The Realest Ever - By Keith Thomas Walker Page 0,21

mother warned them that Kyra would have to go if they started any funny business. Donovan knew was at stake. But it didn’t matter because he didn’t have those kinds of eyes for Kyra. When some of his friends at school asked if he noticed Kyra’s steadily bulging breasts, Donovan responded, “Yo, that’s nasty. That’s like me looking at my mama’s chest!”

Donovan still felt that way on October 7. But that was the day he learned that you can go from having zero interest in somebody to having a blinding yearning for them in the blink of an eye – depending on the situation. The situation for them was the family den, with dark curtains on the windows, and a new music video on BET. The feature was “We Can’t be Friends,” by R.L. and Deborah Cox.

The song was about a couple who broke up and realized they couldn’t remain friends afterwards because they were still in love. The video matched the lyrics precisely. When it went off, Donovan was surprised to see tears in Kyra’s eyes.

“What’s wrong with you?”

The teenagers sat next to each other on a long sofa. They weren’t supposed to have any alone time together, but Donovan’s father went to help a friend with a flat tire. Kyra had her legs tucked under her. Her stretchy Capris put her supple thighs on display. Beverly took Kyra to get her hair done last weekend, and she had managed to keep her ’do in place since then. She was very attractive, even as she wiped her tears.

“That’s a sad song,” she said. “You didn’t think it was sad?”

Donovan grinned. “He got with her in the end. They’re both happy now, right?”

Kyra shook her head. “I don’t think they got back together. They’re just saying they can’t be friends. It sounds like they have to break up and not talk to each other at all.”

Donovan thought about that. Both singers were crying at the end of the video, so maybe Kyra was right.

“Do you think that could ever happen to us?” Kyra asked. “Do you ever think about us not being friends anymore?”

Donovan shook his head. “How could that happen? You were never my girlfriend, or nothing like that.”

“But what if I was?” Kyra proposed. “What if we did decide to be boyfriend and girlfriend, and then we broke up and couldn’t be friends?”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Donovan said, not sure where she was going with this.

“Why?” Kyra asked. “Why couldn’t it happen?”

Donovan stared at her. He chuckled nervously. But Kyra wasn’t smiling. Donovan’s head tilted in confusion. “You mean why we couldn’t be boyfriend and girlfriend or why we couldn’t be friends anymore if we broke up?”

“Both,” Kyra said, then, “boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Donovan forced a grin. Kyra remained very serious. Her bottom lip was red from a Now & Later candy she had earlier. Donovan found himself staring at it. At that lip.

“Well, first of all my mom would kill us,” he said.

“But do you ever think about me, like that?” Kyra asked.

Donovan knew they were wading into dangerous waters, but there was nothing he and Kyra couldn’t talk about. “Wh, why? Do you ever think about me like that?”

Kyra nodded. “Since I was little.”

Donovan was stunned by that. His whole body went numb. But he was also a little relieved. For years, ever since Kyra’s lovely lady lumps began to sprout in the 7 grade, he’d been mesmerized by her journey into womanhood. Given the nature of their relationship, he knew he had to repress those feelings. But lately he’d been listening more and more to the little devil on his other shoulder, the one reminding him that Kyra was not his relative. There was no blood between them. So it was okay for her to give him a boner.

Up until October 7 discretion won out because Donovan knew Kyra didn’t feel the same way about him. But her admission opened a floodgate of emotions and opportunities that Donovan could not put the lid back on.

Even as he told her, “I think like that sometimes, too,” Donovan’s eyes rolled down to Kyra’s breasts. He’d been sneaking glances at those big humps of mystery for months. He longed to stare at them openly.

When Kyra saw his change in demeanor and the direction of his gaze, her nipples hardened like pebbles. At their ages, they had more hormones than good sense. They were both virgins, too. Right then and there Kyra decided that she wanted Donovan to be