𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙚 | 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙤𝙩𝙨
y/n's pov
Being a teenager and living through the teenage years seemed to be pretty simple. I mean, you stay out a trouble, keep all your bones in tact, fall in love a couple of times, hangout with the right crowd, which I'd be the first to admit is kind of a get in where you fit in thing, but all the same, it's pretty simple.
It was pretty simple. This is pretty much where my teenage years begin to go to shit. Enjoy.
"You tryna hit up a party tonight?" Azilia asked in her usual tone, a lively voice that sometimes got annoying, especially when you were trying to be sad. I had been speaking to her through my AirPods, since at the time when she called me, I was sketching some things down. Now, I'm playing my pc, waiting for her to log onto GTA.
"Depends," I started, breathing out smoke from the drag I had just took. "Whose party is it?" I clicked on her username, it had finally popped up, quickly pressing add to party.
"It's at McKay's crib." She answered. I sucked my teeth, rolling my eyes at the thought of being in the presence of him. When I had first met the dude, I didn't have a problem with him. Technically I still don't. He seemed like a nice guy, but then, when he got around his friends, he turned into a asshole. It was like I was meeting a completely different person. It through me off, since that had been one of my first interactions with someone from Cali. The whole thing just wasn't my scene. I haven't had a genuine conversation with him since. "Listen, I know you don't like him, but this is 'posed to be the party of the summer. You can't miss it."
"Oh, but I can. We've been to hella parties this year, Z, ain't no way this supposed to beat all of them. Do you even remember the college one we went to? So much ass in one place." I reminded her, sniping someone who had just killed me.
"Yeah but, McKay always throws the best parties, man. If we don't go, we'll be outta the loop. I guarantee some shit will pop off. Major and- oh my fucking god. Come get this dude, bro." It was the same person who just killed me. I know this GTA, but we wasn't even doing nothing. He ain't have to go so hard.
"Y/n!" Hearing my dad's muffled voice call me, I left the game, ashing out my blunt and muting the call before I came out my room and jogged down my house's carpeted steps. Once I got down to the living room, I saw my parents stood by the door with their suitcases, my mom on the phone with someone. My dad came over, pulling me into a short bro hug. "We 'bout to head out. Be good, ion want no calls from nobody."
"Sir, yes sir!" I said, saluting the ex-soldier playfully. He chuckled, picking up a suitcase and duffle bag, and carrying it to the trunk of the car. I walked over to my mom while she was still on the phone, giving her a hug. For a quick minute, she pulled the phone away from her ear.
"Be good, sweetie. Make sure to check in with your aunt Leslie once in a while too, ima be making sure she's watching you so don't pull no dumb shit." She warned me. I nodded, pulling away from the hug. I reached around her, grabbing her bags to carry to the car for her. My dad had gotten in the car already, so I walked around to the window, dapping him up one last time before rushing to open the door on the other side for my mom, who was finally done with her call. Before she got in, she gave me a kiss on the forehead. "Love you, baby. We'll call you when the plane lands."
"I love y'all too, mama. Make sure y'all have fun while y'all down there, don't just be all business-y and stuff." My mom laughed, squeezing my hand before she finally slid into the car. She waved out the window as my dad pulled off, honking the horn on his way out the driveway.
See, my parents weren't necessarily "bad parents". They just...weren't around a lot. By now, this goodbye thing was routine. And I get it, they want me to have what they never got to have but, I'm pretty sure we've achieved that. Now all I want to have is a close relationship with them. Right now this is long distance, and there's somethings you just can't experience miles away.
Once their car was out of sight, I pulled my phone back out from the back pocket of my jeans, unmuting the call.
"Yo."
"Oh, there you are. You just disappeared, bro."
"Yeah, my bad. My parents just left, had to talk to them real quick." I told her, going to take a seat on my steps. Since I had already left GTA, I flipped my phone sideways and opened angry birds.
"So, the party?" Azilia brought up again. I rolled my eyes, pulling back the slingshot on my game and breaking down part of the building on the other side as I let go.
"I don't know, man. We'll see. I'll call you back later."
"Yeah ok, just let me know." The line went dead and I continued playing my game for a bit. Sitting in the sun as Rocky came out to sit next to me. I only looked up when the heat of the sun was blocked by a shadow. Iyanna slapped the cap on my head down so it cover my eyesight before going to take seat on the stoop, a step above the one I was sitting on.
"Sup, stoner." She greeted, I shook my head rolling my eyes even though a small smile was making its way onto my face.
"Where've you been all day, jiggaboo? You just missed mom and pops' sign off." I asked, reaching back to pet the dog, who was happy to get some attention.
"I've been around. They've been missing my whole life, they cool off this one time. You know Rue back?" Iyanna was always quick to change the subject of our parents. Whether it was a conversation between me, or whoever else. It didn't matter. She didn't want to talk about it.
