Blowing Off Smoke

Monae Robinson

Walking to Government class, I was tackled into a hug by a lanky form.
"Hey, Monae!" Kenny exclaims. I smile at him.
"Hello, Kenny."
"You seen your best friend around?" I love how he won't say "my girlfriend".
"Not since calculus. She said something about meeting you for lunch," I answer.
His face twists. "She didn't eat lunch with me . . ."
What? Oh no . . .
"Oh. Maybe she meant Kenna Barker," I try.
Kenny smiles sadly. "She hates Kenna Barker, but nice try. I should've known. Why would she want to go out with a loser like me anyway?" he sighs, his light brown eyes moving to his shoes.
"Kenny, you're not a loser," I tried to cut in.
"I-it's alright. I'll see you around," he mumbled, walking away.
I sigh and enter my classroom.
What is wrong with Alana? This is the second time she's cheated on poor Kenny. Alana needs to realize how lucky she is to have him.
I take an empty seat and sit back, waiting for class to start.
I don't look up when someone plops into the seat next to me.
"Okay. Partner up!" Mr. Kochae says.
"Hey, you want to be my partner?" a sweet voice asks from beside me.
I look up, into pretty purple eyes.
The mesmerizing eyes of Carson Reed, school “bad-boy”.
Without thinking, I find myself replying, "Sure."
Damn his beautiful eyes.

Carson Reed

Damn.
She was sexy. And smart. And she agreed to be my partner.
Sweet!
Her blue eyes were a complete contradiction to her brown skin and curly brown hair.
"Cool," I smiled at her. She just looked a little . . . I don’t know what to call that. It was a half confused, half angry grimace. I was almost comical.
Yeah, I have that effect on girls sometimes. Joking.
I turned toward my homie Jake and grin.
"You stupid, man," Jake laughs and shakes his head.
"You're just mad you got stuck with San Diego over there," I chuckle, pointing beside Jake at our friend Santiago, who goes by Trey.
"Hey, guys, look!" Trey smiled, balancing a pencil on his nose.
I laughed hard before turning back to Jake, grinning. "That's your friend."
Jake laughs then sighs. “I know.”
I look back over at the girl. I didn’t get her name.
She’s too focused on writing in her notebook to notice me peek over at it.
"Monae Robinson"
Well, Monae, this class is going to be fun.
My name’s Carson Reed.
And, uh, I’m a senior in high school, with no plans for future.
But I know one thing.
I’m gonna make it out this hood.