With Friends Like These (10 page)

I
wasn’t about to fall for any more of Tameka’s stupid tricks. I think we had all figured out that while she was always trying to act like she was helping, all she was really doing was trying to make us look crazy.

As Jasmine and I walked into our English class, we were talking about the letter Tameka had started circulating around school. She was begging people to vote for her in this competition. There wasn’t even a voting section of the auditions, but she was asking people to sign a “support petition.”

“She must’ve accidentally slid this one into my locker,” Jasmine said as she held out the flyer, complete with a color picture of Tameka all dressed up and holding a microphone.

“Dang, she’s really going all out for this, huh?” I said.

“Yeah, the girl is serious. I mean, I want the job too, don’t get me wrong, but we swore we wouldn’t let this ruin our friendship, and here she goes trying every underhanded thing she can think of,” Jasmine said. She pulled the door open and walked into the classroom. Tameka was sitting in the back and stared at us coldly when we walked in.

Jasmine walked over to her seat, which was right next to Tameka’s. She rolled her eyes, then sat down.

“Okay, class. This is D day, as in due day. I need all of your research papers, and I need them now, minus the excuses of course!” our English teacher, Mrs. Lacy, snapped in her usual no-nonsense tone.

There was no noise except for the sound of backpacks being unzipped and people digging into their bags for their research papers.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Jasmine frantically flipping through her book bag. She slapped her forehead and started looking through the bag again. I looked over at Tameka, who had this grin across her face. I turned around and handed my research paper to the student Mrs. Lacy had picking them up.

“Miss Jones, is there a problem?” Mrs. Lacy must’ve noticed the frantic look on Jasmine’s face.

Everyone turned to look at Jasmine.

“Um, I can’t seem to find my paper,” she sulked.

“Oh, is that so?” Mrs. Lacy said.

“No, seriously. I don’t know what happened to it,” Jasmine offered.

“Maybe the dog ate it,” Tameka mumbled loud enough for others to hear. The classroom broke into laughter. I turned to look at Jasmine, and I could see her eyes beginning to pool with water. I felt bad for her.

“I know she did it, because we worked on ours together,” I said, trying to help.

Mrs. Lacy looked at me sternly. “I don’t believe anyone asked for your input, Miss Harris.”

“I promise you. I did my paper. I just can’t find it right now,” Jasmine pleaded. She emptied out her backpack. “And the jump drive I saved it on is gone, too!”

“Of course it is,” Mrs. Lacy said as she walked toward the back of the room. She stood between Jasmine’s row and the wall. “Well, it looks to me like you’ll have to suffer the consequences since you can’t ‘find’ this research paper you worked so hard on,” she said. “Who else can’t seem to find their research paper?” Mrs. Lacy asked as she looked around the room. She turned back to Jasmine. “Looks like you’re the only one in class whose paper miraculously vanished into thin air,” she said. She scooped up the remaining research papers, then walked up to the front of the classroom.

Jasmine looked like she wanted to cry, and I couldn’t blame her. I knew how hard she had worked on that paper. We both did, because it was 30 percent of our grade. And with her getting an F on that last test, she had to do good on this paper. After class I waited outside for her. Mrs. Lacy had dismissed everyone except Jasmine.

“What did she say?” I asked, the minute Jasmine came out of the classroom.

“She said she wasn’t buying my excuse for a second. She also told me that regardless of when I turn the paper in now, the most I can get is a C. This is messed up,” Jasmine said sadly.

“Did you save it somewhere else?” I asked.

“No. You know I typed it in the library, and you can’t save on the school’s hard drive. I saved it on my jump drive, and I can’t find that either.”

I just nodded because I didn’t know what else to say.

“She’s giving me a week to turn in another one, so you know what that means, right?”

“Yeah, I guess you’ll be swamped for the next week,” I said.

“Um, try I won’t be doing the show. Without at least a B on that research paper, my GPA goes down,” Jasmine said with tears rolling down her cheeks. It was hard for me to watch her cry, because I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen Jasmine cry.

All I could do was give her a hug. I didn’t know what I could possibly say to help her feel better. And as badly as I wanted to win the hosting job, I felt really bad that she’d have to drop out.

I made up my mind then that I’d do whatever I could to help her redo her paper. It might be too late for the show, but the last thing we wanted was Jasmine failing a class.

I
couldn’t believe how nervous I was. When Rachel called and said she wanted to call an emergency meeting with the Good Girlz, I was hoping she wasn’t going to say she’d decided to stop the auditions. Better yet, wouldn’t it be great if she told us that I had been selected as the host of the teen show? That would serve Tameka right for all the stupid stuff she’d been up to lately.

I was outside Madison, waiting to pick up Angel and Jasmine. I’d talked to Camille last night and she was just as nervous as I was.

My thoughts quickly faded when I saw Jaquan waving to me. He raced over and planted a big kiss on my lips.

“Hey, baby. I can’t stay long. I gotta get to practice!” Jaquan said. “Jasmine told me you were picking them up. I’m glad I got a chance to see you.” He kissed me again. “But I’ll holla at you later.”

