"He did what?" Jade asks as we stand on the lunch line. Usually, I won't come near the schoolie but the way my stomach is set up right now, I just have to suck it up.
"He practically ran me over and then tried to make me apologize for it. Then Mr. Ramon comes out and all of sudden he wants to be nice." I say as I grab a sandwich and fries. We make our way to our table and take a seat.
"And on top of that, he called me... baby girl"
Jade's face immediately rolls up, "Ew!"
"Right! And now the stupid bastard knows my name" I stab at my food with my fork and shove some fries in my mouth.
I stab at my food with my fork and shove some fries in my mouth. Jade looks down at my impaled plate amused and chuckles, "You know you don't need a fork for that, right?" She comments before she dips a fry in her ketchup.
"Shut up!" I say as I munch on my own fries.
She lifts her plate up to me, "Ketchup?" She asks and I roll my face up.
"Jade no matter how many times you ask I refuse to eat that shit, it's nasty!" I tell her yet again. It's like she has no idea who I am.
"The last time you tried it you were eight maybe your palette has changed" She suggests and I look down at the red sauce.
"Nope, it looks gross, smells gross, and tastes even worse" I refuse.
"That's the same excuse from like ten years ago" She complains.
"And it's the same valid excuse ten years later" I argue back and she rolls her eyes.
"You're so difficult" She grumbles and I smile triumphantly. Soon Jade's eyes brighten and she leans toward me.
"Oh my God I have to put you on, this shit was crazy!" She doesn't say much at first she only bites her lips. Jade only does this when she has true gossip for me.
"Child spill!" I urge her and Jade smiles deviously.
"I heard that Zayla and Anderson were at a party together and apparently they were all up on each other" Jade reveals.
"Are you serious, I thought they hated each other? I swear that entire group loves them some black women. Doesn't Anderson like Iris though?"
"And that's not all. Miranda told Jame, who then told Mikayla who ran her mouth to Trina who told Lex-" Jade continues.
"Just get to the person that told you" I cut in and Jade sucks her teeth.
"No fun. Well, Ife told me that they did the good ol' bump and grind in the bathroom." Jade finally reveals and I almost choke on my water.
"Jade do not play with me" I warn and she shakes her head.
"On God bro and I also heard from Rowan-"
"Wait a minute" I stop her and narrow my eyes at what she just said.
"You talked to Rowan? The one that cheated on Queen?" I ask her and she looks at me all guilty
"Maybe..." She trails off and I sit back a little.
"Unbelievable!" I groan.
"I'm sorry he was there and I had to tell someone"
"I thought we decided to stay out of it especially since he hangs out with-" Before I can even finish my sentence the doors to the cafe open and in walks the devils themselves, the Vanillas.
Now I didn't come up with it, in fact, I think it's just plain stupid to call them that but apparently, that name caught on for some unknown reason that really isn't that unknown. If that's what they're called then you can guess what we're called. Then again I always preferred chocolate over plain old vanilla anyways.
In my school, we have a bit of a racial problem. This school is predominantly black and then more white people moved into our neighborhood. They started to send their white kids here and let's just say they think they run shit.
Now I know that we're not supposed to care about color but that's not the reality that we face. This country is very much still racist and you see it every day on the news. Anyways, we pretty much ignore them but of course, there is one group that doesn't seem to get it.
The leader of said group is the one person I hate the most, Lincoln Scott. He makes me want to spit because he's just that guy. The guy you can't help but hate because he's a dick who just wants to get on your nerves. Next to him is Rowan Locklear. He dated Queen last year and the little bastard cheated on her with someone else. He really thought he would get away with it too.
But the gag is!
While he cheated on Queen Katie cheated on him with another girl named Julie. So, all in all, he got what he deserved but now he wants a second chance with Queen. It'll be a mighty cold day in hell before I let that happen.
Another kick in the ass about this entire situation is Rowan is my cousin. My auntie Ava married a Native American but he died back when we were little. Rowan never got to experience his dad's culture. The closest he ever got was from the history books in school.
Then again we all know our history books have been whitewashed. They only tell the history that they want to.
As much as I hate what he did to Queen I have a soft spot for him, we grew up together. He spent almost every day at my house when his dad died. You'd think that'd be enough for him to at least back me up when it comes to Lincoln, but apparently not.
Lincoln leads two boys over to us and I try to figure out who this other boy is. I know Rowan, but this one looks unfamiliar. It isn't until he draws closer that I realize who it is.
Cole.
"Don't glare too hard or they'll burst into flames" Jade jokes and I laugh humorlessly.
"If only," I say as I roll my eyes. Lincoln stops right in front of our table and I can feel the mood change instantly.
"What do you want?" David spits.
