3:41 p.m.
08/24/23
"Hi sir." I said looking up trying to hide what was in my hand.
"Mr. Brown, I've been looking for you all day." The dean said.
"Well, you found me." I said nervously.
"Is that marijuana?" He asked.
"Uh, this." I pointed to my joint. "No this is a cigarette, I-I rolled it myself." I said hoping he'd believe me.
"Brown, do I look like an idiot?" He asked sternly.
"I mean, I don't know you enough to answer that." I said. "I usually don't judge people based of their appearance." He sat across from me and stared at me. Fuck I could probably get kicked out for this shit.
"At least I know you've agreed to the program." He chuckled.
"What do you mean? I didn't agree to anything." I said confused.
"It's either that or expulsion". He said while smirking.
"Are you blackmailing me?" I asked.
"No, it's just a simple ultimatum." He said.
I looked down at the table and back at him. I wasn't sure how I was going to get out of this situation. I was being blackmailed. Like frfr. It scared me that I wasn't sure what he wanted from me.
"Um...what is the program?" I asked hesitantly.
"I'll email you about it later on." He said.
"It's not no human trafficking shit is it?" I asked concerned.
"What! No, what kind of person do you think I am?" He asked insulted.
"I don't know, I'm just curious on what it could be." I said.
"Well it's definitely not that." He said. The dean got up and reached his hand toward me. "Mr. Brown, I think you know what I'm asking for." He said.
I looked at him confused then barely realized. "Oh right." I said dumbly. I handed him the joint. "Here you go sir." I said heartbroken. A wasted joint I thought.
"See you around, Mr. Brown." He said happily while walking away.
"This is so frustrating." I exhaled. I don't want to be apart of this stupid program but I don't want to get expelled either. I crossed my arms and lied my head on the table then closed my eyes. I hate this so much.
"Chris." I heard Gaby say from a far. Great, time to pretend like everything's fine. I exhaled then lifted up my head and looked toward her direction.
"Hey Gaby." I smiled leaning back on my chair. She walked closer and I realized she seemed kind of mad.
"You have some nerve blowing me off earlier." She said annoyed standing in front of me.
"I know, I'm sorry." I said lowly looking down. "But let me make it up to you." I said looking up at her.
"Let me guess, you're gonna let me ditch you when you want me to meet you somewhere?" She said smartly then turning around.
I laughed. "No." I got up to follow her. "Where you going?" I asked kinda worried.
"Wouldn't you be somewhat upset if you were waiting on someone for a couple hours." She snapped then turned around to stop.
"I mean." I looked around then at her. She looked angrier. I should choose my words carefully right now.
"Yeah, but I really am sorry." I said apologetic. "Gaby, come on let me make it up to you. We can go to 5 & diner." I said knowing it's her favorite place. I saw her face light up.
"Fine, but you find a way to get there. I'm not driving you." She said smartly.
"What." I asked confused following her. She turned around and stopped. "I'm serious." She said with the stalest face. I looked down and realized I actually pissed her off. I do deserve this for ditching her.
I sighed. "Okay, I'll meet you there then." I turned around and started walking away. I heard giggling behind me.
"Aww, Chris you looked so sad." She laughed. "Come here, you know I'd never do you like that." She said.
I turned around and walked toward her. "Wow, not you playing with my emotions." I said sarcastically shocked. "You're so mean, you know that." I said jokingly.
"Whatever, let's go and you better eat." she said. I followed her to her car.
——————————————————————————
4:26 p.m.
08/24/23
We made it to 5&diner, I don't know why she loves this place. It's so basic like Dennys. The hostess sat us down at a booth near the front. I looked at the menus, and all of the food seemed whatever.
"Okay let's get milkshakes, burgers and French fries." Gaby said happily.
"Yeah whatever you want." I said montoned.
"No, you're getting the same too. You didn't eat this morning, so I'm making sure you eat now." she said.
"Ight, fine I'll get a chocolate milk shake then." I said. The server came. She looked pretty, her name tag said Hailey.
"How's it going guys, what can I get started for you." Hailey smiled making eye contact with the both of us.
"May I have a small Oreo milkshake, and a cheeseburger, no onions please and fries." Gaby said to Hailey.
"Sure thing love." Hailey smiled at Gaby.
"How about you handsome." Hailey smiled at me.
I blushed smiling back. "Uh, can I get a chocolate milkshake, and the same thing she got but with cheese fries." I said.
"You got it." Hailey said not breaking eye contact with me. Shes kinda cute I thought.
"Are you thinking about asking for her number?" Gaby asked snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Ask who for what number?" I said confused. I lost my train of thought for a minute.
