Roommates

chapter 8

I stood outside of Lee's door and took a deep breath.

It'll be okay, Zola. Just go inside.

I knocked three times and put my ear against the door.

"Come in." I opened the door and saw Lee sitting on his bed with his laptop resting on his thighs.

He looked up and smiled at me, despite how I treated him.

I'm starting to feel bad now.

"Sit with me, mama." I slowly walked to his bed and sat on the edge of it.

Lee sucked his teeth and closed his laptop.

"Why you sittin' all the way down there like you've never been in here before? We ain't ever got down like that, so I don't know why you thought we were today. Get up here, Zola."

"Lord have mercy, Lee." I scooted closer to him, near the headboard, and folded my arms.

"Now, why were you acting up?"

"I was not acting- why didn't you tell me about your alleged girlfriend?"

"If I knew about her I would've told you. Who is she? Enlighten me, please."

"Brynn."

Lee looked in my eyes for about a minute, then laughed obnoxiously loud.

"What's funny, Lee?"

"Brynn ain't nobody girlfriend. We've been friends for years."

I squinted at him.

There's no way I imagined that girl telling me she's Lee's girlfriend.

"She told me she was when she came by to get that folder for you."

"We work together, mama, I don't know what possessed her to tell you that, but it's not true."

"Oh."

I feel incredibly stupid. But, that still doesn't make sense. Why would she tell me she's his girlfriend if she's not?

"Yeah, fix your face. I'll talk to her about it." Lee smirked and I hit his arm, finally resting my head on his shoulder.

"Why did that make you so upset, mama?"

"I wasn't upset-"

"Yes, your little ass was. You didn't even give me my hug," Lee looked down at me and laughed, "It's okay, you can say you're feeling me, because I've been feeling you for a while."

I sprung up from my spot and looked at him, trying my best to mask my smile. He wore a cute smirk and looked at me, unfazed.

"Really? How long?"

"Ever since we met, to be honest. When I first saw you on campus, I was a little stuck. You're so damn beautiful and you don't even flaunt it, hell, you don't have to. Then, by some type of weird ass fate, I moved in with you and I learned you're beautiful on this inside too."

At this point, I'm failing at my attempt to hide my smile and blush.

"Don't hide that pretty face from me, mama, tell me something."

I took a deep breath and nodded.

What's the worst that could happen?

"I've liked you for a little while too. It's really hard for me to find a guy who I can be completely comfortable with, and I found that with you. You care about me and support me, so it was easy to fall even harder for you. I guess the thought of you having a girlfriend made me little jealous-"