Chapter Nine

New York
January 2007

Maya.

Every time I went to the AMC Majic Johnson movie theater it reminded me of being with Chris. To me, the entire place reeked of his presence, and the Stomp The Yard movie poster in the foyer was absolutely no help to take my mind off of him either.

I was still feeling down after the argument I’d had with my Mom yesterday; it had roused a lot of unwelcome feelings that were weighing heavily on my mind and had caused me not to get much sleep during the night.

I suppressed a yawn as Leah, Gina and I headed over to look what times the movies were showing. I knew the girls wanted to see Stomp The Yard, they had discussed it endlessly when they thought I was out of earshot, but they were nice enough to take my feelings into consideration and go to see Freedom Writers instead.

With our tickets in our hands we stood in line for popcorn, discussing whether or not we thought Gina and Bow Wow would make a cute couple.

In the middle of her comparing how much taller Gina was than her celebrity crush, Leah’s face dropped abruptly at the sight of something behind me.

Out of curiosity, I turned and looked in the same direction as Leah, sure that my heart had stopped beating the second I locked eyes with Christopher.

Chris. My Chris.

Instantly I broke eye contact, a wave of nausea washing over me.

“Oh my God,” I gasped.

Gina, who had seen him too, put her hand on my shoulder to comfort me. “I’m so sorry Maya, I didn’t know he was in town,” She whispered urgently.

“Me neither,” Leah informed me, “Usually people don’t stop talking about it if he’s around but I haven’t heard anything.”

“It’s okay, I know, it’s not your fault.” I replied breathlessly. I could feel my heart beating much harder than usual in my chest, and my palms felt sweaty. I hadn’t seen him in forever – why here and now? “Who is he with? A girl?”

Leah quickly glanced over in Chris’ direction. “Yeah,” She said reluctantly, “And another two guys.”

I nodded my head silently. He was probably on a date and just using the other two guys as cover in case he was spotted. I knew how he operated. “Is she pretty?”

Leah looked over again, her eyes growing wide before she was able to answer my question.

“He’s coming over!” Leah said. If I didn’t know her voice, I would have sworn that wasn’t her that had spoken because her mouth did not move an inch.

“Oh my God!” Gina exclaimed, “Maya, should we leave?”

“We can’t leave!” Leah answered for me. “He already knows we’re here and –” An uncomfortable looking smile quickly formed on her face, “Oh hey, Chris!”

I could feel Chris’ presence. He was standing quite close to me, on my right side, but I didn’t dare look at him. Every inch of my body felt like it was alight; I was hot and sweaty and lightheaded. I had no idea what to do with myself. I wasn’t prepared for this in the slightest.

“Hey.” He aimed at Leah. “What’s up Gina?” He asked and she replied sounding a little too friendly for it to be genuine. “Hi Maya.” He greeted me gently.

I glanced up at his face, flashing him a forced smile. “Hi.”

I felt as if this situation could become no more awkward than it already was… Then the girl walked over and I felt like I could just die there on the spot.

Just yesterday I was avoiding seeing him on TV and now here he was in the flesh, with another girl in tow. I began to wish that I hadn’t left my house today.

“Gonna introduce me, big head?” The girl punched him playfully in the arm and he laughed.

My stomach twinged. That was my laugh. That laugh belonged to me, not to her. He laughed at my jokes and he laughed with me - who was she to be making him laugh?

“Maya, Gina and Leah, this is Moe,” Chris said, pointing to each of us one by one.

We all said hello as pleasantly as possible. Leah and Gina kept shooting me sympathetic looks that I didn’t want to acknowledge for fear of crumbling.

“And Moe this is Gina, Maya and Leah,” He finished.

“Hey!” She greeted us enthusiastically, “What are you guys here to watch? Stomp The Yard?”

“No!” Us three replied in unison, probably a little too harshly.

“We’re watching Freedom Writers,” Gina told them.

“So are we! Where are you guys seated?” Moe asked.

I could feel Chris’s eyes on me. I refused to look back at him. This had to be one of the most horrible moments of my life. My ex-boyfriend was here on a date with another girl. I felt awful. I wanted to disappear into thin air.

Gina and Moe compared tickets and it turned out that we were in the row behind them. So basically we’d have to witness their little make-out session throughout the movie and have to try and act blind. I wasn’t sure this was something I could willingly put myself through.

“You know what guys,” I started. “I’m beginning to feel a little sick. I think I should go back home. I’m really not feeling good.”

Leah and Gina just looked at me without a word coming out of their mouths. It wasn’t like I was lying, I did genuinely feel like I was about to pass out.

“I’m sorry. I just… I think I need to go.”

I began walking in the direction of the exit as quickly as I could. I’d only gotten halfway to the door when Chris called out to me, sounding a lot closer than I wanted him to be.

He reached out and held my arm just as I was about to go through the doors. I reluctantly turned towards him, keeping my line of vision low so I wouldn’t have to look at his face and so he wouldn’t be able to see the hurt in my eyes.

“Do you need me to take you back?” He asked.

I shook my head, “No.”

I didn’t trust myself to say anything more than just a word or two at a time. I was hurt. Really, really hurt. All I wanted to do was to get as far away from him and from her as possible.

“Are you sure?” He asked and I nodded.

Neither of us spoke for a second.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” He said.

I shook my head and threw my hands up, “I don’t… That’s got nothing to with me, Chris. I… It’s your life. It’s up to you who you want to date.”

“We’re not dating; she’s just a friend of mine,” He explained, “She’s part of the Breakfast Club like me and one of the other guys. And the other guy, the shorter one.” He pointed to a cute brown skinned boy with braids. “That’s my best friend, Barry.”

I had no idea what this Breakfast Club was and I really wasn’t trying to stick around and figure it out. I didn’t believe for a second that this Moe girl was nothing more than a friend, and to be honest, I didn’t want to discuss it.

I nodded. “That’s great, I’m glad. But I really need to go.”

“Need a ride?”

“No, Chris.” I frowned. “I’m fine, okay?” I looked up at his face and felt guilty for the hurt expression that sat on it.

“Okay,” He said as he backed up.

“Good. I have to go,” I told him firmly, and with that I pushed open the door and walked out into the cold streets of New York trying my hardest not to cry.