"Okay, today's outreach effort is critical." Phillip says as he stands before us. "And remember, when you're not talking to voters, you're still sending them a message."'
Bright and early in the morning Phillip had made sure that all of us were dressed to impressed before gathering us into the living room. The coffee table is filled with his campaign materials, pamphlets detailing his platform, stickers with boring slogans, signs to be planted around town, and pins to be placed down on surfaces of probably every building we enter.
"This will probably be the only time these voters get to see us in the flesh and get the chance to interact with us." Vivian says. "So be respectful, be thoughtful. Just be yourself."
"Just better versions?" Ashley playfully ask her mother as she turns at the waist to look at her.
Vivian answers the question by chuckling lowly and shaking her head, Phillip smiles before grabbing two clipboards off the coffee table. "All right, let's talk assignment." Phillip hands them the clipboards, Will flicks my dangling earring, I swat his hand away but he smiles. "Carlton, Will, you'll hit the streets and knock on doors to register voters."
"Uh, question." Will says as he looks at the clipboard, draping his arm around my shoulder. "Does it matter that I've never done this before?"
"Hey, don't worry." Carlton tells him with a smile so fake that a blind man can see it. "I'll show you the ropes."
"Thank you, Carlton." Vivian smiles sweetly at him, a blind man has better vision than her.
"Yes, thank you, Carlton." Will says back sarcastically, the two of them share a fake smile to each other.
"Hilary, Halle, and Ashley." Phillip snaps his fingers. "You three will go to local business owners and ask if they'll put out campaign signs or stickers up in their windows."
Hilary smiles as she confidently says, "Who could say "no," to the three of us?"
"Looks like Will's going to have to live a couple hours without Halle today." Ashley teases.
Will pulls me towards me and point two fingers at Ashley as he quotes The Color Purple, "Nothing but death can keep me from ha!"
"Let's stay on topic." Phillip says. "We'll discuss Will and Halle relationship later tonight."
I hope he's joking. I don't want to have to run down the whole relationship thing a second time — Kennedy and Alanna was more than enough.
Will closes his eyes and holds his hand towards them. "Sorry, we're asking for privacy at this time."
Vivian chuckles before saying, "Phillip and I will be meeting with community leaders in Rev. Lamont's office. And if we're lucky, nobody will show up."
"Hey, yo, G," Will nods to Geoffrey. "Everybody's got an assignment. What are you gonna be doing?"
Verily vaguely Geoffrey says, "I'll be around."
Phillip claps his hands. "All right, thank you, one and all. We roll at noon."
Hilary wasn't up for driving, especially since she changed out of her blinged out teal two piece suit to an all white outfit, so next up was me. The second we got into the car Hilary and Ashley had talked my ear off about Will, which I knew was inevitable because lately everybody just wants to talk about us. They fired question after question, and my silence only seemed to fuel them more. The questions traveled from inside the car to inside the stores, store after store they were more interested in my love life than their asking people to stick their father stickers and signs in their windows. Well, I guess that is more interested.
And they have proved that ignoring them wasn't going to stop them from asking the same questions different ways.
"So, how did Will ask you to be his girlfriend?" Ashley questions, for the umpteenth time, as we walk into record store.
"He didn't." I tell her. "Because I'm not."
Hilary's face scrunches up in offense, her brows furrowing deeply as she snaps, "What do you mean he didn't?" Her tone carrying a hint of irritation. "If he's not asking you to be his girlfriend, then what are you to him?"
Ah, this infamous question.
"We're just enjoying each other's company," I explain calmly and clearly so that I won't have to explain this again. "We're taking things slowly and letting things play out naturally."
"Well, that's just dumb," Hilary retorts, rolling her eyes. "You like him. He likes you. Why not just date? You know what, don't worry, all that will end as soon as I slap some sense into him when I see him again."
"No need to go slapping anybody." I tell her. "But I'm fine with how things are right now."
