Rivals // Norminah

19

"So Dinah, how long have you known Normani?" Andrea asks as she takes a bite of her salmon.

"I think since third grade, right Mani?" Dinah glances at me. I nod as I continue to stare at my food, moving my fork around the plate. "Yeah, so a great amount of time" Dinah smiles.

"That is a great amount of time; and you're just now becoming friends?" I glare at Andrea and she smiles sweetly at me.

"Yes, well, our group of friends don't really clash well and neither did Mani and I till we were assigned as partners for our Psychology project" Dinah answers.

"I see. I kind of guessed that when Lauren talked pretty lowly of you, but you seem like a wonderful girl!" My mom perks up. Dinah laughs.

"Well thank you. I guess my parents raised me well" Dinah looks at me and smiles. I place my hand on her leg under the table giving it a light squeeze with a smile.

"So how-"

"Mom, I think you've questioned her enough for tonight" I interject.

"I'm just trying to get to know your friend Normani" Andrea pleads.

"It's not a problem, I don't mind" Dinah smiles.

"See. She doesn't mind" Andrea repeats. "So how are your grades Dinah?" I roll my eyes and slouch into my chair completely zoning out of the conversation.

A few minutes later, my mother finally stops asking questions and we eat our meals in silence. As I'm taking a sip of my water, Andrea decides to speak again.

"So how long have you two been together?" I immediately choke on my water and place my glass down going into a coughing fit.

"We're not together. We're just friends" I say clearing my throat.

"Exactly" Dinah smiles nervously.

"Oh please. I wasn't born yesterday girls. The tension radiating off you two, plus the eye contact y'all have been giving is very affectionate" Andrea takes a sip of her wine.

"We have a very strong friendship" I interject.

"Or a very strong relationship" Andrea places her glass down. "When I told you about what Lauren said about Dinah, you quickly jumped to her defense. You've never done that for any of your other friends" I shrug.

"That's because you hadn't met Dinah and we're taking Lauren's side" I say defensively.

"Maybe so, but I don't hear any of them calling you Princess whenever you call them" Andrea smirks. "You've been quiet over there Dinah. Do you have anything you'd like to add?"

"I mean" Dinah's face tints a light red. "We're not technically a thing yet" I quickly whip my head at her.

"Dinah!" I glare.

"What! She already caught on, there's no point in trying to hide it" I roll my eyes and slouch in my chair.

"So how come you two aren't technically a thing?" Andrea asks. Dinah takes her last bite of her salmon before placing her fork down.

"There have been some minor setbacks between us and our group of friends" Dinah states.

"I totally get that" My mom takes a sip of her wine before placing the glass down. "I'm surprised Lauren is okay with you two being a thing, especially with how bad she talked about you" Dinah and I both look at each other before going silent. "They don't know?"

"It's really none of their business" I defend. Andrea shrugs.

"They're your best friends Normani"

"Mom, if you paid even a little attention to my life you'd now I haven't talked to Zendaya in like three days. Zayn and Vanessa are being peas in a pod somewhere, and I finally talked to Lauren today but to add onto that, Alessia said I'm pathetic and selfish. So much for best friends, right?" I say lightly tightening my fist.

"How am I supposed to know this stuff if you don't tell me anything Mani?" Andrea softens up. I roll my eyes.

"Maybe if you were ever home we could; and when you are, you act like everything is okay when it's nowhere close" Andrea glances at Dinah before looking at me.

"Maybe we should discuss this later when we don't have a guest over" I scoff.

"Don't use Dinah as an excuse for not wanting to talk about it" I push out of my chair and stand up. "Excuse me" I push in my chair and walk out of the dining room, and head straight upstairs for my room.

I shut the door and fall on my bed, just laying there with my eyes closed. I hear a light knock on my door and I groan.

"Go away!" I hear the door open and I turn to see Dinah coming in. I roll my eyes as she shuts the door. "You never seem to listen to me" Dinah lets out a small laugh.

"I could say the same about you" I feel my bed dip and I lift my head to see her sitting next to me. I roll over so I can face her. "You wanna talk about what happened downstairs?"

"Not really" I mumble. Dinah scoots onto my bed till her back is against my headboard.

"Come here" She pats her lap. I look at her confused and she smiles. "Come here Princess" I sigh before sitting up and crawling over to her. I lightly straddle her lap as her hands secure they're way around my waist.

"What Dinah?" I question. She lets out a small chuckle before placing a light kiss on my shoulder.

"Talk to me. What's going on?" She asks sincerely. I sigh and shrug my shoulders. "I'm not here to judge Mani" I grab Dinah's hands from my waist and entangle our fingers, lightly playing with them.

"I just can't stand her sometimes. After my father passed away she just shut down. She was barely home and there were times I forgot what she looked like" I state.

"She lost the love of her life Mani..." Dinah answers. I scoff.

"I was child, Dinah Jane! I was a child who lost her father! I was a child who needed her mother! Don't defend her!" I climb off Dinah's lap before she grabs my shirt and pulls me back down.

"I'm not defending her"

"Yes you are!" I retort. Dinah leans against the headboard and sighs.

"I understand in the past that she hasn't been there for you when you needed her Mani, but you can't punish her for now wanting to be there and at least trying. Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days" Dinah pleads. I playfully roll my eyes.

"You we're doing good until you went Hannah Montana on me" Dinah smiles and lifts up my hand placing a kiss on it.

"So will you please come join me and your mother for dinner?" She asks.

"Fine" I climb off Dinah and slide off the bed. I turn and look at Dinah as she climbs off the bed. "I'm only doing this for you"