Chapter 23: Give Her a Call

***Monday, 8:39 A.M. | Tamia***

It was two weeks before Christmas and I was officially done with my first semester of college. So much had happened over the past few months: I'd aced all my midterms and finals, and I was also checking out some of the sororities on campus. Jason and I were still talking, mainly over the phone except for a Draper Brothers concert in Atlanta last month. Things were going well for Jason too: he and his brothers had a limited-series TV show streaming online that was loosely based on their real lives as teen superstars. I noticed that Jason's love interest on the show was that actress Christine whom Alex and Camala were talking about... but The Draper brothers also released another album called *Dreams*, and Jason sent me a copy.





***12:19 P.M.***

"So far," Vie said, "I'm getting all A's."

A few hours later, I was at Morrissa's house with Vie. We were all on break so we were catching up.

"That's great!" I said. I wanted to stay focused on the small talk because I knew Vie and Morrissa had seen the TV show, and I wasn’t ready to address Christine.

“So are y’all thinking about joining a sorority?” I asked.

“I might,” said Morrissa, “but only if their color is pink.”

“It’s not about the colors, Riss,” Vie said. “It’s about what the sorority stands for.”

“Right.” I said. “I was thinking about Mu Sigma Epsilon. And if we all pledge the same sorority, we’ll be sorority sisters!”

“That’s true!” Vie said. “And being in a sorority will open up doors in the future.”

“I’ll think about it,” Morrissa said. “But now we have to discuss something else…”

I knew where this was going.

“And what’s that?” asked Vie.

“The Draper Brothers’ new TV show,” Morrissa replied. “I know y’all saw it!”

“Oh yeah,” said Vie, turning to me, “are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I replied, “why wouldn’t I be? It’s just a show and they’re just acting.”

I knew I was trying to convince myself more than I was trying to convince them. Yes, it’s just a TV show and they’re acting, but Jason is the only brother with a love interest. This was probably done as a marketing ploy since he was the lead singer, but it still hurt me to see him with another girl— even if it wasn’t real.

“So what are y’all doing for Christmas this year?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I’m going back home to Tennessee,” Morrissa replied.

“And I’m going back to New York and staying there until school starts,” Vie said.

“What are you doing this year?” Morrissa asked.

“It’s back home to Philadelphia to celebrate Hanukkah with my dad’s family, and we’re celebrating Christmas in Jamaica with my mom’s family,” I replied.
My dad is ethnically Jewish, but not super religious. However, some of his family members— particularly my grandma— are more religious so we often celebrate Hanukkah with her back home in Philadelphia. On the other hand, my mother’s family is Christian and Jamaican. I always loved how different the two sides of my family are, and identified as both.





***Jason, 5:15 P.M.***

December was finally here and my brothers and I finally had a break from everything. We’d gone on tour, released a new album, and premiered a limited-series TV show. During that time, I only got to see Tamia once since I made sure that we did a show in Atlanta.

Now it was a week before Christmas, and I hadn’t received a text message from Tamia since the beginning of the month.

“Staring at your phone is gonna make her text back,” Caiden said without even looking up from his phone.

“But she hasn’t texted me back in days,” I said.

“Maybe she’s dating another guy,” Caiden said.

“Or,” Raymond interjected. “Maybe she’s spending time with her family. It *is* the holidays.”

What Raymond said was true. Sometimes our schedules are so hectic that I forget about the holidays.

“True,” I said. I’d also forgotten that Tamia told me that she was celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas— which didn’t happen at the same time this year— so it made sense that she was busy for a longer period of time… but I still missed talking to her.

“Why don’t you hit up Christine?” Caiden asked.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Raymond said, “y’know, just for the holidays.”

Neither of my brothers were ever really good at committing to one girl. In fact, I don’t think either of them were still seeing— or *talking* to— Morrissa and Vie. They always wondered why I was always committed to one girl at a time, but I always said why not? …Not that Tamia and I were committed to one another.

“She’s probably back home in New York,” I replied.

“You know she’ll fly out here to see you,” Caiden said.

“You two are good friends too, right?” asked Raymond.

It was true; we were. *I guess it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to do right?* I decided to **give her a call**.