Her friendship meant more to me than a roll between the sheets with Shay, and I felt as if I'd lost it. She stopped running but started strolling at a fast pace.

"What do you want, Vance? You got everything you need right up them stairs...standing there in her little pink panties waiting for you!" She turned just long enough to say that.

This was a side of Lexi that I'd never seen before-angry. She had daggers in her eyes and was not at all interested in talking to me. She kept walking but I caught up with her.

"I don't care about that girl, Lexi...I was just..."

"Just what, Vance? You was just trying to get between her legs?"

"It wasn't even like that..." I grabbed her hand, only to have her yank it away.

"Then what was it like?" Her eyes were softer now and they were staring into mine. It was better when they were angry because the softer eyes made me feel guiltier. My heart started to ache as she waited for an answer to her question. "What was it like then?"

"Okay...it was like that. I did try to sleep with Shay. But I didn't."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because..." I looked away, suddenly ashamed. I felt worse than I had in a long time. Hurting Lexi was bad. It hurt me inside. "Because I didn't have any protection."

At least I was honest. She had to give me credit for that.

"That's the only reason you didn't sleep with her?"

"Um...yeah." The truth was all that I could give her. If she wanted more, then that's all I had. After all, I was a young man with raging hormones. And Shay was beautiful and sexy. Anyone with eyes could see that. The guys on the team had bragged about bedding her; they talked about how good she was and I wanted to see for myself. Wanted to see what all the hype was. "It ain't like we're committed or anything...you and me. I thought we were just kicking it."

"I guess that's what it is then. We're just kicking it."

"Yeah, 'cause you got that dude back in Mississippi...what's his name?"

"Tyrone," she whispered, "and I don't want him. If I wanted him, I wouldn't have been hanging out with you."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to hurt you, Lexi. What were you doing over here anyway?"

"The girl that lives there, Andrea, is one of my best friends. She's on the basketball team. We hang out at her place all the time. Nobody felt like partying tonight, so we were headed over to her apartment to watch some movies and maybe order some pizza. You said that you needed some space, wanted to be alone, remember? I didn't expect to find you there with...Shay Taylor...one of the biggest hoochies on campus. I knew that everyone else slept with her but I thought you were different."

I wanted to believe that I was different but the truth was, I wasn't. I didn't have a response for Lexi. I didn't know what to say.

"You and me...we just friends, right?" I asked.

"I thought we were more than friends, Vance. I thought you were feeling me, like I was feeling you."

"I am feeling you, but we never really talked about it like that."

"You mean like a commitment or something?"

"Yeah, we never made any commitments or anything."

"So that's why you thought it was okay to sleep with Shay? Because we didn't have an official commitment?"

"Something like that." I said it but wished I hadn't. The truth of the matter was I couldn't really commit to Lexi. I already had a commitment with someone else.

"So let's make a commitment then, Vance. Right here...right now," she suggested, those soft brown eyes piercing me, causing my heart to bleed. I wished I had the guts to tell her the truth. She deserved at least that.

"Right now?" I asked.

"Right now," she repeated.

"I, um...I can't..."

"Fine, Vance. Go sleep with whomever you want." She turned to walk away.

I let her get a few steps away before I stopped her. "Okay, Lexi...you want a commitment?"

She stopped in midstride and turned to face me. "Yes. Right here, right now. I want a commitment. I wanna be the only girl that you kick it with."

"You're already the only girl that I kick it with. Why do we have to get hung up with formalities?"

"Why can't you commit, Vance?" she asked.

"I can." I blew air from my lips. "Shoot, a commitment is nothing to me."

"Then fine. Ask me to be your girl." Her hands were on her hips and I knew she was serious. I knew that I would lose in this situation either way it went. The heart of the matter was, I really liked her and I was terrified of losing her. I had to make a choice, and fast because she was waiting for a proposal.

