"One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team."
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
~ ~ ~ ~
2 Months Later - May
"Are you sure this is what you want?" My mom asked me.
I looked down at the paper that I was about to sign and looked back up at my parents and my sister, Destinee. Yep, my sister came back from her tour. Since she plays volleyball professionally, she plays out of the country so she's always away.
"Yup!" I said smiling. I grabbed the pen and began writing my name on the line. I immediately heard the cameras going off.
"Congratulations." The coach said, "You're officially a Tiger. Welcome to Louisiana State University Miss Isabella Hooker." I stood up and shook his hand as I smiled with excitement.
Destiny came up to me and embraced me in a hug, "I'm so proud of you sissy pooh."
After Destiny and I's moment, I took picture with my family and my new coach, and they wanted Destiny and I to take a picture together. She had on her Texas Longhorns shirt while I had on my LSU shirt.
Once we were finished with the interviews and pictures, we finally left and went to Red Lobster to meet Mya and her family there as well; I even invited Kado since I wanted to see what school he chose.
When we got to the restaurant, we were seated immediately with Mya and Kado's family. Mya had on her Howard University shirt and Kado had on Duke shirt. I was glad when I found out that Mya chose to separate herself from Rodney. I guess she really talked with him after our little argument because she said after prom and graduation, she won't be dealing with him anymore.
"Izzy, this is my mom and my dad." A man and a woman who favored Kado, stood up. The woman smiled wide and walked over to me. I stood up as well and both of his parents were really tall, so I see that's where he got his height from.
"It's so nice to meet you Izzy! Kado talks so much about you!" She said as she pulled me into a hug. His father gave me a small smile and a handshake.
I blushed and Kado covered his face with his hands, "It's nice to meet you too, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson."
His mom waved me off, "Oh just call me Arion and his name is Marcus." She said pointing to her husband. I nodded and smiled.
His dad looked me up and down, "Do you play basketball too? You seem to have the height for it."
I shook my head vigorously, "Oh no, I play volleyball. I tried playing basketball once and I didn't like it." I said. Marcus nodded is head approvingly.
"What position?"
"Middle, and occasionally outside."
After talking for a little longer, we finally sat down. Mya, Kado and I sat next to each other while the parents sat on the other side of the table.
"I knew you'd choose Duke." I said to Kay as I sat down.
He frowned, "Why you say that?"
"Because you literally said that you liked it more than Kentucky."
He chuckled, "When did I say that?"
"When you found out there was more black people." I said pulling out the menu.
After looking through it I figured out what I wanted just as the waiter came over. He was pretty tall and dark skinned. I'm not even gonna lie he's cute too, but a little too old for me.
"Welcome to Red Lobster, my name is Andre and I'll be your server for today. Can I start you guys off with some drink?" He looked at me first, but I didn't say anything.
All of the parents ordered alcohol, while I ordered a water, and Mya and Kado got Sprites.
"I'll be back with your drinks and then you can start ordering." He smiled and walked away.
Once he was out of sight Mya turned to me and grinned, "Giiirrrrlll he wants yoouuu!" She squealed.
I laughed while Kado rolled his eyes, "Nahh, too old. And besides, I'll have more options at LSU." I smirked.
"True, I heard their basketball and football players are so fine!" I laughed again. Mya was always so extra, but I didn't mind.
"Anyways, how was your signing Izzy?" Kado made a face at Mya before turning his attention to me.
"It was pretty good. I finally met the coach and not that recruiter guy. But other than that I think I made the right choice."
"Girl that was the only choice you had 'cus knowing you, you ain't staying in Illinois." Mya said
I chuckled, "You right, but I still had Xavier."
"Awwee yeaa. Isn't Xavier and LSU in the same city?" Kado asked.
"Nope, LSU is in Baton Rouge and Xavier is in New Orleans." I explain.
After talking for a little longer, our food finally came. My mouth watered at the sight of my crab legs Andre came over to our table. When he came over to me, I grabbed a fry off my plate and stuffed it on my mouth, before he could put down my plate. He chuckled at my actions and continued to hand out our plates.
