MAMA SAID

Feel Numb In My Bones

A/N: I'm back 😔😔😔 s/o to the loyal readers who are sticking with this story although I'm lazy asl 🥴 happy reading and don't forget to vote.
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"But all of our friends are gonna be there." Chloe looked to Shawn for help, but he simply shrugged in response.

Chloe and Halle were currently sitting on their parent's bed attempting to convince them to allow them to go to a party in Atherton, an upscale town not too far from their home.

"Wasn't all your friends there when y'all snuck out last time," Beyoncé asked, her hand cupping her ear waiting on the imminent reply.

Chloe let out an egregious sigh as she slipped off of the bed and crossed the room where the blonde stood. "Yes but that was different." She bored into the woman's hazel eyes.

"How? It's still gonna be a house full of teens probably drinking and smoking their lives away."

"Even if there is, we won't indulge in any of that stuff. We've learned our lesson Bey please can we go?" Chloe begged.

"Sorry sweetpea but the answer is still no," Bey patted her shoulder for good measure.

Chloe signaled with her eyes for Halle. The girl huffed. "Mommy we won't do any of that stuff. We just want to hang with our friends. We barely get to see them anymore and this is the only time everyone's schedules line up."

Shawn and Bey exchanged glances.

Halle crossed the room and Chloe allowed the girl to take her space in front of the blonde. "Please? We're always in the house and we're always the ones being left out of everything. I just want to be normal for once."

Beyoncé rubbed her forehead, tilting her eyes to the ceiling. "No and that's that on that. Why can't y'all hang together during the daytime? Go shopping or something?"

"Because all of our friends have other priorities during the day and so do we." Chloe said truthfully.

Bey shook her head, "I just can't see it happening."

Shawn stood, "Bey, can I talk to you for a second?"

The woman slightly rolled her eyes and walked his way while the girls looked on.

"I think we should let them go," he said in a hushed tone.

"What? No," she made a face.

"They just dropped an e.p four days ago. They deserve to celebrate," he whispered.

"They've been celebrating for four days," she retorted.

"With us! Not their friends. Why can't they go?"

Bey looked over her shoulder at her children and back at her husband. "Cause they can't."

"Girls, give us a minute," Shawn called across the room.

Both parents watched them quietly exit the room. Bey went to her dresser and began taking out her earrings.

"So we not even gonna talk about this? It's just what you say or nothing?" Shawn asked.

The two had been walking on eggshells around each other since she was on the mend with the flu. They bickered over the smallest of things with Bey always acting as the aggressor and Shawn was sick of it. The woman whipped her head around.

"So you think Halle at a party by herself is a good idea? With them grown kids? Anything could happen! Do you even know your child? It'll take nothing for somebody to take advantage of her. We're still working on personal space and social etiquette. And she's thirteen! A baby! She already think she's older than that cause she's a sophomore and has older friends. How are we gonna get it through her head that she's still a kid if she's out all night partying?" She placed both earrings in her jewelry box.

Shawn was quiet. "Okay and what about Chloe? She's fifteen. What were you doing at that age?" He spoke sternly.

"Working," she almost shouted as she began taking her bracelets off.

He took a minute to eye his wife, "and she works!" He walked towards her. "Those girls have been working non stop. Interviews here, photo shoots there, and on top of that, their grades have remained up to par. They deserve a little down time. Come on Bey, I bet when you was Chloe's age you wished your dad gave you some time off to be a regular teen."

Bey grimaced in the mirror. He knew not to bring her father up in any argument. It was still a sore subject. "Don't bring my daddy into this."

"Why not? It feel like he in the room with us already. I swear sometimes you act just like him."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, her chest tightened, and her throat went dry. "You know what?" She said flatly and laughed a humorless laugh before walking to her closet door.

She began sifting through her clothes to find a pajama set, trying to fight off the words that just came from her husband's mouth. Somehow they hit home and she felt sick as the words marinated inside her body. She snatched a random pair of pajamas with such force that the clothing fell and she was left with an empty hanger in her hand. But she couldn't care less. She stomped out of the closet with tears at the rims of her eyes. The words had nicked her pride and scraped her self-esteem in places that were already bruised. Suddenly, all false humor fell away from her as she leaned forward, her eyes both calm and pure ice frost.

"I don't act nothing like that man!" She shouted.

"Oh really?" Shawn said to his very angry and loud wife.

The blonde turned to her right, catching her reflection in the mirror as she gripped the hanger and looked back at her husband with her eyebrows raised. "How could you say that?" Her voice cracked a bit.

Shawn lowered his head at the pain that was palpable on the woman's face. "Look, all I'm saying is, at least let Chloe go. She's old enough to hang out by herself. When I was fifteen I was doing way more than that."

A sickening clang rang through the room as Bey's metal jewelry box fell to the floor. She smacked her lips and went to pick it up, but Shawn reached for it first, placing it securely on the dresser.

The blonde folded her arms, pressing her lips into a tight line before speaking."I don't want her to go. You didn't see her high out of her mind last time. Halle's not the only one easily influenced. They both are!"

Shaking his head, Shawn sat on the bed, "you not giving her no room to grow. That ain't fair."

"Well I said she not going," she dismissed him.

The man stood, "and I said she is." He kept his voice completely neutral. "Halle can stay cause we all know you damn near have a heart attack when she's out of your sight. I don't know who's worse. You or her."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She blared.

"You talk about Halle's attachment to you but you have separation issues too. She successfully sleeps in her room without coming out and you go in there with her anyway. She can't leave the house unless you with her no matter if it's with family."

"That's a lie!"

"Except for me, who you let take her?" Shawn cut in. "She couldn't even go to the skating rink with Julez and his friends last week and Solange was a chaperone!"

She got into Shawn's face even more, her eyes chilling to arctic levels. "You know she has her freak out moments and Solange don't got the patience to put up with it like I do. Halle needs actual supervision; she can not go without it. I thought we talked about this? She still acts inappropriately with strangers. You just had to pull her out of TyTy's lap at their release party and she met that man but one time. She needs guidance. Someone to tell her what is or isn't okay. She needs her mother. Why am I even explaining myself?" She appeared completely puzzled. "And I'm like that with all of them! The only person that takes Blue besides you is Kelly and my mama! And Chloe don't go nowhere without either you or me so how that work? Come on, explain it?" The woman raised her brow.

"I see where you trynna take this, and I'm not finna argue with you." He shook his head and walked towards the door as Bey's phone rang.

"Where you going?"

"To let Chloe know she can go. Be expecting Lil bit in a second cause you know she finna have something to say."

Bey felt her blood pump twice as fast. "I'm their mother, and I said they can not go! Did you hear me? They! Plural! Can not go!" She fumed.

Shawn let go of the doorknob, "and I'm their father! You need me to get the birth certificates for you? You need to see it in writing?"

She stood there, staring back for a moment.

"Chloe's going," he said as he exited the door.

Reaching up to her face, Beyoncé angrily wiped away the tears that had rolled down her cheeks, the tears she didn't even realize were there. She balled her hands into fists and shot daggers at his retreating form before plopping on her bed and rolling onto her side. Her phone rang again. She huffed and ogled the screen realizing it was Solange and answered.

"He...Hello?" She said into the phone.

"Are you crying? JuJu what's wrong?" Solo asked, alarmed.

"No, I'm not crying. I'm fine." She lied.

"Bey what is it?" The younger sister insisted.

"Nothing Thu, I promise." She said, finally in control of her tears.

"Bey..." She said.

"Why did you call?" The blonde asked, attempting to rush her sister off of the phone.

"Awe yeah, I'm at this ice cream shop, you want something before I come over?"

"Who invited you?"

"Girl! You want something or not before I hang up? I'm next in line, quit playing."

"Get me whatever you get, is that Kelly in the back?"

"Yeah?"

"She ain't answer my call earlier. Tell her she hurt my feelings," Bey stood from her bed.

"Tell her when we get there bye." Solange ended the call.

-

Shawn regretted what he'd done as soon as he'd done it; regretted walking away from her. It went against everything inside of him, to turn and walk away from her while she cried, crying because of him. He hadn't meant to make her cry like that, it just happened while he tried to get his point across.

The girls were in Halle's room, so he didn't have to walk that far. He could hear them going back and forth with each other before he entered.

"You were supposed to sell it! That's why we can't go," Chloe said.

"I tried!" Halle exclaimed as she took her guitar from Blue and placed it back on its stand where it belonged.

Shawn cleared his throat. "Girls."

Chloe and Halle sat on the bed while Blue busied herself toying with the many items on Halle's dresser. The man made his way further inside the room and took a seat in the vanity chair.

"So me and your mother talked and–

"We can go?!" Halle pushed herself from her stomach to her knees with a big smile on her face.

"Uh not exactly, Lil Bit, you stay, Chloe, you can go," he nodded.

"Ha haaaa," Blue turned from the dresser and pointed.

A wide smile was seen on Chloe's face as she stood. "Thank you thank you thank you!" Her face was on his shoulder as she hugged the man tight.

Shawn laughed, caught off guard by her behavior. It wasn't in her usual demeanor to be so excited about a social gathering. Nonetheless, he hugged her back.

Halle blinked at Shawn, a look of disbelief and dolor graced her features. "But that's not fair!" She almost yelled but thought better of it and changed her tone mid sentence. "How come she gets to go and I don't?"

"Because you're bad!" Blue squealed.

"Lefty," Shawn warned.

Chloe struggled to keep the corners of her mouth down so she didn't laugh. It didn't exactly work. She sat on the bed again as Shawn continued to speak. "Because you're too young. We'll see in a couple of years if you can have a nightlife."

"A couple of years!" She exclaimed. "I'll be a social outcast by then! I'm in young Hollywood, I need to have a nightlife! It's practically in my job description."

Chloe leaned her head against her hand and turned the opposite way to hide her laugh.

"Look, nobody in their right mind would allow their thirteen year old to go to a party out here in LA." He explained.

"But Sha–

"Lil Bit you not going," he shook his head.

Halle threw herself back on her bed and covered her face with a pillow and filled it with her tears.

"Reason number one," he shook his head and turned to Chloe. "What time the party start?"

"Ten"

The man scratched the back of his head as he continued to ignore the loud cries coming from Halle. "What time it end? That's late."

Chloe picked up her phone and scrolled through her text thread. "Um they didn't say."

"Well, you need to be in the house by twelve."

"Twelve? That's impossible. How about one thirty at least?" Chloe pleaded.

"One, and that's as far as I'm going," he stood.

Halle threw the pillow on the side of her and rushed to her feet. "This is stupid!" She screeched, stomping her foot on the floor. "No one lets me do anything!" The thirteen year old stormed out of the room, grumbling and muttering, likely cursing under her breath.

"Daddy, Halle's a big baby," Blue hopped on the bed besides Chloe.

Shawn sighed, not knowing what to say about Halle's sudden outburst.

"No she's not," Chloe chimed in. She knew her sister was looking forward to the party more than she was. Chloe tried to tell Halle that there was no way Bey would let them go, but the youngster insisted that they at least tried. Halle wasn't a baby. She just really wanted to go and didn't know how to express her hurt any other way. She wasn't taught properly.

Blue played with Penny the teddy bear. "Yes she is! She throws tantrums like a baby! I heard mommy on the phone! She said so."

"Blue, please," Shawn shook his head. "So Terrell should pick you up and drop you off no later than one alright?" He started to leave but Chloe stopped him.

"-–My friends were gonna drive me there," She announced warily.

"Then how will security come with you?" He asked.

Chloe sat up, "security?"

"Yeah?" He looked down at her with a raised brow.

"Shawn," she stared pointedly. "I don't wanna be the only one being supervised."

Shawn wiped at his face, "sweetpea you're pushing it. Your mama won't have it. Hell, I won't either."

"I don't wanna go," Chloe decided with a fold of her arms.

The man blew out a frustrated breath and looked to the ceiling before meeting Chloe's mulish eyes. "Okay," he started. "No security, but your phone needs to be charged in case of emergencies. Atherton not that far away anyway," he said more to himself.

Chloe bit her cheek to hide her smile, "Thank you."

He nodded, "I'm trusting you Chlo. Don't do anything that would compromise or take away from who you are."

She shook her head. "I won't."

"Okay," his voice piqued a bit letting his skepticism be known.

The girl stood from the bed, "Seriously, I won't."

Blue followed Chloe and her father towards the door as they exited Halle's room.

He picked the five year old up and checked his watch. "It's nearing ten right now, probably should be getting dressed."

Chloe nodded and with that she hurriedly made her way down to her room.

-

With Blue in hand, Shawn made his way back to the room he shared with his wife, but once he got to the door, he paused and sighed before stepping in. Bey and Halle were both in bed as the girl cried. No, scratch that. She was sobbing so uncontrollably and violently, her entire body shook with her sobs. Beyoncé had tried the breathing exercises when Halle had burst into the room and filled it with her tears, but nothing worked. The teen was more hurt that her sister was permitted to go than anything.

"I-I won't do anything I promise! I'll stay arms length away the entire time," she choked out.

He stopped all together as Bey cut him a look. For a moment he stared at her, the guilt inside him growing stronger. He knew he hurt her feelings with the whole she acts like her dad bit, but hell, she really had been on one lately and he was at his wits end. Clinging to that thought, he pushed the guilt at his harsh words to her away and stepped towards the bed placing Blue down in the process.

Halle turned to him with watery eyes and a red face. "Please can I go?"

"Mommy, what's wrong," Blue wedged herself between her sister and mother.

"Nothing baby," Bey rubbed her arm.

Shawn's eyes rested on Halle as she awaited his answer, taking notice that the trembles in her body had died down by now. She was still curled up tightly though, and there may not have been any sobbing or shaking anymore, but her face was still contorted into a pout that both parents didn't take kindly to.

Bey and Shawn exchanged looks and he knew he'd have to be the one to put his foot down because his wife usually conceded to whatever the girl said when she pulled this face.

"Lil bit, you can't go. That's final. You can hang out with them tomorrow during the daytime." He suggested.

She smacked her lips and began fidgeting with her hands. "It's not the same." She sighed.

"Tell you what, I saw Chui restocked on those vegan cupcakes you like so much."

"Shawn," Bey deadpanned as she rested her head in the palm of her hand.

Halle's eating was starting to worry her. It wasn't healthy at all. After coming home from work last week and finding yet another stash of various foods and snacks, Bey scheduled an appointment with Dr Evans for both Chloe and Halle.

Surprise flickered over the teen's face for a moment. "Really?!" Her eyes lit up.

"Yup, lets go get some." Shawn turned his back and looked over his shoulder at her. "Hop on."

"You're crazy," she giggled and climbed on the man's back.

He faced the bed once more, "come on Lefty." He smiled. The five year old hung from her father's neck like a baby orangutan as Shawn began to move towards the door like they weighed a ton.

"Don't drop my baby, Blue hold on tight." Bey called after them with a hint of an attitude laced in her voice.

-

Yara and Chloe were on the phone deciding what to wear. Technically this was her first time getting dressed for a party considering last time she just threw some clothes on and dashed out of the house.

"I have nothing to wear," Chloe huffed.

"Chloe, I've seen your wardrobe, please," Yara chuckled.

Again she sighed and held up a random dress in front of her body. "Are you wearing a dress?" She asked.

"No, I'm dressing casually. It's Megan's house party. You know, the overly chipper co captain of the cheer squad? Her parties are always chill, nobody really dresses up." Yara stood in her full length mirror still deciding if she should wear a jacket over her graphic t-shirt.

"This is impossible," Chloe flopped on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Flip the camera, I'll help."

Peeling herself from her bed, Chloe meandered towards her wardrobe and pointed her phone in the direction.

"Sift, sift, I can't see," Yara squinted.

The girl went through her tops first, showing her friend a portion of them.

"Go back," Yara said.

Chloe picked up a red and black long sleeved cropped shirt Bey of course purchased and held it close to the camera. "This one?"

"Yes, that's the one," Yara beamed.

The shirt still had its tag on it, "I don't know. I don't usually wear stuff like this."

"Chloe, it's in your possession for a reason. You'd look amazing in it," she urged.

"It'll show too much," the girl continued to eye the shirt in her hand. "People are gonna stare."

Yara didn't attempt to hold in her laugh, "you have paps following you to the coffee shop Chloe. Trust me, it wouldn't matter if you had on a burlap sack, you're famous, everyone's gonna stare regardless. Like Lovie always says, just give them something to look at."

A heavy sigh filled the room.

Yara took her phone with her as she sat on her bed to slip on her shoes. "Now, on to the bottoms, quickly, because I have to get going since apparently I have to pick everyone up."

"Okay," Chloe zipped through her pants and skirts.

"Those camo ones right there," Yara said after a while. "They'll go perfect. I'm gonna touch up my makeup. See you in a few." She waved and ended the call.

"What did I get myself into?" Chloe said aloud.

After showering quickly and moisturizing, she pulled the clothes on that Yara hand picked and was now staring at herself in the mirror. The girl groaned in utter disbelief that she was actually willingly about to attend another house party. Her phone chirped and she sighed before peeping at the screen. It was Yasmin informing the group that she was ready to be picked up. Luckily, Chloe was the last stop on the pick up list, so she had enough time to do a slight makeup look.

In LA appearance is everything.

Everything revolved around who had the better job, who had the biggest purse, who had the most expensive car. It wasn't like there was an official competition, but everyone knew that if they wanted to get anywhere in this city they better play the game.

That's why Chloe was sitting in front of her vanity mirror trying to find the perfect eyeshadow palette to correlate with her top. She could choose not to participate in the ridiculousness.

And yet, there she was, taking her sweet time ensuring her eyeliner was flawless.

It was kind of strange actually, because she had spent years convincing herself that the products she was applying to her face were for harlots and downright sinful to indulge in. She promised she would never wear it because it brought too much attention, but she would be lying to herself if she said she didn't enjoy it a little.

She stuck the cap back onto her eyeliner and evaluated her reflection. She turned her head from side to side trying to decide if her eye makeup was even but got distracted by the glint from her golden hoop earrings in the process. There was a knock at her door and she spotted Bey through the mirror. Chloe noted how it looked like she'd been crying. Her nose was bright pink and her eyes were a bit puffy.

"What's wrong," the teen stood from her seat walking over to the blonde.

Bey ran her hand through Chloe's hair. "Nothing baby, you look so pretty. I knew this shirt would look cute on you. I might have to borrow it." She chuckled.

Chloe tugged the bottom of her shirt down, "I think it's showing too much."

"Let me see," Bey cocked her head to the side.

The girl held her arms out so her mom could get a good look at the outfit. She swiveled around as Bey stared for a moment. "You look fine, this is how I used to dress at your age, but then again that was the nineties, a completely different time. It's cute though don't worry about it too much." Beyoncé sat on Chloe's bed and sighed.

"You sure you're okay?" She patted the woman's leg so she could make room for her before sitting next to her.

"Positive sweetpea, I'm just a little worried that's all." Bey stared at her hands.

"Bey, it's just a party," Chloe lamented.

Bey cracked a small smile as she gazed up to meet Chloe's eyes. "I know, but you're my child and I worry. It's kind of my job."

"I know," she sighed. "If it makes you feel better, you have my location on your phone." She tried.

"Speaking of phone, make sure yours is charged because everytime I call you all I hear is 'hold on my phone on ten percent'.

Chloe laughed knowing it was true she almost never charged her phone. It was starting to become a personality trait at this point. "It's charged, plus I have my wireless charger and I'll only be out for like three hours, Shawn said my curfew is one."

"As in the morning?" Bey upped a brow.

"Yes," Chloe smiled for just a second before she noticed the distress on the woman's face.

"Sweetpea that's really late," She scratched the nape of her neck.

Chloe nodded, "Yeah but it doesn't start till ten so with the commute time that should leave me with about two hours actually at the party."

"Not with the way Terrell drive," the woman said more to herself.

"About that," Chloe said hesitantly.

"What?"

"Yara's picking me up." She waited for the response that never came. "We're gonna all ride together."

"Your security," Beyoncé said after a while.

Chloe's heart sank knowing how strict Bey was about them having security wherever they went. "Um maybe you should talk to Shawn," she stood.

"Why? What he say?"

"That I could go by myself...like without security," the girl chanced a look.

Beyoncé felt her mouth dry up, "excuse me?" She was certain she must have misheard what her daughter said.

Chloe nodded silently. No words were needed.

"I don't even go to parties without security so why would I send my own child who's apparently coming home at one in the morning? Awe he must've lost his mind," the blonde stood and stalked towards the door with a determined glint in her eye.

Chloe scattered for her charger and purse and rushed out of her room behind the woman. "Bey please, Yara is already on her way to get me." She called after her.

"You need security Chloe," Bey looked straight ahead, but Chloe had already caught up to her. The two were now in perfect stride with one another.

"Not all the time, Bey Atherton is like twenty minutes from here. I could call for a ride if I want to leave early and be back in the house in no time." Chloe explained as she stepped onto the elevator after the blonde.

"A Carter child, out in LA past midnight without security don't sound too hot. It sounds like it ain't happening."

Chloe sighed dramatically. "I'll be responsible."

"It's not that I don't trust you. I do. I don't trust the world. People too crazy these days. At least if you out until one in the morning you should have security." She stepped off the elevator and began trudging towards the kitchen with Chloe hot on her trail.

"Bey nobody else is gonna have security and their parents are probably diplomats or something I don't know. Yara won't even have security and she's been in the game longer than I have."

Beyoncé stepped into the kitchen, "I'm not Yara's mother. That's between her and Keri." She turned to her husband who was leaning against the counter casually eating a cupcake while Blue and Halle sat on the counter eating theirs. "Can I talk to you?"

She didn't wait for him to answer. She simply turned on her heels and exited the same way she came in. Shawn eyed Chloe who shrugged her shoulders as she reached for a cupcake. The man reluctantly followed behind his wife.

"What's that all about," Halle licked the extra icing from her fingers.

Chloe handed her sister a napkin. "Bey wants me to have security at the party."

"I wouldn't even go," Halle shrugged. "That's lame as hell but at least you look cute."

Blue started to slide from the counter but Halle stopped her, "sis we talked about the snitching."

"And we talked about your mouth," Chloe cut in. "Especially in front of Blue." The oldest helped Blue from the counter.

"I'm telling-

"Mommy, yeah yeah yeah," Halle waved her off as she reached for another cupcake.

Blue shook her head "and I'm telling daddy you got another cupcake," she took off running.

"Well he left it right here! He knew what would happen! Fucking snitch," Halle muttered the last part quietly to herself.

"One thing about them tables, they gone turn," Chloe chuckled. "It doesn't feel good, does it?"

"I was never a snitch," Halle said around a mouthful.

"Lies! That's all you did Halle. You made a sport of it," Chloe handed her unfinished sweet to her sister.

"Thanks," she sighed then flinched at the sound of her mother's voice blaring.

"Halleee!" Bey called.

The girl made her lips into a flat line, hopped from the counter, and walked over to the intercom, "yes?"

"What I tell you about your mouth?"

"What did I say?" Halle laughed a little which caused Chloe's mouth to upturn slightly.

"You know what you said. Stop playing with me little girl," she actually sounded angry. "And get out of those cupcakes. Matter of fact, come here."

"I don't even know where you are," Halle tried.

"Come find me," Bey said sternly, causing Chloe to actually laugh out loud.

Halle rolled her eyes and walked back to the counter, this time leaning her elbows on it, "I'm staying right here since I can't go to the party."

"Lynn!" Bey called over the speaker making both girls flinch this time.

"Hals you're only making things worse do you like being on punishment?"

Halle rolled her eyes yet again and dragged her feet along the floor to see what her mother wanted. Chloe followed closely behind until they reached the family room where Blue sat on the couch with one leg crossed over the other, her hands clasped on her knee, and a knowing smile on her face. Bey and Shawn stared at their middle child pointedly.

"Lil bit watchu doing in there cursing?" Shawn asked.

The thirteen year old shot Blue a look and turned back to her parents. "I-it just slipped out."

Beyoncé pursed her lips and sat into her hips. "That mean you say it all the time. We keep telling you to watch your mouth. Aint no way you should be talking like that."

Shawn ran a hand over the top of his head before holding his hand out in front of the girl.

"Noooo," tears welled in the girl's eyes.

Shawn didn't say anything, he simply stood there with his hand out. Chloe pulled out her phone and leaned against the back of the couch trying to remove herself from the situation.

"But–" Halle looked at her mom and older sister as she let the first few tears drop.

"Halle," Bey said after a while.

The girl reached into her pocket, handing Shawn her phone just as Solange and Kelly entered with their children in tow.

"TT Kelly!" Blue ran to the woman and hugged her long legs.

"Hey baby Bey," Kelly balanced two cups of ice cream in one hand as she rubbed Blue's back in greeting.

Julez closed the door and locked it after his mother made her way in with Titan on her hip. "Greetings!" She voiced loudly.

"Hey, Solo," Bey and Chloe said at the same time.

Kelly made her way over to her sister and handed the blonde her ice cream.

"Thanks," Bey muttered.

"Everything okay," Kelly asked as she looked at Halle out of the corner of her eye. She had her face pressed tightly into her mother's side as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

"I'll tell you later," Bey matched her tone, earning a nod.

Blue followed alongside Julez who carried a tray of ice cream as he greeted his family. "I want some!"

"Uh Uh, it's too late and you already had a cupcake," Bey said.

Solange waved her sister off, "girl it's Saturday, here niece. You know aunty wouldn't leave you out." She removed a small cup from the tray and handed it to the five year old.

"Why do I even bother opening my mouth," Bey asked herself.

"This one yours," Julez held a cup out to Chloe.

"No thank you," she smiled. She was far too nervous to eat anything else.

"It's dairy free. See they labeled it different," he insisted.

"I just don't wanna eat anything before I leave but thank you," she smiled.

Solange whipped her head around. "Where you going?"

Chloe's cheeks burned red for some reason. "To a party."

"Whaaat your mama let y'all leave outta the castle? I thought I'd never see the day," Solange laughed.

Titan reached his arms out for the fifteen year old and she took him in her arms. "I know," she chuckled.

"Don't start," Bey rolled her eyes.

"Girl bye," Solange said playfully.

Kelly eyed Chloe's outfit. "Y'all letting her go to a party with her lil chest out?" She snickered as she began eating her ice cream.

"She old enough to pick out her own clothes," Shawn reached for Chloe's ice cream cup, opening it and taking a spoonful into his mouth.

He watched as Julez attempted to give Halle her cup, but received a shake of the head from Beyoncé. Choked sobs escaped Halle's mouth and she clutched at Bey's shirt.

"Why every time I come over here my niece crying? What do y'all be doing to her cause she don't cry with me." Solange said.

Bey moved a hand down and rubbed up and down Halle's trembling body comfortingly. "She just mad ain't nothing wrong with her."

Solo bent to Halle's height, "what Bey and lips do now niecey Pooh?"

Her reply was a jumble of words but Solange was just able to make out "and took my phone."

The rest of her words were lost between sobs, cries and the pure trembling of her voice. Halle was embarrassed by her reaction but she couldn't control it. She knew she shouldn't be crying like this in front of everybody but it wasn't anything new.

"Now y'all know that's her only friend," Solange gave them a look.

Kelly continued eating her ice cream. "What she do?"

Shawn sighed, "got caught cursing again."

Solange and Julez couldn't help the laughs that escaped their mouths. "Everytime I see her she getting in trouble," Julez teased.

"She said the h word!" Blue said excitedly.

"Oop!" Kelly's eyes widened.

Solange plopped on the couch and placed her feet underneath her bottom. Everyone else followed suit besides Bey and Halle.

"So sweetpeeaaa," Solange teased with a thousand watt smile on her face. "What you gonna do at this lil party?" Her eyebrows were raised suggestively to match the goofy look on her face.

Chloe played with Titan, grabbing his hands and making him do a silly dance as he stood on her lap. "Just hang out."

Solange made eye contact with all of the adults, pretending she was smoking a blunt and wanting to pass it around. Chloe smacked her lips, "none of my friends do that stuff."

"Gir-" Solange cut herself off causing Kelly to cackle with her head back.

They had both witnessed Yara and Beans at the adoption celebration obnoxiously high. The two teens tried their hands at hiding it, but Yara's failure to recognize both of them when they were all getting their food at the same time gave it away. She was standing there with bloodshot eyes damn near floating on her toes insisting that the two women looked familiar for the longest of times when Beans casually strolled up to the table talking about how his edible kicked in. He noticed Kelly and Solange and swore up and down that he said the food was inedible because of some allergy and he was looking for his epi pen.

"We forgetting that the weed man I'm using now I got from Chloe? And I bought two hundred dollars worth from one of her closest friends?"

"You better tell your aunties to stop before you not go," Shawn warned her.

Chloe balled her fist up discreetly at Solange.

"Juju your daughter just threatened me!"