"Okay, fine." Hilary sighs, shaking her head. "I'm still slapping him upside the head when I see him."
Luckily the conversation finally ends when a guy walks up on us, I see him hanging out with Will by the pool a couple times but I hadn't officially met him. "Now I know that ain't Ashley swinging through."
"Hey, Jazz." Ashley smiles as she sets the box down filled with Phillip campaign materials down on the record shelf. "Is it cool if I put my dad's poster in the window?"
"Yeah, do your thing." Jazz nods as Ashley walks off with the box, and his eyes dart to Hilary who's engrossed in her phone. He turns towards me and extend his hand, "Hey, I've seen you around before, but we've hadn't officially met yet. I'm Jazz."
"Halle," I respond.
"Ah, the nickname makes sense now," he chuckles, and I knew he's referring to the Halle Berry name that Will has yet to stop calling me. "No more "Will's girl," then."
I playfully say, "I guess I'll just have to go back to people calling me by my legal name now. Bummer." He chuckles, his eyes fall back on Hilary who's more interested in her phone than this conversation. I watch as he trial his eyes down the length of her body, and the way he's looking at her had me feeling like I was intruding on a moment that they aren't even having.
"Okay, time for a break." Hilary locks her phone and look at me, crossing her arms. "House hunting is so annoying. It's either I can't afford it or when I find something I can tolerate then it's gone before I can even click to apply."
I bite back the offer to help because I know she's going to decline the offer for the hundredth time. "This is Jazz." I introduced, gesturing to him standing in front of her.
Hilary smiles, she extends her hand out towards him. "Hey, I've seen you around the house with Will. I'm Hilary."
He takes her hand. "Hilary, lovely name." He grins. "Now I don't have to call you the tall honey in the pool house no more."
As I watch the interaction between Jazz and Hilary, darting my eyes back and forth between them. Figuring three's a crowd, I start searching for an escape. "Um, I think I'll go help Ashley," I interjected and without waiting for a response, I make an escape, slipping away from the conversation.
On the other side of the store, Ashley is now the one engrossed into her phone. "Hey, Ash." I stand beside her, sliding the box towards me to grab a couple posters. "Wanna help me put these posters on the other side of the window?"
"Uh," she stalls as she locks her phone. "Actually, I'm gonna head to the next store. Maybe splitting up will help this go by quicker."
"You don't have to lie to me, Ash." With the posters in hand, I open the store door. "You need to like to your sister."
I know what sneaking off looks like, I've done enough sneaking around to know that's what she was trying to do. And I get it, she much rather be with her friends than doing this. If Hilary and Will wasn't doing this then I also would have been sneaking off to hang out with them.
Ashley must have fooled Hilary because she came out grinning ear-to-ear. "Hey, stay safe." I warn her. "And if you get caught, if you try to throw me under the bus I'm denying everything."
"Got it." Ashley chuckles.
As the only one seemingly dedicated to the task we were assigned, I hang the posters up on the window. Why am I the only one doing the work when this is their father campaign? Hilary getting flirted with, and Ashley tried to not so sneakily sneak off to hang out with her friends. Phillip hadn't told us how many businesses to go to, but seeing how we've been doing this for nearly two hours I think we went to more than any of us had thought. I shoot Hilary a quick text stating that I'll be waiting in the car for her whenever she was finish flirting with— I mean, talking with Jazz.
Seated in the car, I decide to call Will to see how things are going on his end with Carlton. Will answers on the second ring. "Halle Berry, I was just about to call you." Will speaks into the phone the second the line connects. "Carlton voice was starting to annoy me and I needed to hear a voice that I much rather listen to."
I laugh. "I'm guessing things with Carlton aren't going so well."
"It's going horrible. They slam the door in our face the second he even opens his mouth to say "Phillip Banks." Not one person wanted to hear what we had to say, and I'm not exaggerating. And then he wonders why they don't want to listen to him when he keeps referring to them as "these people" and aggressively tries to get them to sign."
