Impossibly Forever: Two Books in One (Impossibly Duology) (25 page)

  
I walked over to the side and leaned against the wall, hunched over and
fighting for air. The pain persisted, coming in and out and intensifying each
time.

  
“I’m…all right,” I gasped.

  
He came over and stood in front of me. I was still bent over with my hand
rubbing my chest, and the other resting on the stone wall. People continued to
move past us towards the garage. Some glanced at me, curious, but went on their
way.

  
“Man, you don’t look good. Is it…that again?” he asked, growing alarmed.

  
My head snapped up. “I’m fine. No. It’s not that. I just got too excited.”

  
Straightening, he looked at me with a worried expression. Warren peered ahead.
“All right, you wanna keep moving then?”

  
The pain hadn’t returned for a few seconds now. I stood up, guessing it must
have stopped altogether, and started walking again.

  
He fell in stride. “Sure you can make it? If you want, I could carry you on my
back,” he joked.

  
I managed a laugh, “How sweet of you.”

  
“So, you on for that game next week?”

  
“Sure.”

  
“Oh and hey, maybe we could double-date sometime, me and Vanessa with you and
Moya.”

  
“So you guys worked it out then?”

  
He nodded. “Yeah, she’s cool now.”

  
“I’ll let Moya know. We’ll do that.”

  
Not long after getting to the parking garage, we reached the level where we’d
parked our cars. Warren climbed inside his shiny black, Dodge Challenger. Not
too shabby. It was way cooler than mine.

  
I walked over to my SUV as soon as he took off. Warren wanted to hang out a bit
and have some drinks, but I wasn’t up for it. Whatever that pain was from
earlier scared me. With any luck, it wasn’t that blasted disease coming back to
destroy my life.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Moya

  
I had more fun
than I’d expected to last night. So much that Vanessa
ended up staying in my dorm because she was too tired to walk over to hers. My
eyes fluttered awake as the bright sun peeked through the green, sheer
curtains, warming my face and melting away icy residues on the window panes.

  
Sluggishly, I rolled out of bed and woke up Vanessa, wrapped up in my blanket
like a cocoon as she slept beside my bed. 

  
“Mmm…what?” she grumbled, uncovering her head.

  
“Time to go home,” I said.

  
“Five minutes.” She pulled the blanket over her afro and went back to sleep.

  
I shook her arm. “We have to get going. I’ve already brought most of my stuff
out to the car, and I’m pretty sure someone’s going to come clean the room
later on.”

  
As Vanessa sat up with a miserable expression, I walked over to the desk and
checked my phone. I didn’t call Branden back last night. But he hadn’t called
me either, so I took it as a sign that he wasn’t mad. Regardless, I sent him a
text before heading to the showers. He replied in no time with a phone call.

  
“Hey, baby, wasn’t sure if you were up yet. Sorry I didn’t call you when I got
back to my dorm. I was beat.”

  
“That’s fine,” he sounded groggy, like he hadn’t slept well.

  
“You okay?” I asked.

  
“Yeah, I had a lot of fun at the game last night. I was really tired too,
passed out the second I came home.”

  
“Oh.”

  
“So, you gonna head to Berlin Heights now?”

  
“Mmm-hmm.”
I stepped past Vanessa—who was now sprawled
out on my bed—and went over to my backpack by the closet to get a towel and my
travel kit. “You wanna come over for dinner later? Momma would love to have you
again.”

  
I slapped her foot as I headed for the room door. She moaned, rolled onto her
side, and then fell right back to sleep, snoring lightly.

  
“Sure,” Branden answered. “We should hang out afterwards.”

  
Silly me, I nodded as I replied, “Yeah. We should. And now that I’m finally on
break from school, I’m so happy we’ll be seeing each other more, even if it’s
only for two weeks.”

  
“Mmm…can’t wait for our weekend getaway, too,” he reminded.

  
I felt shy now, thinking how alone we were going to be wherever Branden had
planned on taking me.

  
“Where are we going anyway?”

