Skylar was rushing to get ready for class after waking up late. Setting her alarm was easy, but after practicing hard the night before getting out of bed seemed almost impossible. Her team was in contention for a championship and practicing was something that took up most of her time now.
Looking in the mirror, she put her long black hair in a ponytail and slipped on her panties and bra looking at her dark brown body in the mirror, hoping her face was presentable for the outside world. She did not need to look perfect, but just presentable enough to get through English, and Sociology.
After spending most of her life playing basketball she was never concerned with her body's appearance. She knew she had a cute ass that had a perfect bump to it, and breasts that were a bit larger than a B, but bras that were meant for a C seemed just a tad too big. Although she covered her breasts with a sports bra most of the time, she decided to just throw on a sweater hoping nobody would stare.
Dwayne had just become her ex a few days ago and his constant text messages apologizing were now becoming annoying and blocking him was the only way she could focus on college and her game. The thought of him cheating on her still burnt red hot and even thinking about it hurt. There was no going back for her and moving on was her main goal now.
Although since he was on the men's team it was hard at times since they shared the same court some days. Shutting her phone off before class was something done to cut down on his texts and calls trying to get her back.
Getting to class a few minutes late and finding a seat was an accomplishment. The professor had yet to pass around the attendance sheet, and she took that as a sign of relief knowing that the rush to get to class was a win. All she could do now was focus the best she could while thinking about the next game.
Skylar let her mind drift to playing basketball, and the hopes that a game will bring her one more step to winning a championship. She knew that her level of play was good, but needing to play better was always nagging at her. Her scholarship was only a partial one, and grades and on the court performance were still needing to be kept at a high level.
When the girl in front of her leaned back to give her a handout, she took it and looked on it with horror. It was a list of projects, and presentation deadlines. All of the later deadlines were filled and the only one that was not filled was the first spot which was a week away. She cursed the fact she did not listen to her teammate Beth about taking this class as the professor was known for not being fair.
The class was let go early and she knew a visit to the library needed to happen right away. Skylar had an hour to kill before her English class, and she needed to get two books before even starting the project. With her ability to hustle, getting to the library was easy. Knowing she got there before anyone else in her previous class made her smile deviously.
With a quick search, she found that there was almost no information on the project online. It was both an independent research project, and a book analysis wrapped together with a presentation. There was nothing about the books she needed online, and she would have to go old school and check out the books. The only thing Skylar knew was that if anyone else in the class was checking out the same books, she beat them to the library before them.
She breathed in deep with a sense of purpose, as she knew handling her school work was something she had over most of her team. She studied hard in high school and was able to hold her own on the SATs, and pass without any help offered to athletes with low grades and high abilities. Although she knew she was good, she was not a superstar like two of the girls on her team. She was a starter, but earned her place after her freshman year.
With a quick lookup in the library computer, Skylar realized her hope of a good grade was derailed. The book was checked out, and it was not due back until the end of the month. The odds of her finishing the project without this book were almost impossible. She would have to scour the internet to piece together the information needed and that was only if it was on the internet. Looking online to buy the book, she found it was offered for over three hundred dollars. Skylar knew that the price was jacked up because of the high demand.
She walked over to the librarian's desk knowing that there was a chance that the campus could borrow the book from an outside library. She reached into her purse to pull out her student ID, and just as she grabbed it, her phone slipped out and landed right on the corner. Her heart dropped as she knew it was brand new, and the case was in the mail. She bought an expensive case just because she spent so much on the phone.
Before she even handed the lady her ID, Skylar picked up her phone to see that the edge was dented in and the screen completely gone. She could not even see the screen as the glass was so badly shattered.
The urge to cry was only tempered by the fact the school could get the book in, but it would take two weeks. The project was due in two and a half weeks, and with all the research needed it was an almost impossible task. She walked out of the library trying to figure out how badly her GPA was going to drop.
Walking to her next class defeated, she saw an ad in the lobby for broken phones. It was someone on campus that fixed broken screens. It offered a guarantee to fix all phones. There was no price listed for the repairs, but it had both a phone number for pickup and a room number of a dorm that was right nearby.
