Journey Hayes-
"Wow, you really called me this time. Damn, must be a cold night in hell," He says through the phone and I playfully roll my eyes at his sarcastic statement. After being reacquainted with Hakeem, he gave me his number at the party once again and I finally decided to call him. "Oh, whatever," I say and he laughs, as do I.
"I'm just playing, but how was your day?" He asks and I find myself laying down and lifting my legs up in the air, resting my feet on the wall in front of me. "Uh, it was kind of stressful due to work because the Zone is always packed. But, it was pretty good, nevertheless. How about you? What'd you do today?" I asked him and he released a deep sigh before speaking, "Work was a drag and it was tiring as hell but I got through it, thankfully. But, my day is definitely a lot better since you decided to call, finally." A small smile found it's way on my face and I softly chuckled.
"Aw, that's sweet of you," That was cute, I'll give him that. "But, where do you work?" I asked him while playing with the ends of my hair. "I-I-uh- work at my Dad's auto shop," He finally spat out and I twisted my lips to the side.
Hm, I'll let it slide.
"Oh, okay," I said and he kept the conversation going. "So, what are your plans after high school?" He asked and I sighed heavily. "I know for sure I'll be attending college, I don't exactly know what for, but I'll be there," I say. There was a numerous amount of things I could go to college for but what? Nothing really sparked my interest at this moment but I wasn't going to stress myself over it. I still had a few months before making any decisions so I wasn't going to even stress myself out about something so unnecessary at the moment.
"What college you wanna go to?" He asks and I'm caught off guard because I don't have an exact answer to that question, either. I was indecisive and conflicted about everything at the moment and I hadn't put much thought into anything pertaining to college. My main focus at this point was trying to graduate. The rest of that shit can come later on, to be honest.
"I'm not sure. I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to stay out here or back to Georgia, so I don't have an exact answer at this time," I said. He began to speak, but my phone clicked, informing me someone was on the other end. I pulled the phone away from my ear and I looked and seen Denise was calling me.
If it's important, she'll call twice.
"...I don't even plan on going to college, to be honest. The shit is pointless to me and besides I already have a guaranteed job," He says and I bit the inside of my cheek, just listening to him speak. "What's the point of going to college just to get a degree and work at someone else's business when you can just start your own without having to waste all that time and money going to college?"
"I would have to agree to disagree. Yeah, you don't necessarily have to go to college to run your own business. But, you can't learn the ins and outs of running a business without the proper knowledge to do so," I say and he kisses his teeth,
"School just ain't for me, period. I'm just trying to get my diploma and be out," He says. I shrug and listened to him as he continued ranting on about how school was basically jail and how teachers don't actually care about their students and only care about a paycheck. Once again, I had to intervene with my opinion about his statement. "Mmm, I see where you're coming from but I would have to disagree because some teachers actually care about their students, their learning, and well-being," I said and this time, he scoffs.
"Yeah, maybe a few teachers but that's it," I chuckle to myself. "You got any hobbies?" I asked him, rolling over and lying on my stomach, swinging my feet back and forth in the air. "Uh, I play ball and shit," he says. "What about you? What do you like to do?" He asks and I squint my eyes and twist my lips to the side.
"Uh, I don't have any hobbies as of now but I used to take pictures and shit," I say, running my fingers through my coiled tresses. He lets out a laugh and I did the same thing. "Like what? A model or photographer?" He asks. "Photographer,"
"Wow, really? That's crazy..." He says and my eyebrows furrow a bit in confusion. "What you mean?" I asked. "What's crazy about it?"
"It's crazy because... Someone like you should be in front of the camera rather than behind it. You're beautiful," He says and I couldn't help but let a smile form on my face and I felt my face warming up. "Thank you," I say lowly and he chuckles. "Are you blushing?" I smack my lips and he laughs out. "Mind your business,"
"Aw, that's cute," He says and I playfully rolled my eyes. I glance over at my clock and notice it was almost 11 o'clock. I hadn't realized that we'd been on the phone for that long. "Yeah, yeah. But, it's getting pretty late and we have school tomorrow so I'll see you then," I say and I hear him shift in his bed, which causes the microphone of the phone to rub against his shoulder, I'm assuming. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." With that, I hang up the phone and I decided to call Denise back to see what it is she wanted.
