Fallin 4 u

2.

Donald Earle Degrate Jr- 1989
Manhattan, New York, America

We made it! We made it!

After hours of driving to hotels to shops to... wherever the hell we stopped at, we finally got record deal at Uptown Records. We've always wanted to go there because there were people that we listened to like Guy, Al b sure, Heavy D... the list can go on. We were really inspired by them and we thought that if we drove from Charlotte to New York, we could pursue our music dreams and make it a reality there.

Heavy D, got the founder, Andre Harrell to listen to our Demos and he loved it. We went out for dinner and discussed everything for the future of the group. Right there I knew a group would be born.

JoDeCi!

Next day....

Andre made us come into the studio to meet the other people that were also working under his label. We saw Al b Sure, Father Mc, Guy, Heavy D & the boys, Christoper Williams and Justine.

JUSTINE!

The girl I've been crushing on since 88' was standing in the same room as me. I couldn't help myself but stare. I had no idea that she was signed to Uptown. She looked even more beautiful in person.

I was staring for a long time until I saw Christopher link arms with Justine. He must've saw me stare at her and did that so that he made sure that she was taken. Yes I might have a girlfriend back home and Justine might be taken, but she'll always be mine in my mind.

We walked over to greet everyone there. As I greeted everyone there, my focus was still on Justine but I did it discreetly. I couldn't help but smile when she smiled. It's something about her smile that brings joy to me. When I got my girlfriend pregnant, my dad kicked me out with literally no place to go, I would always listen to her songs to cheer me up. Sometimes I would go the music store to watch her music videos which made me even more happy. I think about her all the time when I'm lonely or when I'm dreaming. I might sound like a creep, but it's not my fault that I have so much love for her.

She slowly came my way and I fixed myself before she approached me.

'And you must be DeVante?!' She said smiling brightly

Her smile gave me life!

'Yes' I laughed nervously 'it's so nice to meet you Justine'

'It's nice too' she replied 'you know every time Andre says new people are coming in here, I always think that it would be a girl because I'm the only girl here but when I saw you guys I was like yes! Guys that might look my age!'

'How old are you?' I asked not trying to make it awkward

'I'm 17 nearly turning 18 next month' she smiled

'Looks like it's a two year gap' I smiled 'I'm turning 20 next month as well'

'No way your birthday is in September!' She said surprised 'What day?'

'29th' I said looking into her eyes

'Oh mine is the 4th' she said

We didn't have anything else to say and we continued staring into each other's eyes. To be honest, I've never been around a girl like her were I can be comfortable around her. I've just met her in person and she's like on of the guys to me. I kind of figured out that she's around here because her accent is pretty thick.

'So you around here?' I asked breaking the silence

'Yeah I'm from the bronx' she said 'a thuggish area but it made me have a tough personality. So if any of you guys try to test me, you'll learn the next time not to mess with me'

We continued to speak which went on for another five minutes. I have never been engaged in a conversation with a girl... except my mother. But that doesn't count. There's something about Justine that I like about her. She's confident, funny, nice but tough if you cross her and she's a laid back girl. She's around so many men and she doesn't dress to impress, she dresses in clothes that make her comfortable. She's not like the girls that go through the efforts of straightening their hair, she wears her hair natural and curly.

The conversation ended when Christopher called for her. Damn, time goes to quickly.

'Well it was nice to talk to you' she smiled 'See you around'

I waved at her and smiled. She ran of to Christopher as he embraced her into a hug and pecked her lips. I felt some type of way because I wanted that to be me and her, but I didn't let that get to me.