Once everyone was served, we said a quick prayer before digging into our food.
"Izzy, what are you doing after this? You should come with me to get my nails done for prom tomorrow."
I finished chewing before talking, "Which one you going to? I might wanna go to a different shop."
"You be going to that shop on 87th don't you?" I nod, "Girl I don't like them. I went there a couple of times and they were always so rude to me, and they don't even know their nail shapes. Like I asked for an almond shape and they gave me a coffin shape." She vented. It's true though, but stuff like that only happens to people who aren't regulars like me.
Whenever I go, I always get treated pretty well, but there have been a couple of times where they've given me the wrong nail shape. But I didn't say anything because I didn't want to be bother and it came out pretty nice.
"True, but you know any good shops?"
Mya shrugged, "I know Miracle and Kailah was talking about some shop on 79th."
I frowned, "I don't like that area. Why don't we go up North?" I said as I tore apart one of my crab legs.
"Uh uh, nope. I tried going up there and the most they do is manicures and pedicures."
"I don't know where you be looking, but it's one across the street from Lindblom. Carter said she got her nails done before, and they did pretty good."
Kado just looked between us, "Is this the struggle y'all gotta go through? I thought picking the dress was hard." He said as he shook his head.
Mya chuckled, "Nah it's not just the dress. You got hair, nails, shoes, and accessories." I nod my head in agreement.
"I don't know how y'all do it." Kado said shaking his head. Mya and I laugh and continue to eat our food.
*
"Would you like side or middle part?" Kim, my hair dresser, asked. She had a strong spanish accent and it was kind of hard to understand sometimes.
"Side part on the left side." I said for the third time. It's prom day and I'm getting my hair done in pin curls. It's taking longer than expected since Kim decided to come late. She messed up twice and this is her third time starting over. I pulled out my phone and checked the time. It is now 12:30 and I scheduled my makeup appointment for 1:30 and I don't think I'm going to make it on time.
I unlocked my phone and went to my messages.
To: Paris H.
Hey, this is Izzy. I'm just letting you know that im going to be a couple of minutes late. My hair appointment is running longer than expected.
I pressed send and I got a message seconds late
From: Paris H.
Hello Izzy, thank you for letting me know ahead of time!
I smiled and put my phone back in my purse. Kim is just now starting on my curls and I told her to add some tracks, so I can have more length and volume.
"So what this for?" She asked, referring to my hair.
"Prom."
"Uh, prom?" She asked confused.
Crap, they probably don't have proms where she's from. I don't take spanish either and I only remembered so much.
"Oh um, un baile." I think that meant dance, so I hope she understood me.
"Ooo, baile! Dance!" She said. I sighed a in relief and nodded my head.
"Si, si. Es un baile popular en los Estados Unidos." I really hope I'm saying this correct because I barely passed spanish last year.
"No tenemos que en Venezuela." She spoke quickly. I guess she thought I spoke spanish, but I can only understand bits and pieces.
"Oh." Was all I said. I wanted to say more, but I don't know that much and I didn't want to just pull out my phone and go to spanishdict.com.
When she was done, I told her to leave to pins in my hair so that I can take them down later. I quickly put my bonnet over my hair and went over to the front desk, so that I could pay her and leave. I looked at the clock and saw that I had 15 minutes to get to my makeup appointment, but I would still be at lease 5 minutes late.
I sent a text the Paris telling her that I was on my way and I got in my car. I plugged up my AUX cord and turned on All We Got by Chance the Rapper. I turned up the music louder than usual just because I love this song.
I continued to nod my head to the beat as I made my way over south to get my makeup done. I checked the time every now and then just to make sure that I was on schedule, and thank God I was.
My phone rang, interrupting my music. I frowned when I saw that it was just Mya calling me. I ignored it because I refuse to talk on the phone and drive, and if I was really important she would text me or call me again.
