1@1
“Once you move forward, there's no turning back.”
âDaylight West, “Better Friends Than Lovers”
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orget a man in uniform, ladies loved DJs, if the number of girls approaching Vic after the party was any proof. Once the party was over, Mina was more than ready to go. She'd had a good time but was ready to roll. She helped Vic pack his equipment, then waited impatiently as he talked to a gaggle of girls claiming they needed his digits because they were all having parties.
Mina knew for a fact that Janell Clark had just had a party, the weekend before. Standing with her back against the wall, Mina gave Vic her best “let's go” face. He finally broke from the girls after Mina popped her eyebrows in a clear sign of exasperation.
“Sorry,” he said, laughing as they got in the car. “But you know word of mouth is my best advertisement.”
Mina yawned. “And if any of those girls actually has a party within the next three months, I'll be a monkey's aunt.”
“Party or date ... I'm open to either.”
“Obviously,” Mina said. She jumped as her phone vibrated in her pocket.
“You all right?”Vic said.
Mina laughed. “Still had my phone on vibe.” She raised her butt and pulled the phone out, reading the text from JZ: u up?
She texted back: yeah. Heading home.
“That went better than I expected,”Vic said.
Mina yawned again. “Dag, sorry. I can't wait to jump in that bed. Yeah, it was nice.”
“Why you dog all those dudes that asked you to dance?”Vic gave her a mock scowl.
Mina chuckled. “Just wasn't in the mood. Most of'em were buddies of mine, they understood.” She squinted down at JZ's next message: o when u get home log on 2 groupie love.
“Pssh, why?” she said aloud.
Vic frowned at her. “Huh?”
“Oh, I was just talking to JZ,” she said, typing back: y?!?!
“Thanks for kicking it with me. I owe you,”Vic said.
“No problem.” She stared down at the phone as she finished. “If I hadn't had a good time you would owe me two.”
Vic put his fist out for a pound, saying, “I hear that,” and Mina tapped it.
He pulled the car into Mina's driveway and asked,“When do you work again?”
Mina frowned at JZ's message: Brian is da 1@1.
She looked away from the phone, realizing Vic was waiting on her to answer.
“Huh? Oh ... um, I think I'm on the schedule for Monday. How 'bout you?”
“Yeah, Monday, Thursday, and Friday. So I'll see you Monday, then.”
“Yup,” Mina said. She opened her door. “See you.”
“Thanks again,” Vic said. “You're all right no matter what Jessica says.”
He laughed and Mina managed a chuckle as she shut the door.
Her legs scurried to the front door of her house. She wrestled with the key until she realized it was the wrong one. She put the house key into the door, turned it and pushed the door open, closing it louder than she meant, locking it behind her. She moved quietly across the hardwood floors and tiptoed up the stairs. Closing her bedroom door quietly, she threw herself into her desk chair and logged on. As soon as it connected, she IM'ed JZ.
BubbliMi: wht in da world is 1@1?!
Jayizdaman: dam did u make vic speed?!
BubbliMi: what's 1@1?
Jayizdaman: groupie love has a chat every month at one a.m. on the 11
th
w/whoever is the #1 hottie of the month. Ur boy is it.
Mina rolled her eyes.
BubbliMi: y would I log on? I don't even have an account. Jayizdaman: I figured u'd want 2 make 1 and let all them chix kno he got a girl LOL
BubbliMi: w/e
Jayizdaman: u not even curious? aw man my girl growing up
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Mina read his message several times.
Curious.
Growing up.
Her heart thudded loud in her ears.
Curious.
Growing up.
The promise she'd made herself at Jill's party rang fresh in her mind.
So what if Brian was on this site chatting? In some (very) weird way, it was an honor that he'd become the number-one hot guy on their Web site, considering the site included guys from colleges all over the nation. And it was
just
a chat.
Too bad she didn't mean a word of it.
JZ's message broke her thoughts.
Jayizdaman: im proud of u Mi.
BubbliMi: give me the sign-in 4 ur cutieboomd account
Her heart raced as she waited for his response.
Jayizdaman: no. if u gon do it jus create a new 1.
BubbliMi: jay jus let me have it! please
Jayizdaman: i only tol u cuz I thght u wuz gon log on as u. don't trap him by pretending. thas foul. BubbliMi: 4 real? 4 real u gon' come at me abt stuff thas foul?
Her chest heaved as she felt herself slipping out of control. The chat had started, she didn't have time to fill out a bunch of bogus info for a new account. She needed the cutieboomd account. Why was JZ tripping about it?
Jayizdaman: w/e im not gon help u set him up
It was already five after one. If she was going to log on, she needed to get to it. Tired of playing with JZ, she pulled out her heavy artillery.
BubbliMi: im not setting him up. jus gonna check it out. so ur choosing 2 b loyal 2 brian over me?
Jayizdaman: not even like that!
BubbliMi: then what's the big deal?
Mina shook her head as she read his message. Sometimes JZ was too hypocritical for his own good.
Jayizdaman: fine. if some shit pop off i don't want no parts of it. BubbliMi: yeah I wish I could say the same abt the shit that popped off ystrday but im knee deep in it w/u
Jayizdaman: its cutieboomd and the password is jtg363 BubbliMi: thx
Jayizdaman: not wlcome!