"Duh, I know Rue back."
"Then how come you ain't go visit her?" Yanna questioned. I just shrugged her off, paying more attention to the dog than I was the conversation. She kissed her teeth, reaching her foot out to kick me softly. "She been out for 5 days, bro."
"So?" The same way Iyanna was with our parents, was the same exact way I acted whenever Rue was brought up. Me and Rue used to be close. But that was when I was still in Detroit. Once I came down here I saw how she acted. It didn't change much, we were still close. It was when she overdosed that everything about our relationship changed. My parents started to question if I had been doing drugs with her. So did Leslie, she thought I was enabling Rue.
I still visited Rue in rehab, and treated her all the same. But other than that, we had two completely different summers. And that is what ultimately drove us apart.
So like I said, I hated the topic of Rue. It was just awkward between us which made any conversation about her awkward. Until we get to clear that air, I'm good off any conversation revolving around her. Luckily, in perfect timing Nate Jacobs pulled up to mess with some girl biking down the street, causing her to fall over on her bike. I stood up and jogged over, rushing to help her.
"Hey, you good?" I asked, offering my hand to help pull her up. She took it, using it as an anchor while she stood up with a small grunt. Once she was balanced, I let go of her hand to reach down and grab her bike, giving the handlebars to her.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Don't worry about it, their pretty much the biggest dickheads in this town." I said, causing her to laugh, tucking some of the hair that had blown in front of her face behind her ear. With her blonde hair out of her face, I got a full view of her and frowned at the teen, not recognizing her. "I might be trippin' but, ion think I've ever saw you around here before. And I live right down there." I pointed in the general direction of my house, not wanting to give a stranger blatant directions to where I live.
"Uh, no, I just moved in down the street. I'm Jules." She introduced, sticking out her hand. I took it, giving her a handshake even though I found it confusing. Teenagers don't really handshake when meeting. But, maybe it's from wherever she's from.
"Jules. Nice name. Last name Vaughn by any chance? I heard they were moving in." I asked.
"Yeah, actually. Gossip moves that fast around here?" She questioned back, finally dropping her hand from my own and moving it to rest on her handlebars. I laughed, shaking my head.
"Nah, my parents just always know everything about everyone, wherever they live. I heard them speaking about it. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. You can still make a grand entrance or whatever." I joked around, causing her to laugh again. A small silence had fallen over us, so I decided to end the conversation. "You don't need anyone to walk you home? Since you on ya bike, I could grab my skateboard real quick, make sure those guys don't spin back to try and bother you."
"No that's ok. My house is right up there, so it's cool...You know, that means we're kind of neighbors." She declined, taking a seat on her bike.
"Well, did I make a good first impression, neighbor?" I asked from behind her.
"Better than those other guys."
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I ended up going to the party. Reason being? Azilia called up Major and Tristian and they all practically dragged me out of my house. Well, since they didn't have a key, they just banged on the door and rang the doorbell before I came out, then we skated to the party. But you get the point.
Once we had all gotten to the party, we all split up for some time, eventually meeting back up in a room, leaving the door open. Major had shown up with some chick under his arm and Tris was currently trying to do the same thing, and Azilia was just high off her ass. Well all watched Tris from inside the room, since the girl he was trying to hit on had been right in front of our door.
"So..you tryna let me smash?" He asked her, leaning against the rail. All of us rolled our eyes, letting out sounds of disappointment. The girl followed our actions, leaving Tris alone with a scoff. Tristian just watched her walk off, confused as to what he did wrong.
"Get your embarrassing ass in here. This nigga got no rizz at all." Major said, directing his last point to the girl next to him. Azilia nodded her head, agreeing with him and pointing towards him as she took out another paper to roll up.
"Only thing he good for telling jokes, swear."
Tris flipped the two off, removing a pillow from next to me and taking its place. "Fuck off, y'all some dickriders, man. I would've got the digits if y'all weren't staring into my soul."
"Yeah, not too much on my bro. Y'all know what they say anyways right?" All the heads turned to me. "If you can make 'em laugh and giggle, you can make dat ass clap and jiggle, you feel me?" I defended. Azilia and Major shook their heads and sucking their teeth while Tris dapped me up, thanking me.
"Yessir. See, me and her right there wit it. Eye level. Give me sum."
"Ok, if it's like that. Y/n, you go get a girl like that then." Major challenged. Glancing around the room, I saw everyone slightly more interested. I shrugged, taking one more hit off the blunt Azilia had rolled before standing up and pulling up my pants a little.
"Aight then. How much you wanna bet?"
"What nigga? Ain't nobody said nothing 'bout money." Major said, looking at me sideways. I rolled my shoulders, walking over to the other side of Tris to lead against the wall. There, I folded my arms and stared at them.
