I stared at the apartment complex feeling like I should just turn around. It felt wrong. Tamika wasn't at our dorm when I left. So I didn't have to lie to her face on where I was at. I knew it was best to keep the two away from each other.
My feet began jogging up the steps as my mind went a mile a minute. Cierra seemed genuine about rekindling our friendship and with everyone getting on me about making the most experiences at college. I figured hanging out with her wouldn't hurt.
As soon as I knocked on the door, someone shuffled on the other side before opening it fully. There stood Cierra with a smile on her face.
"Oh mani, you made it" she pulled me into a hug catching me off guard. "Come in"
I walked in behind her as I immediately felt out of place. She informed me to wear pajamas and I was the only one who rolled up in sweats and an old t-shirt. They were wearing silk two pieces or the night dresses.
"I know you don't like to drink, so I got you some juice" I thanked her as I fixed myself a cup of juice. "We'll all be in living room"
Once she went back to tending her guests I looked around. She mentioned this is something her team does monthly and since one of the girls had recently quit, she invited me to come in her place.
I walked towards the living room clutching my cup as I maneuver past a few people who were dancing to the music playing in the background. I took a seat on the couch as they were already deep into conversation.
"..... I think it would be cool if the majorette team joined in with us during one of the games" one of the girls I knew as Quinn said.
"Ouuuu, maybe we could add them in our formation for halftime" Diana said sipping on her mixed drink.
"I'll talk to their team captain to see if we can make something shake" Cierra informed them all. "I would like to make a toast"
The music got turned down some as everyone gave her their undivided attention. She raised her glass smiling.
"I just want to say how proud I am of everyone especially Nina. You are definitely the glue that keeps us girls in check" she said to their team captain. I met her briefly last year when I attended my first game.
"Thank you Cierra for that and for letting us have our event at your place this month. As you all know this will be last semester before I graduate in December. With that being said we are showing out for every event. Be prepared to work your ass off and bring the heat" Nina said as they all clinked their glasses.
"Cheers" they all said before tossing their drink back. The music got turned up some as everyone went back to socializing.
"I can't wait till homecoming" Diana emphasized.
"It's gonna be a movie" Quinn said as some of the girls agreed.
"You running this year Ce?" She took a sip from her drink smiling.
"Y'all already know our girl is, she gonna be the baddest one on the roster" Zay added. I sunk more in my seat forgetting that they were also on the cheer team. I never understood their hostility towards me when I've done nothing wrong.
They kept talking about homecoming and the parties that would surely follow in after hours. Last year, I stayed to myself during homecoming while Mika and Cierra went to all events. Back when we were the Iconic Trio.
"You popping out this year with us boo" Cierra said nudging my shoulder.
"You know Mani ain't with the ratchet hoe antics we be on" Natasha commented making a few laugh. "She good at staying invisible"
"The only thing she shake is those pages in those school books" Zay added. I knitted my eyebrows as everyone was laughing. Cierra rubbed my shoulder.
"This year is gonna be different, ain't that right?" By now I had eyes on me. I glanced around the cheer team feeling a little pressured to prove Natasha and Zay wrong.
"I'll go"
"It's gonna be lit as hell, I promise you" Quinn said towards me. I caught eyes with Natasha who simply rolled her eyes then whispered something towards Cierra.
♡ ♡ ♡
My pencil was moving fluently across the page as India Arie flowed through my headphones. I hummed along to the lyrics of Brown Skin as I concentrated on shading. One of the ideas I added for our short film is to have some art pieces. Since the main character will have the disease and can't talk, I thought it would be cool is she talks through her pictures.
Messiah was gonna play as the doctor and would list the causes of tetanus. Sandra had a minor role but was still an important factor for everything to turn out the way Julian saw it. Speaking of, he wrote all of the dialogue and will be in charge or recording and editing.
"Normani" I glanced up seeing Julian was jogging in this direction. I couldn't help my eyes from looking at the way his sweat glistened on his toned body. He halted to a stop by the bench I was occupying. He took one of his earbuds out.
"So you just like to run for fun?" He smiled shrugging.
"It helps clear my mind" he took a seat on my infamous bench. It was my comfort spot since there wasn't much foot traffic on this side of campus. "What you drawing"
"Oh I guess I should've ran it through you first, but I thought we could have the main character— well me to talk through her artwork for the video" I said.
"—but of course if you think it's stupid, we can scratch the idea" I spoke hesitantly. I don't know why I get flustered with my words so much around him. If this was anyone else I would simply ignore them or talk when I'm spoken too. However it was something about Julian that made me nervous.