  
“Somewhere far, isolated. A cabin in the woods where no one can hear you,” he
messed around with me.

  
“Stop,” I giggled. “But seriously, where are we going?”

  
“It’s a surprise, babe. I’m sure you’ll like it, don’t worry.”

  
“I’m not. I trust you, remember?”

  
He exhaled before answering, “I know. So call me when you get home then?”

  
“I will.”

  
“Cool. Love you, talk to you later.”

  
“Love you too.”

  
Vanessa made kissing sounds when I got off the phone. “Ooh, Branden…Ooh, Moya.
We’re so in love…” she spoke in a high-pitched voice, twirling strands of her
hair around her fingers in a flirty manner.

  
Laughing, I dashed over to the bed and hit her lightly with the pillow.

  
“Ah!” she yelled, trying to wrestle the pillow away from me. “It’s true! You
guys are so mushy with each other. It’s a whole different you.”

  
I stopped and tossed the pillow over to the blanket on the floor. “I have
changed a bit since Branden’s been in my life, huh?”

  
“A bit?” she cocked her head, dipped her eyes,
then
let out a scoff. “Girl, you’ve done a complete 180. First of all, you no longer
despise the opposite species,” she counted off on her hand. “You don’t walk
around with this bitter ‘I’ll kill you if you dare ask me out’ look on your
face.”

  
“What? I never did that—”

  
“And lastly,” she spoke over my voice, then lowered it as she continued in a
soft tone, “It’s great hearing you say “I love you” to someone other than me or
your momma. I thought I’d never see the day.”

  
I peered down at her manicured hands holding mine. “I know. I surprised even
myself.”

  
Glancing up at her again, Vanessa had teary eyes. “Is everything okay?”

  
She let go of me and hopped off the bed, nodding. “Yeah, I’m good. I’m gonna
head over to my dorm and get my bag.”

  
As she walked to the door, she glanced over her shoulder and said, “Text me
when you’re done and I’ll meet you at your car.”

  
“All right.”

  
Vanessa left right after, obviously bothered by something, but deciding not to
discuss it with me. I thought back to her relationships; probably she was
beating herself up for getting into such a situation where she had to choose
one and hurt the other. I only hoped she’d choose the right one.

***

  
Momma was more thrilled than I was when Branden came to our house for dinner
that night. She’d cooked her favorite beef stew dish with potatoes, carrots,
and rice on the side. I whipped up strawberry trifle for dessert. Branden was
stuffed by the time we finished.

  
Then we moved into the living room to relax. The second we made ourselves
comfortable—Momma in the armchair, me and Branden on the crimson sofa—she went
right to questioning him.

  
“So, what are your plans once you finish school, Branden? We never did get a
chance to talk about that.”

  
“No, ma’am, we didn’t. Actually, even though I’ll have a Bachelor’s Degree in
International Business,” he sat out on the sofa and folded his hands, looking
her straight in the eye. “I’d love to be a professional hockey player.”

  
Hearing him say that made me shiver a tad. Could he really handle it? I had no
idea how terrified I was of losing him.

  
“Hockey?” momma clarified. I jumped out of my thoughts. “I’m afraid I don’t
know much about that sport, but it sounds like a plan to me.” She gazed over at
me, smiling halfway as if pleased. “I like when young men have ambition. They
want to go somewhere and make something of themselves. I think you’re just fine
for my baby girl.”

  
“I’m not a baby anymore, Momma,” I reminded.

  
She waved me off. “You’ll still be my baby girl even when you’re fifty.”

  
Branden couldn’t help a laugh. He looked at me in such a way, my stomach did
flip-flops. Then his eyes steered away from mine, and began penetrating the
hardwood floor. His smile faded. He appeared troubled.

  
“How are your parents doing?” asked Momma, bringing his attention back to her.
“I was thinking we should set something up when it gets warmer; maybe a picnic
in the park with everybody. What ya’ll think?”

  
“That’s a good idea,” he replied.

