7k words later 😅 atp, I said fuck the indents. LMFAOOOOOOOO
"Baby sis!" Nazim exclaimed as Luvie ran out of the house towards him and their brothers with her arms extended out. He caught her in his arms, swinging her around with a huge smile. "Look at you, man,"
He pulled away, looking over her. Naheim, Majin, and Sameer approached them, placing their luggage down on the ground. Their parents came out of the house, smiles on their faces as they watched their sons continue to get their individual hugs in with their little sister.
Once they were done getting their hugs in, they walked over to their parents and proceeded to do the same thing with them. Sameer kept his arm around Luvie as she had her arms around his torso.
"Your locs getting longer, Nini—what's the matter?" Sameer paused, seeing that his sister's eyes were filled with tears.
Luvie shook her head, quickly wiping her eyes with the side of her hands. "Nothing, I just really missed you guys," she said.
"Aww," Sameer cooed, pulling her into another tight hug. "We missed you too, Nini Bear,"
Luvie softly laughed hearing the nickname he'd been calling her since they were little. Although Luvie was very close to all of her brothers, she was extremely close to Sameer, since they were close in age.
When the older boys were out of the house, it was just the two of them left. Sameer graduated last year with Asantè and the gang.
Surprisingly out of the rest of their family, Sameer was the only one who didn't have much of an issue with Asanté.
Even though they weren't friends in the slightest—not even associates, Sameer didn't go out of his way to be mean to him like everyone else did.
After all, his problem was with Dante.
Like Luvie and Nazim, Sameer carried a bit of guilt.
He was supposed to walk home with Luvie like he usually did every day after school.
That one particular day though, he decided to stay behind and join a few of his friends to play football.
And although his parents later apologized for taking their anger out on him, he did get scolded for not walking with his sister like usual.
But Sameer didn't blame his parents, if only he had walked with his sister, he would've been there to protect her.
That was the main reason why he walked with her, to keep her safe.
When they attended school together, Sameer didn't stand for anyone bullying his sister—not that anyone got the chance to because Luvie was a tough person.
After they were done greeting each other with hugs, they all went inside, the savory aroma of soul food engulfing them.
Candice had started preparing the food earlier around noon so that dinner would be ready by the time the boys arrived.
It had been a week since school ended for the seniors. During the week though, the seniors had to go to the fairgrounds to get their caps and gowns for their big day.
One could say that their time there was a bit eventful.
Luvie walked into the building, Tyra, and Sacha behind her as they caught a ride with her. Some of their homeroom teachers were standing around, seeming to take attendance of those who were already there.
The girls walked over to them, checking themselves in before they directed them to stand by as they would be starting momentarily.
They stood next to the wall, waving and greeting their other friends. "Um, there goes Joel," Sacha turned around to face Luvie, prompting her to look in the direction that Sacha turned to look.
Joel was standing about twenty feet away with his friends. Since last Saturday, Luvie had tried to reach out to him and explain what happened.
But by then, she was already blocked. She could admit that she was a little hurt, she considered her and Joel to be good friends up until that point.
However, she couldn't be mad at him. She did kiss Asanté back.
She was caught off guard by the gesture, and although she enjoyed it for a millisecond, she was mad at him for crossing boundaries with her.
He was trying to throw her off and even though she didn't want to admit it, it was working. Despite her being upset, she couldn't stop thinking about it.
It drove her crazy.
Why did he kiss her? Was it to prove a point? If so, what point was he trying to make?
Did he kiss her because he genuinely wanted to? Or was he doing it because he knew Joel was coming?
She cursed her parents for wanting to meet Joel, it was the only reason why she allowed him to show up to her house. She was more comfortable meeting him at the restaurant, but with her parents being protective—especially her dad, she had him come to the house.
Luvie departed from her friends and walked over to the group of boys, their laughter ceased as Luvie finally approached them.
"Can I talk to you real quick?" Luvie asked Joel, pointing her thumb behind her. Joel stared at her with a hardened expression before nodding in response.
He followed behind her, his friends exchanging looks with one another.
Once they were far away, Luvie turned around to face him. "I'm sorry about last Saturday," she apologized, squeezing her hands together. "I swear I didn't know he was even coming over and I definitely didn't expect him to kiss me,"
"Why didn't you just tell me that, that was someone you were talking to?" Joel questioned her.