Bey walked with Halle sniffling at her side and sat beside Kelly completely ignoring Solange. "Why you didn't answer my call earlier?"

Halle sat beside Chloe and placed her head on her shoulder as the older girl continued to play with the youngest of the bunch.

"Because I was busy?" Kelly raised a brow.

Beyoncé began eating her ice cream. "Doing what?" She stretched out and placed her feet in Kelly's lap.

"Dang aunty," Julez butt in.

"This lady is crazy. Y'all think Thu Thu the crazy one but it's really this one right here. I was in the studio maam any more questions..."

Just as Bey opened her mouth to speak, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Chloe handed Titan to Halle and rushed to the door.

Shawn followed behind her just in case she tried to slip out of the house before he could chat with the entire group. She pulled the huge door open and Yasmin was the first to speak. "Heyy bii-Chloe!" She switched up her language when she noticed Shawn's presence.

"Hey!" Chloe beamed and pulled the girl in for a hug.

"Hey Jay," Yara stepped in. She already knew Chloe's parents would want to speak to everyone because they reminded her of her own parents except the Shahids were easier to fool than the Carters. The Shahids believed anything their child said. Like tonight, she was supposedly enjoying a night alone with Yasmin and Beans at the Wilkins' residence.

Lovie, as gracious as any child Chikwé somewhat raised, nodded her head towards the man of the house as she entered with a million dollar smile. "Hi Mr Carter."

"Hey." He barely looked her way.

He was about to close the door when two big doe eyes appeared. Beans had been hiding, afraid that Jay would curse him out like last time. Shawn grimaced at the boy. Ever since their first introduction and Bey telling him how he threw Halle in the pool, he had decided that he truly wasn't a fan of him and probably wouldn't ever be.

"Beans come in. Why are you just standing there?" Chloe asked.

The boy let out a nervous chuckle before slowly stepping one Jordan clad foot over the threshold. His eyes never left Jay's. He stiffened beside Chloe and with a polite smile on his face stepped forward and shook hands with the man."H-hey Mr Carter."

"Sup," he stared down at the apprehensive teen attempting to look as intimidating as possible as he applied extra pressure than what was necessary to the shake before letting go.

'Ow!' Beans mouthed to Chloe dramatically.

She smiled, shaking her head as she closed the door softly.

"Where's Halle," Yasmin asked curiously as they walked through the house.

"In the family room. She can't come," Chloe informed them as Shawn led the way pretending not to eavesdrop on their little conversations.

Lovie and Yara exchanged a look, "oh I know she threw a fit." Lovie said in a hushed tone and raised her brows.

"And then some," Chloe shook her head.

"That girl crazy," Beans lamented, causing Jay to look over his shoulder at him.

Chloe slowed as she saw her family looking at her friends. "Hello," the teens said in unison as if they had practiced on the drive over. Halle got out of her seat and ran over to her group, pulling Lovie, Yara, and Yas in for hugs. She greeted Beans by slapping the back of his head. "Okay, we have one last chance to convince them to let me go," the thirteen year old whispered.

The group turned their heads smiling stiffly looking back at the family and again towards Halle. "How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Yasmin whispered.

"I don't know, figure it out!" Halle slapped her thighs. "I'm being held hostage here! Me, Thee Halle got bandz will not be seen at the party throwing them after all of the mess I was talking on my finsta!" She all but yelled.

Bey turned to them and tilted her head. "Lil bit come sit down," She patted the seat next to her. "Over there talking about somebody holding you hostage."

Sighing, Halle walked over with a dead face, threw herself down and leaned into the back of the couch.

"Mr and Mrs Carter," Yasmin started in what she considered her innocent voice as she smiled and blinked a mile a minute.

"She not going," Solange cut in.

Blue was on her knees eating her ice cream on the coffee table. "Halle said the h-word and got in trouble!" She giggled with her spoon hanging out of her mouth.

"You, you, and you come here real quick." Solange called.

Lovie, Yasmin, and Yara appeared puzzled.

"Solo," Chloe called out.

"Uht," the woman held her finger up.

The three teens reluctantly meandered towards Solange. Yara stepped on the back of Lovie's shoe. She didn't know why she was so nervous, but Solange had always been a little on the intimidating side.

"Leave them kids alone Thu," Kelly called.

"I'm not messing with them," Solange stood, walking the girls to a corner of the room.

Julez smiled Yasmin's way once they made eye contact. "Heyy Yas!" He rubbed his hands together.

"Boy bye," she dismissed him swiftly.

"So," Solo crossed her arms across her chest as she began. "One of yall got some weed on you?"

"Um excuse me?" Yara grabbed her chest and looked around the room. "I am a role model first and I–

"Cut the crap. I saw you high at the party." Solange deadpanned.

Yara scoffed. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she hesitated. "–you saw me? High? Pshh no way," her voice squeaked a little, a thing she did when she wasn't telling the truth. She awkwardly scratched her neck and nudged Yasmin for help.

"I'm sorry Solange but we as a group are above the influence. We pride ourselves on it." Yasmin said with a straight face.

Solange narrowed her eyes and smirked. She wasn't trying to hear it. She waved them off and faced Lovie. "Now I know for a fact you not above the influence." She quoted the air.

Lovie smiled warmly. "Actually I've always been. If you're referring to the time I sold you drugs, that all died with my father."

Solo grinned. "Y'all lame, couldn't hang with me and my friends back in the day but I guess y'all passed the test. Make sure my niece gets home in one piece or that's y'all ass. I'm sure both of them told y'all about our family and how we don't play. Yasmin, I'm sure ZaZa knows first hand." She turned to head back to her seat but stopped. "In all seriousness, Lovie, I'm sorry about your father."

"Thank you," she said earnestly.

Chloe and Beans were standing at the entrance whispering back and forth about what they thought Solange was discussing. Beyoncé watched her husband watching Beans and stifled a laugh. "Look at him Kellz," she whispered. Halle and Kelly turned to Shawn and a smile was etched on the woman's face.

"Shawn's paranoid, Chloe doesn't like like Beans. That's her friend," Halle rolled her eyes.

"Watchu know about like like," Kelly reached over Bey and tapped Halle's hand.

Julez looked up from his game and smacked his lips. "Right," Halle let out another frustrated breath. They thought she was so young. Sometimes they treated Julez like he was older than her, but maybe because he was tall.

"Alright," Shawn clapped his hands together and leaned on the arm of a chair. "First thing first. No drinking. No drug use of any kind. My daughter has a curfew of one and I do not care let me repeat I do not care what circumstances might come up. If she not in the house at one on the dot people will look for her. I'm not saying on the property. I'm not saying just rolling through the gates at one. I'm saying her feet should walk through those double doors no later than one in the morning and that's already a stretch for her. She is a public figure and as her friends I would hope all of you keep that in mind. Yara you probably the most responsible one out of this little gang so I know you gone hold it down. The rest of y'all have fun and most importantly be safe."

Bey stood up and walked towards Chloe. She still didn't agree with this whole thing. "Baby, be safe tonight." She hugged her and gave a lingering kiss on her forehead. "If you need somebody to pick you up, call okay?"

"Okay," Chloe looked over her shoulder back at her friends slightly embarrassed. She made sure her bag was in her hand. "See you."

She turned on her heel to leave and Halle stood to see them out. The six teens walked towards the door. All but one was quiet. "I can't believe y'all actually going without me. Chloe most of all. You didn't even wanna go."

"What was I supposed to do? Stay home with you?" Chloe asked.

"Uh yeah? We're a duo? They see you, they see me. They see me? They see you. It's how it's supposed to work." Halle rolled her eyes.

"Girl ain't nobody about to stay home on Saturday and be bored with you cause you wanna curse in your mama house." Beans said.

"I was banned from going before that. Thank you very much," she pushed him aside.

Yasmin turned to Halle, "friend, we want you to go we do. Usually I would say just sneak out but your daddy is intimidating as hell I wouldn't even try if I was you."

"Definitely not going down that road again," Halle sat into her hip.

"Just be on your best behavior and maybe next time you can come with us," Lovie suggested.

"Yeah right, she probably be in here cursing her mama out the moment she open them evil ass eyes of hers," Beans sighed.

Halle squinted, "my mom's black...idiot."

Chloe didn't say anything because deep down she didn't want Halle to go in the first place. Even for her parents, keeping up with Halle was a hassle. If she was really meant to enjoy this night like her friends suggested, Halle had to stay home. In Chloe's opinion, she wasn't mature enough to hang out in LA. She quite frankly just finished sleep training and sometimes still needed her mother in the room until she closed her eyes at night.

"Okay," Yara shook her key ring, "we have to go considering Chloe has to be back at one."

"I still can't believe that one," Yasmin shook her head and opened the door.

"Bye Hals," Chloe waved.

Halle wiggled her fingers with a sarcastic smile on her face. "Bye."

Beans allowed all of the girls to exit first and spotted a button just on the side of the door. He pressed it quickly. "Oh my God Halle why would you call your sister a b-word in your mama house like that!?" He screamed over the intercom.

Halle swung her fist at his back as he bolted out of the door towards Yara's car.

"Halleeee!" Bey's voice bounced off of the walls without the use of the loudspeaker.

She made sure to give everyone the finger before slamming the door and running back to the front room.

-

Chloe watched the gates to her home close through the rear view mirror. As they drove down the winding path, it felt as if the entire car exhaled. Yasmin removed her seatbelt and kneeled in the passenger seat as she talked to her friends in the backseat.

"Chlizzy, your family is crazy. Tell me why Solange pulled us to the side and asked us for weed," She gripped the headrest as she threw her head back laughing.

Lovie and Yara joined in on the giggles. "My mom's intense, but she's waaaay to posh to let anything like that slip out of her mouth." Lovie smiled.

Yara glanced at her through the mirror as she drove, "how's that going?"

The entire car waited for her answer. Lovie had called everyone in a panic asking what should she do about her mother's random return. She didn't know if she should kick her out and force her to get a hotel or allow her to stay. After Chloe and Yara took the side of letting her stay and Beans and Yasmin taking the side of sending her away, it was ultimately up to Halle as the tie breaker. Halle explained that it was a blessing her mother came back and went on an entire tangent about how it would be disrespectful to kick her out. Lovie decided Halle was right, but soon regretted the decision. Chikwé has been nothing but a thorn in Lovie's side since the moment she arrived and that was two weeks ago. The woman practically took over the entire house dishing out unwarranted opinions and to Lovie's Chagrin made feeble attempts at behaving like a mother. She'd ask where she was going, who she was going with as if she'd know anyone by name. The only upside of having her mother present was rebuilding the bond she had lost with her brother. Cassious was a wild little boy who completely disregarded anything Chikwé said. To Lovie it was fun to watch a kid just denounce every single word that came from their mother's mouth because when she and Reiyo were that age, it was a completely different story. Maybe because Cassious didn't have his father present as opposed to the twins whose parents were married for most of their lives.

"It's...going," was all that Lovie offered up.

Yasmin reached inside of Yara's armrest and pulled out a pre rolled wood. "I know you don't smoke but tonight maybe you need to."

Chloe groaned, "guys can you wait to do that? I can't come home smelling like weed. I told y'all what happened last time."

She lit up the joint and took a few hits, blowing smoke out of her nose and mouth like a dragon. "Last time you were high out of your mind. They can't say anything about you simply smelling like smoke. They know you're going to a party."

Beans reached into the armrest to pull out another blunt and lit it so they'd have two in rotation. "As long as nothing come back to me." He took a long pull, sending rings of smoke to the car's ceiling, passed the blunt to Lovie, and reached for the one in Yasmin's hand.

Lovie stared at the blunt in her hand. Although she sold the product for years, she had never in her life tried it. She was always an athlete and thus stayed away out of fear of being drug tested like so many cheerleaders before her. Now that she was in school online and ultimately off of the team until next year, she had nothing to lose.

"You don't have to do it," Chloe said, taking in the saddened expression clear across the girl's face.

"Do it, don't do it either way you need to pass it because you wasting it. We don't get discounts no more since somebody wanna be a holy roller all of a sudden," Beans blew smoke directly into Lovie's face.

She mushed his head, "don't blow no fucking smoke in my face!"

The blunt felt heavy in her hand and she couldn't help but think about all of the people she sold to and how she might have ruined their lives for a quick buck. "Fuck it," she shrugged and took a pull from the joint. She knew exactly what she was doing. Almost everyone around her smoked and she paid close attention as she low key judged from afar.

"Ayyyyeee!!" Yara and Yasmin screamed from the front of the car.

Lovie almost immediately went into a coughing fit. She thought she could feel the smoke swarming around the inside of her body and tainting her virgin lungs. "Here," she choked out through coughs as she passed it to Chloe. We meet again, Chloe thought as her eyes zeroed in on the heated glowing center of the joint. She grew sad because she actually enjoyed the feeling of being high. She relished in it even, but her mind told her to make the smart decision and pass it to Yara. Without missing a beat, Yara reached her arm back grabbing the blunt and put it between her lips. By now Lovie took huffs from the second blunt in the rotation. This time she puffed slower so the smoke could ease down her throat without choking her up.

"Hold it Loves," Yasmin coached, still kneeling in her seat.

Lovie willed the smoke she held in her lungs to halt just so she could see how long she would be able to hold it. She was a perfectionist at everything and this was no different.

"There's no way this is your first time smoking," Yara handed the joint to Yasmin.

Finally Lovie exhaled and smiled, "but it is."

Chloe sat up in her seat ogling Lovie's face, "then how were you selling it?"

"Bullshitting really, if my dad's plug told me it was the good stuff I just repeated it and made it sound alluring. Plus I can smell the difference between the cheap and the real. Y'all got this from BJ?" Lovie asked passing the joint to Yara who took short puffs.

She nodded after a while. "Yeah, we're all using him until we can find somebody else we can trust." All of the smoke she inhaled came from her nose and mouth.

"How do you blow out your nose?!" Lovie laughed as Yara giggled, smoke emitting from her face as she passed Yas the joint.

"You just blow out your nose, just like it sounds," Yasmin answered, watching Lovie try and fail, coughing as she inhaled too much smoke.

"You're bad at this," Beans teased, taking the joint from her since she messed up the rotation and this time blew out "O" rings slowly.

The windows were past foggy. The clouds of smoke started to get to Chloe and it wasn't long before she started to feel like she had hit the blunt. "Can we roll a window down?" She pressed the button lowering hers a bit, but Yara quickly rolled it back up.

"We worked our lungs off for this, bask in it Chlizzy," Yas passed the blunt off to Beans and he sat there with two of them hanging out of his mouth.

"I'm getting high!" She exclaimed.

"Good!" Beans and Yasmin yelled at the same time.

Lovie was slumped in the middle, chuckling quietly to herself with her hands folded across her stomach.

"Not good! If I wanted to be high I would've put on for the weed! Y'all don't have to go home to your parents, I do!" Chloe rolled the window down again.

Yasmin paused for a moment, "cut the cameras...it's time to fight!"

"No! Don't fight!" Lovie sat up dramatically. Her eyes were flushed and impassioned. "We're friends!" She stressed.

"Girl!" Yasmin and Yara cackled. "You think I would ever fight Chlizzy? Sheeitt them hands lethal as hell and I love my face way too much."

It was Chloe's turn to laugh. "Y'all sweaar!"

"I know what I saw," Yasmin fell into her seat when Yara made a sharp right turn.

"Daaamn!" Everybody said in unison.

"Sorry, zoned out and we would've been turned around if we missed that exit." Yara snickered.

"Gotta be careful...billion dollar baby up in here," Chloe muttered as she made sure her seatbelt was secure.

"Yeah you high off contact," Beans laughed.

Two more minutes down yet another winding dirt road and they were parked in front of a sizable mansion. There were cars after cars parked alongside the road, but Yara refused to leave her car where she couldn't see it, so she was the only one who pulled up to the entrance. Yasmin dug in her purse pulling out a small bottle of Allergen pills and handed one to each of her friends. Chloe scrunched her face up at the small blue pill. "What is this for?"

"Oh, I keep forgetting you're new to this stuff, this is a pill party. Megan throws them all the time. Everybody needs to bring a pill and drop it in a bowl at the entrance and choose a random one and take it. It's sorta like an entrance fee."

"Well y'all can take me home now," Chloe folded her arms in defiance.

Lovie giggled to herself as Yara turned around. "You don't have to take it. We usually hide it under our tongues until we get past security."

"Yeah no telling what these honkey tonks put in there," Beans chimed in.

Yara's phone pinged, "Devon's already inside." She applied more gloss to her lips.

"Look at you preparing to simp," Yasmin touched up her makeup, smirking to herself when she noticed her tinted eye whites.

Chloe tapped Lovie's shoulder because it seemed like she was too far gone to participate in anything close to a party. "Lovie," she called.

Slowly the girl turned her head, "yerrr."

"See yall should've never given her that stuff." Chloe smacked her lips.

"Girl she aight," Yasmin popped her lip gloss and peered over her shoulder. "She just need a little water come on."

Beans was the first to get out of the car. He rushed around towards Chloe's side and opened the door for her. "Thank you," she threw her hair over her shoulder and fixed her shirt into place.

Several others were walking up from their cars as all of the friends stood at the bottom of the stairs.

"Who's the designated driver? Not it!" Yara rushed out.

"Not it!" Yasmin, Beans, and Lovie said at once.

They turned their heads to Chloe, "I can't drive sooo I was never in the running."

"Damnn," Beans shook his shoulders already upset.

They usually played a quick game of Rock Paper Scissors when multiple people called not it at the same time and he wasn't the best player.

Lovie, Yas, and Beans huddled together.

"Gonna be so easy," Lovie said as she balled her right hand up and placed it in the palm of her left. "Rock paper scissor shoot!" They said together.

Yasmin won the round with 'rock' and hooped and hollered to let her victory be known. Chloe rolled her eyes at their immaturity as Lovie and Beans prepared for their face off. "Rock paper scissor shoot!" They said again and seconds later Beans raised his arms in the air while Lovie huffed and puffed.

"The champ babyyy! Hope you have fun being sober as a gopher with Chloe," he ran up the steps and got in line.

"Why couldn't you have your license, Carter?" Lovie threw her arm over Chloe's shoulder as they ascended the steps together. They took each step slowly, forced now that they had to face the fact that this party was actually happening. Dread settled heavily in both of their stomachs as they reached the top after a group of people were permitted inside.

From where they stood, Chloe could tell the entire house was packed. No one was really dressed up, so she was glad she listened to Yara earlier. There were two security guards manning the door dressed in all black. One held a giant bowl of pharmaceuticals and the other had a handheld metal detector. Beans held his arms out to the side as the man patted him down and waved the detector over his body. After he was cleared to go by the first guy, he dropped his pill into the bowl and chose a random one, throwing it casually into his mouth. Next was Yara. Luckily, the men were only patting the guys down and only waving the wand over the girls. Yasmin complained loudly when it was her turn saying how ghetto it was. Lovie was recognized by the security guards and was therefore permitted to pass without so much as a second glance. Chloe swallowed the lump in her throat as she made her way to the man. Her fingers twitched at her sides as she prepared to lift her arms up, but like Lovie she was permitted to pass. She dropped her pill in the bowl and took her time trying to choose one that looked the least lethal. Her eyes scrutinized the bowl under the low light on the porch until she saw an Aleve somewhere in the mix. She grabbed it and tossed it into her mouth.

The smell of booze and sex hit her senses the second she set foot inside the house. Bad trap music reverberated through the expensively decorated walls and up into the bottom of her feet, but she steadied herself and walked forward. Lovie was on her right with a frown as the group made their way into the crowd and she briefly wondered what she was thinking.

Why are we here?–could be the answer. It was definitely what she herself was thinking but didn't say that out loud; neither did Lovie. And so they continued to walk farther into the mansion. From every corner of the first floor there were groups of people bunched together like cattle. Drinking, dancing, laughing, dropping X, making out. It was pretty normal for this particular crowd, but Chloe looked on in disgust.

"How come y'all hoes get special treatment," Yasmin asked as she swiped a napkin from a nearby table and spit her pill inside.

Yara handed everyone a napkin so that they could all do the same.

"Kingpin daddies," Beans said nonchalantly as he surveyed the growing crowd.

The music halted and everyone turned towards the curved staircase. Megan held a microphone in her hand as she flipped her blonde hair, moved to the railing, and braced her arms against the polished surface. Her face reflected back at her on everything from posters to cookies to swag bags. Two bars had been set up, one in the corner of the living room, the other near the table of food outside by the pool. She'd personally made sure it was stocked to the teeth with top shelf everything. She'd had the best DJ in town booked for the occasion for the past six months and it was only to celebrate her half birthday.

"Evening everyone!" Megan yelled. "Oop is this thing on?" She giggled and patted the mic until an ear piercing echo sounded throughout the house. "Sorry! Anyway, most of you know how my parties work, just have fun really, but we have Lovie and her crew here tonight along with other people who we all know doesn't like to be filmed," she turned towards the five teens which made everyone else do the same. Yasmin and Beans held up their middle fingers earning laughs from everyone.

"Lovie marry me!" Someone yelled from somewhere in the crowd, earning whistles and more laughs.

Megan chuckled as well. "As you all know we have to implement some rules here! Who knows what rule number one is?!" She pointed her mic to the crowd.

"No cellphones!" Everyone yelled back.

Megan clapped in the way cheerleaders do. "There's a lot of you here so we must get into rule number two which is?"

"Mingle!" The house sounded like an episode of family feud.

"And finally rule number three!" Megan showed off all of her pearly whites.

"Get fucked up!" The party roared.

"That's right! Have fun guys! Don't forget to order the house drink tonight. It's called The Meg! Oooooh" the blonde girl teased her guests and handed the microphone to one of her friends. Megan was a pushover preppy girl for the most part, but everyone seemed to love her.

With a contented sigh, Chloe straightened and smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from her body hugging pink and grey camo pants. Lovie's eyes scanned over the dimly lit room as she took a sip from her water bottle. There were a million places she'd rather be than the pill party her co captain was throwing, but she'd go just about anywhere to get away from her mother's constant complaining and sharp tongue. The walls of the house shook from the loud music the DJ was playing. She let out a sigh of annoyance after being bumped by another drunken what looked to be a college kid and brushed off their 'sorry' with a hard glare.

Yasmin made her way over to the bar and ordered three shots to get her and her friends started. She balanced two cups in one hand but still found a way to bend over and throw her ass as she crossed the room.

"Thanks," Yara took her cup and scanned the party for Devon's face. It was impossible to keep her eyes trained on one person because everyone moved too quickly.

Her phone vibrated against her thigh and she checked the notification seeing Devon's name flash across her screen.

"I'll be back," She announced, quickly pushing her way through the sweaty bodies of her peers.

"Go get your boo!" Yasmin hollered after her. "Crazy, Yara's the only one of us boo'd up." Yasmin took her drink to the head scrunching up her face as the alcohol burned her throat.

"Beaaans my man!" A towering boy with olive skin, brunette hair, and deep dimples approached the group dapping Beans up.

Chloe recognized him as a senior from Lexington.

Beans downed the little liquor that was in his cup. "Wassup Collin?"

"Mannn, enjoying the night!"

Sweat dripped from the boy's face in thick droplets. His eyes were dilated as he turned to Lovie. "When are you coming out of retirement? Everyone misses you."

"No time soon Collin," she smirked.

The boy grabbed her hand "pleeeeaasee please! It's not the same without you. You know I've had to contact some really sketchy dudes for my party favors since you left. Could you imagine this face meeting some thug in an alley at night? It could get bruised." He flashed his money-making smile.

"Lovie!" Megan shouted out, catching Lovie's attention. She broke her gaze from Collin and turned to see Megan walking towards her arm-in-arm with one of Collin's football buddies. She couldn't remember the other boy's name...some sort of animal, she thought as they stumbled over from across the room. They both clearly had their fair share of drinks.

"Hey Yas," the boys hooked to the celebrant smiled suggestively.

"Hey," it was clipped like she didn't really want to speak.

Megan looked between the two and back to Lovie. "I didn't know you were coming tonight! I thought you were on the up and up, You know with the big man upstairs?" She cupped her mouth on the last part as if that would keep anyone else from hearing what she said.

"Had to get out of the house," she said truthfully.

The hostess nodded her understanding. "The whole cheer team is somewhere around here," she slightly slurred.

Lovie thought she might've taken a pill because she wasn't just acting like that on the microphone. Chloe locked eyes with the boy that was hugged up with Megan. "The mysterious Carter kid at a pill party? Welcome to the dark side!" He announced loudly holding up his drink in a mock toast. He was so drunk that beer spilled over the rim barely missing his own shoes, but splashing all over his friend's.

"Moose!" Yasmin bellowed stepping away from the splash.

Collin knitted his thick brows together. "Watch out man, way too early to be that sloppy! You keep going at that pace and you won't get any action from the ladies tonight."

The two boys shared a look of disbelief before they started to crack up with laughter. As if being too drunk would stop them from getting some action. They clinked their cups together, letting out some chant and downed the rest of their drinks. Chloe cleared her throat and looked away quickly so they didn't see her roll her eyes in annoyance.

"Yo Beans! The kegs are out on the patio." Collin said before walking off.

"Imma go with the guys," Beans followed his athlete friends to get a refill.

The boys walked through the living room towards the kitchen. They weaved their way through the dancing couples and groups of partiers just standing and talking. Beans greeted a few of them as he walked beside Moose and Collin on their path to the beer.

"Men," Megan rolled her eyes playfully.

"You mean boys," Lovie stressed.

"Ex- Exactly," the lanky blonde slurred and walked off.

Megan's half birthday festivities were in full swing. The carefully selected guests were partying like they hadn't all just been out until dawn days ago at an 'earthquake' party, taking full advantage of the well stocked bar. The gift table was positively overflowing with presents of all shapes and sizes. It wasn't mandatory to bring one, but with everyone's lush upbringing they felt inclined. Everybody was having the time of their lives. For the rest of the school year, hers would be the event to beat. The party was a success.

"Well won't you look at this," Yasmin frowned.

Kenny and his friends had arrived at the height of the rush, almost blending in with the other guests. He had a rather pretty girl on his arm. They had been laughing about something, completely oblivious to anyone else. Yas had been unprepared for the intense stab of jealousy that pierced her heart. They looked really happy, she realized. That stupid, ridiculous, in-their-own-world joy that she was fairly certain was solely for them two. Drawing on every ounce of her reserves she had managed to keep her mask in place as she greeted them.

"Hey Kenny, see you found you another one to dog out," she smiled as he looked down at her.

He appeared as though he had been caught by a candid camera, but his smile was genuine to the people who didn't truly know him. Judging from the way Kenny's body language had changed when they exchanged obligatory hello's, he'd rather have been just about anywhere else.

"You wrong Yas," Kenny frowned.

Lovie and Chloe sidled up at her side.

"She's wrong?" Lovie went on the defense. "You get mad because she was done playing games with you and you threatened to leak her nudes?!"

"What?!" The girl on his arm exclaimed.

"Yeah girl, run while you still can!" Chloe bucked her eyes causing Lovie and Yasmin to laugh obnoxiously.

Kenny ran his hand over his face. "You ain't have to do me like that. I wasn't gonna do nothing with them."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if I did I'd tell you that you should've known better than to come at me with empty threats," Yas sized him up.

"You almost got yourself killed," Lovie added.

He shook his head. "Something wrong with y'all." He said as he walked off.

"I need another drink," Yasmin stormed off towards the bar.

-

Comfort comes in all shapes and forms. It could be a song, a long drive in the rain, a caring touch, a listening ear... The list goes on and on. For Halle, her comfort came in four letters.

F
O
O
D

She laid in bed surrounded by a variety of snacks she had snagged from the kitchen when no one was paying attention. She flicked through movie titles on demand until landing on an old classic, Jeepers Creepers Two. After peering over her shoulder, the girl started the film, making herself more cozy under her comforter. Usually she'd be reprimanded for watching this type of stuff this late and it irked her. Like she couldn't handle a scary movie when in reality sometimes her life felt like a horror film. She opened a bag of chips just as the opening credits scrolled across the bottom of the screen. The suspenseful music only captivated her interest more. Although she had her night lights on along with her bedside lamp, her main lights were shut off so there was no glare on the television.

Not before long, she was twenty minutes into the movie. The music heightened along with the crippling suspense and she stuffed a handful of chips into her mouth. The signature theme song of the animal-human mishmash sounded and Halle gripped Penny which was already in her lap.

Jeepers Creepers, where'd ya get those peepers?
Jeepers Creepers, where'd ya get those eyes?

Halle's eyes were glued to the screen watching as the high schoolers stared at the ceiling of a school bus that Jeepers Creepers had landed on. She was practically at the edge of her seat waiting for the thing to attack when she felt hands suddenly jolt her forward.

The scream that left her mouth more than likely sent away any creatures that dared lurk at night. Her breathing was heavy as she turned around to Julez' pesky laughter.

