For some reason this was a serious hassle to get up, but here's chapter two! Hope you enjoy, and forgive any glaring mistakes I may have missed.
Mercedes pulled the brown paper bag that held her lunch out of her locker. She never bought lunch, because that required going to the cafeteria and dealing with open ridicule from the worst kind of people. Lunch was generally unsupervised and being colored, she would walk in that place with a target on her back. She always ate in the school's auditorium, hidden backstage, but today she'd be eating somewhere different: in the woods.
She walked quickly through the now emptied halls and snuck out a back door. She hurried past the football field and into the cluster of trees she'd only been in the day before. She walked in a straight line, looking around, and when she saw a blonde head moving back and forth, she ran up to find him pacing by a blanket on the ground.
She cleared her throat.
"Mercedes," he said, looking up and instantly smiling. It was different seeing him react this way to her, but she figured she could definitely get used to it. His smile was something else.
"Yeah, hi," she said, suddenly nervous. He held his hand out to her and she took it, sitting down with him on the blanket.
"I was kind of worried you weren't gonna come," he admitted. She set her brown bag on the blanket and opened it up.
"I said I was going to, didn't I?" He just smiled and nodded. She took a bite of her sandwich and crossed her legs under her dress. She glanced at him and saw he was eating a sandwich too. They both ate in a calm silence, and when they finished, they just looked at each other.
"We should talk, shouldn't we?"
"Yeah, we should," she said, looking at her hands.
"I like you," he said. She blushed.
"Well, we know that." He crawled across the blanket to sit next to her.
"Do you like me?" He'd leaned over so his lips were centimeters away from her ear. The feeling made her breath hitch. She scooted away a little, but it didn't matter because he only scooted closer.
"I…" By the way she kissed him back the day before, Sam already knew the answer. He just wanted to hear her say it. She sighed. "Yes. I like you. But that doesn't matter."
"Oh? And why not?"
"Because we can't…act on it," she told him.
"We acted on it yesterday…" he said, raising an eyebrow.
"Right. But we can't do that again," she replied, finally making eye contact with him.
"Why can't we, Mercedes?" he asked, reaching up and touching her jaw as if preparing to kiss her. She almost caved, but came back to her senses. She pulled away and stood, while he sat there looking up at her, his expression a mixture of shock and disappointment.
"We can't because I'm colored, and you're as white as the driven snow," she said. He shook his head and stood as well.
"That doesn't matter to me," he said.
"That's great, but it matters to everyone else."
"Why do we have to care what everyone else thinks?" he asked.
"Of course you don't care, Sam!" she yelled. He recoiled a bit at her outburst. "You don't have to care because you don't have to be afraid of anything, while I on the other hand have to watch what I say, who I speak to, where I go, and what I do in fear of being arrested, beaten up, or hanging from a goddamn tree!" She got choked up and paused to try and collect herself. He stared at her, no idea what to say. "It's not the same. It'll never be the same, okay? People see me with you; they'll think I'm tryna cause trouble. It's like I'll have a big sign on my head. You don't care what others think, because bad things won't happen to you, thanks to White privilege."
He was silent for several moments, and his eyes burned. It was rough hearing her say those things, because they were true, and he couldn't do anything to fix them.
"I can't…change how I was born…" he managed to say. She released a humorless laugh.
"Yeah, well unfortunately neither can I. But what I can do is try my hardest to be as invisible as I can, and being with you is going to have the exact opposite effect," she said.
"But I really like you," he told her.
"Stop saying that."
"I do!"
"Are you a glutton for negative attention? Do you know what people would call you after they're done with me?" He looked down. He knew. "A nig—
"Don't say it," he said, cutting her off. People down there used that word as often as any other, but it had always rubbed him the wrong way. His friends said it regularly, often times referring to Mercedes, and he always had to hide his distaste. Even when he would poke and jeer at her in the hallway, he never used that word. It was…ugly.
"Mercedes…now that I know you feel the same way, I don't think I can let this go," he said honestly.
"This is a nightmare," she said, sitting back down onto the blanket.
"Am I a nightmare?"
"You were," she said referring to his earlier behavior towards her.
"What am I now?" he asked.
"Surprisingly…decent. This situation is a nightmare. Why can't you be a normal white All-American quarterback and go after a blonde cheerleader?"
"I guess that would be easier. But it's not me, I guess," he said, sitting next to her again. She looked at him, and before she could formulate a response, his lips were on hers.
"You have to stop interrupting me," she said when they parted. He licked his lips and blushed.
