I had woken up the day after the BET Awards with a major headache. It was already 4 pm and the pain was barely starting to go away. My memory of last nights after party were fuzzy but I definitely understood what had happened. Ray rejected me and I got mad... God, why am I such an idiot? I don't even want him that way, or at all, it was just the alcohol speaking. Which reminds me why I hate alcohol! It transforms you into a whole new person. If I could go back and do that night over, I would... Ray must feel amazing after rejecting me... probably gonna rub it in my face every chance he gets. My bedroom door swung open without warning. Bahja pranced in with her backpack hanging off of one shoulder.
"Hey Hey." She smiled, tossing her backpack to the side and sitting on my bed. "How was the after party?"
I groaned and shoved the pillow that had been in my lap, in my face. "Don't remind me." My voice came out muffled.
"What? Did you and the super star hook up again?" She joked, obviously not knowing that's exactly what had happened. I slowly looked up from my pillow, regret etched on my face. Her jaw dropped. "You made out with him again?!" She exclaimed.
"Yes." I closed my eyes tightly before opening them a few seconds later. "It's not my fault! I was drunk!" I defended.
"Whoa, you were drunk?!" A smirk formed on here lips. "Damn Nique, when did you become such a badass?"
"I'm not." My shoulders slumped.
"Well I need details!" Bahja sat up excitedly. "What happened?"
I sighed, debating whether or not I was going to tell her the whole story... including the humiliating end to it all. Did I really throw myself at Ray like that? "I can't remember it clearly." It wasn't an exact lie... the memory from last night was definitely blurry but I remembered the important events.
"You must remember something if you regret it." She gave me a knowing look. "Spill."
I shrugged. "Ray and I had a little too much to drink and we ended up making out in a corner of the club." I wrinkled my eyebrows, remembering the kiss.
"Well that explains that giant hickey! Oh my God!" Bahja laughed.
"What?!" I shrieked, jumping out of bed to look in the mirror. Sure enough there was a giant red/purple mark below my ear, right smack on my neck. Damn Ray...
"So, are you guys like friends with benefits now or something?" Bahja looked way to amused. I spun around to face her.
"Hell no. I would never be friends with benefits with someone. If you want to kiss me then you have to be willing to call me your girlfriend." I stated matter of factly.
Bahja giggled. "Okay, then go out already. I saw the way you two were acting last night. That was way to real."
I rolled my eyes, trying to play it off. I didn't want to tell her that Ray actually rejected me. I pulled out my phone to see if anyone had texted me. Nothing.
"Checking to see if your prince charming sent you a flirty text." Bahja teased.
"No." I answered quickly. "We kinda got in a fight right before I got home."
"About what?" She frowned.
"I don't remember." I lied, handing her some cover up. "Now help me cover this thing up."
Bahja laughed. "Don't worry. I'm pro at this." And we all know why.
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~Ray's POV~
I sat in the living room playing Grand Theft Auto V with snacks and drinks surrounding me. My closest bestfriend Cyle decided to come down here for a couple of days. He was also at the after party with me and Zonnique too. Chres and Jacob decided to come over. Craig couldn't cause he had some family issues to attend to.
Kenneth walked in, typing furiously on his iphone. "Ray, we have a few meetings to attend today." He stated, not bothering to look up at me.
"Do I have to go?" I asked, not wanting to do anything but play video games.
Kenneth didn't even hesitate to answer. "Yes."
I groaned. "What if I go hang out with Zonnique?" Even though she's mad at me for rejecting her she can't really ignore me. This excuse has gotten me out of a meeting before, maybe it'll work a second time. Plus, I'm only using her to get out of meetings and other stuff.
"No way." Kenneth looked up at me. "This publicity stunt is starting to look more fun then work for you."
"Yeah Ray, you guys wouldn't even come up for air at the after party last night." Cyle teased. Turns out, a lot of people witnessed our make out and wouldn't shut up about it. I felt my cheeks heat up and hoped that I wasn't blushing.
"It was just a kiss." I mumbled irritably. And it was. I even told Zonnique that the kiss didn't mean anything. It was just because she was sexy.......... I admit that was a jerk off thing to say but it was the truth. Then she brought up Zoey and confused me. What does that ass hole have to do with anything?
"Kenneth, I really need to talk to her." I decided to keep trying to get out of this meeting.
"Oh really?" Kenneth raised an eyebrow, not breaking eye contact with me. "Why?"
I bit my lip trying to come up with a lie. I wasn't gonna tell Kenneth we got in a fight. I wanted to talk to her about it.... and maybe mention Zoey too.
"Come on Kenneth, just let the boy go see his girlfriend." Jacob spoke up. "It's obvious he's crazy about her."
Kenneth scoffed. "He is not." He paused for a second looking at me. "You don't really like Zonnique, do you?" No, I don't like Zonnique Yes, I'm attracted to her. But those are two entirely different things.
