Journey Hayes.
"CONGRATULATIONS!" Both Dad and Wesley screamed out as soon as I walked into the house. I scrunched up my face and furrowed my eyebrows in pure confusion while I closed and locked the door. "Um, thanks?" The both of them just smiled at me and I looked at them with my face scrunched up. "What is y'all problem? Why are y'all looking at me like that?" Dad grabs two opened envelopes off of the table and he hands them to me.
I read the envelopes and my heart starts racing.
Georgia State University & Duke.
I grabbed the letter out of the GSU envelope and I unfolded the paper and a wide smile spread across my face as I read the letter. "Oh my gosh... What?" I say to myself in utter disbelief while I fold that paper up and open the one from Duke. When I had got to the end of Duke's letter, I was smiling and tears of joy rolled down my face.
I had gotten accepted into my top two colleges and I was more than happy but the only thing that sucked is that I'd have to make the decision of where I wanted to go. Going to GSU would be great for me. I'd be able to go back home, visit my family, and possibly rekindle with my old friends but the downside was leaving everybody here in North Carolina.
I wasn't going to even stress myself out about this because I still had time to make my decision. "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart! This is a big choice you have to make, you know that, right?" Dad says engulfing me in a big bear hug and I nod my head while wiping away the few tears that had fallen. "I know, but, I have time to make my decision," I pull away from his hug and I set both of my envelopes down on the table. "I say we go out and do some celebrating. That is unless you don't have any plans." Dad says.
We had officially checked out of school two days ago and graduation was in approximately four days so all of my free time has been spent either working or hanging out with the crew. Things have gotten better between us, us as in me and Don, since the night of Prom. We hadn't talked about the situation completely but I did reassure him that I wasn't angry at him so there was no awkward tension between any of us and everything was sailing smoothly.
As for my whole situation with Hakeem, I hadn't spoken to him since he showed up at my house unannounced a few weeks ago and I was content with that. I was still a bit hurt but I was straight nonetheless. From what I'm hearing, he isn't graduating due to his lack of attendance but he has nobody but himself to blame. But, I was over him and I was moving on. That's all I could do.
"Uh, I was actually going to the mall and movies with Don and them for a few hours but we could definitely do something tomorrow?" I suggested with a small smile and Dad returned it. "Sure thing, baby girl. What time are you supposed to be leaving?" He asks and I glance down at my watch and read the time.
"At 6:30 and it's 4:32 so I gotta get a move on." I state, taking my shoes off and picking them up so I could carry them to my room. "Yeah you should because you know how long it takes you to get ready." I smacked my lips and nudged him. "Oh, whatever." He chuckles and I did the same.
"Well, go on and get ready. I love you and I'm proud of you, baby girl." He kisses my forehead and I smile. "Thanks, Pops." I give him a hug and once I pull away, I go straight to my room and I pick out my outfit before going to take a shower.
After bathing, I moisturized and deodorized my body before getting dressed in the outfit I had previously picked out. For the most part, my hair was done- well, it was up in a messy bun but I decided to spruce it up a little by making it neater and styling my edges.
Once I was fully dressed, I had about fifteen minutes to spare so I went ahead and spiced my appearance up a little by filling in my eyebrows and glossing my lips. As for my accessories, I decided to keep the necklace I had on already so I went ahead and put on a watch, a few rings, and my medium sized hoop earrings, along with a pair of shades.
I knew these were Don's favorite so that's why I've decided to wear them to this occasion.
I was fully dressed and accessorized when Denise had pulled up outside and blared her horn. As usual, I made sure I had my necessary necessities before exiting my room and saying my goodbyes to Dad and Wesley.
A lot of people questioned why my Dad was so lenient towards me and he let me go out whenever I wanted to. It was simply because he trusted me and because of the fact I was going on eighteen, for crying out loud! When I was younger, he kept me guarded and I was rarely ever allowed to go anywhere but as I got older, his trust grew stronger for me seeing as though I was honest and I never hid anything from him as y'all can tell.
He realized that eventually he would have to give me my freedom and allow me to spread my wings and that's exactly what he was doing.
"Wow, I was expecting you to be in your usual baggy attire like you always are. What's the occasion for the change of attire?" Denise asks, examining my clothes which was simply a pair of shorts and my cropped T-shirt that matched perfectly with my crisp white converse shoes.
"I just randomly grabbed something when I was picking out my clothes. What's with you and the makeup?" She shrugs and pulls away from the curb and makes her way towards our destination. "I just thought I'd do something new. Do you know what we're going to see at the movies tonight?" Denise asks,glancing between me and the road.
"I'm not sure but I do know that they're showing Boyz N' The Hood with my husband as a leading role." I smile to myself at the thought of Cuba Gooding Jr's fine self. "Who? Last time I checked, Donald wasn't an ac—"
"You shut your mouth this very instant!" She started laughing obnoxiously and I looked over at her, trying to fight off my urge to laugh but I failed. "I hate you, bruh." I shook my head while laughing. "I love you, too." Finally, we arrived to the mall and Denise had surprisingly found a parking spot with ease since the mall was always so crowded.