"That sounds like Carlton, especially when he's frustrated." I'm not surprise. "I don't think he gets the whole people who don't trust the system already wants somebody yelling at them to vote when you hadn't proved why they should."
"And that's what I've been trying to tell him." Will sighs. "And after 2 hours of this, he finally asked me for help."
"Well, that doesn't sound like him."
"It's not. He made a deal with Phillip to play nice and get a bunch of voters to sign, and usually I would enjoy watching him fail but I made a deal with Vivian to play nice."
"So, what did you ask you?"
"Huh?"
"You said you made a deal with Vivian, so what was the deal?"
"Huh?"
My face expression drops instantly. "I know you heard me."
A crackling sound starts to come from the other side of the phone, and in-between the sounds he talks. "I think I got a really bad connection. I can't hear you."
"You're so annoying." I laugh. "If you didn't want to tell me that's all you have to say."
Eventually Hilary had enough of being flirted with and comes back to the car, grinning ear-to-ear. I started to tease her but unlike her and the rest of my friends, I decided not to pry and wait until she feels like telling me. She said that this whole time she was helping him with his social media presence since he apparently had none, setting up his Instagram account, recording his first video, and even becoming his first follower. I became the second follower when she pulled up his account.
She also gushed about how he's an easy person to open up to, she said that they had a little heart-to-heart. He told her that his uncle had opened the shop, and it's his legacy. And he's doing things that he loves and encourages Hilary does the same; and she talks about how hard it is to find somewhere to live. I'm sure that Vivian was just bluffing about her moving but the threat of getting asked to leave was more than enough for Hilary, bluffing or not she wasn't backing down to her mom anymore.
And I respected that. I wish I had that kind of strength to do the same with my sister, instead I just fall into a cycle of being guilt tripped and then giving her money.
She didn't even ask where Ashley had ran off too, she knew that she had been trying to sneak away since she's been talking about meeting up with her friends for days prior. And we didn't need to go track her down because Geoffrey was already tracking her down, and when I asked how did he know where to find her she laughed and said that he wouldn't be on her father payroll if he let a 12 year old outsmart him.
Surprisingly, Hilary didn't want to go home to change into yet another outfit, she decided to keep her all white outfit on. Her not wanting to go home to change into her outfit, had changed my plans; we was suppose to head back to her house and get Will then he would drive us both to the skating rink. She don't want to drive today and I don't want to drive anymore, but now that we're not heading back to the house she gets to be a passenger princess and I'm still driving. But Will's definitely driving back.
"Why do we always forget that she can't skate?" I question as I try to keep Alanna on her feet. "Every single time."
Kennedy's on the other side of Alanna, also trying to help keep her from falling and possibly embarrassing herself in front of the love of her life — if he's here; Alanna words. "The real question is why does she keep getting on the floor when she knows she can't skate?"
"In case the love of my life is here!" Alanna exclaims for the umpteenth time, it's like her catchphrase at this point. "I put too much into this outfit, hair, and makeup to be standing against the wall or sitting down the entire night."
Kennedy and I guided her over to the edge of the rink, where we leaned against the wall, watching everybody else skate amongst each other. The music is a fast-paced, the lights are dimmed and red, blue, and green color beams keeps it from being completely dark. Couples glided gracefully across the ice, their movements almost looking like a synchronized dance. Vivian and Phillip are also skating, hand-and-hand and looking like they're having the time of their lives. Almost as if this is a date night instead of his campaign event.
Hilary skating alongside Carlton, singing to the top of their lungs to the song blasting through the building. Her purse dangling from her arm because she refused to just leave her bag in my car, said her outfit wasn't complete without the bag. Ashley even seems happy as she skates with Will, who makes a funny face every time he passes by us. Even Geoffrey is skating. This was originally an exclusive skating event to focus on his campaign, but it seems like the whole neighborhood has showed up.