"The waitress?." Gaby said confused mocking me.
"Oh." I smiled. "Nah, I'm okay. I'm not ready for no relationship right now. I already told you." I said. Hailey came back with our milkshakes and I noticed she gave me a large shake.
"Uh, excuse me." I said.
"Yes." Hailey said.
"I think you messed up my order. I wanted the same size as hers." I said.
"Don't worry about it, it's on the house." She smiled walking away.
"You sure? Seems like she likes you." Gaby hinted.
"Yeah I'm sure." I said drinking my milkshake.
"So." Gaby said staring in my eyes.
"What?" I asked weirded out.
"Why'd you ditch me earlier." She said drinking her milkshake.
I laughed. "You still on that." I said.
"Duh, I waited like 2 hours for you and you flaked on me." She said.
"Well duh, you didn't have to wait on me for 2 hours, you could've left." I said jokingly.
"I thought you'd come so I decided to wait." She said lowly looking the other way.
"My bad, I just overslept. I thought I set an alarm but I guess I didn't." I said playing with my milkshake. The waitress came back with our food.
"Here you go. A cheeseburger, no onions and fries." She placed it in front of Gaby.
"Thank you." She said happily.
"And a double cheeseburger and cheese fries for you." She placed the plate in front of me.
"Uh, thank you." I said knowing she modified my order.
"Anytime, handsome." She said. "Let me know if you need anything else." She said walking away.
"She must really like you. Upgrading you and shit." Gaby said eating her fries.
"Yeah, for real. Let's see how the bill looks tho." I said biting into my burger.
"This place has some basic ass food but shits good." I said eating the rest of my burger.
"Yeah." Gaby said not even knowing I'm dissing her favorite restaurant. It's cute that she just ignoring me and enjoying her food.
I finished my burger and drank the rest of my milkshake. I leaned back on the chair and burped loudly. "Excuse me." I said rubbing my chest.
"You're so gross." Gaby said laughing. I smiled and ate the rest of my cheese fries.
Gaby exhaled loudly. "Do you want the rest of my fries. I'm full." She asked me.
"No, I'm full as hell." I said leaning back on my chair and staring at my phone.
"Please, I don't want to waste food." She whined. I know if I don't agree she's gonna keep asking.
I exhaled. "Fine." I sat up and ate the rest of her fries.
"How you not gonna finish your favorite food in the world." I said stuffing my mouth with French fries.
"Shut up." She said laughing.
The waitress came back to leave us the bill. "Thanks guys." she smiled then stared at me and blushed.
"Let's see if it was really on the house." I said reaching for the bill. I looked and it really was. "Oh shit, she even put her employee discount on it." I said smiling.
"Damn, she a real one." I said putting my card near the edge of the table.
"You should at least give her one date for what she did." Gaby said excited.
"I'll think about it." I said eating what was left of the fries. The waitress came back and took my card. I finally finished her fries.
"I can't wait to take a nap." I said brushing my hair down.
"Food coma?" Gaby asked.
"Hell yeah." I said with my eyes closed. The waitress came back and she left her number on my receipt. I smiled and left $20 as a tip.
"Ready." Gaby said.
"No." I said tiredly closing my eyes.
"Come on." She laughed and got up.
"You want me to get up after all that food." I stood up and sighed loudly. She just laughed and pushed me out the diner. We walked to her car and I got in the passenger seat.
"So we going to your house?" I asked out of breath.
"Yeah, you want to." She said curiously.
"I'm down, I like lying on your couch. It's better than my bed." I said truthfully. I adjusted my seat so I could lie down and closed my eyes.
"Chris, what the fuck are you doing?" Gaby questioned.
"I'm lying down." I stated. "You got eyes right." I said jokingly. She pinched my nipple. "The fuck." I opened my eyes. "Why'd you do that?" I asked. It didn't hurt that bad but shit caught me off guard.
"You're not doing that in my car, what if we get in an accident. You'd break every bone in your body." She said sternly.
I sighed loudly. "Alright, alright fine." I put the seat back to normal. I just wanted to go to sleep and she making it hard for me.
"I'm sorry but I care about you. I'm not going to let you do something stupid." She said.
"I know, I know. Your car, your rules." I said agreeing.
We drove out of the parking lot and toward her apartment.
"Wait, that whale ain't gonna be there right now right?" I said.
Gaby laughed but stopped herself. "You need to stop calling her names like that. That's not cool." She said smiling.
"What do you mean? It's funny." I said laughing.
"You know you wrong for that Chris." She said trying to hide her smile.
