Loose (14 page)
Authors: Coo Sweet
“Neva, it’s okay. You go ahead. I’ll be right there,” Jasmin said.
Neva hesitated, threw her hands up in surrender, and walked into the restroom.
“What do you want, Sage?” Jasmin’s voice was flat. Her face devoid of any curiosity for what he might say.
“I just want to know what’s wrong. What did I do to make you cut me off like you did?” Sage asked.
“Sage, I--“
Before she could finish, Raven strutted out of the restroom. Neva was hot on her heels. Raven wasted no time in attaching herself to Sage’s arm. She flashed Jasmin a smile sweet enough to rot teeth.
“What are you doing, baby? Charity work with the handicapped?” asked Raven.
Jasmin and Neva exchanged an amused look. Did she just go there? Really?
“Oh, you mean this date with you?” snapped Jasmin. Neva cracked up. Sage stiffened a little, anticipating Raven’s reaction. Sure enough, Raven took a step in Jasmin’s direction.
Sage held her back.
“Come on, now. No drama. All I did was say hello,” he said.
Raven composed herself. She plastered that fake smile back on her face.
“You’re right. Why should I let these tricks spoil a great night?” Now it was Jasmin’s turn to do the holding back--when Neva took a step toward Raven.
“Chill, Neva. I got this.” Jasmin stepped closer to Sage. She looked right into his eyes, dared him to look away.
“Tell her the truth, Sage. You didn’t stop me just to say hi,” Jasmin challenged him.
Flustered, Sage ignored her. He tried to steer Raven to the exit.
“Whatever, Jasmin. Come on Raven, let’s get out of here,” he said.
“Oh, hell no! What’s she talking about?” Raven said. Sage got persistent, pulled on Raven’s arm. She shook him off.
“She’s tripping, Raven. Let’s go,” said Sage.
Jasmin smirked as beads of sweat popped up on Sage’s forehead, and he started to jiggle his keys in his pocket.
“What’s the hurry, Sage? A minute ago you wanted to play twenty questions,” Jasmin said. She turned to Raven.
“Your boy wanted to know what happened to me and him. Why I stopped speaking to him. You tell him, Raven.”
Raven fidgeted from all the eyes trained on her. Suddenly, being the center of the ring wasn’t so appealing to her.
“Tell him what? I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Raven snapped, trying to play off her discomfort.
“The note, Raven. Tell him about the note,” said Jasmin.
Sage’s eyes narrowed. Raven strained under the weight of her lies.
“Her ass is crazy, Sage! What note?” Raven said.
Jasmin glared at Sage.
“I asked you more than once if you and Raven were a couple. You said no…but Ms. Psycho here made it very clear that was a lie,” snapped Jasmin.
Raven lunged in Jasmin’s direction. Neva and Sage jumped into action to keep the two of them apart.
“Who are you calling psycho, bitch! I don’t know anything about a note to you. That shit could have come from anybody,” Raven huffed.
“It could have, but you were the only one staring me down whenever Sage and I were together,” said Jasmin.
They were a safe distance apart, but both girls’ heaving chests and fiery eyes indicated the war of words could easily escalate into You-Tube-video type violence.
“This is a bunch of bullshit! Let’s go, Sage,” Raven said.
Sage didn’t move. His eyes darted back and forth between the girls, like he was using some kind of visual lie detector to glean the truth. Despite the scrutiny, both girls held their ground. Neva, on high alert now, took Jasmin by the arm.
“Come on, girl. She’s not worth it. Neither is he.”
Jasmin shook off her friend’s hand.
“Do me a favor, Sage. Stay the hell away from me. And keep your pit bull on a leash when you take her out in public.”
Raven flipped Jasmin the bird. Sage didn’t say a word, but the wounded look on his face read like a book. He let Raven steer him to the exit.
Jasmin and Neva hung around the gym for a while longer.
“Uhhh! What does he see in her? I thought he was cool. I just don’t get it,” Jasmin said.
“Don’t feel bad. I’ve known that boy since junior high and he’s always been a little different. I don’t think he’s ever had a real girlfriend. I mean as far as I know. He’ll mess around with you for a few weeks…then boom, on to the next one. He’s definitely got commitment issues,” said Neva.
“Really? I didn’t get that impression. I mean he came at me pretty hard, but it seemed sincere. So you think he was just trying to hit and quit it or something?” asked Jasmin.
“I wouldn’t be surprised. And Crazy Raven is a piece of work, too. She’s been through so many boys at our school I’m surprised her cooch hasn’t dropped dead from exhaustion and demanded a proper burial. You ask me…they’re perfect for each other. Matter of fact, have you heard the rumor?”
“No. What?” Jasmin asked.
“Miss Raven has been skipping P.E. lately. She brought a note in and the teacher’s been excusing her from dressing out. A lot of people think it’s because she’s pregnant. And Sage might be the daddy,” Neva said, with a smug look on her face. A look she promptly dropped when she saw the hurt in Jasmin’s eyes.
“Uh-uh…you serious? Wow. Glad I didn’t get too caught up. The last thing I need is drama like that.” Jasmin blinked her eyes rapidly like she was trying to rid them of some debris.
