Devil on the Rooftop [Book 1]

Chapter 109 - Arisa

Khaleel Abdul was the most infuriating human being I had ever met. He had me waiting over thirty minutes for him at the bus-stop. Three transportation vehicles later and he was still a no-show. I was going to kill him. Murder him. He would be nothing but bones by the time Kumar got the authorities to dig him out of my backyard.

I spotted the jerk racing down the sidewalk, a big stupid grin on his face. Don't be fooled by it, I told myself. Don't forgive him just because he knows all your weaknesses. It took me a few weeks to get the delinquent to stop hitting on me, and then another few weeks to tell him to stop asking me out, but I knew his crush wasn't going to subside. How could it when he walked around with that love-sick look on his face? It was hard not to crumble around it but I was trying to be considerate, for Matilda's sake, for Loyal's sake, and for my own. I didn't want to jump into another relationship so quickly. I was afraid of ruining it. Khaleel on the other hand didn't have the same concerns. Just when I thought we were finally on the same page, he would start flirting with me.

"I'm sorry," the big idiot said. "I had a thing with a thing."

I crossed my arms. "Don't sugarcoat shit," I said. "Just say you were meeting the rooftop losers because Zander's coming back to school tomorrow."

Khaleel picked me up and spun me around. "Zander's coming back to school tomorrow!" he cheered. I yelled at him to put me down. There were a lot of celebrations to go around with Zander's return, but for me, it would have to be his hyenas losing interest in me. For some odd reason, they still thought I was after their man, and whenever I tried to tell them otherwise, they called me a liar and an attention whore. Khaleel did his best to scare them off but I was slowly running out of patience.

"I'm so fucking pumped!" The idiot showed his teeth. "He's talking and everything! And according to Mama Easton, no infection in sight!"

I smiled. "That's great, Khaleel."

He couldn't stop smiling.

"But I'm going to need you to focus on our game plan," I told him. "Summer's just around the corner and if you're going to take me to your dad's wedding then we need to pick up a suit for you."

Khaleel's face soured. "Why must you ruin things with bad reminders?"

I snapped. "Three buses have gone by and I haven't been able to get on any of them, so, don't you sass me!"

His nod was half-assed.

We both caught the vehicle approaching and got our passes ready for the commute. It was only after our trip to his condo, that I decided public transportation wasn't all bad. As long as Khaleel was around to take it with me, I didn't mind the experience. "So," I clapped my hands as we found available seats in the back. "How about you wear a navy suit?"

"Why navy?"

"Because I already have a dress to match it," I said, not in the mood to purchase something that would undoubtably collect dust in my closet.

Khaleel thought about it. "My family might get the wrong idea if we're matching and you're my date but we're not actually, you know, dating."

"Yeah?" I feigned concern. "Your Muslim family is going to be worried about your relationship status instead of your grades and aspirations for the future?"

"Touché," Khaleel admitted. "But come on, Arisa. I've been chilling in the friendzone for a minute now. I'm not looking to become the fucking governor of it."

"Stop," I warned.

The idiot put his arm around me. "No. I'm not stopping. I've stopped for too long, too long, I tell you!"

I tried to wiggle out of his hold but it was hard. He was strong as ever. "We talked about this," I told him. "It wouldn't be cool for us to date when others will get hurt by it."

"Oh, you're such a fucking humanitarian," Khaleel complained refusing to let go of me. "We're together at school like ninety percent of the time anyway, no one's going to care if we add making out to our list."

My cheeks burned. "I'll care, you classless prick!"

"Will you though?" he asked, brushing a strand of my hair out of the way. No, I wanted to yell at myself. Don't fall for it. Don't crumble, don't crumble, dont-- "You can wear whatever dress you like if it means I get to take it off after the wedding."

I took a slow breath.

"What do you say, Hoffman?"