Shit, I forgot David or anybody else was here. David's arm is wrapped around his girl Nicole and he glares at Lincoln. If there is anyone who hates Lincoln more than I do it's David. Not exactly sure how or when their beef got started but they fight all the time.
"Why does there have to be a reason we're all friends here aren't we?" Lincoln questions innocently.
"No, bye" David answers curtly.
"Always so aggressive David. Tell me are you really angry inside?" Lincoln teases and David drops his hand from around Nicole.
"Nah, but if you want to see me angry continue to run that slick ass mouth of yours" David threatens and I quickly intervene before it gets out of hand as it always does.
"What do you want Lincoln? Nobody has time for your foolishness this early?" I question and Lincoln turns his attention towards me.
"Well, I just wanted to come over and say that we have a new edition to our group" He boasts while the rest of us look at each other. Is this really what he came over here for?
"Unless this is the R&B group we don't give a fuck, amen?" A girl named Mercedes chimes in.
"Amen!" We call back.
"Oh, but you should as I said our numbers grow every year" Lincoln repeats.
"This isn't a take-over you know?" Jade spits with disgust in her eyes.
"Anyways" He dismisses her immediately and turns to Cole.
"This is Cole and he is a senior like us" He states happily and the rest of us look at each other as if we should care.
"And this concerns us how?" Another girl named Iris asks and we all agree.
"Are they always this hostile?" Cole turns to ask him and when his eyes look over to me I raise a brow. Just because we question stuff doesn't mean it's out of hostility.
"Well, your tone speaks otherwise. If I knew better I'd think you'd have it out for me and I don't even know you."
"Then don't talk to us, it's really not that hard to do" I reply right back.
"Why not? I'm not a part of whatever beef you have with Lincoln, I just got here. You don't even know me." He asks and Lincoln rolls his eyes.
"Don't worry Cole. The more you stick around the quicker you'll learn about Kendra Lyon, the school's black panther." Lincoln mentions and I smile at that compliment.
"Thanks for the introduction, Lincoln. But, as you can see we're busy so goodbye" Jade states as she waves them off. The minute Rowan tries to cut in I tell him to stop, he's forever lost his speaking privileges.
"Told you, Rowan, they're a waste of our time," Lincoln states as he stares at me. Yet, they're the ones who came over here to introduce their friend so technically they wasted their own time. But, they're not ready for that conversation yet.
"See you around Kendra" Cole states before they walk away. Our conversations resume and I can't believe that.
"Did he really come over here with that nonsense just to start trouble?" I ask and Jade agrees.
"Maybe next time we should pretend they're bees and we can't hear them" Jade jokes and I chuckle at how corny she is sometimes.
^.^.^
I close my locker and before I can even walk away I bump into someone. Again! I look up to see who I ran into and I'm surprised to see it's Rowan. My face falls into an irritated stare and I push past him.
"What do you want Rowan?"
"I need you to talk to Queen" He starts and I scoff at that.
"Kendra, come on! Don't do me like that" Rowan begs as he rushes in front of me.
"Rowan, please! You nagged me all summer about this and for the last time no!" I declare firmly.
Rowan stares at me with a defeated look and a small part of me begins to feel bad for him. Then the part that stayed up with Queen as she cried her eyes out checks me. I no longer feel some type of way.
"I know I did wrong" Rowan begins and my face turns to shock.
"Oh, really? You don't say!" I state purely shocked. Not!
"Okay Kendra, you can cool it with your sarcasm, I get it. I was an asshole and I thought that with space she'd come to realize that I am sorry. But she doesn't even talk to me anymore." He responds and I eye him like he's stupid
"Maybe because you cheated on her with Becky with the good hair," I say in a duh tone and he stares at me seriously.
"You don't think I know that!" He raises his voice and I give him my 'you're not serious' face.
"I'm sorry, I'm just stressed about this. I'm not ready to let her go and I feel that she's moved on already. I'll never get a chance to make it up to her before we graduate" He explains and deep down I can understand that.
He made a mistake and everyone makes mistakes. I know deep down Rowan really did love Queen. I know that Queen still loves him but she refuses to talk about it because she fears any type of relationship with him. Rowan begs me and I see the desperation in his eyes.
"Please from one cousin to the next I just want the chance to make it up to her" He pleads.
Deep down I really don't want to help him. Queen has been through so much and I personally don't want her to risk it. On the other hand, Queen is a big girl and can handle herself. She doesn't need me to play matchmaker.
I stomp my foot, "Fine, I'll see but no promises" I tell him and he tries to hug me.
"That's what's up!" I shrug his hug off and tell him that he's lucky to have a cousin like me. We part ways and as I walk down the halls I wonder if this is right?