Quiet: Tyler, The Creator

2.

The Next Day

"Holy shit. Is that...Rakim?" Kali and Cleo walked together into school.

Cleo turned her head to look at where Kali alluded to.

A small crowd began to form near the front.

Cleo caught a glimpse of Rakim.

"No way. That can't be. Sophomore year Rakim?"

"Yeah, dude that's him. Lanky, brace face, acne Rakim. But like, the complete opposite. What the fuck happened?" Kali laughed.

He had transferred back from a different highschool he was at the past two years. Everyone knew him and Tyler were the bestest of friends. Since elementary, they were connected at the hip. It was funny because they were complete opposites; Tyler being the loud and obnoxious one, while Rakim stayed quiet and in the sidelines, but his looks always made him stay popular. The two of them were like a force to be reckoned with.

Kali nudged Cleo as they walked near the crowd which greeted him.

"You remember how much you were obsessed with him?" Kali laughed.

"Shut up." Cleo gritted her teeth. "That was like, before he left."

"Well he's here now...you never know," Kali smirked.

As they walked past, as did Rakim. It was crazy, like the movies. That love at first sight corny look.

Cleo watched as Rakim locked eyes with Kali, his smile fading as he looked at her with a sort of confused expression. Nevertheless, he continued to walk.

"What the fuck was that?" Cleo nudged Kali.

"I...did you see that?" Kali had an amused expression.

"He has no idea you're the same Kali from two years ago." Cleo chuckled.

"Shut the fuck up," Kali threw up her binder like she was going to hit Cleo. "He's not my type anyway. He's too quiet. I don't like the mystery. Just give it to me straight."

Cleo raised a brow, thinking of how funny it would be if somehow...in an alternate universe, maybe, just maybe, Rakim would look at her the same way.

Truth was, she still thought he was cute. And Cleo liked the mystery. She wondered what he listened to when he walked around with one earphone in. That she would sometimes catch him walk in and out of the library on Monday evenings five minutes before it closed so no one would find out he liked to read. The mystery was what caught Cleo's eye. The quiet type.

She pushed it out of her mind.

"Rakim's back?" Steve caught up to them.

"Yeah, him and Kali shared a moment." Cleo teased.

"I mean...I could see that happening." Steve shrugged.

"Like I said, not really my type." Kali replied, "He's all yours Cleo," she winked.

"Holy shit. I completely forgot about that two year long obsession you had with him!" Steve laughed.

"Can y'all please stop bringing that up? literally everyone had a crush on him." Cleo rolled her eyes.

"Okay, true, explain Kali then."

"Everyone has a crush on him at some point." Cleo alluded to the little moment Kali shared with Rakim minutes ago.

...

After some classes it was finally lunch time. They made their way to their usual table but realized it was already taken by a familiar group.

"Fuck, for real?" Steve sighed as they got closer.

"Shit, where else can we sit?" Cleo stopped in her tracks.

"Oh we're not going anywhere." Kali fixed her hair as she made her way to the table.

Steve and Cleo gave eachother uncertain looks but followed behind.

"Hey, you're new here so I'm letting you know now that this has been our table since freshman year. So if you could move out of the way—,"

"Kali? I recognize that voice anywhere. We used to hate eachother remember?" Rakim chuckled.

"That was middle school."

"See? you still remember." Rakim smirked.

Around the corner came another familiar voice.

"Nigga, I said meet inside the cafeteria. The fuck you out here for?" Tyler walked over.

"Trying to get some fresh air," Rakim replied. "Yo you remember Kali?" He turned to look over at her.

Tyler nodded lightly. "Yeah, so you coming or nah?"

"Aight," He turned to look at Kali. "You can keep the table."

Kali rolled her eyes, setting her bag on the table as his friends moved out of the way.