"Stop playing!" She threw a pillow at his head.

"You should've seen your face," his cheeks were a bright red as he continued his musings.

The door was pushed open and Shawn stood in the entryway. "What's going on?" He wore a serious expression as he turned on the light.

"Julez scared me!" Halle pouted and sent another pillow to his dome.

The man looked towards the tv and sighed. "Lil Bit you not even supposed to be watching this stuff anyway." He entered the room, grabbed the remote, and changed the channel."

"See," Halle flopped back on her bed. "I was perfectly fine until he came in! Get out!" She yelled.

"Chill out," Shawn made his exit not wanting to get in kids business.

"Ahh" Julez let out a contented breath as he sprawled on Halle's bed with a smirk, making sure he stretched his limbs.

"Move," she kicked him until he groaned, slipping down to the floor clutching his side dramatically.

He pulled out his phone and crawled over to the bean bag chair which gave Halle an idea. "You just mad cause you can't go to that party."

"Boy, nobody was even thinking about that." She sprung herself to her feet and went to her drawer to retrieve her old cell phone, quickly putting it on the charger. "So watchu been up to?" She surfed the channels.

Julez shrugged, "Just came back from my daddy's house. It be so boring over there. It's not even kids my age in his neighborhood to hang with if I wanted to. I was just playing the game all day."

"Mm is that why you kept texting me?"

"Bro that was like three times over four days," Julez toyed with his hair.

"Three hundred, then you don't talk about nothing. You kept asking what you doing, what you doing every two seconds."

The boy let out a hearty laugh, "I'm telling you, you wouldn't last a day."

"You'd be surprised," Halle finally selected Nick at night just as her phone screen turned on.

"Lemme get some candy," he held his hands out.

She absentmindedly threw three pieces his way, too busy scrolling her Instagram. "Ugh!" She exclaimed.

"What?"

"Look at this," she rolled on her stomach.

Julez sat beside her and peered at her phone. Yasmin had posted a group picture of her and her friends making silly faces in the car and captioned it: lituation

"They think they so cute," Halle commented a series of vomiting emoji's using her finsta.

Julez texted his friends back. "Why you hating on them?"

"I'm not," Halle switched accounts going into the public domain she shared with her sister.

"Aye gimme Yas or Lovie's number," Julez said after a while.

The girl looked disgusted."So they could kill me? No thanks." She proceeded to go through her DMs. There were a slew of messages of fans from everywhere congratulating them on their e.p release. She decided to be nice and respond to some of them, but the rest she simply gave a heart. After scrolling for so long, she paused on a familiar name.

Forever_Reign14: Yesss👏🏾😍😍

Halle clicked on the profile and recognized her as the freshman from Lexington who invited her to some group. She liked a few of her photos and went back to her own comment section to reply.

ChloexHalle: @Forever_Reign14 🤗🤗🤗

It wasn't long before Halle went back to her direct messages to refresh it. There was a message from Reign.

Forever_Reign14: hey girl how are you?

Halle made a face and went to reply.

ChloexHalle: good u!💕

Forever_Reign14: great this is halle right?

ChloexHalle: yes hold on let me add you on my other account

Forever_Reign14: 👍🏾

"Can I change the channel?" Julez asked as he stuffed another piece of candy in his mouth.

"Yeah, whatever."

After following Reign using her finsta, she waited a few seconds for her to send a follow request before she added her.

Moneyy2blowww: don't give my finsta out

Forever_Reign14: lol now why would I do that

Moneyy2blowww: clout 🤷🏾‍♀️

Forever_Reign14: 😒😒 anyway so, I thought you of all people would've been at Megan's not so birthday birthday party.

Moneyy2blowww: I was supposed to go but something came up🙄 you there?

Forever_Reign14: my parents said I couldn't go so I'm over my best friend's house having a movie night with like four other people

Moneyy2blowww: sounds fun

Forever_Reign14: eh not really it's not my usual crew just some people my friend knows from across town and they aggy af

Moneyy2blowww: 🤣 How?

Forever_Reign14: one boy keeps trying to get at me the other one is a complete ass and the two girls keep whispering stuff so I'm only talking to bestie💁🏾‍♀️

Moneyy2blowww: I would've went home

Forever_Reign14: my mom would curse me out if I made her drive all the way out here again tonight so ig I'll tough it out. You had to work tonight or something?

Moneyy2blowww: no tbh my parents said I couldn't go so I'm at home watching paint dry.

Forever_Reign14: 😭😭😭 not on a Saturday

Moneyy2blowww: I knowww😫😫 haalppp

Forever_Reign14: 😹😹 FT me (424)536-7186

Halle eyed Julez who wasn't paying her any attention while he watched some action packed film. She thought for a millisecond and entered Reign's number into her keypad. She bit her nails waiting for the call to connect.

Reign answered with an annoyed look on her face. "Hey," she lamented as she moved throughout a large kitchen.

"Hey, why'd you ask me to FaceTime you?" Halle asked.

Julez turned over his shoulder. "Who is that?"

"Shhh!"

Reign opened a family sized bag of hot chips. "So I could have an excuse to leave the room. Usually I'd tell Melanie but she was in the room with me and the rest of my friends are at that party."

"Same I can't believe they went without me. My sister even went without me," Halle pouted.

Reign chuckled as she threw a couple of chips into her mouth. "Oh I follow what's her name? Yasmin? I saw her post earlier. Paid you dust I guess."

"They'll get what's coming to them," Halle nodded seriously. She squinted once she heard someone enter the kitchen and start a conversation with Reign. She could only hear a husky sultry voice asking her for some chips and saw Reign roll her eyes, handing the boy the entire bag dismissing him.

"See what I mean? I do not want to stay here tonight," the girl huffed.

Halle's eyes lit up, "Ooh maybe you could come here to my house!"

"-Uh what?" The fourteen year old chuckled nervously.

Julez looked up from his phone, "now whoever that is, you know my aunty not about to let them over her house this late."

Halle waved him off, bringing her attention back to her phone. "Yeah I could ask my mom if you could come over and we could hang out since we're both bored."

Reign's face got closer to the camera. "Ask...your mom...as in...Queen B?"

With a sigh and a quick roll of her eyes, Halle nodded.

"Don't let her send you off," Julez tried to put his face in the camera but Halle clutched her phone to her chest. "Move!" She pushed him away with her foot.

"Who is that?" Reign laughed.

"My cousin, he's a non factor, don't worry about him." The girl huffed.

"Yeah Aight," Julez exclaimed.

"As I was saying, I could ask," Halle shrugged.

Reign seemed to be in deep thought. "This sounds completely insane, but I'll have to ask my mom as well. I'll call you back in ten?"

"Okay," Halle ended the call and Julez snatched her phone out of her hands.

"What are you doing?!" She reached for it but the boy yanked away and proceeded to read her and Reign's dms.

"You don't even really know this girl," he handed the phone back.

"What are you talking about? She goes to my school."

Julez twisted his lips, "You don't even go to your school. What's her last name?"

The girl was stumped, "it's it's" she stammered.

"Exactly," he shook his head. "If you wanna waste your breath asking if she could come over then by all means." Julez gestured towards the door.

Halle slid off of the bed, "not that I needed your permission... and it doesn't hurt to ask. The worse she could say is no." She headed towards the door with Julez following close behind.

"Any reason you're trailing me?" She didn't bother looking his way.

"Figured you needed an audience to witness this treating TT BB about to give you."

She rolled her eyes and they both stepped onto the elevator.

-

Beyoncé POV

"So you started crying because he said you act like daddy?" Solange asked me.

She always trying to downplay something. Yes Shawn knows full and well I don't like being compared to that man. I mean what was he even trying to say? Like I honestly don't understand. I'm convinced he says and does some of the things he does just to hurt my feelings.

"Yes Thu, and he was once again coming for my parenting skills," I sighed.

Kelly placed a hand on my knee and gave me those puppy dog eyes she always had at the ready.

"What'd he say now?"

They always wanna talk about something. Why we can't just sit here not doing nothing?

"Just stuff about me possibly having separation anxiety with Halle and claimed I wasn't letting them be regular teens by refusing to let them go to this party," I stretched over Kelly's lap and poked Solange's thigh with my big toe.

"Don't get slapped," she pushed my foot away.

"I won't," I leaned back smiling, placing my arms behind my head and looked over at Blue trying to teach Titan how to tumble.

"Now if my nephew hurt his head," I called out, but all she did was look at me and laugh.

My kids must take me as a joke. All of them.

"I don't think it's fair that he brung that up. I mean you have your reasons," Kelly said.

Yeah and I don't get how he can't see that.

"And that's exactly what I told him but he ended up going to tell Chloe she could go anyway. Then insisted she didn't have to bring security."

Kelly scoffed and I nodded my head.

"Like after you said no?" Solange looked at Kelly then to me.

I shifted "Mhm he was like Chloe's going," I said in a deep voice. "Then he walked out the room looking all ugly and determined."

"I could just imagine," Solange shuddered.

The sound of bare feet hitting the floor fast paced from down the hall caught my attention and I outwardly sighed knowing that it was Halle. She was sent to her room like an hour ago because she still had a little attitude from not being able to go to the party.

"Here come thing one and two," Solange announced.

Two seconds later, Halle came running around the corner with Julez behind her. "Mommy since I had to stay home can my friend Reign come over?"

Who the hell is?

"Who is Reign?" I sat up and tucked my feet under my bottom as she stood in front of me.

"My friend," she smiled.

She ain't ever talked about a Reign before and I know just about everything about her other friends.

"That she met on Instagram," Julez cut in.

Halle gave him a strange look. It's always something.

"Honey, you're meeting people on Instagram," Kelly asked.

Right like? What?

"No, she goes to my school. I met her there," Halle sat into her hips.

Crisis averted. I thought she was out here talking to strangers online or something.

"Aunty she don't know that girl," Julez said with a straight face.

"Oh my God Julez can you mind your own business? I do know her! She's a friend...from school." She whined.

"Then how come the first time y'all talked on the phone was today and she just gave you her number via Instagram after sending like four messages. There wasn't any other communication before that."

It was silent before I turned to Halle. "Are you giving your number out to people online?"

She glared at Julez, "no she gave her number to me, and I know her from school."

Didn't Jay just take her phone? How was she on Instagram anyway? I blinked. "How were you on Instagram?"

Julez squeezed between his mama and Kelly, "she has an old one she connects to wifi with."

"A shame," Solange shook her head but smiled.

Damn I completely forgot about that phone. She wasn't even on punishment. Jay was gonna give her the phone in the morning, but now that she went out of her way and snuck to use a spare one, I'm not so sure.

"Hand it here," I held my hand out.

She blew her cheeks up and reached into the pockets of her sweatpants, putting the device in my palm. This girl is something else.

"Can I at least tell her you said no because she's supposed to be calling me back," she gave me the doe eyes.

"I'll let her know," she didn't have a password on it, so I proceeded straight to her Instagram to see what was really up.

"Mommy," her demeanor softened even more once she saw what I was doing.

I looked up at her, "have a seat." Of course she chose my lap and watched as I scrolled through the hundreds of messages on the joint account. I quickly found Reign's account and scrolled it. She did actually attend Lexington and from the most part looked very involved in her school life. I continued to scroll the rest of the messages. There were mostly fangirls and fanboys wishing them well along with a few people from the music industry suggesting collabs, but they had all kinds of weird or lewd messages from grown men and surprisingly women. Not all of them were opened, but majority was and I know Halle was on here nine times out of ten.

"These people need to be blocked," I said.

Kelly leaned over trying to get a peek. "Let me see."

I handed her the phone and just let her scroll. "Lil Bit why'd you send this man a picture of your feet?"

"What?" I asked.

Kelly nodded. "It's right here," she turned the phone around so I could see.

"Why would you do that?" I looked down at her.

"Because he said he would pay me five hundred dollars and I wanted to see if he would actually do it. And that's just a random picture from Google not my actual toes."

I could feel myself starting to get angry because why would she even entertain that, but I had to remind myself of who we were dealing with and how gullible she truly was. "Halle the internet ain't nothing to play with."

"Mommy that was months ago when we first made the account." She made herself more comfortable in my lap.

I don't care if she sent it a year ago. What was she doing talking to people who asked for stuff like this? Then the way he asked for it. 'Send me some nice foot pics I wanna spoil you' with a heart eye emoji. Ugh.

"That could've been dangerous. You can't be out here talking to any and everybody online."

"You don't know who these people are behind that screen," Kelly chimed in.

Halle looked up at me, "it was just some nasty toes and a quick five hundred dollars."

Solange, Julez, and Kelly stared at me waiting to see what I would say, but I could tell Solo couldn't hold her tongue for long.

"Girl it's never just a quick nothing!" She blurted out. "You know what he probably did with those pictures whether it was your feet or not?!"

Halle sat up a bit and turned to her, "no?"

"Probably some freak-eak-eak!"

"What?!" Julez and Halle exclaimed at the same time.

Now why would that girl just say that in front of these kids? Luckily, Blue and Titan were crab walking down the hall. I released a sigh and rubbed my forehead, but Kelly started before I could.

"Thu Thu what the hell!"

Solo looked at her nails, "girl sometimes you gotta tell'em like it is. Give it to'em straight."

Halle looked at me with a worried expression.

"We don't know that baby," I sneered at Solange as I rubbed Halle's arm. "That's why you can't go around just sending random stuff."

"Did you even get the money?" Julez asked.

"Apparently she did," Kelly still had the phone. "She sent him her cash app and the last message was her saying thank you got it."

What does she need with five hundred dollars? What was that gonna get her? A belt? A couple of t-shirts? Like what was it that she needed five hundred dollars for that she didn't already have at her disposal? I'm grappling for the answer. Probably spent it all on post mates knowing her.

I don't have the energy to go through any of this right now. It's Saturday night and I already had an exhausting work day today.

"Halle I'm gonna say this one time and one time only. Any of those crazy messages pop up again. You need to block them. People offering and asking you for money or to send them pictures or just talking crazy like that, block them or the entire account gets taken down and I'm sure Yvette would not like the sound of that. And Imma tell your sister the same as soon as she gets home."

She nodded and the phone began to ring in Kelly's hand.

"That's Reign, can I answer?!"

I rolled my eyes and nodded, "just to tell her she can't come over."

Halle huffed as Kelly handed her the phone. I made sure my face wasn't in frame when she answered.

"My mom said no," she said sadly.

"Yeah mine did too. She said I had to stay where she dropped me off and she didn't wanna hear anything else about it. But maybe next time. There's this surfing competition at Huntington beach my friend is participating in tomorrow morning. We're all going there to support, maybe you could come." The other girl said.

Halle looked towards me and I shook my head. "I'll have to ask." She told Reign.

She don't listen at all, but I didn't wanna burst her bubble in front of her lil friend.

"Alright just let me know, see you around." the girl held up the peace sign and ended the call.

I mean she seems like a regular kid. It's just the fact that Halle never mentioned she had a friend named Reign like ever. I should let her go since Shawn wanna say what he said. Even if I did decide to let her go tomorrow, I'd need to speak to at least one parent or chaperone and she'd definitely need twice the amount of security since it's a beach. Nah that's too big of a leap maybe some other time.

Titan came rubbing his eyes and I could tell he was sleepy. Him and his chunky cheeks are so adorable. Why can't they stop growing at two?

"Awe come here TT baby," I held my arms out for him. He waddled my way and Halle picked him up and handed him to me. Somehow I found a way to maneuver both of them but then Blue walked over and climbed on me like I was some jungle gym. So now I had both Halle and Blue crushing my left thigh as I tried putting Titan to sleep.

"Look at mama Bey," Solange joked.

"It's that Oshun energy," I chuckled.

Julez stood up. I just know this skyscraper is not trying to do what I think he is.

"Excuse me," he smirked.

"Uh Uh Julez get your big self on!"

He started leaning back like he was doing a trust fall or something. I swear if he lands on this baby.

"Moooove!" Halle pushed him away.

-
OMNISCIENT

Walking towards the nearly vacant back of the mansion to meet with Devon and possibly get some breathing space, Yara found herself feeling like she was in a hall of mirrors. Not because of alcohol considering she had only one shot, but because of her unfamiliarity with the house. She's been here three or four times over the years, but never had she ever maneuvered away from the party. Strangely the door to the second wing was locked, but she figured that was a security measure to keep possible thieves out. Something shiny caught her eye on the ground by her feet. Kneeling down she picked up a necklace and upon closer inspection she realized it was the same one Megan was wearing earlier in the night. Wondering how she couldn't hear a necklace of this size and magnitude fall from her neck and clash to the floor, Yara began to look around and then her ears picked up the low murmuring of what sounded like an argument on the other side of the locked door. Something told her all was not well but she shook it off. She always felt like things were a little off.

Her phone beeped alerting her to a new text message and brought her out of her musings. It was Chloe sounding a bit annoyed.

ChloAyee💗: Kenny showed his face at the party and now Yasmin is throwing drinks down her throat like it's a race.

"What the hell?" the low murmur slipped out unconsciously before she chuckled, quickly responding letting Chloe know to give her water in between drinks and she should be fine.

She was just about to head the opposite way when suddenly a hand clasped tightly against her mouth while an arm gripped her body firmly. Dropping the necklace, her entire body froze in shock.

"Guess who," a familiar voice sounded, causing her panic to ease.

The unknown person removed their hand from Yara's mouth and released their hold. She huffed angrily, turning around to face her not so assailant.

"Don't do that Devon you scared me half to death!" She swung at his muscular arm.

"Sorry, it was more romantic in my head," the boy chuckled, bending down to pick up the fallen necklace. "Did I knock this off?"

Yara shook her head, "no, it's Megan's, she must've dropped it earlier."

"Oh we'll have to make sure she gets this then," he said, grinning broadly.

"Good Samaritan are we?" Her tone was flirtatious as she used two fingers to crawl up his chest.

He looked down at the necklace then to her and smiled. "You know you still make me nervous."

"Oh yeah how so?" She stepped closer.

"You look beautiful."

"Stop," she said playfully.

He chuckled, "must be your glow, I don't know."

"Well you look very dashing." Yara slipped into a British accent.

"Thanks," he joked, pretending to blush and leaned down placing a small peck to her lips. The kiss ended up being more than he expected and soon their tongues fought for dominance with Yara winning the battle. She was about to pull away but he softly grabbed her by the waist pulling her in for one more peck. Yara let out a light chuckle.

"I've been missing you all week," he brought his hand up to her cheek and caressed it.

The fluttering in the girl's stomach refused to seize. She had always been more or less awkward around pretty much everyone, but especially company of the opposite sex. She wasn't innocent by far, but her quirky personality sometimes made it hard for her to stay in the moment during these encounters. She always felt like she was doing something wrong or making things weird.

"Is that why you were suddenly interested in going to this party?" She asked, taking a small step back to look into his brown orbs.

"Yeah," he nodded.

Devon had never been much of a party person. He'd go to the mandatory ones that were thrown by his team captain, but he'd usually hold up a wall and watch as everyone made fools of themselves.

"But I can't stay out all night. My dad wants me home at twelve thirty. He doesn't exactly get that these things just get started around that time. Plus I have church in the morning." They started to walk back to the party but stopped and turned over their shoulders after hearing a door open and close.

Megan stormed out with her arms crossed looking pissed which was a rare sighting. She was always dressed with a smile and conversed with people eagerly in her high-pitched voice. It didn't take long for Devon and Yara to guess what had her so upset. Mason, a senior football player everyone knew she had something going on with but was never officially deemed a couple came running behind her.

"Babe, you know she means nothing to me. Come on she was just some meaningless lay. I don't even have her number." Mason noticed the two extra people in the hall. "Sup Devon...Yara."

Devon nodded his way.

"Heyy...Mason?" Yara waved stiffly. Her eyes went to a sniffling Megan. "Are you okay?"

The blonde girl stopped and forced a smile on her face. "Yeah I'm fine, it's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

Devon held the necklace out, "I think this is yours."

"Oh my God," she patted her neck like she hadn't realized it was ever missing. "Thank you, it's my grandmother's. She would've freaked if it went missing."

"No problem," Yara and Devon both smiled.

Mason wrapped his arms around Megan's waist and she pushed him off. "Security will be escorting you off of the premises in no time."

He scoffed when she walked away and looked at Devon for confirmation. "Chicks man," he let out and shuffled off to plead his case once more.

Devon walked behind Yara placing his face in the crook of her neck. "You know, I would never do you like that." The moisture from his breath tickled and she couldn't resist laughing like the true goofball she was.

"You sure about that? Because If I took a poll from all of the girls at this party I bet they'd all say a guy has said those exact words to them and he ended up just like Mason; a dog."

Devon gave her a curt squeeze, "I'm not most guys."

The eye roll was accidental, but Yara didn't regret it because he hadn't seen it. It wasn't like she didn't believe him. From the short time the two had spent together, he had proven himself to be the perfect gentlemen. Always opening doors, always listening intently when she spoke. Never tried to make it pass a kiss on the lips and constantly spoke about his dreams to anyone that would hear him.

"You do know that's what most guys say right?" Yara stopped walking and turned towards him. She wrapped her arms around his middle and reveled in their height difference.

Devon had to chuckle at that one. "I guess they do. But there was something I wanted to ask you. That's the real reason I'm here."

The butterflies were back and they forced Yara to look up and kiss the edge of the boy's lips. "What was it?" She kept her face close to his.

Devon took her hands in his, "well, miss Yara Sayeh Shahidi. I was wondering if you knowww maybeee–

"Spit it out already," she laughed.

Devon looked at her and to the ceiling then back down at her as he sighed. "I wanted to know if you would like to be my girlfriend...officially." He finally said.

"Hmmm," she put her finger to her chin in deep thought. "I don't know. I have to weigh my other options first. Maybe put together a PowerPoint presentation to show my friends all of my eligible suitors so they could help me decide. How's Wednesday sound as a final decision day?"

Devon looked genuinely taken aback. He blinked a million times and wore a slight frown on his face but soon covered it with one of his famous smiles though this one didn't reach his eyes at all. "I-it sounds fine," he scratched his eyebrow nervously trying to hide his embarrassment.

"I'm kidding!" She smiled and rubbed his arm up and down. "I would love to be your girlfriend Mr Bell." Her voice came out smooth like butter but she was jumping for joy on the inside.

He enveloped her in a hug rocking them both side to side. She was staring at him once the embrace ended.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked.

"How I want to kiss you," Yara teased.

"Well then," he chuckled. "Go right ahead." He leaned down, pressing his lips against hers and pulled her even closer to him as she slid her tongue into his mouth.

They pulled away only to let air back into their lungs. He was taking in her beauty and the hall soon filled with a comforting silence until Yara broke it.

"Now, I know you don't drink, but I'm gonna have one for the both of us to celebrate this union. Plus I have to check on my friends, make sure nobody's flying off the rails."

Devon laughed and took her hand as he led her back to the party.

-

Yasmin stood in the middle of the crowded room dancing wildly to the trap music blasting through the house. Even though she'd tried to ignore it, she had been acutely aware of Kenny and his girl of the night progressing through the house and out to the poolside. Now, struggling to breathe around the thick lump in her throat, she sullenly noted how in tune he was to her every move. He didn't hover or cling - he was far too cool for that - but even from a distance, Yas could see that he only had eyes for the girl. Niggas really ain't shit. Blinking furiously, she stared at the ceiling and fought to stem the tears burning behind her lids. Had Kenny ever looked at her like that? What the fuck? Am I simping for that piece of shit, she thought. She whipped her hair to the right and the world seemed to slow down as her eyes zeroed in on a full bottle of vodka sitting on the table. It wasn't usual in her nature to drink this much. She was more of a stoner than anything, but it had been an excruciating long week and she needed to clear her mind. That was the reason she came to this party in the first place; to have a good time.

"Chloe can you pass me that bottle of vodka?" She shouted loudly to be heard over the music.

"Are you really gonna drink more, Yas?" She asked in disbelief.

"Why not? Everyone else is doing it." She said as she gestured towards Beans who was playing his third round of beer pong.

Chloe looked around for one of her friends who wasn't Beans because he was past the point of return. Coming up short, she relented. "Okay," she huffed, handing her the bottle.

Yasmin took a shot and tried to ignore the way the liquor stung her throat. She handed the bottle back to Chloe who leaned over to put it back on the table. Somehow she had been tasked with babysitting an upset and drunken Yasmin instead of playing her role as party goer number five and she didn't appreciate it. By now, everyone was behaving completely belligerent, likely rolling from different uppers Chloe figured but that only made her level of anxiety rise. Boys were running around screaming with their shirts off. Girls were offering body shots left and right and she didn't know where she fit in amidst all of this chaos.

"Dance with me Chlizzy!" Yasmin shouted with heavy lidded eyes.

"Nuh Uh," she laughed, shaking her head.

"Come onnnn! That wall won't fall if you move from it," Yas grabbed her hands and pulled her along until she was shoulder checked by a hefty boy probably in his late teens early twenties wearing a blue glow in the dark speedo that clearly chafed his pale ass cheeks. On his face was a scuba mask and around his plump waist there was a bright yellow floatation device in the shape of a duck. Her eyes dropped down to his feet which were covered in oversized flippers that left a messy wet trail wherever he stepped.

"What the hell," Yasmin yelled after him and turned to Chloe who couldn't for the life of her hold in her laugh. It was loud and infectious causing Yasmin to join in.

"These people are out of their minds," Chloe said in between laughs.

"That's why I like coming to these things, never know what to expect, now bitch do yo dance!" Yasmin twerked with her tongue out.

Chloe's cheeks flushed a pale pink and she looked around to see if anyone had eyes on her. Once she was satisfied that everyone was either too drunk or high to pay her any mind she got with it and began throwing her hips to the beat the best she knew how.

"Shake shake what ya mama gave yaaaa," Yara two stepped her way over to her friends with a drink in one hand and Devon's hand in the other.

"Yara we missed you!" Yasmin hugged her like she'd been gone for days.

She exchanged looks with Chloe who motioned with her hands that Yas still had been drinking too much. She really didn't care. She planned on joining Yas in her drunken stupor because for once she wasn't the one driving.

"Hey Yas, hey Chloe," Devon waved.

Chloe gave a courteous smile and Yasmin waved. She reached for the vodka bottle and poured another shot, throwing it to the back of her throat without thinking. It didn't burn half as bad as the first few and Yasmin knew she had to be past tipsy at this point. She took Chloe's hand and both girls continued dancing like no one was watching. Yara stepped in the middle of her friends sipping her fruity drink from a straw.

"Okay!" Chloe hyped her up as she moved sensually to the beat.

Devon stood there smiling at how much fun she seemed to be having. He knew his girlfriend hardly ever had time from work and when she wasn't working she was focused on school and going to meetings for her other endeavors. He could relate. Being a student athlete and making sure his grades remained at the top percentile of his class took up most of his free time.

"Where's Lovie?" Yara asked.

Yasmin shrugged.

"She went to talk to her cheer friends," Chloe pushed all of her hair to one side. The temperature was rising with the amount of bodies being mushed together.

"Forgot she even associated with them," Yara went to her drink again but instead of a cold yet warm liquid filling her mouth she was met with the scrappy sound of her straw hitting the bottom of her cup.

"Babe!" She called over her shoulder.

"Bitch we on babe terms now? When that happen?" Yas asked just before Devon came closer.

"Just a few minutes ago," she semi whispered and turned to her beau, "Can you get me a refill please?"

Devon took the cup from her and gave it a little shake, seeing the ice clank against the glass, "what were you drinking?"

"The Meg!"

Chloe cackled while Yasmin made a face. "Ugh you actually ordered that?"

"Yeah it's pretty good, kinda tastes like licorice though."

"I'll be back with one Meg annnd do you two need anything?" Devon asked.

Yasmin tipped her cup to her mouth. "No I'm good."

"Can you bring me a bottle of water?" Chloe asked.

"Sure thing!" He said before taking off.

"Oh thank God!" Yara got out as soon as Devon was out of view. She reached for the Vodka bottle not bothering to look for a cup. The girl pressed her lips against the liter of alcohol and guzzled it like it was water.

"Thirsty much?" Lovie appeared at her side and leaned her hip against the wall. A red solo cup in her hand practically glowed with the brown concoction the bartender had whipped up under her carefully detailed instructions.

"Right, bitch drinking like she ain't got no liver," Yasmin snatched the bottle away.

"Now Yas, you drank half of that by yourself," Chloe chimed in.

"Yeah but at least I had the decency to get a cup. I'm a lady," she poured her another one.

"Guys, I'm trying not to seem like an alcoholic in front of my non drinking boyfriend. That 'Meg' was either watered down or made for infant consumption. It gave me...nothing."

"Infants don't drink alcohol, Yara." Lovie lamented.

"Try going to Ireland and saying that," Yara said disparagingly. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be our designated driver?" She asked when Lovie tipped her cup to her mouth.