The phone rang about three times and she finally answered, "I thought you were asleep," She says as I get comfortable in my bed. "Nah, I was on the phone with Hakeem," I said and I already knew she was about to start. "Hakeem? What made you call him?" She asked and I could hear a smile in her voice. I sighed and adjusted my covers, "Well, I thought he wasn't too bad after the party so I decided to give him a call," I say.
"Hm, so do you like him?" She asks and I smack my lips and scrunched up my face. "Neicey, we literally only had one conversation. I can't like him after having only one conversation," I respond, taking a glance at my nails. "You right, you right." She was silent for a few moments, "I can't let go of you and Donald's dance, though! Like, y'all were so close and y'all looked like an actual couple!" She says excitedly and I roll my eyes playfully at her statement, but I couldn't help but let a small smile form on my face.
"Denise, it was a dance! Donald and I are friends! Nothing more, nothing less," I say to her and she mocks me,"Nothing more, nothing less." She mocks and I kiss my teeth. "Denise, I'm not about to put up with your shenanigans tonight. I'll see you in the morning," I said. "Alright, girl. See you in the morning," Is her response before hanging up the phone.
"Journey, hurry up before you're late!" Dad called out from the living room and I continued to examine my attire in the mirror "Alright!" I respond, taking one last glance at myself in the mirror. I applied some lip gloss to my lips and rubbed them together before going to grab my backpack and exiting my room.
I went into the living room where Wesley and my Father both were on the couch, watching old reruns of scooby doo. Dad was in his pajamas with a cup of coffee in his hands, meanwhile, Wesley sat beside him wrapped up in a blanket, lying his head on Dad's shoulder.
"Why aren't you going to school, Wesley?" I ask him and his red, glossy eyes divert from the television over to me. "I'm sick," He sniffles and I scrunch up my face. "That sucks. But, I'll see you guys later on. Dad, are you going to work today?" I ask and he shakes his head while he takes a swig of his coffee. "I had to call in today to care of your brother," He says. I make my way towards the both of them and I kissed my Dad's cheek and kiss my two fingers before placing them on Wesley's forehead. I wanted to avoid as much contact as possible because I didn't want to risk getting sick.
"Love you, JJ. See you later," Dad says. "I love you guys, too." With that, I exited the house and made my way to school.
Donald Degrate-
"Hey, De," I turned and seen Tiana standing there. She looked a lot better than she did last week, with all that shit caked up on her face. From the looks of it, she had no makeup on and she had her hair in its natural state, which was how I liked to see her when she and I were together. I sigh, "What do you want, Tiana?" I asked with irritation laced throughout my tone. I didn't have the time for her shenanigans, not today.
"I was wondering if we could talk. Please?" I smack my lips and scoff. "Shouldn't you be talking to ole' boy who was at the movies?" I asked her and she sighed and pouted, looking up at me with her big, grey eyes and I quickly look away to avoid gazing at them. "Donald, I know I fucked up. But, I just want to borrow a few minutes of your time and talk to you in private, please?" She asks and no matter how much I tried to avoid it, I got lost in her grey orbs, falling back under her spell.
Defeated, I sigh and close my locker. "Come on," I say and she leads me to the stairwell. Our school had three floors but since there were no longer any classes on the third floor, nobody even bothered to come near the stairwell. Once we arrived, I stood against the wall, directly in front of her and I waited for her to speak
It was quiet for a few moments before she finally decided to speak, "I know you probably hate me. Hell, I'd hate myself too after the shit I did. But, De, from the bottom of my heart, I'm truly sorry. That shit didn't mean anything," She says and I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at her in confusion and disbelief. "Tiana, did you forget that you literally brought this nigga to a place that damn near everybody who attends this school would be at when you cheated? Not only did you embarrass yourself, but you embarrassed me!" After not talking to her for these past few weeks, I had a lot of things built up and I'm happy I'm finally able to get it off of my chest.
"You cheated on me because you assumed I was cheating on you with a friend. I never gave you a reason to ever feel insecure or doubt me! W-why are you so insecure about me being around other females? I know what boundaries not to cross, and you should know that!" I say harshly and with shame and guilt, she looks down at the ground and she continues to listen to me rant.
"That shit you did really broke me, Ti. For you to go out and do some shit like that shows me that you never fucked with me in the first place," I say and she looks up at me. "Please don't say that," She says and I scoff, "Donald, I love you! I love you with all of my heart! It was never any of my intentions to hurt you! I swear. I was just so stuck on you talking to Julia, and the fact that Anique and Sidney were in my ear had me on some other shit." I chuckle.