"Aiight, Lexi. Um..." I could feel the sweat popping out on my forehead. "Will you be my girl?"

"You for real, Vance?" she asked. Why was she asking me if I was for real when she'd practically just twisted my arm?

"Of course I'm for real. Be my girl. And hurry up before I change my mind." Suddenly I was cocky.

"Shut up, boy. You are so silly." She was all smiles then. That sad look was gone and the life was back in her eyes again. She wrapped her arms around my neck, kissed my lips. "That means that you can't be getting your freak on with nobody but me."

"I don't care nothing about that girl back there."

"Not just her, Vance. I'm talking about all girls. You are officially removed from the players' list."

"Okay...so what other rules you got?" I asked.

"I wanna tell my parents. I want to let them know that we are in a relationship."

"That's cool. Maybe your father won't break my legs now." I laughed.

"I'll make sure Daddy behaves. He's just looking out for his baby girl."

"It doesn't really matter. It's not like I'm gonna see your father that often. Probably won't see him again until next Fourth of July."

"Actually, no...you'll see him on Thursday."

"What?"

"Yeah, my parents will be here on Thursday. They're coming down to spend the weekend with me. They want to have dinner with me on Thursday night and I want you to come along."

"I don't know about that, Lexi...I..."

"You have to, Vance. If we're in a committed relationship, then you need to get used to my parents being around. You have to come."

She was persistent and when she gave me that look, I couldn't resist. I didn't know how to say no.

"Aiight, what time?"

"Around six," she said. "Relax, Vance. It's not that serious."

"Right." That's all I could say. Thursday was just a few days away and already I was feeling trapped-like a fly stuck in a spider's web. No options, no way out and slowly dying. I didn't know what the upcoming weekend had in store for me and I wasn't very anxious to find out.

twenty-one.

Marcus I stood in the middle of the floor in my dorm room, a pair of basketball shorts hanging from my hips, a wifebeater hugging my chest, my cell phone in my hand as I stared at the screen. I couldn't believe the phone call I'd just received. It was surreal-like a bad dream. No...actually it was more like a nightmare. Indigo was angrier than she'd ever been before and I couldn't get a word in. She'd used so much profanity I wanted to wash her mouth out with soap.

"You're a lying, cheating dog, Marcus!" she'd yelled.

"What are you talking about?" I had asked as my heart started to pound out of control. I was already on edge from being awakened from a deep sleep. At two o'clock in the morning, I knew that the jingle from my cell phone couldn't possibly be a good thing. I knew something was wrong when I saw Indigo's name flashing across the screen. And when I'd missed the first call, she'd called right back. She would've called back-to-back until I answered.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Marcus Carter. I got the photos by e-mail," she growled.

"What photos?"

"The photos of you and...and...that hoochie! You kissed her, Marcus. And held her." Her voice shook like she might cry at any moment. She was hurting.

My heart beat faster than a normal pace.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. You down there at Harvard messing around on me? You're supposed to be down there going to school and you all up in somebody else's arms."

How did she know these things?

"Who sent you photos?"

"I got them by e-mail...from...I don't know! From someone who calls themselves Hollywood."

Hollywood...Hollywood...I didn't know anyone who called themselves Hollywood, I thought as I held the phone up to my ear.

"Somebody's messing with you," I explained to Indi.

"So you're telling me that you weren't kissing another girl?"

"Well...um...I did meet someone, Indi."

The dead silence made me think that she'd hung up. That is until I heard the light whimpers in my ear. She was crying and my heart ached. I never meant to hurt Indigo. I wasn't even sure about what I wanted to do-if I wanted to break things off with her because I'd matured over the summer or if I wanted to hold on to her for dear life. After all, we'd been through a lot together. Indigo and I had history. I'd only known Daria for a few weeks and even though I was feeling her, I wasn't sure if she could take Indigo's place. Someone had made that decision for me by sending photos to Indigo's e-mail box. Who would do such a thing?