"Yes? You know I have a pretty high tolerance. One drink won't kill us all," She chuckled. "By the time we leave, this'll be out of my system."

Chloe stared at her friend for a good ten seconds, surprisingly fighting the urge to say something slick when she heard someone screaming her name obnoxiously.

"Chlo-Æ! Chlo-Æ!"

She of course knew who it was before turning her neck to see Beans wildly waving his arm in the air.

"Look at this idiot," Lovie chuckled.

"What Beans?!" She used her outside voice.

"This one for you baby," he kissed a ping pong ball and turned around to the table bouncing it ever so softly. Everyone surrounding the table watched with bated breath for the ball to come crashing down to see if Beans would keep his title as the ping pong king. Once the little white ball slammed into the red solo cup, Collin and his fellow football players erupted in full-mouthed screams and hurrahs. They may as well slang him over their shoulders and sang 'for he's a jolly good fellow' into the night.

"Something wrong with that boy," Chloe shook her head.

"Excuse me," A skinny girl with dyed pink tips tapped her on the shoulder.

Lovie, Yara, Yasmin, and Chloe all turned around and immediately clocked her outfit or lack thereof. She had a black bikini top on but a small cardboard box with the words 'I'm a slut in a hut' painted on the front acted as her bottoms and she wasn't wearing any shoes. She must've noticed the probing stares from the four because she found herself raking over her own attire.

"Oh yeah," she giggled. "Lost a bet, I have to wear this all night." She didn't seem to have a problem with it at all.

"They must hate you," Yasmin slurred.

"Shh?" Yara elbowed her.

"You shhh!" Yasmin elbowed her back with more force than the blow that was sent to her.

The moment was decidedly awkward until Lovie motioned with her hands for the girl to come out with what she wanted.

"Yeah um, I know this is breaking rule numero uno as the Spanish would say," the girl laughed to herself. "But can I have a picture?"

Chloe looked to her friends and back at the girl, "sure."

"Oh my God Thank you! Can one of you take it? I wanna commemorate the couture as well," she lifted her leg and gestured towards the box.

Yara knew that she would have to be the one to step up simply because of who her friends were. "I'll take it."

"Awesome," the girl handed her phone over.

Chloe never felt comfortable when people asked her for pictures and it was happening a lot more lately whenever she was spotted either at a store or simply walking to a car. She stood beside the girl wringing her fingers until box girl threw her arm over her shoulder and brought their faces together cheek to cheek.

"Say I'm a slut in a hut!" Yara smiled widely as she prepared to capture the moment.

Chloe rolled her eyes but the girl repeated the statement with glee right as the flash went off.

"Thank you," She took her phone from Yara and walked off stiffly due to her garbs.

That picture must have looked horrible, Chloe thought. Devon returned with Yara's drink and Chloe's water. "Man I don't know what most of these people are on but some guy just had a full conversation with a lamp. I mean there were conversational pauses and everything."

"Probably LSD, it's a hallucinogenic," Lovie said.

"Pshh I don't see how they do it," he shook his head.

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" A group of party goers chanted.

Yasmin scoffed seeing two almost seven feet jocks hold Beans up by his legs. Collin held the nozzle of the keg up to Beans' mouth as the boy used his arms to brace himself on the large cylinder. He knocked back the beer skillfully until he felt as though he had consumed way more than his body weighed.

"Looks like your boy is having the time of his life," Devon laughed.

"He is so embarrassing," Yara rubbed her forehead.

"Beans get over here!" Lovie called out.

They all watched Beans as he staggered their way. He looked more like a baby deer just learning to walk. His knees shook with every step.

"We told you about the keg stands man," Lovie started.

"Whoaaa!" He held his arms out to the side to steady himself and laughed. "Wh-what keg stand?"

Devon looked at Beans in disbelief and didn't offer anything up but his chuckles. "This dude is smacked!"

"Beans how many fingers am I holding up?" Yara sassed and held up three fingers.

The boy ogled his best friend's hand for what seemed like forever. "Yellow." He said seriously.

Lovie smacked her lips and Yasmin leaned into his shoulder almost making him topple over. "You stupid!" Her shoulders shook with her laughter.

Chloe uncapped her water bottle, handing it to the flushed boy, "drink."

"Is what I need," Lovie mumbled to herself, shaking her now empty cup.

"I'll be back," Chloe said.

"Where you going?" Yara asked.

"To get another bottle of water. It's getting too hot in here."

Weaving her way through the increasingly intoxicated crowds toward the bar, she found herself having to nudge people after muttering excuse me every two seconds only for it to fall on deaf ears. Miraculously, she made it to the makeshift bar unscathed and asked for two bottles of waters figuring Yasmin would need to rehydrate pretty soon. Craning her neck, she tried to catch sight of her friends back in the corner but the crowd was too thick. Hopefully Beans was more sober when she got back. Drunk people unnerved her. She never knew what they were capable of. What they could say. What they could do. Someone jostled into her and a very familiar voice uttered an obscenity at whoever caused it before offering Chloe an immediate apology.

"Sorry," Alana brushed her long, straight hair over her shoulder and looked at Chloe for the first time. Her eyes widened as she took her in from head to toe. "Wow, Chloe. Sorry. Again. Didn't recognize you there in that..." Her glossed over eyes perused Chloe's top. The girl was either high or drunk, most likely both.

Alana's hesitant and measured praise made her turn red with self-consciousness. She frowned and made sure the hem of her shirt was covering more; given their history. "Look, I apologize for real this time for what I did. It was classless for sure but I was just so afraid of being outed."

Chloe clenched her fists at her sides.

"Still no excuse for what I did. If it makes you feel better, they gave me a new accessory," she showed off her ankle that had a blinking monitor on it. "For sure it's hideous, but they're lenient with me because of my dad."

She refused to pass words with the girl so she simply blinked. Alana took the hint and turned on her heel downing whatever was in her cup.

The bartender plunked the two waters on the counter and she grabbed them. "Sorry drunky over here couldn't handle his liquor." He tilted his head towards a red haired boy with his face resting on the counter.

"No problem, thank you," she turned to leave.

"One of those for me?"

Here we go, Chloe thought before looking up.

Chloe POV

Oh he's actually really handsome. I noticed once I looked up. He had a perfect smile, bright eyes that were snuff-colored and a set of full lips. His mahogany skin glowed under the blue decorative lights that were hanging around.

"No," I replied with no regrets and began to walk away.

"Awe you the first girl to diss me," he chuckled but I could hear hurt swarming around somewhere in his tone.

"They say it's a first for everything." He bit his lip. "Hopefully it'll be more firsts with us." The words slipped off his tongue facetiously.

Oh he's cocky. That's one of my pet peeves; cockiness. It really made my skin crawl. Not that I'd give anyone here the time of day, anyone anywhere really, but the least he could do was approach me humbly. I tried to side step him but he was quick on his feet and somehow knew what I was about to do before I did it.

"Excuse me," I tried to be polite.

He put one arm behind his back and the other he used to take off an imaginary top hat, "as you wish madam." He stepped out of the way.

Finally I could breathe a little easier. Which wasn't saying much due to the air quality in this place. I gripped the water bottles tighter and began crossing the room but I was stopped again by the same guy.

"Yoooo I don't know your name but excuse me miss
I saw you from across the roooom," he sang sarcastically.

He actually had a really nice voice and his goofy smile did something to me. I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone else was seeing this and locked eyes with Yara.

"What are you doing?" I took a step back.

"Serenading you," he said, completely sure of himself.

I just looked at him up and down without words.

"What, you didn't like my rendition?" His smile was cool.

"Well actually you were kind of flat in the beginning and you used too many runs. I would lay off the vibrato a little to preserve my voice but then again that's just me," I turned to leave for the third time, this one a success.

"Who was that?" Yara asked once I was back in the makeshift circle.

"I don't know," I shrugged, handing Yasmin the bottle of water. She looked like she would keel over anytime soon. I watched as she took almost half a sip and placed the bottle on a nearby table. "Okay I'm about to go dance."

"Don't go too far," Lovie called after her but received a dismissing wave of her hand in response.

I kept my eyes on her until she found a random guy to dance with. It's amazing to me how outgoing and confident she could be. I wish I was more like that sometimes. Devon whispered something into Yara's ear and she nodded. He took her hand and led her over to the dancing crowd. They're actually a cute couple. I can tell he really cares for her. Lovie tapped my shoulder. "I'm gonna make a call. Can you keep an eye on that?" She pointed to Beans who was slumped over in a chair murmuring things to himself.

"Yeah," I chuckled, "go ahead."

Lovie tapped on her cell as she walked to the back by the pool area. Beans pushed himself from his seat, struggling to keep his balance and I shuffled over to him. "Beans you need to sit down and sober up." I helped him into the seat again.

"Ay ay captain!" He saluted me and laughed.

I rolled my eyes, uncapped my water and took a long sip from it before I reached down and grabbed his chin. His head lolled to the side a bit, but I tilted it up. "Open," I told him.

"Whatever you say ser•geant!" He yelled harshly like a marine given strict orders from his superior. It caught me off guard, but he opened his mouth for me to pour the water in. I let him swallow and repeated the process until the water was all gone.

"Yo Beans," Collin walked over and slapped his shoulder with his full palm.

"What?" He got out.

"They're setting the table up man let's go," he said.

Beans started to stand, but I lightly pushed him back into a sitting position. "Um, I don't think he's up for doing anything else." I don't know why it was so hard for me to reach his eyes.

"He prepaid for a poker game and we'll be one short," Collin explained.

"I'll take his spot," I rushed out without thinking.

"Fine with me," he threw his hands up.

After walking over to Yara and telling her to keep her eyes on Beans, I followed Collin until he led me to a room away from the party. He twisted the doorknob and my heart sunk. For some reason, my chest felt like it was on fire.

"Uh I-I" I stammered, taking a measured step back. "Maybe I should head back."

Collin looked over his shoulder, "relax Carter." He opened the door and stepped inside.

-

OMNISCIENT

Chloe peaked her head around the doorframe to see who was all in there. It was a pretty large room and it seemed like they were having their own separate Iittle party. After seeing a handful of girls chilling around along with boys who weren't sitting at the poker table, she felt safe to enter. Upon walking in, all heads turned.

"No way!" Some drunken bottle blonde whispered badly.

Chloe raised her brow, forgetting her face was recognizable to just about anyone with eyes.

"Can we help you?" A voice called from her right.

She turned to see the singing guy from earlier and sighed.

"She's taking Beans' spot. Dude's done for... completely tanked," Collin answered for her.

The boy looked at Chloe and smirked. "Do you even know how to play poker?"

Chloe stared at him searchingly for a micro moment, wondering who raised him to be so pompous. "No," she answered, feigning awe. "But it must be really hard if all you guys play." Of course she knew how to play into the hands of a narcissist. By now, it was embedded into her dna.

Catching her sarcasm but still unwilling to comply, the dude responded. "You know, even if you keep talking, it's not gonna happen."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him but didn't respond.

"Come on Emiel, it's Beans' money and he gave her permission to play on his dime." Collin tried to be fair.

Emiel looked away from her quickly and down at the cards in his hands. "Amateurs," he muttered and then forced a jovial tone, which didn't fool Chloe in the slightest, but she chose to accept.

"Have a seat," he let out an exhausted breath.

Chloe sat in one of the empty seats across the table from the boy. Collin sat in the seat next to her.

"First lesson in poker playing: bluffing." Emiel started.

There were a lot of things Chloe knew, despite the constant guards and the sky scraping gates that surrounded her home that might've indicated she lived a...sheltered life. But having Jay-z as a father exposed her to all sorts of less than savory things. One of these things was poker. She had spent a couple of nights watching him play with his close friends. Usually Bey would be out for the evening, so she couldn't complain about Chloe being around where there was gambling taking place. Shawn didn't mind Chloe observing, it was just a game after all and any child of his had to know their way around a deck of cards. So she was allowed to stay up and watch as long as she stayed quiet and kept the chip bowls refilled. She wasn't, however, about to admit as much to Emiel. It was more fun to watch him and his overinflated ego try and teach little ol' her the game.

"Can we start with the shuffling, oh wise Card Master?" Collin asked in mock adoration, fluttering his eyelashes like a girl.

Chloe's countenance changed to determination as she added, "Yeah, I wanna learn one of those tricks I see on tv."

Smirking, Emiel started to move the cards around with his fingers, "You mean like this?"

Chloe stared at his hands intently, trying to figure out his movements.

"Both his parents are actors and he's a fucking prick," Collin whispered in her ear.

Emiel dished out the cards, throwing Chloe and Collin's haphazardly across the table. For the first round, she feigned completely oblivious.

The drinks flowed for everyone besides Chloe and the chips dwindled over the next few minutes for everyone besides Emiel, who was not more than slightly buzzed. When it was time for a new hand, Emiel reached for the deck of cards but Chloe stopped him.

"Can I shuffle?" She asked a little over a whisper.

"Go ahead," Emiel smirked.

She grabbed the cards and tried to maneuver them around like he did. They ended up scattered across the table and her lap, and she sighed in frustration. She collected them all and tapped them into a pile, ready to try again.

"This is why I don't work with amateurs," the boy scoffed.

Chloe tuned him out and again picked up the deck of cards from the poker table, settling in her seat more. She felt smug about how she was going to completely blindside everyone at this table with her poker playing ability. She tapped the deck on the table, and began wowing them with her handling of the cards. She furtively shot a look at Emiel, who unwillingly grinned back at her, impressed.

After everyone received their cards, Chloe peered around the table at her competition. There had been Sophia, a wealthy college kid whose warm smile belied her no-nonsense attitude. She tended to twist her diamond stud earring when she had a good hand. Marie, a willowy brunette in her early twenties from Portland looked like a supermodel, but was actually a first year preschool teacher much to her rich parents' chagrin. Her face was an open book, showing her pleasure or disappointment in each hand. Tucker, a large cheerful Texan teen with a larger voice who continued to send his girlfriend to the bar for rounds of tequila for the table. He became extra chatty when he had a good hand, but was quieter when his hand was poor. Brent, a quiet nondescript kid on Chloe's right was completely unreadable to her. And of course Collin who had nervous eyes. Chloe noted that his hand would shake after betting if he had a good hand.

Cards were thrown out along with insults and cocky taunts, but Chloe didn't utter a word. She was stealth and calculated with her decision making, betting only what she had to.

(A/N: idk anything about poker so if this isn't accurate then 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️)

Lounging back in his chair with hands behind his head, Emiel preened. "It's like taking candy from a baby."

Chloe glared at the openly triumphant boy. Unaccountably nervous, Collin leaned towards the green felt table and proposed a new deal. "Okay make this the last hand, all in. Whoever wins takes everything."

A slew of nods and verbal confirmations that they were down with the contingencies of the last bet sounded around the table.

Chloe measured Emiel in a level flat stare as she considered Collin's offer. Sparks of excitement skittered across his skin, leaving behind goosebumps he could excuse as a reaction to the cold air spilling through the vents, but deep inside he knew it was because he was the focus of Chloe's complete attention.

"Okay." Her nod looked a bit hesitant, but Emiel didn't hold back the gleeful smirk.

"I'm in," he said immediately after.

Chloe rolled her eyes. She'd been stringing him along, letting him get comfortable so she could win it all in one final swoop.

"Excellent, let me deal," Collin gathered the cards.

The round went as fast as lightning and soon, it was just Chloe and Emiel playing against each other. Emiel laid down the three Jacks and two tens with a flourish.

"Full House!"

Chloe's face fell.

"Dude, I honestly thought she figured out all your tells." Collin laughed.

"Actor's kid, remember? How many times do I have to remind you? Show 'em." He gestured to Chloe's hand as he laughed.

She dropped her head and sighed, turning over two nines and slowly flipped over the other two cards, two nines; four of a kind.

Emiel's laughter caught in his throat.

"Actor's kid, maybe, but actor you are not. Me, on the other hand? Much better at bluffing. Stick to singing." She gave him a toothless smile.

"Wow, I didn't think you could actually pull it off, Chloe. I guess I owe you four hundred dollars."

"Mm," Chloe held her hand out, waiting for her cash.

He chuckled, reaching into his pocket placing the bills delicately in her hand.

"Satisfied?"

"No, and I thought you didn't know my name," she said in reference to his song of choice from earlier. The throaty pulse of her voice stroked him and he stirred in interest.

"I think everyone around here knows your name; Beyoncé number two." He eyed her.

Chloe chose to ignore him and looked around the table. "if I remember the terms of the bet, all of you owe me four hundred," she gloated, stretching before pushing away from the table.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she went around the table collecting her cash with a smile and stood by counting every bill until she was satisfied that no one had cheated her.

"Alright," she looked up and waved, making her way to the door.

"Hate to see you leave but love to watch you go," Emiel checked out her figure.

Chloe muttered something that no one heard and slipped out of the room with two thousand four hundred dollars sitting heavy in her pockets.

-

"No, seriously," Yara was saying, setting her drink on the table with a clumsy clatter and gripping the edge of the glass top. Leaning down, she locked her eyes on the flower arrangement, particularly the large photo of Megan's face at the heart of it. Her brown eyes went wide. "Try it. It's like she's watching us."

Devon sat beside her, his arm stretched out on the armrest, fingers casually entwined with hers. "No thanks, crazy," he laughed. "I'd rather she just kept her eyes on you and left me alone."

"This is so trippy," the girl insisted, ignoring him.

Devon raised his brow at Lovie before looking back to his girl and gestured toward her empty martini glass. "How many of those things has she had?"

"Five," Yara held up her hand, fingers splayed, but didn't look away from the mesmerizing Meg display.

"Five, apparently," Lovie shook her head and leaned back in her chair.

"Stop being snobs," she lifted her head and pursed her lips at both Lovie and her boyfriend. "They're really good."

"Yeah, I don't think I need to...drink Megan," Devon pointed out, eyeing the glowing blue concoction named for the birthday girl suspiciously. Taking a drink of his water for good measure he assured his girlfriend with a laugh. "I'll take your word for it."

"Whatever," Yara mumbled with an exaggerated sigh. She leaned back in her chair, then realized a split second later that her glass was empty and leapt clumsily to her feet. "To the bar!"

Next to her, Lovie could feel Beans' shoulders shaking with laughter. Devon rose good-naturedly to his feet and steadied his girlfriend. Bending down to look her in the eye he asked. "Don't you think maybe five is enough for now?"

Yara pretended to think about it, glancing surreptitiously at Lovie and winking. Heaving a sigh that testified to just how taxing she found this suggestion she narrowed her eyes. "I suppose water this round might be a good idea."

Devon nodded and helped guide her away from the edge of the pool.

"We'll be right back!" she promised, twisting so abruptly, she nearly toppled into the water.

Yasmin had been doing a decent job of not outright guffawing at her friend, but with that last move the giggles erupted from her lips and she buried her face against Beans' shoulder. For his part, Beans didn't even attempt to hold back the laughter.

"I ain't never seen her this drunk," he managed after a few moments.

"She should do it more often. It's hell of a lot more fun to watch when you're sober," Lovie shook her head.

"You so mean," Yasmin teased, lifting her head and brushing a few loose tendrils of hair out of her eyes.

She reached into her purse, pulling out her bag of pre rolls and a lighter. They hadn't moved from this spot since Lovie practically had to pry Yasmin away from some boy who apparently had an angry girlfriend nearby. This night was not about to turn into one of those drama filled stories they laughed about later.

At some point, Lovie kicked off her shoes and curled her legs beneath her in the padded deck chair - quite the feat considering the length of her skirt. She looked at her friends and they were more sober than they were twenty minutes ago, probably from the fresh air and water she overloaded them with. They passed the joint back and forth looking completely content.

"Let me see," she reached her hand out.

"It's still weird passing it to you," Yas said as she blew the smoke into the night.

"Just for tonight," she took a pull knowing that's what most of her customers used to say after their first time making a drug deal by themselves. Days later they would call her up again and she knew then that she had them right where she wanted. Addicted, to pay her debts.

The blunt went around in silence and Lovie suddenly grew cautious that she hadn't seen Chloe in some time. Yara told her that she went to play poker but had anyone checked on her? She whipped out her phone dialing the girl's number.

"Hello?" Music was heard in the back and Lovie knew she was back inside the party.

"You good?"

"Yeah I was just looking for y'all," Chloe yelled over the music.

"We're outside by the pool."

"Okay."

"Alright," she ended the call.

The blunt was back on her and it seemed to have unwound the knots of tension between her shoulder blades. "That was Chlizzy?" Yasmin asked.

"Yeah, she should be on her way," Lovie made herself comfortable.

"I wonder if she flopped my money," Beans asked no one in particular.

"Watch Chloe about to come back with a band. You know she don't play when it comes to numbers, probably went in there calculating how many times each player breathed," Yas chuckled.

Lovie rested her head on Beans' shoulder. "She should come help me down at the clubs."

Just then, Chloe stood in front of her friends with a wide smile and Beans shot up. "You flopped my money didn't you?"

She reached inside of her pocket pulling out the bankroll, spreading the bills out like a Chinese fan. "You should know me better than that."

"What I told you?" Yasmin threw another drink back.

"Daaaamn! Thank you," he stood and tried to take the cash but she pulled away

"Watchu doing?" She looked at him like he lost his mind.

"You were playing for me," he deadpanned.

She shook her head, "I was playing in the absence of you," she corrected. "But I'm nice so here you go," she handed him four hundred dollars and pocketed the two thousand.

Beans smacked his lips and plopped down in his seat again, taking a shot.

"You guys got Lovie high again didn't you?" Chloe squeezed herself between Beans and Lovie who had red eyes and a far away stare.

"She asked," Beans shrugged.

"I'll be back, ladies room," Yasmin announced as she knocked back another shot of vodka for the road.

"Bring me back a slice of pizza!" Beans called after her.

"Me too!" Lovie said.

Yasmin gave them a thumbs up as she disappeared into the house.

"Where's Yara?" Chloe asked.

Beans pointed to a corner where her and Devon were slow dancing most likely to music only they could hear because the music currently playing didn't match their steps.

"Puppy love," Lovie sighed with a faint smile, feeling as empty as her words.

"Are you having a good time?" Devon asked.

"Actually, I am," she said, unable to keep the corners of her lips from curving upward. "How can I not be? It's a beautiful night and I'm at a great party with my best friends and my boyfriend actually seems to be having a good time. It's like the best night ever."

To punctuate her statement, she grabbed her own half full martini glass of glowing blue liquid and raised it in a mock toast before draining it. Holding up one finger she added. "That was only one, by the way."

Devon acknowledged that with a silent chuckle. Regarding her steadily for a moment, he said. "I want to taste it."

"Seriously?" Yara raised a brow. "I thought you didn't drink."

"That's not what I mean," he replied, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I want to taste it," he said again and slipped a hand behind her head, gently tugging her closer. A split second before their lips met she understood and the insistent pressure of his tongue had her opening her mouth to him without hesitation. The noise of the party faded into the background as Yara was caught up in the kiss. Devon tasted her thoroughly and when he finally released her, she stood for a few moments trying to collect her thoughts.

"So, what do-what do you think?" she murmured, their faces still so close she could feel his breath on her lips.

"It has a distinct skittle taste to it." He replied, running his thumb over her lips.

Yara's heart fluttered at the implication, but she managed to pull away. Devon checked the time on his phone and sighed. "I have to get going. My dad will freak if I'm late and my house is across town."

"Nooo, it's that time already," Yara whined with a little chuckle.

Devon threw his arm over her shoulder as they walked stride and stride with one another. "Hopefully, I can see you after I'm done with church?"

"Yeah, I don't work until Monday," she pressed her face into his chest as they continued over to her friends.

"Alright ladies, Beans nice seeing you," he nodded in Chloe and Lovie's direction.

Chloe waved goodbye and Beans chucked the deuces while Lovie tried her hardest to come down from her high. Devon stared at their red eyes. "You sure you don't want me to drive you home?" He whispered to Yara.

"They're fine, plus I'm supposedly at Yasmin's house right now," Yara began looking around. "Where is she?"

"Bathroom," Chloe said.

Devon nodded and gave Yara a hug and a kiss on her forehead. "You be safe okay? Text me when you make it in?"

"Sure thing," she promised and watched as he made his way out the back exit.

"Girl," Chloe smiled knowingly.

"I know, I'm in like," she sat in one of the chairs.

"Y'all ugly, that's all I know," Beans got out.

Lovie's thigh vibrated signaling an incoming message. She rolled her eyes already knowing who it was before she looked at the screen to confirm.

"I'll be back," she grumbled, standing.

Beans poured the remaining liquor from the vodka bottle into his cup, not paying anyone attention. Lovie trudged over to the bar. "I'd like a drink." She said to the GQ worthy bartender.

The grin he offered in return annoyed Lovie to no return. "You gonna get my drink or no?" She snapped.

"One of the birthday girl's namesakes?"

"Hell no," she shook her head, refusing the specially designed drink made just for the occasion. Years of practice made it easy for her to calm down in two seconds to maintain a façade, no matter what was brewing beneath the surface. "Long island, please. Heavy on the island." She smiled.

"Coming right up," he winked. The second he looked away, she gripped the bar to keep from sinking to the floor. In addition to being good looking, the bartender was also quick and in no time, he slid a highball glass toward her with a lemon wedged expertly on the rim.

"Thank you," she murmured, taking the drink and turning her back so he couldn't see how quickly she guzzled down half the contents. The alcohol was expertly mixed and went down smooth with a pleasant burn. She'd barely eaten anything all day and while she figured it had to be her imagination, Lovie was fairly certain she felt it working already. The frayed edges of her nerves smoothed and the razor blades in her stomach dulled. She finished the drink and turned back to the bartender. "Another one," she said.

He nodded and once again went to make her drink. She drummed her nails on the counter until he was done. "Keep'em coming," she called over her shoulder and knocked back the alcohol.

"I'm finna go get my own pizza. Yas ass is taking two years," Beans stood.

Yara and Chloe were engulfed in their own conversation about how Devon asked her to be his girlfriend. He left his drink on the table and Yara quickly claimed it as her own.

Beans entered the crowded house with only one thing on his mind; food. He didn't have to search long before he was standing in front of the refreshments table which was of course catered. Grabbing a party wing instead of a slice of pizza, he leaned against the wall with a napkin and began chomping down.

"Look! Owen Samuels's special serum strikes again." Moose said loudly while burping. He pointed his cup towards the stairs as Beans turned to catch a guy pulling a stumbling Yasmin up the stairs, disappearing down the hallway.

What the fuck? He stopped eating, sobering up just a tad. "Special serum?" He heard himself ask, not taking his eyes off of the stairs. His heart started to thump wildly in his chest.

"You know man, a little beer, a little barcadi, and half of a roofie to make the girls parrtyyy." Moose said laughing, throwing his cup to the ground. "Looks like little Yas got a one way ticket to pound town on the Samuels train tonight. Am I right or am I right?" He asked his teammates surrounding him.

Without another word Beans darted off towards the steps. He dropped his chicken along the way pushing through the packed crowd. He could hear Moose calling his name, but he ignored him rushing faster up the stairs.

"Yas?!" He called out into the darkened hallway. There were bedroom doors lining either side of the dimly lit hall. Beans could feel himself start to panic. He took a deep breath trying to keep his head, but he had no idea where to start. All the doors seemed to look the same.

He turned to a group of guys standing at the top of the stairs. They were passing around a pipe, giggling at the sensations of the drugs they were taking.

"Aye y'all seen a girl come up here?" He asked, "Brown hair? 'Bout Yay high? She came up with Samuels a couple minutes ago?"

The group of people stared blankly at him, too messed up to answer.

"She black," he found himself getting annoyed.

One of the guys pointed down the hallway, stumbling a little after losing his balance. Beans didn't bother to say thank you as he rushed down the hallway, "Yas!" he called out again, louder this time.

He noticed to his left one of the doors was slightly cracked. He walked closer to the door and put his ear to the crack, hoping to hear who was inside. He heard some movement and a bed creaking, almost like someone was pushed down on it.

"Boy what the hell? Get your ass away from me," he heard Yasmin say through the door, her voice sounded slurred and muffled. "Stop!"

"Shhh it's okay." He heard Owen reply, "I'll make you feel real good baby don't you worry."

Beans heard the sound of a belt unfastening and hit the floor with a clank. He burst through the door and saw red as he looked at Yasmin who was sprawled out topless on the bed. She still had her pants on, thank God, but Owen was still pawing all over her reaching down trying to undo the snap of her jeans.

"Get the fuck off her." Beans growled, crossing the room in two large strides and threw Owen into the closet. He hit the closet door with a slam, cracking the wood under his weight and sat on the floor, gripping his head, disoriented for a moment.

"What the hell Du'pont?" He cried out after realizing who it was that tossed him. He stood up quickly and zipped up his pants, "What's your problem? Get out of here!"

