She pushes some lettuce that’s dangling from her lip into her mouth, then brings her hand up to cover her mouth while she talks.
“Girl, please come out with me this weekend. We’re gonna find you someone to take your mind off Fine-ass Kingston.”
I snort. “Yeah, yeah. Fine.”
Soon, Lorenzo joins us, sitting down next to me as he drops his plate of pizza in front of him. “Hey, ladies. What’s goin’ on this weekend?”
“We’re goin’ out to find Nova a guy,” Ayanna replies, giving me a wink.
“Why you need a guy? I’m right here,” he says nudging me with his elbow.
I roll my eyes. “You’re cute, but you have girls hanging off you all the time.”
“Ay, that’s not my fault, Mami. I mean, can you blame them?” he says, rubbing his hand over the hair on his chin. “I’m not with anybody though,” he finishes, taking a huge bite out of his pizza.
Ayanna raises her brows, giving me a look. I mean, yeah, he’s good looking. He’s got a set of pearly whites, smooth, brown skin, and eyes the color of whiskey. He’s charming, funny as hell, and definitely on a lot of girls’ radar.
“Anyway, so we partyin’ or what?” he asks between bites.
“Yep. I’ll text you the deets later in the week,” Ayanna tells him.
“Cool.”
“Well, I gotta get to class. I’ll talk to y’all later,” I say, standing up and taking my trash with me.
Lorenzo gives me an exaggerated once over, checking me out while biting his lip. I shove him in the shoulder, laughing as I leave.
Maybe Ayanna is right. Perhaps I should try to find someone to focus my attention on. Someone I could actually have a relationship with.
17
“All right, bring your papers up to my desk, please,” I announce to the class as I erase the board and start writing new problems. “We’re gonna play a game.” Some students whoop and cheer. “It’s a math game, so don’t get too excited,” I advise with a wry chuckle. “The same problems on both sides of the board. We’ll split into two teams, then it’s a race to see who finishes first.”
The class grows louder as the students trek to my desk with their papers, then linger between their seats, talking and laughing while I finish writing the problems out.
Gesturing with my arm, I split the room in half. “Okay, this half is Team One and this half is Team Two.” I spot Lorenzo leaning against his desk, facing Nova, smiling and whispering to her. I clear my throat and get his attention. “All right. One person from each team will come up and do the first problem. I’ll be watching and once I determine who got it right first, the next person will come up to the board and do the next problem.”
“What do we win?” Jessica asks.
“An extra five points on your next test.”
“Oooh!”
Once again I notice Lorenzo talking to Nova. This time he’s closer, squatting next to her desk and nudging her knee. I don’t like it.
“What do you say?” I hear him ask her.
“I say you need to focus on what we’re doing here, Mr. Baez.”
His eyes meet mine, then he stands up and gets back to his desk. “My bad, teach.”
I do my best to avoid looking at Nova, but my eyes catch a tiny glimpse of a smile on her face. Great. Now she’ll think I’m jealous.
Am I?
“Okay, if after one person can’t solve the problem, and the other team has already, you can call in another team member to help you. Figure out who’s going first, then let’s get started.”
Two students from each team line up, ready to dart to the board.
“Go!”
Their fellow peers cheer them on as they attempt to solve the problem. As I watch and wait to see who gets it first, my eyes travel back to Nova who’s falling into Lorenzo’s side, laughing at something he said.
My jaw clenches, and I hate myself for feeling even an ounce of jealousy. Nova should be with him. I can’t expect her to stay single. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve seen.
I tear my gaze away and focus on the board. Team One gets done first, and another student starts on the second problem. Soon after, Team Two is on the move. Once a team finishes the row of five problems, we start a new round until the winning team gets to fifteen points.
The kids get so caught up in the competition and wanting to win, they seem to forget how much they hate doing these problems. Their teammates give them confidence with their cheers and encouragement, and everyone has a good time. I like to do these types of games every so often, since it seems to help boost morale.
“All right, Team Two wins,” I announce as they reach fifteen points.
Team Two celebrates with high fives and Team One jokingly boos, but they all end their day with smiles on their faces.
“Now get out of here and study up. Test on Friday.”
As the students gather their belongings and shuffle out, I head to my desk to collect their papers and clip them together. Nova and Lorenzo seem dead set on getting my attention today, because once again they’re talking and laughing, getting too close for my liking.
I shake my head, reminding myself I don’t have a say in this. I shouldn’t even care, but I do. I hate that she seems to be into this guy. I hate that he seems like a good guy. But mostly I hate that I can’t claim her as mine.
“So, you gonna call me later, or what?” I hear him ask her.
“I guess.”
“Oh, you guess?” he jokes. “I see how it is.”
“I’m kidding,” she replies with a laugh, putting her notebook in her bag. “I’ll call you.”
“We still
