Chapter 8

     Lux watched as Sasha ran up and down the court, her feet swiftly moving across the shiny floor, her all black Nike Air Max’s barely touching it as she ran the ball down court. She shot from the three point line, effortlessly tossing the ball into the basket.

“Eww, Kobe” One of the boys from the sideline commented as he mimicked her wrist game.

Lux smiled to herself as it was nice seeing Sasha in her element, as it seemed like nothing mattered but her and the ball.
Lux’s phone started to ring, and she looked down to see her brother calling. At the same time the coach blew the whistle, signaling the end of practice and calling the girls into a huddle.

“Hello?” She answered, pouring the rest of her hot cheetos into her mouth.

“Yo, where you at? I’m at GG’s” he said, and she could hear him moving throughout the rickety house.

“I’m at basketball practice with my friend”

“You know better than to be hanging with these little niggas, who is he?” Lucious asked, already hopping into big bro mode.

“He, is a her” Lux corrected him, “And after this we’re going to her house to start our project so I won’t be home until eight maybe”

“Well send me her address and I’ll come get you”

Lux was happy to hear that, because she wasn’t sure how well her lie would work on the same bus driver. She told him okay, and placed her phone in her bag once Sasha began to make her way out of the locker room with her things.

“You did good!” Lux complimented, climbing down the bleachers.

“Thanks, you ready to go?”

“Yup”

The two began to make their way out of the gym, along with the other team members that were leaving practice as well and their friends who stayed to watch.

“This year, I’m knocking everybody over who gets in my way” one of the girls boasted, as she dribbled an invisible ball.

“You said that last year, and got benched the first game” another snickered, “So, just take notes and try not to get squashed like Swedenburg over there”

Sasha and Lux turned their head towards the conversation, and Lux slit her eyes at the girl.

“Swedenburg is whooping ya’ll ass out there, I know that much” she retorted, “Ya’ll are gonna need her, so be nice”

The girls scuffed, and one in particular was very offended. She had made the team every year, and this year as a senior was no different. And while she was always the star player and coach’s favorite, since Sasha’s first day at tryouts coach seemed to be encouraging her more than anyone else.

She didn’t like that, and even though the season wouldn’t be starting for months she could already tell she was going to be a problem.

“And what exactly do you know about basketball?” The girl shot back, “I’m Roxy, nice to meet you. Clearly your new to the school, because I’m the only one this team needs”

Lux laughed, and it had a harsh condescending  tone to it. She glared at the tall female, who had to be atleast 6’1 if she had to take a ball park guess. She wore her long hair in straight backs, and she was hella muscular for a girl. Lux could see why she was jealous, as Sasha who was barely 5’6 was mopping the floor with them.

“I know enough that I can count points, and your team lost boo” Lux continued to go back and forth, while Sasha didn’t know what to say, “So what you need to do, is stop being a hater”

“Okay guys, let’s relax” another teammate jumped in, “Both of you are good, all of us are good. We’re a team, but it doesn’t matter whose good if we lose like we did last season. We won three games, and I don’t know about ya’ll but I want a trophy my senior year”

The arguing subsided, and everyone knew that the
team member known as Valerie was right. She was always known as being the peace keeper on the team, and instead of continuing to go word for word the girls separated and continued on their way home.

“That was intense” Sasha finally spoke up, “You didn’t have to stick up for me like that”

“I know” Lux nodded, “I just like to talk shit, and she was not about to talk about you like you weren’t right there. Make sure to trip her ass one day please”

“I’m not going to do that” Sasha laughed.

“Fine” Lux shrugged, laughing along, “I’ll do it”

Before Sasha could respond, her phone began to ring and she spotted her dad’s number. She rolled her eyes, and reluctantly put it to her ear. Lux listened as Sasha answered to what seemed to be a long list of questions, and then finally hanging up.

“Sheesh” Lux dragged the word as the two began to finally walk out of the building through the back stairway.

“Yeah, my parents are super strict….and awkward” Sasha shook her head, frustrated, “So, before we get there my brother Quan was a huge crush on you. So, beware of that”

“Me?” Lux pointed to herself, totally surprised by the revelation.

“Yup” Sasha nodded, “Also, my mom is most likely gonna ask a bunch of questions about Cheerleading so just wing it as you go. My dad probably won’t say much, but when he does say something it’ll be rude. I have other brothers, but they just play video games all day so they shouldn’t bother you. Mhhhh…is there anything else?” She began to think of all the things in her life that were mini catastrophes.