Kennedy rolls her eyes as she crosses her arms. "Then learn to skate so you can look cute skating by yourself. What if the love of your life eyes stray over to Halle and I?"
"Then clearly he isn't the love of my life." Alanna states with a shrug. "The love of my life eyes would only be for me."
"Well, you're stopping Halle from skating with the love of her life." Kennedy tells her, it's my turn to roll my eyes.
"If Halle wanted to leave she could have, I wasn't going to stop her." Alanna says. "I thought she just didn't want to leave because Will and Lisa are talking."
"What?" Kennedy and my voice are identical that I don't know who said it.
Alanna points over to the other side of the room, undoubtedly Will and Lisa stand locked in what seems like a heated conversation. It's hard to see due to the dimmed lights and the many people skating past us, I was only able to tell that the conversation wasn't friendly because Will is such an animated person. What could they be arguing about? I never see them together but yet there's always rumors, alongside with our own rumors, about them circulating around. But this far along it still can't be about the fight that happened at Connor pool party, I'm clearly out the loop of something.
Or I'm overthinking yet again.
"I wonder what they're arguing about." Kennedy says, also trying to watch them through the small gaps between skaters.
No clue, I didn't even know they converse with each other to have an argument.
"Well, at least they're not arguing right in the middle of the rink, causing a scene." Alanna breaks the silence between us. "Let's focus on having a good time and leave the drama to them."
"That feeling you're feeling right now is exactly why labels matter, Hal." Kennedy says, ignoring Alanna. "If you were officially his girlfriend, you could openly express your jealousness about this situation. Find out what they're arguing about and maybe even ask him not to be around her since she doesn't like you. But you're stuck in this gray area, you're not his girlfriend so you can't really be jealous. It's sorta like being on the sidelines of a game, wanting to jump in and play, but not having the jersey. No, it's like being in a conversation where everyone else knows the script, but you're left ad-libbing without a clue."
"I know you think labels are so important in relationships, well, people who have them still get cheated on. So, in this case I think I'm better off without one," I tell her before skating away
"If I could skate away from you, I would." I hear Alanna say before her voice her voice gets drowned out from the distance and music.
I know Kennedy has the best intentions and she's just trying to look out for my feelings, it's just her bluntness never takes a day off no matter the mood or the situation. She's the one who slaps you back into reality, and won't even allow you to dwell on a bad situation; expect you to just move on. Alanna may have an unrealistic view on relationship, but she's more of the comfort person and will allow you dwell over a situation when needed; just maybe a little too long.
As I skate away from Kennedy and Alanna, I noticed Ashley is no longer gliding across the floor. Instead, she's standing against the wall, looking like she rather be anywhere else but here. The girl who was just smiling and laughing with Will a few laps ago, now looks disinterested. She wants to be with her friends while I want to be away from my friends, Kennedy to be specific. It has to suck that she can't have just one day to hang with her friends, they want to come off as a picture perfect family which means every child must be apart of the campaign.
While I like to think that I'm just volunteering because Hilary's involved, the truth is I'm in the same boat as Ashley. I don't want to be apart of every fundraiser but ever since the divorce, I've had to step up for my entire family. We used to attend these events together, then I could skip a couple events because Dad, Mom, and Chloe were there. But now, Mom and Dad moved out of Bel-Air, and Dad avoids home as if it's contiguous; leaving me to attend these events.
Vivian waving me down catches my eye, she leaves Phillip's side and gracefully skates towards me, joining me on the sidelines of the rink. "Halle!" Vivian greets warmly, opening her arms for a hug as she approaches. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
I was until a few minutes ago, all thanks goes to Kennedy.
I nod. "Yes, I think everybody was looking forward to this fundraiser, it's fun and everybody gets to see Phillip in this fun and relatable."