"Who is she, Marcus?"

"Her name is Daria." I wanted to be honest with her. I loved Indi.

"And she goes to Harvard?"

"Yes."

"She in the summer program, too?"

"Nah, she's a freshman here. She's taking some summer classes. Next year she'll be a sophomore."

"An older woman." She laughed sarcastically. "You like her, Marcus?"

"Yeah, she's cool."

"I can't believe I've been running around here telling people that you're my knight in shining armor. Your armor is faded and rusty. And you're no knight, Marcus. You're no better than Quincy Rawlins, with his trifling behind. And I never want to see you again."

When I tried to respond to Indigo's final comment, I realized I was talking to a dial tone. And so I stood there, holding on to my cell phone, staring at the screen as if she might call back. When I tried calling her, she let it ring; she wouldn't pick up. Whoever Hollywood was, he or she was making my life a living hell.

twenty-two.

Tameka Tymia's house was the perfect place to meet since her mother went to work at the crack of dawn. And because her mom, Rita, worked and traveled a lot with her job, none of the rest of our parents had really spent much time with her. My mom met her once at one of our games. Indigo's parents met her at open house at the beginning of last school year. Asia's parents had never met her and Jade's parents met her briefly one time when they dropped Jade off after dance team practice. Nobody had Rita's phone number and none of the parents really knew where Tymia and her mom lived. They just knew that they lived somewhere in College Park. Rita was a woman of mystery who provided all of us with the perfect alibi.

Calvin pulled up in front of Tymia's house in his father's Suburban. He was on time-ten o'clock sharp just like he'd promised. He didn't have to honk; he barely had time to put the gear shift in park before we all burst through the door, our overnight bags in tow, our faces made up in various shades of eye shadow and lip gloss. We all shared the same fragrance as we'd passed the bottle around until each of us had sprayed it on. At least we didn't have five different fragrances going on. Our male escorts might've asked us to walk to Grambling.

Calvin and Sean stepped out; being the gentlemen that they are, they grabbed each of our bags and strategically placed them in the back of the SUV. They'd warned us about packing too much unnecessary stuff and we were careful not to get carried away. I was the shoe queen and usually packed a different pair of shoes for each day when I traveled, but being pregnant had forced me to pack more sensibly. All I needed was a pair of flip-flops to match each outfit and flip-flops didn't take up that much room in a suitcase.

All of us piled into the back of the vehicle one by one. Indigo squeezed in next to me and propped a pillow against the back of the seat. Sometime during the night, she'd slipped outside to Tymia's backyard to talk to Marcus on the phone. When she came back inside, it looked as if she'd been crying. She didn't know that I was watching her as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and curled up into her sleeping bag on the floor and stared at the ceiling most of the night. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but it was already late and I knew that we had an early morning. Besides, I didn't want to wake the rest of the girls, who were all scattered around the room in sleeping bags on Tymia's bedroom floor.

Indigo rested her head against the pillow and started to doze almost immediately. I gazed out the window as Calvin maneuvered the SUV through Tymia's subdivision. Tymia and Alyssa started with the chitter-chatter and giggling about nothing in particular as Jade grumbled because they'd stuck her in the middle. Asia sat on the other side of Indigo and started sending someone text messages from her phone. Calvin and Sean bounced to the sound of Jeezy as his voice flowed through the speakers.

I rested my head against the window and thought about Vance. Wondered what he was doing at the moment. It took everything in me not to text him and let him know that I was coming. I wanted it to be a surprise. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he saw me. I'd gained at least fifteen pounds since he'd left. My belly was bigger, ankles were more swollen and my face was fatter. My hair had grown by leaps and bounds and my nails were absolutely beautiful-not that he would care. I smiled as I flipped my phone open and took a long look at his face on my screen. I placed his photo there so that I could see his cute face every time I made a phone call. He was my boo, after all. And I needed him to hold me like nobody's business.