Once I got to Paris's apartment, I shut the car off, and locked it before jogging up the stairs. I rang her number and waited to be buzzed in.
"Who is it?" She asked.
I put my face up to the mic, "It's Izzy!" I practically yell.
I then heard the buzzing noise letting me know that she let me in. I pushed the door open and made my way to the second floor. The door was already open when I got to the top and I walked in. Paris greeted me at the door and she led me to her station.
"Hi! Sorry I'm late." I say when I sat down in the chair. I sat my bag down and pulled out my phone.
"It's totally fine. Usually I don't like clients who come late, but you're one of the very few who texted me ahead of time." She said. She pulled out all of her primers, foundations and everything else, "So, I know you're here for prom, but what color is your dress?" I went through my pictures and showed her. I'm wearing a floor-length, silver, spaghetti strapped dress.
"I know how to do my own makeup, but I'm scared of messing up and I don't know if I should go with a natural look or dramatic."
Paris laughed, "I guess that's where I come in huh?"
"Yea. I first saw you on Twitter, and then I went to your Instagram and saw your work." I paused and shook my head dramatically, "I was like 'gah damnn she talented!' Then I went to your bio and when I saw you were located in Chicago I went crazy!"
At this point Paris was dying laughing at me. I joined in with her laughter because her laugh was so contagious. She dabbed her eyes, trying not to mess up her own makeup before sitting down next to me.
"Okay. So I was thinking, since your dress isn't that 'out there' I was thinking I could do a soft glam. Is that fine?"
"So like a soft smoky eye?"
"Yup! So lets get started." She took think black cover-looking thing, and put it over me.
She pulled out some eyeshadow palettes and other things, and laid them next to her face products. She moisturized my face first and then she pulled out a very small jar, and an angled brush with a brush type of thing on the other end.
"This is the Anastasia Beverly Hill Dipbrow Pomade. I'm using this to fill in your brows, then I'm using this L.A Girl Pro Concealer to carve them out." Paris explained. I nodded my head and she got started on my face.
After my eyebrows, she moved on to my eyes. I noticed her going towards the browns and orange toned colors; I even saw her go for a shimmery color.
After the eyes she moved on to my face. She used the Smashbox primer before she put on the foundation and concealer. She then used some loose powder on certain areas of my face. While we were waiting for the powder to set, Paris contoured/bronzed my face and put on false lashes that were really dramatic, but I liked them for the occasion.
She finally wiped off the powder and set my whole face that actually matched my skin tone. She put on some blush and highlight, then added pink lip color and applied some gloss over it. While she was applying the lips gloss, a girl who looked a little younger, maybe a freshman or sophomore, came into the room with a camera in her hand.
"Smile!" Was all she said.
I looked at the camera and tried to smile, but I don't think it looked that way. I shrugged it off and turned my focus back on Paris.
"That was just my little sister. Don't mind her." She said laughing as she finished up some last touches.
She took off the black cover, and turned me around to her giant mirror. My eyes widened. She did an amazing job. My hands went up to touch my face, but I immediately put them down because I didn't want to mess up my face.
"Paris girl, you are so freaking talented like." I continued to stare at myself in the mirror, "I look bomb, and my highlight poppin'!" I said getting closer to the mirror.
Paris laughed and took out her camera, "I'm just taking a picture of your look if that's okay with you."
I nodded my head and I closed my eyes, so that she could get a better look at my eyes. I heard some snaps coming from the camera, and she then told me to looks straight at the camera. I heard more snaps and the was finally done.
I heard footsteps, and Paris's little sister poked her head in. She looked at my face and smiled.
"Oooo girls yaassss!" She said as she fully stepped into the room, "I did good on this girl."
Paris rolled her eyes, "Samaria what did I tell you about coming in here when I have clients?"
Samaria crossed her arms over her chest, "I just wanted to see the finished look." She looked at me, "You're really pretty by the way."
I smiled, "Thank you." I then grabbed my purse and stood up.