Lux grabbed Sasha’s hand as always, causing her head to lift up and out of her thoughts, “It’s going to be okay. I’ll make a great impression”

Sasha smiled, however it wasn’t Lux’s impression she was worried about. It was her family’s. Lux was the first friend that she met at her new school, and if she had to be honest, she was the coolest. Not only that, she was super sweet, and Sasha still hadn’t figured out how a girl that looked like her was so down to earth. Maybe she had seen too many mean girl movies, she thought to herself.

Either way, all she could do was hope for the best as the two made their way down the hill and to Sasha’s house.

                             🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

       Sasha opened the front door to her house, and as bad as she wanted to turn back around, she walked through, next extending her arm to allow Lux in. As always, the house smelled like food as all her mother did as a housewife was cook and clean. Dinner was ready promptly, between the times of six and eight, and everyone was to be seated, clean and ready to eat. She headed into the dining room, and instructed
Lux to stay in the living room as she hoped her parents wouldn’t make the two sit through dinner.

“Hey mom, me and Lux were gonna start the project so if you could wrap up my plate” She asked, as her mother placed the smothered pork chops in the middle of the table.

“Nonsense, you two can eat before you start. You don’t want to work on an empty stomach” her mother insisted.

“Yeah and I want to meet this girl” her father added, folding his newspaper over.

“Wait, Lux is here?” Quan asked, looking up from his phone, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because she doesn’t know you” Sasha rolled her eyes, “And mom ~”

“Sasha, go get your friend so we can eat. I have to go back to the office to do this payroll before midnight”

Myda rolled her eyes at her husband as she put the rest of the sides on the table.

“Fine” Sasha turned to go back into the living room, and gestured Lux to come in.

While at first Lux thought it was going to be easy breezy, now that she was actually in the household she was a slight bit nervous. The food smelled amazing however, so the fact that would be getting a plate was a plus.

“Hi” Lux waved shyly as she entered the dining room full of people.

Joseph sat at the front of the table, and Lux noted his balding head and pudgy nose, and his sunken eyes that looked tired underneath his reading glasses. He didn’t just look mean, but disconnected from anything that involved joy.

Her mother was short, and wore her silver highlighted hair in a low bun, and while she was a pretty woman her happiness seemed forced.

Her brothers, well..they were typical brothers. Sasha’s twin must’ve been the one who looked the oldest, who was staring at her with drool almost escaping his mouth. She recognized him from her english class, as he kept asking for her number after the first day.
He was handsome for the most part, but his haircut wasn’t sharp and she could tell he was probably still into dragon ball z. Her other three brothers were head down into their own worlds, and they all were a perfect combination of the mom and dad.

Lux felt a slight tug of jealously because her family never came together like that. She hadn’t seen her mom in two weeks, and her dad in two years. Her brother was in and out, and while she saw her little sister on the daily but that was only because she was a baby and couldn’t physically walk away like everyone else had.

“Hi, how are you?” Her mom beamed, “Oh, you are beautiful”

“Thank you, Mrs. Swedenburg. And you must be, Mr. Swedenburg” she said charmingly pointing to Joseph.

“You can call me Mr. Joesph” he smiled a small smile, and that was the first time Sasha swore she ever saw her dad’s frown upside down.

“Yes, and call me Ms. Myda. Take a seat, I set an extra plate” she gestured towards the space in between Ty and Sasha’s.

The two of them dropped their bags, and sat down at the table. Lux took out some hand sanitizer and poured it in both her and Sasha’s hands, as she was ready to dig in. Her GG never cooked because she was a ‘young’ grand mom, and Lux could never get a hot meal if she didn’t make it herself.

“So, how was practice?” Myda didn’t waste time with the questions as everyone began to make their plates.

“It was good” Sasha said in a single sentence.

“Did you guys learn any cheers? Oh and don’t forget to bring home your uniform so I can clean it”

Sasha and Lux shared a look, and Lux knew to take over.

“The first game isn’t until December, and we don’t get our uniforms for a few more weeks” she spoke up, “And today we did…pyramids. Sasha is doing really well already”

“She is?” Quan interjected, “Crazy, I didn’t see any practices for cheerleaders yet”

Her parents gave the two girls a look, and while Quan was quick, Lux was quicker.

