SAM's POV

The varsity girls' team were up against Pleasant View for the final tournament and we were ten points down in the fourth quarter. With only four minutes left of the game, I was determined to beat our rivals for once this season. Coach Tom had me as the center for the whole game and I would've played during all four quarters, except he didn't want me to get overworked, so I had to sit out third. That was the first mistake. The girl he put on center couldn't even dribble the ball! She kept tripping over her own feet and PV were getting a whole bunch of steals. It was horrible. That's why these last few minutes need to count!

I check the ball to my teammate and start dribbling towards the center of the court. My defender runs up to guard me. I start dribbling to the right looking for any openings; I fake right and break left, my defender right alongside me. I see that the girl that previously was the center on my team is open, but I resist passing it to her. Shuffling back to the center, my defender tells me to hurry up and I hear coach yelling at me to pass the ball. I break left and cross over to the right passing it to my teammate who shoots and (of course) misses the ball. PV gets the rebound and their center makes a three-pointer.

I rolled my eyes and hustled to the starting point to check the ball and try to run one more winning play before the time runs out. Dribbling the ball at center, I yell out number two and my teammates switch positions and fan out towards the sidelines, leaving an empty path down the middle of the court and I quickly sprint down to the basket to make a shot. While the ball was leaving my hands, I suddenly felt myself leaning forward, and pretty soon my face was smack down against the dirty court floor. The buzzer sounded and PV burst out in cheers and hugs and ran over to their coach who was smiling so big I thought his cheeks might fall off. Our coach is yelling FOUL and I look around at my teammates who look annoyed, exhausted, and ready to be done.

I get up off the floor, dusting my jersey with #1 on it, and let out a breath of steam. I can't believe this girl actually tripped me. I searched for the player that was blocking me not too long ago -- she was cheesing mad hard next to her coach who shared the same expression. Glaring at her, I marched over to the other team, pushing past the overly-tall, skinny girls who were cheering. I stood directly in front of her.

"What did you do that for?" I said, yelling a little.

The girl turns to look at her coach and laughs: "What are you talking about?"

"Don't act stupid. You tripped me before I would've made that last shot and I fell on my face!"

"You wouldn't have made that shot anyway, ha. Plus, why does it matter? We beat you guys by 15 points, get over it!" Her teammates chime in with her and shoo me away.

Before I could think of the many possibilities that this could end, Coach Tom grabs me and pulls me to the other side of the court where my team is packing up their stuff.

"Calm down! Why do you always have to start mess?"

"She tripped me, you didn't see that?!"

"Of course I saw it! And I know the refs saw it, but it ain't worth it, kid. You lost; they won. There was only ten seconds left and whether you made it or not it wouldn't make a difference," he sighs and runs his fingers through his salt and pepper hair. I hadn't noticed how gray coach's hair has gotten since I first started playing freshman year.

"So you already gave up on us?"

"Sam, you know that wasn't the best game. And maybe if you didn't hog the ball so much, your teammates might have made a shot or two... or three." He shakes his head and packs up his stuff.

"I passed the ball! But butterfingers over here don't know how to shoot!"

"At least I know how to pass," my teammate says, rolling her eyes.

"Ha, okay. Whatever. I'm the bad guy once again. Man, skip this game!" I started to yell as we walked out of the gym letting the boys set up for the final game of the day. "Y'ALL CHEATED! THEY A BUNCH OF CHEATERS!"

I stormed out of the gym with all eyes on me. If my mom was here, she wouldn't allow me to be acting out like this; she'd tear my butt up real quick. But I don't care because she ain't here. I went into the locker room and started changing back into my sweats and my Class of '14 sweatshirt with my last name on the back. Walking back out of the locker room, I ran into Becca.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I reply, continuing my trek back into the large gym. The boys are about to play and I don't want to miss them defeating PV.

"Girl, you went angry black woman on me -- on the whole school! I mean, even though you're always angry anyway--"

"I AM NOT ALWAYS ANGRY!"