Beans' hands were shaking as he tried to put on Yasmin's shirt for her before he gave up. She wasn't moving and barely could keep her eyes open. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a groan came out.

"What's going on in here?" He heard Collin ask. Beans glanced over at the door to see Collin, Moose, and a couple other guys huddled around the door frame, coming inside. They noticed the closet door hanging off its hinges and Yasmin wrapped tightly in Beans' arms.

"Not a thing guys." Owen stammered out trying to come up with a story. He glanced between Collin and Beans nervously. "I mean, I'm hooking up with this chick and Du'pont just storms through the door like some crazy person and throws me into the closet!"

"Hooking up?" Beans yelled cutting him off, "Look at her man! She drunk as fuck! You probably gave her something too! She can't even keep her damn eyes open!"

"So what Du'Pont? She was with it. I mean she was practically begging for it downstairs." Owen spat running a hand through his hair. He breathed out trying not to let his emotions show. He had never seen Beans this enraged before. He took a step back at the dark look in Beans' eyes.

Instantly Owen lifted up his hands in defeat, "Come on now Du'Pont be cool man. We were just trying to have a little fun."

"Fun?" Beans yelled, "nigga does it look like she having fun to you? And why you acting like you don't know her? This is Yasmin! You might as well plan your own funeral now because you know who we run with." He shifted Yasmin's weight in his arms.

Owen gulped and looked towards the guys at the door for help. "Dude, Collin, you believe me right? You know me. She wanted it!"

"Well, I don't know..." Collin stuttered out not knowing how to answer.

Beans blew air into his cheeks and sat Yasmin down on the bed. He cracked his knuckles and loosened the muscles in his neck before charging at Owen, riddling his body with hard hitting punches most of them straight to his face.

Yasmin sat up with a start looking at the boys tussling on the floor while Collin and another boy tried prying Beans away. She gawked at the shirt next to her and scrambled to put it on.

Meanwhile

Chloe and Yara were again immersed in the festivities.

The vibe outside by the pool went from chill to turnt in a matter of minutes. Everyone inside the house moved outside for the cutting of Megan's cake. Lovie sidled up to the dancing pair with an unguarded smile, dewy skin, and jumbled words.

"What the hell!" Chloe gasped. "Lovie you were our designated driver!"

"Designated smesignated," she giggled.

Chloe palmed her face, "how are you gonna drive us?"

"I can–I can drive. I'm I'm I'm good." She smiled, barely looking up at the girl.

Chloe eyed Yara, but she was no help. She was on her seventh or eighth 'Meg' and didn't appear to be coherent enough to understand what was happening.

"How many shots have you had? I mean, had you have? Or is it do you have? Or did you have?" Yara slurred.

"You're drunk." Lovie giggled playfully and hiccupped. "Wait... I'm drunk." She finally realized.

"Hi drunk, I'm Yara," she exclaimed.

"Where is Yas and Beans?" Chloe said to herself as she pushed her hair back and looked over her shoulder. She cringed at the sound of a microphone echoing loudly and listened as everyone else complained.

"Sorry," Megan's best friend Amber chuckled into the mic.

Chloe sat Lovie down in a chair and turned around doing the same for Yara, but they acted like two misbehaving toddlers and wouldn't stay seated for anything even after being bribed with food and promised more alcohol. Chloe gave up and allowed the wobbly duo to do as they pleased as long as they didn't leave her sight. She texted Yasmin and Beans asking where they were.

"It's cake time you guys," Amber squealed into the mic and on cue, a caterer wheeled a six layer cake up to the side of the bar. People whistled and clapped. "Megan you know I love you but I will not be the one to sing you happy birthday drunkenly in front of LA's finest, so do we have any volunteers?"

All of the wasted guests volunteered loudly. Chloe rolled her eyes at Lovie and Yara as they jumped up and down looking goofy while screaming, "over here! Over here!" Like their lives depended on it.

"-what?" Amber grabbed her chest. "Yara and Lovie both uncharacteristically volunteered. I must truly be wasted."

"It's for her!" Lovie screamed pointing to Chloe.

"Me? Oh no no put your hands down," Chloe reached for her friend's hand, but Lovie easily slipped from her grasp.

"It's for Chloe?" Amber said into the mic.

"Yes!" Yara and Lovie were practically giddy.

Chloe attempted to hide her face by looking at the ground, but all eyes were on her already. "Get down here Chloe!" Amber called over the mic. Everyone applauded before she even took her first steps.

"Imma kill both of you," she said through clenched teeth.

The girls didn't take her seriously at all. Instead she received a couple of "whooos" followed by obnoxious clapping. The teen counted how many steps it took to reach Amber and ultimately the microphone. She didn't look at the crowd because that would've been a vomit inducer no doubt, so she paid attention to her feet as she took the mic from Amber. "They're all drunk, it doesn't really matter how you sound." She whispered. Oddly enough, that gave her more confidence. She cleared her throat and began.

"Happy Birthday to you." She sang in a smooth tone using her lower register.

"It's not even her birthday," a random party goer yelled, making Chloe chuckle as she continued.

"Happy birthday sweet MegaAAann," she made eye contact with Emiel so he'd know how a real run should sound.

"Happy birthdayyyy toooo–

All Chloe heard was glass crunching and briefly saw a body fall from high up only to go hurling down crashing into the pool. The crowd collectively gasped. She craned her neck up and over and saw a crying Yasmin peaking over the ledge of a broken window.

Seconds later, at least three boys stuck their heads out to see the damage.

Nobody moved.

Nobody said a word.

"Oh my God, Samuels killed Beans!" A girl screamed.

Chloe felt her knees buckle and faintly heard the microphone drop to the ground. Her breathing picked up. She backed away from the pool shaking her head and covering her mouth. From somewhere, she could hear the screams of Yara and Lovie but she didn't want to turn around to see their pain-filled expressions. Why would someone kill Beans? She stumbled into a couple of people undoubtedly looking like a crazed person, but she didn't care. She had to get out. Like now. Blurred faces was the only thing she could see through her teary eyes and her friends' cries was all she heard for what felt like an eternity. That was until the sloshing sound of moving water fell upon her ears. She stopped and chanced a look over her shoulder just as Beans' head resurfaced with a triumphant expression. "Yeaaaaahhh!" He screamed, flexing his muscles like a merman.

The crowd broke out into celebration. People screamed. Some chanted his name, but Chloe only stared in disbelief. How could he fall from that high up and be okay? He swam to the edge of the pool where Yara and Lovie were. They tried to help him out but by them all being inebriated, it was no easy feat. Chloe shuffled their way and assisted until Beans was laying on his back breathing heavily. His face was a bit bruised, but other than that he was perfectly fine.

"We gotta get Yas," he said in between breaths.

"Where is she?" Lovie scrunched up her face.

"I'm here! I'm right here," Yas sniffed and kneeled at Beans' side. "You alright Beans?" Her voice cracked as she wiped at her eyes.

He sat up in his soaking wet clothes. "Yeah I'm good, you?"

She nodded.

Chloe took out her phone, "guys it's time for me to go if I wanna make it home on time."

Beans jolted to his feet and staggered back, he stood up too fast.

It was almost like they were standing domino pieces instead of humans. As they walked through the exit, one of them would bump into the other sending a rippling effect down the line until it reached Chloe who steadied them. The two minute walk felt like two weeks. They had to stop multiple times because Yasmin kept crashing to the ground. Finally, they all stood in front of Yara's car looking stupid.

"W-what are we gon—what are we gonna do?" Yara took a step towards her car but tripped over her own feet, slamming into Chloe's arm.

The girl steadied her friend and tried to wrack her brain for an answer.

"Uber!" Lovie blurted out using the last of her brain cells that weren't affected by the alcohol to come up with that thought. Suddenly her entire mood changed from a sad sigh to a cheerful shout. "Uber Uber Bo-duber bo-na-na fanna fo-fuber fee fi mo-muber Uber!" She sang as she did a little ditty to the music she could hear coming from the house.

"Car here? O-over night? Pshhh." Yara waved her off, not even bothering to look up from the ground.

"I can't call an Uber!" Chloe exclaimed, her voice pitched higher than normal with stress and worry.

"This is a mess." Yasmin sighed, letting her purse fall to the ground by her feet and holding her suddenly aching head in both hands. "Just a mess."

"Why not," Beans slightly slurred, desperately trying to keep his eyes open.

"Helloo!" She snapped her fingers in front of his face. "My address can't be given out, one. Two, I can't casually come home in a car that I didn't leave in. Bey will be watching the cameras and start asking a million questions to which I can not lie. She will know. I think she's psychic or something. And three, Shawn is testing me. It'll take a million years for an Uber to get here and that means I'll be late getting in and y'all heard him, he'll send an all points bulletin with my name and face on it."

Yasmin's already weak knees buckled and she dropped to the ground, landing on her bottom with a thud. "Whoa, hey!" Chloe was at her side in an instant, speaking low as she pulled her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Yas promised, taking a deep breath. She slipped an arm through Chloe's and wasn't too proud to lean on her friend for support as her unsteady legs tried their hardest to stop wobbling.

"I think that dude Owen gave her something. I'm not sure though." Beans wiped at his face.

"He was nice," Yas insisted, " Owen's always nice He was asking me about tech stuff and—"

"And probably if you hack people in a bikini," Beans finished knowingly.

Yasmin shook her head, "He wasn't like that."

"Yasmin he slipped you something. He was like that." Beans slightly raised his voice.

"Something like wha–You know what? Never mind I'm gonna lecture you both when you're sober."

"I am sober!" Yasmin exclaimed.

Chloe chuckled. "Not even close, sweetie," she tapped her foot searching for options on their situation but came up short. "Ummmm What are we gonna do?" She asked with a frustrated slap of her thigh.

"Ooh oooh Give me the keys! Me! Me! Me!" Lovie raised her arm in the air. "I could drive."

Chloe palmed her face, "Lovie you can barely walk."

"Yes I can, watch!" She turned around and took a rickety step then another mirroring a zombie making its way to its next victim.

"God, Loves, how much did you drink?" Chloe asked, stopping Lovie's tottering.

"Just a tiny, little bit," she squeezed her thumb and forefinger together.

"Bull," Chloe shot back, "Maybe I shouldn't have let you out of my sight."

"It was fuuuun," Lovie whined.

Chloe laughed humorlessly, "Uh-huh, I'm sure anything's fun when you're downing that much alcohol."

It was a while before anyone else spoke. The only sounds were shoes scraping against concrete as the four drunken teens continued to hold their weight up and the blaring music from the party.

"You should drive," Beans blurted out eyeing Chloe.

The suggestion struck her as funny and she tried to laugh, but her friends weren't laughing along with her. Instead they all glanced at her silently agreeing.

"You're kidding," she exhaled nervously.

"Y-you're the only one sober," Yara dug through her bag for her keys.

"I'm not doing it," she decided.

"Chloe," Beans deadpanned.

"I'm not driving," she spoke through clenched teeth, every syllable a painful struggle. Through half closed eyes, Beans held her gaze. "Your curfew and Yas needs a bed ASAP."

He's right, Chloe thought. She rolled her eyes at her own stupidity for ever coming out tonight. "Fine," she replied, steeling her jaw and folding her arms to ward against the cool evening air.

Yara bit her lip and braced herself on the hood of her car. "Wait forgot, yooou don't even have a licenseee." She giggled.

"I know...shit!" She was beating herself up. She closed her eyes trying to visualize the drive over. It was mostly a straight shot besides a few turns here and there. If she tried hard enough she could probably maneuver her way home.

"Okay can we sit down now?" Yas whined, her voice thick with unshed tears. "I feel terrible." She muttered darkly, resting her forehead on Beans' back, between his shoulder blades.

"Yeah Yas, come on," Chloe helped her into the backseat. Beans followed them silently, still dripping wet. Yara snapped her fingers loudly stopping him.

"What?"

"The clothes." Yara said.

Beans looked over himself. "What?"

"Uh Uh," she shook her head, popping her trunk. Her hand was flat against the side of her car as she slowly made her way to the back of it. She hummed contentedly as she canvassed around the trunk for a few before pulling out baby blue shorts and a pink thin strapped tank top, holding it out for her friend.

"Never," he growled.

Yara simply nodded.

"I'll walk," he deadpanned.

"Guys hurry up!" Chloe found herself yelling.

Yara upped a brow at Beans, challenging him and he sneered. "I hate you." He snatched the clothes.

She walked to Chloe. "Please don't crash my car."

Chloe sighed at the implications and hesitantly held her hands out for the keys

"It's a push to start," Yara sat in the passenger seat.

Chloe had to force Lovie into the car because she refused to get in claiming that she saw her fairy God mother who apparently came to whisk her away. The girl sat besides Yas whose head was practically in her own lap. For the first time ever, Chloe sat in the driver's seat of a car waiting for Beans to change until she grew tired of waiting and honked the horn repeatedly.

"Wait!" he barked.

Chloe thumbed the steering wheel. Seconds later, Beans slid in on the left side of the vehicle muttering to himself about his feminine attire. "Alright everyone buckle up," Chloe breathed out. There was a familiar ache in her chest that she tried to will away but failed miserably. "Oh my God oh my God oh my god!" She began freaking out.

"Calm down!" Yara yelled. "My head is is is spinning!"

Chloe had her hands on the steering wheel when she looked over at Yara and asked. "Which one is the gas?"

"We gone die!" Yasmin and Beans looked at each other and cried loudly. Lovie patted Yasmin's back in an effort to calm her. "Chloe please." She called out.

Chloe whipped her head around, "we wouldn't be in this situation if you didn't decide to drink! Gosh Lovie what were you thinking," her voice rose as anger flared through her. She breathed, covering her face with shaking hands. It took everything not to burst into tears.

Exhausted, both emotionally and physically, Lovie opened her mouth to fire off a sarcastic quip, but instead shook her head. "I don't know!" She said truthfully with red rimmed eyes. Leaning her head against the cold window, she folded her arms and ogled the laughing people passing the car, trying to make her voice gentle. "I'm sorry." Another truth.

Closing her eyes, Chloe let her head fall back against the headrest.

At this point, Yara was breathing like she was having contractions. For a brief moment she desperately wished she'd taken Devon up on his offer or that he'd at least stayed rather than taking off earlier. Not that there was a damn thing her boyfriend could do at the moment, but it would be nice to rely on him for just a minute. After letting out a series of "hee hee hoos." She finally answered. "The right is the gas and the left is the brake."

"The right is the gas and the left is the brake." Chloe repeated. She pressed her foot down on the brake and moved a single shaky finger to push the button making the engine come alive. She blinked slowly, staring through the windshield and Lovie swore she could hear the cogs in her brain creak into place as she worked herself up to completing this impossible mission. After ten long seconds Chloe asked. "Am I going too fast?"

Yara squinted, craning her neck to the left, "Chloe, you're still in park."

"Oh," she blushed a dangerous red.

"She really finna kill us," Beans said in acceptance.

With a resolved sigh, she surveyed the gear shift. Right now, the responsibility to be strong fell on her shoulders and for her and herself only she'd rise to the occasion. Taking a deep breath, she looked in the rear view mirror at Yasmin sitting silently with her head propped against her fist, her eyelids falling shut on their own accord, Chloe was second guessing her decision but ultimately switched the gear from park to reverse to neutral then finally into drive.

"Please Lord let Chloe make it home. Please, I won't drink any more, ever, I promise! If you could just get us home!" Yara prayed.

Chloe held her breath as she slowly took her foot off of the brake. I can't do this. I can not do this. This is crazy, she thought.

"I don't wanna die a virgin!" Beans yelled.

Lovie tossed her head back in a laugh, "I cannot believe you just said that.Virgin virgin bo-virgin fa nana—

"Don't start!" Chloe cut her off. She went back to staring out of the window sadly like she was in an early 2000s R&b video.

"Gas," Yara instructed, regretting the word as soon as it left her lips.

The shaken girl eyed her passengers warily as she slammed on the gas making the car pull off with a screech down the road causing people passing by to jump out of the way and give them the finger.

"Stoop!" Yara yelled.

Chloe's foot came down hard on the brakes. Their seatbelts locked up as they jerked forward then back. Horror momentarily superseded everything else and the car was soon back in park. Swallowing the sudden nausea brought on by her ever more intense headache, she shook her head. "I can't do this."

"You can," Yara insisted, her voice rising, heedless of the heavy breathing heard from the back seat.

Chloe blinked and stammered a bit. "But... I'm gonna kill somebody."

"Yeah, us!" Beans quipped.

She remained silent, watching people walk by, her face devoid of expression. When Yasmin began dry heaving the dam broke. The stoic mask crumpled as she dropped her face to her hands. Hot tears scalded her cheeks, spilling from her eyes in a torrent.

"Chloe!" Yara exclaimed, momentarily sobering up. "Idiots drive everyday. Just keep your hands on the wheel and remember where the brakes are."

The girl wiped at her face and blew out a heavy breath. "Okay...okay," she began talking herself up. "I can do this."

"For sure," Yara scratched the back of her neck unsure of herself.

To make things easier, Chloe typed her address into the gps this time to help guide her. She gulped down the saliva that built up in her mouth and again put the car into drive. Yara bit the inside of her cheek and clenched her fists as her friend pulled out onto the road. Okay that wasn't so bad, Chloe thought as she did two miles per hour to avoid hitting any party goers who randomly ran in front of the car. She was grateful that Yara parked at the entrance because if she would have had to pull the car out of one of those tight parking spaces, nobody would be making it home.

Once they were passed all of the other parked cars, she put on the left blinker preparing to drive onto a main road. Yara acted as her second pair of eyes even though all she saw were blurred lights.

"Turn," she said once she deemed the road clear.

Hand over hand, Chloe tapped the gas too hard and they jerked into the middle of the street.

"Fuck!" Beans called out.

"Please God I'm sorry!" Lovie screamed. Yasmin kept her head tucked as if not looking would save her.

"Chloe get to the right side of the street!" Yara yelled.

"How!" She yelled back.

In her drunken stupor, Yara reached over, placing her hands on the steering wheel. "Give give it some gas." She instructed. Chloe did as told pressing her foot on the pedal and Yara careened the car into the correct lane. Chloe took a look at the gps. It was a straight shot for a couple of miles. You got this, she told herself. She shook her hands like they were dripping with water. They were at a red light and luckily the only car on the road. She looked over and saw Lovie. Her head was slightly bowed, her eyes were closed, and her lips were moving ever so slightly. She was praying quietly. Chloe swallowed the lump in her throat. What was she doing driving this car? The light turned green and Chloe hesitated before accidentally pressing down heavily on the gas then panicked slamming on the brakes.

"Easy!" Yara sat up straighter so the seatbelt wouldn't cut into her neck.

"I don't feel good," Yasmin called out.

"Hey, you better not throw up in my car!" Yara exclaimed.

Chloe hung her head, took another breath, and put her foot on the gas, lighter this time. She needed to be calm, but her hands shook so violently and she gripped the steering wheel so hard that it caused the wheels of the car to do quick left and right motions as she drove well below the speed limit down the street.

Yara rubbed her forehead and expelled a breath. "hold it straight." She reached over, showing what she meant. She was beginning to feel the sickening part that came along with drinking one too many and the constant shaking wasn't helping.

I'm doing it! I'm actually doing it, Chloe thought. Her heart was still beating fast but at least she was managing. By now they were seventeen minutes away from her house and it was a quarter to one.

"My mom is using me for money," the words came tumbling out of Lovie's mouth like vomit.

Chloe and Yara exchanged looks while Beans simply stared at her.

"I thought maybe she actually came back for me. Thought maybe she wanted me. Maybe she'd come to LA to apologize and we could've worked on our relationship but nope," she giggled. "She's just here to take what she can." Lovie bit her lip; her head felt funny and she knew she should stop talking but the alcohol was doing something weird to her tongue and she just kept speaking even though her head was telling her to shut up, "she really doesn't love me," she said quietly.

"Lovie," Chloe lamented still paying close attention to the road.

"She can't even look at me longer than five seconds without wanting to throw an insult my way or tear me down." She laughed again but it was so full of pain that maybe it wasn't a laugh at all. Maybe it was her idea of an outcry and everyone else had been mistaken. "All she sees is what was and what could've been when she looks at me. She thinks of me as some type of toxin; a contagion one second then the next she smiles at me lovingly and it's making my head all mangled." Sighing heavily, she stared at the street lights as they whizzed by.

Chloe wasn't trying to be insensitive, she just had to pay attention to the road, so she offered her friend no words of solace. In fact, she began slowly adding more pressure to the gas so she'd get home faster.

"Yasmin," Beans tapped her shoulder. Her head was in Lovie's lap as she muttered incoherently, closing her eyes, finally succumbing to the drug.

"She gone," he announced.

"What?!!" Yara turned around in her seat with wide eyes.

"She sleep," he confirmed.

"Then say that!" Chloe yelled, barely coming to a stop at the next red light.

Yara plopped back into her seat clutching her stomach. She pinched the bridge of her nose and stared at the ceiling hoping the double vision would soon be a thing of the past. Chloe felt her phone buzz against her thigh and her heart dropped to her toes. "Can you get my phone from my pocket?" She asked.

"Yeah," Yara sighed, reaching to get it. Her eyes had to adjust but she managed to read the text after a few tries. "It's your dad," she rushed out.

Chloe's throat went dry, "what he say?"

"Ummm Umm that he's just he's checking in because it's almost one."

"Tell him that I'm on my way right now," Chloe waited for the light to turn green. This time she didn't care how hard she peeled off. They were the only ones on the road anyway. The car jerked as it sped up.

Mind's driving fast, light years away
Like shining stars, just reaching space
And I don't know if I'm awake

"Whooahh!" Lovie gripped the handle above her window.

"Slow down!" Yara yelled.

Chloe shook her head peering at the time on the car's display screen. Nine minutes to one. Shit! She looked down at the speedometer and was going sixty in a thirty five zone but refused to slow down. There was no way she would get home late. Not when her parents so generously let her have her way. She was approaching an intersection and the light flicked from green to yellow.

"You crazy!" Beans yelled.

She didn't slow.

She made no attempts to stop. In fact the speed climbed to sixty seven miles per hour and all Yara could do was squeeze her eyes shut as a pair of bright yellow headlights shined on her right side.

Run all the stop signs, skidding roads
Explosive make the time go blow
And I don't if I'm inching close
But I, run all the stop signs, skidding roads

Chloe didn't understand what happened at this moment. She did not understand why her foot wouldn't go on the brake, she did not understand why she didn't swerve her way to the left but to the right. And she didn't understand why the truck hadn't slammed into them yet. She simply didn't understand what was happening.

She saw the truck that was rightfully supposed to have t-boned them into another realm continue on its way, granted with a loud dragged out blare of it's horn. She noticed that her hands were shaking but in fact still on the steering wheel and she still hadn't come to a stop but was going notably slower than before.

Nobody said anything, but laughter interrupted her ragged breathing.

"You're completely insane," Yara looked at her, horror written clear as day across her face.

"In a quarter mile make a left," the female robotic voice of the navigation system sounded through the speakers.

Although they were safe again on the road, Chloe saw a series of red and blue about half a mile behind them through the rear view mirror.

"So, this is it." Chloe nodded trying to come to grips with all that was happening. She wanted for once in her life to be a rebel like the rest and scream to the heavens 'bring it on,' but she couldn't relax her twisting gut. The nerves plagued the car as the 'what the hell did we dos' began to flood the minds of the soon to be arrested. Her eyes slammed closed as she tried to keep herself as calm as possible, ignoring the pain she felt in her chest.

And all I want, is to be home
Hit the gas, just be alone
Turn off the world
Dance with myself, like ballerinas

"We're going to jail, we're going to jail, we're going to jail!" Yara started to freak out.

Lovie didn't really care at the moment. She'd be out ten minutes after lock up anyway. Her head rested on the window as she traced a heart on the condensation build up from the air conditioning.

"No CHLOE going to jail!" Beans yelled. "I was kidnapped." He folded his arms over his tank top clad chest.

The sirens in the distance became closer, and just her luck, they were stuck at a red light. Whimpers left Yara's lips. Chloe tried not to let fear consume her, but it was a battle she was losing. The cop car was a few feet away now. Her chest heaved in and out. She was reminded of what true terror felt like. How she'd shut down and just take whatever. She was slipping into that mindset again, but she shook her head and tried to force her mind elsewhere as she focused on the traffic light. Trying with all her might to will it green before the cops pulled up behind them.

Chloe was incorrect this wasn't it. If it was it then it would be a lot easier to swallow. The fact of the matter was that this could be the beginning of the worse chapter of life and the cops could be just the exposition. Seconds passed and she tightened her grip on the steering wheel. What to do? What to do? One last look in the mirror and Chloe could see the police car in the lane to her right going about seventy miles. It made her anxiety calm just a tad. They weren't coming for them. If they were, the car would have slowed by now unless they planned on jumping lanes and smashing right into them.

"We're not going to jail," she said calmly.

"Yes we are!" Yara screamed. "My my publicist is gonna kill me! My mom! Oh my go—" her words hitched in her throat.

Everything that happened next was a blur. Yara shook. Beans scratched. Lovie shifted. Chloe tapped. The cops had whizzed passed them so fast that it left their car shaking in its wake.

"I knew they wasn't pulling us over," Beans said. "Fuck the police comin' straight from the underground. A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown. And not the other color so police think
they have the authority to kill a minority!" He rapped loudly.

Chloe felt a moment of relief, hoping this night would be over soon, but the moment was fleeting. She had five minutes to make it home and she was eight minutes out. Yara must have seen the look in her eyes because the girl began to shake her head in protest.

"Chloe, just drive normal...okay?" She said like she was talking someone down from the Golden Gate Bridge.

The light turned green. The coast was clear. Chloe once again peeled off down the street evoking loud screams from Lovie and Beans.

"In three hundred feet make a left turn on Woodshire road," the gps sounded.

"Chloe you have to slow down to make that turn!" Yara braced herself.

"In two hundred feet, make a left turn on Woodshire road."

"Chloe!" They screamed all at once.

"In one hundred feet, make a left turn on Woodshire road."

Beans covered his face, "I can't look."

"Make a left turn on Woodshire road."

Time slowed. The tires skidded as Chloe jerked the car left. Lovie squeezed her eyes shut. Yara bit her jaw as the car relied on its two left tires to make the turn. It damn near flipped but by the grace of God and God alone the right front and back tires slammed on the ground.

"Yara call Halle!" Chloe yelled as she drove like a maniac down the secluded road.

"You almost killed us twice!" The curly haired girl screamed.

"Somebody call my sister!" Chloe yelled.

Lovie scrambled for her phone, quickly finding Halle's contact, dialing her number. After a slew of long rings she gave up. "She's not answering!"

Chloe completely forgot Halle had gotten her phone taken away. She searched her brain again for another solution to her problem. "Yara, call Solange!"

"For what?!"

Chloe picked up speed. "Just call her!"

Yara's shaky hands unlocked Chloe's phone desperately searching for Solange's contact. It would've been easier if her fingers were cooperating with her. "I'm calling, what do I say?"

"Put her on speaker!"

—

Solange found herself lounging on the sofa with her head in Beyoncé's lap as she spoke on the phone with Alan from the club. The two had been phone buddies ever since that night, but never saw each other in person again due to Solo's trepidation of being close to another man so soon. The blonde played in her sister's hair. She of course insisted on staying up until she knew for sure that her child was safe and sound. Otherwise she'd be tossing and turning all night disrupting her husband's slumber. Kelly had retired about thirty minutes ago so she could properly lay Titan in his nursery. Julez, Blue, and Halle were sent to bed soon after. It wasn't often they got to do this anymore; just be Solange and Bey without demanding kids or jobs interrupting sister time. She had begged Kelly to stay up, insisting that she was usually a night owl anyway but the Amazonian woman complained of strenuous studio hours and early starts. Still, Bey enjoyed her sister time. Not that she had Solange's attention at the moment.

She could just about tell from Solo's end of the conversation that this was the makings of a budding friendship or more than likely relationship the way Solange was blushing. Bey continued to run her hand through Solange's curls tenderly as she scrolled through Instagram on her phone, trying to entertain herself. She rolled her eyes after passing one of her mother's corny joke videos and couldn't help but snicker when she saw Michelle's excited comment below.

She clicked on her mother's profile and grinned as she scrolled through her feed. She loved to stalk her on social media; she completely wore her heart on her sleeve and eighty five percent of her posts were of her family with some endearing caption.

"Yeah you right. My belly button is way better than Beyoncé's," Solange chuckled.

Bey rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a slight smirk.

"Hold on, that's my other line Imma call you back," Solo sat up, answering the phone. "Hello?"

"Solo!" Chloe's panicked voice came through.

A sly smirk appeared on the woman's face, "I always knew this day would come."

"No time Solange, are you around Bey?"