Samaria's eyes widened, "And you're tall. Do you play basketball?"
"Nope volleyball. I got a full ride to Louisiana State."
Samaria and Paris's eye went wide. "That's so cool! I wish I was good enough to get a scholarship." Samaria said as she lowered her head.
I raised an eyebrow, "You play too?"
"Yea. I'm an outside, but my vertical is shit and I hate passing."
"Well to get your vertical higher you need to start jumping boxes and jumping rope. You can use anything for the box jumps, like a park bench or something. Or you can just go to the gym and practices on the actual boxes. And for passing, I can't tell you much because I'm not a good passer either, but just stay low, move your feet, and don't swing yours arms as much."
Samaria pulled out her phone and went to her notes. She typed everything I said into her notes and locked her phone, "Thank you sooo much!" She squealed.
I chuckled, "No problem. Also, start playing club if you aren't already. It helps a lot and it gets you noticed better by recruiters."
"Oh I'm most definitely looking into that." She said as she walked out of Paris's makeup room.
Once Samaria was fully out of the room, Paris turned to me, "Anyways. Sorry about her."
I waved her off, "It's no problem." I dug through my purse and pulled out my wallet, "How much was this again? $60 right?" Paris nodded her head and I handed her the cash, "You did an amazing job and I will definitely be back another time." I said as I walked to the door.
"Really? Thank you so much! I really enjoyed your company." She smiled, "And thanks for the advice for my little sister. She really needed it. The other day she was talking about quitting because she doesn't get enough playing time."
I frowned, "Well I'm glad I said something. I play for Chicago Juniors Volleyball Club. It's located in Oak Lawn if it's not too far for you. There's others too like Chicago Elite, but I'm not sure where they're located. I guarantee you that not only she'll get more playing time, but she'll get stronger."
Paris smiled, "Thank you! I'll tell her about it later on." I smiled and thanked her again and headed to my car.
*
Everyone's dress was floor length. Kailah's dress was bright and yellow. It was strapless and bodycon that had ruffles from the knee-down. Marcey's was rocking a black, bodycon dress that was lace at the arms. Her hair was pinned up and she wore a deep red lip. Carter's dress was pretty simple, but it was cute and it fit her. It was a baby pink, bodycon dress with her back out. She added hair to make her curls longer and thicker. Mya also added hair to make her curls longer. Her dress was a deep purple and and a slit on her right leg. Liana wore a deep red, bodycon dress. Her hair was in pin curls like mine, but her curls fell and she pinned her hair to the side. And finally Miracle had on a white bodycon dress that flared out at the bottom. She cut her her hair into a bob and died her hair a honey blonde type of color.
"You all look so beautiful!" My mom squealed as she took another picture.
Miracle smirked and flipped her now short bob over her shoulders. Kailah, Marcey and Miracle gave a mug while the rest of us gave a smile.
After my mom took a couple of more pictures, the doorbell rang. My dad jogged and opened the door to reveal Kado and Rodney.
Kado brought his parents and his mom was just as excited as my mom; the dad were just chilling.
Rodney wore an all grey suit to match the grey that was on Mya's corsage since he didn't want to wear purple. And Kado wore a black tux with grey accents to match my dress as well. Both of them looked handsome, but Kado looked a little better in my eyes.
Kado's eyes wandered around my house until they finally landed on mine. His smile grew wide once he saw me, and he pulled me into a hug. I inhaled his cologne and hugged him back.
"You look beautiful." He whispered in my ear. I felt my cheeks up and as much as I wanted to stuff my face in his face, I knew I couldn't because I would mess up my make up.
I pulled away and smiled, "Thanks. You don't look bad yourself."
Kado raised his eyebrows and smirked. Right when he as about to open his mouth, Rodney came over.
"Aight Lil Bit, I see you killin' em. " He said. I smirked and did a full spin, making sure to flip my hair as well.
"You know how I do." I said smirking.
