nothing less ➸ demar derozan

five

Isabella

"Isabella!" my mother yelled with her thick Mexican accent. I rushed downstairs and saw her with her hand on her hip and a disapproval look.

"Mandé?" I furrowed my eyebrows and walked towards her.

"Your friend has been waiting outside for ten minutes," she shooed me towards the door. Who was at the door?

"Who?"

"Su novio."

"My boyfriend? Mama, I don't have a boyfriend." I grabbed my backpack and swung it over my back.

"Yes, he's outside. Bye, mija, I love you," she stood on her tippy toes and kissed my cheek.

"I love you too," I smiled.

Maybe Rozan was outside waiting for me, but why would he? He said he was going to ignore me all day, and he usually uses the morning to catch up on his studies. Once I opened the door, I hesitated once I saw who was standing there.

He leaned against the porch rail and stared down at the flower pots my mom had out. I must have scared him because he jumped up and turned towards me.

His smile grew wider once he saw me, "Hey."

"Hey," I said slowly.

"I hope it doesn't bother you that I came by without a notice. It's just I don't have your number and I really wanted to see you. Maybe we could walk to school?" he asked, stuffing his fists in his pockets.

"Well, I really needed my car to carry this box of things I need."

"I can carry it," he said and rubbed his hands together.

"You sure?"

"Positive," he smiled.

I unlocked my car and he grabbed the box of my cameras and photos and held it securely in his arms.

"This isn't so bad," Jimmy shrugged.

"After a while it starts to hurt," I commented.

He chuckled and we started walking towards school.

Rozan's words of Jimmy liking me raced through my mind. Jimmy wasn't a shabby person either. He wasn't as serious of schoolwork like Rozan, but he was still serious. I know he definitely was a good student athlete - as were all the others on the basketball team. He was a huge flirt and very easy to fall for at times.

Jimmy crossed me to move towards the street side of the sidewalk. I felt like a kid again. It warmed my heart that something small like that made me feel small and protected. My father was always the one who walked street-side because he didn't want anything to happen to my mother or I. Once, I wandered to the left side and I was scolded at and reminded of it for two months.

"Did you hear what happened to Reggie?"

Jimmy made me suck in a gulp of air. I didn't really want to know what happened to Reggie because I knew for sure he was on suspension. I did question in my head where Jimmy must've heard this information. Reggie also hadn't texted me or called me all night.

"He got suspended for a week and it's his last warning. If he gets suspended one more time, he'll be expelled-"

I cut him off, "Jimmy, I don't really want to talk about him."

Jimmy furrowed his eyebrows and parted his lips, "But I thought he was like your bestfriend or something."

"He is, but I'd rather him tell me the truth or what happened from his side of the story."