"Because I wasn't," Luvie replied, shrugging. "We genuinely are just friends, Joel. I would never do anything like that to you, I wouldn't have agreed to go on a date wit' you if I were talking to someone,"
"He has feelings for you?"
"I don't know, he's been giving me a lot of mixed signals. After he made it clear he wasn't looking for a relationship, I stopped talking to him—then he showed up after he heard I was going on a date," Luvie further explained, subtly sneaking a glance over at Tyra, who was now alone on her phone.
"Well, I forgive you, Sioni. But I'ma be real wit' you, I don't think we should be talking if you got another dude who's showing up and purposely sabotaging shit for you. I don't have time for that—and neither do you, honestly. If he can't be honest about his feelings for you, then maybe he's not the guy for you."
"I feel like you're still mad," Luvie slightly frowned, eyeing him closely.
"I was never mad,"
"You blocked me," Luvie sized him up, giving him a funny look. Joel softly chuckled, nodding. "There was definitely a li'l bit of anger,"
"A'ight, maybe I was li'l mad. I just felt like you led me on, which kinda shocked me because I think highly of you, and I don't usually have high expectations of others because they be letting me down," he answered truthfully.
"Well, I'm sorry again. And usually, I wouldn't care to clear up anything or explain myself to anyone unless I felt as if it were truly necessary but we've been good friends since freshman year. I just didn't want you to think differently of me because of what he did," Luvie replied, shifting her weight.
" I get it," Joel nodded again in understanding. "I appreciate you for being honest. I'll see you around, a'ight?" He slowly backed away, Luvie walked away toward Tyra, her eyes roaming around the room for Sacha.
"Where'd Sacha go?" Luvie questioned Tyra, who finally looked up from her phone, hearing her friend's voice.
Tyra looked around, shrugging. "I don't know, she seemed annoyed though. How'd it go wit' Joel?" she nosily inquired.
"We're good," Luvie told her, sneaking a look over at him. "He was understanding but he doesn't want to pursue anything wit' me if 'I have a guy intentionally sabotaging dates',"
"Oop," Tyra raised her eyebrows, jerking her head back a bit. "Well, I'm glad y'all were able to make up."
"Mhm," Luvie hummed, her eyes continuing to dart around. Her eyes soon landed on Sacha walking towards them, however, another person was following behind her.
She squinted her eyes, recognizing the familiar face as Amauri. "Why is she walking over here?" she began to frown, Tyra following her gaze and starting to mug Amauri.
The girls remained quiet as Sacha and Amauri finally approached them. "Hey, um, Amauri wants to ta—" Sacha started to say, pointing her thumb back at Amauri until Luvie interrupted her.
"For what? Ain't shit for us to talk about, you fell out wit' Bri now all of a sudden you're trying to reconcile what we had? Girl, go to hell. You've had plenty of chances to be a friend to me, and you played in my face each time. The day that Bri disrespected me, you said nothing to defend me, let me walk home by myself. Didn't even attempt to check on me afterward,"
"You hang out wit' the same niggas who been on weird timing wit' me, one of them who sexually harassed me. When Bri tried showing out in front of them, once again, you said nothing. In fact, not speaking up, enabled her behavior. So, you're no friend of mine and never will be a friend of mine again—goodbye," Luvie read her, a subtle smirk on Tyra's face as she stood there proud of Luvie for standing up for herself.
Amauri bit the inside of her cheek and nodded in understanding. She turned around and walked away from the guys, Luvie waited until she was far away before she turned to face Sacha.
"And the audacity of you to bring her over here, knowing exactly how I feel about her—I don't care if y'all are cool again, that's between y'all. Don't drag me into shit, I'm not reconciling wit' someone who remained friends wit' a person that threw my autism back in my face as an insult—not only that but defended a guy who took advantage of me," Luvie snapped at her, pointing her finger at her, rolling her neck.
"She said she wanted to talk to you, I wouldn't have been able to stop her even if I told her that you didn't want to talk. Don't get snappy at me for a problem that's between y'all," Sacha argued, pointing her finger between her and Amauri that was now standing with two other guys.
"But Sacha, that was wrong. As her friend, you're supposed to enforce those boundaries," Tyra added her input. Luvie nodded her head in agreement as Sacha shot her a distasteful look.