"No." I answered honestly. "But I think I hurt her feelings and I need to fix it." I was raised by a single mother, I knew how to treat girls with respect and last night I acted like a man whore. I needed to at least apologize. We were actually getting along at the award show and I feel that if we go back to how things were before that, it would just be taking a step back. I'm fine with being friends with her. Actually, I would love to be friends with her. I didn't have many girl friends that I could actually talk to and I had a lot in common with Zonnique. We were both trying to survive in the crazy world and we were forced to spend time together anyways. Might as well make that time useful right?
"You can talk to her after the meeting." Kenneth replied, shutting down my request. I groaned. Awesome...
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~Nique's POV~
I layed comfortably stretched out across the family roomleather couch in the living room, hugging my blanket. My dad was finally back, thank god. On the big tv screen showed Spongebob and Patrick selling chocolate.
My dad walked by and chuckled, stopping to talk to me. "The girl with a #1 album on the charts is laying on my couch watching some 90's cartoon show.... Shouldn't you be out eating 200 dollar sushi?" He teased.
I rolled my eyes while smiling. "Actually, I'd be a lot happier if you bought me some McDonald's." Technically, I'm not allowed to eat fried food because it's bad for my vocal chords but I decided to give it a try anyways.
"No can do Princess. You know I can't let you eat." My dad patted my head. "Why don't you invited that boyfriend of yours over for dinner." He grinned.
I sat up. I didn't not want to invite Ray to dinner especially after he rejected me. "He's probably busy." I lied. Anything to put off this dinner.
"Oh come on, the kid's gotta eat dinner. Why not here? Besides I'm sure if you asked him to come, he would. I watched the award show. He's crazy about you." My dad smiled. He genuinely thought this relationship was real... and cute. I tried not to show how uncomfortable it was talking about this. Ray meeting my dad? No, thank you. "I'm expecting him for dinner." My dad pointed a finger at me before walking up the stairs and leaving me alone once again.
"Yeah right." I mumbled under my breath. I'll ask Ray to come over to dinner when pigs fly.
I layed on the couch lazily for about 20 more minutes until my phone vibrated on my lap with a new text. I slid my finger across the screen, not really paying attention until I noticed who it was from... Ray. What on earth could he want? I thought he would at least leave me alone for a few days before making fun of me.
From: Lord Douche Bag
Nique , we really need to talk... Can I drop by your house in a few minutes?
I stared at the text message for what seemed like hours but in reality had only been a few minutes. We need to talk? I couldn't even imagine about what. Was he going to apologize? An apology from Ray seemed highly unlikely. I decided to kill two birds with one stone.
From: Me
My dad's home... he's been wanting you to come over for dinner... I'll talk to you, if you stay for dinner.
My phone buzzed almost immediately. Of course Ray agreed... now all I had to worry about is my dad meeting my fake boyfriend and talking to Ray... great.
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"It smells so good!" I complimented my mom as she put the finishing touches on her home made pizza.
"Well, there is a Laker game on tonight." She grinned, cutting even slices. "Pizza and a game is literally a match made in heaven." I hopped up on the counter, watching her pull out some dinner plates. "Are you nervous?" mom asked, looking up at me with a small smile. I shook my head.
"Nope." I responded popping the 'p'. Of course that was a lie.
She laughed with a teasing smile. "I see why you're a singer and not an actress." I laughed but it was cut off by the door bell... Ray must be here.
Suddenly, I felt nervous. Seeing Ray after last night... I was just praying that it wouldn't be awkward. I made my way to the front door, taking a deep breath to try to calm myself. I opened the door and Ray stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking as sexy as ever. He was wearing red skinny jeans, red was definitely a good color on him, and he had a black hoodie on. His hair was out of his braids and a black snapback was on his head and I was reminded why I was so attracted to him physically.... he's gorgeous!
"Hey." He cleared his throat awkwardly and gave me a small hug. I hugged back because my dad could be watching and moved aside to let him in. I closed the door and pulled him in for another hug, catching him off guard.
"Please Ray, make a good impression." I whispered in his ear. He pulled away and nodded.
The last thing I needed was for my dad to disapprove of my fake relationship. It would just add to the list of things I was stressed out about. I linked our hands together and pull him into the living room where my dad and mom had already started eating. My brothers and sister was at Shekinah's house who was my mom's best friend. I prefer her as my auntie though. I knew she was having a hard time with them. They bad as hell. Trust me, I've been there before.
"Dad. This is Ray. Ray, this is my dad, the famous TI and of course you I met my mine." I introduced them.
Ray held out his hand for my dad to shake. "Its a pleasure to meet you. I love your music." He had a charming smile on his face and I already knew he was going to try his best to get my dad to approve, which I greatly appreciated.
We took a seat on the couch and I handed Ray his plate.
Ray grinned. "Pizza and basketball. Love it here already."
"Are you a fan of basketball, Ray?" My dad asked, already trying to spark up a conversation.