"Okay, okay. That's enough of feeling yourself, we have to take more pictures before it's time for you guys to leave." My mom said, as she pushed us outside in front of the balloons that were hanging.
Kado and I stood at the top stair, while Rodney and Mya were a step down from us, and the rest of the girls were lined up and the last step. I could hear my mom already snapping off guards because she knows that I love them. We did a couple of normal poses and some silly ones as well.
After a couple of more pictures, our party bus finally showed up. Since my mom didn't trust any of driving home after prom, especially Rodney, She ordered us a party bus. I mean it's smart, but I really wanted to drive.
We all piled in the bus and as soon as I stepped in I noticed two poles; one on each end of the bus.
"Ayeee! Turn uh, turn uh, turn uh!!" Mya yelled as she and Kailah each grabbed a pole.
Rodney stopped what he was doing and frowned, "If y'all don't get y'all lil asses off that damn pole!"
Mya smacked her lips and turned around, "Nigga you not my daddy!" She did a dramatic hair flip and continued to dance on the pole.
"Right nigga. What you gon do?"Kailah added on.
Rodney started to say something, but stopped and followed Kado to the other side of the bus. I laughed at their silliness and found a seat next to the girls.
After the bus driver checked on us, we finally pulled off. I texted my mom and told her to send all of the pictures to me so that I could send them to everyone else.
We weren't even 10 minutes into the ride, when Rodney and Kado turned on Timmy Turner by Desiigner.
While everybody was turning up, Marcey was just sitting there.
"What the hell is he saying? All I hear is 'Timmy, Timmy, Timmy Turner', and after that it just sounds like he's mumbling."
The music was paused I busted out laughing along with everyone else. Marcey was still sitting there confused.
After sobering up from his laughter, Kado spoke up.
"He's saying,'Timmy, Timmy, Timmy Turner. He been wishin' for a burner. To kill everybody walkin. He knows that his soul's in the furnace. Fine bitch on BET. Hottie wilin', she fuckin' on BET, wildin for wallet. Kill everybody walkin'. He knows that his soul's in a furnace."
Marcey just looked at him, "How do you know that?" She asked, not believing him.
Kado just rolled his eyes and looked at Rodney. He turned back on the song and started rapping to it.
*
We finally made it the the McCormick Place and there were cars already lined up, dropping off other students.
We all climbed out of the bus and rushed to the door, so we won't be towards the end of the line. The wait wasn't long since I realized that most people like to show up late to prom. When we all made it in, 2 Phones was blasting through the speakers.
There was a good amount of people already here, but you could tell that everyone wasn't here. As I looked around, I noticed how amazing they decorated the place. They went with the Great Gatsby theme, and since it was mostly underclassmen in charge of decorations, I didn't think it would turn out that good.
After admiring the scene, we claimed our seats which was pretty close to the dance floor.
"The hell is she wearing?" I heard Liana ask.
I turn my head and slightly cringe. Destiny had on an all white jumpsuit that she paired with a pair of deep red heels and a dark purple clutch. Honestly the only thing that looked nice on her was her makeup and hair.
I then heard Miracle gasp, "Omg, Chasity and Ali look soo pretty!" My eyes then shifted towards Ali and Chasity.
She wasn't lying either. Both girls looked stunning in their dresses. Ali wore a floral two piece, and had minimal makeup. Her whole outfit made her look innocent which wasn't like her since she always went all out when she dressed up, and that's what I was expecting, but she looks stunning and that's all that matters.
Chasity looked stunning as well and I'm not even gonna lie. She wore a strapless, mermaid type of dress. She had some beach wave type of curls in her hair and it went with her dress vey well.
"Damn." Was all I said.
"Shorty lookin' thick in the white though." Rodney mumbled. I turned and glared at him while Mya punched him in his shoulder, "Damn girl. Hit like a fucking man." He said as he rubbed his shoulder.
"Nigga shut up, we don't fuck with the opps." Kailah said.
Rodney mumbled something under his breath and turned to talk to Kado.