"You so scary dawg. Fright Fest ain't even scary. I'm tryna go to a real haunted house like Netherworld or 6 Stories of Horror."
Amethyst frowned at her twin sister's suggestion and shook her head in disapproval. "Why can't we dress up and go trick or treating like we used to do? I still have my Medusa costume from last year."
Robin scoffed, her lips twisted in a sneer. "Do I look like a middle schooler to you? You need to grow up and stop being a baby. We're doing what I suggested. I'm the oldest."
"By two minutes..stop holding that over my head. It's tired."
Robin dismissed Amethyst, unwrapping her burrito. "What's tired is that wig you're wearing. Give momma back her shit. It's aging you by ten years."
Currently, the twins Robin and Amethyst were arguing about what they wanted to do for Halloween. It was the middle of October so the holiday was approaching much faster than anyone expected. Cyn and Honey joined them shortly after their argument started and decided to stay out of it. First lunch had started not too long ago and lasted for usually an hour. Honey wasn't going to waste it on trying to calm down the twins. Instead, she was going to dig into her lunch..the food that's been on her mind since her class had began.
"Girl, every time you eat. You always acting like you never ate a day in your life. Just slow down before you choke." Cyn laughed, observing the speed at which Honey was eating.
Honey smiled sheepishly, swallowing down the rest of the fried chicken in her mouth. "Sorry, you know the lunch ladies throw down in the kitchen. It be too good." She wiped her corner of her mouth with a napkin and took a sip of her cold iced tea.
"You right sis. Let me start on mine before it get cold."
Honey delayed her response by scooping up a forkful of collard greens sprinkled with hot sauce and shoved it into her mouth. This food is going to make me have an orgasm I swear.
"...I don't care what you say. We ain't never too old to get free candy so trick or treating it is. Period." Amethyst concluded firmly, her tone left no room for discussion from her sister.
Honey laughed under her breath, listening to Robin and Amethyst's bickering as she ate. If her best friend hadn't told her about what Robin said, she would've never suspected she was threw shade at her. Robin was acting as normal as she usually would, greeting Honey like everything was cool.
Honey decided against addressing Robin's shade since her bestfriend handled it. However, Honey was back in business after being out of commission for the entire week. So, if she even heard an peep of Robin being salty, she was going to say something.
"Hey girls!" Angel chirped, waving at everyone as she took a seat on the opposite side of Robin and sat her tray on the shared table. Behind her was Malik, Tasha and DJ. Her best friend wasn't lying when she mentioned how the trio had been sitting with them at lunch while she was absent. She hadn't really had the chance to see things in action, but from what Cyn told her...there hadn't been any issues and surprisingly everyone had been getting along.
It had a huge contrast from when they had first met.
"Hey, Angel." Honey's eyes moved from Angel to DJ, who had been intently staring at her longer than she did anyone else. Her expression was the same as that night..indecipherable so Honey had no idea what she was thinking.
Immediately, Honey looked away and shifted uncomfortably, stabbing her collard greens with her fork. She lifted the food to her mouth and tried to not to huff at DJ taking a seat right next to her. They hadn't spoken since Friday night.
Honey was still confused on what DJ was doing.
The night replayed in her mind on a loop..the touch..the kiss..the way she felt as it happened. She still couldn't believe it. Neither could her bestfriend when she gave her recap of Friday night. Cyn was absolutely speechless. The thing was, her bestfriend was never a girl who was lost for words.
Nevertheless, she was as puzzled as Honey. On one end of spectrum, she was thinking of writing it off as DJ trying to be friends but went away with that because it didn't make sense. She didn't know how DJ rocked, but friends never did what she did.
Honey wanted to ask DJ about it, but she hadn't built up the courage to confront her. For some reason, she was afraid of what her response would be.
..But that's not the only thing she was afraid of.
Honey was afraid of being honest with herself about that night. She wanted to lie and say she didn't enjoy herself, but she did even with what happened.
She wanted to know..what else did she enjoy?
"Honey? I know you hear me."
"Huh?" Honey snapped out of her thoughts, realizing DJ was the one who had been trying to get her attention. She turned her head in DJ's direction and was startled by how close she was. Honey stared at DJ for a moment, blinking a few times. "What was you saying?"
DJ raised a brow, her dark eyes gazed over Honey's features. "Nah, what you thinking about?" She asked, smirking like she knew something Honey didn't. "Be honest..cause I be thinking about it too."
Involuntarily, Honey blushed, wishing she could dig herself into a hole for being so transparent. Now, how did she know I was thinking about that? "Girl what? I don't know what you talking about." She lied, rolling her eyes.
DJ inched forward, her knee brushed against Honey's. "You can stop flexing."
"I'm not doing anything.." Honey redirected her focus back on her tray, pulling of the skin of her chicken and popping it on her mouth. Absentmindedly, she peered around the table noticing how everyone was in a conversation of their own..except Robin. She quickly looked away when Honey became aware of how she had been watching Honey and DJ's exchange.
Honey furrowed her eyebrows, but didn't think too hard about it because DJ leaned even closer, lowering her voice so she couldn't be overheard. "When this lunch over meet up with me near the staircase."
