LaMelo Ball - By Ari

Twenty One

The swish of the basketball net in Marty's Gym was all I heard as I tucked a ball at my hip, shifting all my weight to my right leg and standing lazily. The day after I got my ass beat, I reluctantly told Chanelle about what had happened even though I desperately wanted to keep it to myself, or between just LaMelo and I but I had to break the news to her. She was my best friend and not telling her would have eaten me alive inside, making the experience a whole lot worse. Plus, she would have started to wonder why I suddenly had a bruised rib and a mild concussion, and why Nevaeh suddenly got 10 days of out-of-school suspension. Therefore, I sat her down and explained the story and now that I look back, a tranquilizer gun would have come in handy since she went ape shit after I was done. She wanted to literally kill Nevaeh but I told her the punishment that Chino Hills gave her was quite enough, making her settle down but not a whole lot.

"So you're completely better now?" Nelly questioned as she threw up a deep three, the ball bouncing off the back of the rim with a clunking sound and bouncing back onto the wood again.

I nodded to myself before verbalizing my agreement. "Yeah."

"Are you still going to the dance with Shark Boy tonight?"

"Mmhm. But I was told that the teachers have to 'keep an eye on me' since I'm still 'recovering.'"

"That's stupid."

"I know."

Nelly retrieved her shot and lined up at a random spot by the free throw line, glancing at me. "You know, I don't get why you're going back to him," by 'him', I figured she was referring to Melo. "He basically cheated on you."

"We were never dating."

I earned a glare from her.

"Girl, we both know damn well that you were committed to him, or at least felt like y'all were something. Shit, anyone that would have looked at ya'll lovebirds would've guessed that ya'll had been dating for years."

I thought for a minute, still staring off into space and seeming to get lost in my own mind. Yes, she was right, I did feel like LaMelo and I had something but he never asked me to be his girlfriend, I had just assumed I was. And that was my fault.

"Assumption will get you stabbed in the back," I murmured, so quiet that I could barely hear myself.

-

After shooting around with Nelly for a few hours, I decided to head home after awhile so I could get ready for the dance. I was super excited to be able to dress up because my outfit made me feel beautiful, and I just love the thought of going all out on makeup and such. Once I arrived at home it was about 5:30, meaning I had a little under 3 hours to get ready for the dance.

I lounged around for a bit until 6, and that's when I took a bubble bath to get myself clean and start on my hair and makeup. I ended up curling my hair with a wand which seemed to take forever since I had endless locks (thanks a million, mother) but the final look was nothing other than jaw-dropping. I went for glamorous makeup, meaning a smokey eye look and a shiny gloss for my lips. Touching up and defining my eyebrows a little, I also contoured my cheeks and put on a smidge of highlight for a little extra glow.

The duration of hair and makeup was approximately an hour and twenty minutes, so I was a little rushed into putting on my dress and heels. My dress was long, satin, and a faded pink color, with a long slit starting a little above mid-thigh and running down to the end of the dress where it reached the floor. It was elegant yet simple, all completely my style and right up my alley.

The heels were pointed stilettos that made me look a lot taller and thinner than I really was, which I was thankful for (my feet were probably going to want to kill over by the end of the night). I took one last final glance at myself in the mirror and sighed with satisfaction, feeling like a princess in such gorgeous attire. I didn't look like the regular me.

Glancing at the clock, it was 7:45 and LaMelo was supposed to pick me up in 5 minutes. The nerves started to kick in and I could feel the knotting and churning in my stomach, making me sit down on the edge of my bed and sigh, waiting with a baited breath for LaMelo to show up. The minutes felt like hours and I was getting ready to absolutely lose my mind until I heard my mother call my name from the kitchen.

"Cori! Your boy toy is here!"

Her voice was so sing-songy and calm; the complete opposite of me.

I walked out of my bedroom with my phone clenched tightly in my grip as I made my way down the long hallway that led to the front of the house, where the living room, front door, and kitchen were located. I tried to muster up enough confidence as I could before I had to face anyone, but it barely worked.

When I stepped into the kitchen where my mom was sitting at the table reading a People magazine, she looked up at me with that gushy look in her eyes that moms always get when they see their kids all dressed up. I inwardly groaned and flashed a fake smile at her.

"Oh, sweetie, you look so beautiful," she breathed and slowly stood up, hugging me tight before spinning me around in the direction of the front door, where I felt like I was staring down my worst fear.

"Go on, honey," my mom whispered in my ear. "You'll have lots of fun."

Bite me.

Before I knew it, Mom mumbled to herself because of my slowness irritably and threw open the door herself, where I was suddenly face-to-face with LaMelo. The moment was so shocking and I could feel little electric currents shoot up and down my arms as I took sight of the boy.

He looked so amazing.

He was decked out in a sleek black and white tux with a pink bow tie, matching my dress. His shoes were polished to perfection and I noticed that he had gotten a fresh haircut as well, being the cherry on top of his look. I could feel the ends of my lips curling into a smile as I watched his eyes wander my whole body in awe, his mouth slightly open in surprise. Mom lightly pushed me out of the entryway and shut the door behind me, leaving me alone with LaMelo.

It was dead silent at first.

"You..." he seemed speechless, making me blush unwillingly. "You look..."

I bit my lip and smiled big as his eyes suddenly met mine as the last word of his sentence flowed past his lips.

"Stunning."

I looked down at my high heels to hide the red tint that had risen to my cheeks. "Thank you."

Holding out his arm for me to hold so he could escort me to LiAngelo's range rover, I slid my hand through his arm and we began to walk down my driveway and to the car where LaMelo opened the door for me, helped me inside, and shut it.

That was the beginning to one of the best nights of my life.

-

Sorry this chapter sucked, ya'll. 🤷🏽‍♀️ But hey, it's something.