Mina flushed, but Jacinta's scorn didn't dissuade her. She clicked on the link and drew in a breath. Groupie Love was right. The site wasn't just a Duke thing, by a long shot. She scanned the endless list of categories: Purdue University, Georgetown, UCLA, USC, Michigan, Duke University, and just about every other NCAA Division I school was listed. It was an entire world dedicated to girls (and guys, she supposed) obsessed with high-profile students.
She clicked on Duke University and was taken immediately to the Hot Duke Boys page. Every conceivable stat on a person was listedâfavorite color and food, screen names, even the best times to find the guy in the dining hall or library.
Just as Kelis mentioned, Brian was featured Hottie of the Month. His face smiled at her from a glittery blinged-out frame.
She zipped off a message to Jacinta with the link.
Â
BubbliMi: Ok u've gotta see this.
Â
She cruised the site, waiting for Jacinta's response.
According to the About Us page, Groupie Love was maintained by two chicks who went by the obviously fake monikers Monica Love 'Em Up and Heather Head-lee. Their avatars implied they were white, busty, and thick-lipped. The site's mission was “to make it easy for fans to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right information to meet their favorite player.”
Brian's “friend” stat indicated he already had fifteen thousand girls interested. Mina shuddered. The season was still early.
Her head bobbed at Jacinta's reply.
CinnyBon: WTF?! Is that site for real?
BubbliMi: yeah. I asked Brian about it and he said he knew about it. I guess all the players do.
CinnyBon: I'm checking the Georgetown page to see if Raheem getting as much love as Brian. Imma be mad if he not hottie of the month!
BubbliMi: LOL Ok not mad though
CinnyBon: I'm just saying, if he not popular that reflects on MY game.
BubbliMi: Shoot if he's not maybe we can trade BFs. it's too much pressure 2 b with the cutie of the month. CinnyBon: Anytime!
Mina was glad to joke with Jacinta about it, but reviewing the intimate details of Brian's life at school, including what parties or events he'd been sighted at since attending Duke, was unsettling. Drawn to the chat section, but afraid to see what groupies might be saying about him, she minimized the page and turned her attention back to Jacinta.
BubbliMi: that's enough of that CinnyBon: what's the big deal? He had groupies at DRB high 2.
Â
Mina nodded at the PC as she typed back.
BubbliMi: I know ... but I was there to like stop them at the pass. hee hee
CinnyBon: i hear u. but u know if he is dipping on u, it's not like u ever gon' find out Mi. Not tryna b cold, just saying.
Mina gnawed at her fingernail, agreeing with Jacinta in theory but unable to completely convince herself to let the issue go so easily.
BubbliMi: ok don't get mad but ...
CinnyBon: go ahead
BubbliMi: i hear u. but ur saying that cuz u and JZ got a serious side thing going. if Raheem knew don't u think he'd be pissed?
CinnyBon: 1st of all me and Jay just tripping, flirtingâno hooking up or anything. Ya heard?
BubbliMi: LOL yeah, yeah but remember I see how *ahem* close y'all be sometimes. even if u haven't hooked up don't sit there and say if Raheem walked in on one of ur “moments” u wouldn't be caught dirty
CinnyBon: LOL tru dat. still what he doesn't know and what I don't know about what he does is what it is
BubbliMi: so ur saying I should just ... what? b happy when we're 2gether and not care when we're not?
CinnyBon: u gotta do what's best 4 u Mina. but yeah something like that. jus saying, out of sight ...
Â
Mina typed back reluctantly with a sigh.
Â
BubbliMi: out of mind.
Â
It was hands down one of her least favorite phrases lately.
Happy New Year
“Love must be a drug to make me feel this way.”
âChrisette Michele, “Love Is You”
Â
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M
ina sat on a stool at the counter in Brian's kitchen, staring down the clock on the microwave. JZ's New Year's Eve bash was forty-five minutes in. She swore she heard faint strains of Vic's mixes, but knew that was her imagination. Brian's and JZ's houses were the only two in the heavily wooded cul-de-sac, but even JZ's parents, liberal as they were giving JZ what he wanted, weren't going to let Vic's speakers blow the roof off their house.
