**Ren pictured**
+Chance+
After walking Ren to her room, I went back to my own dorm for the night. As I walked, my mind was so preoccupied with thoughts of her that I barely noticed somebody calling my name from across the commons. When I looked up, I spotted Shae, a chick I'd met when I first came back during the summer.
She was on the track team and they'd come back to campus early for conditioning as well. Her body was crazy, with thighs thicker than frozen peanut butter and muscle definition even I didn't have. She had ass on her too, and if you knew me, you knew I appreciated a round ass like no other. She was a gorgeous shade of dark brown with pink lips and slanted eyes, and her eyes were exactly what captured me the first moment we crossed paths. It didn't take long for us to get VERY familiar with each other, if you catch my drift, and we'd been enjoying each other's company for the last month, which I'd planned to continue once school started, but the way my head was fucked up right now, I'd completely forgotten she even existed.
"Hey, boo. You alright? You looking kinda troubled," she spoke, hugging me tight and planting a kiss on my lips.
"Hey... I'm cool, just was deep in thought. You good?" I asked, not really wanting to go into detail. We wasn't technically anything more than fuck buddies and given the fact that I wasn't all that open with just anybody about my emotions, I didn't feel the need to explain.
"Yeah, better now that I've seen you. You busy? I got the dorm to myself tonight..." she trailed. I knew what that meant. She was tryna get dicked down, and had I been in my right mind I'd have happily obliged but I just wasn't in the mood right now.
"Rain check? I'm tired and I gotta get up early for my 8am class," I replied. A small pout appeared on her plump lips.
"Aww, okay boo. Guess I'll just have to think about you when I'm all alone tonight. Get some rest and text me in the morning," she spoke, hugging me again and kissing me, but this time with a lot more tongue than I expected. She damn near licked every nook and cranny of my mouth before pulling away and then walking back towards her dorm, leaving me standing there. Normally, that would've been enough to convince me to reconsider but now it just felt... off. Don't get me wrong, the girl was sexy as all fuck, but it just felt like there was something keeping me from going through with it. I just needed time to clear my head because clearly seeing Ren had me all twisted.
I sighed before continuing on my way to my dorm and once I made it, Marc was there already, talking on the phone. I nodded to him as I placed my keys, phone, and wallet on my desk and took off my hoodie. I heard bits and pieces of his conversation as I searched for my towel and toiletries to take a shower.
"Yeah, that shit was trash bro. Waste of time, for real. I was bored though and she offered so it is what it is," he spoke. He caught my glance as he sat up in his bed.
"Ima talk to you later though.... Aight, bruh," he said, hanging up before he gave me his full attention.
"How'd it go? Ren good?" he asked. I rubbed my hand over my head as I fought for words to describe what just happened.
"Bro... Shit is wild. Ren is.... I can't even explain it," I spoke, not sure where to start.
"What you mean? She ain't pregnant is she? Ima beat her lil fast ass," he spoke, going into protective mode as he stood to his feet. I shook my head. Suffice it to say ever since Ren became part of our group of friends, everybody pretty much looked out for her like a sister. Between me, Marc, G, Kendall, Franco, and Miles, she'd experienced what it was like to have a whole gang of brothers even though she was an only child. Let her tell it, she hated it, but I knew she actually loved having people care about her as much as we did. When she was around, we made sure she was good and that when the time called for it, she was safe. We'd all had our turn babysitting her lightweight ass at various parties but we didn't mind cuz it was very seldom she got that drunk anyways. She was just the sis and we took care of her like she was. Now though... I had a feeling that was about to change.
"Nah bruh, she ain't stupid.... she just... Man look," I spoke, not able to get the words out. I walked back towards my desk for my phone and pulled up her new Snapchat to show him pictures.
