•͟U͟N͟D͟E͟R͟S͟T͟A͟N͟D͟ ͟c͟a͟r͟t͟i͟u͟z͟i͟•͟

EPILOGUE

Sheyaa laughed, "Yeah because I would LOVEEEEE to be sent out to jail with Jonathan."

Symere turned towards Sheyaa with a concerned look, "Jail?!?"

"Ahhhhh, that's right, you wasn't here when I told y'all that," Sheyaa started, "alright, so get this right? So during this fight and shit, ya know what I'm sayin'? Jonathan gets knocked onto the ground by yours truly, completely obliterated. Well, apparently, he drops a special bag outta his pocket; one that contains a special type of plant. Well, it turns out that Mr. Glover finds it, takes it to the school resource officer. Officer Smyrna gets it fingerprinted. Boom; arrested on the spot at his house for drug usage and distribution. That's why he wasn't at the game last night, ya know what I'm sayin'?"

Symere stared back and forth from Sheyaa and I, puzzled.

"That's a terrible way to get arrested, I'm happy to hear that straggot is in jail, though." Symere reluctantly remarked.

I laughed to Symere's new word, "You just made me new favorite word, baby."

He giggled, shoving me playfully.

"What's wit the whole 'Lil Uzi' ting though?" Rakim asked.

"Oh I just came up with it on the fly." Symere proclaimed.

"Yeah, but like, what's it mean?" Rakim queried.

"Uhhhhhhhh," Symere stuttered, looking back at me. It was then when it hit me: I told SySy he sucked dick like an Uzi shoots- fast. We laughed at the response. Rakim's sightline darted back and forth between me and Symere.

"Ayo, thank y'all for the answer; real informative." Rakim laughed.

The 4Runner took a sharp turn into a parking lot. This parking lot belonged to an age-old southern tradition: Waffle House. There was only one other person in the lot, leaning against their car, a brand new Range Rover.

"Ahhh shit, I forgot to tell y'all, I invited someone else here." Sheyaa atoned.

"You've got other friends, bitch?" Miles joked, to which Sheyaa hit him on the head with his fist.

"Seriously though, who man?" Miles asked again.

Sheyaa got out on his side of the car as Amala turned off the engine. Everyone else's doors opened, with all those getting out following Sheyaa. He slowly walked over to the person leaning against the Range Rover, who was browsing on their phone, as we all followed at the same pace. As Sheyaa got closer, the person looked up, revealing themselves to the chorus.

"I was wonderin' when you were gonna show up!" Jaden yelled across the parking lot, smiling.

Sheyaa walked up to Jaden, giving him a hug. They began to start whispering to one another, like they were a group of popular thirteen-year-old girls, while we stood a distance away. The shock was felt universally amongst us all, as the calm, quiet, perfect-attendance-earning Jaden Smith didn't seem to be the one that would even THINK about being friends with Sheyaa outside of common courtesy.

Jaden and Sheyaa finished their brief whispering session with a nod, and both started walking back to the rest of us simultaneous in their steps. They both stopped, side-by-side with each other, facing us.

"Go ahead," Jaden audibly whispered to Sheyaa, who took a deep breath.

"Hey y'all, this is Jaden, I'm sure y'all know him. He's a great muhfuckah', especially considering the fact that his dad is a whole ass high school principal. But the point is, that just like Symere and Jordan, Jaden and I are boyfriends." Sheyaa stated.

There was a collective sound of "awwwwws" as Symere and Miles ran up to Sheyaa, both giving him a hug as he smiled. Jaden walked up to me.

"You and Symere gave him courage; I can't even come close to thanking you for that." Jaden praised.

I nodded, giving him a hug. Out of nowhere, I heard two people laughing their asses off nearby. Up from behind the Range Rover emerged Willow and Robin, holding Willow's phone.

"I just caught ALL that shit on tape!" Willow laughed, holding back tears.

Sheyaa sprinted up to her grabbing her phone, desperately trying to delete the video.

"GIRL, DON'T POST THAT!!!!!" Sheyaa screamed, violently scrolling through her camera roll looking for the video.

"Don't worryyyyy," Willow said, snatching her phone back and deleting the video, "I'm not THAT kind of person."

Sheyaa took a relieved breath of air, running back over to the rest of us, getting a hug from each, before running back over to Jaden to meet his lips.

I began to look around, noticing Miles wasn't in the crowd. I looked back towards the car, and saw him leaning up against the wall, flirting with Billie -quite possibly the youngest Waffle House employee to exist- as she arrived for work. I gave him a thumbs up, which didn't go unnoticed.

"So y'all, what do you say we go get food served by cigarette addicts?" Rakim suggested, to which everyone ran to the front door of the chain diner.

We all filed inside, sitting at our own selective booths and bars. I sat with Rakim and Amala across from me, and of course Symere cuddles up next to me. We sat down, looking at the laminated menus, as Rakim felt his pockets.

"Ahhhhhh shit, I left my phone out in the 4Runner." he told Amala.

"How about I go out with you to unlock it?" she proposed, to which they joined elbows, walking out with each other.

Symere pulled even closer to me after Rakim and Amala went back outside, latching onto my arm like a tree frog. I brushed his hair for probably the 50,000th time, announcing to him, "You're MY Lil Uzi."

His eyes trailed up to mine, putting his hands on the sides of my face to pull me into a kiss. He let me go after fifteen straight seconds, and lovingly told me, "You're such a playboy, Carti."