“Well duh, we only have the starter girls. Sasha, me, and a few others. We don’t practice in the gym until we get the whole squad. You have to be really good to join” she made it sound good, “I actually think you know one of the girls, ummm.. Reece? The one I saw you with outside of school Friday?”

Quan’s eyes widened, because he specifically told his dad he was at football tryouts that day. However that wasn’t exactly true.

“I thought you had tryouts” Joseph said putting his fork down on his plate, “After school when?”

“I think around ~” Lux started to continue however Quan stopped her.

“It was right after tryouts, when I was on my way home. Yeah, and we’re just school partners. Just like Sasha and Lux”

He began to stuff his food into his mouth, not wanting to say too much and Lux smiled to herself. Joseph returned his attention to his plate, and Sasha was definitely pleased with what just took place. She was happy to see Quan finally on the verge of getting into trouble, since Joseph never yelled at his precious boys.

     The rest of dinner continued, and as always the lingering silence took over. Lux began to know what Sasha was talking about when she said her family was awkward, however she powered through the dinner and was relieved when the two could go upstairs.

“Sorry about that” Sasha apologized as soon as they entered her room.

“It’s cool” Lux shrugged.

She plopped off her sneakers, and immediately began to look nosily around Sasha’s room. Her room screamed sports, and although it was barely unpacked the things that were set in place told Lux a little about who she was.

“So, I chose page 103 in the book. That’s the story on Harriet Jacobs” Sasha said getting comfortable on her bed. She began to pull out her school work and the chapter book they had to read.

“Okay, and how long does this have to be?”

Lux sat on the bed as well and folded her legs into a pretzel.

“Eight pages, I think. Double spaces, and a powerpoint. But this story is pretty easy, I read some at lunch”

“I wish we had our lunch period together” Lux twisted her mouth, “I sit with this girl from my math class and she spits out her food on the plate”

Sasha grimaced and the two shared a laugh.

“I’m surprised you don’t have everyone fighting to get a seat with you”

“They try, but don’t succeed” Lux smirked, “The boys are like … scavengers and never leave me alone. I don’t even like boys” she rolled her eyes, revealing more than she meant to.

Sasha’s eyes looked up from the book, and silence came over the two. At that moment they simultaneously thought about that night at the party, a night that both of them had basically swept under the rug. Neither of them talked about it, especially not Sasha who never got a chance to read any of those lesbian articles.

“So, what do you like?” Sasha asked, curious.

“I mean, I like boys” Lux clarified her statement, “But I like girls too”

“Like…romantically?” Sasha continued to inquire.

“Yeah, what about you?” Lux giggled, a little embarrassed as she pushed her hair behind her ear.

She watched as Sasha fixed her mouth, and then put her eyes back into the book.

“Let’s hurry and read this, so we can finish the sheet” she said, totally dismissing the question.

Lux’s brows furrowed, and she could tell that Sasha was uncomfortable with the question. She decided to put her head into the book, and like Sasha requested she read it in silence so the two could start their work.

“So let me get this straight” Lux broke the silence after a few minutes of reading, “This chick doesn’t want to fuck her White master, so she fucks a White guy to get back at him? How does that help”

Sasha snickered, “Because he was a predator. He waited until she turned fifteen to start to solicit her, and even built a house miles away to keep her in. Whereas sleeping with the other White man was a choice, and an assertion to the fact that she owned her body and not him”

Lux nodded, and then dug her eyes into the book once more. Sasha smiled as she watched Lux’s reading face, and then shortly after began to read the book once more. After about another twenty minutes the two finished the chapter, and was now attempting to complete the worksheet.

“Can we take a break?” Lux groaned, flopping back onto the bed.

“No, we’re almost done” Sasha said jotting down a few answers, “Besides, isn’t your brother picking you up soon”

“Yeah I guess” she shrugged.

However instead of continuing the homework she stood up, and started to analyze the small room again. The sound of Sasha’s laptop going off came from the dresser, and she didn’t hesitate to answer the call.

“Hi” she waved, seeing the brown skin guy with dreads on the screen.

“Sasha, you look a little different from earlier” he said, making Lux laugh.

“I’m Lux” she introduced herself as Sasha stood up.

“Hey Chris, just doing some homework. Wassup?” Sasha asked.

“Nothing much, but I’m happy to meet the famous Lux” Chris responded, still looking at a gorgeous Lux. He was still stunned that Sasha was friends with a girl like her. Sasha was just as pretty, but she definitely wasn’t the type for popular friends.