"Then I ain't gon do it." I said.
"Aw hell nah, you always tryna hustle somebody." Azilia cut in. Once again, I shrugged and just stared them down. She was the first to give in, kissing her teeth as she pulled out a twenty and threw it down in the middle of the room. Eventually everyone else followed, even the chick Major had brung.
"Aight, bet." I agreed, bending down to take the money. Once I stood back up, I shoved the money into my front pocket. As I was walking out the room, I turned around and winked at them. When I was in the hallway, I just leaned against the wall, waiting for someone who walked by to actually catch my eye. And then someone finally did. Maddy Perez. Word on the street was, her and ole boy had broken up. Yes, I knew it was basically for the weekend, but this was just a fun bet. It wasn't going nowhere past today.
Before she could walk by me, I pushed myself off the wall, going up to her.
"Excuse me," I stopped her and she turned to look at me, glancing beside me to look into the room my friends were in.
"Yes?" She looked back over at me, crossing her arms. I lowkey smirked at the attitude she already had. It was a little bit funny to me. I could already tell she held so much attitude in such a small person.
"So, you know, school's coming back soon and one of the teachers are giving me a head start on a paper I got due. It's on the finer things in life, so I just wondering if I could interview you?" I asked. Maddy dropped her bitchy facade for a small second as a smile came onto her face while she laughed, showing off her dimple on the right side of her face.
"That was cute." She admitted. I nodded, smiling at her and leaning my right side on the railing.
"Thank you, thank you. I was thinking I could hold that interview over text or even insta, either or. You down?" I continued. She looked me up and down for a second, before nodding but still looking like she was thinking something over.
"You have a pen?" She asked. I nodded, reaching into my jacket pocket and pulling out a pen I had realized I was carrying on the way to this party. Maddy took it from my hands before pulling up the sleeves of my jacket and shirt, and then writing down her Instagram handle. Once she was done, she clicked off the pen and pulled down the sleeve. Reaching her hand into my jacket pocket, she slid the pen back into its spot and stood on her tippy toes, leaning over to give me a kiss on the cheek. Then she walked away, adding a swish in her hips and I'm willing to bet it's because she knew I was watching her.
Before I even got the chance to walk back into the room, Tristian came out pushing on my shoulders and using them to jump up, preceding to pat me on the head and back.
"You just pulled the baddest chick in our school, man! Do you know what this means? The level of popularity we could gain, bro? We'll be stars."
"First off, I'm not stealing Nate Jacob's girl, do you know what type of drama that would cause? I am not with that shit. Second off, this ain't real, bruh. It was a bet, I earned my money, and that's that. It was merely for fun, her and pretty boy will be back together in 0.2 seconds." I listed, taking my spot back in between Azilia and Tris. Meanwhile, Major moved from his spot next to the girl to right in front of me, standing with a big smile on his face.
"Forget about that, your our new pimp queen! You just pulled the baddest bitch and all East Highland bro! I give thee my crown." He said, putting his hands upright on my head as if he was holding a crown. I slapped his hands back down to his sides, laughing at the stupidity of my friends.
"Knock it off, man." I brushed them off, snatching the blunt of off Azilia who pouted at my actions.
"Nah, this calls for a celebration."
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"Freedom of jail, clips inserted of babies being born. Same time a man is murdered, the beginning and end. As far as rap goes is only natural I explain my plateau. And also, what defines my name. First it was Nasty, but times have changed. Ask me now, I'm the artist for hardcore, my sign's of pain. I spend time in the game, kept my mind off fame. Saw friends shoot up, and do lines of cocaine. Heaven and Hell rap legend, presence is felt. And of course N-A-S are the letters that spell, Nas." I rapped.
Major's version of a celebration, was everyone getting high as hell and doing weird shit. Right now we weren't doing anything too weird, luckily, since we were still at the party. Instead we were taking turns freestyling. Tris was on the beat, Azilia was recording, and me and Major was spitting bars. I had just finished and Major had finally caught the beat.
"Earth, Wind, and Fire, rims and tires. Bulletproof glass inside, it's the realest driver. Planets in orbit, like 'em up with the stars. Tarot card, you can see the pharaoh. I am I, Messiah type, before the Christ, after death. The last one left, let my cash invest in stock. Came a long way from blasted, checks on blocks. Some will fall, but I rise, thug or die. Making choices that determine my future under the sky, to rob, steal or kill, I'm wondering why-" Major stumbled, before just stopping completely and laughing from how high he was. We all started laughing too, Tris stopping his beat boxing and Azilia cutting off the recording.
"Yo, niggas, we need to get ya'lls in the studio, nigga." Tristian barely got out through his laughs.
"Nigga, stop saying nigga so much, trigga." Major laughed, rolling out onto the floor from his sitting position. We had basically hotboxed because we ended up closing the door somewhere in between the smoke sesh. So it only made us all the more high.
