"Addy, I swear if you don't hurry up, I will literally break down the door and drag you out. Naked and everything," Azalea threatened from outside of the bathroom door while I let the warm water run itself through my hair one final time.
"Okay, okay, relax," I called out as I killed the water and pushed open the curtain and grabbed my towel. I quickly dried myself off before I secured the towel around my waist.
"I'd be surprised if there was any hot water left," Azalea mumbled as I walked passed her. She had a heated glare pointed at me but I couldn't take her seriously with her rubber-duck-covered shower cap. I just gave her a sweet smile causing her to flip me off which I lovingly returned without hesitation.
I walked passed my Adryan and Emerson's rooms, both a mess as usual, but luckily they were already downstairs eating breakfast and not running around like crackheads searching for their next fix, a rare but welcomed occurrence. I loved them, but they were a handful. I walked into my room, making sure to fully shut and lock the door behind me, not wanting another situation that Azalea affectionately named the "dick disaster". Long story short, unlocked door plus little sister plus dropping the towel equals trauma for all parties involved.
I walked to my dresser and started slowly dressing myself. As I openned and closed various drawers, the pictures that lined the top of the wooden structure shook. I had plenty of me an Kyra including my personal favorite of us kissing in Times Square on Christmas Eve. The way the snow fell and the passerby's that walked by us that didn't seem too pleased that we'd decided to make a walkway our photo setting made it all feel so magical. I also had a great deal of football pictures including team pictures and action shots. I even had some pictures of me and my best friend Ian when we were in elementary school, giving the camera big toothless grins. But my favorite favorite- other than the one of me and Kyra- was a picture of me when I was about five. I was wearing a helmet with a faux mohawk- that would barely fit over my big toe now- and some knee and elbow pads that didn't seem to do too good of a job considering that my knee was bleeding and fat tears were rolling down my cheeks. But what made it better was the fact that my Papa was sitting on the ground next to me, tears rolling down his cheeks as he tried consoling me. Padre told me that Papa had been so scared that he'd begun crying alongside me even after they knew I was okay. He'd held me tight and didn't let go for a solid five minutes.
After rummage around for a bit, I threw on some boxers, shorts and a hoodie before I slid on some socks and shoes as well. I grabbed my backpack and my phone before I flipped off the lights and opened the door just as I got a fist to the face. "Ow, what the actual h-" I started as I cupped my cheek as a dull pain moved through me, though it wasn't enough to actually hurt.
I heard the familiar laugh of Azzy and I narrowed my eyes at her. "Sorry, but that was hilarious," she laughed. She was dressed eerily similar to me wearing a dark hoodie, leggings instead of shorts (which I've worn before- don't ask why- and they were surprising comfortable), and a pair of white sneakers that matched mine. Her curly, coarse hair was hidden beneath a head wrap, though a few curly strands peaked out from the front. And her edges were swirling in neat, intricate patterns that I still couldn't fathom how she managed to do.
I shoved her, causing her to laugh as her attention returned to her phone in hand, which I highly suspected was why she'd decked me in the face. "Hey, stop," she laughed. "We only have ten minutes before we have to head out and I'm for sho' not gonna let you make me late to school."
I rolled my eyes and followed her down stairs which was unusually quiet. Luckily, when I walked down, Adryan and Emerson were sitting at the table staring at the obnoxious cartoons while Papa was laying with his head on Padre's lap and Padre was whispering something that made Papa smile like an idiot. Something I knew I didn't want to know. But I had to respect that despite them being in their forties, they were still as lovestruck as teenagers. Padre leaned down and kissed Papa, causing both of them to chuckle and as they pulled away Papa's "special tattoo" on the inside of his lip peeped out. The ink was faded but...
My dads were weird.
"Ciao, Papa. Padre," Azzy said, her eyes never leaving her phone as she walked toward the pantry.
"Ciao," I said.
They looked up. "Morning. You two need to hurry before you miss the subway," Padre said as he ran his fingers through Papa's hair.
"Blame Addy. He decided to have a full concert in the shower for like twenty minutes," Azzy said, causing me to groan.
"Azalea! Why'd you expose me like that?"
"You exposes yourself when you tried to hit that high note in Love on Top." She walked over to Emerson and Adryan and kissed their foreheads. "Good morning."
Papa laughed and I frowned. "Dad, you're supposed to be on my side."
He put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I am on nobody's side. I just laugh at whoever's the butt of the joke."
"Hahaha," I drily stated as I walked to grab an apple and a couple of granola bars for later.
"I'm on your side, Addy!" Adryan cheerfully said as he got up and hugged me around my waist. I smiled and picked him up. "That's why your my little man," I said as I held up my fist which he eagerly punched before I kissed his forehead and ruffled his hair. He smiled and looked up at me with his adorable eyes that were still filled with child-like wonder, the same wonder I'd had before I saw the world for what it really was.
