Shootin' Shots: Black Boy Joy Imagines

Pretty Little Fears| Jaylen Hands

I'm loving your light, vulnerable
Letting your guard down is honorable
Especially when the past ain't been that friendly to you
But there's magic in that

Sim stared at her reflection in the mirror before she heaved a sigh and blinked twice. The camera flashes were still affecting her eyes, purple spots splotched her caramel face as she widened her brown eyes then closed them once more dramatically.

No one told her fame would be like this. A year ago she was just another girl from Kentucky, except not really. She was the star player of her high school's Women's Basketball Team and now she was at UCLA hoping to preserve that same reputation. She'd done a great job but at what cost?

Keeping her GPA up was harder than keeping her talent flourishing and even harder was maintaining a social life. As her best friend Tasha would always say, everyone knew Sim , but she barely knew anyone.

That was how she'd found herself in her current state. In the bathroom of the Omega Psi Phi frat house , searching for reprieve from the party that raged on the other side of the door. She didn't know why she'd chosen today to challenge her status quo. However, after six dudes brushing past her despite there being ample space in the room, someone trying to slip something in her drink and two guys groping her she'd had enough of her night.

Crime Mob's "Knuck If You Buck" resounded making her grimace just as her phone began to vibrate. Tasha's face glowed in the picture of them sitting on her bed when they'd first moved in together.

"Why did I let you bring me here?"

Sim moaned before she huffed while Tasha cackled on the other end. A lot of screams and barks could be heard in the background.

"Because you said you were tired of being known as the antisocial bitch."

"Tash!"

"What? It's other people's words not mine Simma Jim." Tasha quickly supplied but Simran was still wrapping her head around how she'd earned the title of bitch from simply not being around.

People only saw her on the court and they loved her then. That's how it goes..

"Sim, you okay? If you want to leave we can?" Tasha's voice broke through her thoughts and a deep sigh escaped her lips. She could hear the sacrifice in her best friend's voice.

This was Tasha's element. It always had been and would be. Tasha was the typical Californian black girl from an affluent family and private school education Her smooth dark chocolate skin always glowed and smelt like coconut. Her natural hair was always straightened to perfection and down her back with some Brazilian extensions inserted for volume. She walked with her head high but then she had no reason not to. Her light airy voice matched her light frame that gained her so much success in dance and cheerleading.

Tasha was born with money , so she majored in dance and film. The things she loved, the world would always be on her side. Her parents broke their backs for it to be.

Sometimes, Sim envied her freedom. Her ability to sit comfy in her financial security. She didn't have that , basketball would hopefully secure that. She knew at least that her mother prayed for that every night. Her dad had lost his company two years prior and been unemployed ever since. Her mother worked back to back nursing shifts and tried not to complain about the strain. Her younger brothers worked jobs after school and sports practices to help out. She sent them back as much money as she could.

As much as Sim sacrificed for others she found herself unable to stop doing it, it was her nature.

"No , it's fine besides I know Darrius is probably around. We all know you wouldn't bring me to a Que party unless you were trying to land him. I'm not messing up your chase."