Between You and Me

Chapter 18

Dear Diary

Gregory is off to the army now. I miss him so much!

It's like now my life is at a standstill. There's a war and these are dangerous times. He's willing to fight for a country that cares so little for Black Americans like us. But Gregory feels it's all of our country to fight for. I support whatever he thinks is best.

I know he will come home safe because why else would this boy be meant for me? We will build our life together soon. I can't wait to be his wife and the mother of his children. As many as we can have.

I love him so much. I just pray we will be together soon.

However did her grandmother keep the faith that she and Gregory would have their happily ever after? The way things were going with Tristan it did seem like he would be the one for her.

That kiss awakened things in her she never felt before. Maybe it was pure lust as her grandmother felt for Gregory at first, maybe it was something more. Every time she thought of the kiss she touched her lips and remembered how his felt on hers.

Tristan was so cold to her the rest of the day and the next day. Normally they were to the point that they talked and joked with each other, but now he tried to avoid her. Any time she walked into a room he was in, he quickly walked away. Even Zee noticed it and asked about it.

"What's up with you and Trist? He do something to you?"

"No! Why would you think..." She did not want to bother her sister with it. She left the living room and went into the den. Tristan never came to that space. If he wanted to avoid her, she would avoid him as well.

But that is not what she wanted. She wanted him to notice her and think of her as more than a "little sister." Obviously, he was attracted to her. He said she turned him on. If he felt that way about her, there was something more to his feelings than even he knew.

She scoured the internet, looking for ways to entice a guy.

Learn the art of flirting. Give him eye contact. Laugh at his jokes.

All that would not matter if he never even looked her way again. She wanted the old Tristan back, even if he did not want the same thing she wanted. She left the den and headed upstairs and went to her room. She pulled her hair down from the bun and ran her fingers through it.

Nothing exciting there. She looked like a ragamuffin. The little homely girl who stood by the wall at school dances because no boy wanted to dance with her.

She rummaged through her things for any trace of make-up she owned. Every now and then she would pick up eyeshadow or blush or foundation, try and apply it, and then feel like it did not matter. She applied blush and some eyeshadow, then a brown lipstick on her full lips.

She brushed through her hair that came just past her shoulders. She parted it down the middle and began to flatiron it straight with a little bump on the end.

"There!" she said, pleased with her looks.

Then she looked down at her clothes. Joggers that were too big for her and one of her sister's t-shirts that was also too big for her.

She pulled off the shirt and found a fitted bright red tee. Red was Tristan's favorite color, or at least he had a lot of Cardinals red. Then she found some shorts to put on, showing off her nice legs. She added some flip-flops.

A nice improvement from how she normally looked.

She headed back downstairs and into the living room. Zee was gone, she had to go to work. Tristan should still be in the house. She walked over to the basement, listening to see if he was down there.