Teenage Love Affair | s. cooper #LLTC (EDITING!)

008

Sharife glanced at the ground and then back at Kylah, "I'm here, ya know? If you need someone to run to. You're not alone just because he's gone."

For a few seconds, Sharife regretted speaking so bluntly but then he saw the grin on Kylah's face and knew he had spoken correctly.

"Thanks, Rife. I needed to hear that." Kylah replied in her soft voice.

Sharife smiled, stood up, and reached a hand out to her, "Come on. Let me take you home, this area gets bad after dark."

Kylah hesitated and glanced at the red car next to where she was sitting before sliding her hand into Sharife's.

Sharife gently pulled her to her feet, "Come on." He repeated.

"What about my car?" Kylah glanced at the red car again.

Sharife turned his head to look at a trio of men who were coming out of the store then turned back to Kylah, "You can charge your phone in my car and we'll figure it out later. We should get out of here."

Kylah took a peek at the men then nodded and allowed Sharife to pull her closer by her hand.

Once they were by his car, Sharife swiped his credit card through the scanner and then took the gas pump out of his vehicle.

"Can I move this to the backseat?" Kylah asked, pointing to the duffle bag.

"Yeah, go ahead." Sharife took the pump out as Kylah threw the duffle and her backpack into the backseat then slid into the passenger seat.

Sharife joined her in the car, pressing play on the iPhone he left in his cup holder. Armed N Dangerous by Pop Smoke started to play throughout the car as Sharife started to drive away from the gas station.

"I'm armed and dangerous. Ain't no parkin' at the light, nah. Ain't no staining' us, keep a k with us." Kylah rapped lowly along to the music.

Sharife gave Kylah a surprised glance, "You fuck with Pop Smoke like that?"

"Dior and Noah put me on," Kylah replied sheepishly as she plugged Sharife's car charger into her phone.

"Oh, shit." Kylah cursed softly, "My dad is gonna kill me."

Sharife glanced at her phone, lit up with several missed calls and texts. "How long were you missing for?" Sharife mused.

"I went to the gym right after school to clear my head, try and make up a new routine, and left my phone on do not disturb in my backpack so according to my parents I've been missing over five hours," Kylah admitted.

Sharife made a hissing sound, "Yikes."

"Yeah. I'm so dead. I almost don't wanna go home now." Kylah confessed.

"What do you need to clear your head about?" Sharife glanced over to the girl.

Kylah let out a deep sigh, "Nyree got accepted into her top choice for school."

"And what?" Sharife switched lanes, "You're jealous?"

"Me and Ny have been best friends since we were four. I'd trust that girl with my life. No, I'm not jealous, I'm mad happy for her but all it does is make me realize that I have no idea where I'm gonna be this time next year. I have all these choices but..."

Her tone was slightly melancholic and when Sharife glanced over at her, he saw that her eyes were red again.

"It terrifies me." She whispered, "What if I make the wrong decision and I hate the girls or the coach or the place and I'm stuck until I'm able to transfer? What if-."

"What if you choose a place and it's perfect for you the first go around? You have offers. Don't worry about it." Sharife chuckled.

"That doesn't make it any easier. Nine D1 schools aren't exactly something light to juggle. Do you know where you're going?" Kylah looked over from the road to him.

"Nah. I still have my own choices to make. I get what you mean. Having all these eyes on you and pressuring you to choose their school and if you make the wrong choice..." Sharife trailed off.

"Exactly! You get it! My parents want me to stay in Georgia. BJ wants me to go to Kentucky with him. But I don't know, LSU, Stanford, UCLA, Auburn, a bunch of others... They've all expressed interest. I don't know where to go. It's starting to stress me out." Kylah looked out the window.

"It's this house right?" Sharife called out as he turned into a middle-class development, trying to regain her attention.

Kylah glanced out the window, "Yeah."

He parked in front of Kylah's home, "Aye. Ky, look at me."

Kylah looked towards Sharife as he began to speak, "I understand. I do, but you know that this decision is entirely your own. Not your parents', not your coach's, and not BJ's. It's yours and you ain't gonna achieve anything by sitting and letting shit stress you out. Without thinking about it, what school would you choose?"

"I..." She started to say and then trailed off.

"Don't think," Sharife commanded in a gentle tone.

"UCLA." Kylah blurted with a smile, "At least for now, I think."

"There you go." Sharife leaned into his seat to get a better look at her.

"You're a good person to run to. You know?" Kylah gave him a grateful smile.

"I'm glad you think that." Sharife smiled back.

"I should go. Thanks for the ride home." Kylah leaned over the gear shift to embrace him with one arm. Sharife hugged her back and then slowly leaned back from her warmth, not quite wanting to let go of her just yet.

Kylah hesitated and then sat back in her seat as well before opening the passenger door then paused, one foot on the pavement and Sharife sat up, curious, "What's up?"

"Uh... Nothing," Kylah leaned over again and kissed his cheek. It was barely a peck, her lips just bumping along his cheekbone but it was enough to make his heart stop for a second in a way, it never had before.

"Why'd you do that?" Sharife asked in a whisper.

"I don't know," Kylah whispered back, "Just... Felt right, I guess."

Then, just like that, she was gone.

NOTE FROM KY
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