Unparalleled Love

Chapter 8

Saturday Morning

I had woken up about 30 minutes ago but I refused to move from my bed. I decided to take this time to just rest and sort out my thoughts. I don't really know what happened between Kinsley & I last night. One part of me wanted to call him & ask him what did he mean by "i'm out". Another part of me wanted to not care at all. I'm just tired of Kinsley really. The fussing is something that I can't deal with. When Kinsley and I first met, we never argued. It seems like as soon as he started to take these out of town trips, he'd always return irate. One thing I can say, he never raised his voice at me. I truly appreciated that. But that doesn't suffice for the countless petty arguments we've had.

I started to shift in my bed, making myself more comfortable when my phone began to ring. It was the default ringtone which meant the number wasn't saved. Usually, I wouldn't answer for unsaved numbers so I decided against it. After a couple of seconds, it stopped ringing. I closed my eyes in an effort to go back to sleep when it started to ring again. I sat up & snatched the phone off of the charger from my night stand while looking at the number. The area code was different. I'd never seen it before which intrigued me so I decided to answer.

"Hello?"

"Goodmorning fathead."

A familiar voice happily said back.

"Goodmorning Darrell."

I giggled. Throughout my life, Darrell was the only guy that ever greeted me with comical insults. I knew it was him.

"I hope you weren't still sleeping."

He said.

"No. I'm awake... What's up?"

I said, removing the covers from my legs & getting out of bed.

"Well firstly, i wanted you to have my number because you never pulled out a phone last night & I just wanted to make sure you had it. Secondly, I was thinking of you. Lastly..... I was hoping you would accompany me to dinner tonight... so we could finish catching up."

He said chronologically.

This automatically plastered a smile across my face. He said he was thinking of me. At 8:00 a.m. in the morning.... he was thinking of me.

"Umm... I have nothing to do tonight. It sounds like a plan."

I replied.

"Great. So i'll pick you up around 7:30 p.m.?"

He said.

"Do you mind if i meet you there instead?"

I said swiftly.

Understandibly, Darrell & I were just friends. Although I wasn't sure where Kinsley & I stood as of now, I certainly wasn't going to do anything silly.

"Oh. No problem. I'll send you the address & other details."

He said.

"Okay..."

I giggled.

"What's funny jitt?"

He asked, clearly smiling.

"Nothing.. I was just thinking about something."

I lied.

"Well okay. Women take all day to get ready, so you should probably start getting ready now. That way you'll only be about an hour late to dinner."

He replied.

"Haha. Very funny."

I said dryly.

"Don't take it to heart... i was just kidding."

He surrendered.

"Oh I won't. I'll just get my get back."

I said devilishly.

"& on that note, I'll see you tonight.... later."

He laughed.

"... Later."

I said before hanging up.

I sat my phone down on my dresser and stared into my mirror. This woman who stared back at me.... she was truly something. She had came a long way. She'd dealt with alot. She'd remained strong through opposition. She was truly beautiful. Sometimes i wonder if I was really the reflection in that mirror.

I remember being a teenager. That was by far the toughest time of my life. So much was expected from me. My abusive, unsupportive mother was always belittling me. She was so bipolar. One minute she'd hate me & the ground I walked on, & the next she'd be bragging to someone about how well I did in school or how well I did hair. Through all of her down-talking one thing was clear, she wanted me to be somebody. She had always told me that i'd go to college.

Many of my peers expected me to be like them... although I was visibly different. I wasn't as pretty. I didn't have clear skin. I wasn't into the things that they were into like boys and parties. I just wanted to make good grades & be succesful.

I wasn't a total outcast though. I had a couple of friends. Aaliyah and Monae were always there for me. I didn't confide in them too much though. I had dealt with problems regarding trusting people for the longest. I even had a couple of guy friends. Even though I tried my best to never catch feelings for a boy, Darrell grew on me. It was everything about him. He was athletic, funny, and intelligent. I'd always admired him. He never made me feel bad about myself. He was the only one allowed to call me "fathead".

I still stood in the mirror, reminiscing on the times Darrell & I would play around class & I'd love every single moment of it. I had always told him that I was going to switch schools, but it was only to get a reaction out of him. I never thought that i'd really do it. The summer after my sophomore year, my mother & I moved. I'd left my school & almost everything & everyone I knew behind. I kept in touch with my girls though. They'd tell me how Darrell would ask where i was & why i'd left him. I knew he meant it in a friendly way, but I would always take it differently. During my junior year at my new school, he'd left our old school too. He supposedly transferred for athletic reasons. But that was the last i'd known of him.

Now, we were both grown ups. Its amazing how time flies. I hadn't even told my girls that i'd seen him last night. Knowing them, they would've blew it all out of proportion. I decided to stop staring at myself & check to see if Id had any missed notifications & I did. Text messages galore, mentions on twitter, & tags on instagram. No form of contact whatsoever from Kinsley.

After checking all of my notifications, I decided to take a bubble bath. I plugged my cellphone into my aux cord & turned on the radio. Scrolling Down, I selected Treat Me Like Somebody by Tink G & placed it on repeat. I then lied down in the water and sang along.