Apparently she forgot the login to the one I'd made her once she got a new phone—an iPhone at that—and made a new one. It explained why she hadn't opened any of my snaps or posted any of her own the entire time she was gone, and why after a while, she stopped replying to my texts and answering my calls. I didn't think too deep into it because I knew we'd see each other once the semester started again, but I can't say I wasn't a bit worried. Cassie had started being distant right before she passed and... it just made me uneasy to feel Ren was doing the same but now that I knew why, it all made sense. Shorty was going through a whole transformation down to the smallest details and it's like the longer I take to notice all the new shit, the more I get hit with. And I still had this anxious feeling in my chest like I'd barely even scratched the surface.
"Look, bruh. Tell me who that is," I spoke, tapping her story and showing it to Marc as he stood next to me. He peered down at my phone, eyes squinting as he tried his hardest to figure out who he was looking at. Still confused, he grabbed it from my hand and stared for a few seconds before his eyes went big.
"Hell nahhhhh, that's Ren?! When she get that damn fine?!"
"I'm talking fine as a muthafucka bro," I spoke, slightly shocking myself with the words coming out of my mouth. That had to be the first time I'd ever made a comment like that about Ren. I never failed to call her pretty in passing conversation, but that was from a loving place for a girl I cared about like a sister... this was different.
"Bruh, Ren always been cute but GAH-DAYUM!" he emphasized, staring lustfully at my phone.
"Same shit I said, bro. You just seeing a picture though, shit is even crazier in person," I spoke watching as he watched the rest of her Snap story in awe.
"What the fuck, bro? All this was hiding inside Ren?! Tomboy, makeup-hating, stay-on-a-nigga-ass-about-studying-ass Renolds?! How was it talking to her?" he asked, pulling out his phone. I watched as he opened his Snapchat and followed her before handing me my phone back. I couldn't help but shake my head as I searched for the right words to describe how I felt.
"Shit was weird as fuck. It's like talking to a stranger who knows all your business. Same ol baby girl, just... different. Hard to even concentrate when she talking cuz she look so damn good doing it..." I trailed, my mind getting lost in visions of her again. All I could see was her laughing and smiling as we cracked all of our same inside jokes. Shit that wasn't funny to anybody but us for the dumbest reasons, but because it was ours, it would always be funny. That same warm feeling mixed with a newfound flutter in my stomach whenever her laugh lines appeared, whenever her eyes caught mine, whenever she said my name. 'What the fuck' hardly captured how I felt.
"Damn.... I'm proud as fuck of her. She always wanted to get in shape and she finally did it. God knows dragging her to the gym for our early morning workouts wasn't helping. She could barely keep up with us," he chuckled before continuing, "But she finally did it... and I know that's sis but... I'd beat the brakes off that. I can already imagine the amount of niggas that's gonna try her. We ain't shit so we already know how it go. You ready for that?"
I couldn't lie, his question caught me off guard. Was I ready to sit back and watch while Ren figured out how ruthless niggas could really be? I mean she'd witnessed how ain't shit me and the other guys were. We didn't hide our bullshit from her for the simple fact that it was Ren. She was a special exception to the bro code, always around and mostly well-informed whenever we talked about or carried out our debauchery. There wasn't a girl I'd fucked on campus that Ren didn't know about, and the same was true for just about all the guys. The only one who seemed to keep his sex life on the hush was Miles and that seemed to be because he was always ducked off somewhere with his shorties. Not even we knew who he was messing around with, and had we ever shared girls, we'd never know it because he never talked about em other than to say he was going to kick it with one. As for me, I never spared details when talking to her about all the females I'd dealt with. I even had the intention to tell her about Shae once we met up today, but because seeing her new and improved self had my mind gone, I hadn't even given it a second thought. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to tell her now, which was strange in itself. I never cared before, why was I so apprehensive now?
"I mean, it's Ren. Although her outside changed, who's to say she'll be out here messing around with niggas? She wasn't before," I spoke, a feeling of disdain I couldn't quite understand overcoming me. It just left a bitter taste in my mouth thinking about her and some fuck nigga all in her face. If they wasn't bothered with her before, they didn't deserve her attention now. She was always dope, she was always pretty, she just lost some weight. The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became.
