"So, how was it? Girl, I'm practically dying for the tea." Divine spoke as she sat down at the table for our usual lunch.
It was one of the main ways to ever actually see her during the school week between all of our work and school schedules.
"Hi, Divine, I'm good, how are you today?" I responded.
"Hi, Hyacinthe, I'm good, but I would be even better if you told me about Justice's fine ass." She smiled, and I frowned while Olivia snickered at us both.
"It was fine." I mumbled as I stabbed at my salad.
"She's avoiding him." Olivia told Divine.
"I'm not avoiding him!"
"He asked you to go on a hike this weekend, and you've been trying to come up with an excuse to get out of it."
"Oh no, hiking ain't for me. Sweating my hair out is out of the question." Divine shook her head at the idea. She'd recently gotten a silk press, and she was religious with her scarves, shower caps, and bonnets.
"Exactly!" I exclaimed and turned to Olivia in victory.
"Your hair is in braids." She said as she gave me a deadpanned look that made me groan and drop my head on the table.
"What was wrong with him? Is he one of those weird people that wants you to take shrooms and get naked and cover yourself in paint and run around in the park?" Olivia and I looked at each other in alarm and confusion before turning to Divine.
"That was weirdly specific." Olivia said as she eyed Divine, who I'm sure would be blushing if her skin didn't hide it.
"I saw it in a show once... I definitely didn't just make that up."
"Um, well, to answer your question, no he didn't want us to do drugs and paint ourselves and run around buttnaked in the park." I answered.
"So, what's wrong with him?"
"Nmfsing." I mumbled after hastily filling my mouth with food to avoid giving her the answer.
"What?"
"She said nothing." Olivia responded and rolled her eyes.
Why was the world against me today?
"You mean to tell me that you've been avoiding that man and nothing is wrong with him? If I wasn't so proud of you for going, I'd reach across this table and shake some sense into you. Actually, I'm still considering it." Divine said, pointing her fork at me while she spoke.
She had a point. Justice was exactly what I asked for, all wrapped up nice with a bow on top. He was... everything. And that was the problem.
"It went too well."
"What?" Olivia questioned.
"He was perfect! He was even more pretty in person,--"
"Yes, Lord!" Divine cheered.
"He grasped my chin like in the movies, he read me like I was his favorite book, and then he dropped me off and promised not to send me dick pics!" I rushed out.
"All of that sounded like heaven except the last part. I mean he must have that thang on him. Do he walk like it's heavy?" Divine questioned.
"Girl, you nasty as hell." Olivia said with a scrunched up face in humored disgust.
"I'm just trying to live vicariously through one of y'all, and you 'my man' me to death, so Hyacinthe is my only option." She responded, shrugging before turning back to me. "What's wrong with him being perfect?"
"I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don't want to like him, and it turns out that he's selling me a dream." I sighed.
On the surface, I was ever the optimist. But deep down, I was skeptical of pretty much everything anybody told me, and I had a history of barely believing people when they said they liked me. Hell, I laughed in one boy's face because I thought he was joking.
"Well, who said anything about liking him? I mean he's fine so I would, but you don't have to. Just focus on having a good time, that's what you met him for, right?"
"Yeah, I guess." I perked up at the thought. Divine was right, I didn't have to like him. I could just be friends with him, we both were more than capable of that.
"Either way, Hyacinthe, you deserve something that's just a little perfect."
🦋
Text him, Hyacinthe. It's just a couple buttons. I thought to myself as I stared at Justice and I's text thread.
I'd given him my number when we were painting, and I've been dry-texting him for the past few days. I even left him on read for the majority of the day, and I was thinking about leaving it like that until Divine talked some sense into me... and threatened me.
Before I could think of a better response, I hastily texted and sent it off.
Hey.
Why the fuck did I just send that? Why didn't I just answer his last text?
Amidst my minor panic, my phone started buzzing to signal a voice call. From Justice.
"Hello?" I answered, confused why he didn't just FaceTime me or just text, but somehow I was pleased that he didn't do either.
"Cinthe, you gotta do a lil bit better than hey after leaving me on read all day." His deep voice melted in my ear as he chastised me softly.
"Um, sorry, I got caught up with school."
"Mmhm. I do something wrong?" He asked, and I shook my head before realizing he couldn't see me.
"No, you didn't do anything. I just...panicked." I told him, folding immediately to share my insecurities. Damn him for being a good listener.
Justice was silent for a beat before responding,
"How bout this? I'm bout to pull up to your spot in a minute, if you come down then we're in it. No backing out, no walls, no barriers, just vibes. If you don't, it's no pressure and we can move as slow as you want. You can even tell me to fuck off and I gotchu. Deal?" I pondered the offer over for a moment.
He was offering me a win-win situation. On one hand, I could blow full speed ahead and throw caution to the wind. Or, I could opt out and play it safe. Both choices kept him around and I wouldn't have to think about what might've been. I'll just know.
"Cinthe, I'm gonna need you to answer me for the deal to work." Justice spoke, reminding me that I'd practically ignored his question altogether.
"Yeah, okay. Deal."
"Cool, I was in the neighborhood, so I'm downstairs. I'll park, and you can text me if you decide to stay. Bye, Cinthe."
"Bye, Justice." The phone call ended, and I threw myself on my bed as I thought about what I'd do next.
🦋
I'm in the car with him.
Divine9
YESSSSS!
Liv
Where are you guys going??
Idk. He said it was a surprise.
Liv
You hate surprises.
Exactly.
Divine9
Hyacinthe, if you don't go talk to that man instead of texting us.
Enjoy the damn surprise for once.
I quickly locked my phone and tucked it under me.
Divine's wrath was not one I wanted to be on the wrong side of. I swore she took classes from my momma.
