Imani and Jay Part 1

(These are characters from my Scott-Williams Family Series. Find this series here.)

How We Met

I was standing with my friends, enjoying the music from the band that was warming up the crowd for the festival. Anissa turned to me and spoke directly in my ear. 

“That guitar player hasn’t taken his eyes off you.”

“Really?” I gave her a puzzled look.

“Fix your face before you try and look at him.”

I smiled and then turned my head in the direction of the stage. I was able to make out who she was talking about but I couldn’t see him clearly enough to tell if he was actually looking at me or not. Due to ocular albinism, I didn’t have very good clarity of vision. Even with glasses, I couldn’t make out details unless they were right in my face. It was cloudy so I didn’t need my sunglasses. I could tell that he had the potential to be cute.

I turned to Anissa. “Is he cute?”

“Very.”

“I shouldn’t even be looking.” I thought about my boyfriend, Daron. He was two years ahead of Anissa and I in school and was studying abroad this semester. We met when he was the lab assistant for the biology class I took over the summer. The Disability Support Services office at my college recommended that I take the classes I had trouble with in high school in a smaller setting. That summer class only had fifteen students where the one during the regular semester would have forty or more students. With extra tutoring from Daron, when we weren’t screwing, I was able to pass the class. We had only  been together for a few months when he left the country.

Now I was making eye contact with a cute guitar player. I could feel instantly that we had made eye contact when I looked back at him. Even though visually I wasn’t sure, I got goosebumps all up and down my arms. The music was really good. Our three other friends who came to the festival with us joined Anissa and I where we were standing. Part of me began to wonder if one of my friends would capture his attention away from me. It had happened to me more times than I could count. Being albino, I knew how I looked wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Especially when faced with other options.

The band finished their set and I stood around while my friends got in an animated conversation about something that I wasn’t really focused on. In my head I was singing along to the songs the DJ was playing and thinking about everything I needed to do to get ready for the next week. 

“Hey Imani, that guitar player is trying to get your attention.” Anissa said close to my ear.

“Really? Where?” I turned and tried to follow where Anissa was pointing. Unfortunately it was too far off for me to see anything clearly. I could tell there were people standing on both sides of a fence. I could also tell there was a big guy standing at a gate. I turned to Anissa. “I can’t see that far.”

“Come on.” She took my hand and walked me over closer to the fence. 

The guy had been leaning on the fence and stood up straight when we got over to him. He looked at Anissa. “If she didn’t want to come…”

“She can’t see that far.” Anissa smiled at him and then turned to me. “I’ll be right over there with the girls.”

“Okay.” I watched her walk back to our friends and then turned to him.

“Hi.” He smiled at me.

“Hi.”

“I’m Jay.”

“Imani.”

“Nice to meet you, Imani.” He reached out his hand.

I looked at his hand for a moment and then put my hand in his. What felt like sparks going through my body almost had me pull back, but instead I just looked up at him. Wanting to see him better, I took a few more steps forward. 

“You have beautiful eyes.” He smiled at me.

“They barely work.” I mumbled. He smelled a little like cocoa butter and a lot like weed. 

“Your glasses don’t help?”

“Only a little bit.” I sighed. “I have to be this close to you so I can actually see you.”
“Do you like what you see?”

I smiled. “Yes.”

“I know you’re here with your friends, but I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me. I’d like to get to know you better.”

“I have a boyfriend.” I blurted out.

“I have a girlfriend.” He responded.

I chewed on my bottom lip. “So this should be harmless.”

“For sure.”

I smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

Without letting my hand go, Jay walked down to the gate and came from behind the fence. He stood in front of me. Jay was tall, which was nice because I was also tall. For a moment I looked down at myself, wondering what he saw in the tall, thick, albino girl that I was.

He used his finger to lift my chin. “Let’s go tell your friends you’re gonna walk around with me.”

We walked over to my friends and let them know what we were going to do. Then Jay and I walked around the edge of the festival where all the vendors were. We talked the entire time. It started with him asking me how I liked his band’s set. Then it drifted into different types of music that we both liked. He had been playing the guitar since he was five. He also knew how to play the piano. I told him about the lessons my grandparents signed me up for when I was little but that I wasn’t very good. Somehow it slipped into us talking about cartoons. We were both very passionate about them and found that we enjoyed a lot of the same ones. 

“My sister got me the Jetsons on DVD last Christmas.” He smiled.

“Oh that is awesome. I keep thinking I should start collecting my favorites when I can find them. The only one I have right now is Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

“I have that one and the Legend of Korra.”

“I need that one.”

Jay looked up. “It’s gonna rain.”

“You think?”

