| Hazel |
I was sprawled out on the couch beside Riri, flipping through the channels when Mallory came bursting through the front door.
"I'm so glad we have a doorbell" Riri said sarcastically as Mallory made her way over to us, sitting on the coffee table in front of us.
"Okay, so here's the information I found out about Bria." Mallory started.
"Oh. We're still on this?" I sighed, sitting up.
"Apparently, the girl who Bria was with is an ex. Well kind of. They've been off and on for the past two years."
"Who asked for this information?" I interrupted, confused.
"Sh. There's more. Shuri was originally just a part of a plan to make the ex jealous, but Bria caught feelings for her."
"Who gave you this information." I interrupted again, still confused.
"I'll never reveal my source." She continued, "Supposedly, Bria and the ex are back together now but Bria still wants to keep Shuri around because ,as I just stated, she caught feelings." She said, finally wrapping it up.
I looked at Riri, whose head was nodding after every sentence of this very detailed explanation.
"Interesting" She responded.
"I'm so confused." I sighed.
"That's because you kept interrupting while I was explaining." She said, causing Riri to nod in agreement, making me roll my eyes.
"Okay so how are we going to tell Shuri?" Riri asked, looking at me.
"Wait, who is we? I'm staying out of this." I responded causing Riri to smack her teeth. "If I say something, I'll look jealous."
"That's true" Mallory agreed, "Also, Andre is going around telling people you two had sex."
The sound of his name made my whole body tense up.
"He's doing what?!" Riri yelled. "Now I have to beat two peoples ass?!"
My mind immediately went back to that night causing my heart to beat uncontrollably. I felt my whole body getting hotter as I started to shake. I knew I was breathing but it felt like I couldn't. I couldn't speak or move.
"Are you okay?" Riri asked, noticing me struggle to get air out.
"Hazel.." Riri jumped out from her seat, sitting down in front of me. "Hey.. Look at me" She demanded, as I tried my best to gain control over my body.
"Breathe..." She commanded, holding my hands as I took a deep breath in. "and out..."
I continued to follow her commands until I was taking slow, even breaths. My heartbeat slowed down and I wasn't shaking anymore.
"You okay?" She asked, still sitting in front of me holding my hands.
I nodded, using my hand to fan myself in hopes of cooling down a little bit.
"What just happened?" She asked in a soft tone.
"I don't know.." My words came out raspy. "I'm fine.."
"You sure?" She asked, standing up and taking a seat beside me.
"Yeah..."
• • •
Shuri's few weeks of being home were up and Riri decided we should have a game night to welcome her back.
She also came to the conclusion that we should invite Bria so it wouldn't look suspicious and since her and Shuri were basically a thing... for now.
We still hadn't figured out how we were going to reveal what we saw or when we wanted to bring it up. Well, Riri hadn't figured out, I still had no plans of being included.
"Okay so, is there anything else I need to pick up besides the food?" Mallory asked, looking at her checklist as we all sat in the kitchen, preparing for the night.
"I think that's all." I shrugged. "We have the games, the alcohol. Oh, I need to make a playlist." I remembered, grabbing my phone.
"Okay well, I'm gonna go grab that. What time is she suppose to be here?" Mallory asked.
Riri looked down at her watch "We probably have like 3 hours" She shrugged. "And remember everyone, no implications about Bria and her ex."
"Yes, mother." Mallory and I responded in unison, rolling our eyes.
The hours felt like minutes as they passed. I felt myself starting to get nervous as I thought about seeing her again, knowing we still weren't on the best of terms. I looked down at my phone, seeing it was about the time Shuri should be here.
"Shuriiiii" I heard Riri yell as I finished up what I was doing and headed into the living room.
Everyone who we had invited was sitting on the floor in a circle, preparing for whatever game we were about to play.
Bria was wrapped around a smiling Shuri, placing kisses all over her face. I rolled my eyes at the sight of it.
"Hi" I said greeting everyone in the room, making Shuri and Bria look in my direction.
"Oh, Hazel. I didn't know you would be here." Bria stated, acting surprised.
"Yeah, I kinda live here." I responded in an obvious tone.
"This should be fun." She smirked before turning around and placing a kiss on Shuri's lips.
"Or awkward.." Riri mumbled under her breath.
I rolled my eyes, walking over to the circle of people and taking a seat.
"So what're we playing?" I asked as everyone else came over to join.