"Maybe you should be Phillip young campaign advisor, help him appeal to the younger people. You and Will, the two of you make a great team." Vivian smiles, crossing her arm and leaning back against the half wall. "Having all these people here was Will's idea, saying he can connect more with black people if he opened this exclusive event and make it a public event."
"Smart move." I nod. "The black people feel like he's more for the white people than the black people right now, making it hard for people to want to vote for him. Black people want to hear what issues in our community he's going to fix, and what benefits them for supporting him."
"And that's why we love having you around, you're so insightful and educated." She places her hands on my shoulders. "I know we might not say it often enough, but Phillip and I really appreciate you for all the help you've been giving us with the campaign."
I dismiss what she's saying with a wave of my hand. "Family supports family."
"Another reason why we love having you around," Vivian smiles, bringing into a hug.
Her embrace is comforting, something I've come to appreciate since my parents' divorce, my mother's relocation to Chicago, and my mother's cold shoulder I've been enduring since the divorce. Vivian fills that maternal void for me, she's like a second mom to me; but sometimes I just want to talk to my actually mom.
She breaks the hug but keeps me within arms length and says, "I was thinking that we should have another girls night. Me, you, Hilary, Ashley, and Lisa." My smile drops within seconds of hearing Lisa name. "We hadn't had one in forever, and I can never seem to get you and Lisa there at the same time. And Lisa's mother's anniversary coming up soon, she was one of my Soro sisters, and it might be a tough time for her. I don't want her to feel alone on such an important time in her life."
Even though Lisa made it clear that she didn't like me, when she was dating Carlton and after their breakup, I tried to send her my condolences to her the day of her mother's anniversary one time and she told me to never bring up her mother, not even think about her. And that was our last time speaking to each other until we ran into each other at the fundraiser, Will's first day here.
"I'm actually going to see Chloe that day." I tell her, even though I knew she wasn't going to believe that for a second.
And surely enough she points out, "I didn't tell you a day."
"I figured that you wanted to do it on the day of her mother's anniversary." I explain. "And I'm actually flying back down to see Chloe, we've been planning it for weeks."
"I understand." Vivian nods her head. "I just want all my girls there together for this."
Before I could conjure up another excuse, my phone vibrating in my back pocket, saving me from this conversation. It's as if I had talked her up because it's Chloe calling, and I rather continue this conversation with Vivian about this girls night now than talk to Chloe. I hadn't been answering Chloe's calls lately, not since the last time she asked for money, which was when Will made the basketball team. Her attempts to reach out had become increasingly persistent, I had started to think maybe she really wanted to talk to me.
Until she started leaving voicemail and texts, almost convincing me that she wanted to talk to me when she first started off by saying she wanted to know how I was doing. But when I had forgot to text back because Will decided declared I was more into my phone than hanging out with him. So by time I had remember that she had text me, the next several texts were accusations regarding our parents' divorce, followed by requests for money.
Eventually, I resorted to muting her alerts, allowing her messages to slip unnoticed into the messages app, sparing myself the emotional turmoil each time she attempted to contact me. Despite knowing that she only wants money from me, I really do miss my sister and we had such a great time together when I visited last time. We use to be so close, close that people often would mistake us for twins. Now, I don't even want to talk to her.
"Sorry, but I have to take this." I flash Vivian an apologetic smile, I turn my phone so that she can Chloe's calling.
"We'll talk about this later." Vivian tells me before she heads back onto the mix of all the other skaters, gracefully gliding away.
I remain on the sidelines, turning around so that my back is towards all the other skaters. The call drops but she calls back less than a second later, I debate back and forth about answering or ignoring her call yet again. I answer, she snaps at me for not answering her and ask for more money but on the slim chance, she might actually to talk for once. I know it's not the latter, but there's a small chance that it could be.
Just as I'm about to tap accept, someone presses up against me, their hands settling onto my waist before sliding over my stomach to wrap around me. "I hope you're not done skating." Will says, resting his chin on my shoulders. "We've been here too long to have not skated together once."