"You didn't answer my question though." I said.
"Well, NIA didn't say anything about going out so she probably is at home." Gaby said.
"Damn, I hope she not." I said under my breath.
"She lives there Chris. You're a guest, you should at least try to be nice to her." She said.
"I know you right but those rules don't apply to unidentified objects." I said.
Gaby started laughing. "Oh my god, you calling her an alien now?" She said trying to hold in her laugh.
"That's the only possible way that something like her can be shaped like that and have a face only a mother could love." I said shuttering.
Gaby laughed. "You swear you being so serious right now." She said smiling. "She not even that bad, she pretty." She said defending Nia.
"To who?" I said shocked.
"To me. She's pretty, she has a nice...eye shape." Gaby said.
"A nice eye shape?" I said trying to hold in my laugh but couldn't. "Im weak as fuck, wait so if you were a guy, you'd date that thing?" I asked dying from laughter.
"Umm." She hesitated. I started laughing hard as fuck. I know she lying.
"Gaby, you don't gotta lie. We know what the real answer is." I said trying to keep some composure.
"No, I feel like my answer is biased." She said confidently.
"Biased? You either are attracted to them or not." I stated.
"I feel like if I was a guy, I'd be attracted to someone like me. I already like myself so why not go with something similar." Gaby said.
"I mean I guess that makes sense but not really. Like you can be attracted to other people that don't look like you cuz they're attractive." I said thinking I made a point.
"Then how come some people have a type they go after?" She asked.
"There are people like that but they know that other people are attractive. I can't answer why they go after a specific type tho." I said.
"So what's your type?" She asked. "I'm just curious cuz your biggest crush Ms. Roberts is Hispanic but you also dated Amelia who is light skinned." She said.
"I just realized, why is her last name Robert's. Isn't that a white last name?" I asked.
"I don't know. You should ask her next time you see her." She asked. "But back to my question." She stated.
"Uh I guess I don't have a type?" I said. "I go by with what I said. If someone's attractive then I think they're attractive." I said. It got quiet in the car. Which is weird, we really don't have silent moments. I decided to try to make it live again.
I sighed. "I'm so tired." I said.
"How come?" She asked.
"I ate too much." I said.
She laughed. "You can blame the waiter for that." She said.
"Or you." I said poking her cheek. "Ms I'm full, eat my fries, we can't waste them." I said mocking her voice.
"Shut up." She giggled. "You gonna start going there now, since you got the hook up with free food?" She asked.
"Probably not, she gave me her number and I don't really plan on texting her." I said nonchalantly.
"Is she not your type?" She asked surprised.
"She's pretty but I'm not ready for a relationship. She seems nice and I don't really feel like stringing her along just to make myself feel better." I said thinking about that girl from earlier.
"Wow so noble." Gaby sarcastically said.
"Fuck you." I laughed.
"Finally." I said annoyed. We pulled up to her apartment.
"What?" Gaby said.
"You drive like a grandma, taking forever." I said jokingly.
"Next time, let's take your car. Maybe we'll get here faster." She said boldly.
"Damn okay, you gonna do me like that?" I said getting out the car.
"Oh did I hurt your carless feelings?" She smiled following me to her door.
"Whatever, just open the door." I said annoyed. She laughed and unlocked the door.
"I missed you so much." I said while walking towards the couch. I lied on the couch and moaned. "This feels so good. I looked at Gaby and she was staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
She smiled shyly. "I have never seen anyone so excited to be on my couch." She said.
I sat up. "I'm gonna grab a blanket from your room." I stood up and headed toward the stairs.
"I can go get it." Gaby nervously chuckled. "You staying the night?" she asked.
"You wanna drive me home?" I asked.
"Not really." She said.
"Then I guess so." I said.
"Should I just go upstairs instead and sleep on the air mattress?" I asked.
"Yeah if you want to but it's still kinda early don't you think?" She asked blocking the stairs.
"Do you not want me to go up there?" I asked confused.
"It's just." She bit her lip. "I need to clean up my room a little" she said.
"It's okay, I'll just take a nap on the couch while you do your thing." I said yawning.
"I'll get you a blanket." She said.
"Ight." I said walking towards the couch. I'm so happy I actually feel tired. I can't wait to go to sleep. I lied down on the couch. I was half asleep when Gaby came back to try to wake me up.
"Here Chris." She handed me a pillow and a blanket. I grabbed it with my eyes closed and covered myself with the blanket.
"Thank you baby." I said tiredly. I know what I said but I'm too tired to correct myself.
"Goodnight Chris." Gaby said sweetly.