"Wait, I'm on your side too, Addy!" Emerson cried as she ran to me as I set Adryan down.
I smiled and placed my hand on her head. "Thank you, Emmy," I said before I stuck my tongue out at Azalea, causing both of the little ones to do the same.
Azalea playfully pouted. "Dad! Addy and the babies are bullying me."
"It's alright, il mio bambina (my baby)," Papa said as he climbed off of Padre's laps and hugged Azzy. "I'm on your side."
"Hey! I thought there weren't any sides!" I pouted, causing Papa to playfully grin as Padre got up and approached the escalating situation.
"Madison, babe, let up on the kid," Padre said as he leaned against the table and scooped a handful of cereal out of Emerson's bowl.
"Dad-!"
"Come on, we need to get them to daycare and you two need to get to school."
I narrowed my eyes at Azzy and she sneakily stuck her tongue out as Papa kissed her forehead as a goodbye. "Addio, Azalea. Ti amo (Goodbye Azalea. I love you)."
She kissed his cheek. "Ti amo, Papa."
We all said our goodbyes before Azzy and I headed out while our dads finished getting the little ones dressed. The cool New York air quickly filled my lungs as we walked down the fairly calm streets of the city that never slept- or as calm as a tourist city could be. We walked along side men and women dressed in their business attire and people who called the streets we walked on their home, all of us in mutual agreement to stay out of each other's way and move as one, all without muttering a single word.
It didn't take long for us to submerge ourselves into the other world known as the subway systems. Between people playing music and bumping into people, we made our usual route to our school, New Visions High, a performing arts school in every sense of the word. They were prepping us for the best of the best: NYU, UCLA, USC. It was amazing. The only downside was that it was 5-12th grade, meaning that Azalea went to school with me even though she was two years younger than me, meaning that she studied film and audio production right down the hall from where I studied writing. But it was also a plus too because even though she annoyed the life out of me, she was one of my best friends.
After navigating our way through the subway system that still confused me despite the fact that I was practically born on the subway, we arrived at our beautiful, overly artsy school. Student art work decorated nearly every inch of the walls and scattered throughout the courtyard.
"Alright, I'll see you later," Azzy said as a boy started approaching and locked eyes with her, telling me that something was up.
My eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, wait, what's going on here?"
Azzy simply grinned, flipped me off and hurried over to the boy, their hands instantly interlocking as they made their way into the school.
I smelled leverage.
I rolled my eyes and made my way to the main entrance where I was instantly greeted by impossibly loud chatter and bright vibrant colors. There were dancers practicing, singers singing, actors rehearsing lines. It was a uniform chaos.
I started heading to where I usually did every morning: one of the many chill study spaces that littered the school that was furnished with couches, bean bags, and TV monitors. Me and the team usually met up there to kick it and get each other ready for the day ahead, and this morning wouldn't be any different. At least I hoped it wouldn't be. My team liked to be emotionally supportive, which I loved them for, but more than that I hated sympathy.
I weaved my way through the congested hallways, saying hi to dozens of people as I did so until I heard a familiar voice call my name in such a way that made the hairs on my neck stand up. "Hey, Addison. What's up?" Tyler's smooth voice called from behind me before he staggered to catch up with me. I fisted the straps of my backpack and tried to focus on the hall in front of me.
"Hey Ty," I said as casually as possible.
"Bro, I'm not going to lie, Algebra is kicking my butt. Like serving it on a platter kind of kicking my butt, and I know you've been gone a while so like maybe we could help each other. I mean one more slip up and I'm benched and I can't..." he trailed off, causing me to look at him as he furrowed his eyebrows together. I noticed freckle-like markings across the bridge of his nose. He also had a habit of chewing on the inside corner of his bottom lip when he was thinking.
He shook his head. "Never mind. Sorry to ask, it was pretty selfish of me considering..."
"I swear if you try to have a heart to heart moment with me I will personally serve your butt on a platter."
Tyler laughed. "Alright, alright I'll leave you alone. Dude did you hear about-"
"Beep beep, girlfriend coming through," Kyra's voice called before she delivered a solid slap to my rear. "Hey Ty."
"Hey Kyra."
"Ouch," I playfully said as she slid her hand into mine and kissed me. She playfully bit my lower lip, causing me to squeeze her hand not only because I was getting very excited, but also because a weird feeling settled in my chest knowing that Tyler was standing there.
I pulled away with a grin. "Non ora, piccola. Dopo (not now baby. Later)."
Her lips pulled down into a slight pout. She'd heard that phrase enough times to know what it meant. But what could I say? My girl could get a bit frisky when she wanted to. I gave her one more quick kiss before I turned back to Tyler whose attention was already on me. "So, uh, I heard the game went good."
