The Sophomore || Tori Kelly

The Keys

continued

André pulled his huge truck into the small almost empty parking lot of the pizzeria that was maybe fifteen minutes up the road from the church. "Alright," he smirked at Tori as he took the key out of the ignition. "You ready to feast?" André excitedly asked. Tori was the only female he knew that could throw down just as much as he could with no problems. She was a foodie and it was nice that they both ate sort of clean so they could both enjoy cheat days.

"Do you even know who you're talking too?" She laughed before they hopped out of the truck to secure the table.

4:52 PM

After everything had settled and their orders were placed, Tori captured André's eyes for a split second, before he broke the gaze. "What's up? You were talking one minute and now you're quieter than a mouse," Tori asked. The basketball player started to fidget under the table, unsure if he wanted to admit what he had. But, he honestly had nothing to lose. They weren't super best friends, but he felt like they were close enough for this level of honesty.

"Okay, I have to be truthful," André started. "When I came to your place on Tuesday I was high on Oxy," he paused, watching to see if Tori's face would change from its soft, compassionate expression. Thankfully, it didn't, and André continued. "I relapsed before that class that we had together, a month ago, and had just come off another bad trip literally five minutes before I met you. I was ready to go back to the drugs, since I saw my ex with another guy in IG. They're starting a family," he sulked, sort of upset that the baby wasn't gonna be his. "Anyways, when I met you and you seemed uninterested, I made it my mission to get on the inside of your pants. I know that's disgusting for me to admit, but I want to be honest. And with you as my mission, I started to become distracted from the drugs," André grimaced. He hated the sound of that sentence. He couldn't imagine trying to be so vulgar with such a sweet woman. "I said all that to say that in the four weeks that I've known you, I have been so focused on you, that I haven't wanted a pill or a hard drink or to sell or anything in those weeks. I had been completely clean from any drugs until Tuesday. It hit me hard on Tuesday, how badly I almost messed up with you that weekend and I got high to take the pain away, but it made it worse. And that's why I showed up at your place," André explained. "And that's why I need you to erase all those contacts. I'm not strong enough to, but I need them gone. I want to focus more on my faith, and my schooling, and my game, and... on you," André listed. Tori bit her lip, trying to hold back her tears. No one had ever wanted to change so completely for her before and she wasn't sure what to say. So, in the silence, André slid Tori his phone and watched her unlock it.

"Are you sure?" She asked, getting to the first name and getting ready to hit the red seven lettered word. André sat back, cool as a cucumber, with his arms folded.

"Go for it," he greenlit. Tori started to delete all of the toxic names and for five minutes the two of them sat silently as she went to work.

Once everything was said and done, Tori slid the phone back to her date and smiled. "I'm done. Now what?" She asked. André giggled and watched the waiter place their plates in front of them.

"Let's eat," he cheered, causing Tori to chuckle. The two waited for their table to clear, said a prayer, and went in on their plates. "So, I have a game next week. Are you and your friends coming?" André asked. Tori shrugged.

"We'll probably be there. Why?" She asked, before taking a bite of her pizza.

"Cause, afterward, my sister and some of our friends are going to the Isla Vista for a bonfire and I was wondering if you guys wanted to come," he invited. Tori pulled out her phone and texted her girls the invite, which forced a laugh out of her. "What's so funny?" André asked. Tori showed the gif ridden group chat thread that signified how badly they wanted to go.