A Necessary Struggle: Spring Semester

Chapter 17: A Change of Plans

Harmony planned to meet Wes and attend the BSU meeting, but he couldn't attend it. So, instead of sitting in the Larkin Building with her, he was bussing tables at an Italian restaurant.

Harmony went alone, which she was fine with. She was a quiet soul engulfed by my extroverts, after all. She stopped by Jolt, picked up a drink, and got to the meeting twenty minutes early. The doors to classroom 162, where all BSU meetings were held, were locked, so she leaned against the wall along with the other early birds.

She sipped on the straw, pulling the caramel and nutmeg-infused beverage onto her tongue with her other hand rammed in the pocket of her burgundy puffer vest. She tried hard not to overhear the girl at the end of the hall talking about some girl who wore the same dress as her to a Kappa party. Harmony read the clock on the wall. She had only been there one minute, and she already felt like leaving.

"Iced coffee in the dead of winter," was spoken, followed quickly by a deep chuckle.

Harmony snatched her eyes off the unmoving minute hand to see Cairo. She spat out the straw, "What are you doing here?"

"We made plans to meet up." He stepped next to her and dropped his back against the white wall.

"I mean this early." Harmony looked at how closely his arm was next to hers, something she wouldn't have noticed a few months ago. "You're not very punctual."

"Your promptness is rubbing off on me." He shot a grin her way, and her eyebrows rose. "Do you really want to go to this meeting?"

"I mean...I always come." She angled her body towards him, "The first meeting of the month is the most important."

"That was something we did as freshmen," he smirked, memories flooding his mind. And sophomores." 

She remembered. It was the first place they went after their late-night kiss, their only kiss.

"We need to break from the mold, Monroe." He added, pulling his back off the wall.

She twisted her mouth to the side, puffing out her reddening cheek. Was she blushing from drinking a cold drink during the winter or from the idea of spending time with Cairo? She didn't know, but the latter made her stomach backflip.

"What about Heaven?" Harmony shook the cup, rattling the ice.

He shrugged with a face void of concern, "I don't know."

"Aren't you and her together?"

"We're just kicking it." He casually shrugged with his backpack clung to his shoulder.

"Huh." Her face scrunched with confusion.

"Oh, you mean, is she coming to the meeting?" he added, pointing his finger to the buffed olive-tiled floor. No. She went to Pulse with her girls." A smile spread across his face, doing the unimaginable, making his raven eyes shine. So, what's up? You want to hang out with your homie. Are will your quasi-boyfriend have a problem?"

"I don't know." She pulled on the straw again, producing nothing but watered-down java. "And he's not my boyfriend. We've gone back to friendship."

"Good." he bumped his shoulder against hers, "So, let's get something to eat and chill."

********

Trevor's house was empty, surprising Harmony because Lela was supposed to be baking heart-shaped cookies for Larry. They were probably at a movie or getting food.

Harmony sat the plastic bag filled with food trays on Cairo's bed. Instead, they got food before going to the house, so she suggested Chinese since she hadn't had it in a while. Being home under her parents' roof limited her dietary intake since her doctor's parents were also health nuts—sans holidays, so things went back to being gluten-free, meat-free, and preservative-free.

"What do you want to play?" Cairo stood before the television, the only shine of light in the otherwise dark room. He held games in both hands, "The Last of Us or NBA Live?"

Harmony stumbled as she pulled her boots off, "Have you played it yet?" She nodded to the game in his right hand.

"Naw." He shook his head, watching her unzip her vest. "I was waiting on you, but then you had family drama, so it never happened."

Harmony flung her vest over the desk chair at the cluttered desk, "Then, let's crack it open."

It was faint, but in the glare of the TV screen, she could see the smile cross his lips before he turned his back to her.

Harmony stopped at the edge of his unmade bed, taking in the ruffled sheets and the pushed-back comforter. One thought ran through her mind. Did he have sex in this bed? She unfolded one of the pillows and pushed it to the headboard.

The Naughty Dog insignia flashed across the forty-four-inch screen as Cairo grabbed the controllers from the metal TV stand, "She hasn't been here."

"What?" Harmony yanked her hand from the pillow.

He nodded to his unmade bed, "I don't bring girls home, Harmony." He held out the controller. "You should know that."

"I do." She grabbed the controller from his hand, "I was just wondering how long these sheets have been on this bed." She pulled back the black flat sheet and smoothed out the wrinkles with her hand, "Do you prescribe to the one-week rule?"

"I don't know what the hell that means," he said, jumping back on the bed, causing the bag of food to topple over. But I changed them three days ago."

Harmony climbed on the bed and checked the food; the tops were securely clasped on the trays. "Eggroll," she asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Sure." He patted the space next to him. "Hurry up so we can play. I've been waiting to start this game for forever."

Harmony crawled to the spot he patted on with the tray, "You could've played it without me." She sat on her legs, opened the container, and plucked out an eggroll. "It would've been okay."

He looked at her, his hand hovering over the eggroll. "That would never be possible," he said, taking an eggroll as she matched her eyes to his. You're the only person I know who is more interested in the storyline than the actual game. "So, you're ready?"

"I'm always game." She bit into the crispy, fried beef chicken eggroll, then fell back against the stack of pillows.

Cairo sat the eggroll in his mouth like a cigar. "My girl," he said. He pressed a button on the controller, and The Last of Us started to play.