Chapter 2: So Why You Looking?
528 Words
Chris didn’t even notice he was staring.
He was mid-laugh with his boys outside the rec center when she walked past.
Jasmyne.
Sweats. Slides. Crop top peeking under her hoodie.
Hair in a loose braid. Edges laid.
Notebook in one hand, iced coffee in the other.
It was her usual “don’t f*cking talk to me” uniform.
But somehow she still looked better than anyone on campus.
“Yo. That’s your lil girlfriend?” his boy Malik asked, nodding in her direction.
Chris didn’t even answer right away.
He just watched her walk past.
Watched her pull her headphones out.
Watched her lips move as she muttered to herself, reading whatever she just wrote.
Watched her glance over her shoulder — not at him, but past him — like he wasn’t even there.
That sh*t stung for no reason.
“She not my girl,” Chris mumbled, grabbing his vape.
But even he didn’t believe it.
🕒 A few days later…
The student org fair was in full swing. Tables. Free candy. Sign-up sheets. Way too many people.
Jasmyne didn’t even want to be there. But Kayla dragged her to the poetry club table.
And that’s when he saw it.
Darius.
The poetry boy.
Skin like honey. Nose ring. Tall. Soft voice. Jasmyne’s type.
Chris watched from across the quad while Jasmyne stood there smiling, actually laughing at something Darius said.
Then she tucked a curl behind her ear and handed him her phone.
“You good?” Chris’s girl, Lexi, asked next to him.
He didn’t answer.
She followed his eyes.
“Oh. That’s the girl who always looks like she hates you?”
Chris shrugged, still watching.
Lexi narrowed her eyes. “You talk about her a lot.”
“I don’t talk about her at all.”
“You don’t have to.”
Later that night, Jasmyne was back in the study lounge, hoodie on, typing.
She didn’t even hear him come in.
He sat across from her.
She looked up.
“No hello?”
“Hello,” she said flatly.
They sat in silence for a few beats.
Then:
“You and poetry boy look real cozy.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Stalking me now?”
“Nah. Campus ain’t that big.”
“You sound mad.”
“I’m not.”
She smirked. “Then why you asking about him?”
Chris leaned forward, elbows on the table.
“I’m just saying… you don’t even like people.”
“Exactly,” she said, not missing a beat. “So if I like him, that means I really like him.”
Chris clenched his jaw.
Didn’t speak for a second.
Then:
“I don’t like the way he looks at you.”
Jasmyne blinked. “Why do you care?”
He paused.
Looked her dead in the face.
“I don’t know.”
She should’ve left it there.
Should’ve walked out.
But instead?
She stood up slow, leaned over the table, and whispered:
“Don’t look for me in people you’re not allowed to want.”
Then she walked out.
He didn’t move.
Didn’t chase her.
But that line?
Didn’t stop echoing.
- Writer