"And anyways, that's what she got us for. Because that's sis, we ain't about to let her be out here getting fucked around by niggas. We know wassup and because we care about her, we're obligated to have her back and keep these niggas off her," I said, finally sure of something tonight.
If this new Ren meant a more naive Ren, it was my duty as her best friend and the closest nigga to her to make sure she didn't fall victim to any bullshit. It finally was beginning to make sense. Our friendship hadn't changed, it'd just become cause for my usual protectiveness to become even more protective. I couldn't let her get played, not a girl like her. Underneath that beautiful face and slimmer figure was still the same girl who cried on my shoulder countless nights. The same girl who I'd force to look at herself in the mirror and give herself compliments. Letting some nigga who didn't know her like I knew her come along and fuck with her feelings was a wrap. It had the potential to send her back to that headspace she was in before she left, and it'd be a shame if all her hard work went to waste.
"Yeah, you right. It goes without saying, we gone have shorty back regardless like we always have," he spoke, dapping me.
"No cap, bruh," I responded, placing my phone back on my desk before I grabbed my towel and toiletry bag. I felt a bit less confused now that I was starting to understand how I felt, but my thoughts were still consumed by her. I needed a shower, otherwise I wouldn't be getting any kind of decent sleep tonight.
"I can't wait for tomorrow, though. Shit gonna be wild. I wonder who gonna be on her ass first. G or Ken thirsty ass," he chuckled from behind me as I made my way towards the door. I scoffed.
"G will be straight but Ken might get slapped if he say the wrong thing," I said, causing us both to laugh as I closed the door behind me.
Ren and Ken had developed a love-hate relationship over the last couple years, constantly arguing over just about everything two people could argue about, but there was still bro-sis love there... somewhere deep down. The amount of times Ken ended up getting slapped for saying some outta pocket shit was too many to count, but whenever she needed him for something or vice versa, it was no question. You'd have thought they were real life siblings from the outside looking in. But Ken was probably the most ain't shit nigga out of us all, and it was expected that once he saw her, his ain't shit tendencies would come out in full effect. It would be interesting to see how Ren responds to him, and I agreed with Marc that tomorrow probably would be wild.
I just had to figure out between now and then how the hell I was gonna approach it.
**
+Ren+
I woke up the next morning on go. I don't know what it is about the first day of classes that always made me so excited, it wasn't like I wouldn't regret it when I was struggling through finals in a couple months, but just something about the first day filled me with anticipation. It always felt like I was presenting myself to my professors, making my studious effort apparent from day one to get in their good graces. I'd learned pretty quick that getting in good with professors was the best way to be successful in college. My grades were a perfect reflection of what studying hard and having good rapport with faculty could accomplish. I'd been invited to participate in all kinds of internship programs and extracurricular experiences that not many other students even knew about. My favorite professor was Professor Lawless who taught African American studies. It was because of her that I had a long-standing invite to travel with her to Africa after graduation. She had family in Lagos that she visited every year and because I was one of her favorite students, she'd invited me to join her this year. I couldn't wait to finally touch down on the soil where my people originated. I just knew the experience would change my life.
This year's first day carried a slightly different feeling of anticipation. It would be my last one in a while. I was on the path to completing my bachelor's degree in Communications with a minor in Africana Studies and I could taste the opportunities coming my way. I also was grateful that my class-load would be lighter now that I was a fourth year, but I'm sure I'd find ways to fill up the time. I was just super ready to get this year over with so I could start making all the new moves I'd planned over the summer. Before I left I had no idea what I was going to do when graduation came around, but now I had plans and I was beyond ready to set them into motion. I made sure my makeup looked just the way I wanted it and my baby hair laid down in all the right spots before I pulled my phone and charger from the outlet and stuffed the chord into my backpack on my way out of my dorm.