“Exactly. Now take a tip from me. Consider yourself lucky, and keep it moving,” said Neva. She gave Jasmin a sympathetic pat on the back as they headed for the door.
Sage and Raven were parked in front of her house. From the looks of their body language, tension hung heavy as a wet blanket between the two of them.
“You don’t believe me do you?” Raven asked.
“I didn’t say that, but you did try to fight her once before,” said Sage.
“Fine, believe what you want. So is this it? You don’t want to see me anymore?”
Before he could answer, Raven had yanked the door open and was almost out of the truck. Sage grabbed her arm.
“Come on, Raven. Chill. Look, I like hanging with you. Never thought I’d hear myself say that, but I do. I just don’t want you to turn into fists of fury every time we happen to run into Jasmin. Think you can manage that?”
Raven tried not to smile, but couldn’t help herself.
“Maybe. Long as we don’t run into her too much,” Raven said, easing back into the seat. She leaned toward Sage and kissed him.
“I was having a good time until she came along. You?” Raven asked.
“Yeah, I was. I’m glad your granny let you out tonight,” said Sage.
“Well…she’s still at work. You want to have some more fun?”
Raven teased him with a hand across the crotch of his jeans. Sage squirmed under her touch. He took her hand and kissed the top of it.
“You’re dangerous. You know that?” he said.
Raven winked at him. “And don’t you forget it. Now answer the question. Do you want to come in?”
“It’s tempting, but I don’t think so. We have to be more careful, Raven. I don’t want to cause any more trouble with you and your grandmother. That cool with you?”
Raven poked her lip out.
“Not really, but you’re right. My nosy ass neighbor is probably peeping at us right now. Taking notes and shit to give to Granny,” Raven said.
“Exactly. And I do not want that to happen, but I promise we’ll spend more time together. Okay?” said Sage. Then he got really quiet. His face and mood shifted south.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Why so sad?” Raven asked, taking his hands in hers. He tried to shake the worry bubbling up in the pit of his stomach. He kissed her. Hard. To keep her mouth and her mind off his increasingly funky demeanor.
“Who’s sad?” he lied. "Here I have this fine specimen of the female form sitting next to me. Why would a brother be sad?”
Sage planted a flurry of kisses on her face and neck to distract her even more.
His feelings were the last thing he wanted to discuss right then.
Raven ate it up. “Boy, you’re so crazy! Let me out of here,” Raven giggled. “Bye, Sage.”
She pulled away, her face glowing like Christmas morning. After she climbed out of the truck, Sage watched her walk to the house and let herself in. Once she was safely inside, Sage took a long look at himself in the rearview mirror before he started the truck and drove off.
Man, what are you trying to prove? Stop this shit right now, he thought.
Chapter 15Jasmin and Neva headed to the entrance of the school. Laughing and skipping around like best buds on the playground at recess. Neva stopped to retrieve something from her backpack. Jasmin picked at her hair and idly scanned the crowd around them. Her face fell when she spotted Sage and Raven a short distance away.
At the same time, Neva found what she’d been rooting around for.
“I’m ready. Let’s go.” Neva started to move, but Jasmin was stuck on pause. She kept staring in the direction of Sage and Raven. Neva still hadn’t noticed them.
“What are you looking at?” Neva craned her neck to see what was so interesting. When she finally caught on, she sucked her teeth loudly.
“Oh, look. It’s Freak and Freakier. Sure are getting cozy, aren’t they? It won’t last. Trust me. Come on, girl. Let’s get to class,” Neva said.
“Yeah. Let’s do that,” Jasmin huffed, whipping her head so hard it was a miracle she didn’t strain a vertebrae in her neck. The girls walked away not nearly as chipper as they had been. They were in no mood for laughing and skipping. Recess was definitely over.
If Jasmin felt like she was wallowing in the pits of hell, then Raven was floating in heaven, and she clung to her illusion of true teen-aged bliss every step of the way. Hell, the girl positively glowed. Even in the shadows of the overcast sky above her.
She and Sage had been hanging out a lot lately. They often shared a table at lunch, and it wasn’t unusual for them to spend afternoons or evenings rehashing their daily activities on the phone with one another.
That particular day, they kidded around in the parking lot on their way into the mall.
“Ugh--remember the first time we went to the mall together?” asked Raven.
“Uh…yeah. How could I forget? You threw up all over my brand new Jordans,” Sage teased. He screwed his face up at the memory of it. “It took me days of scrubbing to get the stains and the stink off them.”
Raven responded to his jab with a weird look on her face. She felt like kicking herself. Way to go, girl. Just what you want to think about right now-—this shit you’ve gotten yourself into!
“I had a stomach bug. You can’t blame me for that,” she said, and pinched herself hard as a reminder to be cool.
The two of them window shopped at various stores. Sage bought several t-shirts from a funky little boutique with a Rasta motif. Raven squealed and gushed over a few things, but hadn’t made a single purchase by the time they were ready to go.
“You feeling okay?” Sage asked, out of the blue.
A shadow fell across Raven’s face. Damn. Am I doing it again? Does he suspect something? She checked his expression for clues to what he might be thinking. She expected the worst, but his body language was loose and carefree. Raven pinched herself again. Stop being so paranoid.
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