Lux looked over to Sasha, “Oh, so she’s talked about me?”

“A little, I heard you two went to a party. I don’t think you know Sasha”

“Well I’m getting to know her” Lux replied with a flirtatious tone and Chris caught it. He squinted his eyes, and he definitely caught how Lux gazed over Sasha the same way she did when she talked. Sasha was telling him about her first practice, and while she did so Lux brushed her nails against Sasha’s baby hairs and moved her hair out of her face.

“So, Lux” Chris interrupted Sasha in the middle of Sasha talking, “Where you from?”

“Really?” Sasha retorted after being cut off.

“Sorry, I just want to know more about your first friend from Philly. So is Lux your whole name or ~”

“Yeah, it means Light” she said finally taking her eyes off of Sasha.

Next her phone began to ring and she turned to answer it. After a short call she turned back around to the two.

“I gotta go Sasha, just send me a picture of the answers please”

“I will” Sasha assured her.

She gathered her things, and Sasha told Chris to hold on while she walked Lux to the door.

       After saying bye to Lux, Sasha headed back upstairs to her room to see Chris still on the screen. He was bobbing his head to the music in his background and then quickly turned it down when he witnessed Sasha entering her room.

“Soooo” Chris started.

“What was that about?” Sasha raised her brow.

“What was what about?” Chris acted clueless.

“You were reading her” Sasha squinted her eyes.

“I wasn’t reading her”

“You were, admit it”

Chris rolled his eyes and started to laugh, “I’m not judging her…I just think…”

“You just think what?” Sasha said badly wanting to know the answer.

“That she likes you” he finally blurted out.

Sasha snickered, and even though she knew what he meant she didn’t reply to it, “I mean yeah, we’re friends”

“No” Chris shook his head, “Like more than a friend. Does she like girls?”

Sasha shrugged, acting as if she didn’t just get the answer no more than a hour ago. Chris knew Sasha well, too well for her liking as he always knew when she was holding something back. He looked at her for a moment, and then began to double over in laughter.

“Wow” he exclaimed, “It’s right there and you can’t see it. Come on Sasha, the batting of the eyes, the brushing your hair back, what girl does that? Did you tell her that you don’t like girls?”

Sasha didn’t respond to that question either, because she didn’t know what she liked. She never liked anybody, so the current relationship she had with Lux was a weird one. All she knew was that whenever she was with her she was nervous, but at the same time a good kind of nervous, one she looked forward to.

“Wow” Chris said again.

“Would you shut up!” Sasha snapped at him, “Stop saying wow”

“Sasha, do you even know what you like?” He asked her the question she had been asking herself the entire weekend.

“Okay listen, I’m going to tell you something and you can’t tell anyone” she said, coming close and whispering to the screen.

Chris raised his brow, but listened intensely at her secret.

“At the party, me and Lux kind of …. kissed. And I liked it”

Chris stared at her blankly, and then uttered only one word,
“Wow”

“Bye Christopher” Sasha kissed her teeth, totally done with him for the night.

“Alright alright” he said throwing his hands up, “This is just a lot to take in Sasha”

“You’re telling me” she said giving him a knowing look.

“Well, do you like her back?” He asked.

“I don’t know, it’s been like less than a week. Can you even like someone that fast?”

“Sometimes” Chris shrugged.

He thought back on when he first met Sasha and how he liked her within only a few hours of knowing her.

“Well…I dont know” she answered honestly.

Chris could tell she was confused, and decided to give her some advice.

“Listen, you know you like a person when you want to be around them. And when you want to talk to them, just to see what they’re doing. You talk to them about that you can’t talk about with anyone else, and that’s why you feel so drawn to them. If Lux is that for you, then yeah you like her. My advice, take it slow. And if you need any dating advice, I’m here. But one thing I do know, is that she likes you Sash”

Sasha smirked, and she was happy that she had someone in her life that she could run to. She didn’t know where she would be without Chris, and she made sure to tell him that.

“Well, I’m going to finish this homework. Talk tomorrow?” She asked.

“Yup, have a goodnight Sash”

“Goodnight”

The two waved and the call ended, and Sasha returned back to her bed. She decided to finish her homework and send the answers to Lux, before heading to bed. While she stared at the ceiling in her dark room, she let Chris’s voice echo in her head.

“Do you even know what you like, Sasha?”

She put the blanket over her head, and it was safe to say that she didn’t..