Black Cotton (Nadi)

[Kelvin Westfield]

Kelvin's brown eyes slowly opened, the only thing he could see at first being his eyelashes. He closed his eyes and rubbed his the skin covering his eyes. He opened them again as he waited for his eyes to calibrate, slowly sitting upside, as he rested his shoulders on his knees. As he waited for his body to stop feeling like two ton weights. Then he sat up, going to his drawer, and finding a blank T-Shirt, putting it on, and then his basketball shorts. At that time in his life, Kelvin didn't even bother using the frat house shower, because his morning routine landed him in the gym, so he usually showered there and dressed up. His morning routine consisted of him going to the basketball court for a few hours. It didn't really give him time for breakfast, so he usually grabbed a candy bar, so he didn't play on an empty stomach. But that was where Kelvin's good friend Nadi came in. Kelvin still couldn't figure out if Nadi was of Arabic, Latina, Indian or Asian descent. Why did Kelvin care? He shrugged the thought off. But yeah, Nadi loved to cook and bake, so she was Kelvin's usual breakfast provider, and Kelvin was probably her number one taster, as he was always there to taste the things she made.

Kelvin drove down to the gym at the school, as his stomach grumbled. He walked into the gym and got a chocolate bar from the vending machine. Kelvin walked over to the gym, it was very nice, the weights on one part of the gym, and the basketball court on the other one. He took a basketball from one of the rackets that held all the sporting equipment. Kelvin honestly could say that apart from music, basketball was another place Kelvin, he could get to a peaceful place with it, just him and the ball, him and the ball. As Kelvin waited for Nadi to come, he played a quick game of Pick up, and then after playing a bit, he sat back down and waited for his friends, with his eyes-

[Nadeen Desjardins]

There were mornings, Nadeen felt most energetic, as if she’d always been a morning person!
There were also mornings where she could hardly wipe the sleep from her eyes. The young woman would curse the sandman for weighing her down with lead, leaving her to struggle with the simplest tasks. Hardly ever, did she find an in-between.

 Today, had been the later. She struggled to slip into her yoga pants and form fitting tanktop. Nadi damned the constricting sports bra, hugging her chest, it only added to the morning’s frustration.

For most girl’s it would be logical to take their morning strut to the gym wearing their tennis shoes. Nadi however decided to sport a nice pair of heels, carrying her Adidas in her gym bag—along with a few other necessities. With a quick slap of black eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss she felt she was presentable to make the long trudge across campus.

Pink hoodie on, bag on her back, breakfast in a Tupperware container, Nadeen was ready to hit play on her mp3 to finally meet up with Kelvin, arriving fifteen minutes late (which certainly could be attributed to her choice of heels for the walk).

“Hey sugar,” Nadi called out with a yawn entering the gym. Not surprised, she found he was the only one here, practicing so early. This hadn’t been the first time they’d met here. It was a nice motivation to get up and work out, while having a nice catch up with a friend.

 Stepping to the side, Nadi sat on a bleacher and quickly swapped out her shoes for ones more appropriate. Who could have blamed her? Her legs looked fantastic in heels and the form fitting yoga capri pants just show cased it all the more.

Lifting her hands, she quickly tied her hair into a messy ponytail. “I assume we’ve been holding out to eat?” Nadi asked with a soft chuckle placing the clear box in her lap. The muffins had been made the night before, but warmed again before coming. “Cinnamon banana,” she explained with another yawn popping off the top. Without a doubt, Nadeen was ready to eat as well, she considered having a snack on the way here but decided against it in respect to their little tradition.

