4. Can You Get Away?
Freedom's pristine white and freshly manicured nails tapped carelessly on the smooth surface of her desk as she hummed to herself softly. The classroom that she was forced to sit in smelled of freshly ground coffee and warm paper from the printer, instantly reminding her of better days ... but still, she wouldn't let her guard down. Her mask stayed planted on her face: an expression of a mean mug but deep, deep inside and settled in the darkest pits of her stomach, her pain was still fresh. She sighed deeply, wanting to be anywhere but in this room full of idiotic imbeciles and foolish children.
"You all right?" a deep and charming voice, similar to the sound of dripping caramel reached her ears, causing a stir in her.
She perked up, immediately changing her stance and glanced beside her. Stuck in an immediate trance, she coughed awkwardly, breaking the silence. She soon realised that he was still awaiting her response. She nodded.
"I'm Dre. You're new, init?" he smiled a dazzling smile and she was sure that she could feel the vibes of envy radiating against her from many of the females within the class.
She nodded, slightly sighing. 'Of course I'm new,' Freedom thought slightly irritated, 'I just introduced myself to your class, dumb ass.'
"You don't talk much, init?" he smirked, wondering where the dark skinned beauty's bold exterior had gone.
He knew that he was capable of making girls speechless but never would he have thought that he could do it to Freedom.
"Are you done yet?" Freedom replied, slightly bored already. 'Fuck you, Shane,' she thought grumpily, 'you could have at least given me something interesting.'
Dre blinked in surprised, her buttery voice sending slight trembles down his spine but still, he kept composure, smirking as he allowed his eyes to travel to her full and plump lips. She noticed almost instantly.
"There's my lil' Freedom," he grinned, rolling his tongue over his top row of teeth.
"Yeah so fuck off now," she yawned, waving her hand in his face.
This was all a part of her act. She wanted to mess with him, make her unpredictable so he could stay chasing her ... and then when she finally had him right where she wanted, she would dismantle him. Dre threw his head back and laughed loudly, causing a few girls to turn their heads at the commotion. He liked her already.
He tapped her desk with his fist once and threw a flirtatious wink in her direction. "I'll see you around, babe."
Freedom strolled casually through the halls of the building, occasionally peeking inside the empty classrooms. She hummed to herself lowly and wormed her way through the crowds of students rushing to the cafeteria to eat. She sighed. 'If you could be anywhere but here, Freedom, where would you go?'
(Flashback)
"Where's Tristan?" Shane muttered to no one in particular, realising that his right hand man and best friend was no where to be seen and had disappeared for the past four days.
Celia glanced at her older brother, clutching his cold hand in hers. She couldn't help but shiver at the distant look his eyes gave and how dark his once hazel tinged orbs had now become. His light caramel coloured skin no longer looked nourished and sunken circles quickly found home beneath his eyes.
"Don't worry about him," Celia began softly, "it's just you and me now, Shane. We'll conquer our broken world."
(End of flashback)
Freedom was so lost in her thoughts that she was unaware of the group of three girls that had surrounded her. Freedom laughed to herself inwardly. 'What are we, high school girls?' She rolled her eyes.
"Are you girls lost?" she smiled sweetly, slightly narrowing her eyes at the thought of these females thinking that they could, for even one slight second, intimidate her.
A girl of Asian and African descent stepped forward, extending her hand in the process. She grinned widely, showcasing her pearly whites.
"Hi," the girl began, "I'm India."
Freedom looked at her hand and back towards the curly haired girl, skeptically. She didn't have friends and wasn't exactly planning on making any today but as Shane had specifically told her before, she had to keep up appearances. The corners of Freedom's mouth turned upwards and she soon found herself smiling. It was fake but no one else needed to know that.
"I'm Freedom," she grinned slightly, nodding her head at the females behind India.
India's curly hair bounced as she introduced the two other girls behind her who Freedom learned the names of as Crystal and Sophia. The trio were rarely seen apart and couldn't help but take notice of Freedom's beauty and her lack of friends that she had made on her first day so as friendly as India was, she had taken it upon herself to befriend Freedom.
The girls immediately got into conversation and Freedom soon discovered that for the particular group of girls, she didn't have to put on her mask. Conversation flowed and laughter quickly came afterwards as the girls worked to find a spot on the field, amongst the various picnic tables.
"Baby gyaaaal!" called a boy from one of the furthest and loudest tables.
The boy was surrounded by a group of people that lounged lazily around the table, all in conversation. India shrieked loudly causing Crystal to cringe and cover her ears.
"Shut the fuck up, man," Crystal groaned, rolling her eyes.
