His body was warm and he touched my hair. I immediately felt safe and loved.
"Talk to me. Tell me what happened." He said.
I sucked everything up and told him what Raymond said.
"That's fucked up. How about this, I'll take his place and we'll be friends."
I chuckled and wiped my tears. "No, you don't have to do that. I annoy you anyway."
"Nah, you don't. You're adorable." He brushed my hair out of my face.
"Adorable?"
"Mhm." He took his necklace off. "Here, this is bloodstone."
He put it around my neck and kissed my cheek. "It's time for me to go. I'll see you later Stephanie."
"See you later Jamal."
I dumped my tray and went to class with a smile on my face.
• 2:50 p.m •
I sent Steez my address and he picked me up. He said that I needed a Starbucks break.
"I'm not really a coffee person." Steez said.
"Really? Coffee is amazing." I said.
"Nah." He sipped tea. "I really like tea. Starbucks tea is fire. I like tea more than you like coffee."
"Nuh uh! I'd drink like twenty cups of coffee a day." I exaggerated.
"Yeah? I'll drink fifty cups of tea."
"Damnit. You won." I gave in.
He laughed and finished his tea. "Hey, you wanna go to-to the fair downtown on Friday? It looks really fun and I don't have anyone to go with."
"Sure! What's happening over there?" I finished my coffee.
"Stuff...I don't get out much to know so I can't really explain it." He shrugged.
"I feel you. Nothing to do these days. I miss being a kid, it was so much fun." I really started thinking.
"Yeah. Something so simple like riding bikes with my friends or going to their place and not coming home till eight makes me think about how trash life is right now. I'd do anything to relive one of those days."
I nodded my head and looked down at the table.
"But...!" He chirped making me jump. "We can never go back so let's make the most out of our teens."
He pulled me up out of my chair and we walked out of the Starbucks.
•
"What's on your mind?" He asked.
"Nothing!" We hung out at his place.
He looked at me. "Hmph."
"What?!" I asked.
"I just don't like when people don't tell me what's wrong when there's clearly something wrong."
"What if I'm not good at expressing myself?"
"You better get good at it. It's really trippin' me up."
"I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm used to people telling me what's wrong and no one really asks about me but it's cool. I don't care."
"You do care. That dude you hang out with doesn't ask about you?"
"He does but I know he's gonna say something I don't like so I refrain from telling him anything." I shrugged.
"You're worth my time." He said.
I raised an eyebrow. "Ok...?"
He laid on the floor looking up at the ceiling and held his hand out. "Next to me."
This nigga trippin'! What in the hell?! I'm not laying on his floor. No. What do I look like?
"No!" I made a stank face.
"Steffy..."
I groaned and laid next to him. He held my hand. I looked down and shook it off but he grabbed it again and held onto me tighter.
"Close your eyes and empty your mind. Are you familiar with astral projection?"