meant to be | j. parker¹

NINETEEN

"Hello, sister, who I love oh, so very much," Liv said wrapping her arms behind Aaliyah whose face was scrunched up in disgust. "Absolutely not. Let go of me," Aaliyah scoffed pushing her sister's arms off of her.

"Are you coming with me to dad's reunion tomorrow?" Liv asked eating a spoonful of yogurt. "Nope. I'm hanging out with my boyfriend," she responded looking at her phone. "What do I have to do to convince you to come?" Liv asked taking her phone from her hands.

"Why does everyone think that's okay?" she scoffed looking at her sister place her phone in her pocket. "What if JJ came tomorrow and I filled your gas tank for two weeks?" Liv bargained raising her eyebrows.

"Make it a month and you have a deal," Aaliyah said holding her hand out. "Deal. But, you have to convince Jordan to come with us. I'd do it but, since there's three of us it's your turn to convince him," Liv said shaking her hand and smirking.

"Evil bitch," she whispered under her breath. "No!" Laura yelled walking into the kitchen with Jordan trailing behind her. "Ma?" Jordan pleaded.

"I already gave you your phone back, Jordan. I am not giving you, your keys," Laura yelled. "Okay, fine. Can I at least use the account to order a ride? Look, I have a thing tomorrow night," Jordan explained while the two sisters sat in the kitchen with amused looks on their faces.

"Does this thing have a name?" Laura asked her son. "It's not a date," he sighed. "What part of grounded is confusing?" she questioned.

"Look, Cara doesn't have a car, alright? And I told her I'd help her out. Am I not allowed to help out a friend in need?" Jordan pleaded pathetically. "I'm sorry, Jordan. I didn't realize how hard it is to be you right now," their mom said.

"Thank you," Jordan said raising his arms. "So was that a yes?"

"Nope. Stop asking!" she exclaimed walking away.

"What? You two got something witty to say?" Jordan asked turning to look at the two girls. "Yes, we do. But, we're going to keep it to ourselves. And, um, Liyah has a solution to your complicated dating life," Liv said nudging her sister.

"I'm listening," Jordan said walking closer to them. "Go with us to dad's reunion barbecue tomorrow," Aaliyah said to him.

"Won't Grace James be there? The whole day will just be a huge reminder of what happened," Jordan dramatically stated. "My car can be all yours tomorrow night. Just go to the reunion," she said.

"And hang out with dad," Liv added. "You two are bribing me," Jordan said tilting his head to look at them. "Yes."

"Just don't have sex in my car. My seats aren't leather and stains are really hard to get out of them," Aaliyah warned him raising her eyebrows. "I don't want to know how you even found that out," Jordan mumbled scrunching his face up in disgust.

✯✯✯

"Dude, why are you here? My dad barely likes you," Jordan uttered towards JJ who had Aaliyah tucked under his arm. "I don't know. She told me to come, so I came," JJ shrugged, putting a grin onto his girlfriend's face. "You're basically her bitch," Jordan scoffed.

"Yeah. I don't mind," he chuckled. "By the way, Aaliyah. Your gas tank was empty. When was the last time you've been to a gas station?" Jordan complained stomping his feet like a child. "First of all, be glad you have a car. Second of all, do you know how much gas my stupid car burns? I literally filled it like, two days ago," she scoffed hitting his shoulder. "That's why you get a sensible car. Not a Jeep," Liv butted in peeking her head over Jordan's shoulder.