Of all three girls, Freedom found that she liked Crystal the most. The girls strolled through the field towards the group of second years and Freedom rolled her eyes inwardly as she felt an intense stare, lingering particularly on the curves of her body.
"You again," she stated bluntly, causing his harmonious laugh to enter her ears.
"Nah babe, I think it's on you this time," he replied, grinning as he gestured towards her new found friends standing before her.
"Leave her alone, Dre," Crystal snapped as she kicked his arm, pushing him to move over. "Move, big head," she cackled as he screwed her.
"I can't believe you're my cousin," Dre began, "why would God allow me to be related to something like ..." he scrunched his face up in distaste and flicked her head, "you?"
Crystal scoffed and pushed his forehead, slightly reminding Freedom of ... of someone else. She shook her head, freeing her thoughts and swallowed the nervousness within in her throat. As she placed her bag down and took a seat next to Crystal, she pulled her phone out and began searching for her brother's name. 'I'm going home,' she thought distractedly.
"Everyone, this is Freedom. She's new, init so make her feel welcome," India shouted over the noise, satisfied when everyone had heard.
The group consisted of nine people, including herself, Crystal, India and ... well, she forgot the last girl's name already. The other six surrounding them consisted of five boys and one girl. All of which Freedom didn't know or particularly care for ... all except for Dre, of course and now Crystal had become an asset, also.
"Yeah, I'll make you feel welcome, b," a boy adorned with an array of tattoos and long coolie hair, braided in two grinned.
Her gaze moved towards him and she cringed when he winked at her, showcasing his two gold teeth. India didn't hesitate to push his head.
"I'm Marquise," he laughed, "you all right, yeah?" She rolled her eyes inwardly but smiled in return nonetheless. As Marquise introduced his crew to her, she couldn't help but constantly notice Dre's constant gaze on her.
*****
Dre's light eyes scanned Freedom's tall and curvaceous figure, thoughts running reckless in his mind. He licked his lips slowly, not missing the stern look that his cousin Crystal had thrown at him. Crystal wasn't getting in his way this time, he wasn't going to let that happen. He wanted Freedom. No one was going to stop him, not even his own blood.
"I know what you're thinking, Dre," Crystal stated as she rolled her eyes at her cousin's usual behaviour. "Don't do it."
Dre laughed at his cousin, watching Freedom as she walked from the group as she was going home. He couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment.
"I'm being serious, Dre," Crystal continued firmly, "she's a cool girl and I can actually see myself being friends with her for a while."
Dre rolled his eyes. His cousin always had a way of getting between him and his targets but he couldn't really blame her because his targets always seemed to be her potential friends but as soon as Dre ran up in them and left, they would so easily turn against his cousin. He shrugged her off.
"Stay out of my business, C," he ended the conversation.
*****
Shane tapped his fingers on the steering wheel awaiting the arrival of his little Celia. He huffed in annoyance, watching at she took her time to walk through the security gates of her college and casually strolled towards his car. Her dark skinned shimmered lightly in the sun and her bone straight hair sat perfectly down the curve of her back, swinging slightly as she moved. He couldn't help but kiss his teeth as one of the security guards openly stared at her bulging backside.
"Did you wanna walk any slower?" he yelled through the open window, laughing as her cheeks became warm.
She gave him her middle finger and laughed, a carefree laugh that he hadn't heard for a very long time. As each day passed, he could see more of her sister's fiery personality shining through his once timid and closed Celia.
"It's next week," Freedom muttered distractedly as she scrolled through her phone. Faith Evan's soothing voice filled the silence of the car as 'One More Chance' played softly.
Shane's breathing changed, his hands slipping slightly from the steering wheel. Freedom noticed and instantly gripped his free hand in hers, rubbing the back with her thumb in slow circles.
"We'll get through it together, Shane."
The Monday of the following week marked one complete year since her other half had left the world she knew for one that Freedom sincerely hoped that she was happy in. It had been one entire year, one year since her soul mate had drifted towards the clouds of the evening sky, leaving almost nothing but mere memories behind. One year had passed since the troublesome foursome became the lonesome twosome.
Tristan Arthurs, the best friend of her brother Shane and the man who held her heart carelessly was no where to be seen. Following the death of her sister, he disappeared without a single trace, leaving Freedom and Shane to mourn for the death of not only one but two of their beloved family members. Shane's team had searched high and low for his brother, trying to understand why or even where he had disappeared but almost a year later and still, his team had come up with nothing but Shane promised himself that he'd never give up.
"Did you do it?" Shane began, breaking the painful silence that had adorned on the pair. Freedom nodded, confident that she had Dre under the tips of her fingers.
"He's a foolish one, Shane. I'll finish him in no time."