"...my point taken. I'm just saying, loosen up a little. It's just a game--"

"Don't even start. I'm gonna leave you alone because you know nothing about basketball..."

I don't have time for people to be telling me to calm down, I'm calm... I say to myself. 

Breathing out a heavy sigh, I march back into the gym to watch the game. Looking across the court, I see Julie all up on Diggy, rubbing his cheek and kissing it. Diggy is nothing but smiles -- ugh, I hate him -- and his arm is wrapped around her waist. If his hand were any lower, it'd be resting right on her booty. I spot Chris glaring at them both with an annoyed look on his face. I quickly but nonchalantly take my hair out of my pony tail holder and shake my hair out.

"What are you doing?" I didn't realize Becca was right behind me.

"I'll be right back..."

I walk across the court to where the boys team were sitting on the sidelines and tap Chris on his shoulder. He turns around and looks down at me with a smile.

"Hey, Sam," he says.

"Hey, babe. I just came to wish you good luck," I said in the sweetest voice I could muster up. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled sweetly at him.

"Thanks, babe. You're the sweetest girlfriend ever." He says this line a little louder, making sure that everyone on the team and Julie heard him. She and Dig were looking over at us.

"Just make sure you kill them for me, okay?"

"Will do. Maybe after our win, we can go out to celebrate, if you know what I mean," Chris wraps his arms around my waist, pulling my body closer to his. Lord, if this isn't a dream. I stare up into his brown eyes and shake my head 'yes'. He smiles and kisses my forehead.

"Hey, hey, quit making kissy faces with each other. My captain has a game to win!" Coach Jerry yells at us, chewing his gum like a madman. I feel sorry for the gum.

"You got it, coach," he says to him, "We were just finishing up. See you afterward, Sam."

"Bye." We let go of each other and part our ways. Before leaving, I made eye contact with Julie and smirked at her. Back by the bleachers, Becca bombarded me with a whole bunch of questions about Chris again. I really want to tell her that it's not serious but I guess it will have to wait.

***

It was the last quarter of the game and the Wesley High boys' basketball team was winning 58 to 34. There was just twenty seconds left of the game and the crowd was going wild! If Wesley High wins this game, they will have won the entire basketball tournament which would be the last tournament of the season! Everyone was up on their feet cheering on their selective sides. I was cheering for Chris and every time he made a shot, he would find me in the crowd and point to me with a huge smile on his face. I would flash that same smile back at him. I swear I haven't smiled this much, ever. My cheeks are starting to hurt.

With five more seconds of the game, Diggy, who has the ball, passes to Chris you shoots a three pointer, ending the game at 61 to 34, winning the tournament of the season! All of the Wesley High fans are cheering, people are crying, little kids are throwing popcorn, and Chris is being picked up and carried on the shoulders of his teammates. The announcer hands Coach Jerry a trophy that's about two feet tall, and Coach holds it in the air with a huge smile on his face while still chewing gum. 

As the announcer tells everyone to have a great evening, I look at the time on my phone: 6:00. People start to slowly file out of the gym and I grab my gym bag and water bottle and walk down the bleachers. Becca gives Khalil a big hug and he returns the favor. Julie plants a big kiss on Diggy's lips. Ew. They finally put Chris down and I begin to walk over to congratulate him when Dana and Ladelle block my path.

"Well, well, well, isn't it the basketball star with a bad temper. How's life treating ya?" Dana asks, crossing her arms and smirking at me.

"What do you want, Dana? I told you I didn't wanna buy any of your cheerleading cookies."

"Funny. I'm not here to talk about cookies, Sam."

"Yeah, besides she already ate all of them," Ladelle adds.

"What are you here to talk about then? And do I need to stay and listen?" I ask.

"Yes, you do need to listen, and listen very carefully, sweetheart. It has come to my attention that you're dating Chris--"

"What about it?"

"Don't get too comfortable with him. Julie made it very clear that she doesn't like you two together, and she wanted us to warn you that he's no good."

"Well, too bad because Julie doesn't run my life. And why does she care about my relationship anyway? She has Diggy, right?"