Honey nodded her head and tried to control her pounding heart at DJ's close proximity. "Why don't we talk now? It's barely 10 minutes in between class change." She couldn't afford to be late for class again one more strike and she had to go to detention. Plus, she needed all the time she could get to talk to DJ.
"Aight, let's go now."
Honey turned to Cyn, tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention. "I'll be back before we go to our next period. Watch my bag please?"
Cyn's eyes darted between Honey and DJ. "Okay babes." She gave her a knowing look before resuming her conversation with Angel and Malik.
Both Honey and DJ rose up from the table, she ignored the glances she earned from Robin and strode to the double doors leading to the hallways.
The rest of the in-session classes were located on the second floor so they had no worries about running into anyone, but they still had to be on the lookout for any teachers since they weren't supposed to be in the corridor during lunch.
Honey went down the hallway, quietly following alongside DJ to the staircase. It was the only place she knew they wouldn't find any teachers or students lingering around.
Once they approached the staircase, DJ blew out a breath and slowed down. "Shit, I felt like my every fucking move was being watched. Yo friends always that nosy?"
Robin's face flashed in her mind and she strongly felt DJ was referring to her. "I mean..yes, but what else did we expect? The table was overcrowded so ain't no such thing as privacy." Honey's eyes swept over DJ's annoyed expression and had to stifle a laugh.
DJ shook her head, her lips tugged downward into a frown. "A damn shame. I might have to tell gang we needa go back to our table. Sike nah, I been meaning to ask you sum." Her eyes caught Honey's, her earlier annoyance dissipated as she stepped closer.
"What is it?"
"Come to my crib this weekend. My homeboy Rudy coming to visit so we all gone chill together. Bring whoever.."
Honey tilted her head to the side, her expression thoughtful. "Okay, I'll probably bring Cyn, Royce and Angel if she isn't already coming. At least this time we'll have an audience so that's a relief." She added nonchalantly, referring back to what happened on Friday.
Instantly, DJ caught onto to what she said and licked her lips. "If you think that's gone save you..aight."
"You think you're so slick huh? Is this why you don't have no friends except a couple cause you be feeling them up in the middle of the dance floor?" Honey wondered, glancing at DJ expectantly.
DJ chuckled lowly, her eyes tinted with amusement. "Only the ones that want it. If you ain't with it..say the word." She challenged, lifting a brow.
Honey pursed her lips, heaving a sigh and got around it. "Hmph, I see why no one likes you including me." She teased, fighting back a smile.
"You say that, but it won't be that for long..mark my words. Nah forreal, we should get back cause lunch is bout over."
Honey groaned, her shoulders slumped. "Ugh, time be flying when it's lunchtime but as soon as we're in class two hours feel like it's four." She pouted, starting to walk back to the cafe. Honey never understood why her school came up with the idea of having four classes over the span of eight hours. It was a prime example of pure stupidity. There was so many things she felt was wrong with their school system and if they put he in charge, she could straighten everything out with ease.
"Yo, I ain't never been so tired of this hoe ass school like I am now. I just wanna graduate and get the hell up outta here.." DJ grumbled and Honey felt her words on a spiritual level.
She was struggling to maintain A's and B's. She didn't know if it was because she was so close to the end, but she's been feeling so burnt out by the workload and everything her school had to offer.
"Girl, I feel you. We been in school 13 long years so it's only normal for us to want out."
DJ casted her glance, smiling faintly. "Deadass. When I finally leave, these niggas ain't seeing me again."
They pushed through the main doors to the cafe, their conversation ceased. The noise level seemed like it had increased, several students were out of their seats and huddled around something in the center of the cafe. Honey furrowed her brows, seeking out the source of the commotion.
Just then, a teacher had their arms locked around a student with a head of red hair, pulling the girl from the crowd of noisy students. Honey squinted, vaguely making out her facial features of the girl but it hard to tell from the distance.
There, her new friend emerged from the crowd breathless. She jogged over to where they stood, carrying both of their book bags. Once she was close enough, she handed them their belongings. "Girl, you missed it! There was a full fight." She exclaimed, her eyes slid over to DJ. Her expression became serious. "You might wanna check on Tasha. She got her ass beat."
DJ ran a hand over her face, exhaling tiredly. "Her ass is always in some shit. Imma catch y'all later."
Honey watched DJ's retreating figure with a frown and snapped out of it when Cyn spoke again. "Shit is crazy. We ain't had a fight like that in a while."
Honey hiked her backpack over her shoulders as the bell rang, glancing at Cyn. "What happened?"
"Tasha was at our table and saw Deja. You remember her from our chemistry class in junior year? She stay with a black sew in, super thick and do nails. I think she related to Devon. Anywho, they started arguing loud as hell and started fighting. Girl, she dog walked Tasha. I felt secondhand embarrassment for shorty."
Her voice had a tinge of disbelief. They were walking down the hallway filled with students in a hurry to get to class. Honey maneuvered her way around them. The last thing Honey wanted was to bump into someone.