My walk to class was definitely a bit strange. I was so used to maneuvering around campus basically invisible, that it came as a slight shock to have random people stop me and ask me questions. Most of the women wanted to know where I'd gotten a certain piece of clothing or whether or not my hair was real, and well the guys... if it wasn't to ask me personal questions, it was to ask for my number. Honestly, I couldn't wait to just get to class so all the attention that seemed to be on me like a spotlight could chill for a while. It was sort of conflicting how it made me feel. I'd spent the last few years of my teenage life convinced that the spotlight was never kind enough to shine in my direction, let alone directly on me. And furthermore that it was something I didn't even want. Now it seemed I was on constant display. Is this what it was really like to be pretty? To always have people go out of their way to be nice and give you compliments? No matter how good it felt, I knew there had to be a bad side to it. Even living out of the spotlight so long, there were negatives that came with that so there had to be some to come with this too. It was finding out just what they were that scared me.
As I took a seat at one of the tables in the last row of the large lecture hall, I pulled a notebook and a pen from my backpack and checked the time on my phone. It was close to 9am and I knew Chance was just finishing up his first class of the day. He'd been texting me all morning with his complaints.
I chuckled reading his last message before replying to ask how it went. He responded back that it was trash but he'd meet me at our 10:30 class which we both were scheduled for. I text back my agreement and put my phone away as someone slid into the seat next to mine. Looking over out of reflex, I met the gaze of none other than G, the last person I expected to be sitting next to me.
"G?! What are you doing in here? You better leave before you get kicked out," I spoke, concern rising in me. Seeing as he wasn't a student here and he was likely carrying a crazy amount of weed on him like he always did, it scared me to think of what might happen if security caught him. I'd seen one too many times where an encounter between a black man and any kind of police, the city or campus variety, could go south quick. I'll be damned if this nigga became a hashtag just for visiting me in class.
"Chill baby girl, I'm here on business. Yo professor requested my services and he told me to meet him after this class is over. I was already here and I saw you walk in so I figured I'd chill with you til it's over," he spoke smoothly. I shook my head in response. I'd never have guessed this particular professor was a stoner. Watching him around campus definitely gave the impression that he was a clean cut guy who barely even drank, let alone smoked. However it didn't surprise me. Most people were shocked to find out I was a smoker too so I guess you really can't judge a book by it's cover.
"So you gonna sit in on his class and bother me the whole time? Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically. Never failing to beat me at my own game, his response was immediate.
"Nah, I'ma sit here and be a good little college boy, learning advanced ABC's and shit," he spoke, making me giggle.
"G, what the fuck is advanced ABC's?"
"Ion know, that's what I'm here to learn," he said, smirking at me as he grabbed my notebook and ripped a blank page out. I assumed he was going to write something down but was quickly proved wrong when he produced a baggy of weed that just from the smell I knew was louder than Tasha Smith. I watched in disbelief as he reached back into his Gucci backpack and pulled from it a grinder and a pack of Backwoods.
"Okay, now you pushing it. You really about to roll up in here?!" I asked.
"Hell yeah, and I plan to smoke it too. We still got a couple minutes til class start. I'ma roll one, step outside real quick and be back to learn all about why A plus B equals C squared or whatever," he stated, wasting no time as he loaded his grinder with a few nugs. I again shook my head at him but refrained from making anymore comments. I'd learned a while ago that G was his own person. He did just about whatever he wanted to do, whenever he wanted to do it and trying to change his mind was pointless. I'd only ever been successful at making him do anything once, which was not driving himself home after a night out because he was too drunk, and even that felt like an uphill battle. We went back and forth for at least 30 minutes before I just snatched his keys from him and made Chance drive him home.
After successfully rolling his blunt, he let me know he'd be back and asked me to watch his bag until he did so. I agreed and when he was gone, I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened Snapchat. I didn't know how I'd grown such a love for this app but it seemed like I was always on it, either taking selfies that I had no real intent to actually post, or watching other people's stories. Every once in a while I'd post a selfie, but usually it was a meme, some music I was listening to, or some quote that spoke to me. After our talk last night, I gave Chance my new username along with the rest of my social media and he about had a heart attack when he figured out that I'd actually been using them.
