On Sunday morning Sevyn's mom wakes her up to announce that they're spending the day together. Feeling a little confused, Sevyn does as she's told and gets dressed in a navy sweater, grey jeans and the new boots she bought yesterday at the mall. Her mother is already waiting for her downstairs so she grabs a pop tart and leaves out the door.
"Where are we going?" Sevyn asks as they drive down the highway.
"I'm not sure yet, I just want to get out of the house. It seems like all I do is work and sleep, your father hasn't taken me out on a date in God knows how long." She does that eye roll again that always happens when her dad is present or mentioned. "And I also want to just spend some time with you, I'm sorry if I've been kind of distant lately."
"Yeah, wassup with that?" Sevyn asks, "Are you and dad doing ok?"
Her mother glances at her as they slow down due to traffic. "To tell you the truth Sevyn I don't even know. We can't go one day without arguing and it hurts because I love him yet he keeps pushing me away. I know it must be weird to see us this way but we'll get through it, I promise."
Sevyn furrows her eyebrows feeling unsatisfied, "What do you argue about?"
"That's grown folks business that you don't need to worry about right now." Her mother says and Sevyn knows better than to ask again. "Just know that this is nothing you need to try to solve for us. Every relationship has problems sometimes, we'll be fine."
Sevyn almost laughs. How can't she worry? Her parents practically ignore each other around the house and all they do is fuss behind closed doors. She can't even remember the last time she saw her dad so much as kiss her mothers cheek.
"Today's all about me and you. We haven't talked in the longest, how are you and Jackson?" Her mom asks.
At the mention of her boyfriend Sevyn feels herself perk up. She starts babbling to her mom all about Jackson,how he makes her smile,how he annoys her just for fun, how he protects her at all cost. She can't seem to stop talking and when she finally does she feels like there's more to say.
"And since I was ignoring his call he climb---" she cuts herself off when she realizes she almost snitched on herself.
"He what?" Her mother asks, catching that last word and narrowing her eyes at Sevyn. Sevyn struggles to think of something reasonable to say but nothing good comes to mind. Her mother glances at her but she avoids her eyes. "Sevyn look, I'm glad that you're happy with Jackson and I'm glad he's treating you so nicely. But boys will do and say anything to get you to sleep with them."
"Ma!" Sevyn says, wondering how this topic even came up.
"Don't 'ma' me, I know how these little nappy headed boys are. And I know people may tel you how glorious sex is and all these other stories but its only glorious if you do it with the right person. Once your virginity is taken that person has a piece of you forever. Give it to someone special."
"I know mommy and I promise to wait for that person. It may or may not be Jackson but I'll know it when the time comes. And it's not like he's pressuring me to do it even though I know he's not a virgin. Jackson isn't like Keenan, thank God."
"Thank God is right." Her mother makes a face at the mention of him. "I'm glad things are going so well for you Sev."
Sevyn smiles even though she intentionally left out the part about people gossiping about her at school and giving her dirty looks. She doesn't like talking about it with anyone and she knows her mother will make a huge scene and go up to the school demanding to talk to the principle. That will only make things worse so right now she just sits back and enjoys her mother daughter day.
They end up going to the movies at one of the expensive theaters on the other side of town. They saw the new Kevin Hartt and Ice Cube movie which had them in tears the whole time and afterwards they went to get their nails done.
Sevyn felt closer to her mom than ever before and wondered if her brothers were out with their father having a fun day too. As she sits down at Olive Garden with her mom she takes the time to really examine her mother. There are faint gray streaks in her mothers big natural hair and new aging lines on her face. She still looks beautiful but the stress and wear of each day is clear on her face.
Sevyn hopes to be just like her mom one day. Beautiful, bold, smart and strong.
"Corey do you like Sevyn?" Shaun asks randomly at school. Its the beginning of lunch and so far it's just the two of them at the table. Corey looks at his friend like he has lost his mind.
"Where you even come from with that?" Corey asks.
Shaun shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know man. That thing at the mall the other day was a little fishy between y'all. I just didnt wanna start any trouble."
