“Hope,” everyone murmured in unison.
Brielle
“Hey, Bri,” said Sammie, answering her cell phone.
“Hey, girl,” said Brielle. She had brooded all day about Damon. She’d finally finished swim practice and was at home sitting on her bed. She’d called Sammie first thing after finishing her homework. Sammie was her one friend that she could count on who wouldn’t spread her business around.
“What’s up?” asked Sammie, when Brielle didn’t immediately launch into her usual conversation about fashion or who was in love with who at school.
Brielle explained her conversation with Damon.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said, biting her lip. “I’ve been in love with this boy forever. And he finally likes me, too. And now this.”
“That’s messed up,” said Sammie. “I know how you feel about Damon. But you already knew about him and Sasha.”
“I know,” said Brielle. “But I didn’t know it from him. Somehow Damon admitting it makes it seems worse.”
“Is he still hanging out with her?” asked Sammie.
“He says no,” said Brielle.
“Do you believe him?” asked Sammie.
“I want to,” said Brielle. “More than anything I want to. But if he could dog her like that-,” her words trailed off.
“You think he could do it to you, too?”
“Yeah,” said Brielle, with a sigh. “I would be so crushed.”
“Well, he did tell you the truth,” said Sammie, in bracing tones. “He did say that he liked that you are a virgin.”
“True,” said Brielle, feeling better. “And the bible says we should forgive.”
“You’re not thinking about having sex, are you?” asked Sammie.
“Oh, no,” said Brielle, very certain. “I mean, of course I think about it, but I’m not ready to do anything like that with anybody. I’d be too scared.”
“That’s good,” said Sammie, sounding relieved. Then her voice got mischievous. “You know thinking about it is conduct unbecoming of a debutante.”
Brielle burst out laughing.
“A debutante is pure, upstanding, intelligent and well-read. She carries herself like a lady at all times,” quoted Sammie in a nasal voice.
“You’re stupid,” said Brielle. “You know that?”
“Yeah, but you love me anyway,” said Sammie, laughing.
“Seriously,” said Brielle, sobering. “How could he? It was like I was talking to a stranger when he was telling me what he did.”
“He is kind of, when you think about it,” said Sammie. “You’ve hardly ever said ten words to him until recently. He just started crushing on you.”
“I feel like I’ve known him forever,” said Brielle.
“You just know Jada really well, but Damon has been like a ghost most of the time. He’s older and doesn’t talk all that much. He keeps to himself,” said Sammie. “He talks to us, but he’s such a big brother about it. He doesn’t get all into his own business.”
“How’d you know that it was right with Khalil?” asked Brielle, changing the subject. “That he was okay?”
“When he told me that there was no pressure,” said Sammie, promptly. “That was cool. I felt like I could relax and we could just like each other.”
“Yeah,” said Brielle. “Why couldn’t I like somebody like Khalil? Somebody cute and nice.”
“Damon is cute and nice. He is cool,” said Sammie. “Maybe, if he knows that you’re not ready, he won’t put any pressure on you.”
“But why would he just stop kicking it?” asked Brielle. “He got what he wanted from her, dumped her and now there is me.”
“I don’t know, boo,” said Sammie. “Maybe he really is sorry and he’ll be different with you. Madre says that girls have to stand up for themselves and not get taken advantage of.”
“Your mom always says that kind of stuff,” said Brielle. “It makes perfect sense until you’re the person that has to make a decision about a boy you like.”
“True,” said Sammie. “He didn’t have to tell you about her.”
“How do I know if he’s sorry?”
“I don’t know,” repeated Sammie. “You should ask your mom about this one.”
“She’d tell my dad and he would act all crazy,” said Brielle. She flopped onto her back and lay looking up at the ceiling.
“Probably not,” said Sammie. “Not if you asked her not to.”
“She might act crazy.”
“Naw,” said Sammie, “Auntie Evie is okay. Or you could talk to my mom about it. But that would be just like talking to your mom, because they tell each other stuff about us, anyway.”
“Yeah,” said Brielle, gloomily. “I don’t know what to do.”
“I know,” said Sammie, her voice brightening. “Let’s ask Jamel. He’s a dude. And he’s related, so he has to be straight with us.”
Sammie touched his number over the three way and he picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, Mel-ly Mel,” said Sammie. Jamel was Sammie’s favorite cousin. He was in the eleventh grade also, attended St. Mary’s Catholic high school with Sammie and lived down the street from Brielle, so they spent a lot of time with him.
“Hey, cuz,” he said.
“I have Brielle on the phone,” said Sammie. “We have a question to ask you.”
“Okay,” said Jamel. “Hey, Bri.”
“Hey,” said Brielle. She took a deep breath.
“I have this friend,” she said.
“Uh-huh,” said Jamel, tone skeptical.
“Anyway,” said Brielle, rolling her eyes. “I have this friend who really likes this guy. And he says that he’s really into her, too. But he tells her that he dogged this girl out last year after she had sex with him a whole bunch of times. He said it made him feel bad because he didn’t really like that girl, so he broke it off. But he likes this new girl because she’s a virgin and-,”
“Hold up,” said Jamel, interrupting. “You’re going kind of fast.”
“Should I start over?” asked Brielle.
“No, I got it straight, I think,” said Jamel. “What’s your question?”
“I want to know if this new girl should trust that he’s really sorry about messing over the first girl. Will he treat the new girl better?” A long pause followed.
“Damn,” said Jamel, finally breaking the silence. “How did this girl find out about the first girl?”
“He told her about the other girl,” said Brielle. “He said that he