I could admit, it was definitely a bit out of character for me, but it was really just a consequence of one of the exercises my therapist had given to me over Summer break. She'd asked me to create a social media profile on whatever platform I chose and to begin taking pictures of myself and posting them there. She said it was to help me become more comfortable with the perception of others and to understand how it had nothing to do with how I should feel about myself. If I was to be healthy again, I needed to understand that no matter what, people were going to have their opinions, but it was how I reacted to those opinions that mattered. At first I couldn't really make the connection, but after a while, I could see what she meant. More and more, the anxiety I felt whenever posting a picture slowly subsided, and before I knew it, I was getting followers left and right. An unexpected result for sure but it was something I'd learned not to care too much about. After all, the whole point was so that I learned not to depend on the validation of others. No matter how many follows or likes, showing the world who I am was the goal.
Noticing I had a new add request, I clicked the icon to see who it was. I couldn't recognize the username but their story was public so I clicked to watch it. The first video was just a bird's eye view of his outfit and watch. He displayed his tattoo covered arm as he made the stones in his watch twinkle in the light. There was no face but I could tell he was darker skinned and he was a good dresser. Tapping the screen, it went to the next Snap which was a gigantic breakfast box from the local hole-in-the-wall restaurant, Auntie Mae's. They served all of your soul food, southern cooking favorites and that included breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My mouth watered looking at his to-go box stuffed full of bacon, biscuits and gravy, sausage patties and scrambled eggs with cheese. There was only one guy I knew who always got that same exact order, and when I tapped the screen again, it didn't surprise me to see a car selfie of Marc.
Out of all the boys, I'd say I was the least close with him. We were still pretty close seeing as we were always around each other, but not as close as the others. It was sort of weird with him being Chance's first best friend, but when they fell out sophomore year was when Chance and I really got close like we are now, so I guess maybe there was just some awkwardness between us because of that. Still, I cared for him and appreciated how much he looked out for me just as much as the other guys.
I was also fully aware of the fact that he was beyond attractive. Actually one of the most attractive guys I'd met. It was weird when we first started kicking it together. Chance was fine as it was but it seemed like fine niggas all flocked together. I could honestly say every single one of them were 6 different flavors of fine, and it amazed me how I'd gotten to a point where I could even hold eye contact with any of them. I remember Marc being one of the hardest to accomplish that with though. It was more than just his looks, it was his personality too. He was a lot like Chance but just a bit more cocky, and that was saying a lot because it didn't get much more cocky than Chance. He was almost obsessed with shoes, made sure his hair was freshly cut every week, and I swear whenever we went out, he was always the one who took the longest to get ready. When it came to the girls he dealt with, they were never anything other than model-esque, and he worked out like a fitness junkie. Perhaps it was a bit intentional on my part why we never got super close. It was too intimidating for a shy, insecure girl like me to even think about being close to a guy like him. Chance was already enough to deal with.
I responded to his add request and continued looking at other stories of ppl I'd already been following. After a few minutes, G came back from smoking and shortly after, my professor arrived as well and class began. Throughout it, G mostly behaved himself but every once in a while he'd make some kind of comment under his breath that sent me into a fit of giggles. I couldn't imagine if he was actually a student here and we really did share classes together. I was convinced I'd probably fail every single one we had together. Inside his rough, serious looking exterior was a complete comedian. He could say the goofiest things with a straight face, which made them that much funnier. When he made yet another comment about the girl sitting in front of us and her failed attempt at making her lacefront look realistic, I couldn't contain myself as I covered my mouth to conceal my laughter and tears came to my eyes. I swatted his chest with my free hand to make him stop and he chuckled in response. I was grateful when soon after my professor announced that it was the end of his class and we could be dismissed.
"You irk my soul," I spoke, allowing myself to get the rest of my giggles out.
"But you like it," was his quick response before he stood to his feet. I just shook my head at him as I began packing up my notebook and the syllabus we'd been given.