"Sorry." He didn't back off though. He just looked in her eyes and kept his hand on her face, stroking her cheek. "So we can't be together because I'm white. Okay. What if nobody sees us? I'm okay with keeping it a secret. At least until things get better."
"Things aren't gonna get better," she mumbled.
"They are. I mean, I know it's not my place to say, but I feel like they are. People will get smarter. It's already starting, since you came to my school. Last year it wasn't even allowed," he said, smiling.
She didn't think the hate would stop or that anyone would really change, but hearing him be so optimistic warmed her heart. He was adorable.
"You're adorable."
"I'm serious." He kissed her again, this time gently pushing her back onto the blanket and moving on top of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his hand settled on her thigh as their tongues twirled and lips moved against each other. He moved his hand higher to her hip, afraid of treading into dangerous territory since he found out she'd never even been kissed before him, and she was grateful. Slightly aroused, but grateful he didn't push it.
"Okay, we'll keep it a secret," she confirmed when they separated briefly.
"I swear to God, I may have to get the porch cleaned by professionals," Mrs. Evans said, setting the last of dinner on the table. Sam had been in and out.
"At least he was wearing shoes," Mr. Evans told her, taking a swig of beer.
"I'm sorry, what happened?" Sam asked, lost.
"There was a little…colored boy at our front door trying to sell papers," the blonde woman told her son. She'd paused mid-sentence to stop herself from using the word her son hated. She may have had revulsion for Blacks that she made clear, but she also noticed how her son would wince whenever she called them that. It was small, and most wouldn't see it, but she knew her son.
"What!" Sam straightened. Stevie and Stacey momentarily stopped putting food on their plates to look at their brother.
"I know! It's a travesty. The little…thing was just standing there holding out papers. He was insane if he thought anyone would touch those things when he had his hands all over them." Sam was barely listening to his mother rant.
"Wait, someone had that kid trying to sell papers in this neighborhood? Are they trying to get him killed?" His parents just looked at him until his mother spoke again.
"Well I don't know about any of that, I just know we need a clean porch."
"Chris, eat your greens," Mrs. Jones said. Mercedes was staring ahead, absently pushing her mashed potatoes around.
"But Mama, they're nasty," the twelve year old said, pouting. Mrs. Jones simply gave her son a look. He looked down and began eating the greens with a scowl.
"How was school today, Mercedes?" Mr. Jones asked. She'd been in another world and jumped when she heard her name.
"Huh? Oh, it was uneventful."
"Uneventful? Really?" her mother asked, looking hopeful. Uneventful meant their daughter didn't have things thrown at her. It also meant she went a whole day without being the center of attention in a bad way.
"I mean, sort of. Just the regular jerks," Mercedes said. She chose to say uneventful so they wouldn't suspect she skipped the second half of her classes to be with Sam.
"Oh," the older woman said with a sigh.
"How are your grades?" her father asked.
"All A's, Daddy." He beamed at his daughter, loving to hear that she was doing well. He was almost over the panic of hearing she'd received detention, but was happy she stood up for herself. His son being in college and his daughter being close to it were the only things besides his wife that really made him happy. He hoped Chris was on the same path. He only wanted the best for his children, and that was hard enough in this country. The idea they'd be able to make something of themselves almost brought tears to his eyes.
"That's what I like to hear," he told her. Mercedes just smiled and put some potatoes in her mouth, trying to rid her thoughts of a certain blond that kept threatening to invade them.
"Hello, Beautiful." Sam was leaning against a tree with his hands in his pockets, his blue button down undone to reveal his undershirt. She bit her lip and walked closer.
"We can't skip class this time," she told him.
"I understand," he said, nodding. "But what are you doing after school Friday?"
"I'm going to my friend's house."
"Saturday?"
"Nothing…" He grinned.
"Great. So you can spend the day with me," he said.
"What…?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If we're going to try this, you can't expect me to be satisfied with just thirty minutes every day." Sam pushed off the tree and went to wrap his arms around her. "Our parents won't find out, we'll just make up something."
"My parents aren't just gonna go for anything, Sam," she said. He bit his lip.
"I know, but we'll come up with something," he said, kissing the crook of her neck and causing her to shiver.
"We…we will?" She shivered and sucked in her bottom lip.
"We will. But as for right now…" He tightened his grip and placed more kisses around the spot before settling on a particular area and sucking.
"Sam…" His hands slid down to cup her ass and squeezed.
"Sam!" she exclaimed. He pulled away, giving her a sheepish grin.
"Too fast?"