"Since when did your friends become apart of our relationship? Your friends don't know shit about me. The fact that you would doubt me and second-guess me and let bitches, who don't even have men of their own, pump your head up with lies and change how you view me shows that you never loved or fucked with me in the first place," I say, feeling myself getting even angrier as we get further into this conversation.
"Donald, that's not true at all. I promise! I love you and I-" She pauses and covers her mouth as tears cascade down her cheeks. "Y-you what? Spit it out, Tiana. I don't have all day and you asked for a few minutes. Time is ticking," I say, tapping my bare wrist as if I was wearing a watch. She inhales deeply and she continues speaking,
"I want you back, De. I want that old thing back. Shit just doesn't feel right without you being with me. I sit back and reminisce about old times and it makes me miss you more and more every day," She says and I kiss my teeth, rolling my eyes to the back of my head.
"De, you can't tell me that you don't think of all the times that we've shared and think about us getting back together," She says, piercing her grey eyes through my hazel ones and I stay silent, looking away to avoid her gaze. She was right. I did miss her. I missed her like crazy but the vision of her being with someone else still lingers in my mind and it makes me despise her.
Makes me regret ever even fucking with her in the first place.
But I love her...
"You do, don't you?" She presses and I sigh, finally mustering up enough courage to look her in her face. "Ti-, look, I-I gotta go," I say but she grabs onto my wrist and pushes me back up against the wall.
"Stop trying to fight it, Donald. The look in your eyes tell me that you love me but the question I have is, will you give me another chance to allow our love to grow and flourish? To its full potential?" She asks and finally, I look into her eyes. I was doing so good not thinking about her or talking to her, trying to get her out of my system. Then she just comes barging back into my life, leaving me conflicted about my feelings.
Thinking with my brain, I knew that getting back with her would cause me more hurt along the way but at this particular moment and time, my heart seemed to be in control of my body and my emotions. I was vulnerable at this point and she knew it.
She grabs my face and crashed her lips onto mine, making all the old feelings that had died for her, resurrect with just a simple kiss. Without thinking, I wrap my long arms around her waist and bring her closer to me while my large hands groped on to her backside, causing her to moan. I pushed my tongue between her lips and both of our tongues wrestled. It felt good to have her back in my arms. Pulling away from our kiss, she kisses from my jawline, down to my neck and her tongue slowly grazes up against my spot, located right below my jawline.
I bite my lip and breathe out heavily, gripping onto her tighter. Her lips find their way right back to mine and we share another passionate kiss while she reaches between us and begins to unbuckle my belt and unbutton my jeans. The jingling sound of my belt and the sound of my zipper being pulled down echoes throughout the staircase. I pull away from our intoxicating kiss and I look at her with my eyes low, anticipating her next move.
She giggles at me and pecks my lips once more before whispering in my ear, "Let me make it up to you, baby," She says in my ear while her hands find their way in my pants and she begins to rub me through my boxers, which causes me to me to harden even more.
I lick my lips and smirk to myself and watch as she squats down in front of me and pulls my pants down to my ankles.
Journey Hayes-
"So, JoJo asked me on a date last night," Denise says excitedly while she and I both make our way to my locker so I could put my things down and the both of us could go to the cafeteria and meet up with the rest of the gang. I smile at her widely, "Just kickin' it my ass! What'd you say? You better had said yes!" I say, putting my combination in my locker so I could open it and put my books inside. "Of course I said yes! Why wouldn't I?" She asks as her lightskin face flushes a light shade of pink.
"Aw! I'm so happy for you, Neicey! Before we know it, there'll be little JoJos and Denises running around!" I coo and she gives me a stale face. "Girl, hush up! You forever reaching!" She playfully hits me and I laugh, putting my things in my locker.
"Hey! I'm just sayin'" I put my hands up in defeat and she playfully rolls her eyes, with her lips formed in a thin line. Soon, a smile forms on her face and she stares directly at me. I look at her confused. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask her, chuckling a bit and she continues to smile while pointing her finger. I turn around and see Hakeem standing there with his friends. I smile to myself and I close my locker. "You aren't going to speak?" She asks as we begin walking to the Cafeteria. "I'm not confrontational at all, which means I don't speak first. If he wants to speak, he'll speak," I say as we make our way down the halls. I quickly glance over at Hakeem and he glances over at me, allowing a smile to form on his face. I smile and look away from him, looking over at Denise who's looking at me with a smile on her face.