Skylar knew a simple text to find out how much it would cost would be the easiest way, but she could not even see anything on her screen. She knew it was broken worse than anything else she had seen before. Going to this room number to find out the cost was her only option.
She walked up the two flights of steps to see a dorm that was filled with students who either did not make a fraternity, or were more interested in playing video games than anything else. It was a collection of geeks, and social outcasts. Skylar was a black girl basketball player in a dorm probably filled with guys who had yet to lose their virginity, and she could feel the stares on her.
Knocking on the door she was met with a voice saying that the door was open. She stepped into what could only be described as a room turned into some workplace shop for building computers. There were posters of all geeky things on the walls, and computer parts strewn across the room.
The only person in the room was a white boy in his very early twenties who was at a desk working on a cellphone. His brown hair was a mess, and she could tell he had never been picked to play a sport in his life. He looked lanky and almost awkward, but his attention perked once she entered.
"Can I help you?" he said almost nervous, but his voice sounded normal compared to the younger students in the hall.
"Yeah. I broke my phone, and was hoping you could fix it," Skylar replied, handing over her phone. She was more worried about the cost than his ability to fix it.
"Ahh. The new IPhone. You really did a number on it. I can see it's not turning on so that means one of the ribbon cables is broken too. Design flaw that they had not counted on. These new phones are temperamental and they break easy. It will cost you about two hundred just for the parts, and I charge a hundred. The ribbon cable is expensive and Apple changed the type of screens they use, so I can't use the older models for parts. I am sorry but I can't go lower than three hundred."
"Fuck...you don't have any spare parts you could throw in there. I don't have three hundred dollars," Skylar said as she knew that replacing the phone would cost almost a grand. It was all the money she had and even buying food for the month was hard because of buying the new phone.
"I mean, I can sell you another phone cheap, but you have the newest phone and there are no cheap parts yet," he said, giving her back her phone.
Skylar quickly looking around the room saw that he had phones all over his room in various stages of being taken apart. He had a large bookshelf that was filled with books, and another one next to it filled with movies. She thought about something she could trade him, but all she had was a spare computer that early worked.
"I can get fifty to you by tomorrow, could you do that...please?" Skylar plead, hoping that it might work, and saw that he was looking at her as if he was attracted to her. She dismissed it though, knowing that he was a white boy who was probably not going to budge for a black girl, and not for an athlete at that.
"Sorry. I can't. I still have to order the parts, and I don't do loans. Do you have anything to trade?" he replied, not sounding moved by her plea. Although she knew she did not put any real effort in sounding desperate.
"I have a Mac. I got it about 6 years ago, would you take that?" she answered, opening her eyes wide as she thought it would be enough.
"I don't trade for Macs, and an old Mac is not worth more than a hundred. I will do this for you...I will order your parts and fix it now, and when you have the money, you can pick it up. This way you don't have to wait when you do have the money."
"Okay, I can do that. I have some money on me now, and will put money towards you fixing it," Skylar replied with a smile, knowing it would give her some time to ask to borrow money from some of her friends. She knew her old boyfriend Dwayne would not give her a dime, but Jessica on her team might loan her some.
She pulled open her purse and fished out the money she had stuffed in one side pocket. Just as she began counting the money, the library loan slip came out with her money.
He picked up the slip and looked at her "Skylar right?" he asked while holding the book loan slip.
"Yeah, you know me?" she asked, wondering if she had a class with him before, or he might remotely be a fan of girls' basketball.
"I am Brad. You are looking for this book?" Brad asked, almost smiling.
"Yeah. The library says their copy is out and I have to do an inter-library loan to get a copy."
"You have Sociology with Professor Franks then," Brad said still smiling wide.
"Yeah. Are you in the class with me?" Skylark asked as she tried to remember seeing him in the class.
"You have that research presentation due on human behavior in the work place, and then an analysis on comparing it to the writer's view point right?"
"Yeah. Are you doing the same one?" she asked, hoping that he might be the one who borrowed the book.
"I had Professor Johnson last year and he did the same boring project. Franks took over after Johnson had his heart attack. I did the same project as you."
