William

XIX

DANNY

It's been a few days since I last spoke to Will and I wasn't regretting it. I had quit the basketball team after the incident and didn't look back. I hated the sport to be honest. I only played, so Will and I would have more in common.

I started hanging out with these dudes from my Math class. They were the complete opposite of the gang, but I needed a change of pace. I needed to change my surroundings to find myself as a person.

My new friends didn't see me as a sidekick or a shadow. They saw me as their friend and I really appreciated that.

I've seen Will around the school with his busted ass eye and I knew if I was still his friend at the time, Leah probably would've whooped my ass too. One person I haven't seen since that fight was Kani. I heard she got it bad though. I hoped she was okay.

Now, thinking about this whole situation, I should've just left Will when Leah did. I could've been my own person, but I felt a lil bad for him. To be honest, I'm glad she left him. I was always jealous of their lil relationship, but now I don't have to worry about them anymore. I wish Kani luck having to deal with him.

WILL

It's been days since I heard from Kani and that wasn't like her. I needed to talk to her, but she wasn't answering any of my calls or texts. I decided to pop up on her to see what was up.

I walked over to her house and rung the door bell. After waiting a few minutes, no one answered. I knocked and still no one answered. I figured no one was home and decided that I'd just try again tomorrow. As I walked away, the door opened.

"Yes, Will?" Kani asked, peaking out the door.

"I've been messaging and calling you."

"Yeah, I saw."

"Well, are you okay? I haven't seen you since that day."

"Do I look fucking okay?" She shouted.

She opened the door wider, showcasing her bruised face. She had a cast on her wrist and a splint on her broken nose.

"Do I look fucking okay?" She asked again with tears, flowing down her face.

I felt so bad. I walked up to her and pulled her into my chest as tight as I possibly could. She and Leah had they beef, but the real beef was between Leah and I. We had a lot of unsolved tension and feelings. Add family issues to that and that'd make anyone want to fight.

"Kani, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I never thought it would escalate to a fight."

"Where were you?! I'm in a fucking fight and where was my boyfriend?!" She screamed.

"I was there! I broke the shit up."

"After how long? Then, you grab her ass and y'all were staring into each other's souls and shit." She said, still crying her eyes out.

"She punched me in my shit!" I shouted

"You want her, don't you?" She asked, nervously.

In that moment, I didn't know what I wanted. I really liked Kani, but I missed Leah. I tried to keep in mind what Leah's grandma told me, but looking at Kani hurt just got to me. And what makes it worse, is that she got hurt because of me. Should I just end it now and save her from future pain both physically and mentally?

"Do you?!" She shouted.

"No." I said, plainly.

"No?" She asked, confused.

"No, I don't want her. I want you. Whatever Leah and I had is over. Especially, after messing with you, I want nothing to do with her."

"You promise?" She wiped her tears.

"Yeah, bae I'm here for you and I'm always going to be here for you. I didn't back you up like I should've, but that won't happen again."

"I'll hold you to that."

"What do you want to do for the rest of the day? I'm all yours."

"Can we just lay up and watch movies?"

"Whatever you want."

"You sure you can still see with that eye?" She asked, chuckling.

"I know you ain't talking with that nose." I busted out laughing.

It felt good to laugh about the situation afterwards. Kani and I had a long road ahead of us, but I was down for the ride. I was done with Leah. Fuck what her grandma said. I needed to make a choice and I choose Kani.