"One, this has nothing to do wit' you, Tyra. Two, like I said, I can't control a grown ass woman,"
"Don't get dropped behind your bitch," Luvie warned her, causing both of the girls to look at her with shocked expressions. "Talking about 'a problem that's between y'all', yet you're the same one who took my side over that said problem. Now that y'all are back in each other's good graces, you're making it seem like you don't want to choose sides when you already did,"
"I never said that, Sioni. There's literally no reason for you to be catching an attitude wit' me," Sacha scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're directing your anger toward the wrong person,"
"I'm literally explaining to you why I'm catching an attitude wit' you, Sacha!" Luvie raised her voice, shaking her hands in frustration. She caught the attention of a few other people nearby, causing them to raise their eyebrows in puzzlement.
Tyra placed her hand on Luvie's back and gently rubbed it in a soothing gesture as a means to calm her down. "Breathe, pooh," she coached her.
Luvie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she could feel her hands shaking from how irritated she became.
She didn't like that Sacha was singing a different tune now that she was back cool with Amauri.
She didn't care that the two were talking again, it simply wasn't her business. However, it upset her that her friend was acting as if she didn't pick a side in the falling out between the girls.
"Sacha, let me know if I need to let you go as a friend. I love you but if you aren't going to respect my boundaries, then I don't need you around me," Luvie spoke in a calm tone, opening her eyes and clasping her hands together. "I don't appreciate you invalidating my feelings, you know if the roles were reversed, I'd never put you in that type of situation,"
"You're making this a big deal, when it's not, Sioni. Usually, I'd agree wit' you on everything else, but I don't agree wit' you on this. If I told Amauri that you don't want to talk to her, she'd probably still walk over here and try," Sacha replied.
Tyra sucked her teeth, lowering her eyebrows as she passed Sacha a funny look. "Girl, don't piss me off. I've been trying to stay out of it because it has nothing to do wit' me apparently, but you really are disregarding how she feels. It may not be a big deal to you, but it is to her," she defended Luvie.
"You didn't even attempt to tell her no, Sacha. You're just assuming, you didn't want to be the bad guy in this situation because of y'all history. If that's how you're going to be moving wit' me, now that she's back in the picture, we no longer need to be friends." Luvie said, before walking away as Tyra followed behind her, leaving Sacha alone.
Neither Luvie nor Tyra had talked to Sacha since the incident. Luvie could admit that she was a little disappointed by Sacha's actions as Sacha was always understanding even in their disagreements.
She tried not to speak on her and Amauri's relationship because it wasn't her place and it wasn't Tyra's business to know. But she knew that the main reason why Sacha was downplaying her feelings was because of the feelings she held for Amauri.
Luvie expected her to put her foot down with Amauri, simply because Sacha knew Luvie would do the same if she were in her shoes.
She was growing tired of people not respecting her boundaries. Luvie tried to be very understanding majority of the time, but she was beginning to recognize a pattern amongst her friends.
Was she not enforcing her boundaries firmly enough?
Although she forgave Tyra for what she did, it made her wary of telling her anything else in the future. While she did understand that it may have slipped out, she also believed that Tyra only mentioned it as a means to get a reaction out of Asantè—which eventually did work.
As for Asanté, she didn't like that he overstepped his boundaries with her as well. By showing up at her house unannounced, especially while her parents were home, genuinely did upset her.
She could only imagine their reactions if they had answered the door instead of her or come to the door while they were talking.
❦❦❦
Sameer approached Luvie's ajar bedroom, knocking on it. Luvie sat on the floor, scattered computer parts surrounding her as her eyebrows were pushed together in concentration while she held a part in her hand, examining it closely.
"Nini?" Sameer called to her, his lips curling into a small smirk. Luvie pulled her attention away from the part in her hand, looking up at her brother. "I should time you and see how long it takes you to put all this back together,"
He gestured around at the scattered parts, Luvie looked around her and softly laughed. "I'm probably much faster than the last time you did," she replied, pushing her glasses further up on her face.
Sameer walked further into the room and sat down on the floor across from her. "It's been a while since we talked, just wanna have time wit' you first before Nazim and they start hogging you," he told her, making her smile.
"We talk all the time though, Meer, what you mean?"
"Yeah, but that's just us laughing at the shit we send each other or talking about some crazy, wild shit we done seen that day," he said, Luvie nodding in understanding. "You seem different, that's what I'm trying to get at,"
"Different how?"
"I don't know, I immediately noticed it when you started crying. I know you said you just missed us, but it seemed a li'l deeper than you led on. Be honest wit' me, you know I understand you more than anyone in our family," Sameer shrugged, as Luvie twisted her lips to the side, tucking her fingers under the front of her folded legs.