The both of us exited her car and we quickly walked towards the entrance to get out of this heat. It was barely even June and it wasn't even officially summer yet but the way the sun beat down on us had me thinking otherwise.
A few seconds later, we were in the cool atmosphere of the crowded mall and I was satisfied. "It feels good in here," I spoke as we made our way towards the food court where we saw the rest of the crew.
The four of them all sat at a table while Joel and Cedric were acting out and Donald and Dalvin sat back chuckling at their antics while eating their food. "Did your mama not teach y'all any home training?" Denise says to the both of them as we approached their table. "Obviously yours didn't with you coming out of the house with your hair all over your head." Cedric says and Denise flips him off before pushing him out of his chair and sitting down next to Joel, causing us all to laugh.
"Hey y'all." I shook my head and pulled another chair up to the table and sat in between Donald and Dalvin. "Wassup? You look good," Donald says and I smile, thanking him. "K-Ci, man, get off the damn floor!" Donald says and Cedric groans out.
"She broke my back. I'm suing her poodle looking ass." He dramatically groans causing me to shake my head and eventually start laughing at his dramatic antics. This was nothing new, though. If it wasn't Denise and Dalvin going at it, then it was definitely her and Cedric. I was all love, though.
"I probably did. You know he's made up of skin and bones anyways." As soon as Denise says that, Cedric stands up and squares up. "What's really good though?" He asks and we laugh at his antics. "Sit yo ass down, man." Joel says and Cedric pulls out another chair and he squeezes his way in between Joel and Denise.
"Y'all are crazy, I swear." I shook my head and grabbed a fry off of Donald's tray. "Did I ask you?" He asks, looking as I munched on his fry.
"You didn't have to." He smiles and drapes his arm over my shoulder while he eats his fries. "Uh-huh?" Cedric raises his eyebrows and takes a sip of his drink while staring at both me and De. "Can I help you, Ceddy?"
"Nah. It's just that y'all are kind of... close all of a sudden." He smirks and everyone's attention diverted to us. "I don't know why y'all playing. Just go ahead and make that mo—"
"We're not doing this today!" I say, cutting Dalvin off and Donald chuckles. "Right. Don't trip on us. We good, y'know what I'm sayin'?" He says and I agree while taking more food off of his tray. "Move! Fat ass." I laugh and stand up. "Well, I'm about to do what we originally came here to do. Anybody coming with me?" I ask, adjusting my shorts.
"I will." Both Denise and Dalvin say before playfully mean mugging each other. "Wanna be me so bad!" Denise jokes, walking over to me and looping her arm with mines. "You wish. Let's go best friend." Dalvin being the petty character he is, he too loops his arm with mines causing me to laugh out. "Y'all are petty." We walk away towards the stores and everyone else stands up and they follow suit.
"Where are we going first?" Denise asks as we walked through the mall. "Hot Topic." All of us entered the store and I freed my arms from both Denise and Dalvin and I started looking through different racks of clothes with my lips twisted to the side as I contemplated on which items I wanted to try on and buy.
"This would look nice on you." I looked up and saw Donald holding up a red plaid skirt and I scrunched up my face. "Negative. I don't like skirts." I say as I continue searching through the racks of graphic T-shirts. "You wore a skirt to church that one time," He says, walking over to me with the plaided material in hand.
"If it were up to me, I would've worn pants. The Lord says come as you are, right?" He nods with a cheesy smile on his face. "Exactly." I searched through the shirts and I came across a RUN DMC T-shirt. He smacked his lips and he held it up. "Why you playin'? Just try it on." I smacked my lips and grabbed it from him and he smiled because he had finally convinced me to try it on.
"You're annoying." He just laughs and he continues going through racks and suggesting things I should try. "Alright. Hold these for me while I go and try on these clothes." He grabs my two T-shirts and jeans and I got into the dressing room.
The first thing I tried on were a pair of gray ripped straight leg jeans and they seemed to fit comfortably and my butt looked absolutely great. I nodded my head in approval and pulled them off before trying on the skirt Donald had suggested.
I had finally pulled it on and once I buttoned it, I did a 360 and examined how the skirt fit my body. The skirt stopped at about mid-thigh and it was high waisted and it actually looked nice with the crop top I was currently wearing.
Mans has taste.
"Did you try it on, yet?" He asks from outside of the dressing room. "Yeah, it didn't fit though." I lie. I just didn't want him to see me in it just yet. I was going to wait until the night of Graduation party that was being thrown by one of our fellow classmates. He was going to love it, especially since he was the one who picked it out.
"That sucks. Alright, well, hurry up." He says and I smack my lips. "Don't rush me, negro." I slid off the skirt and slid my shorts and shoes back on before grabbing my clothes and exiting the dressing room. "Thank you." I grabbed the clothes from his hands and went over to the accessories where Denise was.
"Those glasses look cute on you, Neicey." I say, examining her cat eye framed glasses and she thanks me. I grabbed a pair of yellow framed glasses and took off my shades before I tried them on. "You and your glasses. How many pairs do you have?" Denise asks. "I don't even know but it's an addiction at this point. I have glasses to go with damn near everything in my closet but I choose not to wear them all the time." I had all types of colors with all types of designs from rounded, to aviator, and even cat eye.