He grinned. "Hell yeah. It went better than good. Your boy Ian really came through with the come through, you know what I'm saying. And Brandon really came through. But Georgie..." he chuckled and shook his head. "The first quarter was hilarious looking back at it."
"Yeah, Ky filled me in," I said with a slight chuckle as we began climbing the stairs.
"We need you back bro," was all he said.
"Well, luckily for you, I don't think I'm going anywhere soon."
"Thank God," he said as he slung his arm across my shoulders. I could feel his breath across my cheek.
"Hey, get your own boyfriend, this one is mine!" Kyra playfully said as she lightly threw Tyler's arm off of me, causing him to laugh.
"Not for long," Tyler said with a wink, causing me to chuckle.
"What can I say? I'm in high demand."
Kyra rolled her eyes and punched my shoulder.
Within a few moments, we arrived at the study space where the rest of my team was already gathered. "Hey, Addy," Ian greeted as he dapped me up before the rest of the team said their hellos and gave me hugs.
"Good job at the game," I said as I crashed on a beanbag and Kyra took her resident spot on my lap with her back pressed against my chest. "Ty and Kyra were telling me all about it. Sounded like you killed it."
"Got that right," Tyler chimed in as he crashed on the couch next to me, a causal action that caught my attention.
"Yeah, but please don't ever leave again. I hated all that pressure," Brandon said, causing the boys around him to laugh at him and put him in a playful, rough headlock.
"Bro, you straight cappin'. You killed it," Ian said.
"Yeah, I'm proud of you Brandon," I said. "Did me proud."
"Bro, did you hear about Georgie-" Ian started only for Harvey to throw a pillow at him.
"I swear if one of you talk about it again I'm going to chop your balls off."
We all laughed and I found myself subconsciously holding Kyra tighter as the team's laughter filling my ears, Tyler's slightly standing out above the rest.
Before long, the five minutes warning bell rang and we all said our goodbyes and started heading to our designated wings, Kyra down to the film studio, Tyler down to the audio engineering classes, and I to the writing labs while others went to theater, acting for the screen, and more.
"Bye, babe," Kyra said as she kissed my cheek.
"Bye, Ky." I turned to Tyler. "By Tyler."
"Bye," he said before he popped in his earbuds and hurried in the opposite direction.
I took my time getting to my creative writing classroom aka where I spent 90% of my day. It was set up like a study space with couches and beanbags instead of desks. Expensive computers were scattered throughout the room and in the upstairs section were more seating areas and a wide array of books as well as a coffee machine. Our classroom was basically Barnes and Noble.
As soon as I took my seat in my usual beanbag in the corner, Ms. Jean walked in. She was a petite woman with kind eyes and a soft voice. She was young and beautiful yet despite her age, she gave off a motherly vibe to everyone, even those older than her. She was also a great baker and made killer brownies. Needless to say, she was my favorite teacher ever.
"Alright, I'm not gonna waste my breath telling you what to do. You all know your assignments and I trust you enough to work on them. Remember, we have a test tomorrow, so you better be ready or I promise that it won't end well for you." She narrowed her eyes trying to muster as much faux anger and intimidation as she could before she burst into a fit of laughter. "I can't take myself seriously. Alright, go to work. Remember to get proofread by at least one person and if you have questions, feel free to ask."
I wasted no time popping in my earbuds and opening up my laptop and starting on my project. My love for writing had developed at an early age due to my Padre doing it as a living. We even had almost all of his books upstairs. He'd let me help him out and teach me the world of writing, the euphoria you felt after you'd finished creating a world you'd put your heart and soul into for the past year and a half or so. I had no choice but to fall in love with it. And I did.
I logged on and opened my document to see where I'd left off. We'd been tasked with writing a full story that lasted no more than a page. But when the document loaded, a scowl made its way onto my face once I saw my progress: a blinking cursor and no words. And that was the worst part of writing: writer's block.
I closed my eyes and tried to relax as slow alternative melodies filled my ears, my only real method for combating the horrible mental block since Padre's method was drinking wine which I couldn't do...at least not in front of others.
So I did the only thing I could: I sat and stared at the blank page, hoping to magically pull a groundbreaking idea from out of nowhere.
I didn't.
***
Hey y'all I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if so, feel free to vote and share! I have a lot to update y'all on but I'm super tired and I'm about to pass out so here's the condensed version: I turned seventeen last Saturday (Dec. 7), I just took my ACT yesterday and hated it, and keep your eyes peeled for some exciting stuff coming up soon.
So yeah that's all that's going on with me minus a few other things but yeah, that's about it. I hope you have a good rest of your week! Remember that the next chapter is available for free on Inkitt! Click the link at the bottom of my bio!
Love y'all- Jordan
PS if you made it this far comment what you want for Christmas and/or holiday you're celebrating. Mkay bye.