[Kelvin Westfield]

Kelvin realized that their certain routine kinda deprived them both of sleep. Kelvin did it because he felt obligated, wanting to be the best at both things he did, both at music and at basketball. And this was the year Kelvin could probably make his choice on what he wanted to do. He hadn't told anyone but he was thinking that if he had a good season, he would most likely put his name in the draft, and chances would be more or so he might get drafted, and maybe leave California if he was drafted to another state that didn't include the Lakers, Clippers or The Kings. Kelvin still wondered. But apart from his goals, he didn't really know why Nadi kept coming. Yes, Kelvin enjoyed her company, I mean, she was like a sister to him, he loved her, but he also cared about her, and knew that she probably needed sleep. Because, in Kelvin's mind she kept coming because Kelvin was too idiotic to get his own breakfast, even though he could just grab something from the kitchen. But Nadi, bless her heart, was there for Kelvin, and that was one of the main things Kelvin loved about Nadi. In Kelvin's mind, in the Swag Squad, Nadi played sort of the member of the mom. Kelvin didn't see himself as leader, not because he was conceited, but because it would lead to a minor conflict between him and Cici. And honestly, it was Cici's house they all hung out at, and ate, and stuff.

Kelvin turned to his friend coming, as he sat next to her on the bleachers. "Hey there." Kelvin said, giving Nadi a peck on the cheek, which was how lots of friends greeted each other. Then she revealed the tapperware to Kelvin. This routine had gone on for a while, and cinnamon banana was probably one the things Kelvin had enjoyed most when Nadi made him breakfast. He rubbed his eyes. Oh how much his eyes wanted to close so he could just rest, but too late, he wasn't in bed. He looked at Nadi. "I don't know why I just done marry you right now." Kelvin said, half meaning it. If it wasn't for the fact that Kelvin didn't really have a lot of romantic feelings for Nadi, and saw her as a sister. But apart from that, she would be like the best wife ever. Kelvin would admit, he had thoughts about Nadi at times, but that was normal. He didn't know about girls, but Kelvin knew that it was very unlikely for a guy to be friends with a pretty attractive girl, or maybe not even attractive, and not have had dirty thoughts about her once. Kelvin could admit, he would have a little thought now and then, but nothing too serious.

Kelvin sat next to Nadi and looked at her, as she yawned. Kelvin put an arm around her, and pushed her head so it could gently rest on Kelvin's shoulders. "You look tired.. And I'm pretty beat.. Maybe break tradition for the first time and go back to bed? I'll drive you home."

[Nadeen Desjardins]

Lifting her chin up and slightly to the side, she gave Kelvin an easy quick kiss. Nadi didn’t even bat an eye, used to greeting by now. The first time of course, her hands had flown up without hesitation pushing him back, giving him a ‘hey now…’ breakdown of their friendship. Since then, she’d taken the kiss as a simple token of their friendship.

“Whaaat?” Nadi asked lifting her head, sitting back up straight. “Dude, I just walked my happy ass across campus, fuck that.” She said with a slight tone to her voice, evidence she was still waking up. Battling the mornings her language tended be slightly more foul and her attitude, sour.

She had no intention of going back to bed, this was a chance for her to wake up and do early morning yoga. Maybe play a little basketball while getting in their weekly chats. “Now eat your muffin and say, thank you Nadi, you are the best cook ever.” She playfully boasted, taking a bite of her own muffin. Even she couldn’t help but smile at the decadent taste, it was an unexpected surprise with the extra kick of cinnamon in the fluffy pasty.

“Now about marrying me, would you believe that isn’t the first time someone has said that?” Nadeen asked with a chuckle. “Don’t be blind Kelvin, my food has seductive properties that lure people into my trap.” She shimmed her shoulders, while attempting to give her company feisty look. It was lost to her drowsiness.

Nadeen then groaned with a loud sigh, thinking, in the span of two minutes Kelvin had already kissed her cheek, offered to take her back home, and a quasi marriage proposal.
“How is it, you can be you and do all this with your friend…But I can’t get the guy I like, to make one basic move on me?” Turning to look up at Kelvin with puppy dog eyes.

The best thing about having guy friends, were guy opinions, getting a new perspective on things without all the white noise that she tended to cloud her thoughts with. A bonus perk of course, was showing off your outfit to male friends first. Looking to see if their eyes lingered before bashfully turning a blind eye, pretending they weren’t checking out someone who was supposed to be like a sister to them. It was a great test to see if the outfit got the job done, so what if it made you a little vain, right? No doubt, Kelvin had been one of these victims once or twice.