Solo looked over at her sister who pretended not to be listening in on the call. "It depends, what's up," she stood and padded over to the threshold of the family room.

"I'm on my way home, but I need a favor."

"Figured," Solo checked out her nails. "What is it?"

"Can you distract Bey away from the cameras? I'm about to pull up in like two minutes."

Solange peered over her shoulder."Can't, she on her phone, she gone see it on there."

"Take it!" Chloe yelled.

"Take it?! Do you know who yo mama is? That heifer is strong, can't just take nothing from her!" She whispered-screamed getting Bey's attention.

"Alan you so crazy," Solange gave a dry chuckle and turned her attention back to her phone. "You owe me!"

"Oh and meet me by the front door alone!" Chloe said before the call ended.

Solange rolled her eyes, quickly jumping into action. "Hey Bey!" She called.

The blonde turned around."Yeah?"

"Let me see your phone real quick. Mine keep acting up, dropping calls left and right."

The blonde got up and stretched. "Maybe that's a sign to hang up. You and Alan been talking for hours."

She smacked her lips, playfully worming it out of her hands and began walking towards the front of the house.

"Where you going?" Bey asked.

"On the porch to smoke real quick before bed."

The blonde shook her head. "You gone turn into a blunt, you keep smoking the way you do."

"Yeah Yeah Yeah," she waved her off and slipped out of the front door just as a car barely came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs.

"What the hell?" She knitted her brows together.

Chloe swung the driver door open and hopped out, taking the steps two at a time.

"Were you driv—

"My friends are in the car! Can you drive them over to the guest house and park the car in the garage?!" She barely took a breath.

"Gir–

"Please please please!" She begged.

"This about to be a month of favors," Solo huffed out.

"Thank you," Chloe gave her a tight squeeze before she dashed towards the door.

"Wait, take ya mama her phone."

She quickly grabbed the device and pushed her way into the house just as the clock struck one. She felt like a true Cinderella story.

"Bey!" She called loudly as she cleared the camera notifications at the top of Bey's screen, and attempted to fix her clothes.

Seconds later, the blonde came around the corner with a glowing smile. All of the anxiety completely left Bey's body. Chloe was home in one piece and on time.

"Here's your phone," she did her best at slowing her heart rate down as Beyoncé hugged her like she'd been gone for weeks. "Babyyy," she rocked her side to side and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"You're so dramatic," Chloe said once she pulled out of the embrace.

"Well I'm known to have a little flare for the dramatics," she smiled wide. They both turned at the ding sound from the elevator and watched Shawn make his way towards them with a slow clap and a smile. Chloe playfully rolled her eyes.

"Knew you wouldn't let me down," he fist bumped her. "Hold on," he squinted and bent down to her height.

"What are you doing?" She chuckled nervously.

"Checking for signs of drug use," he searched her eyes.

Chloe smacked her lips and swatted him away.

"Leave her alone," Bey said halfheartedly, pushing a loc behind the girl's ear and pulled her into her side as they headed towards the elevator.

"So how was the party," Bey asked.

Chloe shrugged, "nothing too wild. They had the usual layered cake and music."

The blonde squinted, sensing some dishonesty in her tone, but chalked it up to her not wanting to talk about a party with her parents.

"Awe, well make sure you hop in the shower before bed...you smell like outside," Bey said.

Meanwhile

"Now what the hell y'all doing this damn drunk?!" Solange asked while she drove down her sister's property with a car full of inebriated children.

Yara faced the window with both of her hands squeezed between her thighs. Lovie stared at Solange almost as if she didn't recognize her. "You're Solange," she said matter of fact.

"And you drunk," Solange bit out. "I got courage the cowardly dog over here shaking in her boots. A beat up Dennis Rodman in the back with some do me baby booty shorts on and a tank top. This one got amnesia, and this one is passed out cold! I should have y'all call y'all mamas...especially you Yara."

"Nononono," Yara began groveling.

Solange held her palm up to the girl's face, "but I ain't gone do that because my niece involved." She eased the car into the driveway and turned off the engine. She glanced back at Yasmin and sighed. She was still out cold. Now snoring softly and drooling out of the side of her mouth. Solo quickly got out of the car and made her way to the passenger's side, opening Yara's door. "Out!"

Yara lowered her head in shame and stepped out of the vehicle, staggering once her feet hit solid ground. Lovie was silent as she opened her door. "I love all of your albums." There was that alcohol controlling her tongue again.

Solange pointed to her, "I just might tell your mama."

"I don't have a mother," she muttered.

"Well whoever responsible for you," Solo sassed.

"Me," Lovie said sadly, breaking Solange's heart in pieces. The two stared at each other. One drinking in the eyes of a broken lonely little girl, the other staring at one of her favorite musicians.

Beans did his best to gather Yasmin in his arms quickly. How she got herself into this scenario he'd never know, but he was grateful he was there to protect her and even more thankful he entered the room when he did. He rounded the car where everyone else was and Solange raised her brow. "Y'all sure she's alright?"

Beans racked his brain trying to think of the other side effects of being roofied but nothing came to mind. "Yeah she just needs to sleep it off." Moose said she only got half a pill, he hoped the effects would wear off soon.

"Come on," Solo told the group and headed for the front door of the guest house. They were moving like sloths so she started singing to make them hurry up. "Left! Left! Left Right Left!"

Once they were all safely inside the home, Solange took them upstairs and pointed out a few of the rooms they could crash in until the morning. Yara finally made it to the bed and plopped down, trying to catch her breath, the stairs took what was left of her energy. Beans laid Yasmin beside her and sunk to the floor. He felt like he had been carrying her for hours.

"I'll be back," Solange announced and left the room.

Lovie slowly made her way to the bed, resting her head directly next to Yasmin's. She briefly made a mental note to call someone tomorrow to handle some business. She watched as Yas blinked a couple times trying to fight off the drug that was making her sleepy. Lovie reached forward and brushed away some stray hairs that had fallen on her face. She blinked a few times, finally coherent enough to focus.

"We gotta get Owen," she whispered.

"I know," Lovie whispered back.

Yara groaned hearing her friends make retaliation plans knowing that it would most likely end in bloodshed. She let out a sigh and snuggled deep into Yasmin's back, grateful that she was okay.

"Am I at home?" Yas whispered suddenly, breaking the silence. Lovie looked down and opened her mouth to answer, but before she knew it, Yasmin was out cold again.

Beans laid down on the futon, making himself comfortable. Leaning against the pillows and closed his eyes, thinking about tonight's events. He smiled for a moment thinking about how funny this would be in a few years before he heard Solange re enter the room.

"Y'all all just gonna sleep in the same bed?"

Yara barely raised her head, "we're close."

"And in y'all outside clothes," the woman made a disapproving face. She was carrying water bottles and granola bars. She sat the items on the nightstand along with a bottle of Tylenol for the morning.

She grabbed a spare blanket off the chair, handing it to Beans and made her way around the room to close the blinds and double checked that the windows were locked.

"Come up to the main house for breakfast in the morning," she turned out the light and began to close the door.

"Solange," Lovie called out.

"Yes?"

"Thank you," she said sincerely.

Solo nodded and finally closed the door behind her.

—

Shawn checked his phone to ensure all of the locks on the house were secured and the alarm was set. Soon after, he caught sight of the double doors at the end of the hallway, smiling sadly at himself as he knew what they held. He approached them warily and eventually edged them open, stepping inside. As he turned and looked at the back of his wife, who hadn't even noticed his presence, he couldn't help but go and massage her shoulders as she opened and closed several drawers. After silently shrugging him off, Beyoncé found the fuzzy blanket she had been searching for. She crossed the room not giving her husband a glance.

"Bey you gonna ignore me forever?" Shawn asked.

There was silence. Then Bey made a movement, as though she were about to speak, and then stopped. But then again he did ask a question. "Yup," she responded.

Shawn winced inwardly, and then breathed out. "What's the problem?"

"Figure it out!" The blonde spat out.

"How when you not saying nothing!" He retorted angrily.

Beyoncé looked towards the door. "Lower your voice! We have children sleeping!" She hissed.

"You something else you know that?" Shawn bit out defensively.

"Baby, I know I ain't average if that's what you asking," she took a step back and motioned towards her body.

There was a deafening silence, which to Shawn seemed to go on for a good ten minutes. It wasn't more than ten seconds though, till he broke it.

"Naw I meant you're a piece of work," he said.

The weather was calm outside, but inside, a storm began to rage, spreading through the room like fall leaves over a courtyard. Thunder soon followed... bellowing deep in her gut followed by lightning coursing through her veins. In a real storm a forecaster would be advising the public to run for cover, but in the Carter home it was the menacing snarl and upturned lip that let Shawn know he should probably take a few steps back.

"You ain't shit," She said the last word in a whisper, as though that would somehow make it less harsh.

"Maybe I should go to another room," he suggested quietly.

Beyoncé turned her blazing eyes on her husband. "No, you stay! I'll go like I was planning to do before you stopped me!" She walked to the corner of the room, snatched her charger out of the wall and stormed out muttering to herself.

—

THE NEXT MORNING

Chloe felt someone picking with her eyelids and swatted the tiny hand away already knowing who it belonged to. Again the hand was back on her face and she could hear the faint sounds of whispering not too far away.

"Move Blue and get out Halle and take Julez with you." She turned on her side trying to enjoy the last hours of her sleep. Why were they messing with her this early?

"Mommy said to wake you because it's really late and it's time for breakfast," Blue's soft voice said.

"Tell her I'm not eating breakfast today, start without me," she pressed a pillow over her ear.

She felt her bed dip and knew that Halle had joined her. "Must've been some party."

Chloe sighed heavily, throwing the pillow to the side of her and sat up.

"Ugh!" Julez teased and pointed to her oversized bonnet.

"Listen, it's early and I barely got to sleep last night. Please will you all leave me alone?" She rubbed her temples.

Blue slid off of the bed and pressed the intercom button, "mommy Chloe said she's not eating breakfast and she wants you to leave her alone."

Chloe chucked a pillow Blue's way with breakneck speed, missing by a half inch. Blue stuck out her tongue and hopped onto one of Chloe's chairs.

"Tell Chloe I said ten minutes and to stop playing with me all the time," Bey called.

Blue turned to her eldest sister and opened her mouth to speak but Chloe held her hand up. "I heard her. Julez can you take Blue downstairs please? I need to get dressed."

"I can take myself," the five year old sassed and took off running before her big cousin could escort her out. Still Julez was right behind her.

Chloe slid from her bed with sleep still in her eyes as she dragged her feet all the way to her bathroom. She brushed her teeth while Halle stood behind her.

"What?" She asked curiously between brushes.

Halle leaned on the doorframe, "well what happened at the party!"

Chloe ducked her head to spit in the sink and splashed water on her face. Turning around to her sister she said. "You can't tell Bey or Shawn."

Halle tilted her head to the side giving her best "really bitch" look.

The fifteen year old went to close her door and sat on her bed motioning for Halle to take a seat as well. "Girl what did you do? Commit murder or something why are you acting all mysterious?"

"Shhh," Chloe looked around paranoid making Halle smack her lips. "Almost," she admitted.

Halle folded her legs, placing a pillow in her lap. "Ooh this gone be good?"

"You don't know the half of it," Chloe said. She spent nearly ten minutes giving Halle the cliff notes version of her chaotic night and thought she sounded crazy rehashing the story. She made sure not to leave anything out. From Alana to Emiel and the poker game to Yasmin's drug ordeal to Beans' harrowing tumble and finally her excursion home.

"Wow, maybe I should've snuck out. Girl missed one party and a million and one things happened. Do you know what I would give to have seen Beans flying out of a window? How much money I would pay? This ain't right," Halle shook her head. "Next time I'm coming no matter what."

"It was insane," Chloe said.

"Poor Yas though," Halle picked with her hands.

Chloe palmed her face realizing she hadn't checked up on her friends who were still on her family's property. She reached for her phone on her side table and texted the group chat.

MEANWHILE (inside guest house)

The buzzing of her phone caused Yasmin's eyes to pop open. She rubbed a hand over her forehead and attempted to sit up, but was forced back down by the pounding coming from her skull. "Ugh, my head." She groaned aloud. Her head felt like it weighed a ton and her mouth was dry as sandpaper. "What happened last night?" Yas thought to herself trying to fight off the waves of nausea coursing through her. She felt someone move beside her and stopped her head around seeing both Lovie and Yara on either side.

"Where am I?" she wondered looking around. She noticed she still had on Chloe's from last night and cringed. A flash of fighting boys and broken windows and screams flit across her mind. Yasmin's heart started to race and suddenly the room was spinning. Before she knew it, the bile was rising up her throat and out of her mouth. She hopped over Lovie and looked around desperately trying to find something to vomit in. She grabbed a trash can and started to empty her stomach. She heard the door open and close. Finally, after her stomach settled she meekly lifted her head from inside the can to find a bottle of water and a cloth in her line of vision.

She accepted the items without meeting Beans' eyes and tried to wipe the bile off of her face with as much dignity as she could muster. She finished the bottle of water in two seconds flat. She let out a breath and laid back down. Thankfully, the room had stopped spinning a little after he came in. She finally raised her eyes at Beans, who was leaning against the door frame. Lovie stirred awake and Yara began to stretch her limbs soon after.

"What the hell are you wearing?" She let out a hard laugh.

"How much of last night do you remember?" he asked softly. His face was blank, not giving away any details.

She closed her eyes leaning into the pillows and tried to remember her night. "Um, we were at Megan's party. I was drinking a lot because I saw Kenny there with some girl. Then we were by the pool smoking. Oh and randomly people fighting and a broken window?" Suddenly, she looked up at him with a horrified expression, "and then... then I don't remember anything at all until I woke up. Why, What happened last night? It got something to do with your beat up face and thot wear?"

Lovie gave her a saddened expression while Yara rubbed her back.

"Actually yeah," he said.

"Don't tell me you got into it with the wrestling team again. We keep telling you you'll never win," she laughed.

"Not the wrestling team. The football team," Beans crossed the room and stood before the bed. "I uh...I found you passed out in a room with Owen Samuels last night." He confessed finally meeting her eyes.

"He uh was on top of you, kissing you and trynna get you outta your pants. You wasn't into it and you told him to get off, so I pulled him off of you before anything else happened, but um your shirt was off. He had slipped something in your drink earlier, which is why you was so out of it last night. You only woke up for like five minutes when we came here."

"Oh." Yasmin whispered, stunned into silence.

It felt like her heart had dropped to her stomach and shattered into pieces. The tears were leaking out of her eyes before she could register that she was crying.

Lovie took her hand, "but we'll get him." She said with all of the confidence in the world.

"You're okay," Yara nodded.

Yasmin pulled her hand away from Lovie and curled away from her crying. She hid her face and cried into the pillow. She felt sick to her stomach. She could feel Yara trying to comfort her, but she scooted further away embarrassed. She racked her mind over the details, but everything was a blur. She couldn't even remember seeing Owen last night. Her body felt dirty to the touch. How could this have happened to her? How could she have gotten so out of control that she let someone take advantage of her? She felt like bugs were crawling across her torso.

Her friends allowed her to have her moment, but Yara still whispered encouraging words to her. "It's going to be okay Yas. You're gonna be okay." She tried to reassure, but the girl continued to cry.

After a while Beans noticed Yasmin's sniffles start to fade. She turned suddenly and angled her face up, "that bitch is gonna get his."

"Oh that's a given." Lovie agreed.

"Can you hand me a bottle of water," Yara asked as her brain banged against her skull. "And that Tylenol."

Beans handed both Lovie and Yara the items from the nightstand. Surprisingly, his hangover consisted of a mild nauseating feeling deep in his stomach. The thing that hurt the worst was his body after his 'I believe I can fly' moment. Yasmin stood from the bed and headed to the window peeping out of the blinds. "Wait, we at Chlizzy house?"

Yara chuckled, looking over her shoulder at her friend, "guest house but where did you think we were?"

"Girl I don't know," she huffed. "All I know is I'm hungry as hell."

"Me too," Beans chimed in.

Lovie looked between the two, "I don't see how y'all can eat after drinking all night. My stomach feels like it's in a blender." She checked her phone noticing about thirty missed messages and ten missed calls. Some of them were from the staff at one of the clubs apparently there'd been a break in on one of the trucks that shipped their alcohol and they're down and out for this week. She sighed and figured she'd handle that later. She didn't bother opening the ones from her mother, instead she texted Chloe back letting her know everyone was good.

"I feel disgusting. I need a shower," Yara announced to the room.

"Same," the rest agreed.

"Ask Chloe if we can borrow some clothes," Yas suggested after a while.

Lovie shrugged and again texted Chloe, receiving a speedy response.

"She said there should be some Ivy Park merch in the first room on the left and new unmentionables somewhere around here. Oh and Solange said to come up to the house for breakfast."

"Well let me get dressed quick cause my stomach is depleted." Yasmin left the room.

Yara, Beans, and Lovie all eyed each other. "I think she's handling pretty well," Yara nodded. Nobody said anything and she sighed. "Owen has no future does he?"

"Hell no." Beans shook his head.

"As good as dead," Lovie strolled towards the door and down the hall.

—

Birds chirped in the distance, the sound of a lawn mower outside one of many windows blared, and the sun was high in the sky. The outside world was always noisy and chaotic in LA, but life was calm inside the Carter's fortress of a home. The pitter-patter of tiny feet could be heard from down the hall. A sports reporter announced highlights of the game on the television. Bacon sizzled from the frying pan.

The pitter-patter stopped, and Blue's little head popped up from under the kitchen island. When she noticed Chui flipping pancakes and the bacon sizzling away, her eyes widened and a smile stretched across her face.

"Pancakes?" She asked the cook excitedly.

"Not just any pancakes – happy face pancakes," Chui responded in his thick accent. He placed one large and fluffy pancake on a plate for the child. Then, he completed the happy face by adding banana slice eyes, a strawberry nose, a mouth made of chocolate chips, and finally, whipped cream hair. "There you go!"

"Thank you!" Her smile stretched even further at the sight of her favorite breakfast. "Mommmmyy look! Chui made happy face pancakes!" She called out.

Beyoncé walked in carrying Titan on her hip. She placed the toddler in his booster seat for the table and then planted a kiss on Blue's cheek. "Happy face pancakes? You think he made some for me too?"

Blue took a seat in an empty chair beside Titan. "No, you have to be special. You probably get regular pancakes."

"You saying I'm not special?" The blonde asked, taking a sip of coffee from the mug Chui had set out for her.

Blue simply shrugged, too busy ogling the face on her plate.

"Hot plate," Chui waltzed in carrying a huge stack of pancakes and placed them in the middle of the dining table before exiting as quickly as he entered.

"What? No happy face pancakes for me?" In walked Shawn, attempting to put on his shoes while walking into the kitchen. "Guess I'll just have to steal some of yours, Lefty!"

"No!" The five year old sassed.

Shawn and Beyoncé briefly met eyes as he grabbed a piece of bacon with one hand and tickled Titan with his other hand.

"Un Shawn silly!" The tiny tot called out between giggles.

Kelly and Solange entered with the three older kids trailing behind them. "Dang, I think Chui made enough pancakes to feed all of Compton." Julez noted before taking a seat.

Halle rubbed her hands together, "good!" She smiled. After saying a quick grace, she began stacking her plate, starting with only four hot cakes. "Mommy did you think about me going to the beach with Reign today?"

Chloe looked at Shawn. "Who is Reign?" The man shrugged with a raised brow.

The blonde peered between her husband and child. "Matter of fact I did."

Halle's eyes grew wide, "so can I?"

"Yeah you can," she said from across the room.

Julez shook his head but otherwise minded his business.

Halle threw her arms up in victory as she clutched a butter knife in one hand and a fork in the other. "Yes! I–

"But your sister has to come with you or you can't go," Bey cut her off.

Halle frowned and looked at Blue as she played with her food, "which one?"

"Chloe."

The fifteen year old gaped, "What? I don't even know a Reign. Why do I have to go?"

"Because Halle wasn't able to go to the party last night, and she can't go by herself. Besides, wouldn't you like to go to the beach?" Bey asked.

"It's gonna be too many people," Chloe pouted.

Shawn nodded and reached for another piece of bacon, "I'll have an extra security guard come with y'all."

The fifteen year old sighed and continued eating.

"You enjoy yourself last night?" Kelly asked as she cut up her child's food.

"Absolutely," Chloe responded, earning a quiet chuckle from Halle and a 'hmph' from Solange.

"I just bet she did," Solo said from her spot at the table.

Chloe sent her aunty a quick glare. The woman went to say something back but the doorbell interrupted her thoughts.

"Y'all expecting company?" Kelly asked.

Shawn took a sip from his cup and looked back at his wife who hadn't taken a seat. "No."

"That's probably Chloe's lil friends," Solange cut into her pancakes. "I invited them for breakfast."

"When?" Bey asked.

"Last night when they dropped her off."

Chloe and Halle eyed each other but continued to eat silently. Moments later, Frances escorted the four teens into the dining room.

"Good morning!" They all waved.

Beyoncé noted that they were all dressed in matching Ivy Park gear. Even Beans had on the burgundy joggers. "Y'all look...cute." She said.

"Thank you." Yara took a seat across from Chloe which was next to Solange.

"I'm starving," Yasmin said.

"Yasmin!" Halle called as she raced around the table, embracing the girl with a warm hug. Yas returned the hug, finding comfort in her friend's presence. Halle suddenly pulled back though, giving Yas a quick look over. "Are you okay? How are you feeling? Do you need to sit down?" She blurted out, forgetting her family seated behind her.

"I'm fine Hals," she assured.

Lovie straightened up her shirt before looking around the room, noticing and appreciating how quiet it was, glad that the Carter family wasn't a loud bunch. Her head throbbed against her skull and if she looked at one more ray of light, it just might explode.

Solange gestured to the chair across from her. "You can have a seat."

"Thank you," Lovie replied and finally sat down.

Beans sat beside Lovie and slowly began reaching for food, but Yasmin didn't hesitate to start stacking her plate. "Y'all got some more syrup?" She picked up a pancake, folded it in half and took a chunk out of it.

"I really wanna meet your parents cause you and your sister are something else," Solange said.

Shawn kept his eyes on Beans. "Aye you got into a fight or something?"

Chloe gulped and all of the teens halted their movements. Beans reached to touch his face, "fight? Um nah somebody elbowed my face on accident last night."

"Yeah it was hilarious...right Chloe?" Yara raised her brows.

"Right," she said, a bit unsure.

The rest of the breakfast was as awkward as it started. As soon as Chloe was done with her food, she rushed to her feet and asked for her and her friends to be excused.

All six teens were lounging around Chloe's room. Yasmin had Chloe's laptop typing a mile a minute. "This bitch finna die I swear to God!" She pulled up any and everything she could on Owen.

"Yas, don't get a virus on my stuff," Chloe and Yara were currently going through her swimsuits to decide which one she'd be wearing today.

Halle and Lovie were on the floor doing yoga poses while Beans held a bag of ice to his face.

"Girl I know what I'm doing," she waved her off.

"Let me know when you're done, so I can make the call." Lovie said as she moved to the downward dog position.

Beans adjusted his ice pack. "Y'all gone really have him killed?"

"Haven't decided yet," Lovie responded. "People have died for less."

Halle peeped one eye open, "you're scaring me."

Yasmin hopped up and paced the floor with Chloe's laptop. "I'm ready."

Lovie stood and went to get her phone. "Go ahead." She opened her notes.

"Owen Samuels, wide receiver for the Hawks, lives at 7406 Melrose Ave, best friends with Trent Scott and Lee Mitchell. Most visited spots are Blitz, the bowl dispensary, and surprisingly the ice cream shop on the corner of Almeda street. His parents are Diana and Pete Samuels, newly divorced but his mother has full custody. He has football training everyday after school until seven and on the weekends he typically goes for a mile run to get his day started. If you need more just let me know." Yasmin placed the computer down and perused through Chloé's clothes.

Lovie nodded, "this should be good enough... be right back." She walked into the hallway and shut the door behind her. She searched her contacts for a full minute. Once she found the one she was looking for, she hit the call button and luckily the person answered on the second ring.

"Talk to me," Stacks barked into the phone.

"Hey...I got a job for you."

"Give me the rundown," the man said.

"I just texted it to you."

There was a pause and Stacks' voice sounded again, "how you want me to play this?"

"Leave him alive but make him wish he was dead," Love said through clenched teeth.

"Aight, I'll let you know."

"Thanks," Lovie ended the call and turned to head back into the room but was stopped by a much taller person.

"Can I talk to you?" Shawn asked.

Lovie felt her stomach drop out of her body entirely. She tucked her shaking hands into the pockets of her jogging pants. For a short moment she stayed, staring at the man blindly before asking him. "You want to talk to me?"

"Yeah, if that's okay with you," Shawn ran his hand over his head stiffly.

Reluctance and curiosity battled against each other and eventually her curiosity emerged victorious. "Uh," she cleared her throat, "yeah, sure."

Shawn nodded, "can you come to my office?"

Lovie tried to appear nonchalant with her hands still shaking in her pockets. "Yeh."

The trip to the second floor was awkward to say the least. They took the elevator in silence, both in their own corners much like a couple of boxers waiting for the ref to blow his whistle.

Once they stood in front of a closed door, they stared at each other for a moment before Shawn walked past her into his office and plopped down in his chair. Lovie stayed frozen in her spot now staring at nothing and willing her brain to start working again. She pondered if she should just leave and let Shawn stay or if she should hear out what he had to say. And after a moment she opted to listen, because really, what did she have to lose?

"Did you wanna have a seat?" The man asked.

Lovie shook her head, "I'm good."

Shawn placed his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together. "Look, I wanna cut to the chase." He sighed. "I know you saw me at the hospital the day your pops passed."

Lovie felt her knees go weak, but succeeded in staying upright. Did he bring her down here to take her out too? She closed her eyes for a while and when she opened them again her face was hard and emotionless. She straightened her back and pushed her own pain down like she always did.

"I didn't see anything," she rushed out. "I was too focused on my father."

Shawn chuckled, "it's aight...I know you saw me."

The teen eyed her feet but didn't offer anything up.

He took in a small breath and started to talk. "Lovie, I don't mean to speak ill of the departed, but your dad wasn't a man of nobility or integrity. Don't get me wrong, all of us that call shots around here have our own skeletons but we at least try our best to run things with some heart and stick to the code." There was a long pause before he continued. "I guess...What I'm trying to say is I'm sorry."

This was Jay apologizing without outwardly admitting to anything and now Lovie was certain this was the first time she saw a kingpin this meek in her presence. She opened her mouth and shut it again, because she really did not know what to say. She averted her eyes to the floor and dared not to raise them again before Shawn huffed.

"I really don't know what else to say," he said.

They looked at each other. Shawn silent and remorseful. Lovie hurting and wondering.

"I keep thinking how hard this must be for you. You had no chance to say goodbye to him and ... He was your father and I feel horrible whenever I look at you, because I know how it is to lose a father. I just...I really am sorry...for your loss can't say I'm sorry that he's gone." Shawn said quietly. After a moment he glanced up only to see Lovie's bewildered expression.

For a while they sat like that in silence. Lovie was breathing hard and the trembling that entered her body when he first asked to talk had not relented. A particularly harsh shiver raked over her body and she suppressed a sob with her hands. She could feel Shawn's eyes on her and she raised her head, eyes dry and red and mouth drawn into a thin line.

"He called a hit that he couldn't carry out, and he broke code by involving your kids. I understand that he had to go. I mean you did what you had to do." Lovie pressed determinedly. She looked at Shawn straight in the eyes now and waited for an agreement, because that's what she needed. She needed a confirmation that the man had only done what was necessary and there was nothing wrong with her for barely being able to breathe.

They stood in silence but it seemed to have a voice this time. However, it did not speak. It did not whisper. It did not sing. It screamed. Its cries were utterly uncomfortable and full of weakness. Silence had never been so loud and Lovie almost felt like shouting herself. She wanted the silence to be silent again, because it was too unorganized and too unusual and she wanted everything to have an order. Needed it. She felt the need of normality especially now that nothing made sense in her desolate life. Normality was safe. Protective. But it was not to be, because the little normality she had died with her father.

"I did," he nodded and for some reason Lovie was able to breathe again.

"That's the game," she found herself saying.

He agreed with an aloof chuckle. "It's sad, but true." He let out a heavy sigh. "But my kids, they ain't a part of it. They don't know anything about it because they didn't grow up around any of it like you did. They wouldn't understand if they found out, and I wouldn't want them looking at me differently."

"I won't tell them anything," Lovie told him. She meant every word. There was no way she would open her mouth about any of Jay's transgressions. It was just too risky.

Shawn nodded, "I feel weird for even asking a teenager to keep a secret but–

"Don't worry about it...really, like you said, I was raised in this life. I know how things go. It's nothing new," she assured him.

"Thank you," Shawn said.