Just that fast, he was gone. I smiled, taking note of the fact that Jasmine had told him I’d be at their school. I took that to mean she was getting more and more comfortable with us dating.

I parked on the street outside their school and waited on Angel and Jasmine. I honked when I saw them walk out.

It had been a week since Jasmine’s nightmare with the research paper. She had turned her new paper in earlier in the day, and we were all looking forward to going to the mall—that is, until Rachel called and told us she needed to see us right away.

“What do you guys think this is about?” Angel asked after they settled into the car.

Jasmine shrugged, like she didn’t care. She was probably still mad that she had to drop out because of the research paper. I can understand that. Shoot, I’d be mad, too.

“I don’t know, but I’m thinking it has to be pretty serious for her to call us in for a meeting, huh?” Angel said.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I offered. “You know, I’ll be glad when they announce a winner. I kinda agree with Miss Rachel—this thing has us trippin’. It’s like that’s all we think or talk about these days. I’ll be glad when it’s all over.”

We all remained quiet as we made our way to the church.

“Where’s Camille?” Jasmine finally asked. “I didn’t see her after school.”

“I think she said Walter was going to drop her off,” Angel reported.

“Those two act like they’re joined at the hip,” Jasmine mumbled.

By the time we pulled up to the church, we saw Tameka strolling into the building. Even without her backstabbing, no matter how much I tried to click with her, something about her just didn’t feel right to me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was something about her that made me not want to trust her.

The three of us walked in. We spoke to Camille, who was already there, then took seats in the back.

“Okay, now that everyone is here,” Rachel began, “I wanted to remind you all that the girls we mentor will be here this weekend for the etiquette workshop. I hope each of you is ready for your part.”

We all looked at Rachel like she was crazy. I know she didn’t call an emergency meeting for that. We’d talked about that at our last meeting, and we were all prepared.

Rachel smiled, like she knew she was torturing us. “Okay, that’s not the only reason we’re here. I’ll get to the real reason for this meeting in a minute. But first, let me start by saying, I want you all to know I believe all of you are quite capable of doing this job. Unfortunately, they only need one person, and that has made things very difficult around here. I’d like us to take a moment and pray that whatever happens, we’ll continue to work together to complete God’s mission. Remember, this show is not about us. It’s about what we’re here to do for others. Now before we do anything, let’s say a prayer.”

Rachel bowed her head and started praying. I don’t think any of us could really concentrate because we wanted to know what this was all about.

Thankfully, she made it quick, then turned her attention back to us. “Shereen wanted to be here, but she had an important meeting, so she had me make the announcement,” Rachel continued. “Well, the moment you all have been waiting for. The network executives have made a decision, sort of.”

I held my breath. I just wanted her to spit it out.

“They’ve narrowed down the candidates to two girls. They’re going to make a final decision in a couple of weeks after they see a little more from the finalists.” She smiled.

“Again, this is not a reflection on any of you, it’s just that they can only pick one person,” Rachel said.

“Miss Rachel, please, can you please just tell us!” Camille blurted out. I was just glad she said what I was thinking.

“Oh, yeah, well, the producers have chosen Alexis and Camille as the two finalists for the host of
Teen Talks,
” Rachel said.

“What!” Tameka screamed.

“What!” Camille repeated.

“Oh, my God,” I said.

Everyone started talking at once.

“I can’t believe this!” Tameka jumped from her chair. “Somebody cheated!” she screamed.

Every head turned toward her.

“That somebody would be you.” Jasmine laughed. “But I guess it didn’t work.”

“This is some bull!” Tameka snapped.

“Tameka, you should calm down,” Rachel said.

Tameka ignored her. “I can’t believe they picked these two.” She pointed at me and Camille. “Over me!” She was obviously disgusted. “This was rigged from the very start. I should’ve known they were gonna favor someone who’d been with this stupid group from the very beginning.”

“Tameka, this was nothing personal. You knew when you entered the competition that only one person would win,” Rachel tried to reason. “We had nothing to do with the finalists they chose. Now you need to take your seat and try to be happy for Camille and Alexis.”

“Be happy? Why? When I was robbed. This is crazy,” she ranted.

“I can’t believe you’re acting like this,” Rachel said. “Why can’t you be happy for the other girls?”

“They probably picked her ’cause her daddy got some money,” Tameka said, pointing at me. She then shook her head and threw up her hands.

“Tameka, I will tell you again. Sit down and settle down,” Rachel said, a lot more calmly than I would have. “Everyone was interested in the position. Don’t take this so personally.”

“You don’t understand how hard I’ve worked for this,” Tameka cried.

“All of you worked hard. Everyone worked hard and did their best. That’s what I wanted to tell you. Although you were not selected, you did a great job. Everyone did,” Rachel said.

“I think we should just focus on helping Alexis and Camille,” Jasmine tossed in, a smile across her face. You could tell she was happy about the outcome.

