headed inside. He wasn't even close to my type.