Lovie gave a curt nod, "I'm gonna go now."

Shawn nodded and with that she turned and left to join her friends. She had a lot on her mind as she traveled on the elevator and down the extended hallway back to Chloe's room.

Chloe's face was covered in tears as she half leaned on Yara and just about fell over laughing. Somehow Yasmin had hacked the cameras from Megan's house and now had the footage of Beans falling out of the window on a loop.

"That shit is not that funny," Beans scowled.

"What y'all looking at," Lovie asked.

It wasn't so much that Chloe couldn't hear her, it was just that she hadn't been able to calm down. She was at a point she could hardly even make any noise, she was having a hard enough time just breathing through her laughs.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Lovie asked sarcastically.

Chloe pressed her hands against her face and tried to control herself. It took a couple tries but she finally calmed down.

"Yeah," she said with a small snort. "Look at Beans." She turned the laptop around and pressed play, watching the harrowing descent once more, having trouble not laughing all over again.

"Damn Beans they caught you in 4K," Lovie threw her head back in a cackle.

Everybody else instantly busted out laughing, except for Yara who had managed to keep a straight face long enough to say, "zoom in on his face, it's the best part." before she too doubled over laughing her head off.

Yasmin hit her head back against a pillow as a low series of chuckles worked their way loose. "I got'em scared shook panicking!"

"Yas," Beans tried to sound serious but he found his own voice breaking as another batch of guffaws threatened to bubble over, "It's not funny," and his voice broke as he started snickering at the memory of himself splashing into the pool.

"No, it's hilarious," Halle replied as her voice climbed several decibels in a series of high pitched laughs.

"Sis said," Chloe couldn't breathe. "She said," she tried her hardest to get it out. "She said," her eyes were squeezed shut trying to will the laughs away. "She said 'oh my god Samuels killed Beans'." Chloe clamped both hands over her mouth as she started to laugh again, just thinking about it.

Lovie watched Yara as she lay flat on her back, her eyes squeezed shut as she spent another minute in a complete fit, then she seemed to regain control of herself.

"Oh well, at least I gave y'all a good laugh," Beans' voice cracked at the last word but otherwise he appeared calmed down.

"And thanks to the pictures everybody took, I have a feeling a lot of people are gonna be laughing about it for a long time," Chloe responded.

"Wait, they took pictures?" He sat up.

"Hell yeah!" Chloe chuckled. "Who wouldn't?"

"I'm suing," he said.

"Okay okay okay okay," Yasmin calmed herself. "What time are y'all leaving?" She asked Chloe and Halle.

Halle looked at her phone, "like forty minutes. Y'all are coming right?"

Yas stood stretching, "nah I'm going home to be with my thoughts."

"I'm meeting up with Devon today so I can't," Yara announced.

Beans shook his head. "My face is messed up so I'm not going with y'all no where. It be too many cameras."

"Good call," Halle responded, earning a pillow to the face. "Stop throwing shit." She warned.

"And you wonder why you couldn't come to the party. Now when I tell your mama." Beans teased.

"Now when I tell Shawn you threw something at me," she rebutted.

Chloe looked between the two, "anyway, Lovie please tell me you're coming because I don't wanna be there by myself while Halle goes off with whoever this Reign girl is."

Lovie shrugged, "it's Sunday, I missed church already, I got nothing else planned so I'm in. And Reign is this freshman who runs a little club for the traumatized youth or something. Talked to her maybe a few times but it was always a hi and bye type situation. Seems chill though."

Yasmin clapped her hands, "now that y'all affairs are in order, Yara let's get moving, you have to drop me off before my parents start calling around for me and the first person my mama is gonna call is yours and you supposed to be at my house."

Yara and Beans stood and the group said their goodbyes before seeing their way down stairs and out of the Carter fortress.

"I'm gonna need to borrow a swimsuit," Lovie turned to Chloe.

"Say less," she waved her over to her section of swimwear.

—

"Do you have your sunscreen?" Beyoncé stood in the foyer with Blue on her hip going over a multitude of things her oldest two would need for their excursion.

"Yes," Chloe nodded.

"Your water bottles, the refillable ones?"

Halle lifted up her beach bag, "yup."

"Beach towels, dry sacks, sunglasses?" Bey asked.

Chloe huffed. "Yes, yes, and yes Bey we have everything I even packed one of my speakers."

Bey opened her mouth to speak but Chloe cut her off. "Yes it's the waterproof one. Can we please leave?"

She was beginning to get embarrassed with Lovie being shoulder to shoulder with her. The blonde thought for a second. "I guess... come give me a kiss."

Both Chloe and Halle stared at her point blank and it took all of the restraint Lovie had not to burst out laughing.

"Bey," Chloe lamented, looking towards the ceiling.

"Well I guess nobody going nowhere then," she shrugged, earning giggles from Blue.

Halle smacked her lips, "mommy come on quit playing."

Bey simply turned her cheek and tapped it with her finger.

"Huhhh," Chloe said loudly and meandered closer, quickly pecking the woman's cheek. "There, happy?"

"Much," Bey smiled sarcastically.

Halle went over doing the same. "Now was that so hard? Sweetpea keep an eye on your sister please and you know what type of eye I'm talking about."

Chloe nodded.

"Lil bit, you already know what we talked about and don't go out there thinking you Michael Phelps, stay your lil self in the shallow waters."

"Yeah," Blue added her two cents.

"Okayuhhh, can we go now?" Halle asked.

Bey squinted, "alright then go...get." She shooed them away.

Chloe muttered something to Lovie under her breath as she opened the front door.

"Glad to," Halle called over her shoulder causing Bey to chase her to the front door. Halle laughed as she quickly took the steps down to their waiting truck.

"Imma get you when you come back!" The blonde laughed.

"Love you! Toodle Loo," Halle gave her a rich white woman wave as she placed her dark shades on and slipped into the truck.

Bey closed the door and looked at Blue, "what's wrong with your sisters?"

The five year old shrugged.

—

The heat wave sweeping southern California continued to build momentum, sending throngs of people to the beaches seeking respite in the relatively cool ocean waters. With the sun being as high as it was,         anything not covered by the shade had an almost reddish hue to it, and as the temperature increased, so did Halle's excitement. "We're almost there!" She noted, looking out of the window as people fed the parking meters and removed dest from their cars.

Chloe briefly wondered why they couldn't be on their way to a private beach instead of this very public place. Gary, their bodyguard grew leery at how much harder his job would be since the place was so crowded. There was another guard, shorter but still carried himself like he had the brawn of God. His name was Latrell, mid thirties and a voice so gruff it almost sounded like he was hoarse.

"I'm not driving all the way up there that line too long to get in yall just gonna have to walk." Terrell said.

Lovie smacked her lips. "Isn't that what you get paid for so we don't have to walk?"

The man pushed his lavender tresses out of his face and turned around, "oh baby I don't get paid to drive you around, you can choke." He pointed at her with his sunglasses.

Lovie simply laughed because she had been messing with him for the entire drive over. "If I get hit crossing that street I'll see you in court."

"No I'll see you in court!" He yelled.

"No I'll see you...in court!" Lovie was prepared to go toe to toe, she had nothing better to do.

"Guys, can we just get out now?" Halle was practically already out of the truck before it came to a complete stop.

"Please!" Terrell said.

She jumped out of the backseat and eagerly hurried to the back of the truck to get her duffel bag out of the trunk before Gary could do it for her.

"Woah, slow down there. Bit eager?" Lovie asked, as the thirteen year old tried frantically to open the locked trunk door. She stepped back as Terrell unlocked the trunk from inside. Once the lid was open, Halle pulled her heavy duffel bag out from the trunk and grabbed her water bottle that had fallen out during the ride.

"Slow down Halle." Chloe said.

The girl rolled her eyes, knowing she had no choice but to wait for Lovie and her sister to get their stuff out of the trunk, they had to travel together after all. As the two fifteen year olds pulled their items out of the trunk, Halle stood on the sidewalk and waited impatiently. It seemed like they were taking their time and moving as slow as possible. She could hear the cawing of the gulls and the sounds of the waves from a distance.

"Any day now." Halle called, as Gary closed the trunk.

Chloe huffed when she looked at all of the parked cars across the street knowing that the beach must be at capacity.

"Call me when y'all ready... but don't call me before one cause I gots me a nail appointment... had to beat a hoe yesterday for calling me a ponk." The driver said, taking a look at his missing nail.

"How are you still employed?" Lovie asked.

"How you still here? Ask yourself that," he chewed his gum loudly. "Gone on somewhere for you be next."

Lovie stepped around the truck, "I can take you."

Terrell opened his car door but didn't step out, "awe cause one thing for certain two things for sho! One thing for certain two things for sho! One thing for certain, two things for sho!" He screamed as the girls and guards made their way across the street. "That's what I thought. Hoes don't really be on nothing Terrell." He said to himself. "I know! Oop bitch I just answered myself. Crazy...straight jacket...mental institution. Naw you just high as hell right now. Who said that?" He turned to look in the back seat.

—

Five minutes later, Halle, Chloe, and Lovie found themselves walking along the sandy shores. Chloe's dark blue sundress wrapped around her curves like a warm hug. The hem stopped just below her thighs. She wore no shoes but a silver bracelet decorated her right ankle. Her locs were free and loose, running down to her mid-back. Halle wore light blue denim shorts over her navy blue one piece swimsuit. Much like her sister, she was barefoot and allowed her locs to be wild and free. Lovie's oversized cover up came past her toes and made the sand beneath her feet smooth in her wake as it dragged along the shore.

The oldest sister hesitated, dragging her feet in the sand, but Halle continued to pull, giving her little to no choice but to speed up her steps. Gary and Latrell were on high alert, looking around for any potential threats but from the looks of it, everyone was too enthralled in their own business to pay them any mind.

"Halle! You made it!"

Halle whirled around at the sound of Reign's voice, struggling to conceal just how excited she truly was because of the people around her.

"Hey Reign!" Halle greeted her casually, draping an arm across her shoulders. "I told you I was coming."

"You did. Oh some of my friends are in the water some are playing volleyball," Reign informed her as she brushed her brown hair away from her face. "Where are my manners, hey Lovie...Chloe," she nodded towards them.

"Sup."

"Hey."

Reign looked at the slightly older girls sensing they didn't want to do much communicating, so she turned to Halle. "Wanna meet my friends?"

"Yeah!" Halle nodded enthusiastically and took a step towards Reign.

"Hold on, Halle put this on before you go." Chloe handed her sister the sunscreen. Halle rolled her eyes quickly squirting the spf fifty in her hand and rubbing it all over her exposed limbs and face.

"C'mon, Melanie's been dying to meet you." Reign suddenly latched onto Halle's hand, half dragging her in the direction of her friend with Gary keeping a good distance behind.

"Y'all coming?" Halle hollered over her shoulder.

"No, we're just gonna find a spot, set up camp," Chloe responded, heaving a weary sigh.

"Melanie! Melanie!" Reign called frantically while they were still a good ways off. "Look who came."

"It's so many people!" Halle beamed.

Reign glanced down at her, a smile tugging on her lips. Halle's enthusiasm reminded her more of her younger cousin when they went to the carnival a year before than the petulant teenager she'd met in Lexington's halls.

"Well hello there, Halle." Melanie greeted her with a warm smile as they approached. She had been pulling her curly light brown hair into a top knot. "I was beginning to wonder if you really existed. Well not existed cause well duh you exist but if Reign actually knew you...She kept saying you were gonna come. I'm happy to see you finally materialized." Melanie continued a strange expression in her crystalline-blue eyes. "And with backup," she chuckled, referring to the hulking bodyguard to her right.

Halle's cheeks flushed a delicate hue of pink that Melanie couldn't help but find absolutely adorable on her. "Can't be caught lacking." Halle stuck out her hand.

"I know that's right," Melanie nodded as she accepted her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "My name is Melanie but call me Mel. The only people that call me Melanie are Reign and my dad. When anyone else does, I think I must be in trouble."

"Okay Mel it is." Halle gave her a wide smile.

"So...Halle, you came to the beach by yourself or are you with that crew that everybody's so afraid of?"
Melanie drew out her name as she studied her face thoughtfully. She didn't strike her as one of the typical celeb kids that thought they owned everything and everyone.

"Yes and no actually, we're down three but none of us really travel alone you'll see us in duos and trios if anything," Halle answered her question with a chuckle. "Lovie and Chloe are over there setting up." She gestured back towards the area she last saw them.

Melanie nodded, "so, do you surf?"

"Nope." Halle shook her head, "But Reign told me you're amazing at it. She said you tried to show her once but your lesson was interrupted."

"Yeah. It. Was." Melanie shot a glance at Reign whose cheeks had flushed with more color. Obviously her bestie had not informed Halle the reason they had halted the surfing lesson was in order to have a swimming lesson instead. Reign wasn't exactly a water fairy, she had recently gotten over her fear of large bodies of water. "Let me know if you want a lesson. I'm gonna head to the water." With that she grabbed her surfboard and ran off.

"Let's go join that volleyball game," Reign suggested.

Halle looked towards the net, "race you!" She said just before taking off. Reign upped a brow and leisurely followed after her.

—

Lovie had suggested they choose a spot away from the crowds of people as to avoid running children and ill-thrown frisbees. All she wanted to do was relax and take in some sun. Chloe was sunbathing but at the same time she was gaping at Halle every few seconds to make sure she was still spiking a ball over a net or at least trying to. Suddenly, a football came hurling down barely missing Lovie's face. Both girls flinched and Lovie sat up with the quickness, whipping her head around to two sandy blonde blue eyed teens. "Watch where the fuck you're throwing that thing! Take that shit somewhere else!" She fumed.

"Chill, it was an accident." One boy scoffed.

Lovie scrunched her face up, "does it look like I give a damn? Cause I don't."

The boy scoffed again and attempted to get his ball, but Latrell held an arm out. "You too close fam."

"Who the hell are they?!" His friend yelled causing others to turn and look.

Chloe ducked her head and pushed her sunglasses further up her face.

"Look, you got two seconds to turn yo scrawny ass around...and I ain't in the business of repeating myself so what's good," Latrell flexed his muscles and slightly cracked his neck. "You want the ball or you want these hands? Cause they registered."

The boy thought for a second, "fucking ridiculous man!" Both of them stormed off. "Moooom! Some body builder black guy took my ball and won't give it back!!"

Both girls laughed watching him gesture wildly towards them while seemingly explaining things heatedly.

"People man..." Lovie said.

"I know...so what were you talking about last night?" Chloe laid back with her hands propped up behind her head.

Lovie pulled her glasses down to the tip of her nose. "What do you mean?"

"All that stuff you were saying about your mom. How she's just using you?"

The girl sighed, "oh that, yeah. She claims she came down early to set up one of her art galleries but I don't believe her. Granted, she has been at the location and  on the phone with a list of renowned artists, but why'd she have to stay with me? She has enough money to get a hotel for two weeks. Then one day I said something about me and Cassius inheriting all of my dad's things and she made a comment saying 'I wouldn't be so sure about that.' She's definitely after the money."

"You can't just assume that," Chloe said.

"Why not?"

Chloe shrugged."I don't know it just seems like she's genuinely trying to patch things up."

"Maybe you need to spend a night at the Oppong residence...see things live action," Lovie chuckled.

"Maybe," Chloe agreed.

—

"Ow!" Halle rubbed the back of her head where the volleyball had just landed.

"My bad!" One of the players across the net yelled but Halle gave him the finger. "I wanna be rotated out." She told Reign who now held the ball in her hand.

"It was an accident. Leon's not that good at serving," Reign explained.

Halle folded her arms and huffed.

"Hey Reign! We playing or what?" A beach bottled blonde in a lime green bikini asked from the opposing side.

Reign turned back to Halle, "just bob and weave when he has the ball okay?"

The girl nodded and watched Reign put the ball into the game as gracefully as she did the times before. The blonde set the ball to a brunette boy with a perfect swimmer's body who spiked it and scored.

"It's not gonna be that simple!" She provoked.

Then, Leon served the ball with a powerful strike. Luckily, it was so strong it went out.

"You'll need better aim than that if you wanna beat me!" Reign joked. Halle tried to stay out of the game, but Reign caught her, "Come here, Halle, it's time for you to play!"

"Okay," Halle sighed and prayed she survived this game.

"Your time to serve," Reign gave the girl the ball and smiled, making her feel a little more confident. Her serve was terrible: she went for an underhand serve so weak that it hit the net right in the middle.

"Underhand, Halle?! Seriously?!" Melanie shouted from outside the lines as she was the one who went out so Halle could play when their team rotated players. She had called out quits with the surfing after wiping out pretty bad earlier.

"You'll need much more strength than that if you wanna beat me, Carter!" Leon teased.

The blonde in the lime green swimwear served the ball and like Leon, she had a powerful spike. On the other hand, her aim was better and her target was Halle. The ball came so strong that Halle lost control when she hit it, and it rebounded, flying outside the line on Leon's side.

"Ace!" The other captain screamed.

"Halle bend your knees," Melanie instructed, "It'll help you control the ball."

"Don't worry, it happens," Reign tried to assure the girl, but all she did was put more pressure on her.

"Keep going like that, Aubrey! That's the rhythm!" Leon supported the blonde's aggressiveness and the girl just smiled.

"Of course. I play to win," she said. Then served the ball again with another powerful spike. This time, however, Reign appeared in front of Halle and defended the ball.

Halle watched as Reign spiked the ball with all her might, but Leon heroically defended it and passed the ball over for someone else on his team to set it for Aubrey. The blonde flew and Halle swore she smiled before she spiked the ball exactly in her direction. The spike was so strong that Halle couldn't even protect herself or dodge it. The ball hit her straight on the nose. She swore she'd never felt so stunned as she crumbled to the ground.

"Yes! Hit 'em with your best shot, Aubrey!" Leon was clouded by his drive to win that he ignored the fact that Halle was hurt.

Gary rushed over to the girl's side making sure no one else came within inches of her. "Are you alright?"

Somehow Melanie and Reign had maneuvered their way around Gary. Reign lifted Halle's chin. "Your nose is bleeding!"

"I'm fine!" Halle hissed, feeling more humiliated than ever before. She didn't need anyone's pity.

"Aubrey, this is a friendly match, not a fucking Olympic game!" Melanie raged, wrapping a protective arm around the smaller girl.

"She should've handled the ball if she didn't wanna get hurt," Aubrey smirked almost evilly, making Halle feel even more self-depreciated than before.

"That's it," Halle pushed Melanie's arm away, "I'm done with this shit!" She ran off in spite of Reign calling her name.

"One down, four to go!" Aubrey continued to mock, still oblivious that things have crossed the line.

A furious Melanie kicked the ball into the water, making the rest of the group gasp, "This game is over," she declared before following the upset girl.

Halle ran away to the only place she could be alone, the public bathroom. She locked the door and pressed a few sheets of paper to her nose to stop the bleeding. However, the pain was overwhelming because the paper felt as sharp as a thousand blades when it came in contact with her skin. The bleeding wouldn't stop. She wasn't sure what she was doing wrong but it only made her feel even more frustrated than before.

She was incompetent. So incompetent she couldn't even wipe her nose clean or play a friendly volleyball match. Her new friends were all probably laughing at her. Reign's team must be winning now that she wasn't there to let the ball drop.

"Halle? Are you inside?" To her surprise, it was Melanie knocking on the door. It didn't matter, though, she thought. Melanie was only there to make sure she was okay and then she would go back to her game, the one she so badly needed to win.

"Go away!"

"I'm sorry for what happened! Please, let me in!" Melanie replied from the other side of the door, "Please?"

Halle cursed under her breath and went to open the door. Melanie sighed as though she wasn't expecting the girl to open it so quickly. "I brought some ice. Reign went to get you a towel."

"Thank you," Halle wiped the blood away once again and felt disgusted with herself. Melanie didn't need to see that scene. After all, Halle was a mess of blood, tears, and a swollen nose right now. She surely didn't look very pretty and she didn't want anyone to see her in that state, "You can leave now." She deadpanned.

"You're doing it wrong," Melanie blurted out and interrupted her train of thoughts.

"What?"

"Tilt your head slightly forward and then place the ice on your nose."

Just then Reign appeared with a cloth in her hand, looking at Gary for permission to proceed. The man stepped to the side allowing her access to the bathroom. "Here, I think you should use a towel, so your swimsuit doesn't get all bloody."

For some reason, Halle was preparing her mouth for a nasty retort but opted against it.

"Halle, are you alright?" Melanie interrupted her daydream.

Reign tilted her head. "Did the spike make you dizzy or something? Tell me if you're about to faint so you don't take me by surprise because-"

"I'm fine, guys. Just a little light-headed."

Melanie and Reign exchanged glances. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Thanks for the ice pack," Halle took the pack and tilted her head forward as Melanie had told her. However, when she did, her head spun and her feet staggered. She was sure she would've fallen hadn't a pair of secure hands grabbed a hold of her waist.

"I think you should sit," Melanie walked her out of the bathroom to a bench and made her sit. The girl's hands never left her waist. Halle was grateful for that because she honestly thought she'd fall without Melanie supporting her.

"I'll get another towel for you," Reign announced before running off.

Gary raised a brow. "Miss, would you like me to call Mr or Mrs Carter?"

"No!" Halle rushed out. "I'll call myself," she lied.

Just her luck she got injured the day she was supposed to make it a point that she was mature enough to go out with her actual friends.

Reign came back with a clean towel, handing it to Halle, but Melanie eased the towel out of her hand. "Excuse me," She respectfully asked before brushing the cloth softly on Halle's face. Halle was marveled at the way Melanie looked so concentrated when cleaning her skin. She was so gentle, so considerate of her that she made Halle fluster.

"There, you're all clean. You can remove the ice if you want."

Halle was so concentrated watching Melanie that she didn't even notice when the girl had finished.

Reign noticed the expression on the girl's face. "Are you sure you're not feeling dizzy?"

Halle shook her head, realizing she had been staring for too long, "I'm fine."

"Good," Melanie answered and they all fell in silence, just awkwardly staring at each other.

"You two didn't have to do this," Halle shyly spoke.

Reign playfully rolled her eyes. "Of course we did! You're hurt."

"I made you lose your game," she felt tears gathering in the corner of her eyes again.

"We're here all of the time. These games aren't that serious." Melanie instinctively held her hand.

"Yeah," Reign nodded, agreeing. "Aubrey shouldn't have spiked the ball like that."

Halle sighed. "It's not her fault, Reign. I should've defended the ball."

"It was a friendly match. That spike was too strong." Melanie said, "and she didn't even apologize."

After reaching into her pockets and pulling out her phone, Halle opened the front camera to check out the damage. There was nothing really wrong besides the swelling. "My sister and Lovie will probably want to fight Aubrey after I tell them. Let's go!" She stood, suddenly excited about the prospects.

—

Lovie and Chloe were lounging on their beach towels listening to the R&B playlist Chloe put together. They were laughing about an indirect Insta post that Beans put up gaslighting the football team when Halle's loud voice calling for them halted their giggles. Chloe turned watching as her younger sister approached with Reign and some other girl. Gary trailed a few feet behind. Chloe's eyes grew wide once Halle hovered over her.

"What happened to your face?" She asked.

"Some bitch spiked me while we were playing volleyball."

All Chloe could do was sigh and think about Beyoncé's reaction. She hadn't even taken her eyes from Halle for that long and she had a bodyguard with her. Was her sister really that accident prone?

"She did it on purpose?" Lovie asked.

Halle peered between the two girls who had accompanied her and Melanie motioned for her to say something.

"Yup," Halle sat in her hip and folded her arms.

"Didn't even apologize," Melanie added.

Another sigh was Chloe's answer. Why'd people have to mess with her Achilles heel? The oldest closed her eyes and scratched her head. She went to open her mouth but Lovie did before she could.

"Where is she?" The girl asked while standing.

Melanie slightly smirked because Lovie's reputation really did precede her. Reign only stood there nervously with wide eyes. She was never the type for public displays of violence and knew with one glance into Lovie's dog-barking-eyes that that was where things were headed. Chloe stood as well, pulling her dress down to where it should be. Halle used her hand as a visor while her eyes searched the many bodies. "Right there with that lime green swimsuit and that ugly ass dye job."

"Okay," Lovie nodded and began to head that way.

She noticed Chloe and Halle were following behind her with their bodyguards and Halle's new friends and stopped. "You two are public figures... remember?"

"Okay?" Chloe scrunched her face up.

"There's hundreds of people here, so unless you wanna be on the cover of some tabloid let me handle it." She looked in between both of her friends.

Chloe held Lovie's serious gaze as she thought about all of the repercussions that would come from what her enraged mind was telling her to do to the girl who had her sister's nose as swollen and red as a tomato that won big at a local farm fair.

"Okay," she managed to get out.

Lovie nodded and with that, Chloe grabbed her sister's hand pulling her back to where their items were while the younger girl protested.

"Melanie, Reign, you're with me," Lovie pointed.

The blue eyed friend turned to Reign and whispered, "How does she know my name?"

"Please," Lovie called over her shoulder. "A girl with a story like yours to tell? Best believe I'm gonna hear about it, and we go to the same school. There's not many of us at Lexington. You might be a mulatto but you're still one of us... maybe not on first glance, but that second glance..."

Reign and Melanie quickly sidled up on the side of Lovie as she walked with purpose towards her target.

"I would just like to say that maybe there's a better way to solve things? Um maybe we could talk to Aubrey? Ask her why? Before you know... get physical or whatever it is that you do." Reign tried.

Melanie was hiding her laughter behind her hand.

"That's not how I get down. You see I find it that," Lovie snatched Aubrey by her hair from behind and turned her to face Melanie and Reign. "People tend to tell the truth and even be more apologetic when they're under duress."

"Agh! What the fuck?!" Aubrey yelled, dropping the beer she had in her hand, attempting to loosen  the grip Lovie had on her.

"Oh my," Reign's hands went over her mouth.

The people that were gathered in a circle laughing and talking all turned to see what was the commotion.

The harder Aubrey struggled, the tighter Lovie's grip became.

"Lovie? What the hell did I do to you?" Aubrey asked once she got a glimpse of her assailant.

"Not to me. My friend." Lovie replied, trying to smile and appear calm as she slowly loosened her grip on Aubrey's hair, ultimately letting her go.

"Who Halle? She got hurt playing a game she knows nothing about."

Melanie rolled her eyes, "she says you hit her on purpose."

Aubrey chuckled. "Of course she did," she turned her focus towards her group of friends who were ogling the scene like a live-action play.

Lovie smirked and the blonde began to think that she was off the hook with the whole thing.

She was wrong.

When Aubrey tried walking away, Lovie shoulder checked her, punched her in the face, and then pushed her face-first to the ground. When the girl tried to get back up, Lovie kicked her in the chest. Aubrey gasped as pain began coming from her rib cage area. She fought with Lovie and managed to get herself standing again.

But she wasn't prepared enough.

Lovie delivered another blow to her face, and then sent her to the sand again after punching her in the throat. Aubrey fell against another girl who pushed her away out of fear of ever dealing with Lovie. She could feel blood coming from her nose and mouth. As she gripped her rib cage in pain, Aubrey looked up, trying to catch her breath, and saw Lovie still standing next to her.

"Can you apologize to my friend please? She's a little sensitive." Lovie asked sweetly, her face anything but.

She grabbed Aubrey's chin and turned her in the direction of Chloe and Halle who had eyes on the situation.

"Sorry Halle!" Aubrey called.

Halle smiled in their direction."Your hair is ugly as hell!! I—

She was cut off by Chloe scolding her.

"I mean don't worry about it," she corrected herself.

Melanie and Reign both had to laugh at the girl. Lovie dusted her hands free of sand and quite literally kicked dust in Aubrey's face as she walked off.

"I can't believe you just did that," Reign said.

Melanie gave Lovie a warm smile. "I can. That was pretty cool of you. I'll be sure to never cross you though."

Lovie smiled back at her, "thanks."

Chloe shook her head when they sauntered over to her. "I'm so tired of all of this... honestly, it's tiring. It's like we can never go anywhere without drama."

"I know," Lovie sat down and looked towards the sky. "But if you give people wiggle room they'll just run over you and trample over your kindness." She said the last part to herself.

Melanie looked at the three girls sitting looking    saddened, "anyone want to pick up a board and go in the water with me?"

"I'll pass."

"No thanks."

"I'll go!" Halle stood eager to go out.

Chloe palmed her face, "look Halle, you just almost got your nose broken from a ball. The last thing I need is to call Bey telling her which morgue to go to because you wanted to go catch a wave. Just sit down."

Halle looked at her new friends with rosy cheeks and embarrassed eyes. Reign awkwardly eyed the kids running past her.

"I'll make sure she stays on the shallow end," Melanie promised. "I'm practically a professional by now."

With hopeful eyes Halle looked to her sister for an approval.

"Alright, don't say you weren't warned." Chloe gave in.