"The fuck is a trigga, nigga?" I questioned, goofing out. Then all of a sudden there was a crash from downstairs, causing us all to jump and cut off our laughter. We all looked towards the door before looking at each other. All of my friends were quick to put their fingers on their noses but my slow ass didn't catch on.
"Not it!"
I sucked my teeth, standing up from my spot, and stumbling over my self before gaining my balance. I threw up the middle finger on the way out and to the hallway. "It's always me." I whined, sulking.
Using the hall's walls to help me down the hall without falling. Eventually, after what felt like forever, I had made it to the steps. Getting down on my butt, I scooted to the end of the stairs and slid down.
"Weeeee!" I whispered, throwing my hands up. Once I felt my feet touching the ground, I stood up, wiggling my toes in my shoes before walking towards where I heard commotion. Not being able to see anything over the crowd in the kitchen, I pushed my way through the crowd and to the front. There I was Nate Jacobs and Girl Form Earlier Who's Name Isn't Coming To Me standing there, and he was very close to her face. Then, he whipped around and started yelling out into the crowd.
"Does anyone know this freak? Cause if someone doesn't speak up right now, this bitch is gonna get fucked up!" He screamed. For some reason, my brain decided that this situation tickled my funny bone and made me giggle. Which then caused his head to snap towards me. "What? You know this bitch?"
"She's my neighbor." I laughed out, pulling at the sleeves of my jacket.
"The fuck is so funny, bitch? What is this, freaks of a flock fly together?" He interrogated, getting closer to me and into my space. This caused the crowd that was once behind me to back up even further. Instead of laughing, I started to cough and I ended up bringing my hand up to cover my nose.
"I'm sorry, could you please back up? Your breath is literally making my eyes water." I asked politely, my voice coming out squeaky because of the pressure I was putting on my nostrils. This got some laughs from the people behind me but I couldn't understand why, I was trying to be genuine.
"You know what bitch." He gritted through his teeth before shoving me up against a wall in the kitchen, holding my arms down at my sides by the wrist. I tightened my jaw in pain from how tight he was holding my wrists. I started to twist my arms trying to wiggle my wrists out of his grip, yelping when a sharp pain shot up my arm and my wrist began to ache. "Don't try to start anything, my parents will end your parents business. Do you really wanna destroy mommy and daddy's work?"
"Do you think using mommy and daddy is the right choice of words to threat someone with? Because honestly the only thing intimidating me right now is how much you look like a serial killer right now."
"Hey!" Both of us turned to look at Girl From Earlier, but our attention was immediately refocused on the knife she had in her hand. "You wanna hurt me, you wanna hurt us?!" She asked. Nate shook his head, his grip on my wrist loosening but still present. "Back away from her." Girl From Earlier instructed. Nate did so, moving away from me with his hands up and backing himself up against a counter. I moved out of the kitchen while Girl From Ealier moved closer to him with the knife.
"I was just fucking with you, put down the knife." Nate tried. Jules moved the weapon up to her forearm, making small but large cut on herself.
"I'm fucking invincible." Girl From Earlier yelled.
"Your a fucking psychopath!" Nate screamed back before scrambling to get out of the kitchen. Finally, the situation was over, and Girl From Earlier dropped the knife down onto the counter.
"I'm Jules everyone, I just moved here." Jules announced to everyone before rushing out of the kitchen herself. I ran to follow after her, only to slow down when the pain in my arm came back. I ended up walking towards where she was, only to find that when I got there, Rue had beaten me to the punch. Once I saw her, I turned to leave but was stopped by Jules.
"Hey neighbor!" Jules called. I let out a sigh, knowing I was caught, before I turned back around to face the two and painted a smile onto my face. We were outside now, and it was late. There wasn't much I could make out of their face through the darkness, only enough to tell it was them. Jules was a lot easier to see, even in the dark, her blonde hair was standing out, and Rue's tall lanky figure only stood out even more when standing still.
"Hey Jules," I introduced myself into the conversation. "When I said make an entrance that definitely wasn't what I meant." I joked again. Jules laughed, while I finally brought myself up to make eye contact with Rue, greeting her with a nod. "Sup, Rue." Her lips formed a thin line as she smiled at me, bringing up her hand that was still in her hoodie pocket to wave at me.
"You two know each other?" Jules asked, pointing a finger between us. Both me and Rue nodded, but only Rue opened her mouth to go into further detail.
"Yeah, we're cousins actually."
"Oh, cool. I wish I had some type of family that lived around here." After that, a silence surrounded us. One that felt awkward to me. And social interaction was already awkward enough for me, so without another word being said, I saluted the two and walked back into the house party.
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speakeasy: i finished this chapter on June 29, we'll see when I end up publishing it
the answer-July 15