Honey maneuvered around the students, checking her cellphone. "Jesus fix it. Ain't nothing worse than getting beat up for the whole student body to see. I would never show my face. I'll text you ok? I gotta get to class. You know I can't afford to be late." Honey told Cyn, her voice held a of urgency as her eyes swerved on her class at the end of the hall.
"Okay girl! Text me!"
Honey walked into her noisy 3rd period. She kept her eyes straight ahead and walked to the back where her usual seat was located. She didn't waste anytime before she shoved her earphones in her ears and cranked up her music before her teacher came instead.
Honey was ready for this day to be over with.
After four long excruciating hours, it was time for school to be dismissed. Her best friend had to stay after school for do a make up test so Honey was going to be walking home by herself. She was tempted to text Royce drop her off, but decided against it. She had no more gas money to give him until her allowance.
She slung her backpack over her shoulder, dodging the numerous students exiting the school and left out through the doors. She stood in the middle of the sidewalk, rummaging through her book bag for her earphones. "I know, I didn't leave them in class..or did I?"
Honey peered up at the darkened sky above, eying the rain clouds in contemplation. She certainly didn't want to risk going back and being caught in the rain.
Suddenly, a loud honk had Honey jumping out her skin. She spun around, her hand on her heart as she shot daggers at the culprit. "You scared the hell out of me!
DJ rolled down her window, sticking her head out and retreated back inside. "I ain't know any other way to get your attention." She shrugged, bringing the car to a complete stop
"You could've tried yelling my name or something." Honey tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears, rolling her eyes.
"Instead of standing there bitching about me not yelling ya name. You needa get in this car before it starts raining." DJ suggested, raising a brows as dark grey cloud compacted tightly against the sky.
Honey held up a hand, continuing her initial search for her earphones. "Hold on, I'm doing something." She shuffled through her binders and notebooks even the pouches of her bookbag, but found no sign of her earphones. She squatted down, ready to dump everything out her bag cause she couldn't see what she was missing.
"You finished yet? It's been bout 5 minutes since I pulled up. The hell is you search for anyways?"
Honey clasped her hands around the familiar white cord, hidden in the cracks of her textbook. "Here they go! Don't be impatient because I don't have ride with you." She tipped her chin stubbornly, plugging the earphone into the base of her phone.
"You really finna make me come out there and getcho ass."
Honey ignored DJ, scrolling through Apple Music for a song to jumpstart her walk home. As she began to walk, her ears perked up at the sound of a car door slamming. She peeked over her shoulders and was surprised to see DJ coming right at her. "You tryna run up on me for what—"
Honey never finished her statement because DJ came up behind her, gripped her upper arm and pulled Honey in the direction of her car. "Man! DJ, stop! Let me go.." She whined, dragging the heels of her feet into the concrete to make it harder for DJ to pull her along.
"See, I ain't wanna have to do yo ass like this but you ain't leave me no choice."
"Huh—If you don't put me down! I swear to God I'm gonna hurt you." She squealed, squirming like crazy within DJ's hold. Honey tried kicking her legs, moving her arms, everything but DJ didn't budge.
Tired from using all her energy, Honey laid limp in DJ's arms as she opened the door and dropped her into the passenger seat. Honey crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at her. "Why did you do that? I hate when people pick me up."
DJ didn't answer her until she was back in the driver's seat, fastening her seatbelt and began driving. "It's legit bout to pour down and you just standing there taking forever. It was cool though cause at least I got a good feel."
Honey's cheeks turned red as she thought about DJ meant. "You have no shame. Learn how to keep your hands to yourself." She let out a laugh, playfully shoved DJ.
"Damn, don't you see I'm driving? Keep hitting my arm and imma swerve off the road." DJ grumbled, throwing Honey a glare.
"Yeah, because one little push is going to flip this car over." She retorted sarcastically and shoved DJ again just because she could, laughing as DJ shot her death glare.
"You pushing it. If I stop this car on ya ass, you gone think I did you wrong." DJ's glare darkened when Honey erupted in another round of laughter at her threat. "Everything real funny until I put my hands on you."
"The same way you put your hands on me in the club?"
DJ's angry expression diminished, her eyes traveled over to Honey for a second. "Yo ass would like that wouldn't you?"
"Actually, I would like for you to keep your eyes on the road." Honey instructed, pointing to slightly foggy windshield. The sky had darkened considerably, a downpour of rain pelted DJ's car. "I think my house is coming up."
"Yeah, I see it." DJ parked the car in front of Honey's house and unlocked the doors so she could get out.
Honey gathered her backpack, stashing her phone into the side pocket and placed her hand on the door handle. She gave DJ a genuine smile, "Thank you for picking me up again. I appreciate it." Her voice was laced with gratitude.
DJ nodded, her eyes bored into Honey's. "You good. Shit, you betta make a run for it cause you see the weather." She gestured to the heavy rain outside. "You gone be soaked."
"I know, I'll take my chances. All I have to do is shower and I'll be okay. I'll see you at school, DJ." Honey stared at her longer than she should've, waving with shy smile and exited the car.