BubbliMi: w/e
Mina put up her Away message and logged into Groupie Love. The entire page was lit up with pictures of Brian and comments from his seventy-five thousand plus friends. Mina stared in awe at the page.
I'm just curious,
she thought, telling herself she wouldn't be if Brian had told her about the chat when she'd asked about his plans for the day.
She clicked on the private chat link, a privilege given only to those who'd been members at least thirty days. The Groupie Love server put her in the chat queue, sending her a message saying the chat room was full to capacity and she'd have to wait until someone logged out.
The message released the tension she'd felt since JZ explained what 1@1 was about.
It was fullâa sign she wasn't meant to log on.
What were the odds any of these stalkerazzi fan-girls were going to willingly bow out of the chat with their #1 Hottie?
She took her Away message off and sent JZ a message.
BubbliMi: happy? I couldn't get on. Plffttt
Jayizdaman: good. use ur investigative skills 4 good, obi wan
BubbliMi: LOL w/e im hittin da bed. tired as a mug
Jayizdaman: c u
She signed out and was about to click the close button on the Groupie Love page when her screen changed from the queue message to a bright white screen filled with dozens of messages in a variety of colors. Symbols and chat speak scrolled a mile a minute as person after person added their chatter to the mix. Her eyes froze on the chat moderator's message:
Heather Head-lee: Welcome Cutieboomd. Say hi to Brian aka Sexy#8. That name's no lie, right ladies?! ;-)
Mina's throat dried. She felt like ducking when she saw the next message.
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Sexy#8: Hi Cutieboo. Wht part of MD u frm?
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Her hands froze over the keyboard. She had no idea what JZ, Todd, and Greg had put in Cutieboomd's profile. She typed Del Rio Bay, then quickly deleted it. No way they would have been honest, since they made the account to lurk on the down low. She took a deep breath and dove in.
Cutieboomd: suitland
Sexy#8: word? I used 2 live in Potomac.
Heather Head-lee: So Brian, naturally all the ladies are dying 2 kno r u single or taken?
The chatters went into a frenzy.
Luvmesome#8: omg pls say SINGLE
Hotgurl890: wouldn't matter. Gf's r meant 2 b cheated on ;-)
Ballergirl: heard u have a gf back home in DRB
Sexigroupie765: well if u got 1 the ques is r u lookin 4 a chick
on the side. i live in Durham! Bet ur gf doesn't.
Answer after answer poured in. Mina had to scroll up several times to see Brian's actual answer. Her heart dropped to her stomach.
Sexy#8: totally single
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Another round of frenzied responses poured in. Mina could barely keep up, until she realized Brian's answers were a bolded dark blue and the moderator's a bolded black in a sea of lighter colors and shades.
Heather Head-lee: So how do u feel about groupies? Sexy#8: LOL ummm ... for 'em
Mina rolled her eyes. She was surprised when Brian addressed Cutieboomd directly again.
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Sexy#8: Cutieboo how big a fan r u?
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Mina squinted at the screen. What the heck did that question mean? She debated how to answer as the chatters grumbled about the light shining on her.
Sexigroupie765: come on B I kno MD is ur hometown but dont play favorites! Durham ur new home, show me some luv. Luvdudeswhoball: LOL dont 4get the west coast. Cali got luv for #8 too.
Still uncertain what to say or even if she wanted to deal with another forty minutes of this, Mina finally responded, playing along.
Cutieboomd: a huge one. Still have a program frm game u played in @ Flowered Arms Academy. On my wall now ... kiss it every nt.
She grinned, caught up in her own cleverness. These girls might be fans of Brian now, but how many of them knew much about Brian before Duke? The thought of Brian asking which game put her in a panic. She had no idea who Flo-A played.
Heather Head-lee: Woah got a ringer, somebody who knows u from back in the day. Sexy#8: Damn thas hot!
I know it is,
Mina thought.
Take that, Sexigroupie765.
She watched as the other chatters tried to one-up her, justifying their fan-hood. She seriously hated Sexigroupie765 and Hotgurl890. If this were an in-person chat, they would be naked by now. She almost forgot to be mad at Brian. The chat was so over the top, it was obvious he was playing a roleâworshipped god among his groupies. She wasn't going to hate on him for that, though the words “totally single” were singed in her brain.
She laughed as Lovemesome#8 and Sexigroupie765 got into an argument and Heather Head-lee had to remind the ladies of Groupie Love's “rules.”
Do the rules include “must be a total slut?”
Mina wondered.
She sat back, enjoying the drama when a message popped into the right-hand corner of her screen.
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Sexy#8 requests a private chat. Do you accept?
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“No he didn't,” Mina said, jaw dropping. She bit her top lip and stared at the message.
JZ had said not to set Brian up, but she hadn't lured him. She'd been the quietest one in the entire chat. She ... Mina snorted. He approached her and she was the one feeling guilty.
She clicked yes and waited.
Sexy#8: so u frm suitland huh? Do I kno u?
Cutieboomd: no we've never met
Sexy#8: but u saw me play? Suitland beat Flo-A pretty bad my soph yr ... must not have been my best game. LOL
Mina blew out a huge breath of relief, her worries about details gone. She swung with the chat, letting the words come naturally.
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Cutieboomd: u still looked hot tho
Sexy#8: thx. whut abt u? whut u look like? U don't have pics on ur profile
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Mina's stomach clenched. She hated how deep he was getting himself, but she couldn't stop playing her part.