"Sooo, why do you call me Cinthe?" I asked Justice, bringing the music filled silence to a close.
"Why? You not fucking with it?"
No, I am. So much so that I want you to keep calling me Cinthe for every day of the rest of my life.
"It's not like that, it's just no one calls me Cinthe. Everybody calls me Hyacinthe."
"So, what you're saying is, I'm special." Justice joked.
"I didn't say all that now. I just want to know why."
"I mean I fuck with your name, I just like Cinthe better. Puts me at ease, I guess."
Ease. That's the exact word I would use to describe him. Everything was easy.
I didn't have to stress or overanalyze or complicate any of it because Justice had a way of making it all make sense.
"But you telling me that I'm the only one that calls you that, makes me want to do it more." He bit his lip slightly before his eyes trailed me bottom to top. "Lil' Cin."
Oh, I can make you sin alright.
"Alright, cut the cameras. You getting a little ahead of yourself." I laughed.
"Never that."
🦋
Justice pulled the car into a empty field, and I paused in my munching on the snowball he had gotten me.
He didn't say much as he opened my door for me before grabbing a blanket and a basket filled with what looked like snacks.
I stared as he silently placed the blanket on the hood of his car before motioning me over.
"What's all thi—" I shrieked in alarm as he swiftly lifted me up on top of the blanket with no warning.
Justice lingered there for a moment, his fingers gently caressing the small part of my stomach that wasn't covered by my crop top.
Subconsciously, I found myself leaning into the warmth of his body as he stood between my legs. God, he smelled so good.
All too soon, he stepped away before sliding himself on the hood beside me and practically laying out on the covered windshield.
"What are we supposed to be doing?" I asked as I leaned back in a similar position.
"I just figured it's a perfect night to look at the stars." Justice spoke, arms leaning back to support his head.
He looked so relaxed like that. His hair was down, and the position caused his shirt to ride up just enough for me to see his prominent V line.
If it rose just a little higher, I wondered how many abs he'd have.
"Never pictured you as the stargazing type." I laughed slightly. It was interesting how much Justice surprised me.
He was totally unexpected, and yet, I could quite possibly find myself craving his presence one day.
"My pops was big on camping when my sister and I were younger. Both of us hated it, but the stars were our favorite part." Justice pointed to one of the clusters of stars above us. "That one is Orion."
"Everybody knows Orion. Show me a new one." I smiled, eager to test his knowledge.
The stars were so clear from lack of light pollution that there were tons of constellations I'd never even gotten a chance to see before.
"What's your zodiac sign?" He asked instead, and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
"Libra. Why?"
Justice's eyes scanned the sky before he lifted my arm and directed it toward a constellation.
"That one's Libra."
The bar has been raised for men everywhere as I stared at my zodiac's constellation, trying to commit it to memory to find it again.
We engaged in light conversation as we looked at the sky.
"Major?" He asked. We'd been throwing questions back and forth to get to know each other.
It was almost weird doing it, though. It didn't really make sense that I felt like I'd known him forever, but at the same time, I was telling him what my favorite color was.
"Graphic design."
"That explains how fire that painting is. You more humble than you should be, Cinthe." I sheepishly glanced down, trying to move past his obvious praise.
"I didn't want to write a check my ass couldn't cash. I'm not really a big painter."
"Cash that shit." Justice said. "What are you planning on doing with all that talent anyway?"
"Probably designing video games. It's where a lot of the money's at."
"Yeah, but what do you really want to do with it?"
I thought over his question but not because I didn't know the answer. I just never said it out loud.
"In a perfect world, I'd be illustrating kids books, maybe writing a couple myself." My heart was starting to beat faster as I waited for his response with a bated breath.
"I could see it. You're an artist forreal."
Something about his response made me blossom just a little more. He didn't call it impractical or try to convince me to stick with the option that gave me the most money.
He offered something else: confirmation. Confirmation that I wasn't crazy or ridiculous for saying it out loud, for wanting it just a little bit.
"Um, so what's your major?" I asked.
Asking him another question distracted me from the emotions going through me and the way my heart was pounding fiercely against my chest.
"Computer engineering."
"Oh, shit. You smart as fuck, huh?" I laughed as I turned to look at him, only to find him already staring at me.
"Nah, computers just got a way of making sense. We speak the same language. I don't know how else to explain it."
"No, I get it. That shit was just meant for you."
"Yeah, exactly."
We stared at each other for a moment, a feeling of understanding passing between us. There was some type of connection there, I just couldn't tell if he was feeling it, too.
"I almost forgot." Justice broke our staring contest to walk to the trunk of his car.
"Forgot what?" I called from the front as he rummaged through the back.
"The surprise!"
Justice walked around with a box full of a variety of fireworks of different shapes and sizes with a mischievous smile plastered on his face.
That smile alone probably broke a few hearts in its time.
"Wanna blow some shit up?" He asked.
"You don't have to ask me twice!" I eagerly hopped down from the car to help set up the fireworks.
I could tell they were the illegal kind that shot up in the air, and it made me giddy with excitement. It was a mystery how he even knew I loved fireworks, and I wasn't complaining.
If we're being honest, who doesn't like fireworks?
Justice and I made a game out of lighting them and running back to the car, even though there was next to no chance that it would blow up on us.
Eventually, we both got tired, and he lit a big combination box as the finale. It also gave us time to rest after all that exercise.
I really needed to get back in the gym. I thought.
Colors exploded around us as the fireworks went off, a glow appearing on both of our faces as we watched.
"I lied to you before." Justice said, eyes still fixated on the fireworks going off before us. It really was a sight to behold.
"What do you mean?" I asked and turned to him. He looked at me before responding,
"I call you Cinthe cause of the look in your eyes when I say it. You get this look like you've just come home."