Free Courtin' Jayd by L. Divine Page A

racing through the library door to use the restroom. It’s going to be interesting to watch her growing belly develop. I hope her moral compass grows a little too.
    â€œHey, Jayd. What’s going on over here?” he says, giving me a hug and looking over my shoulder. “And where did Mickey run off to?” Nigel looks toward the library, knowing she wasn’t in a rush to check out any books. That’s not our girl’s style.
    â€œOh, just girl talk. Mickey had to use the bathroom. What’s up with you and your boys this morning?” It’s ironic that he, Chance, and Jeremy have become homies, but not surprising. They are the most popular dudes up here, each with their own unique flow, which makes them equally desirable. Chance is the silly but cute white hip-hop rich kid, but not as wealthy as his half-Jewish surfer counterpart, Jeremy. And well, Nigel’s the black quarterback hustler from the hood, making him the most wanted of the trio. They make an irresistible crew. No wonder KJ and his boys feel so threatened by them.
    â€œWell, I guess you know about the baby,” he says, instantly looking like an embarrassed little boy who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, this time literally. What is it about getting girls knocked up that brings out the innocence in these dudes?
    â€œYeah, I do. You and KJ have something else in common besides being good athletes,” I say, not wanting to rat my girl out but making sure Nigel doesn’t get played in the process. I’ve known him longer and my loyalty is slightly torn between the two of them. Like Nellie said, if Mickey doesn’t come clean to Nigel, I will tell him myself, but not yet. I’ll give her the chance to be honest about the situation before it completely blows up in her face.
    â€œOh yeah? What’s that?” he says. I forget he came in a few weeks after school had already started, missing the first week of drama I went through with KJ and his crazy almost baby mama, Trecee.
    â€œGirls all over the world would line up at the chance to have your baby. It must make you feel good to be so wanted. Just be careful not to get caught up while you’re out here creeping,” I say, shifting my weight from one foot to the other, as if the slightest difference would give me some sort of height advantage to look him in the eye. Like most people I meet, Nigel’s much taller than I am and looking up at him for too long makes my neck hurt.
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?” he says, folding his arms across his chest and cocking his head to the side with a very serious frown on his face. Despite his irritation, he looks cute in his orange FUBU sweat suit. I love how his chocolate brown skin looks in bright colors and the way he dresses. I also like the same things about Rah.
    â€œJust what I said. You know I’ve got your back no matter what,” I say. Now he looks hella confused. “But that’s not what I want to talk about,” I say, quickly changing the subject before Mickey returns. “What’s up with your boy and don’t act like you don’t know who I’m talking about.” I know he doesn’t want to let go of what I just said to him but he knows better than to avoid my questioning, especially if it’s about Rah. Looking defeated by my stare, Nigel relaxes his stance and begins to share.
    â€œAll I know is that Sandy and Trish got into it at Westingle on Monday. It was pretty bad,” he says, shaking his head from side to side.
    â€œSandy,” I say, surprised to hear her name. She was my Misty before I got to South Bay High. When she first came to Family Christian, I befriended her crazy ass only to find out she slept with Rah—who was my boyfriend at the time—in the boy’s locker room and had his baby nine months later. After she gave birth to their daughter, she tried to use the baby to manipulate Rah but it