  
“It is, huh?” I squeezed his hand.

  
“Oh, I almost forgot.” She stood from the armchair and walked around to the
storage trunk behind the sofa. Momma took out a gift wrapped box and reached it
over to him. She giggled with excitement, clasping her hands together as she
sat down.

  
“Oh you didn’t have to, Ms. Douglas—”

  
“None of that now, sweetie,” she shushed. “Open it.”

  
Waiting to see what it was, I said, “I’m curious myself. You didn’t tell me you
got Branden a gift, Momma.”

  
“I only bought it today.”

  
Branden tore the blue wrapping off and opened it up. Moving away the white
paper inside, we saw it was two dress shirts and ties. He took them out to see
them better.

  
“Thank you, Ms. Douglas. It’s really nice of you.”

  
Momma gushed, fanning him off. “You’re welcome, dear. An early Christmas
present, since I won’t see you on Wednesday and my daughter keeps you all to
herself,” she eyeballed me in a playful way.

  
“No I don’t,” I countered. “I bring him by every so often.”

  
“Mmm-hmm.”

  
She shook her head, gazing at both of us. “Branden, I don’t know what you did,
or how you did it, but I am so glad my daughter met you.”

  
“Oh geez, you make it seem as if I was horrible before.”

  
“I think she’s saying we’re great together,” Branden helped her.

  
“Well, if you say so.”

  
There was a knock at the door. Momma stood and walked over to see who it was.

  
“Moya,” she called out. “It’s Nessa.”

  
“Why
don’t
she come in then?” I asked, getting up.

  
Momma’s elated expression had evaporated. She stepped away from the door as I walked
over.

  
“I’ll leave you girls alone,” she said, going back to the living room to keep
Branden’s company.

  
Vanessa looked broken. Her eyes were red, as if she’d been crying.

  
“What happened?” I asked, taking her hand. “Come inside—”

  
She pulled away. “I can’t stay. I’m meeting my cousin in a bit. I wanted to
tell you I did it.”

  
“Did what?”

  
“I told Calvin I wanted to break up.”

  
“Oh, Nessa…” I stepped out on the porch and hugged her. “How’d it go?”

  
Easing out of my embrace, she replied in a low voice, “He actually cried. You
believe that? He never cried over anything, but he did tonight.”

  
“Is that why you’re so upset?” I rubbed her arm.

  
“No, not really.
I guess I thought I’d hurt more. I
thought because we were together for so long, that it’d be way harder to end it
with him.” She shook her head slowly. “But it wasn’t. In fact, I feel better.
I’m not going around behind his back anymore, and I certainly won’t miss our
fights.”

  
I didn’t know what to say. Truthfully, I’d wanted it to work out between them.
They’d always fought and made up before. Then again, this was different.
Vanessa had fallen for someone else.

  
“Does he know about Warren?”

  
“No. I don’t want to tell him yet.”

  
“Nessa, he’s going to find out once they start playing basketball together—”

  
“I know, girl. It’s just…I don’t want to drop too much on him at the same
time.”

  
I lifted my thumb and wiped away a tear from her cheek. “I know. It’ll be okay.
I’m here if you need me.”

  
Hugging me again, she whispered, “I know you are. I gotta go though.”

  
“Okay.”

  
She turned and headed down the porch steps and around the corner to her house.
Right now, she wasn’t her funny, carefree self. But I knew that by tomorrow,
her laughter would return.

  
“Is everything all right?” asked Branden, coming out to the porch. He closed
the front door then tightened his strong arms around me, warming my body in his
embrace.

  
“I hope so.”

  
“Look at the sky,” he whispered into my ear. “There are so many stars. Not easy
to see back in Harrington.”

  
“I know.”

  
Spinning around, I linked my fingers around his neck and inched close to his
lips. “I’m starting to miss them.”

  
“What?”

  
“The fireflies.”

  
He grinned broadly and planted a kiss on my mouth. Like any other time he would
do this, it felt new, but always sweet.