nothing less ➸ demar derozan

twelve

Isabella

"Isabella, levántate," I hear my father say in Spanish through the door. I hear him knock on the door again this time a bit louder. My heavy eyelids quickly flutter open and I stand up to go open the door for him.

Once I reveal my room to him, his eyes pass me and stare at Rozan's slumber body, "He slept here?"

I curse myself for forgetting to tell my parents he was staying. I rub the sleep out of my eyes, "Yes. I forgot to tell y'all, I'm sorry."

He sighs and a frown follows, "I hope he did nothing to you - or you did something to him."

I shake my head quickly, "Nothing happened, I swear."

My father's stern eyes looked at me intensely, "You're lying. You're blinking too quickly."

I squint my eyes and my mouth parts partially, "Wha-How does that have to do with anything...I'm lying because I'm blinking too quickly?"

He steps forward to me and towers over me, "I know you're lying because you've been doing that since you've been young. Plus, he's shirtless."

My eyes go back-and-forth with the both of his and all of a sudden my voice is caught in my throat. Sure, Reggie has slept in my bed before with me and woke up shirtless, but we wouldn't do nothing. Reggie was just someone to sleep with his shirt off, but I think he's like this right now because he doesn't know DeMar like he knows Reggie. My father would have these strict moments like these but this was the first time he's ever stepped so close to me. I felt small of a sudden.

He noticed me uncomfortable and then slowly backed away, "Look, I'm not trying to scare you or anything. Your mom was telling me how you have multiple guys at the house and something just doesn't rest right in my chest. Just tell me what happened because I know something did. I won't be mad, I promise." His hazel eyes were glistening with sympathy and curiosity. However, my father was a man who kept his word—and promises.

I shook my head, "I—I, we did kiss but it wasn't like that...well it was. We were getting there to...you know, but he stopped me."

My dad's eyebrows rose, "He stopped you?"

"Yeah," I stuttered. "I feel like he did that because we were really only friends at first...I don't know honestly. That was our first kiss between us."

He nodded, "Okay...I love you." He puts his hand on my shoulder and leans in to kiss my forehead. I wrap my arms around him and he hesitates, but then hugs me back. "You okay?"

I nod in his shoulder, "I just missed you. You being in Honduras for a long time just made me appreciate you even more than I already did. I love you." His grip tightens and then loosens to release me. "Get that boy up so we can have breakfast together."

"I don't think he is going to wake up anytime soon, Pops. I know he's had a couple late nights this week so he needs to catch up with his sleep."

"Okay, well come down and get some food when you're ready."

I nod and then go back to my room. DeMar is still sleeping and cuddled in the blankets. His snores are light but are audible from afar; they weren't bothering me though. I decided to use this time to clean my room a bit and catch up on homework. I also managed to fit in a shower in the time. I had ran a vinyl on my record player of Marvin Gaye and then checked up on DeMar. I continuously tugged him until his eyes fluttered opened.

"What?" He asked. His voice was deep and raspy.

"It's like about to be eleven, you want to wake up or go back to sleep?" I ask him. He squints at me and then throws the cover over his head.