Mina checked the clock again and wondered who might already be across the street. She and Brian were beyond fashionably late. But the party was a marathon. They had all night. No idea what JZ's parents were thinking letting him have it from seven until one
A.M.
But it left her and Brian plenty of time to dip in and out at their leisure. If his parents ever left.
Mina crossed her legs primly, tugging at her miniskirt to ensure no cheek peeked out, and watched as Brian's mother, a former model with the body and carriage to back it up, transferred a lip gloss, mascara, powder, and her license into an evening bag. She walked from the counter to the sink with a confident ease, neckline straight, movement purposeful, as if she might face a camera at every turn.
“Bri, you all packed?” she asked, for the fourth time. She smoothed a stray hair back into her intricate chignon, as she fretted. “I hate that Daddy and I aren't driving you to the airport. I keep thinking you're going to forget something.”
“I'm cool, Ma,” Brian said. He stood by Mina's stool, calm, used to his mother's last minute nit-picking. He headed off her next question by rolling off his itinerary. “The car's picking me up at ten-thirty tomorrow morning and you and Pop are going to meet me at the airport at eleven-thirty. I'm all set.”
Mrs. James's eyes smiled, reminding Mina of Brian. “Okay, that means you don't want me to ask anymore, right?”
“Now see, I didn't say that,” Brian said, his own smile devilish.
Mrs. James raised a perfectly waxed eyebrow. “But that's what he meant, didn't he, Mina?”
“Uh-huh, probably,” Mina said, giggling as Brian slyly wiggled his finger up the side of her skirt before tracing it down her thigh to her knee. She swatted him away as Mrs. James asked him to check on what was taking his father so long. Brian was up the stairs in a flash, leaving his mom and Mina to gab.
Mrs. James was a fun person to be around. She had stories to share about her modeling days and life as an NBA baller wife. Often, she playfully commiserated with Mina about the hardships they bore as women attracted to guys with fans. She never seemed aware that she likely had fans of her own and that Mina was the only ordinary one in their midst.
Their bond was genuine and Mina cherished it, but as Brian's mom lamented how little of Brian she'd seen during the break, she silently wished for the Jameses to speed up their preparation and move on to their star-studded, overnight party at the St. Regis in DC. Any other time Mina would anxiously prod Brian's mom for details about the who, what, and where of her glam evening.
Not tonight.
All she wanted was for them to say their byes, so she'd get Brian to herself for a few hours on his last night in town.
Sorry, Mrs. James, but he's mine tonight
, Mina thought, feeling a sliver of guilt but not much more. The Jameses got to travel to any of Brian's games they wanted; she couldn't. Also, she and Brian had spent their fair share of nights, over the break, hanging out with his parents playing games or having dinner. So tonight was her night.
Her knee started an impatient jump as Brian and his dad barreled down the stairs, each carrying a matching Louis Vuitton suitcase.
“So you're all set for tomorrow,” Mr. James said. He took the smaller piece of luggage from Brian and retracted its handle.
Mina hid her smile at Brian's rolled eyes, sure she was the only one who caught the frazzled undertone of his patient reply.
“Yup,
all set
.” Brian opened the front door and the distant thumping of bass floated inside. “Have a good time. I'll see y'all at the airport.”
Brian's father looked across the yard in the darkness. “Oh, we're making you all miss your party.” He ushered his wife to the door. “Come on, babe. I can take a hint. Have fun tonight.”
“If we ever get there,” Brian said. “Good night.”
He and his dad embraced, one hand in a grip, the other pounding the back. Then his father grabbed the handle of the suitcase and lifted the other.
“Have fun,” Mina called out, a little too cheerfully.
Brian's mom spun on her heels and headed back into the house.
Brian hung his head, sighing dramatically. “Ma, what?”
She rushed past him, scowling, and gave Mina a hug. “Happy New Year, Mina. I probably won't see you for a while.” She kissed Mina on the cheek, zipped back to the door, and gave Brian a peck on the lips. “All right, all right, we're gone.”