"Yeah, well she's not satisfied. Besides, we all know that a girl needs her daddy, so Julie and Chris will get back together eventually. You're just in their way."

"Wait, why are you telling me this?"

"It's a warning, bobble brain. Julie is after you, so you better enjoy the ride while you can."

"Wait, what ride does she get to enjoy? Is Julie giving her free tickets to da fair?! I wanna go!" Ladelle says. Dana rolls her eyes at her slow friend and brings her attention back to me.

"Like I was saying, she's after you."

"I think you got this all wrong. It's not even what it seems you have to know that--"

"Oh, I know everything. Whatever Chris has told you is a lie. As long as you follow Julie's directions, you'll be in good shape." Chris is walking toward us and Dana looks his way. "Looks like I'll see you later, Sam. And remember what I told you." 

They walk away as Chris approaches me.

"We won, baby!" He's smiling from ear to ear.

"Congrats! I know y'all would win! Nice trophy, too," I say.

"What trophy? Shoot, coach hasn't let go of that thing since they presented it to him. He won't let us touch it."

I chuckle. "Yeah."

"So, what was Dana and Ladelle talking about?"

"Nothing. They were trying to recruit new cheerleaders; I told 'em I wasn't interested in their festivities."

"Oh, alright. What time is it? You wanna go do something?"

I look at my watch and tell him the time. The rest of the boy's basketball team walks over and slaps Chris on the back and asks him if he wants to go celebrate with the team at a restaurant. He turned them down.

"Sorry, guys. I'm gonna spend the night with my girl... y'all be good without me."

"Dang, Chris, she got you whipped?"

"Man, I just wanna spend the night with my baby. Of course you wouldn't know anything about that..." he jokes.

"Whatever, man! We'll catch you at the dinner reception tomorrow, right?"

"Of course. See you guys tomorrow, aight?" Chris smiles and gives his teammates some dap as they pass by. Only ones left in the gym besides us are Khalil, Diggy, Julie, and Becca.

"Sam, you think me and Khalil can hang with y'all?" Becca asked.

"Maybe another time..."

"What are you guys gonna do anyway?" Khalil asks us, leaning on Becca. They do really make a cute couple.

I shrug and respond, "I don't know. Whatever he feels like doing."

"Wow, Sam, you can't even make a decision now that you're with him. You're just gonna be his dog and let him order you around all the time?" Julie butts in.

"This has nothing to do with you, so you and Diggy can go on somewhere--"

"No, Sam I think she has a point..." Chris begins. I look at him like he's crazy. "A female should be able to make her own decisions without her man's influence, and she should be able to get anything she wants. I mean, as long as the guy isn't being a girl and just getting walked over by his lady -- now THAT would be a problem. A man that can't be a man because his woman bosses him around like she's his headmaster... not a good look." Chris looked at Diggy when he said this; Diggy was grinding his teeth and glaring at him.

"There's nothing wrong a guy catering to his woman," Diggy responds.

"I agree. But a relationship is both ways... one can't be giving more love than the other."

"Who said anything about that? A woman can be decisive if she wants. Are you saying women should be indecisive?" Diggy challenges him.

"Well, they are."

Me and Becca look at Chris. He smiles at us.

"But... she has the right to change her mind and a guy has the right to lead her. Your girl is supposed to be able to lean on her man when she doesn't know what to do. And a man is supposed to be able to lead her. Simple."

He wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me close. I wrap my arm around his waist and look up at him, smiling. Becca looks at us and smiles sweetly. I know even if this was real that she'd support me no matter what. Dig on the other hand is a hater.

"Come on, Julie. It's getting late." Diggy says, but before they could leave, Julie pulls him back and glares at Chris.

"No, we're not leaving until I say so. Besides, no matter what these two say, we have a right to hang out with them if we want."

"It's not that serious," I say.

"No one asked you, Samantha. We're friends, right? We should all go out to eat somewhere. I recommend The Vine on 32nd Street or Buca di Beppo downtown. We could even go bowling! Or go catch a movie!" Julie exclaims.