"Do or Drink" Mallory replied as a smile spread across her face, making me sigh.
Usually this game ends with me on my ass from being so drunk because the dares were a little too intense for me.
The night was going pretty smooth besides the occasional sarcastic remarks from Bria towards me and her making sure to make eye contact with me before every kiss she gave Shuri.
"Okay, Hazel.." A friend of ours started. We were halfway through the game and I was already like 4 shots in while everyone else were actually doing the dares.
I groaned at the sound of my name. "Is it really my turn again?"
"Yes." Everyone responded in unison.
"Now back to my dare." She continued. "Tell us how many sex experiences you've had and rate them"
"Hm." I sat there thinking for a minute. "One and I'd give it a 9." I shrugged.
I saw a smirk spread across Shuri's face from the corner of my eye, making me laugh.
"Really?" Bria questioned, "I've heard different about Andre and his sex."
I took a deep breath, trying to not have a repeat of the other day.
"I wouldn't know" I forced a smile on my face.
"Sure, if you say so." She said, taking a sip of her drink.
"Why don't you tell us about your sex experience Bria? Ya know, the one with your ex? The one that you were kissing in the mall just the other week while Shuri wasn't here?" I responded with a smirk on my face.
The room fell quiet as her mouth fell wide open. "I don't know what you're talking about" She stuttered, looking at Shuri.
"Hm" I reached my hand out to Riri, who immediately gave me her phone with the photo pulled up. "Here, let me refresh your memory." I turned the photo around, zooming in on her and the girl kissing.
Everyone remained quiet looking at Bria and Shuri, waiting for a reaction.
"I think we're gonna go..." Mallory announced as her and the others scrambled to grab their things, talking over each other in agreement.
"It was such a lovely game night, thanks for inviting us. Goodnight." She said quickly as her and the others ran out the door.
"Maybe we should give them a minute." Riri suggested, grabbing my arm and pulling me into her room before I could respond.
"I'm proud of you but also what the hell was that?!" She asked, sitting down on her bed. "That's not how we were suppose to tell her."
"I know" I sighed, "but she took it too far."
"Poor Shuri" She said before getting up and pressing her ear up to the door.
We heard talking for the next like 20 minutes then heard a door slam, assuming it was Bria.
Riri's room door flew up open causing her to go flying back and making me laugh.
"Were you listening?" Shuri asked, looking at Riri with a straight face.
"I mean, technically no because I couldn't hear anything... but if I could. What would I have heard?"
I laughed, making my way to the door to leave.
"Excuse me" I muttered to Shuri, exiting the room and making my way to the balcony.
I wasn't really interested in what had or hadn't been said. A part of me felt like they weren't actually done.
I sat down in the chair, pushing myself back and forth replaying what had went down when I heard the balcony door slide open and close.
I looked back to see Shuri looking at me, smiling. I gave her a small smile back and continued swinging in the chair.
"Thank you.." She said, sitting down in the chair across from me.
"For?"
"What you did tonight. I would have preferred for it not to be a public announcement but I'm glad you revealed it. Even if it was just to get revenge." She laughed quietly.
"It was nothing." I responded, focusing my attention on the busy street, filled with cars.
"And I'm sorry. I know that I'm the reason for our messed up relationship. I really do want to fix it Hazel"
I stared at her for a minute, trying to interpret her facial expression. She looked and sounded sincere but I didn't know if I could risk my feelings again.
"I can't trust you Shuri.." I sighed. "You've continuously hurt my feelings and for Bria out of all people."
"I know.. but I promise, it won't happen again."
I sat in silence, looking down, playing with the strings that hung from my ripped jeans.
"How do I know that?" I whispered.
"Let me prove it to you.. Please."
She stood up from her chair, walking over to me and kneeling in front of me.
"Please." She repeated, taking my hand in hers.
"Are you actually done with her?"
"I am."
I sat there for a moment, thinking over my decision.
"Fine." I agreed, finally giving in. "BUT. You get one chance. ONE."
"That's all I need." She smiled, placing a kiss on my hand before standing up and embracing me in a hug.
"I missed you." She mumbled, inhaling my scent as her head laid on my chest.
"I missed you too. Now get off of me." I laughed. "We're not that cool yet."
"Oh trust me, we're gonna be there sooner than you think. I'm also going to get that rating up to a 10." She winked, making me roll my eyes.
Let's hope I don't regret this decision...