Sameer cocked his head to the side, studying his sister closely. "Is someone messing wit' you?" he asked her, hoping that people hadn't been waiting until he was off to college to bother Luvie.
"Someone was, but the situation was taken care of. I haven't been bothered since," Luvie answered truthfully, getting up and walking over to her door to close it.
After she did, she returned to her spot and returned her attention onto Sameer.
"Tell me about it, who was messing wit' you?"
"Bryce,"
Sameer instantly scowled, narrowing his eyes. "I never liked his ass, that nigga weird as hell. Him and all of his friends—what was he doing?" he continued to question her.
Luvie rubbed her fingers through the freshly vacuumed carpet, avoiding eye contact with him. "He sexually harassed me..." she mumbled.
The scowl on Sameer's face grew bigger, "He what?" he turned his head a little, not sure if he heard her correctly.
"A couple of weeks ago, when I went to the basketball game. He kept touching me, even after I told him to stop and he kept whispering inappropriate stuff into my ear. I got fed up and I decided to move to the other end, he tried putting his hand up my skirt," Luvie recalled, finally looking up at her brother. She could already feel the anger exuding off of him.
"I splashed my drink in his face, everyone just laughed at him doing that—I felt really humiliated by it. No one came to my defense—except Asanté," she continued to explain.
"Asanté?" Sameer repeated, his scowl turning into confusion. "What was he doing there? He graduated wit' me last year,"
"Yeah, but he was there wit' Easton, Faven, and Mali. I don't know if Tyra was even there that night, but he end up beating up Bryce over it,"
"Hm, then what happened?" Sameer's curiosity began to peak at the mention of Asante's name. He had forgotten about the guy. However, he wasn't too surprised by his actions, as Asanté always seemed to be protective of the women he was with.
"It turned into a full-on brawl, cause Kyro and their friends jumped in, and that prompted Mali and Easton to jump in as well to back up Asantè. Security had broken it up, and everyone ended up outside—I don't know what happened after that because I was pulled away by Amauri,"
"Dang," Sameer said, shaking his head. "Well props to him for standing up for you. If I see Bryce, I'ma whoop his ass,"
"Well..." Luvie trailed off, her eyes darting around her nicely decorated room. "That's not the first and last encounter wit' Bryce, Sameer,"
"Okay, what else happened?"
"Tyra and I went to a party, everything was going fine until Tyra said she needed to use the bathroom," Luvie started to explain, shifting in her spot. "So, we go and I wait for her outside the door while she's doing her business. Brielle shows up wit' a group of girls and since I beat her up the weekend prior to that, I felt like she was going to jump me,"
"Of course, Tyra comes out—you know, she's all protective and shit. Brielle and her possé leave, and Tyra pull me into the bathroom wit' her just in case they try to come back and jump me. After she's done, she walks out of the bathroom before me and Bryce pushed me back into the bathroom, locking us inside,"
"What?" Sameer began to frown again.
"He was still mad about what Asantè did, I don't know what his plans were, but I asked him to let me out. Tyra's banging on the door and a couple of my other friends start to join in to break the door down, by then I guess Tyra had called Asanté and them,"
"I tried reaching for the door handle and he tried moving my hand, so I kicked him in the balls. I open the door and walk out and there's like a shit full of people in the hallway trying to see what's going on, Asanté and them show up and he walks into the bathroom where Bryce is still screaming like the bitch he is. Again, I don't know what happened after that cause Tyra pulled me out of the house and the party got shot up,"
"Nah, I'ma really beat his ass. Cause he never did any of that when I was there last year, he better pray and hope I don't run into him at graduation," Sameer shook his head, clenching his jaw, upset that Bryce had been harassing his sister.
"Wait," Sameer paused as something started to dawn on him from his sister's story. "Why would Tyra call Asantè?"
Luvie swallowed hard, rubbing her forearm. "Because Asantè's been really protective over me since you left. I didn't understand why he was, especially when I'd been nothing but mean to him because of his brother. The day before the basketball game, he stood up for me when this group of boys were catcalling and following me on my way to the store," she said.
"He told me that if I'm going to be walking alone, then I need to at least carry some type of protection and that he was only looking out for me. I told him to fuck off, and that I wasn't his responsibility. Despite what I told him, he still came to my defense that night at the game. I mean," Luvie paused, scoffing a laugh.