"You're kidding," I scoff.

"Julie, why don't you let these two love birds have a night to themselves? I mean, we could all individually do the same--" Becca began.

"Rebecca, I have this under control."

"You're acting a bit controlling, ha," Becca laughs a little.

"And you're being annoying. Matter of fact, you've always been annoying, so shut up and mind your business."

I raised my eyebrows at Julie. Who she think she is? She can talk about me all she wants, but one thing you don't do is disrespect my friends. She's really asking for a beat down!

"Woah, woah, woah! Cool it, Julie," Chris intervenes, "I think we all should calm down and go our separate ways. The drama isn't necessary. Julie, we can hang out another time if you want to. There's enough of me to go around, don't be sad," He smirks and Julie just rolls her eyes.

"I'm tired of you, Chris. Your little game will end... I'm not losing that easily. Let's go, Daniel!" She storms out of the gym like the drama queen she is.

I stare after her like she's crazy. It's never that serious.

"Ugh, she's gone!" I say in relief.

"I can't believe she called me annoying with her boujee, high maintenance self. That's why that chica don't got any friends. Plus she's hella rude!" Becca groans.

"Dang, Becca. I'm surprised... I thought you were her little cheerleader minion, doing whatever she says," I laugh a bit.

"I was just being nice. I'm not putting up with her BS though," she sucks her teeth and I laugh again. "Anywho, we should go. Y'all have a fun night, okay? Text me tomorrow, Sam."

We all left the school, finally going our separate ways. Today was an interesting and tiring day. And Diggy still acting like a female dog. Nothing changed. I don't even know if I can keep up with this whole 'fake relationship' thing and it's only the first day. I mean, Diggy is still with Julie and she's still mad at whoever. And then the confrontation with Dana was weird... she said that Chris couldn't be trusted and that I should listen to Julie. I think she's just trying to start some more drama that I'm not trying to be a part of. At the end of the day, I just want two things. To sleep in my bed... and to get my best friend back...

***

~The next day~

I was rummaging through all the clothes in my closet trying to find something decent to wear. I had picked out a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved button up plaid shirt that was purple. I was all set to wear my black Chuck Taylors with it too, but my mom disagreed. She said it was too casual and not appropriate for a banquet. Pshh! I don't even care, I just want to wear some clothes that are comfortable. I found some black dress pants that have only been worn once and decided to pair them with a silk blue top that was a little tighter than necessary on my upper body and a white sweater.

I checked myself out in the mirror, a small frown of disgust on my face.

"I hate this," I mumbled. Then, a knock on my door. "Come in," I yelled.

"Hey, girl!" It was Becca.

"Hi," I responded.

She walked into my room, closing the door behind her, and eyeballed my outfit.

"What do you think?"

"It's very... church girl. Where's the flair?"

"There ain't no flair in this closet, trust me."

"Do you have any dresses to wear?" She sits her purse on my bed and disappears into my closet, throwing clothes on the ground as she's searching.

"You know I don't own any dresses... I have skirts that I've never worn." I plop down on my bed with a sigh. I watched as she pulled out a black blouse slash short dress with white poca dots. She then found some sheer panty hose and black flats and gave them to me. She told me to put it on, so I did.

The dress had a high neck line, hugged my waist, and was flowing off of my hips reaching as far as my knees. Slipping the black flats on my feet, I glanced into my full-length mirror. What happened to Sam? I had never looked like this before. People could tell I'm a girl with this outfit on.

"Sexy, isn't it?" Becca smiles in satisfaction. "My work here is done. Now you'll be looking good for your man!"

A small smile appears on my face and I follow my friend out of my room. Mama G had already curled my hair and applied make up to my naked face, so I didn't have to spend time doing any of that. We walked down the stairs and into the living room where my mom and Khalil were waiting. Their eyes were big once they got a glimpse of me.

"Oh, honey! You look beautiful!" My mom gave me a tight hug and as she pulled away I saw the tears in her eyes. I rolled my eyes and laughed at her.

