Page 18 of Rejection Overruled

“Brooke Owens, are you fifteen years old?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Sophia snorted. “You are living out your high school years, aren’t you?” she softly said. “I know it must have been hard not doing the things other kids did. That’s why you were such a brat when we visited my grandparents.”

“What are you babbling about?”

“You were miserable in high school. You were always involved in the science and math clubs, but secretly, you wanted to be like other kids.”

I stared at her, trying to figure out what she was talking about. I never felt miserable in high school and I did do all the things I wanted to do. No one knew it was me who set the fire to the science lab when Mr. Henry tried to feel me up. When Emily Sears stole my science fair idea, I was the one who put the spiders in her locker. Was my best friend forgetting about Steven McConnell?

“Stop spewing rubbish, Sophia,” I snapped. “You have no idea of the things I did in high school. You and I didn’t attend the same school remember?”

We both started down the stairs. “Don’t remind me,” she moaned. “I was the one who was miserable. I wanted my best friend and me to go to the same school, but my mom insisted I finish the education where I was.”

“She couldn’t prevent us from attending the same college,” I said softly. “If you weren’t there, I’d have gone crazy by now.”

“Brooke.”

Sophia took my shoulders and spun me around. I turned, expecting her to reprimand me further.

“You are crazy,” she laughed.

Our laughter resonated through the stairwell and we were certain the security personnel in the building heard us. We bounded down the remaining stairs as fast as we could, giggling and snorting all the way.

We were on the ground floor and I was feeling the happiness that only mischief could bring. When I pushed the door of the stairwell, my laughter quickly faded as chocolate brown eyes glared at me.

“Oh-oh,” Sophia muttered behind me.

When I tried walking by him, Jamal gripped my hand, pulling me back into the stairwell. Sophia made a hasty retreat, giving me an apologetic stare. In return, I snarled at her for leaving me at the mercy of my enemy.

“Don’t you manhandle me,” I protested.

Jamal kicked the stairwell door shut and advanced on me. I backed away from the gleam in his eyes. I wasn’t scared of him, I was just wary about his intentions. I was aware that he’d backed me into a corner as my rear end hit the wall.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“You,” he said. “I want you, Brooke Owens. You’re quite the mischief-maker and I like that about you, regardless of your juvenile behavior.”

I laughed, as I knew Jamal was playing my game. This would have been a good chance to reject him, but the timing wasn’t right. The game had just started. If I rejected him now, he’d think I was afraid. I would have lost for sure.

“So what are you waiting for?” I boldly asked, tracing his jawline with my index finger.

A flicker crossed his face and his eyes narrowed. I figured he was surprised at my response. The bugger thought I’d back away from his challenge. Game on you son-of-a-gun.

“Why don’t we move our date up?” he suggested. “How about tonight?”

That threw me off guard. I hadn’t planned my strategy for this so-called date yet, and I needed to be the one calling the shots. However, if I backed down now, he’d win and I wasn’t about to give Jamal that satisfaction. Then again, this was my game and I would not allow Jamal to take control.

“I have a meeting tonight. Tomorrow good enough?”

“Your meeting will last all night?” he asked. “You’re the one who challenged me and now you’re backing away?”

“Very funny, Jamal,” I laughed. “I’ll meet you at the theatre at 9:30 for the late show. If you stand me up, you’re dead meat.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, but that won’t do. I’ll pick up you at your place at nine. We’ll skip the movies and have a nice late dinner.”

“That wasn’t the agreement,” I protested.

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