Page 15 of Verse Two
“Good game, Ellis. Where did you learn to play again?”
With his eyes still on me, Brick said, “Right here on this court. Excuse me.”
With that, he continued toward me, while LaShontae stood back with her arms folded and her hip poking out. Marc grabbed Tisha’s hand, and they walked off in the opposite direction. Out of LaShontae’s minions, Tisha was the least annoying, so I didn’t really have a problem with him getting to know her.
As long as Brick wasn’t interested in any of them, I was cool.
“Doll,” Brick called out as he approached me. I tucked my lips to hide my smile and crossed my legs as my stomach fluttered. He had been calling me that since third grade, but hearing him say it never got old.
“Nice game,” I said as he sat beside me.
“’Preciate that.” He ran a hand over his curly hair before turning toward me. “You tryna walk or somethin’?”
I shrugged. “Sure.”
He stood and reached out for my hand, which I gave him without hesitation. I wasn’t sure exactly when it started, but sometime last year, Brick started holding my hand, and it was just a thing now. The connection always gave me butterflies, but I tried my best to ignore them.
As cute as Brick had always been to me, he never failed to remind me how I was his best friend. Sometimes, he would say things in a way that seemed like flirting, but he always reverted to the friend thing. He would never see me as more than that.
Hand in hand, we walked right past LaShontae, who had yet to move around, and started toward the trail that curved around the baseball field. Our walks usually started there because the grass was taller, and there were lots of trees. In a neighborhood like ours, everybody was in everybody’s business. Privacy was hard to come by.We walked along the trail silently for the longest time.
He never let go of my hand, so I was still trying to calm the butterflies when he finally spoke up.
“Aye, I been thinkin’.”
I glanced at him.
“About what?”
“’Bout you, . . . about us.”
I let go of this hand at that point and folded my arms across my chest. My limbs were now shivering uncontrollably because of that one word he had spoken: us.
“Us?” I tried to sound calm, but I could hear the tremor in my voice. I hope he didn’t catch it.
“Yeah. Me, you, and Marc have been locked in since elementary school. We’re all best friends and shit but . . .” Hisvoice trailed off, and I frowned, not knowing where he was going with this.
Was he about to say he didn’t want to be my friend anymore? I was sure I couldn’t take that.
“But what?” I asked way too urgently.
“But Marc ain’t the one who holds your bookbag when your shoulder hurts. Or your purse when you need to tie your shoes. He ain’t the one waitin’ on you to get out of cheer practice so that you don’t have to walk home alone.”
I nodded because all that was true. But . . . what was he actually saying?
He continued. “I’m tryna say that we’re all friends, but me and you are different. We’re closer, . . . right?”
I hugged my chest tightly because the shivering had turned into full-blown tremors, and I couldn’t get a handle on my body. To make matters worse, Brick stopped walking and uncrossed my arms. As he held both my hands now, his eyes penetrated mine.
“Right?” he asked again.
I nodded, afraid to speak.
“You’re my favorite person, Doll.”
I held my breath.I was?
“And I’m just saying, like . . . I wannaofficiallybe closer to you than anybody.”
