I was devastated by the arrest, but Dean stuck on so much during Daddy’s trial, you wouldn’t see me without seeing Dean. The more he latched on, the more it made me normal again. We’ve stayed tight—even as our crowds segregated more with age, not less. I will always love Dean for that.

Track also kept us close until I was forced to quit two years ago because I wouldn’t stand during the national anthem in protest for Black Lives Matter. Coach Curry said I could always come back, as long as I knew I gotta stand.

Sports is our normalizer for crossing racial groups. There are Black, brown, and white, and there are athletes. In season, I had competition to hang out with my best friend because it gave Jamal a chance to hang with Dean.

What’s been killing me lately is I can’t tell if Mama’s more against Dean and me being together, or if she’s protecting me from Dean’s mom’s watchful eyes. Puberty’s hit, and the rules have switched up on us, making me hesitant to drop in on Dean last minute because I don’t know if Mrs. Evans is there.

To be honest, I’m feeling some type of way about this. We’ve always played on the lines of friendship and relationship. I thought I’d have more time to sort things out. Now I can’t tell if we’re pushing each other away because of how his mom acts around me.

I want to ask Dean what he feels, but I’ve spent too many years joking around about why we couldn’t be together. It’s always been my fear of what the world was telling me more than what I’ve felt about Dean. It’s hard to believe we’d be right for each other, when everywhere I look is a hidden reminder. Magazines, television, everyday micro-aggressions. Beaten down with the backhanded compliments I’ve heard all my life, like “You real pretty for a dark-skinned girl.”

I push my thoughts aside, opening the door to Evans Antiques. The gold script glints a bit as the sun hits it just right, and the familiar ring of the bell above the door doesn’t hide my entrance—it announces I’m home.

THE ODD COUPLE

Dean stands at the counter, his hazel eyes staring at me as he runs his hands through his sun-kissed brown hair. Perfect teeth, perfect smile. I hate that I notice this about him now. Because I’ve grown up with him in all our awkwardness, when he used to be filthy or goofy or unassuming. The easygoing way about him that didn’t make me act too proud when he split his lunches with me. He’s never made me feel less than, when everyone else around me so easily could.

My grin drops as Dean’s mom joins him at the register.