Tameka looked at her. “Oh, you just shut up! You’re just jealous because losing your stupid research paper on DuBois got you disqualified.”

Jasmine’s smile quickly faded. “How did you know what my research topic was?” Jasmine scooted to the edge of her seat.

The room grew silent as everyone waited for Tameka to answer.

“Because you said it,” Tameka stammered.

Jasmine stood up. “No. I didn’t.”

“You must have. How else would I have known?” Tameka tried to plaster an innocent look on her face.

Jasmine turned to me. I gave her a look to let her know that I hadn’t said anything.

“Jasmine, please sit down,” Rachel said with a huge sigh.

Jasmine sat down, but with the glare she was shooting Tameka, I knew this was far from over. If Tameka had taken that research paper, I felt sorry for her. Because payback from Jasmine definitely wasn’t going to be pretty.

W
alter was such a gentleman. That’s what I was thinking as I sat patiently in the passenger side of his car and waited for him to come and open my door. We had just pulled up to Dave and Buster’s to hang out and play some games.

When he opened the door, I tried my best to step out of the car graciously. All I could think about was how perfect we would be if only our parents would stop trippin’.

Inside, we played a few games before sitting down to order some appetizers. “Hey, congrats on being selected for the show,” Walter said after we’d placed our orders.

“I haven’t won yet. It’s between me and Alexis.”

“Yeah, I know, but I think you would be great at it. I mean, think about it.” He shrugged. “I think it would be cool to have my girlfriend as a big TV star.” He chuckled.

Walter’s dimples were really deep, especially when he laughed. I loved how he kept referring to me as his girl, or his girlfriend. I thought about it and realized we never really discussed going together. It was like one day we just started kickin’ it and we’ve been together ever since. We were together as much as possible. I still spent time with the girls, but most of my time was spent with Walter.

The snap of Walter’s fingers brought me back to our conversation.

“Hey, you daydreaming on me or something? Our waiter asked if you wanted anything else,” Walter said.

I shook my head. “Sorry, I was just lost in thought.” I looked up at the waiter, who seemed like he had an attitude.

“I’m okay. I don’t want anything else. Thank you,” I said.

“You sure?” Walter asked.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

He looked at the waiter. “Okay, then I guess I’ll just take the check.”

When the waiter left our table, Walter leaned in closer to me. “You know, my dad sits on the community advisory board over at Channel 2.”

I looked at him, wondering just where he was going with this conversation.

“And?”

“And, well, I was just thinking, if you really wanted the job, I could make sure you get it.” He shrugged and eased back to his side of the table.

“Your parents don’t like me, though.”

“It’s just my mom trippin’. My dad could care less. He just wants to do anything to make me happy. And seeing you as the host would make me very happy.”

The idea swirled around in my mind. Was what he was saying really possible? Could he simply ask his dad to help me out, and I’d get the job? Would that even be right? I smiled at the thought of me being on TV, hosting my very own talk show. Then there’s the money issue. Five whole hundred Benjamins a week? Man, how much would that be a month, or a year even? I could get my own apartment, or maybe even a newer car, and get rid of that beat-up old Toyota Corolla that my mom never lets me drive anyway.

“You keep blanking out on me, girl,” Walter said.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just that I was thinking about the job. I really, really want it,” I said.

“Well, I can really, really talk to my dad for you,” he said, playfully mocking me. “I mean, I’m sure I could convince him to put in a good word for you.”

Again, I thought about it. I mean, what if Alexis had her dad pull a few strings for her? Wouldn’t this be like the same thing? Everyone knows how rich her parents are. Who would care if Walter’s dad said a few good things about me? And who’s to say his dad would even help?

As we walked to the car hand in hand, Walter asked if I wanted to go over to the Galleria Mall, which was about ten minutes away. He said he wanted to check out the new tennis shoes by LeBron James.

We made our way into the mall and then to the shoe store. When I saw Walter salivating over those shoes, I realized that I wanted to buy them for his birthday, which was next month. The problem was, I had twenty bucks to my name. That got me to thinking again just how much this job could help. So now I was feeling like I not only wanted the job, I needed it.

Walter looked at me and asked, “What do you think?”

“Yes.”

He looked at me crazy.

“Yes?” he questioned.

“Yes, I want your help,” I said.

“My help? I was asking what you think about the shoes.” He glanced down at his feet.

For the first time I realized he had the tennis shoes on. I laughed at myself for being so caught up in thoughts about that job that I didn’t even realize what he was talking about.

“Oh, yeah, those look good, too. But I was talking about the job,” I confessed.

“So you want my help?”

I nodded.

He smiled, showing off those dimples again.

“Okay, I’ll talk to my dad as soon as I get home, but what about the LeBrons?” he asked, turning his foot from left to right so I could get a better look at the shoes.

“They’re all right, but I don’t know that they’re worth a hundred and thirty dollars,” I said.

“You’re probably right,” he said as he sat down and began taking them off.

I didn’t want Walter to get the shoes because I wanted to get them for him. I
would
get them for him. Now all I had to do was get the job so I had a way to pay for them.