"Hold up we were just playing around." Corey says.
"Yeah but y'all just act....similar. You're all laid back and chill until someone comes at you the wrong way. Plus your single and she's the only girl you talk to, besides Money who doesn't count cuz she doesn't swing for our team." Shaun raises his eyebrows suggestively but Corey continues to give him a blank look.
"I don't know where you got this idea but you should return it." Corey says shaking his head. "Sevyn and Monica are the only girls who I can talk to and I know they won't play any games. These other girls stay scheming, you saw what happened when I got interested in Aubrey and I'm definitely not going down that road again."
Shaun sucks his teeth, "Y'all light skinned niggas and your high expectations." He says making Corey laugh.
"Do you like Sevyn? It seems like you always find a chance to hit on her and claim that youre 'just playin.'" Corey challenges and Shaun quickly shakes his head.
"Nah, I'm too wild for Sevyn and everyone knows I'm not trying to settle down. She's looking for that old school type relationship and I'm just looking for a quick nut." Shaun says and Corey cracks up. "For real though, and even if I did try to get with Sevyn her brothers would kill my ass before I could even make a move. She's off limits completely."
Corey nods his head, "Jackson's cool though, I think they'll last pretty long as long as he doesn't make a wrong move."
"Alright this conversation is over cuz we here sounding like females." Shaun says, "So about that game last night." Corey laughs at Shaun's dumb ass as their friends finally join them at the table.
"I wanna laugh too." Monica says sitting across from them.
"Go look in a mirror." Shaun replies. Monica glares at him and mutters something in Spanish and Corey laughs.
"Hey," Ty slams his hand down on the table. "We no speaky that gibberish. English please,"
Their friends laugh and Monica and Corey dap each other since they're the only bilingual ones at the table.
Jackson takes Sevyn's hand. "Ooh girl look at yo nails, you better slay!" He says in a feminine voice.
Sevyn laughs and holds up her nails for everyone to see. They're all red except her ring finger that's painted black with a pair of red lips on it. "Mommy decided to pamper me yesterday when we went out." She says.
"You better work mami, yasss." Monica says checking out her nails. Sevyn beams and wiggles her fingers to show off her nails.
Half way into lunch when everyone is just talking and relaxing before next period, Aubrey slowly approaches the table. The chatter slowly stops as all eyes focus on her.
"Sevyn," she begins. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Don't do it, no don't do it. If one of us goes in then we all go through it." Shaun whispers Drake's lyrics loud enough for them all to hear and they snicker under their breath. Aubrey's stomachs shudders nervously as they stare at her . Sevyn glances at Jackson and he shrugs his shoulders silently saying its her choice whether she wants to talk to her or not.
Sevyn stands up with her hands in her pockets. "Yeah we can talk."
Aubrey motions for Sevyn to follow her out the cafeteria and together they exit the doors and walk a little bit down the hallway. It's quiet for a moment and Sevyn feels awkward. The last time she talked to Aubrey she threw a tray at her head and called her every name in the book. That seems so long ago but the tension is still there. "So what did you want to talk about?"
Aubrey stops walking and turns to face her. She looks into her eyes in a way that tells Sevyn that whatever she's about to say is going to be serious. "Janine and Carson are the ones behind the rumors."
Sevyn's face turns into confusion. "Janine's in prison, isn't she?"
"Yeah but she's called Carson a couple of times. Carson keeps her updated with school and when Janine found out about you and Jackson she demanded that Carson do something about it. So Carson started telling people that the only reason you're with Jackson is because you're making rounds on every guy in a school before you graduate. In addition to all the other nasty stories they made up."
Sevyn shakes her head and looks at the floor. "I should have known they were behind this. Carson loves to gossip but she doesn't have an intelligent home in her body without Janine's help." She looks back up at Aubrey curiously. "What's your role in all this? You are friends with them."
"Believe it or not I don't have anything to do with this." Aubrey admits. "I'm already disliked by a majority of the school, I'm not tryin to get myself into more trouble. I have a baby to thinks bout, I don't have time to play the jealousy game."