"Mom, don't cry. It's not like I'm graduating or anything... it's just a sports banquet." I say.

"Sam, you look really nice," Khalil comments. I say thank you and feel nervous.

"Okay, let's go." I say.

Me and my mom get into her car and Khalil and Becca get into their own ride. Then we slowly pull out towards the Warwick New York Hotel in Manhattan...

***

We walked into the banquet hall, and saw a big sign in black and yellow letters near the back of the room that said "WELCOME TO WESLEY HIGH SCHOOL'S 2013 WINTER BASKETBALL BANQUET". A podium with a table full of decent sized medals and plaques and awards were under the banner.

We selected an empty table in the center of the crowded room. Becca decided to sit with us, but Khalil spotted his team sitting near the front and decided to sit with them. I'd rather sit with the madre than with my team... ugh, after our loss, I can't bare to be seen anywhere with them. They are an embarrassment.

The room was filled with basketball students from freshman to senior year and their parents were sitting - and standing - around talking with other parents. The room was filled with old paintings on each of the four walls; there were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling; the carpet had intricate designs and basic shapes of warm colors, which brought life to the dull beige colored walls; glasses of water were set on each table which could accommodate about eight people. 

Taking in the entire scenery, my eyes came in contact with a tall guy in a black tux. He was rubbing his hands through his hair and just so happened to look at me with a cute smirk on his face. He helped a lady beside him get up from her seat and they walked arm in arm over to our table. I was looking at him the whole time, not noticing until it was too late that they were already at our table, looking eager to talk. I awkwardly wiped the drool from my mouth and introduced myself and my table-mates to this familiar guy and his mother.

"Hey, Chris," I say.

"Hey, Sam," he says.

"This is my mom..." I say, gesturing to the person on my right. My mom extends her hand toward Chris.

"Hello, I'm Martha, Sam's mother. You're Chris? I know who you are... you have a great talent in basketball," my mother says in the most polite tone.

"Thank you. This is my ma, the one who bathed and fed me my whole life," he laughs.

"Hello, I'm Janet Travis. Nice to meet you. I've seen you play, Sam... you're the best girl on the Varsity team," Mrs. Travis says.

"Thanks, I know." My reply gets a giggle out of her.

"Ma, this is the girl I've been telling you about," Chris tells her. She looks confused at first, then gasps and smiles.

"Oh, Sam! So you're the lucky girl that my son has feelings for!"

"Excuse me?" My mother says while glancing at me.

"Yeah, mom... remember? I'm dating Chris now," I say to her between clenched teeth.

"Since when? Nobody had the nerve to tell me."

"Well, I told you now. Yep, we've been dating for a few days..." I say, looking at my mom who is giving me 'the look'. My eyes plead with her to go along with it and she cuts her eyes at me before softening them and puts a fake smile on her face. Phew. Thank God.

"Right. Of course, sweetie..." she plays along. I know I should tell her who I'm fake dating, but it's all too complicated. Plus she don't needa know everything.

"Well, we'll catch up later. Nice meeting you, Mrs. Martha," Chris quickly guides his mother back to their table near the front.

"When were you going to tell me you had a boyfriend?" Mama asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Mom, not now."

Coach Tom appears at the podium and the whole room quiets down.

"Thank you. Hello everyone and welcome to our annual basketball banquet sponsored by the booster club, PTA, as well as Happy Joes and HyVee. I am Coach Tom the head of the Varsity Girls basketball team and I'd like to just say it's an honor working with your students. They work hard each practice and are determined to play hard at each of their games..."

After Coach Tom rambled on about the history of basketball teams at Wesley High School, then the other coaches went up to the podium and threw in their five cents as well. Maybe half an hour went by and one of our assistant principals took the podium announcing that we will be served our food, then they will present Team Awards. 

A few minutes later waiters walked into our banquet hall and passed out plates of caesar salads to everyone. After the salads, they set out a big bowl of lasagna and a big bowl of parmesan chicken with noodles on each table. There were only five people at our table, so we enjoyed as many servings of the delicious food as we wanted. And the best deal is that we didn't have to pay for it since the PTA already covered the costs.

