My first class of the new semester, I was going to make sure I did not make a stumbling entrance. I woke up early, had to find a new place to get my coffee because the Starbucks was further out of the way now, then made it to the classroom ten minutes early.

Communications 101. Why did I need this class?

Oh yeah, help me with my public speaking of course. It was a general education class, so there were freshmen all the way up to seniors who waited until the last minute to take it. I did not want to make a fool of myself in front of them.

The class was small, by the time everyone arrived there were maybe fifteen students. I was the only brown-skinned girl, but that was no shock to me. I had three classes on Monday, and it was pretty much the same. I did not see where I would meet any new friends.

I grabbed lunch to go from the cafeteria and ate alone in my room, surfing the net.

Then my phone binged because there was a text from my mother.

Same as always. She wanted money. I gifted her a thousand dollars for Christmas but that just fed the flame. She wanted to know where I got that type of money. She knew my father was not giving me that much allowance. My mother said if he was, that was too much and that I needed to give it to her every month.

A thousand dollars every month? I had it to give, but that could add up quickly.

This was on me, I should not have given her that much. I should have given her a smaller amount. What had she done with that money so quickly? I only visited her one day, Christmas Eve to give her the money. The house was a mess, my brother was hungry and dirty.

I know he was not my responsibility but I felt so bad.

I texted my granny

Can you check on my mom and brother? Make sure they have food

They r fine chile, yo momma need to sat her ass down tho!

I chuckled at my grandmother. She was best friends with my other grandmother, so if something was going on she would tell me the truth. Well, I would hope. Old people tended to not think I was ready for adult business.

Then I laid down to nap before my night class.

I was not sleeping long when there was a call coming through. It was King.

I smiled when I answered.

"Hey."

"Hey, freshman. Thought I would run into you on campus. Now that we don't have any classes together, what will I do without seeing your face."

I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt. Then I snapped out of it.

"I'm sure I will see you around."

"How about now? Want to hang?"

I checked the time. I only had two hours before my six o'clock night class. I needed to grab a bite and get my mind prepared. And I needed to tell him my decision.

"Can you meet me for dinner at Pi in twenty minutes? I have a night class near there."

"That sounds fine."

Why did I say in twenty minutes? I had fallen asleep in my clothes, a long black skirt, and a green sweater, and now I looked like a mess. I tried to smooth out any wrinkles but that did not work.

Oh well!

It was cold enough that I could keep my winter coat on. At least I had my braids so I did not have to deal with my hair. I grabbed my green satchel and filled it with what I would need for class, a laptop, notebook, and pens. There was no textbook for this class, all our reading was from an ebook we had to download.

I headed toward Pi, the pizza place near my class, and King was already there sitting at a table reading a book. I was a bit late. He was looking extra, special handsome. His locs were freshly twisted, and they had crinkles in them. Skin extra smooth, like he freshly shaved. He wore jeans and a long-sleeved jersey with a turtleneck underneath.

"Sorry I kept you waiting."

He stood and hugged me. "You're worth it."

If only I could stay in his arms right now. We saved our seats at the table, since they were pretty full, then went to order our food. I ordered a cheese pizza and a drink. King ordered a veggie calzone.

"Did you have fun over break? Do anything exciting?" he asked me, while we sat and waited on our food.

"If chilling in front of the TV and playing with a toddler counts as fun."

"I thought your sister was older?"

"I have a sister and two brothers actually." She did not remember discussing her family much with him. She must have told him something. "Let's just say, none of us have the same two parents. It's cool though."

"I get it, it's only me, but my father was never around much. Nowadays family is however you can get it. I told my mom she should find a man worthy of her...she's not much interested. It's not my business, so I try and stay out of it."

"When I was younger, I only wanted my father to be with my mother." I cringed saying that. "It would have been the worst mistake. He is who he is supposed to be with."

"It's strange how things work like that."

We ate our food and talked more about break. He talked about all the things he got for Christmas from his mother, aunts, and uncles. He actually got out of the house and did things, which she had not done. She went to Angel's store once to shop but did not feel like working during her break.

"I got my new car my parents promised if I made good grades."

"Sweet! When do I get a ride in it?"

And here it was. He wanted to know if I wanted to change things from friends to something more. I really liked King. I did. I liked him a lot. I could see us kissing, holding hands, hanging out, laughing, and having fun together.

But I saw myself doing all those things with Diallo as well.

How could I pick when I could not be sure I was making a good decision?

"You can have a ride whenever King, but..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say to him.

"Hey girl, what's wrong? I didn't mean anything by asking that. We're friends, right?"

"Yes," I said. "And I would like us to stay friends. I mean...I like you King, but I don't think I am ready for anything else right now."

There! I said it. And I felt a lot better saying it to him.

Looking at him, he did not seem upset by it. I wanted him to beg me to pick him, but he did not even know there was a multiple-choice thing going on right now. He did not know that Diallo wanted me back, and I was not going to tell him.

"You were stressing over that?" he asked. "I didn't mean for you to trip about that. I told you my feelings and I told you I'm cool with whatever."

I smiled at him. "Why are you so sweet!"

Now I was looking forward to talking to Diallo.

A/N: So no King? Does that mean she is going with Diallo? I know, I like to drag things out.