Our Little Secret

Ocean Blue Eyes & Hot Chocolate

Ever since he told me when his birthday was, I've been tryna think of something cute to get Jayce. I ended up getting him a hoodie and a blinged-out keychain.

"Zakiyah..." He smiles at me. "Come here." He pulls me into his arms for a hug. "Thank you," he says into my hair.

"You're welcome." I lace my fingers through his and lean my head on his shoulder. We're at his house just hanging out to celebrate him.

"What do you wanna do now?" He asks.

I grin cuz I've been waiting for him to ask me. "Well..." I take the gift bag outta his hand and place it on the floor. I push him until he's laying down on the couch. I straddle him and push my hands up his shirt. "I have a few things in mind..."

"Babe, stop..."

"Come on." I mean forward so I can feel him through my leggings.

He takes my hands from under his shirt. "Zakiyah, I don't want to do this right now."

Oh. "Ok." I get off him and fold my hands in my lap. It gets all quiet and awkward and I don't know what to say.

"Um--"

I'm not sure what he was aboutta say, but I'm glad whoever is at the door came when they did.

He gets up and starts walking to the door. "Its probably my mom."

Mom? I quickly rake my fingers through my hair in hopes that I'll look decent. He coulda told me she was coming so I coulda dressed a little more... better.

"Happy birthday, Jayce!" A woman's voice goes. I hear Jayce laugh. I stand up as they come to the living room.

His mom stops when she sees me. "Who's this?" She looks like one of those t.v. mom's. Yknow the ones; blonde hair, A-line dress, pumps, and french-tipped nails.

"Hi," I go nervously. "I'm Zak. I mean Zakiyah."

"She's my girlfriend, Mom," Jayce tells her grinning.

"Oh." She looks between me and Jayce and forces a smile. "It's, uh... It's nice to meet you." She turns to Jayce and holds up the bag she's holding. "I brought cake."

Jayce takes my hand and we all walk to the kitchen. His mom places the bag on the counter and goes to find a knife. "It's vanilla," she says as she takes the cake out. She glances at me. "But I probably should have bought chocolate since that's what you seem to be in the mood for."

Feeling uncomfortable, I pull my hand back from Jayce's

"Shouldn't we wait for Dad?" Jayce asks.

His mom shakes her head. "He's held up with the head of the club." They start talking about some country club they go to and I check out and sit at the island.

Persie comes padding across the tiled floor from wherever she was napping. "Ooh!" I pat my lap foe her. "Come here, Persie."

"You've met Persephone already?" Jayce's mom asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah." Persie jumps into my lap and I pet her.

"Hmm." She goes back to the cake. She puts three slices on plates and we start eating. It's so awkward and quiet. Well at least for me. "So, Zakiyah... tell me about yourself."

I swallow the piece of cake I was eating. "What do you wanna know?"

She shrugs. "What do you do?"

"Um..." I play with Persie's tail as I think. "I don't know. I used to do gymnastic, but I stopped that to focus on school. Recently I was on the cheer squad, but I hadda quit cuz... I was going through something. And now I'm in Mathlete."