Serenity

Seven

The next day at school went pretty much like the first, except I knew where all of my classes were today so it was easier to navigate the halls.

The bell rang for lunch, and I was glad because I didn't have breakfast this morning so I was starving.

I made my way to the cafeteria and stood in the long line of students.

Before I knew it, a familiar voice was heard behind me.

"Hey, new girl," I was greeted by Malik.

I turned around to face the mocha skinned giant standing behind me, and flashed him a closed mouth smile and a wave.

He was accompanied by his tall, dark friend, who I thought I heard someone call Trey.

"Bro, you can't keep calling her new girl. She got a name," Trey said, laughing.

"Awe yea, you right. What's yo name, shorty?" Malik asked me running his fingers through his curly black hair.

"Diamanté," I replied softly.

"Diamanté?" they both questioned in unison.

"That must be a Mississippi name? Never heard that one before," Trey said.

"Shut up, nigga," Malik said.

"Diamanté," he repeated in his deep voice. "I like that. It's unique," Malik said before flashing me a smile that revealed braces on both rows of his teeth.

Malik was kind of cute, and so was his friend Trey. I felt a little weird about the attention that they were giving me. I didn't know if they had hidden motives or what, but they seemed nice.

My dad always encouraged me to stay away from guys because they only wanted one thing. Of course I knew all guys weren't like that, but my dad enforced the narrative so much that it was often the first thing that crossed my mind when I was approached by a guy.

Malik seemed alright, but I had a couple of classes with him, and he seemed like a trouble maker. He was always getting called on for not paying attention, being on his phone, or causing distractions.

I only had one class with Trey, and in there he acted up with Malik so he was probably a class clown right along with him.

I thanked Malik for complimenting my name, and then moved further in the line, finally grabbing a tray of lunch.

I can say that the food actually looked edible here, unlike the previous school I attended. These boneless wings looked like they were gonna hit the spot, or maybe it was just my hunger making me think that.

I thought it was going to be another day of eating alone until I looked up and saw Malik plop down at the table with me.

"Imma go sit with Alaina. You know imma have to hear her mouth if I don't," Trey said before walking off.

"Aight, bro. I'll catch you later."

Malik and Trey dapped each other up, and then Trey proceeded across the cafeteria.

"You don't mind if I sit here do ya?" Malik asked, already digging into his food.

"Do I even need to answer?"

"Nah. I was just asking out of courtesy, but I wasn't gon' move regardless of yo answer," he said, taking a sip of sprite.

"Why you wanna sit here with the new girl anyway?" I asked. "Don't you wanna sit with your friends?"

"Maybe I wanna be friends with you," he said slyly, his tongue gliding across his lips.

"Won't your girlfriend get mad?" I asked. He had to have a girlfriend right? I mean, guys like him normally do.

"Why you assume I got a girlfriend?" he asked.

"I-I mean.. It just s-seems like you would," I said stammering over my words and feeling stupid. Why did I even say anything about a girlfriend to begin with?

"Nah, shorty. I ain't got one of them."

"Hey, Malik," a group of girls cooed as they walked past the table.

"Wassup," Malik answered, nodding his head at the girls.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Suddenly, I felt like his previous statement was a lie.

"What?" he asked. "I said I ain't have a girlfriend. I never said girls wasn't tryna get at me," he said shrugging his shoulders.

I wondered what in the world had Malik so interested in me besides the fact that I was new. Did he do all the new students like this, or was it just me?

Instead of asking, I just shrugged it off and dug into my food.