How to (Unsuccessfully) Get Over a Guy | Tyrus

Part 2

TJ's POV

"You can do it, Kiah!" I say. "You're almost at the top."

All of the children at the gym clap and cheer from the ground to encourage their friend as she attempts to make it to the other end of the climbing net. Kiah's not the first three year-old to try climbing it, but she's certainly the most dedicated. Everyday, she's been saying that she's going to do it, but she's very afraid of heights, so she always gives up shortly into the challenge.

Today she's not letting herself get scared so easily. To keep her hair out of her face, she's tied back her black braids with an elastic that she said she found on the ground. It's not the most sanitary, but hey, I'm not her parents. She narrows her eyes in concentration as she reaches for each rope rung, trying not to look down or let her feet slip.

"Just a bit farther," I tell her.

I'm amazed that she hasn't turned back yet. She really is determined to make it this time. She gets up close enough to the top where all she has to do is reach out and ring the bell, and when she does, everyone goes wild.

The girl shows off her wide grin as she carefully scoots back down the climbing net. At the bottom, she takes my hand and uses it as a support as she jumps down onto the mat. I kneel down to her height to give her a high five.

"Nice job, Kiah!"

"I did it!" she squeals.

"I know. I saw."

Energized by her achievement, she runs off to hugs her friends. I stand up and cross my arms over my chest as I witness everyone's excitement. Suddenly, I notice the face of my watch, and I realize my shift is over. I need to go, but my coworker isn't here yet to take over.

Right at that thought, the door whips open, and I look over to see the girl, Heart, stepping in. Her sleek, black hair is tied in a loose ponytail as though it was done in one second, which it probably was. She's not one for dressing up much.

Her bag makes a smacking sound as she drops it on the floor by the door, grabbing the attention of every kid in the room. Like an avalanche, they all go rushing toward her to say hi. One girl, Sookie, pulls at her arm to try to get her to come see the cartwheel she figured out how to do today. Heart respectfully brushes her hand off and gives her a smile.

"I'll be over in one minute, okay?" Heart tells Sookie. "I'm just gonna say hi to TJ first."

"Okay," Sookie responds.

The little girl runs off to continue playing as Heart walks up to me, putting her hands in her pockets.

"You got a ton of bricks in your bag?" I joke, referring back to the noise it made when she set it down.

"Cookbooks," she explains. "I was at my grandma's, and she really wants me to be a good cook like her, so I lied and said I liked it, but now she's trying to get me to learn all the family recipes, and she's buying recipe books for me."

"Why don't you just tell her you don't want them?"

"Because I've already lied and said I liked cooking, but, honestly, I hate it. But so now I can't tell her the truth, because it'll break her heart—her little, wrinkled, old grandma heart."

"Then I guess you'll be cooking," I say. "If you need someone to eat what you make, I volunteer."

"I might actually take you up on that," she responds with a laugh. "My grandma cooks with a lot of rice, so everything she's shown me so far involves it, but I don't even like rice. You don't know how hard it is to be from a Filipino family and not like rice."