through her lips in his presence.
He let go of her hand. A momentary emptiness swept over Tiphany until she felt the gentle warm grip of his hands on each shoulder. “Are you going to miss this place?”
“What?” She dared to refocus on his eyes, where she rarely allowed herself to look for worries that she’d fall too deeply into a trance. Did he know? She wondered. Her chest tightened for no reason that she could understand.
“I heard you were leaving us. Is that what you want to say?”
“Yeah,” she almost whispered as she lowered her gaze. She didn’t think he heard her response over the loud music. So, she nodded.
“Well, why don’t we go kick it first and then we can go talk. Okay? Look. Everybody’s waiting for us.”
To her amazement, Tiphany noticed almost the entire dance floor crowd rhythmically motioning them to join them. They called their names repeatedly to the beat of the music. For that exciting moment, she decided to forget about her problems and follow Jimmy to the dance floor. To show out like always could certainly help her forget what was ahead – just for that evening.
Tiphany wiped the sweat from her brow with a tissue handed to her by Gladys. After dancing through about five upbeat numbers with Jimmy, she had somehow lost him in the crowd once a slow song began. She had even expected to see him with his arms around his current girlfriend, Sheila. But he was nowhere in sight.
The gigantic gymnasium clock read eleven forty, just minutes before every couple in the place would embrace into lip-locks. Tiphany dreaded the moment. Even if she had stuck with Manuel, she knew her heart would sink at the glance of Jimmy kissing Sheila – or any other girl. She had seen him at previous outings over the years kissing Connie, Joanne, Althea, Evelyn, and others unknown to her. Now, she had to endure seeing him with Sheila, whom he had reportedly been dating since the beginning of the summer. At least, she felt, it would be the last time seeing him kiss all those girlfriends.
“Y’all shined like stars over there, Tip!”
She focused in on her group of running buddies approaching her with Gladys and her cousin Natalie Taylor, who didn’t attend the same school even though she had long ago well-acquainted herself with the girls through Tiphany. Vivian Brown, Rosie Lopez, and Mia Trevino joined the two as they all surrounded Tiphany.
“Girl, you were the stuff out there!”
“I told you ain’t nobody better than her,” Mia responded in order to get a rise out of Gladys, who was comically competitive.
“And could Jimmy keep up with her tonight?” Rosie added jokingly as she put her arm around Tiphany’s shoulders.
“It’s a good thing Sheila’s nowhere to be found,” Vivian pointed out. “She still would have been jealous even though they broke up already.”
“Broke up?” Gladys echoed. “Are you serious? When?”
“Right after Thanksgiving – from what I heard.”
“Then why does she still hang around him with her arm all looped through his?”
“Just being the possessive cow she is!” Natalie complained. Laughter rang out among them.
“Cow!” Vivian echoed amused.
Natalie explained, “That’s what my cousin, EmmaJean, likes to call girls who she doesn’t like.”
“I hear about EmmaJean,” Gladys revealed. “Tip told me she doesn’t hardly like anybody!”
“No, she’s pretty cool,” Natalie clarified. “Just don’t get on her bad side.”
“Anyway,” Rosie continued their initial conversation, “It must be top secret that Sheila’s not with Jimmy anymore. Somebody sure did fool me ‘cause I never knew either.”
“Me neither!” Natalie interjected with a wide-eyed innocence.
Mia laughed. “That’s because you don’t go here, Nat!”
Natalie returned the laughter before focusing on her cousin. “Girlfriend, I guess you didn’t know either. Your mouth is wide open.”
Tiphany’s friends and cousin awakened her thoughts. Eventually, she managed to blurt out her own giggle, which sounded exactly like the nervous laughter that rang in her heart that moment.
“So, are we still having the slumber party at Rosie’s house after the dance?” Tiphany asked, desperate to steer them away from a subject that could be too revealing of her innermost thoughts. She simply wasn’t prepared to analyze her own feelings deeper than she had already done over the past year.
“Uh – yeah?” Rosie replied with a tone that scolded her friend for the oversight. “Your things are already at my house, Silly.”
“Let up, Hermana,” Gladys told Rosie. “Our girl’s having a hard time tonight. You know? She’s not coming back to school with us next week. Remember?”
“Oh!”
“I’m sorry. I forgot all about that. But Mason Creek isn’t all that far. My uncle and his family are out there. And we’re still able to attend the same church.”
“Yeah, but she’ll be at a different school district and everything, Rosie!” Vivian argued sadly. “It won’t be the same.”
While Vivian and Rosie continued to argue, as they usually seemed to love doing, Tiphany was able to tune them out and focus on Jimmy, who had suddenly come into her view. She noticed him chatting with his own friends. Just staring at the tall, dark-skinned, confident basketball player, she found herself relieved that he was no longer considered taken. But what difference should that make? She argued inwardly. He went from girlfriend to girlfriend like he was square-dancing. So, only a matter of time determined how soon he’d have another one – regardless of how closely Sheila clung to him.
Her heart sank at the thought of having to forget about him. Even though Jimmy never paid much attention to her off the dance floor, he made every move memorable for her. Tiphany only wondered if he’d find her replacement for his remaining semester in school. Then, college was next for him. Rumors had already surfaced that he had been presented with three basketball scholarships. Two of them were said to be out of state.
Startled, Tiphany gasped with realization that Jimmy caught her stare and, within a second, returned it with a smile that warmed her from head to toe. Feeling like a deer in a headlight, she contemplated fleeing in order to hide herself. But he didn’t seem to care. Jimmy continued to stare at her until his smile faded.
His look became more intense until he finally gestured her to meet him in a spot away from the crowds. Tiphany slowly moved toward his direction, hoping she wasn’t somehow mistaken. Maybe he was actually looking at somebody else, she thought. After all, she and Jimmy had never shared more than a minute of words. And she continuously reminded herself of this until she was face to face with him.
“Did I take you away from having fun with your girls?” He asked her with another smile.
“Huh? Them? No. I’ll be spending the night with them anyway.” She chuckled tensely.
“One last night with them before you head off? Huh?”
“Yeah,” she replied before thinking. “Well, no. I won’t be out of town – just in Mason Creek.”
“Mason Creek? I have family members who moved out there.”
“Really?” Tiphany blurted with delight and surprise.
“Yeah. My scholarship is right over there at Hayland Hill University,” he explained. “That’s in a suburb right next to Mason Creek.”
“And don’t you have two other scholarships out of town?” She gradually found herself more comfortable talking with him.
“Yeah.” He seemed to be at