"Yeah, you're right." I reply, my thumb hovering over the accept button before I pocket my phone and turn to face him. "Let's fix that now." Will grins as he takes my hand, guiding me into the mix of skaters, I feel a rush of warmth at his touch. "You do know I can skate, right?" I quip, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I know." He chuckles, lacing his fingers through mine and squeezing my hand. "I just wanted to hold your hand."
As much as Kennedy's words had stirred up a flicker of jealousy, I refuse to let it ruin my evening. Putting thoughts of Will and Lisa together out of my head, they were arguing not hugging and kissing each other. And I'm definitely not going to tell him who he can't and can hang out with, label or no label; even if one of those people he had befriended is somebody who hates my guts. Hm, maybe I should do some rethinking about that.
The sweet and cute moment of holding hands while we skate had ended early when Hilary skated between us, causing our hands to pull apart. "Slow pokes!" Hilary teases, she effortlessly continues skating ahead, leaving us behind.
Will and I looked at each other, no words exchanged, before we pushed off to chase after Hilary. Hilary was definitely no match to keep up with the both of us, we circled around Hilary a couple times, flashing wide grinds as we passed by. And by the third time we passed her, she called quits and stepped out the rink to lean against the wall with the others. Her attention back on her phone, and I assume that she's apartment hunting again.
This is the most fun I had in a while, a welcome break away from Chloe's guilt trips for money, Dad avoiding home, track, school, and helping with the campaign. And as much as I love spending my weekends eating and binge-watching TV series with Hilary, I might just have to add skating to my repertoire. Or perhaps it was simply anything with Will that made things seem way more fun. The mood of the rink has shifted as the music had switched to a slower tempo, the familiar beat to "Come Thru" filled the air.
I should've known better
Can't even pretend like I don't want it again
On the brain all the time
Thinkin' of all the things that we did
Will smiles widens as he extends his hand towards me, I had barely put my hand in his before he pulls me towards him. With me standing in skating in front of him, he wraps one arm around me and holds my hand with the other. A simple move, that all the couples have probably done already, sends shivers down my spine and I lean into his embrace. He maneuvers us around so that we're skating backwards, and I just remember Alanna gushing about couples skating together.
You did somethin'
'Cause shit like this don't happen too often
It's the way you put it down
I don't want no one else around
"Skating together is definitely going on our list of go-to activities from now on." Will says. "But next time we won't have family or friends, it'll just be the two of us."
"Sounds like a date."
Will suddenly swerves us off to the sidelines, my back pressing against the wall as he stands in front of me, his gaze locked with mine. "I mean, if you want this to be our first date instead of the one I had planned then that's fine."
"Hm." I tilt my head side-to-side. "First let me hear what you got planned then I'll choose."
"Nah," Will shakes his head, leaning in a little closer. "The only way you're going to find out what I have planned is if you choose my idea for our first date."
I sigh. "Well, since you seem to have put some thought into this date, I'll guess I choose your idea."
"You guess?" Will raises an eyebrow.
With a shrug, I reply, "Yeah, I guess."
His lips curve into a grin. "You guess?" He repeats, his tone teasing.
Before I can respond, Will closes the remaining distance between us, his lips meeting mine in a gentle kiss. I instinctively lean into him, his hands find their way to my hips as he deepens the kiss. I resist the urge to wrap my arms around his neck, remembering that Phillip and Vivian are probably somewhere watching us. This wasn't the kind of kiss for a family-friendly event, the kind of kiss that have parents making sure girls stay on one side and the boys stay on the other.
Got me takin' a step on the wild side
Cuttin' all ties
With them other guys
Way you, way you look in my eyes
Lovin' me nice and slow by
Will pulls back, a smirk playing on his lips. "You still guessing?"
"Just a little bit."
Debating between letting this be a cute innocent love story, or sprinkle some drama into this. . .