EIGHTEEN || D. SWING.

CHAPTER 9.

If you thought I was childish enough to ignore JoJo for the rest of the walk home...then you goddamn right.

Am I the one that's tripping here? I mean, what was so wrong about wanting to shop by myself? First of all, it's not like we would've gone into any of the stores I wanted to go into - second, I didn't wanna sit around and watch my cousins attempt to mack. Third, I didn't wanna have Derek's eyes on me anymore. And most importantly, what would've happened if I had stayed with them? You saw what went down at the gelato stand! Imagine if someone had assumed that DeVante and I were dating in front of everyone! Do you know how long it would take for me to live that down? Also, JoJo would be watching me like a hawk and if I slipped up and started staring again...it was a wrap.

When we arrived back at the house, it was empty. Which was a good thing, because the last thing any of us needed was someone questioning us about why we were sweaty and/or beaten up. I took it upon myself to go into the kitchen and get the DeGrate brothers some ice and when I came back, everyone was spread out on the couch and living room floor. I playfully nudged K in the ribs with my foot as I passed, then completely ignored JoJo. I handed both Dalvin and Derek their little bit of ice and when I got to DeVante, he shook his head.

"What do you mean, 'no'? Have you looked in the mirror yet?" I asked, pointing at his eye, "You need to put something on that."

"I said no," he snapped at me, and I stepped backward.

"Fix your tone," I said, choosing to assert myself instead of backing down, "I'm just trying to help you."

"Ooh," K-Ci said, trying to contain his laughter at my retort, "You better listen to her, De. She'll black your other eye."

"I don't need your help, not when you caused this shit," he said, and I looked at him in disbelief.

"I caused this shit? Me? Last time I checked, my name ain't Serenity."

"Sabrina," Derek corrected.

"What he said."

"Hold up. Y'all got mollywhopped over Sabrina's hoe ass?" K-Ci asked, sitting up on his elbows.

"I think? All I know is that I got pushed into the fountain, and I got my one-on-one," Dalvin said, flexing his fingers.

"That you clearly lost."

"I didn't lose! I ain't the one that got slammed on the floor," Dalvin retorted, jabbing his thumb in the direction of his brother.

"He was twice my size!" Derek defended himself.

"Anyways, I didn't cause anything," I said, putting my hands on my hips.

"Man, whatever," DeVante said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

"Out," he said, and we made eye contact as he passed me and I could hear the small snickers at our shenanigans.

"Y'all married or somethin'?" JoJo asked, looking between the two of us as his friend made his exit.

Boys are annoying.

And when I say boys, I mean boys that are your cousins, boys that are strangers, boys that you vaguely know, boys that you only know because they're the brother of the boy that you vaguely know, and especially boys that you kinda know but don't really wanna know anymore because they don't make any sense.

Suddenly, the house phone began to ring and K-Ci pushed himself off the floor to answer it.

"Hello?" He answered. His eyes flickered to me before saying, "Yeah, she's here, sir."