We had already watched 3 quarters of the game and my dad and Ray were basically best friends. They were getting along better than I could have ever imagined.... now I'm not so sure if this is a good thing. My legs were stretched out across Ray's lap and he was laughing at something my dad had said. I'm willing to bet 20 dollars it wasn't even funny. Okay, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to know what Ray wanted to talk about... I stood up from the sofa and he looked up at me. I motioned for him to follow. As I made my way through the kitchen and to the glass door that lead to the backyard, I could hear him following close behind. One we were in the backyard, I walked over to our swinging bench. Ray quietly took a seat beside me. After a few seconds of silence and just looking at the stars, I spoke up.
"So, what exactly did you want to talk about?" I turned my head to look at him. He stared at me for a few seconds before responding.
"About last night." I knew it was going to be about that and honestly I didn't want to hear what he had to say. I had already been humiliated enough.
"We don't have to talk about it." I mumbled, looking away. "I think I've been embarrassed enough."
"So you remember?" He asked.
I nodded, staring straight ahead. I could feel his eyes on me and I just wished he would look away. It was hard for me not to die of embarrassment this very moment.
"Nique, I'm sorry." Ray started but I cut him off.
"Sorry for what?" I turned to look at him. He stared back at me, the look of guilt and innocence sketched on his face. "I was drunk. I didn't know what I was saying."
"Yeah, I figured." He replied. "But I shouldn't have took advantage of you like that."
"You didn't take advantage of me." I paused. "I wanted to kiss you just as much as you wanted to kiss me..." It was silent and I decided to explain myself further. "You looked good last night and I couldn't help myself." I shrugged, trying not to make a big deal out of things... because it truly wasn't that big of a deal.
"I shouldn't have told you I only made out with you because of your looks." He whispered. "I was a jerk and I'm sorry... I don't treat girls like this."
"I know you don't." I reassured him.
He sighed. "I'm sorry for being a jerk."
"It's okay." I replied quietly. "And I'm sorry for being a crazy drunk..."
This caused Ray to laugh. "Now I know why you don't drink." I cracked a smile and nudged him.
"Shut up." We fell silent again, both having small smiles on our faces.
"Nique?" Ray spoke up after a few minutes of comfortable silence. The smile had disappeared from his face.
"Yeah?" I turned to look at him. He looked solemn... almost sad.
"What happened between you and that Zoey guy?" He questioned. "You compared me to him last night..."
I tensed up. "I thought we agreed not to talk about our personal lives."
"I know..." Ray paused. "But I want to be friends. I don't want this stunt to make us hate each other... We got along at the award show. I think we could really be friends." I stared at him, not sure if he was being serious. Just a few days ago he wanted nothing to do with me... Being mean to me whenever he got the chance and now he wanted to be friends?
"What changed your mind?" I questioned.
"To be honest, the award show." He smiled slightly. "We got along so well and I'm not used to having girl friends.... It's hard for me to trust people... but I trust you." It felt good to hear Ray trusted me... Out of all people, he trusted me. I knew what it felt like, to not be able to trust people. Fame came with a price and that price included making it hard to find good people to be friends with.
"I trust you too." I replied softly. "I know how you feel..."
"It's hard to find people who understand what we're going through." Ray commented. I grinned deciding to put all the past arguments and stuff behind us. Maybe it's possible to become friends with Rayan Lopez. I held out my hand.
"Let's agree that whenever we need to talk to someone we'll be here for each other." Ray looked down at my hand and smiled.
"Deal." We shook on it, making it feel more official. I stared up at the stars, feeling a lot less stressed out than I had felt earlier.
"Don't think you're off the hook that easy." Ray spoke up. "Tell me the story about Zoey." Damn, I thought he forgot. I exhaled loudly, deciding I should probably tell him.
"I liked him and he didn't like me back." Ray stared at me, urging me to continue. He knew that wasn't the whole story. "We used to hook up and stuff... Basically, we had a friends with benefits type relationship. He liked the fact that I was pretty... but I guess that's all he liked." I bit my lip, feeling extremely pathetic. "Um, he wasn't always the nicest guy. In fact, I'm not even sure why I liked him so much. He always shot me down... Made me feel insecure." I could feel Ray staring at me with concern. "He knew I wanted to be a singer... He always told me I could never do it but then I did. He didn't like the lifestyle of a celebrity and when I started being home schooled he barely talked to me. Then one random day, he got a girlfriend. I had never even heard him talk about this other girl..." I felt Ray pull me in for a hug. I gladly hugged around his waist, just wanting to feel comforted. "He never liked me.... not the way I liked him." I frowned.
"I'm sorry Nique Nique." Ray mumbled into my hair. "And I'm sorry I treated you the same exact way he did." I didn't respond. We just continued to hug. "It won't happen again." He promised. "We're friends now... I won't hurt you." He squeezed me tighter.
Turns out all the magazines saying Ray was the sweetest guy in the world were accurate. I'm glad we could finally be friends...