"I was planning on telling y'all about him, so y'all would tell him to leave me alone—and he still defended me,"
"So...a-are y'all friends now? What are you trying to tell me, Sioni?" Sameer pressed her, trying to understand if she was telling him what he thought.
"We are," Luvie nodded in confirmation, shifting her legs underneath her. "But you can't tell Nazim and them," she pleaded with him.
"Why not? And why are you telling me and not them?" Sameer intensely interrogated her. "What are you not saying, Sioni?"
"Because you never really had a problem wit' Asantè, but they despise him. If they find out, they'll flip out on me—Sameer, promise me you won't say anything, please,"
"Tell me the truth, Sioni, and maybe I can make that promise to you,"
Luvie let out a heavy sigh, throwing her head back. "I—kinda have a crush on him and he, um, k-kissed me the other night," she finally confessed, Sameer raising his brows in shock.
"Kissed?" Sameer jerked his head back, taken aback by the revelation. "Asanté kissed you?"
"Yes,"
Sameer inhaled deeply before slowly exhaling, rubbing across his forehead in a stressed-out manner. "Nini, do you understand what you're asking me to keep from our brothers? You kissed someone that our family isn't very fond of," he scratched the back of his neck.
"So, let me ask you something. Are you planning on dating him? If so, how are you going to hide that from our folks?" he pointed behind him with his thumb.
"I don't know if it'll get to that point, he's been pissing me off lately wit' his mixed signals—"
"Okay, so that right there lets you know you shouldn't date his ass. I'm not okay wit' this, Sioni,"
"It doesn't matter if you're okay wit' it, it's not your life—it's mine. This is why I don't want to tell the others because this is the exact reaction I'm going to get from them," Luvie huffed, getting up from the floor as Sameer got up as well.
He gently grabbed Luvie by the arms, making her face him. "You right, it's your life, you do what you want but you're still going to hear unwanted opinions. And unfortunately, the opinions in this situation aren't going to be very favorable, sis."
"Despite the mixed signals he's been giving out to me, Asanté is a really sweet guy. Trust me, my hate for the man was ten times stronger than our family's hatred combined—if I, the one person who hated Dante and his family wit' every single bone in my body, can push aside any ill feelings toward his brother—they can too," Luvie defended.
"Asanté doesn't bother a soul, he doesn't lose his cool if someone harasses him in public about him being Dante's brother. We sat down and had a conversation about my dislike for him. He didn't blame me, wasn't even mad—told me it was unfair but he never held a grudge. He feels that way toward everyone who is taking their anger out on him because they can't direct their anger toward his brother,"
"He hates his own brother, and people fail to realize that he's not his brother—he was only a kid when Dante did what he did—and do you know that he thanked me for acknowledging that? Because people are forgetting that fact? Yea' Dante had a lot of victims—our uncle included, but Asanté was his first,"
A dead silence fell over them, Sameer stood there, intently staring back at Luvie.
He swallowed hard, slowly but barely nodding his head. "Damn," he muttered, lightly scratching his temple. "I-I didn't even know that—I mean, I knew people fucked wit' him but I never knew the severity of it—I never knew that, Sioni,"
"Well, now you know. Our judgment of him has been clouded by our hatred for Dante. And I'm not saying that our family doesn't have the right to feel the way they do, but it's unfair when you really sit and think about it," Luvie shrugged, hearing a knock at her door.
"Come in!" She instructed them, Sameer turning around to see Nazim and their other brothers beside him.
"Y'all coming or what?" Nazim grinned, confused expressions plastered on both Luvie and Sameer's faces.
"Where we going?"
"Bowling, it's been a while since we whooped y'all ass," Heem gestured between them, with a cocky grin. "
❦❦❦
Luvie held Candice's hand as she walked into the auditorium, her cap and gown in her hand. "I want to take these heels off already," Luvie complained, briefly stopping and pulling her leg up to adjust the strap around her ankle.
"Baby, you haven't even been in them for ten minutes," Candice snickered, as Luvie placed her foot down and pulled at her dress. "Can't forget how much you hate dresses too,"
"It's not that I hate them, it's just I'd rather sit comfortably in a chair without having to worry about someone trying to sneak a peek at my undergarments," Luvie said, pulling her hand away from Candice's. "I'ma go check in,"
"Okay,"
Luvie strutted towards the back where the rest of her graduating class was. She waved to her friends, huge smiles on their faces, ready to finally walk across the stage and officially be done with high school.