[Kelvin Westfield]

Kelvin sat back as he took a bite out of the Cinnamon Banana, which sent his tongue into a great adventure of flavor. He looked over at his shorter friend. Kelvin knew he was taller than most of his friends, maybe all of them. Kelvin was built like a basketball player, and even though he was twenty one, he had grown and inch the last year, maybe he would grow some more. Or maybe he would just stay at 6'2. He was tall enough to play basketball in the pro league. Kelvin looked down at his shorter friend, whom Kelvin remembered had brought heels. Kelvin knew Nadi like to show up fashionable, but heels to a basketball court? Eh, it wasn't his business. He looked at her. "Well," Kelvin cleared his throat. "Your ass is looking kind of tired." Kelvin said, then his eyes widened once he realized what he just said. He had only been referring to the fact that Nadeen had said 'Happy ass'. "I mean like.. Not that I've been staring at your ass or anything. Not at all. But like..." At that moment Kelvin decided maybe he should just shut up. Kelvin took another bite out of the muffin, and after Nadi's comment. Kelvin got up, and lifted Nadi up by her waist, and lifted her off there air. "Thank you, Nadi! You are the master chef!" Kelvin said, imitating the voice of a child, half yelling, half talking.

Kelvin laughed at Nadi's joke. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure it does. Eating your muffins makes me just wanna give you a foot rub, and watch Chelsea lately." Kelvin joked with her, only being a quarter serious. Kelvin finished off his muffin, and took another one. And while having it in his mouth, he took his basketball and shot it, making the shot. He looked at the sort girl. Kelvin looked when Nadi said that. "Well. I mean, it could be, A) The guy is an idiot, and hasn't taken a good look at you. B) He's a closet gay, or C) Your just bad a flirting... I'm filling to go with the first, or the latter." Kelvin explained. Smiling. Getting up and dribbling the basketball.

[Nadeen Desjardins]

Nadeen snapped her gaze towards Kelvin, eyes narrowing. “My what?” She asked, sitting up straight. Oh if there was one thing she was self-conscious about it was her hips and ass. They were the largest thing on her. If she could Nadi would crush her hips to the perfect size, bearing any pain it may have brought. But she knew what he was getting at, simply playing off her words. Hell it didn’t even bother he was looking at her ass, it just bothered her…It drew more attention.

Lifted into the air, unexpectedly, Nadeen screamed. Her arms wrapping around his broad shoulders for support. Her shriek echoed in the empty gym, it was moments like this which made her grateful they did this early in the mornings, when no one else was around. “Set me down, please?” She asked kicking the tip of her Adidas against his leg. The shoes, which she had promptly changed into once in the gym, not foolish enough to wear heals while actually playing.

“You like feet?” She asked with a snicker, once on the ground, bending over in a stretch. Of course she wasn’t one to judge but neither of those would be her first picks for her theoretical husband to do. Switching sides, Nadeen eyed him easily taking the shot. A skill she had accepted she would never possess. To get a single basket in a thirty minute period was nothing short of a miracle.

“Hah! Me? Bad at flirting, Kelvin, sugar you haven’t seen me flirt.” Still the girl felt a pout rise to her cheeks. Her lips pursed together in thought, she sent plenty of signals Aidan’s way he was just always such a great guy and did the polite thing. He was trust worthy, he’d never take advantage of her, which was great! But he wouldn’t take that extra step to put a relationship underway.

“I think B. I’ve seen him look at my chest, he knows I’m adorable.” Nadi laughed, adding a quick “Kidding, kidding.” It wasn’t wise to toot your own horn. “Why do you think, I’m bad at flirting?” Standing up straight, she rested her hands on her hips slowly walking towards the other, tilting her chin to look up. “Kelvin doesn’t think little Nadi has any game?” She questioned with a teasing tone.