I just loved glasses.
"I see. Is that a skirt?" She asks and I nod my head and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Donald picked it out, I tried it on, and I love it, actually. It fits nicely." I say and she smirked.
"You're letting him pick out your clothes, now? Is there something you're not telling me?" She asks and I smack my lips. "Don't even go there." She puts her hands up in defense.
"Hey, I'm just saying. Before you know it, he'll be choosing your nail polish color. I don't even know why you're still trying to deny the attraction that's so obvious between you two. We all know you like him, although you hadn't admitted it to everyone else and we know for damn sure he likes you so what's really stopping you from going to the next level with Donald?" She asks. I hated that she knew me so well.
In these past few months we had grown closer and closer everyday and we eventually learned each other like the back of our hands.
"Who are you? Oprah?" I joke and she smacks her lips. "Come on, stop playing." She says, staring at me and I huff and reach for another pair of frames.
"I just don't want to rush into another situation only for it to end up like the last one, you know? Like, I don't want to give somebody my all again only in exchange for nothing. I don't want to be treated like a second option. Besides, when I came home today I had two acceptance letters from GSU and Duke as I still haven't even made my decision about where I wanted to go and I don't want to end up getting involved an—" She fits me off from my rambling and she grabs me by the shoulders.
"Okay, first of all, breathe. Okay? At this point you're rambling on and you're overthinking your problem. Secondly, congratulations! I'm so proud of you and I knew that those were your top two schools too! My superstar is a genius!" I smiled and thanked her and accepted the hug that she had randomly pulled me into.
"Alright, now, as for your situation with Donald, you're thinking into it too much. Just go with the flow and just rock with him but for the sake of your feelings, his feelings, your friendship with him, do not wait to tell him about you possibly leaving. Please don't." I nod my head and she does the same.
I had picked a few more frames to purchase and I chose a few more clothing items to purchase along with Denise and at this point, the boys had wandered off and went to go do their own thing.
We purchased our items and we decided to stop by Abercrombie & Fitch and I just walked around with Denise as she shopped because Abercrombie didn't sell clothes that were my style.
Eventually, Denise finished her shopping and we both decided to stop by one last store which was Victoria's Secret. I was in dire need of more undergarments and perfume, not that I needed any more of that but Victoria's Secret always had new scents.
"You think Joel would like me in this?" She asks, holding up a baby blue negligée. I pursed my lips and furrowed my eyebrows. "You and Jo are having sex?" I ask and she shakes her head.
"Not yet. I've been thinking about going to that level with him and I think I'm ready. He hasn't pressured me into anything but the love we have for each other is real! I can feel it! And-and I want us to express our love for each other in a more affectionate and intimate way, y'know?" I nod my head and I rest my hand on my chest and poke my bottom lip out. "Aw! Neicey! You're getting grown on me!" I reached out to pinch her cheek and she swatted my hands away.
"Shut up, Bozo. But, did it hurt when you and you-know-who did the.. you know?" She asks and of course I was gonna be completely honest with her.
"Hurt? Not exactly but it was super uncomfortable. The brotha' was barely packing and he didn't even know how to work it right, y'know what I'm sayin'? So, it wasn't enjoyable. On top of that, he was a quick pumper so, yeah. There's that." I say and she laughs.
"Well, is there any advice you can give me?" She asks and I twist my lips to the side in a thinking manner.
"For starters, make sure he wraps stump before he humps." She hits my arm as we both laugh together.
"No, for real. Make sure you use protection and make you're vocal and that you're communicating with him. If you feel any type of discomfort, let him know. If there's something he's doing that you're not really feeling, let him know. That is it, that is all." I say and she nods.
"Alright, cool." The both of us continue looking through lingerie, undergarments, and different perfume and lotions. Both Denise and I paid for our items and we met back up with the guys in the record store.
As soon as I walked in, I saw Stevie Wonder's Talking Book cassette tape and I went over and grabbed it and examined the front and back of it. Stevie Wonder was that guy! Hands down!
His vocals, the arrangement, the scales, and the emotion that was put into his music is what set him apart from any other artist in the same genre as him. His music spoke to me whenever I heard it.
I held it in my hands and went over to other genres of music and grabbed a few other tapes, cd's, and vinyl to add to my music collection. "What do we have here?" Donald asks, walking up to me with a Prince record in hand. "Just a few things. Do your parents know you listen to secular music, Lil' Don?" I ask and he playfully smacks his lips and rolls his eyes.
"What they don't know won't hurt them. Besides, I'm a grown ass man out here in these streets." I snort loudly and laugh at his antics, which causes him to laugh. "You're goofy, man." His smile never left his face.
"No, you're goofy. First of all, You won't be eighteen for another three months so you're not grown. Secondly, what streets? You live in the suburbs." He smacks his lips and nudges me.
"Quit hating a Big Daddy Don." I laughed and patted his shoulder. "You're a joke." I say before walking away and heading towards the counter. "Yeah, aight."
**