"Jealousy game?" Sevyn asks.
Aubrey nods. "They're jealous of you Sevyn. Janine wants Jackson and Carson just wants your popularity, she even pushed you into the pole during your game on purpose because she said you were being a ball hog or something like that. She only gossips for attention, I thought y'all would have figured that out by now. "
Sevyn knew this all along but she never thought Carson would be this thirsty for attention. And the fact that Janine is still hating from behind bars tells her something about her priorities.
"Well thank you for telling me." Sevyn says. She's about to walk away when she stops herself. "How are you doing with the baby?"
"Other than having the bladder of a squirrel and eating the most disgusting combinations of food you could ever think of? I'm doing ok." She pats her protruding belly contently.
"Good, I'm glad you're doing ok." Sevyn says honestly. The hate that she used to feel for Aubrey slowly disappeared over time. She can't stay mad at Aubrey over something she can't go back and fix, it's too late for that. Keenan played both of them and Sevyn isn't going to dwell on the past any longer. She's happy Aubrey came to her because now she knows who's really behind this whole mess. She's not going to comfort Carson though, she just gonna let karma come around and bite her in the ass.
"I"ll see you around Aubrey." Sevyn says smiling warmly before turning around and walking back into the cafeteria. Aubrey smiles sadly and nods. As she walks down the hallway and goes into the bathroom she can't help but feel a little disappointed.
When she planned on telling Sevyn about Carson, deep down she was hoping that Sevyn would be so greatful that she would want to be friends again. Even though she only spent a little time with them, Aubrey misses the twins, Shaun, Corey and Sevyn. They always have fun no matter where they are and they have each others back like blood sisters and brothers. And even though Monica didn't like Aubrey, Aubrey could help but admire her. She was so different than any other girl she had ever met and wondered what it would be like if they actually became friends.
The bell signaling the end of lunch rings and Aubrey finishes up in the bathroom. She watches her hands and leave to go to her locker. While she's getting her new books for class Carson approaches her. "What the hell were you doing?"
"Huh?" Aubrey asks playing dumb.
"What were you doing with Sevyn? I saw y'all walk out the cafe together, what did you want with her?" Carson's blue eyes glint angrily.
Aubrey turns to face her and stares her dead in the eyes. "I told her the truth." She says simply before closing her locker and walking away.
Carson follows her. "The truth? What truth?"
"That you and Janine have been spreading rumors about her." Aubrey shrugs.
Carson glares at her and grabs her arm, spinning her around to face her. "Why would you do that, idiot!"
"Because I can't hang out with y'all any longer. I'm tired of just being a bystander while y'all ruin the poor girls life. Hasn't she been through enough?" Aubrey snaps, she touches her stomach and forces herself to calm down. "You two are disgusting and I can't put up with you any longer. What did Sevyn ever do to you?"
Carson glares at her and crosses her arm. She remains silent and Aubrey scowls at her. "Exactly, she hasn't done a thing to you. When are you going to stop being Janine's sidekick? I mean its bad enough people don't like you as it is, do you really want to be known as Janine's henchman?"
Carson scoffs, "Screw you Aubrey. Good luck with that baby you're carrying, slut!" She knocks into Aubrey's shoulder hard as she walks past her, making all her books fall to the ground. Aubrey looks around to find most of the students in the hallway staring in her direction. She sighs and looks down at her books sprawled across the floor, wondering how long it will take her to crouch down and pick up the books without hurting herself or the baby.
Before she can even begin, someone crouches down in front of her and starts gathering her things. They stack up her books neatly before standing up straight and looking at her with amber eyes. He holds the books out to her and it takes her brain a minute to register before she accepts them from him.
"Thank you," she says still staring at him.
Corey nods his head, "I heard you stand up for Sevyn." He says. Aubrey didn't even realize he was in the crowd of students at that time. "Good lookin out for her."
Aubrey smiles, she wants to be modest and thank him for picking up her books when he could have just walked past her, but he's already walking away by the time she blinks.
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