I had eaten so much pasta and chicken that I was growing a little pot belly under my dress, but I wasn't full yet. I still had room for a slice of New York cheesecake and a warm fudge brownie with a bowl of vanilla bean ice cream. Everyone at my table was staring at me waiting for me to explode. I sat back and rubbed my 'pregnant belly' with a smile on my face.

"You done now?" My mom asked. I nodded my head yes.

"You sure can put it away," Becca commented. I let out a big, juicy, smelly burp and the entire room looked at me.

"Oops. Excuse me..." I say with a grin.

"That's Samantha Goode, everybody," Coach Tom said into the mic, making everyone laugh. "Anyways, now that we've finished eating... we would like to present the Team Awards, starting with the freshman."

Each coach presented awards for MVP, Best Girl Athlete, Best Boy Athlete, Best Captain, Free Throw Master, Lay Up King/Queen, Best Hustler, Most Rebounds, Team Class Clown, Hard-Worker, and Most likely to be in the NBA.

Finally, the Seniors were up next... 

For our girls' team, I ended up winning Best Girl Athlete and Most likely to be in the NBA. I should've won all of them since the rest of the team don't do anything, but I accepted my awards with a smile.

For the boys' team, Diggy ended up winning Best Boy Athlete and Free Throw Master; Khalil won Best Hustler; Jake won Hard-Worker; and Chris won MVP, Best Captain, and Most likely to be in the NBA. The rest of the awards were given to select team members.

The banquet was finished after two hours, so  me, my mom, and Becca got ready to leave. While my mom went to chat with other parents, I walked over and congratulated Khalil and also gave Jake a hug.

"Yo, Sam, congrats!" Jake congratulates me.

"Thanks J-Man. Looks like your short self working hard after all." I call him short, but we're actually the same height.

"All day, every day," he grins, "You actually look like a girl today. Wassup with that?"

"Shut up!" I playfully push him, "I wanted to wear my jeans... but my mama made me wear something dressy."

"Ah. It looks good on you though," Jake compliments me.

"Thanks..." I spotted Chris from the corner of my eye, about five feet away from us. Jake looks back seeing him coming and smirks at me.

"I guess I'll let y'all have your little moment. Have a nice break, Sam," he says, patting my shoulder then leaving before Chris comes over and kisses me on my lips.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"For the best captain on the girl's team," he bites his bottom lip.

"I didn't even win that award."

"You should've. Anyway, ya boy can't get no love back?" He opens his arms and looks at me.

"Mmm, nope."

"Come here, girl." Chris wraps his arms around me and squeezes me real tight, rocking back and forth. After a minute or so, he let's go. I laugh a little and smooth out my dress. I spot my mom talking to Mrs. Justine and Diggy is standing beside her with... Julie?

"Um, I gotta go meet my mom's friend."

"Aight. Aye, when we gon' hang out? You doing anything over break?" He asks.

"Not really... I'll call you. See you later." I walk towards my mom and Diggy's mom, leaving Chris to go talk to his other buddies. Approaching my mom's side, I notice that Diggy has Julie by his side.

"Samantha! You look beautiful, honey!" Mrs. Justine gave me a motherly hug and a kiss on the forehead. I wiped it off and laughed a little.

"Thanks, Mrs. Justine."

"You should wear dresses more often."

"Never. Nope. Not gonna happen..." I replay as she laughs at me.

"Diggy, you look nice, too," my mom added, "And so does your friend." She looks at Julie who is grinning. Ugh, why did he bring this thang?

"Thanks, Mrs. Goode," Diggy replies.

"Thank you, Mrs. Goode. Now I know where Samantha gets her beauty from. You look stunning!" Julie says trying to kiss up to my mom.

"Oh, you're too kind. But thank you," my mom flips her hair and poses. Justine gives her best friend a high five and they laugh. Diggy and me are unmoved since we're used to seeing their friendship in action. Julie on the other hand thinks she's gotten somewhere.

