sk8-hi | sor

eleven

he drove me home and i could not stop smiling. it was a fun and cute date. we ended up talking for hours about everything. i talked to him about my own group of friends, which consisted of summer, lawrence, his long-time girlfriend esme, asher, and freddy, on-and-off. i could not get asher, freddy and summer off my mind while record shopping. it was very relieving to have someone to talk to about problems, especially since he was my age and was not any of my own friends.

i grinned as i walked into house, dropping my house keys onto a small shelf next to the door.

"tomika? are you home?" my mother shouted from the laundry room.

i shook my head, regretting to probably ruin my happy moment, by replying, "yes, mom?"

"i know you weren't at summer's. how's zack? is he doing well?" she asked, and when i walked over to her, she had been folding laundry. when i was about 11, my mom decided to put a couch in the laundry room. it was quite big, considering it was supposed to be another bedroom but we did not have much use for it. instead, we made use of the space to make it our laundry room, and we kept our winter clothes as well as bicycles in there until we needed to use it.

"he's great, ma. we get along really well, and it's wonderful having someone to chat with," i sat down beside her, grabbing some clothes to help fold. "i'd never felt so excited about meeting up with someone just to talk before."

"that's neat. have you two kissed?"

i gave a shy smile and i could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. my mom placed her hand on my cheek, and i said, "just once."

she smiled.

i wonder what her first kiss was like.

i helped my mom fold the clothes for a while, and when we finished, i brought my own up to my room and set them on my dresser. i picked up my phone, and found that it was only 3.30 pm. thinking of things to do, i realised that i still had a best friend to care for in this time of need, even when she says she doesnt want help.

i rang summer, and she swiftly came over.

"i was thinking we watch a movie tonight," i suggested, opening the door for her to come in.

she donned a pair of basketball shorts, a school sweatshirt and her signature accessory, a headband from her collection. "sounds good. what are we watching?"

i grabbed her by the hand, leading her to my sister's old room. i'd aleady set up a laptop table to put drinks and snacks, and two beanbags, two throw blankets and several pillows for our hugging pleasure.

"up to you," i smiled, sitting down and my hands immediately darting to the popcorn.

"okay, something's up. you never let me choose."

"but you're never really down. this is your moment, you can spend it however you'd like. i'm just here to supply and support," i assured, stuffing my face with a mouthful of salted buttered popcorn.

"i heard the divergent series was good. have you watched it?" she asked, taking the remote and settling next to me. "ansel elgort is just so freaking gorgeous."

"haven't. go onto apple tv. let's get ourselves some ansel elgort."

i looked at her and she smiled. i knew this was her thank you. being herself, she would still say thank you later on, but having the warm smile on her face and the knowledge that she's getting better just makes everything more perfect than it had to be.

after three bowls of popcorn and seven cups of iced tea, we finally completed the entire divergent series. i wasn't a fan of the books, but the movies were alright.

summer decided that a sleepover would not be the most preferred by herself at about 1 in the morning. she went home after a short jam session.

i couldn't sleep though.

she's not like herself. she's always liked freddy, as big of a jerk he was. asher and her would become the most perfect couple. it was like a war between your heart and brain. everyone always says to go with what your heart feels is right for you.

the possible scenarios of summer with freddy are terrifying. freddy loved to party; he loved to get drunk. from past experiences, freddy has hurt people emotionally and physically in a drunken state. i don't want to tell summer to after someone who's just gonna make her cry.

with asher, they would go on dates she loves, do all the things they both enjoy. perfect is boring. doing the same thing over and over again is just going to get summer mad and pissed all the time. she will vent all her anger out on me, and i will have to fix her issues for her.

there are pros and cons to both boys. freddy would give her somehing different, something she never thought she would get in a relationship. asher would be something she expected. no surprises, not excitement. but freddy would make her do things she shouldn't be doing and asher would be the one to stop her.

since when did boys have to be so complicated?

speaking of boys, i had my own problems to deal with. i checked my phone or the time and saw it was almost 8.

after taking a shower and fixing my room up, i texted zack, "Fun day yesterday. Can't wait for more :)"

almost immediately, he replied, "what abt now? look out your window."

i chuckled, furrowing my eyebrows. i drew the curtains and found him holding a bouquet of flowers and his guitar hung around his back. i hopped down the stairs and opened up the front door for him.

"good morning, sunshine. may i come in?" he smiled, and my mom welcomed him in with open arms.

"are those for me?" i asked, hands out, ready to receive them.

just as zack reached out to give them to me, he swiped them away and directed them to my mother.

"actually, they are for your mom. i figured it wouldn't hurt to have fresh flowers today," he said in his crisp, clear voice. he handed them to my mother, whose response in return was a hug. she placed them in a vase in the dining room. zack turned back to me after watching my mother fan over the flowers all the way to the kitchen. "so i was thinking we could hang over at the pa-"

"ahem!" a loud, forced cough could be heard from the too of the stairs. "tomika, who do we have here?"

i cringed, turning around to see my father, stomping his way down the stairs. "dad, this is my friend, zack."

"oh," he said, a little taken aback. "what brings you here, zack-o?"

zack offered a handshake, which my dad surprisingly, gladfully accepted. he seemed appallingly cool with zack.

"i brought mrs morgernstern some fresh flowers to save her from her daily trip to the florists'. i was about to bring tomika out to the park to play her a song or two, if you'd let me, sir," he grinned, showing not at all one sign of weakness.

"this is getting too weird. what's going on?"

"well my company works closely with zack's dad. i've been his mentor for a few months now," my dad explained, both hands on his hips. "so you want to take my daughter out, huh?"

"i know you'll let me, because you know i'm a good guy," zack smiled even bigger, and my dad chuckled, nodding his head.

"you kids go have fun."

we did.

-

I'M SO SORRY THAT WAS SUCH A LONG HIATUS i said a few days but it ended up being like over a month :( i've been working on a new book recently and it should come out soon!! stay tuned