•͟U͟N͟D͟E͟R͟S͟T͟A͟N͟D͟ ͟c͟a͟r͟t͟i͟u͟z͟i͟•͟

IX

"Yeah," I replied, "Mama's chill with it so we're all good." Jordan opened the door, and walked up to the front door alongside me. I made sure to lock the Acura behind me, because even if this was my hood, I knew for a fact that crime went on in it, especially after my literal next-door neighbor was robbed like two years prior.

I reached up into the flower holder the hung up beside the front door, and found the key. "Well, I know how to break into your house now." Jordan said, pointing at the flower holder. I hit him on the arm, causing him to laugh. I unlocked the front door, and Jordan and I walked in. Mama was in the living room, working on her laptop. The firm gave her extra work over the weekend, which always sucked.

"Hey, Mama," I shouted from the hallway, "I have someone I want you to meet." Mama stood up from the couch that she was sitting at, and began to walk over to Jordan and I. She gave me a hug, and I said, "Mama, this is Jordan; he just moved from Charlotte." Mama gave him a hug, and said, "Hey, Jordan; you like Atlanta so far?"

Jordan nodded his head, causing his cute little dreads to shake. Fuck, his hair was so cute. "Well it's good to meet you sweetheart. Y'all can hang out if you want to, just try not to go in the living room while I'm working; I've got some deadlines I need to meet this weekend." Mama explained. "Of course, Mama," I stated, "we won't bother you." She smiled and sat back down at the couch. I grabbed Jordan's arm, and pulled him into my room.

"Sy," Jordan explained, "I can understand why you're so sweet now." It was really hard not to blush at that, but I did anyways. I walked over towards my closet where I slipped my Vans off, and grabbed my speaker. I walked over to Jordan, and noticed he still had his shoes on. "Carti, you don't need to keep your shoes on." I laughed. He looked down at his feet, "Oh, ok." he said, as he slipped off his white Air Force 1s. His feet looked so much bigger than mine, which were just size 8s. This topic seemed to oddly confuse me, and for some reason I needed to know the answer.

"Yo, Carti?" I asked him. He looked over towards me, "Symere?"

"Weird-ass question, but what shoe size you wear?"

Jordan laughed, "Why, are you tryna cop mine?" I laughed also, "Nah, just wondering, G."

"Shit, just 11, nothing wild. You?" Jordan responded, displaying one of his Air Forces. "Nah, Carti don't complain; I'm only an 8." I replied.

Jordan's eyes got big from shock, as he walked over to me, and sat beside me at the foot of my bed. He scooted close to me, and grabbed my leg, holding his foot next to mine, comparing the sizes. "What the fuck, why are they so small?" Jordan laughed.

"Small feet for a small Symere." I replied. "Well, you know what they say about foot size, right?" Jordan replied.

"Shut uppppppp; everybody knows that shit." I replied, "Besides, who's saying I'm not packing below the waist, anyways?" Jordan laughed, and for some reason, I could hear a small tinge of nervousness within his laugh. Not sure why, but it just was something I managed to notice. There was a period of awkward silence afterward, where we just sat beside each other in complete silence. I decided to break this silence.

"Did Caleb or Travis ever respond?" I asked. "Honestly, I haven't checked, but I probably should." Jordan somewhat exclaimed, as he once again turned towards his phone. "Damn," I thought, "he almost likes his phone as much as Sheyaa does." I walked over towards my TV, where I turned on my Xbox, followed by a response from Jordan.

"Nah, nothing." he said. "Damn bro," I said, putting my arm around him, "that sucks that they just kinda ditched you."

"Nah, it's all good," Jordan began, "I actually kinda like this more than the game in a sense."

"Yeah?" I replied, "I sorta do too." Carti gave me his extra-contagious smile before he asked what games I had on my Xbox. I went down the list of everything from Fortnite, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed, Need For Speed, Forza Horizon, but was stopped by Jordan on one game I hadn't played in a quick minute.

"Oh my god, I was a fucking lord in Minecraft in like the 6th Grade." Jordan told me. "So was I," I replied, which was true. I remember having a Minecraft world with both Miles and Nayvadius in like the 8th grade. "I bet that I could beat you in like everything in Minecraft."

"Oh really?" he challenged, "I'd like to see that."

"Bet." I said, opening Minecraft and passing him my extra controller. And when I say that is what we did for the next two and a half hours, I'm not joking, and that was easily one of the most entertaining times I've ever played Minecraft. After awhile, I looked at my phone to see the time had become 12:45 A.M, a definitive change from the 10:15 P.M I had been observing what felt like minutes ago. "Oh, shit." I said.

"What is it, Sy?" Jordan asked, putting down his controller. "Dude, it's like one in the morning." I replied. Jordan ran his hands through his dreads in what seemed to be frustration.

"Well, shit," I started, "do you mind spending the night here?" I liked the idea of keeping Jordan to myself even longer, because I had loved it so far. "Shit, if you're gonna invite me, I guess I gotta." he replied, smiling. I got excited. "What if we sleep together?" I thought to myself, my short ass getting even more excited than I thought was possible. "Besides," Jordan continued, "tonight's been pretty cool, so far."

"So, uh," I began, "would you want to like sleep on my floor, or something." Jordan hesitated, but then said, "So, like, I know this is gonna sound sus as fuck, but I'm chill sleeping in the same bed as long as we both have clothes on." I shot my eyes around in nervousness, "Yeah, I'm good with that, as long as it stays between us."

"Of course," Jordan said, "you just better not be one of those people who like attaches themselves to other people when they sleep." I giggled, "Nah, Carti, don't worry about that."

"I don't know, Symere," Jordan laughed, as he took his sweatshirt off, "you just seem like you'd be that kinda person." I made big, sad eyes, and said, "Jordy, just because I'm short, and look childish does not mean I possess the qualities of those people." He ran his hand through my dreads, laughing his cute little laugh.

We both got into the bed at like 1:30, and I put Netflix's The Society on in the background. Neither of us were really watching it, but rather just using it as background noise, as we just sorta talked about our pasts. It was sorta like "Netflix and chill", but without all the sex. Being honest, though, I learned a fuck ton about Jordan in that bed; everything from about he was a SoundCloud star back in North Carolina, with him rapping to his old friend, Adrian's, beats, to why he had to move to Atlanta in the first place. I felt so sorry for his situation, just coming home one day to see that he didn't have his house essentially anymore.

After about an hour of this, I felt that it was finally time. It was time for Jordan to finally know the truth, and hopefully I would hear something similar in return.

"Hey, Carti, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you." I announced. Jordan's beautiful dark brown eyes gazed at me, asking what I needed to say.

"What's that, Sy?"

"Jordan," I hesitantly stuttered, "I'm gay."