"You got another class today?" he asked as he followed me down the steps towards the entrance.
"Yeah, me and Chance both have Art History. But that's my last class of the day," I spoke. He stepped around me so that we descended the rest of the stairs side by side.
"You wanna come run an errand with me later?" he asked, throwing his arm over my shoulders as we made it to the bottom.
"What kinda errand?" I asked suspiciously. Not because I feared G would have me around anyone or anything dangerous, he just had never asked me something like that before. It kind of caught me off guard.
"Nothin special, just wanna spend time with you. I ain't seen you in two months. Is that a problem?" he inquired, poking my dimpled cheek with his index finger. I leaned my face away from his hand, chuckling at him before I responded.
"No, it's cool. I'm down. I'll meet you at your apartment once I'm done on campus," I said, before feeling my phone vibrate in my hand. I unlocked it once I saw a text from Chance asking what building our class was in. I texted him back as G spoke.
"Say less. Ima go handle my business but I'll see you later, baby girl," he spoke, kissing my forehead before he let me go and went to talk to my Professor in private. I shook my head and left the lecture hall on my way to meet Chance.
When I spotted him standing outside of the building I'd indicated was where our class was, I smiled, walking towards him. Before I reached him, a girl I'd never seen before walked out of the same building and strutted over to him. I slowed my pace as I watched her pretty much attack him with a hug and kiss before they began talking. Clearly Chance had wasted no time building up his roster of females this semester and I smirked as I walked up on the two of them discussing their plans tonight.
"My dorm, 8pm. Don't forget like you forgot to text me this morning," she said, causing him to smack his teeth.
"I told you already, girl. I ain't forget, I just forgot to charge my phone last night and when I woke up, it was dead. I won't forget to come through tonight either," he smoothly lied straight to her face. I only knew it was a lie cuz he didn't seem to have any trouble texting me when he woke up this morning, sending me his usual daily selfie while he did his morning workout. I chuckled at the thought, causing them both to look my way. The look on Chance's face was one I didn't expect. He looked like he'd been caught red-handed, but hers was one I could clearly recognize as annoyance. Nothing out of the ordinary for the females Chance dealt with. I couldn't remember a single one of them who didn't find some issue with how close we were or the fact that I was pretty much always around. I'd learned not to care about it much though. I'd been here longer than she would last so it was pointless to feel some type of way. Still, I remained respectful for Chance's sake. It made his love life a lot easier if I played nice, and it made my life less drama filled when I didn't have to go at it with his jump offs.
"Ren... wassup?" he asked, creating distance between himself and the girl he was with. I quirked my eyebrow at how strange he was acting. Since when did he get nervous about me crossing paths with one of his fuck buddies. Campus was big but it wasn't that big so it wasn't like it hadn't happened before. And usually when it did, Chance never had any problem introducing us and making sure 'ol girl knew I was just a friend. Right now he was acting like he didn't even want us to know the other existed.
"Nothing much... just meeting you before class... like we always do when we have one together," I trailed.
"Oh wait, you're that Ren? His female bestie? Nice to meet you, girlie. I'm Shae," she spoke, holding her hand out for me to shake as she smiled politely. Apparently I was wrong about Chance not wanting either of us to know each other. She knew exactly who I was. It was me he seemed to not want to know about her, which was even more weird. Why would he even bother to hide another one of his fuck buddies from me? It wasn't like I cared.
"Nice to meet you too," I smiled back at her as I shook her hand. She closed the distance between her and Chance as she placed her arm around his waist. He seemed to be uncomfortable with the gesture but it was confusing seeing as just a few moments ago, they were basically inhaling each other's faces.
"Chance told me all about you over the Summer. Said y'all are basically like brother and sister. He even showed me your picture but you look mad different. Did you lose weight?" she asked, attempting to make conversation. I internally rolled my eyes. Clearly I'd lost weight, so I didn't know if she had a sight problem or if she was being petty, but either way, how exactly was it any of her business? Who asks somebody they don't know a question like that anyways? Did she not have any manners?
