Deion & Aarav

The wooden steps creaked with every step he took. Another day in paradise. The loud snoring from his father was just a bonus, he could barely sleep at night.

He strolls into the kitchen, only to notice there is nothing for breakfast or even lunch. "Just great..." He groans.

With a sigh of defeat, the boy grabs his army green backpack and leaves the house without a second thought.

"Deion!" shouted Quincy Davis in his driveway. His rusted, beat-up car grumbled, announcing its presence extremely loudly.

"Hey, Quincy." Deion sighs. He walks toward his best friend and gets in the car.

"What's wrong? Is it your father?" Quincy asks.

Deion scoffs, "Isn't it always?"

"Has the step monster been home?" Quincy inquires.

"Of course not," Deion replies, "Again, it's always this way."

"Well... At least she brings some money in."

"Yeah, and the rest she spends on her Prada shoes and Gucci bags. She doesn't even stop to think that in a neighborhood like this, you need to survive, not wear the newest shoes from a luxury brand. I doubt she gives a damn. She's just here to be in control of it all. It makes the bitch happy." Deion rants.

"Oh come on, Di. Be a little positive. Maybe things will get better!" Quincy gives his signature pearly smile and a flash of dimples.

"Yeah, maybe," Deion replies sarcastically.

Quincy chuckles, "Come on, Di, let's get to school." Quincy shifts it into reverse and hits the gas pedal, only to be met with a loud bubbling. "Damn!" Quincy slams on the gas pedal, and the car rams back to life and starts out of the driveway.

"You really need a new car, Quince..."

"It still works!" Quincy shouts.

"Barely." Deion smiles.

The rest of the ride was quiet, well except for the car itself. They soon made it to the school parking lot.

"Man, I missed this place." Deion sighed in relief.

"I still find that hard to believe." Quincy chuckles.

"After so many years of me saying this after every holiday... You still don't believe it?" Deion raised an eyebrow.

"Nope! Unless you're an alien!" Quincy joked.

"No, I just value my future. Plus, school is the best way to get out of the gloomy house and gloomy neighborhood."

"I guess in your case, it makes sense." Quincy smiles again.

"Quince!" shouts a dark-skinned girl with her curly hair bouncing as she comes running towards him.

"Kylie!" Quincy grabbed her tight and hugged her. Deion watched, feeling like a third wheel.

"I missed you, Quince," Kylie said as she buried her face into his shoulder.

Quincy chuckles, "Missed you too, girly."

Deion sighs and walks off by himself. He bumps into someone. "Oh, sorry." He looks up to find his teammate, Aarav Reddy. "Hey, Aarav, how have you been?"

"Fine." Aarav narrowed his eyes at Deion and stomps off towards the coffee shop beside the school.

Deion sighs, wondering why Aarav always looks at him like that.

"Deion!" A girl shouts.

He turns around to see a black-haired, tan girl. "Oh, hey, Maria."

"I just thought since there is going to be a party later tonight at John's that we could..." She blushes, "Go together."

Deion feels suddenly uncomfortable. Maria is pretty, but he doesn't like her like that. Not even the Latin American accent, silky hair, and her clear complexion could change it. "Well, I didn't really plan on going..."

Maria's smile drops, "Oh..."

Why not give her a chance, he thought. "But!" He shouts and Maria perks up, "I could try to rearrange my schedule..." Deion says with a smile. Maria smiles back.

"Great! Uh, meet me after school and we'll plan it out."

"Sounds good. Bye, Maria."

"Ooooh, Mariaaaa," Quincy says behind Deion.

"Oh shut up. I'm just gonna see how it goes. Who knows, maybe we'll end up together." Deion said. Though, he oddly thought of the idea to not be ideal. Yet, he always gave people a chance and he wasn't gonna stop here.

Deion looked across from him to see his teammate, Aarav himself, smiling and buttering up Breeanna Franklin. Aarav was an infamous player. All the girls knew because, how could you not? He had a new girl on his arm every week. Deion saw it as disgusting but chose to try and keep the peace on the team and said nothing about it. Besides, nothing he will ever say can change anyone's mind. They will do what they wish no matter how hard you try. Not even the girls cared. Some of them even felt special to be chosen for the week. If you weren't, that just meant you were too ugly for him. Not that he even cared about any girl in the first place.

Aarav caught Deion's eye and gave him a glare before turning back to his "flavor of the week."

"Nice boy, huh?" Quincy joked.

"Just peachy." Deion jokes back.