“Happy New Year,” Mina called after her, a lump lodged in her throat.
Brian stood at the door, watching them until the car's rear lights disappeared up the road. He cocked his head toward JZ's house and nodded to the heavy bass for a few seconds before closing the door. He locked the door, then blocked it with his body, grinning. He wiggled his finger at Mina, beckoning her over. She obeyed and walked into his open arms, burying her face in his chest. She hugged him so tight, he frowned down at her.
“What's wrong?”
“Your mom said Happy New Year to me,” Mina said, unable to ward off the tears flooding her eyes.
“Okay, and that ... offends you?” Brian said, teasing. “Is it against your religion?”
Mina chuckled at the confusion in his voice, even as the tears kept flowing. She kept her face buried, feeling silly for crying and not wanting Brian to see her. If she looked into his eyes, brown and smiling, she'd start bawling. She knew it.
His fingers pushed gently at her shoulders in an attempt to pry her off. She held on, refusing to lift her face until his tone turned concerned.
“Seriously, what's wrong?”
Mina swiped at the tears and sniffed them into submission before looking up. “Nothing. I mean, she said she probably won't see me for a while and ...” A rebel tear plunked down her cheek and the words got caught in her throat. She unsuccessfully forced the whining out of her voice. “I'm saying, it's like I realized I'm not going to see you until April or May.”
She dropped her head back onto Brian's chest. He held her tight for a few seconds until she pulled away, laughing and sniffling.
Brian's eyebrows smushed together. “Toughie, either you're losing your mind or I got you seriously sprung... .” He shook his head. “You're all to pieces.”
“First of all, don't even play like you don't have me sprung. That's old news,” Mina said, hands on her hips. She placed her hand in his, grinning when he closed his hand around hers. “I'm laughing because you totally missed your lines.You were supposed to say, Mina, it doesn't matter if we don't see each other for a year, you always gonna be my girl.”
Brian hit a switch and the lights in the kitchen and foyer dimmed, cloaking the first floor in shadowy darkness.
“My bad. Somebody forgot to give me the script,” he said, intertwining their fingers as he led her up the darkened stairway.
Mina's fingers gently massaged Brian's knuckles.
“Then I was going to say, âAlways?' And then you would say”âher voice deepened in an attempt to imitate his voiceâ“Always, Toughie.You know how I do.”
Their laughter echoed through the hallway of the empty house.
When they reached Brian's room, he put his arms around her and she snuggled against him, looking up at his face in the darkness until her eyes adjusted enough to see his looking into hers. His voice was husky as he lowered it, speaking directly to her.
“So what's my line now?”
She stared dumbfounded, too caught up in his presence, unsure of her next line much less his, and let Brian's kisses lead them to the next scene. She could have played out the whole night there, at his house, in his room, talking, kissing, whatever, but ninety minutes later they were in JZ's packed family room. JZ's special dark blue “party” lights cast an ethereal glow, lighting the room while dimming it enough to give the partiers semi-anonymity. Streaks from a strobe light popped like tiny lightning flashes.
People were everywhereâclustered around the pool table and arcade games, spilling out the door leading to the basketball court, up against walls, crowded around the juice bar, packed on the sectional, and gyrating in the space large enough to serve as a dance floor.
Mina vibed with the energy, letting it put her in the mood. She would have been fine rolling into the party at eleven-thirty, in time for a festive group Happy New Year, but Brian insisted she was playing mind games by saying there was no hurry. He swore he'd hear it later if she missed any of the party's juicy bits.
He wasn't fooling anybody. He was the one who wanted to be in the mix.
No sooner had they hit the bottom step of JZ's family room, Brian was swarmed and loving every minute of it. Everyone wanted to talk to him, about college, playing ball, or just catch up with him, see how he was doing. His fingers slowly slipped from Mina's waist as his old Varsity teammates whisked him away. He gave her an apologetic look over his shoulder and she dismissed him with a casual wave.
Might as well get used to him being gone,
she thought, craning her neck over the dancing crowd to find the clique.