Halle stood and walked alongside Reign and Melanie towards the water. A little anxious, Chloe began applying sunscreen for the third time that day. Lovie looked her way with a question at the tip of her tongue noting the frown lines etched into her friend's face. "You good?"

Chloe sighed and continued rubbing the sunscreen into her arm until she suddenly stopped. "I don't know how to say it without coming off as rude."

"Just say whatever," Lovie shrugged, attempting to appear casual.

"Okay," Chloe breathed heavily. "I think you took whatever you're frustrated about in regards to your mom off on that girl."

Lovie felt herself flush guiltily. "Chloe, she hit your sister," she deadpanned.

"With a ball during a volleyball game." Chloe cut in.   "Don't get me wrong," she continued as if she had not seen Lovie's dismay at her previous words. "I was pissed at first but now that I have time to really sit and think rationally, it wasn't that serious. We don't know if that girl truly did it on purpose." She looked down at her toes. "And believe it or not, you're the best out of all of us when it comes to temperament control."

Lovie closed her eyes, pushing down the red flash of anger she had immediately felt after Chloe's accusations. She knew she was right. "Me? Nah I think Yara has me beat."

Chloe's locs lightly brushed against her cheeks as she shook her head. "Put Yara in any of your situations and I bet she'd become a completely different person. Last night you smoked weed Lovie... something you vowed to never do. Do you know how many crackheads you called me and Halle after you found out we joined a single rotation?" She glanced back to where Halle was now standing on a board with Melanie's help, allowing the small waves to lap against her ankles.

Lovie couldn't help but laugh. "Where's this conversation headed?"

Chloe's eyes were full of worry when she turned to her friend full on. "It's headed to me asking if you're okay. And I'm not talking about that fake surface level. 'I'm okay' I'm talking about in here," she pointed to her own heart. "Are you okay here, Lovie?" The girl whispered.

As always, Lovie could feel her breath hitch in her throat. She didn't realize she was shaking her head with such force until she became dizzy from the act. "No," she choked out as she allowed a single tear to make its way down her cheek but no more. She gawked at her shaking fists that were somewhat bruised from the fight. "I'm not okay." She said truthfully with a wipe of her face.

Chloe looked down at Lovie's hands and realized she hadn't ever seen her friend nervous before. The girl had always seemed steady and confident; she reminded her of Solo, in that regard. If she was ever anything but sure of herself, she didn't let other people see her doubts. "What can I do," Chloe asked earnestly.

Lovie's arms rested on her knees as she stared straight ahead at the sloshing water. "Just keep calling me out on my bullshit." She nodded.

"Lovie," Chloe tilted her head to the side.

"What? I'm serious. It helps."

"How?"

"Helps me check in with myself every once in a while." Lovie decided.

It was clear for several minutes that Chloe had more that she wanted to say, but something held her back from saying it. "If you say so," she shrugged.

The two sat in a silence that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. It just was until Halle came running up to her sister.

"I've been practicing." Halle announced suddenly, a proud smile on her face. "Or at least trying. And I've been watching some of the other kids."

Chloe scrunched her face up. "Halle that was like two seconds."

"Girl and I'm tired," Halle retorted.

"Why don't you show your sister what you've been practicing?" Melanie suggested, casting an affectionate smile down at the younger girl.

"Alright." Halle easily agreed.

Chloe sank into the sand and watched the few surfers attempting to tackle the waves. She also watched as Halle selected one of the boards thrown casually in the sand and began to drag it down to the water's edge. She pulled to a stop just short of where the surf would pick up the board and adjusted it. She turned and gave Chloe a small wave, then dropped down on her stomach, pretending to paddle out.

"She looks like she actually knows what she's doing." Chloe commented absently, her eyes still on her sister.

"Yeah. She's a quick study." Melanie agreed.

Reign looked into the water. "She's way better than when I tried to go out there."

"So how'd you meet her?" Chloe queried, trying to keep her tone neutral. "I mean, she never mentioned you two were friends and we don't exactly run in the same circles." She trailed off.

Reign chuckled. "No. Not really. I met her at school briefly in the halls. Invited her to come sit in on one of the groups I help organize. She snapped at me at first but then we talked and she was okay. Your sister, she's... she's a really sweet girl. Even if she tries hard not to be."

Chloe chuckled knowing the statement was completely true. "Yeah she is." She nodded.

—

The sun was already creeping over the horizon by the time Terrell killed the ignition and leaned back in his seat. Halle said her goodbyes to her two new friends promising to text them when she got home. Chloe had to admit that both girls were good friends for her younger sister. They were sweet girls, but Chloe could tell that Melanie had a little feisty side which wasn't so bad because so did Halle. All three girls slipped into the truck looking so content that even Terrell didn't want to mess with their moods. He simply played soft music that was pleasing to everyone's ears all the way to the Carter residence. Lovie decided she would go back to her friend's house until they told her she overstayed her welcome for the day. That's what she usually did with her other friends.

"Alright, see y'all!" Terrell waved as he pulled off.

Frances opened the door before they reached the top of the front staircase. "Buenas tardes Damas."

"Hi Miss Frances," the two Carter teens waved politely. Lovie simply waved with a smile as she removed her shoes at the door.

Shawn was passing through the family room with Blue as the two shared a bag of chips when he noticed the girls had returned from their outing.

"I see everybody returned with their limbs intact. No cracks, no brui—

He halted his words when Halle turned towards him. "Come on now lil bit." He gestured wildly with the chip bag still in hand.

"You got beat up again?" Blue asked.

"No," Halle turned to Lovie with an embarrassed look. "It was a volleyball game," she shrugged.

Shawn leaned in for closer inspection, taking the bridge off her nose in between his pointer finger and thumb."

"Ow!" She pushed his hand away.

He smacked his lips and stood at his full height. "You realize your mama never letting you go anywhere after she see this right?"

"But on the off chance that she does, could I not be included?" Chloe asked.

"Awe you must didn't enjoy yourself," Shawn said.

Chloe pushed her hair to one side. "It's not that. It's just I need time to mentally prepare myself for dealing with the public."

"Somebody gave y'all a hard time?"

"No, I'm just saying in general." Chloe explained.

Blue eyed all three girls, "did you make sandcastles!"

"No Blue, we're not five," Halle rolled her eyes.

Blue looked confused. "But you still play with dolls and sleep with night lights."

"Gir– I play with dolls when I'm forced to... by you," Halle moved past everyone heading for the elevator.

Chloe and Lovie followed wordlessly, sensing Halle's embarrassment. They spent the next thirty minutes showering and slipping into clothes that were more comfortable. The three lounged around the family room talking about nothing but it seemed about everything while a thriller movie played in the back. Blue skipped in with a balloon in her hand.

"Look I'm Halle!" She pretended to strum down on the balloon as if it were a guitar.

"Ayyyee!" Chloe hyped her up.

Lovie smiled genuinely at the child. Though she found it quite odd to think considering everything, she could see how Blue was their sister just by the way she behaved. It was like watching a mini version of her two friends merged into one. Though she expected that Blue's clap back game would be more viscous than both Chloe and Halle as she got older.

"Alright Ivy you better show'em," Beyoncé said as she entered the room with a water bottle.

Solange was right behind her. They were dressed pretty similar in black leggings and black tops.

"Look that's all they do. Tap tap tap on them phones," Solo motioned to the teens.

"Solo you the last to talk," Bey rounded the couch and plopped beside Chloe.

Lovie watched the two as the blonde's hands instinctively went into her daughter's hair. "Y'all had fun?"

"It was interesting," Chloe answered carefully.

"Uht that mean something happened. Just text me later if you don't wanna say it around ya mama," Solo whispered and playfully flicked Blue's ear.

"What about you lil bit? You have fun with your friends?" She asked the girl who had been turned away from her.

"Yes," Halle said.

Bey raised a brow and stood, heading over to her middle child. Halle stifled an eye roll, waiting for the inevitable dramatics to take place.

Beyoncé lifted her chin and noticed the swelling immediately. "How'd this happen?"

Chloe opened her mouth to speak but Halle cut in. "Volleyball game."

"Bey your kids always bruised up. I would think it'd be like that with Julez but nope they got him beat."Solo said.

The blonde smacked her lips, twisting Halle's face left and right. "Why does it always have to be your face lil bit? You was lucky them scratches didn't scar last time." She sighed.

Halle shrugged.

Blue turned to Lovie, "she means when Halle got beat up really bad, and she couldn't go to school anymore."

Lovie snickered, knowing Halle didn't get beat up at all. Somebody had caught her lacking. She watched as Beyoncé exited the room just to return moments later with an ice pack. Halle grunted from the coldness and her mother sat on the side of her. It was like Bey was a magnet the way all three of her girls somehow gravitated towards her without words. To Lovie it was all strange but to them it was second nature. Solange looked up from her phone seeing Lovie stare her sister's way with the biggest eyes and slightly parted mouth; in a trance. The Carters were too into their own world as they conversed amongst themselves to notice the extra pair of eyes on them.

Solange cleared her throat, jolting Lovie out of the trance-like state. The girl grew flustered and immediately reached for her phone as she stood. "I better head home... haven't been there since yesterday. Can you call a car for me?" She asked Chloe.

"Yeah," Chloe sat up.

"Don't bother, I'll drop her off," Solo stood. "I was heading out anyway. Bey, Kelly might drop Julez off here later on tonight. I don't know yet, but I'll call you and let you know."

The blonde nodded.

"Lovie text me when you make it in." Chloe said, earning a nod.

Solange smacked her lips. "And what about me? You just don't care huh?" She joked.

"Solange, you text the family group chat a thousand times a day. We'll all know when you make it in by how many screenshots we get."

Solo waved her off, "see you niece, niece, and niece." She went around placing kisses to their foreheads.

Lovie said her farewells and they were off to Solo's car. The word awkward didn't describe the feeling inside of the luxurious vehicle. No, awkward was at the bottom of the totem pole, this car ride was at the top like the bald eagle with wings that could reach the sweltering LA sun if only it were still visible. The night was starting to make itself known and that's what Lovie had been  focused on for the past fifteen minutes as she stared out of the window.

"You don't do that much talking, do you?" Solange clawed her way through the thickness of the quiet.

Lovie turned to face the woman, realizing how rude Solange must think she is. "Sorry," she cleared her throat and sat up straighter. "Dazed for a minute."

"I noticed," Solo said softly as she followed the instructions of the gps. "A lot on your mind?"

"You could say that," Lovie tucked her bruised hands between her thighs.

Solange looked over at her. "I already saw them," she said in reference to her hands. "Lovie you too pretty to be out here fighting. That's not what you really wanna be known for doing is it?"

The girl didn't say anything. She squeezed her thighs closer together in an effort to stop the trembling of her hands.

"I don't even know you and I can see that you wear your heart on your sleeve. Everyone who looks at you can see it, you know?" Solange asked.

Lovie nodded because she knew. She knew with one glance anyone could tell she was an active bomb. One wrong move or word and she'd explode not literally but figuratively.

"You a Sagittarius?" Solo asked suddenly.

Lovie chuckled nervously, "Yeah how'd you know?"

"Lucky guess. You're the quietest sag I've ever met, still give off that energy though."

Lovie raised a brow. "What energy?"

Solo stared out into the road. "When a sag is hurt they push away from people and hide their emotions, but when y'all mad? Chile the whole world gotta know about it. A Sagittarius gone make sure everybody around them feel it."

The girl laughed. "Sounds about right."

"I know," Solo smiled, making a turn down a residential street. "That's how I know you sad as hell." She parked her car in front of Lovie's house. "If you ever need a listening ear... that's an adult you can call me. Here take my number." Solo reached for Lovie's phone and quickly called herself.

"Thanks, for the ride," the girl said as she got out of the car.

"Yeah, no problem."

Soon the metal of the car was closed and Solange watched the girl take the steps slow and steady.

Lovie stared at the house, doing her best to ignore the tendrils of anxiety licking at her stomach. The stone steps stretched upward, appearing to double in length as she stared at her imposing home. A mere three years ago, she'd been forced to climb the same stone steps and pass through the same thick wooden door to start another life. Vividly, she recalled the thunderous pounding of her pulse and the phantom vice that had gripped her heart the moment her father pulled up to the curb and cut his engine. Somehow she knew her life wouldn't be the same after she crossed the threshold.

Rallying the sheer stubborn will that had led to her current situation, Lovie set her jaw and shoved the anxiety aside.

She took a deep breath before unlocking and opening the door. She had little to no energy to deal with her mother tonight. After closing the door with a soft click behind her, she silently made her way past the living room and glanced to her left half expecting her mother to be sitting in a chair waiting for her. Luckily, it was empty. Lovie chuckled to herself and lackadaisically walked to the stairs.

"Lovie?" Chikwé's voice startled her.

She stopped on the first step and frowned, turning to meet her mother's gaze. "Yes?"

"Can we talk for a minute?" She asked, eyeing the floor.

Lovie peered to the steps and back to her mother, noticing the woman staring at her expectantly, her arms crossed over her chest. She gave her a nod.

"You never answered my calls or texts."

"Are you serious," Lovie deadpanned, mimicking Chikwé's stance.

She didn't want to sound like a broken record but damn it Who the hell was she to let that sentence slip from her mouth? "Is this the same person who wouldn't pick up her phone for a week after my dad died and left me with all of the hard work?"

Chikwé shook her head, not sure what to say to this. "You don't understand."

"Tell me, what don't I understand?" The girl cocked her head to the side looking a little confused as a smirk played on the edges of her lips.

The woman opened her mouth and then shut it again before reopening it to say, "let's sit."

"I'm tired, I'm going to my room," she turned to leave.

"Lovie," Chikwé called just like before.

"What?!"

"Don't 'what' me? We haven't spoken really in years, but I'm still your mother. You can't go around disrespecting me and think that it's okay."

Lovie remained silent, when she sensed an argument arising. She sighed, stepping up one of the steps     and rubbed her eyes. It had been a tiring week—that was for certain. What with the businesses she was forced to run and her schooling she tried her hardest to excel at, not to mention the fact that her mother would not leave her alone! She had gotten almost zero sleep. Chikwé straightened her posture and looked off to the side awkwardly. She cleared her throat attempting to change the subject before her daughter went to her room. "Someone from one of the Mag Lit locations called the house about a break in. He said he had been trying to get in contact with you, but you're not answering. Lovie, if you're going to pretend to be a businesswoman, you have to be on top of everything. Otherwise you'll run the franchise into the ground."

Lovie had to pause and calm herself before she delivered her response. "Will I now? And what exactly did you do to help the situation?"

She had actually completely forgotten that she needed to handle that. After all, she'd had a lot of other things on her mind... Like trying to figure out what it was she was feeling towards her mother. It had been simple when dislike had been the multitude of the feelings, easier when it had been hate. It had gotten more difficult after Reiyo's death, of course, but now...

Now it was just...

Very, extremely, undeniably difficult to sort out her feelings. On one hand, she was still her mother. On the other hand, Chikwé didn't act like it.

"I have no ties to that business," Chikwé said calmly.

"Then why are you worried about it?" She bit out.

"I was just relaying a message."

"Thanks," Lovie said sarcastically. The fierceness in her eyes saddened her mother who was of that moment feeling that she couldn't do anything right.

"And trust me if anyone knows how to run a business? It's me! Anthony made sure of it."

Chikwé could sense that her daughter wasn't saying something. "What do you mean?"

"Forgot that little tidbit. He made me be one of his runners...for years," She admitted.

Chikwé took a step back not believing what had come from her daughter's mouth. "What?" She began fidgeting, her eyes shifting around, looking like a junkie in withdrawal.

"You didn't hear me? Anthony, your ex husband made me sell drugs as soon as I turned thirteen," Lovie repeated dryly.

Chikwé's voice caught in her throat.

"Taught me how to weigh, bag, swindle. Taught me what to say if I ever got caught by the cops. Threatened to have people come after me when I came up short in cash. You know one day he squeezed me so tight until I passed out, right there in his arms and went about his day like nothing happened. He used to tease me when I would wake up soaked in my own piss from nightmares of, as you claim, me killing my own sister. And through all of that you know what I wanted?! My mother! I wanted my mom. I wanted to come back to New York and show you that I was changed. I wasn't that little girl that liked to go upside peoples head anytime they would say the wrong thing to me. I wanted to show you that I could've been like Reiyo, but you know what my dad would say? He would tell me that you never wanted me and that's why I couldn't go back because the person who brought me into this world didn't want me...didn't love me." Lovie spat out as she glared at her mother. If looks could kill the whole room would be flooded with blood.

Lovie's response sent chills down Chikwé's spine, her eyes haunted her, and the sternness of her expression told her that there was nothing left to be said but still she tried to find some words.

"Lovie I'm—

"SHUT-UP!" Lovie screamed at the top of her lungs. The pounding in her head refused to cease and the lack of oxygen was causing sweat to break out from her cheeks. Her mother saw this, and she was backed against the wall floored by her daughter's sudden panic.

Lovie stepped down from the stairs and paced to the opposite corner then circled back to her mother knowing that she had to address her sternly. "Why do you do that?" She held onto her tears, not being able to prevent the cracks in her voice.

The woman took in the pulsating vein on the side of the girl's neck and thought back to the lighthearted goofy eight year old she used to be. Never in a million years did she think her little lady bug would be this...this she couldn't find the words. "What's happened to you?" The question Chikwé thought she would never have to ask.

"You happened to me that's what?!" Lovie rebutted.

"Yes. I haven't called you, I haven't been there and we don't really know each other, but I was hoping that we could change that."

Lovie's expression immediately switched to repulsion. "Change that into what?"

"I'm not following." Chikwé lied trying to avoid being caught in her fatal weakness.

Lovie just stared.

"I know you're your father's child and deceit is probably your game but you can't hide the truth from me. I know you so well-"

"Wait, I thought we didn't know each other." Lovie interrupted obnoxiously.

"Lovie," Chikwé sighed. "You said it yourself... and I can see the truth in your eyes, you want your mother."

"Well when you find me one, let me know..." she said just before storming off.

Chikwé stared blankly down the hall for a couple seconds hating that she felt emotionally awkward being around her own daughter. The thought to go after her crossed her mind but what good would that do? This time she was the one to climb the steps as harmful thoughts flit through her mind.

—

Lovie entered the kitchen in search of something that might calm her nerves. Preferably something dark and strong. Her mind settled on whiskey. She pulled the bottle from the cabinet under the sink and stood with a satisfied smile. She needed something to help get her through the rest of the night after her disastrous "talk" with her mother. She wondered what it would be like not to live in a perpetual state of numbness because she honestly couldn't remember the last time her life wasn't in shambles.

She twisted the bottle cap off a little more roughly than necessary, tossing it on the counter and putting the bottle directly to her lips. She didn't bother using a glass. If she was going to remain calm in this house she needed to get drunk now instead of later. She wondered briefly how pissed Chikwé would be if she just walked in with her downing her father's liquor. She'd probably have a field day with comparing her to her father and Lovie certainly didn't need another judgmental glance. Sighing, she sauntered upstairs to her room with the bottle swinging from her hand and her eyes trained on the floor.

A short while later there was a soft knock on her door and Lovie knew it was her mother because Cassious would just burst in. Fortunately she had enough time to get a light buzz going and she was thankful that her father had expensive taste in whiskey because she didn't think she'd be able to face her again sober.

With a sigh, she placed the cap on the bottle and hid it in one of her drawers. Reluctantly, she cracked the door so that all her mother saw were her eyes and forehead.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I wanted to talk about earlier," the woman said.

"Is that all? Or are you gonna critique how many times I blinked in under twenty seconds?"

Chikwé folded her arms across her chest and squinted, "have you been drinking?"

"Aweee you almost sound like a caring parent. Maybe you should pursue a career in acting. You know in Los Angeles there's cattle call auditions practically every two seconds. I have some connects. I could probably hook you up just let me know."

Even through her alcohol induced haze she could see her mother glaring at her. She didn't even know why she said that. It was like her mouth and body had a mind of their own whenever alcohol was involved. Maybe she was just hoping to get a rise out of Chikwé because the woman wouldn't look at her otherwise. And maybe she couldn't expel the sense of fueling anger she felt whenever she thought about it. Or maybe she just turned into such a monster that she couldn't pass up a chance to hurt her mother when the opportunity presented itself.

"I let it slide downstairs, but you will not speak to me that way," Chikwé said, her voice hard and demanding.

"Well if you don't like it, you could always pack up and leave. I'll be fine," Lovie smirked.

Chikwe's eyes flicked toward the ceiling then quickly back to her daughter, hurt and anger burning deep in her gaze. "Lovie, apologize," she ordered with a familiar edge to her voice as she tried to come in.

Lovie smiled weakly, the liquor churning in her stomach. "No thanks." She said just before slamming and locking the door. She didn't have time for another heated argument. She would just count the hours until her mother left. Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.

—

Beans stirred from the couch. He must have fallen asleep there. The tv light that was being emitted was soft and the volume was lower than normal. His phone was ringing, and with half lidded eyes he picked it up, uttering his usual greeting.

"Yerrr."

"Hey. You up still or did I wake you?" Lovie asked.

His eyes fully opened and he forced the sleep out of his voice. "Yeah, I'm up. What's up?"

He heard her lightly laugh into the phone. "Yo ass was sleep." Lovie said.

"Watchu want," he asked.

"I want you baby watchu mean?," she said in a sultry voice.

Beans pulled the phone away from his face and placed it back. "You drunk?"

"Say it again Dexter," She faked a moan.

"I'm finna hang up," he practically growled.

Lovie laughed loudly this time. "Chill chill I was just playing damn."

"That's all you do," he shook his head.

"You wanna go somewhere?" She asked.

"Like where? It's late as hell."

He could practically hear her eye roll. "I don't know, anywhere." She said.

"Normally I'd say yes, but my face has seen better days. I could come over there." He suggested.

"Fine," she relented.

He got up off the couch, finding his jacket.

"Bernard? You still there?"

"It's on sight when I see you. I'll be there in twenty minutes." Beans planned on taking his car keys back since his parents were asleep.

"Man, it takes you ten from your house to mine...what else are you up to?" She asked, a teasing lilt in her voice.

"Somebody gotta make sure you got the good stuff. And you never got no food in your fridge, so if I'm gonna be up at–" he paused to check the time on his phone. "–1:45AM, then you better believe I'm bringing snacks."

She laughed. "Fair enough. See you."

"Yep."

"And Beans?" She was so quiet he almost didn't hear her.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Bye" he deadpanned and hung up.

—

Lovie chuckled when she received a text from Beans exactly twenty minutes later letting her know he was at the door. She took her time crossing the living room to answer it.

"Always so punctual." She joked to him, eyeing his bag of snacks and beer.

"I'm trynna break that 'black people always late' stigma. I ain't gone lie, it's hard as fuck." He said.

She moved to the side to let him through.

He walked into her kitchen and set the bag down on the counter and handed her a beer from the six pack he had brought. She eyed him.

"What? I figured you already breezed through your whiskey." He frowned at her when she hit his arm.

"Not completely!" She said, trying to be serious. She could already feel the tension from earlier begin to  melt away.

Beans had cracked open his own beer, and headed back over to the family room with a snack in hand as well. Lovie followed close behind him, taking a seat next to him. She slowly opened her beer, hoping it would fill the silence that was already starting to form. No such luck. She could feel Beans' eyes on her.

She rolled her own eyes before taking a frothy sip. "Alright, out with it."

She saw Beans' brows furrow. "Out with what?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "With whatever you're dying to tell or ask me. Let's hear it, come on."

He sighed, looking over at her. He set his beer down on the table. Lovie watched as his expression grew to be one of seriousness and worry.

"LV, I just...I'm worried about you. I mean, everybody is but they too scared to say something."

Her face softened. "I'm just stressed about this family stuff. That's why I called you."

She could see the gears turning in his head as he worked on a reply. "I forgot your mama was even here. She upstairs right now?"

She sighed, putting her own drink down next to his and ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah we got into it when I came home."

"For what?"

"She kept calling me and texting me about my whereabouts yesterday and it's like... what gives her the right? You know? So we fought about that. Then it escalated when she made a comment about how I run the clubs. I'm doing the best I can. I was just thrown into this trying to keep stuff afloat. I never said I wanted to be a club owner and she knew that somebody would've had to take over. She could've come down here and helped me if she was gonna have so much to say about it."

Beans nodded. "That is a lot of pressure."

She nodded right back. "It would've been easier if it was just one or two but no it just had to be a chain of them." She chuckled, picking up her beer and gulping some more down.

"Maybe you can get some of your father's men to help out? They supposed to be loyal right?"

Lovie's eyes grew wide. "So they could steal everything? I mean they're loyal when it comes to handling people but as far as running legitimate businesses, I wouldn't be able to trust them. There was a break in on one of the alcohol trucks yesterday and I'm positive it was an inside job within the current staff. Seems like Ace only knew shady people."

"I'll help out," Beans offered. He stood and tucked the bottom of his shirt into the top. "I could be a bottle girl." He pursed his lips and proceeded to switch through the living room like a girl holding two bottles of liquor with sparklers attached.

Lovie doubled over laughing, "please never do that again."

Beans laughed with her, "but for real you got a team of friends. You could use Yas for a new web design and online marketing, Yara could help bring some class up in the place, Chloe is a walking calculator so checks and balancing, I could help keeping the ladies coming, and you don't even need one of those inflatable things that flop in the wind to get attention when you're friends with Halle just give her some sugar straws, drive her around to different locations, and let her stand out front."

"Now if she was here she'd be smacking you upside the head, and I'm telling her what you said." Lovie chuckled.

"Ain't nobody scared of that gremlin."

"You scared of her daddy though," Lovie stood.

He smacked his lips. "Who said that? His old ass not gone do shit."

"This conversation is being recorded," she joked.

Beans shrugged and she pulled him into a side hug. "Thanks for coming over."

"Get them claws off me," he grimaced, halfheartedly pushing her away. "I'm taken."

"By who?"

"Stop playing, you know who," he responded.

She stepped back, prepared to laugh, "I know you not talking about my good sis Chlo?"

He made a duh face.

"Don't tarnish her name like that please she has a reputation to protect." She said through laughs.

"Can't a boy dream?"

"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like a—

"Aight I'm out. You ruined it couldn't even finish one beer," he began grabbing his items and heading quickly towards the door.

"Maybe it just sags like a heavy load," Lovie continued.

Beans stepped outside and slammed the door behind him.

"Or does it explode?" She whispered to herself.

—

"Maaa!" Cassius burst into the room his mother had been in for the two weeks they'd been in Los Angeles.

Chikwé sat up with a start, hopped out of bed and ran over to her son. "What is it Cass!?"

The boy hugged his mother's waist, "there's monsters in the room!"

She let out a heavy sigh and squat low so she was now looking up into the boy's light brown eyes. "Cass, how many times do I have to tell you that monsters are not real?"

"Yes they are!" He refused to believe her any time she'd said those words.

She held his middle and gave him a little squeeze, "no Cass they aren't."

"Monsters hide in the closet at night just to jump out and scare people," he told her.

"Have you been watching scary movies again?"

Cassius tapped his chin, "no but I did watch five episodes of ghost hunters."

Chikwé chuckled, "see, there's your problem. You're dreaming of the things you saw on television."

"Hmm you might be onto something." He nodded.

"I bet," she laughed and pulled him in for a long winded hug. "Now," she pulled away and placed her hands on each of his arms. "Go ahead and get back to bed sweetie."

"I love you ma," he said.

"Mommy loves you so so so so much," she smiled and watched as he left the room.

After she was sure Cassius had left and wouldn't be back, Chikwe went over to the small night table next to the bed she had been occupying. Opening up the drawer, she took out two bottles of prescription pills.

Just for this one night, she told herself. I only need them for this one night. Just to get me through. I'll be okay in the morning.

Popping open the lid, she stared down at the small round white pills. Taking a deep breath, she took three of them in her hand. For a moment, all she did was look at them, trying not to think about the fact that she was at a precipice and if she took the wrong step, she'd be falling. And the crash could be devastating.

Don't do this, Chikwé. Suddenly she remembered Reiyo's eyes and how they were soft yet tough and she started pleading with herself. You've come so far. Don't slide back now. She didn't notice the tears rolling down her face as she closed her eyes.

Before she could think twice, she popped the pills into her mouth, letting them dissolve under her tongue. The taste was bitter but she was okay with that. She'd been there before.

Lying down on the bed, she waited for the euphoria to hit in. And the forgetting. Oh God, how she needed to forget. Please, if there was a merciful God on this earth, let her forget the day she received that harrowing call that her child, her Reiyo had been viciously murdered.

Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win.

A/N: Next post will be a chapter continuation just like the last. For the people who had karaoke in the comments y'all are funny af🤣🤣🤣 and was the sole reason this was posted. I be hoarding the chapters for some reason.😭😭😭