Luvie could admit that she was a tad bit nervous to get on stage and give her speech. She had been practicing in the mirror, even though her family and friends encouraged her to try practicing on them.
She wanted to keep the speech to herself until it was time to speak in front of an audience.
She just hoped that she'd do good and that her graduating class would appreciate her speech.
As Luvie got her cap and gown on, her family found a nice spot next to Tyra's family. Along with them were Easton, Mali, and Asantè who had either called out or were only running on a few hours of sleep to see Tyra walk across the stage.
As Asanté sat in front of them between Easton and Mali, Nazim nudged Majin, slightly nodding his head toward him. Sameer caught a glimpse of this, his eyes darting down at Asantè.
His conversation with Luvie played through his mind again since she revealed what was going on.
He hadn't prepared himself for what Luvie told him. From Bryce harassing her, which he was still upset about, to her and Asanté becoming infatuated with each other.
Thirty minutes later, the auditorium was packed with supporting family members and friends, while the seniors were seated in their assigned chairs on the floor.
"Good morning! Welcome family and friends, let's start by giving a round of applause to our graduating class of 2020!" Principal Mitchell spoke into the microphone, claps, and cheers erupting in the auditorium.
Once the applause died down, the principal continued with her speech. "It has been a long year, but we have finally made it seniors! Let me just say that I'm very proud of each and every one of you!" she exclaimed.
Luvie zoned out, looking up in the crowd, searching for her family. As her eyes floated over the sea of people, she caught a glimpse of someone waving their arms.
She saw that it was her mom, her other hand holding a sign that read 'Congrats Buttercup!'. Luvie softly laughed and waved to her family as they waved back, recording and snapping pictures of her.
Before she could look away, she noticed that Asanté was sitting in front of her family along with his friends. He wasn't paying attention, as Easton was lowly speaking with him about something.
She quickly looked away, a little nervous about him being so close to her family. She was sure her brothers were already aware of his presence in front of them, she just hoped that the rest of the ceremony would go smoothly without any incidents.
For the next fifteen minutes, a few of her guidance counselors and teachers gave their own speeches, until one of the ceremony staff approached Luvie to escort her to the stage.
As she walked to the stage, her heart began to race and her hands began to feel clammy.
Please, Lord, don't let me mess this up. She quietly prayed to herself.
"And now, let's give our valedictorian a warm welcome," The principal introduced, prompting the crowd to clap, Luvie's family could be heard loudly cheering from their section. Tyra snickered from her seat, as she looked up and saw them cheering along with her own family.
Luvie stepped in front of the podium, placing her phone down as she already had the notes app pulled up. She waited for the crowd to settle down, however, her family continued to cheer even after it had gotten quiet.
"Alright now, settle down, Asher family," Luvie spoke into the microphone, eyeing her family, earning laughs from everyone.
"Greetings, graduating class of Ridgeview High.
Today is a day to be inspired—to be thankful and rejoice in our accomplishment. As of today, we are no longer a part of this world—but this day embarks the journey of creating our own. Most of us will be able to relate to this next quote, in one situation or another. Temple Grandin says, "The world needs all kinds of minds." Most of us are taught that we are the same as our peers, but in reality we are not. Our power lies within our differences. It's essential to understand that nobody is you, and that is your capacity,"
"Although we are all unique individuals, the purpose of our existence is the same. Everyday we are faced with adversities—some that we spend trying to avoid but truth is those are a part of our lives. The beginning of my freshman year, I had to deal with the stigma of my intellectual retention being questioned by those who were supposed to uplift and encourage me,"
Luvie paused, her eyes sneaking off to the side of her, her guidance counselor sitting behind her.
"Today, I graduate top of my class—" Luvie paused again, as people started to clap. She waited for the claps to seize before she spoke again. "And this is not to brag, but to simply exhibit resilience because I did not let my autism define me or inhibit me from ripping off the labels people attached to my name,"
"This," Luvie pointed to herself and then to her classmates, looking up at them. "Is what overcoming adversities looks like. The wisdom, the courage that we've used to rise above the barriers that were built against us, the knowledge, the experiences that we've gained from the beginning of our high school years up until now—are the tools that have gotten us this far. The same tools that will adapt to the setbacks we'll encounter in the future,"
By the end of Luvie's speech, she had a standing ovation. She shook the principal's hand, before being helped off of the stage. She walked back to her seat, waving to her family and friends as they continued to cheer her on.