"You're welcome! I mean, I could say the same about Samantha. Too bad she wears sweatpants and baggy t-shirts all the time. No one can see that she's even a girl," Julie says. Did she really say that?

"That's what I try to tell her, but you know teenagers these days. Don't listen..." my mom shakes her head. Really mom? You're supposed to be on MY side.

"Well, at least I actually wear clothes on my body, unlike some girls who show everything," I say with a roll of my eyes. I look at Julie who is wearing a pink sparkly tube dress that barely covers her butt, a white cardigan over her shoulders, and black pumps. Lookin' like the flyest strippa.

"True..." Mrs. Justine agrees.

"Well, I guess we should get going. I'm sure Sam is dying to go home and change out her girly clothes," my mom says.

"I sure am!" I reply.

"Wait, before you all leave, can I take a picture of you two? I'm sorry, I'm just a picture junkie," Julie giggles and takes out her cell phone.

"Oh, okay. Sure," my mom replies. Julie gestures for me and my mom to stand together and she snaps a picture of us.

"Okay, now Daniel, you and your mom." She takes their picture. "Okay, I wanna be in the picture with you all. Mrs. Goode, can you take it?" She hands her phone to my mom who doesn't seem to mind.

"Julie, you are too serious right now about some pictures," Diggy says, breaking whatever code of silence he's had since I joined the conversation.

"Don't judge me," she replies with a pouty face. This makes Diggy laugh a little.

"Whatever you say." 

After my mom takes a few pictures of Diggy and Julie, she tries to persuade me to also take a picture with him.

"Yeah. You two are best friends, right? Lemme get a picture of you guys together," Julie says with an evil smirk on her face.

My mama pushes me closer to Diggy, who looks like he doesn't want to be here. The feeling is mutual. We could've been gone home an hour ago!

"Come on. We just want to go home... mom?" Diggy whines, looking to his mom for relief, but she shakes her head and holds up her camera phone. They take a picture of us and neither of us are smiling. Then, of course they yell at us for not smiling and we force the fakest smile in the history of fakest smiles onto our faces. We finally feel like we can go now, but Julie has plans of her own.

"No, no, no! I'm not done," Julie exclaims. "Now y'all need to act like you're good friends. Maybe a hug, an arm around the shoulder-- let me help. See? Daniel, you need to have your arm around her waist... then Samantha move closer to him... closer... there you go! Daniel, don't look so awkward. Smile!"

Diggy has his hand around my waist and I can't help but feel awkward. Julie forces me to wrap my arm around his waist for some reason as well. Our bodies are touching, pretty much connected to each other, and our faces are about three inches apart. Between pictures, I glance at him, my breath practically on his cheek, and wonder how we got to this point. One week ago, we were chillin' and having a blast hanging with our friends, joking and smiling. Our friendship was tight. Now a stranger has come between us, making us mad at each other, starting drama, and for what? And the fact that Dig is on her side makes it even worse. 

I let out a sigh and look at his flawless skin. I've never noticed that he doesn't have one pimple on his face. His curly hair is perfectly trimmed. He has the longest eyelashes, too! He always used to get eyelashes in his eyes like everyday, haha. I followed the line of his pointy nose to the curvature of his plump lips. A grin appears on his face, making me grin as well. I was staring at the lines of his neck, not noticing that I was leaning in closer to him, when he abruptly turned his head to look at me and our lips lightly brushed against each other. We both quickly leaned back and he moved his hand from around my waist as I did the same.

"Oh, oops," Mrs. Justine giggles a little at our awkward moment. She glances at my mom who's giving her the same look.

"You two are so funny," Julie smirks and hugs Diggy around his waist.

"Alright, mama, it's time to go. Bye, guys..." I roll my eyes and pull Mama G towards the door. She waves bye to Justine and them. Before we were completely out of the room, I glanced back at Diggy and our eyes met. He looked scared for some reason. And then we were out the door.