"Jay, wait up!" She looks over at me, with widened eyes and her mouth formed into an "O" shape like she was surprised or something. I laugh at her facial expression. Soon enough, our walking comes to a halt and I turn around and see Hakeem walking towards me. "Hey," He greets and I do the same. He extends his arms out for a hug and I give him a quick side hug, "Wassup, Denise?" He greets her and she smiles, "Hey, Hakeem. Jay, I'll be in the lunchroom," She says, wiggling her eyebrows at me, cheesing her ass off. "Bye, Denise." She laughs and walks off.
My eyes went back over to Hakeem, who was checking me. "Dude," I snap my fingers and his attention goes back up to my face.
"Y-you look gorgeous," He compliments my basic attire, which made me laugh. I was only wearing a T-shirt, some jeans, and sneakers with zero makeup. But, hey, if he likes it, I love it. "Thank you," I say.
"How's your day so far?" He asks as we slowly walk down the hallway together. "Pretty good. I don't have any homework today so I'm relieved. What about you?" I ask.
"It's been cool but it's a lot better now that I got to see you," I smack my lips and playfully rolled my eyes and to my discretion, I felt my face warm up. "Oh, whatever, cornball," I say and he laughs, which causes me to do the same because his bright smile was so contagious. "Are you doing anything after school?" His bottom lip now becomes embedded between his two row of teeth. Not in a seductive manner but it seemed more like something that was just done out of habit. "uh, work and that's about it," I say. "Why? You wanted to plan something?" I ask him and he looks at me with a smile.
"Yeah, I did actually but if it's alright with you, can I drop by and see you at work today?" He flashes a beautiful charming smile that makes me blush and I feel myself becoming nervous due to him looking me in my eye. "Nah, I don't mind," I say as we arrive to the cafeteria. "Alright, so I'll see you then?" He asks and I nod with a smile on my face. "Alright. Ima get back to my friends but I will definitely see you later," He says and I nod once again.
You'll see me later, okay. I get it.
"Alright," He smiles and opens the Cafeteria door for me. I smile and thank him before walking into the cafeteria. I look back at him and he flashes his smile once more before walking away.
I smile to myself and made my way to the lunch table When I arrived, I saw something that threw me completely off. Donald and Tiana were both sitting at the table along with the rest of the crew, who seemed beyond irritated.
"Hey y'all," I say, sitting down. Everyone greets me back dryly, except for Donald who acts as if I had just said nothing and Tiana simply looks down at her nails, ignorning my presence which is what I expected from her in the first place. I had to be honest, I was a bit offended at Donald not saying anything to me. It's not like I did anything to him so I don't understand why he was ignoring me.
"Why you so red?" Cedric asked and I laughed to myself as I felt my face heating up again. "What the- are you blushing?" Dalvin asks and I put my hand up, shushing him. "Can y'all hush? It costs a dime to stay outta' mine," I say and Cedric smacks his lips. "You come to the table smiling and blushing and you're withholding information? The audacity..." He puts his hand on his chest and shakes his head. Dramatic as hell for no entire reason at all.
"It was nobody important, huh?" Dalvin asks and I laugh out loud. Out of every one of the guys, I had become close to annoying, but loveable ass Dalvin for some reason. He and I shared a lot of insiders, and a great amount of them were codenames for different people.
"Who is that? The nigga you was dancing with at the party after you danced with De this weekend?" Cedric said and I knew exactly what his petty ass was trying to do. Donald smacked his lips and I felt Tiana burning a hole in the side of my face.
"First of all, don't even try it because that dance didn't even mean anything and secondly, yes," I confirm all of their assumptions. Cedric smirks to himself and Dalvin speaks, "Yeah, sure. Anyways, how long you been talking to him? Y'all date?" I scrunch my face up and kiss my teeth. "Damn, you nosey. And for your information, we don't date-" Denise cut me off. "Yet," She says and I nudge her, which makes her snicker. I can't stand them...
"Yet? Let me find out," Cedric says and I smack my lips. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," I say, reaching into my backpack for some lipgloss. "You got work after school?" Dalvin asks and I nod in response. "Yeah,"
"Cool, we'll be by there after school," He says and I nod my head in response until it dawns on me that the five of them will be there, which mean they're going to be all up in my shit once I see Hakeem.
Shit...