The rest of the ceremony went by smoothly, although she was antsy sitting in her seat for too long, she was happy that she finally received her diploma.
After they made it outside, her family wasted no time snapping photos of her with the diploma.
"Come on guys, no more pictures please," Luvie complained, throwing her head back a little as her family continued to snap photos of her.
"One more Buttercup," Marc said, positioning his phone to get the perfect angle of her. Luvie profoundly sighed, playfully rolling her eyes, before striking one last pose with her high school diploma. "Atta girl, my baby girl looks so beautiful,"
"Are y'all done now? Y'all probably have like thirty pics of me, that should be good enough." Luvie handed her diploma to Candice.
Candice wrapped her arms around Luvie's shoulders, cradling her as she rubbed her back. "We're just so proud of you baby, you're all grown up now," her voice cracked, becoming emotional for the umpteenth time again today.
"Ma' please don't cry again, I'm tryin' not to ruin my makeup!" Luvie whined, poking out her bottom lip. Candice rocked her back and forth in her arms for a few more seconds before letting go of her grasp on Luvie.
"Okay okay, I'm done. No more tears," she sniffled, fanning her eyes. Nazim threw his arm around Luvie's shoulders, a chuckle escaping his lips.
"Remember how she cried at all of our graduations? You should've known better Nani," he said, as Naheim, Majin, and Sameer nodded their heads in agreement.
"I guess," Luvie mumbled, tugging at the bottom of her dress again. As her family started talking amongst themselves, she looked past her dad and saw that Tyra and Faven were approaching them with their family trailing behind them. "Here comes Tyra and them,"
Her family turned around, greeting them as they finally approached. "Oh! I have to get a pic of you and Tyra!" Candice exclaimed, unlocking her phone again. Tyra's mom followed suit pulling her phone back out as well. Both Tyra and Luvie started groaning, as Faven started snickering. "Oh hush! Y'all look cute,"
Luvie and Tyra linked arms and posed for another pic. "Our babies done grew up girl, it seemed like yesterday we was just sending them off to elementary school." Sandra pouted, holding her phone close to her chest.
"Our babies ain't babies no more," Candice exasperated, her eyes watering again. Luvie tried stifling her laugh, it was a little comedic sometimes watching her mother become so emotional over the smallest things.
"Mama, please, hold it together." Luvie said, beckoning Faven for the next pic. They snapped a few more photos of the girls, before finally deciding it was time to leave.
❦❦❦
Hours later, family and friends gathered at the graduation party thrown for Luvie and Tyra. By then, Luvie had changed out of the dress and heels she wore. She was now wearing a solid black bandeau top with a pair of distressed jeans and a pair of black rhinestone slides that she secretly stole from her mom.
Her locs were braided down in the front as the rest hung freely down her back. She touched up her face which was lightly covered with makeup.
She sat at the table with her brothers, finishing the ribs that her dad grilled. Although their house was big enough to host a party, Candice decided to have her graduation party at the park.
Half of her family had popped out for the event, congratulating her on her accomplishment and also gifting her money. So far, Luvie made over $350 from her family.
She was grateful, given that she was still trying to reach her goal of getting a car.
Every ten minutes, Luvie would lock eyes with Asanté who was sitting at the table across from her with Easton and Mali, along with a few of Tyra and Faven's family members.
Luvie could admit that he looked good, and every time he licked over his lips, she thought back to their kiss.
As she fought to keep her composure, Asanté was figuring out how he was going to get Luvie by herself without alerting any of her folks.
"So, Luvie, you're coming to Clark wit' Faven and Tyra, right?" Angel asked her, sitting down on the bench with a plate of food in her hand.
"Yes,"
"Was Clark your first choice?"
"No, Howard was," Luvie answered, grabbing a napkin to wipe her hands.
Angel raised her eyebrows, peeking up from her plate. "Howard? Did you get accepted?" she questioned.
"I did,"
"Oh, why aren't you going pooh?" Angel grimaced, prompting Luvie to chuckle at her calling her 'Pooh' like Tyra usually did.
"I don't want to go out of state. I've got accepted to all of the colleges I applied to but I decided that I would rather stay close to my family," Luvie explained, grabbing her can of Sprite.
