Magic

Chapter 9

Magdalyn 'Magic' James

I missed the bus again. Honestly I think that there's a conspiracy going on. I've never missed the bus as much as I have in the last month. I think that the bus driver is doing it on purpose or something. I sat down on the bench and put my book bag between my feet. The boys weren't out of practice yet so Jeremy couldn't take me home I had no choice but to wait.

"Missed it again huh?" I looked up and Kirshnik was sitting on the curb.

Honestly part of me was happy to see him because it meant that I would have to ride the bus home and it meant that I wouldn't have to wait in the dark for it to get here. "You offering me a ride?" I asked.

He sat back against the seat and shrugged "I don't know, maybe you feel like sitting there until the next bus comes."

I got up from the bench and grabbed my things. I threw my book bag and my duffle into the backseat and got into the passenger's seat. He was quiet like something was wrong with him but I didn't say anything. After all, it's not really my business.

"So you really into this basketball shit?" he asked.

I looked over at him and nodded. "Yeah, Williams said that there's a good chance that I could go to college on a scholarship if this season is as good as last year."

He was staring through the windshield not looking at me at all. We sat in silence for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak again. "You really think you got a shot at that?" he asked.

"Turn up here," I said to him. He took the turn like I instructed him to. "Yeah, I do."

"Where you got me going?" he asked as he slowed to match the speed limit in the neighborhood we pulled into. "Who you know that lives out here."

"Jeremy," I replied. " he picked up my algebra 2 book by accident and I need it back."

"So you're trading books?" he asked.

"Something like that. He takes calculus so he can't use it either way...and I need it for my homework over the weekend." She said. "It's the house with the black truck in the driveway."

Kirshnik "Takeoff" Ball

I pulled up in front of the house where she said this guy lived. The house was huge and there were two black trucks in the driveway. She got out of the car and went over to the house and knocked on the door. I seen that truck before, it was parked outside her house the night I came back. So that Jeremy kid must be that skinny white kid that she was leaving out her house with.

A lady opened the door. she was bigger and had a big head of curly blonde hair. She smiled and hugged Maggie before she moved and they both went inside. They were only in there for a second before her and the skinny kid came outside. She was looking at him like he was the greatest thing she'd ever seen. He was smiling like he knew he was the shit too. they were just standing there talking and making googly eyes at each other before I honked the horn.

She turned and looked at me and made a face before turning back to him. she told him something, probably that she had to go and he gave her the book that he had come for. she got up on her toes and kissed his cheek before she turned and came back to the car.

"we were talking," she spat.

"no you were looking at each other like you were about to go to sleep standin up." he replied. "you was so busy giving him sweet eyes you didn't know how stupid you looked."

"you sound like a hater," she said. "you jealous?"

"what the hell would I be jealous for?" I asked her.

She laughed. "it's fine if you are, some crushes never go away you know."

"I don't have no damn crush on you girl!"

"if you don't then why are you getting so upset?" she asked.

I stopped the car at the stop sign and turned to look at her. she was enjoying this. I could tell because she could barely hide the smile on her face. She was jawing on her top lip trying to keep her smile hiding but all that did was make the deep dimples in her cheeks show. finally she stopped trying to hide and just started to laugh showing off the gap in the front of her mouth. Any other girl I ever seen with a gap has been ugly. It's so distracting, but hers aint like that. You can see it but it's not as big and gross lookin. This the first time I looked at her for real since I got back. She grew up but in a way she still looks like she did back then. Wide eyed and innocent like a kid.

"Why you lookin at me like that?" she asked still laughing a little.

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the street in front of us. "I was looking at that gap," I replied. She reached over and slapped me on the arm.

"Shut up," she said.