meant to be | j. parker¹

THIRTY-SIX

a/n: this chapter will be about Aaliyah's summer and her time with Darnell.

On the first day of summer, Aaliyah had been invited to a house party by Chris which she was a little hesitant to attend at first but decided on going since she had nothing better to do. At the party, she had a couple of drinks and ran into Darnell who also seemed to have a couple of drinks. The next thing she knew she was in a bathroom having drunk sex with the boy. The hookup was quickly forgotten by the two. Since her breakup with JJ, Aaliyah had been spending less time at the Beverly cafe and started spending more time at Slauson Cafe in Crenshaw, where she would constantly run into Darnell Hayes. The two who were only on a first-name basis had quickly formed a small friendship.

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Slauson Cafe-Beginning of Summer

"Aaliyah Baker back at the cafe?" Darnell teased, sliding in next to her at a secluded table in the corner. "Hey, Darnell, what's up?" she asked lifting the sunglasses from her face and revealing her once again hungover state.

"Just noticed you in here by yourself. Again," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I found my new spot to hang out at...Beverly Hills is not the place where I should be right now," she giggled. "You know considering the—"

"Break up. Yeah, no. I completely understand. Spencer's been spending a lot of time with your sister so, I've been spending a lot of my time here, too," he responded.

"Yeah, those two are super close," she whistled lowly. "Where's Dillon? Or is he too cool for you," she teased.

"Summer camp," he shrugged.

"Of course he is," she mumbled reaching into her purse and slipping her flask out, discreetly pouring some into the iced tea she had on the table.

Darnell gave the girl a look of concern watching her drink the liquor. "Should you be drinking again? Every time I see you, you're hungover. I'm pretty sure you've gone through at least one bottle of vodka per day. I mean, that can't be nor—"

"Thanks for the concern but, I'm fine. Just taking the edge off," she hummed taking a sip out of her drink.

"I know this is none of my business. But, wasn't your sister in rehab...I've read some stuff and addiction can affect families in different ways," Darnell admitted, approaching her drinking habits as nicely as he possibly could.

"I'm fine," she hissed, snatching her keys off of the table and walking out of the cafe. Darnell watched as she angrily walked out of the cafe, noticing the way she bumped into things on her way out. Not wanting the girl to drive home drunk, he quickly ran after her snatching the keys from her car and demanding that she got into the passenger seat so that he could safely drive her home. "You can't tell my parents. They'll freak. I'm just gonna head straight to my room and sleep this off," she whispered watching him pull up to her driveway and noticing her dad's car also there.

"I won't," he lied, turning her car off and handing her keys back. Darnell waited a good ten minutes before knocking on the door of the Baker house. "Darnell? What are you doing here?" Laura asked opening the door. "Mind if I come inside? It's important. I think you and Coach Baker should hear this," Darnell replied, nervously fiddling with his fingers.

"Come inside. Billy!" Laura called out, alerting the man's attention.

Laura and Billy sat side by side out in the backyard at the table across from the boy. "Darnell, what's going on? This is kind of—"