Then after I was quick to judge him from our first encounters makes me anxious on not saying the wrong thing to him. "No I like it, that's a dope idea"
He gave me a smile. " May I?" I looked down at my sketch before hesitantly handing it to him. He was quiet as he flipped through a few of the pages. I fiddled with my ring as I look ahead of me.
"Damn, you can really draw for real" he muttered as he nodded his head in approval. "I know how you feel about sharing your artwork...."
He glanced up at me. "—you sure you're cool with this?"
"I'm positive, I thought it would be a cool addition" I reassured as he passed my sketchbook back.
"Um can I ask you something?" He leaned back as he took his other earbud out his ear.
"Never thought I'll see the day you would be curious about little ole me" he joked making me smile.
"Hush" he chuckled. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I've noticed you run quite a lot... what exactly is weighing so heavily on your mind?"
He grew quiet. ".... Truthfully, a lot"
"This year has been the most stressful out of all of my years playing basketball. My father has been breathing down my back and my coach—" he sighed rubbing a hand down his face.
"—my coach had been been giving me the shorter end of the stick"
"Well is basketball what you want to do" he glared over at me with a raised eyebrow. " I only ask because you mentioned in class that you hate when people only ask questions related to the sport you play"
"Oh um" he swiped his tongue across his bottom lip as he cleared his throat. "I think I do."
"Bullshit" I said causing him to raise an eyebrow. "Just using your words against you"
He let out a laugh. "I'm starting to rub off on you too soon"
"But you're right, it became more of a chore and more of my father's failed dream he wanted to live through me."
"Then change the narrative, you're the one holding the pen for your story." I stated as he eyed me. We held eye contact as he broke out into a smile.
"You truly are something else Normani" I smiled.
"You know people usually call me Mani"
"Well I'm not them" I rolled my eyes causing him to laugh.
"Okay Juice"
"Nah I like it when you call me Julian, it sounds better when you say it" and the nerves are back. I glanced away from him as I stared down at my ring.
"Don't you got a run to finish" he stood up and shot me a wink before jogging off. I hugged my sketchbook as I couldn't help the smile that was on my face.
♡ ♡ ♡
"Fried chicken Wednesdays are the best" Mika said making me laugh. It was the only time we showed our face in the cafeteria. Other than that I was eating noodles or eating somewhere else on campus.
"I wish they made good food everyday"
"Right, they would have more people in here" we grabbed our trays thanking the server as we made our rounds adding more to our plate.
"Ugh I feel like I haven't hung out with you in forever" Mika complained as we found a seat.
"I hate that our schedules aren't in line this semester, by the time I get back you be sleep or vice versa" I took a bite of my chicken as I finally satisfied my stomach. My classes are back to back for majority of the morning so I usually survive off of snacks.
"So what's been up?" Mika asked. I used the napkin to clean the grease from my lips and fingers.
"Well um I've been talking to Julian lately, we have a class together and conveniently have a group project"
"Like Mister pro baller Harris?" She questioned. I nodded as she pressed her lips together.
"I dunno mani, he just screams drama"
"We're only friends, he's a cool person to talk to"
"But still, he's around that conniving hoe" it didn't take me long to out two and two together. She was mentioning Cierra. Neither one of them had once brought the other up so I assumed it was platonic but I could be wrong.
Thinking about Cierra made me feel guilty all over again. This was the time to come clean about rekindling our friendship. I know the moment Tamika finds out, all hell would break loose.
"I don't look at him like that Mika. You know my only focus is school. So if they are a thing, I'm not stepping between that" she shrugged with a smirk.
"Uh huh you say that now until he sweet talk you out of your panties" I threw a French fry at her as she laughed.
"It happened one time, let it go" I said rolling my eyes.
"You was down bad sis, I'm just glad his bitch ass transferred to another school" I nodded in agreement. Last year, I had succumbed to temptation with one of the guys from the track team. Last just say it was not a good experience nor was it my proudest moment.
"I still can't believe I allowed that to happen" I said laughing with her. "What's been up with you and Drix?"
"Oh, it's been great" I took a sip of my water.
"That was vague, I need more than that"
"Honestly Mani I really see myself with him, it just feels right this time 'round" I smiled doing a little shimmy.
"Awwn I'm so happy for you, he's such a good guy" When we first met him at the party she dragged me to, he couldn't keep his eyes off of Mika. You could feel the attraction between the two.
"And you know my delusional self started planning our wedding" I shook my head as she laughed.
"As long as I'm maid of honor we Gucci"
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~BR££