"Well, I definitely understand that. Even though I haven't been home in a while, I still wanted to be close to my sisters. I'm happy that y'all are coming together though," Angel smiled.
"Testing, testing! 1,2!" A loud voice boomed next to Luvie, causing her to flinch at the loudness and quickly cover her ears.
"Aye, dumbass!" Sameer yelled at the guy holding the Bluetooth microphone, the rest of Luvie's brothers frowning. The guy snapped his head in their direction, with a puzzled look. "Get the fuck on wit' that shit!"
Luvie got up, grabbing her finished plate and walked away. "O-oh, my bad! I didn't see her!" The guy quickly apologized.
"Sis," Nazim called out to her.
"I'm fine," She assured them, glancing over her shoulder at them. "Going to the bathroom,"
Luvie walked into the bathroom, finding the cleanest stall before shutting and locking the door behind her. Once she was done, she attempted to wash her hands, but there was no soap.
Luvie walked out, heading toward the side of the building to go back until someone gently grabbed her arm. She snatched away and whipped around, only to see Asantè.
He stepped back, holding one hand up in defense. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said.
"What do you want?"
Asantè pulled the bouquet of flowers from behind his back and held them out for her. Luvie jerked her head back in surprise, gazing at the flowers with wide eyes.
"An apology token," Asanté said, as Luvie continued gazing at the flowers. "I'm sorry for what happened, I'm sorry I ruined your date. I crossed boundaries—and me out of all people should understand what that feels like to have your boundaries crossed and disrespected. I been trying to find the right words to say to you since, secretly hoping that, that wouldn't have been the last time we spoke,"
"I haven't been upfront about my feelings wit' you, you at least deserve that since you shared that part of you wit' me. I do like you, Sioni, I've been caught up in trying to protect you from my fucked up world, that I didn't realize that I was hurting you in the process," Asanté told her, continuing to hold out the bouquet of flowers.
Luvie looked down at her freshly polished white toes, placing her hands on her hips. "You really should've been honest from the start, Asanté. You played wit' my feelings," she mumbled, dragging her feet around.
"I know, I'm sorry. I promise, I won't do that shit again—if you give me a chance. A chance to get to know you," Asantè spoke truthfully. Luvie looked up at him, staring at him with an uncertain look.
Her eyes darted from him to the flowers he was still holding out.
She playfully rolled her eyes, and took the flowers out of his hand. "Thank you, and I accept your apology—even though I know you're not really sorry for ruining my date," she smirked, cradling the flowers in her arms.
Asanté scoffed, crossing his hands behind his back. "I mean, you said it," he replied. Luvie sucked her teeth and shifted her weight, cutting her eyes at him. "On a serious note though, can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"How is this going to work if you plan on hiding me from your family?"
Luvie looked behind her, deeply sighing. "Sameer knows, I told him last night," she meekly said.
"You were talking about me last night?" Asanté smirked, cocking his head to the side.
"That's not the point, asshole," Luvie retorted, sizing him.
"That's only one out of four brothers, Sioni. I mean, it's your life, but I can see how this is all going to play out, look where we are right now," Asanté gestured one of his hands towards the side of the bathroom building.
"You want to go tell them that you like their little sister?" Luvie rolled her neck, pointing behind her. Asantè remained quiet, staring at her with a hardened expression. He started to walk past her until Luvie swiftly stepped in front of him, holding her hand out to stop him. "No! Don't do that,"
"I-I'll tell them, just...not right now, okay?" She looked away, feeling her heartbeat speed up. "I don't want to ruin Tyra and I's party,"
"Okay," Asanté replied.
Luvie slowly backed away, picking at the flower petals. "Thank you again," she said, beginning to turn around.
"Sioni," Asantè called her, making her stop and look at him. "Um, c-can I get your number?" he asked her, mentally cursing himself for feeling nervous.
A slow, yet small smile grew onto Luvie's face as she nodded. Asantè reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, unlocking it and handing it to her.
Luvie typed her number in, before handing it back to him. She didn't speak another word as she walked back over to her family who were now searching for her to make sure that she was okay.
As she approached them, she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. She reached around to grab her phone, the text notification on her Home Screen.
912-***-****
💙
Luvie smirked to herself, turning off her screen and slipping her phone back into her back pocket.
❦❦❦
I decided NOT to put all the mess in one chapter. 🤭
Next one is going to be W I L D.
I'm so excited!
That's all babies - Wynter 🫶🏽