"Something like that," I laughed it off. She just smiled and nodded like she could relate, although by looking at her, she probably lived in the gym since high school so it was obvious she couldn't. I could admit though that she was gorgeous and definitely right up Chance's alley so it wasn't shocking.
"Right... um let's get to class, Ren. Don't wanna be late on the first day. I'll see you later, Shae," spoke Chance, again putting distance between himself and Shae. She didn't seem to notice but I definitely did.
"Sure, lets go with that," I said, turning to walk towards the building. I shook my head, not able to hide my disbelief in whatever had just happened. This whole situation was just weird and I had every intention to question Chance about it once we were alone.
"Well it was nice meeting you, Ren! Babe, don't forget. Tonight, 8pm," called Shae, making me damn near choke on my tongue with shock at the fact that she'd called him babe. I knew for a fact he didn't see that coming, and immediately looked in his direction to see his reaction. The pure look of confusion that covered his face was enough to make me burst out in full laughter. He ignored me as he grabbed my arm and pulled me with him as he sped walk toward the doors. I couldn't contain myself as he dragged me all the way to our class and we sat in the last row of tables. He sat down and looked over at me as I continued chuckling at his expense.
"Chill out, Ren. It wasn't even that funny. Shit was outta left field for real, for real," he stated, pulling his phone from his pocket and beginning to type away at it.
"Nah, that shit was hilarious. Sooo babe, how come you didn't tell me about Ms. rice-and-cabbage Shae. That girl is beyond thick," I commented. He scoffed before looking over at me and giving me a strange look. I quirked my brow at him as I waited for his answer.
"First of all, you look nice today. I like this new swag you got. It suits you. Second of all... I forgot," he spoke, biting his lip as he stared at me with that same strange look. I decided to disregard his compliment and focus on his bullshit answer.
"Chance, don't make me slap you. You forgot, my ass," I replied, sitting next to him as more people filed into the room.
"I didn't forget your ass. You can lose all the weight you want but that ass ain't went nowhere," he smirked. I smacked my teeth at him before giving him a blank stare.
"Chance."
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, but I really did forget. I got so excited seeing you yesterday that I completely forgot to mention I'd met somebody over the Summer. It's no big deal though, she's nobody significant, just a chick I been... messing around with," he spoke. I'd have been okay with his answer if he didn't seem so... embarrassed? Since when did he get embarrassed about the girls he was sleeping with? She was gorgeous. What was there to be ashamed about?
"Chance, what's going on with you? You're acting mad weird. She's pretty as hell and I saw her ass so she's definitely your type. Why you actin like you don't wanna be associated with her? And more importantly, why does it feel like you were tryna hide her from me? When have I ever cared about the chicks you mess with?" I questioned him. He didn't say anything at first, just staring at me as his face went from one strange look to another.
"I... I don't know. I mean I know you don't care but... I don't know, Ren. It just feels weird, especially with how she be acting sometimes, I mean you saw what just happened. You had a good little chuckle about it too. She be doing the most and... I just wasn't tryna pull you into all that, I guess. But listen, you know now so let's just drop it," he spoke, stumbling over his words. I could honestly say that this was the first time Chance ever seemed unsure about himself. Usually he was the most confident guy around but right now, it felt like he was more confused than I was. I wondered if maybe there was some deeper issue that he just couldn't bring himself to talk about right now, knowing how he didn't like to say things until he was sure he could say what he meant, so I decide to drop it like he'd suggested. Eventually, he'd tell me what was up so I was okay with waiting it out.
"Fine," I spoke, taking my things out of my backpack as class was about to begin. He sighed but stayed quiet next to me, playing with his phone. I couldn't imagine why he was acting so unlike himself, but for now I just chose to let it go. I'd figure it out soon enough. And besides, we were too good of friends for it to last long. He'd be back to himself before I knew it.
Because if not, he would definitely hear my mouth about it.