Just Like, Me

Chapter Eighteen

Zakari's Pov

After the whole conversation about Aaron, I went to finish packing up for college. 

"So what college are you going to?" I heard Dominique's voice behind me. 

"Berkeley." I continued packing after replying to her.

I'd already started, so I didn't have much. I then started to load my stuff into my car with the help of everyone else. 

"I'm gonna miss you," Malaysia and Nyeemah hugged me tightly. 

I said my goodbyes to everyone, but Dominique was the only one that didn't say or hug me. I didn't want to leave on a bad note, so I walked up to her which caused her some confusion. I gave her a nice hug, and she surprisingly hugged me back. I

 heard sniffling, so I whispered to her, "I'll call you later."

I turned to see Yazmine, Aaron, Malaysia, and surprisingly Micaiah crying. Although Nyeemah was trying to play it cool, I saw that she was going to cry too. I wasn't going to leave them hanging, and hugged them all.

Extremely tight.

"I gotta go," I gave them a smile before grabbing Maine's cage and food. It was nice that they allowed pets, otherwise I simply wouldn't go. 

"Call us!" Aaron and Nyeemah yelled.

I drove, and watched them in the rearview. After about ten seconds, I got a FaceTime call from the groupchat. I smiled, but picked up nonetheless. 

"Zakari please turn around," I saw them all crying in a car. I then looked back in the rearview, parked my car because I saw Dominique's car, and ran to them. 

"Why do you have to leave? Nyeemah bawled with everyone else. 

"I'll call as I much as I can," I tried to reason with them. 

"Just stay, and take online courses," Malaysia tried to negotiate. 

"Right! It's not the same," Dominique cried with them.

I stayed hugging and listening to them cry and negotiate for a good ten minutes. 

"I have to go," I tried to leave, but Dominique pulled me into a hug. 

"You better fucking call Zakari," she sniffed before walking to the car. I chuckled to myself before telling them goodbye once again. 

I walked to my car before turning around one more time to see them crying again. I looked behind Dominique's car, staring at my house, seeing that I wasn't event fifty feet away. 

Hell, I just left the driveway.

I got back into my car and started the five, near six hour drive to Berkeley, California. I started my GPS and groaned, seeing that it was actually a six hour drive.

After an hour of driving, I received a FaceTime call from the group chat. I picked up, to see everyone laying down on their beds. It was obvious that they left my house, and probably did to cry. 

"Are you almost there?" Micaiah asked me, cuddled up with Malaysia as always. "Nope, five more hours," I responded, glancing at the screen a few times. "Well, that's how long we're going to be on the phone," Aaron commented, trying to uplift the sad mood. 

"That's fine with me." 

For the next five and a half hours, I was on a call. In the middle of our call, the mood became happy and uplifting until everyone went to sleep. Although they were sleep, we all stayed on a call.

When I made it to the Berkeley, it was about eleven at night, so I went to Blackwell Halls, which was where I'd be staying. I drove there, and immediately got the key to my dorm. Because I didnt want to do it in the morning, I started getting all of my belongings, and brought them to my room. 

It took a good hour or so to fully situate Maine and myself. Good thing it was a Friday, so I could sleep in. I stayed on the phone with groupchat before falling asleep.

When I woke up on a Saturday morning, at nine, I did my daily hygiene before saying 'hello' and 'good morning' to everyone in the group chat. Although they were all mad at me for leaving, they still talked to me. While taking to them, I took the time to look around my dorm room. 

"Oh my gosh," I paused due to the dumb shit I found out. 

"What?" Everyone questioned in unison. In the midst of me answering, someone who I assumed was my roommate walked in. We made eye contact during my answer.

"There's no fucking kitchen."