Page 27 of Loyalty, Lust, Love
“Lynx, you act like you’re a reformed felon or something. Yes, you were a troublemaker back in the day, but that was a long time ago. You’ve matured and kept your nose clean for years. Come out with us,” Adam urged.
“I was never a troublemaker, but trouble seemed to find me,” he corrected his friend while considering her words.
The five of them looked at him, their eyes pleading with him to reconsider.
“Fine. I’ll go, but if people start doing dumb shit, I’m leaving.”
“We’re all leaving if that happens. Let’s go,” Adam said.
Only Lynx and Adam had cars. As usual, Fateema rode with Lynx while everyone else rode with Adam, which had become the normal practice, except on the rare occasions one of the girls hopped in with Lynx and Fateema.
“You don’t wanna go, do you?” Fateema asked once they were alone in his car.
“You know I don’t.”
“Then why’d you agree?”
“Because you looked like you wanted to go.”
“I didn’t?—”
“It’s cool, Bunny. If shit gets too wild, we can leave.”
They followed Adam to Demarco’s house. Lynx groaned when they arrived because the block was packed with cars.
“Do you think all these cars belong to someone at Demarco’s party?” Fateema asked.
“Probably, and I bet each car probably had two to four people inside.”
“Wow.”
“Exactly.”
He found a parking spot down the block and around the corner. Once he parked, he helped Fateema out of his car, and they began walking to the party's location. On the way, they met the rest of their friends.
“They must have a big backyard,” Fateema commented.
“Demarco’s family got money. They own the lot next to their house and use it as their yard,” Joaquin informed her.
“Nice,” she replied.
The music became louder as they approached their destination. Once they reached the house, they entered through the tall iron gate. The yard was packed, the music was loud, and everyone looked to be having a good time.
While their friends scattered amongst the crowd to socialize, Lynx and Fateema stuck together. They walked through and around groups of people, briefly greeting the ones they were cool with from school.
“Damn, Fateema!” a male voice exclaimed.
She turned to see who it was, but he didn’t look familiar, causing her to wonder how he knew her name.
“Umm, hi.”
“Where’d all that ass come from?” the boy said.
“Excuse me?”
Fateema didn’t get much attention from boys during the first two years of high school. Although beautiful, she was still very much a tomboy, dressing in baggy jeans, loose-fitting sweats, gym shoes, T-shirts, and hoodies most of the time. The boys couldn’t see past that and rarely approached her.
However, she’d blossomed over the summer before junior year. When she returned to school, she almost didn’t recognize herself when she looked in the mirror. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who noticed the difference. The boys were vying for her attention.
