Young Lady | Tyler, the Creator

01

February 23rd, 2015

"You need to do this tour."

Clementine blinked in surprise as her manager burst into her studio. She had been in there for a few hours, playing around with new ideas for the album she was working on, but nothing too serious. "What are you talking about?"

Andrea put her hands on her hips as she tried to catch her breath. "Tyler, the Creator is going on tour. He needs an opening act...the one he had set had to pull out. This is the perfect opportunity to get some exposure."

"Hell no." She immediately said.

After that disastrous morning at his house, whenever they were in the same vicinity, it was filled with arguments. Eventually everyone around them had grown so tired of it that she and Tyler had made an unspoken agreement to stay as far away from each other as possible. Doing an entire tour with him would be a terrible idea.

"Come on," Andrea pressed, sitting in one of the chairs. "You need this. You just released your first EP...which is doing amazing, by the way. Opportunities like this don't come often."

Clementine crinkled her nose. "Does he even want me on his tour?"

Her manager gave her a 'duh' look. "Would we be having this conversation if he didn't?"

Why the hell would Tyler want her on his tour? They hadn't spoken in two months, and last time she checked, they hated each other. Was this all apart of some elaborate plan to get back at her?

The more she thought about it, the more she didn't want to do it. "No." She turned back to the lyrics she was working on.

"Well...that's unfortunate. I already told his team you would do it." Andrea told her.

Clementine's eyes widened and she whipped her head towards her. "You did what?"

Andrea rose back up. "They're putting together your contract as we speak."

Andrea had been good to her. She'd helped her get into the industry, shown her the ropes, pulled some strings to get her where she needed to be. She was like a second mother to her. But in this moment, she'd never wanted to hit her more.

"Why would you agree to that without my consent?" Clementine stressed.

"Because you need this. I know you two don't like each other for whatever reason, but he personally reached out to me. Can't you put aside your differences for the sake of your career?"

No, she was half-tempted to tell her. She still wasn't sure it was a good idea. But Andrea was right - she'd released her EP last week, and the tour would increase the already substantial buzz around her.

Clementine sighed and fiddled with the gold 'C' necklace around her neck. "Alright."

Andrea beamed at her and enveloped her in a hug. "I knew you'd come around. I'll call you later with more details. Bye!" She said as she walked back out.

As soon as she was gone, she pulled out her phone and FaceTimed Rocky. It rang for a few seconds before connecting.

"Why the fuck does your friend want me on his tour?"

Rocky frowned at the screen. He was in the middle of getting his hair braided. "Hello to you too, damn."

"Hey, Rocky. Why the fuck does your friend want me on his tour?" Clementine asked.

"I don't fuckin' know, the fuck. Ask him." Rocky scrunched his face up at her.

Clementine groaned. "I don't have his number. I don't want that shit, either. This is so weird."

He shrugged. "He told me he liked your music...even though he still hates you."

She didn't know what to say to that. She'd never really listened to his music. Clementine had heard 'She' and 'Yonkers', but that was pretty much it. "Oh."

Rocky shook his head at her. "You know what I think?"

"I don't really care."

"Y'all don't really hate each other," he continued, ignoring her comment. "It's just sexual tension."

Clementine looked at him with a blank face. "Nigga, what? I threw up on him."

Rocky did his Windex bottle laugh, putting his face all in the camera. "It's not funny, but it's funny. Like how the hell did that even happen? And then you didn't pay for his shit to get cleaned..." He laughed harder.

Clementine didn't know why the situation amused him so much. There was nothing funny about it. If anything, all of this was Q's fault. If he hadn't given her that blunt none of this would've happened. "Shut the fuck up."

"All you had to do was pay for it. Then you two would be getting along. Y'all act just alike, actually." He continued.

The brown-skinned girl frowned. "Don't compare me to that...thing. I didn't pay for it because I shouldn't have had to. It was an accident."

Rocky rolled his eyes. "Okay, Clemmy. I'm not getting into this again. I'll just text you his number." He hung up abruptly.

"So rude." Clementine said to herself as she set her phone down and stared at the lyric book in front of her. What was she getting herself into?

from: Rocky da Rockstar
This is his number...apologize and make up

from: Rocky da Rockstar
I want a niece or nephew

Clementine didn't respond to either of the messages.

***

"Everybody, please welcome Clementine!" Jimmy Fallon said.

Clementine smiled nervously as she walked out, the cheers from the crowd making her stomach twist in knots. It was her first television appearance and she was beyond anxious.

She sat down in the seat next to his desk and crossed one leg over the other. "Hi, Jimmy."

He looked at her, laughing. "Why'd you say my name like that? Are you trying to seduce me?"

Clementine's eyes widened. "What? No, I was just-"

"I'm just messing with you," Jimmy laughed. "I don't want you to get in trouble with your boyfriend."

"I don't have a boyfriend." She responded.

Jimmy put his chin in his hand. "So you and ASAP Rocky? Nothing going on there?" He asked, and a picture of she and Rocky going to lunch taken by paparazzi appeared on the screen.

The crowd 'oooh'd, causing Clementine to cringe. "No. Definitely not. He's like a brother to me."

"Ouch." Jimmy said. "So there's no one else?"

Clementine shook her head. "No. I'm not really looking for a relationship right now...I want to focus on my music."

He nodded, pulling out a copy of her EP from his desk. "Speaking of music, you just released your first self-titled EP last week. Tell us what that was like for you."

Clementine smiled, relieved that the topic was off of relationships, and began speaking.