“Yes.” He looked around.

I looked up as I felt a few raindrops land on my arms. “Oh, it’s going to rain now.”

“Come on. We aren’t far from my car.” Jay led me through the crowd and over to a guarded gate. After saying a few words to the guard, Jay was able to take me with him behind the gate. The rain started to come down more steadily. It didn’t take long to get to his car, which was a dark gray sedan with heavily tinted windows. Jay let me in the passenger side and then ran around and got in the driver’s side.

“Is this tint legal?”

“Just at the legal limit.”

His car smelled like him, weed and cocoa butter. I was beginning to like the strange combination. I turned to him. “You smoke a lot.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“Everybody has a why. I smoke when my friends are smoking, otherwise I probably wouldn’t.”

“Does it relax you?”

“Yes.”

“It helps me focus. It also keeps my anxiety down.”

“You don’t have other things that help?”

“Not really. The drugs the doctor’s gave me had too many side effects for my taste. I took them for years while in school until I discovered weed works better.”

“What do your parents think? My grandparents are cool but I don’t know if they are that cool.”

He chuckled. “My parents hate it. They won’t let me smoke in the house.”

“Do you go to school?”

“Yeah. But I hate it.”

“Really?”

“There isn’t enough weed in the world to help me.” He rested his head against the headrest.

I laughed. “I’m studying business so that I’ll have a better idea of what I am doing when I take over my grandparent’s business.”

“What kind of business do they have?”
“An ice cream parlor.” I paused. “We just moved into a new location which is way better than where they had been for years before.”

“My father is a doctor and my mother is a nurse. They are riding me hard about college.” He looked like he rolled his eyes. “Jason Scott is supposed to finish college and make something of himself.”

“You’re very good at music.”

“They definitely don’t want me doing that.” He blew out a long breath. “It is fine as a hobby but they don’t want it to be my main source of income.”

“What else could you do?”

“I have no idea.”

I was quiet and turned my head to watch the rain fall heavier on the windshield. 

“I hope your friends found shelter.”

I pulled my phone out of my purse and checked my messages. I sent a quick response to Anissa letting her know I was okay. “They’re under one of the big food tents.”

Jay looked at his phone. “This storm should pass in a few minutes.”

I put my phone back in my purse and then looked up at Jay. Leaning in closer, I got a really good look at his face. “I like your eyes.”

“I like everything about you.” He gently ran his fingers down my cheek.

Without worrying about whether or not I should, I leaned even closer and kissed Jay. After a few soft kisses, Jay traced my lips with his tongue before parting them and deepening the kiss. When we finally came up for air, I looked at him. “We should get in the back.”

“You first and I’ll move the stuff back there up front.”

I quickly got out of the car and then got into the backseat. Then Jay and I moved the things he had back there up to where I had been sitting up front. It was really just a backpack, duffle bag, and a crocheted blanket. While he got out and joined me in the backseat, I grabbed the blanket and pulled it back onto my lap. It had a solid fabric lining sewed in on one side.

“Who made this?” I asked as I held it up to my face so I could see the stitching.

“My mother. She doesn’t do it often, but sometimes she gets in the mood to crochet a blanket.” He paused. “She sewed the fabric to it to make it even warmer. Each of her kids has one in their car in case of emergencies.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.”

I turned and smiled at him. “You’re just saying that because you want to kiss me again.”
“I want to do more than kiss you but I’m not just saying that. Imani, you are a very beautiful woman.” Jay leaned close and kissed me. Quickly, the kiss deepened and before I knew it I was climbing on his lap.

***

A few hours later, Jay and I walked around the festival and talked about school. It took us about twenty minutes to find my friends. Then we joined them and enjoyed the rest of the performances. Jay stood behind me and held me close as we danced to the music. Even though I was a little sore from our shenanigans in the back of his car, I still had a great time dancing with him. 

After the festival was over, Jay and I walked hand and hand behind my friends as we headed to the car we rode up in.

I looked at him as we walked. “I had a really good time with you.”

“I also had a really good time.”

“But…”

He groaned.

I ran my finger down his cheek. “We shouldn’t have done what we did. We can’t stay in touch. We need to act like today was just a dream.”

“I know you’re right, but I’m not happy about it.”

“We don’t even live in the same state. We’re both in relationships.”

“I get it.”

My friends had reached the car. Jay and I were several feet back. I stopped and turned to face him. Part of me, a big part, really didn’t want to walk away from him. “I’m gonna remember today forever.”

He smiled. “I will too.”

“Bye.” I leaned forward and kissed him softly.

“Bye.” He responded quietly once I pulled back from the kiss.

PART TWO