Ever since Stokeley's party I've been keeping to myself. I told Coolie I left because I had a family emergency. For the past two weeks, I've been doing nothing but going to school and coming straight home. Coolie comes to visit me some times to keep me company. But other than that I've been distancing myself from others.
I was getting ready for school and I didn't really care about my appearance today. I wore a gray Nike hoodie with gray joggers to match and my all white af1. I didn't care about my hair in the slightest so I just ran my fingers through it to make it look presentable. I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs. My dad was cooking breakfast and I was intoxicated by the smell. I sat down at the island.
"Here ya go ladybug," my dad said placing a plate full of food in front of me.
"Thanks," I said taking a bite of my pancake.
"You okay? I've noticed you've been acting different lately. If anyone is messing with you I swear I'll kill-"
"I'm fine dad," I said cutting him off and laughing.
"You sure?" he said raising an eyebrow at me.
"I'm sure," I said reassuring him.
"Okay just checking in with you. You know you're all I got since your mother passed," he said sending me a sad smile.
"Yeah I know," I said moving a piece of egg around on my plate. I had suddenly lost my appetite at the thought of my mother. She had passed away three years ago in a car accident. I miss her every day and my life hasn't been the same without her. I'd do anything to have her back.
"So where has Stokeley been? I haven't seen him in forever," my dad said turning around back towards the stove. My dad and Stokeley had a great relationship. My dad even told me he likes Ski more than Steve which I found surprising because I thought he would have an opposite reaction. Sometime Stokeley would come over and spend more time with my dad than me which I found odd. My dad sees him as the son he never had.
"We're not talking right now," I said rolling my eyes and taking a sip of my orange juice.
"Well why not?" he said turning around and looking at me with concerned eyes.
"We had an argument," I said shrugging my shoulders. Over these last few days, I had become numb when talking about Stokeley. It didn't phase me anymore.
"About?" my dad said pushing me to continue.
" I don't really want to talk about him right now," I said sighing.
"Okay understandable. But if you guys truly care about each other like you say you do then you two will work it out," he said sending me a smile.
I smiled back at him still feeling awkward by the conversation. I felt my phone buzz indicating I received a notification. I check it and it was a text from Coolie telling me he was outside. I told my dad goodbye and that I love him before grabbing my bag and leaving out the house. I hopped into Coolie's car and was greeted by the smell of weed.
"Well good morning to you too," I said laughing while looking at Coolie's low red eyes.
"Hi," was all he said before pecking my lips quickly. Coolie and I had grown fairly close. I don't know if he was just a rebound after Ski or if I truly liked him. But I did know that I like his presence. We have shared a few kisses and cuddles here and there but we never put a label on our relationship. And I liked that.
"How are you going to go into school looking like that Coolie?" I said.
"I just gonna walk in, the fuck," he said chuckling before finally pulling off.
I shook my head at him before turning the radio up as we made our way to school.
~
School was dragging and I was ready to go home and crawl under my bed. My next class was with Stokeley and I get a bit of anxiety every time I go. But I haven't seen him in that class since the whole ordeal. I know for sure he comes to school because I see him at his locker on my way to my anatomy class. So I just assume that he skips this class.
I sat down at my usual seat and pulled out my notebook. The bell rung and the last few stragglers came into the class before the teacher closed the door. The teacher began her lecture before she was interrupted by the door opening and Stokeley walking in.
"Your late Mr. Goulbourne"
"I know"
"Do you have a pass"
"No"
"Just have a seat"
He looked around the class before his eyes met mine. He made his way toward the desk next to me. I picked up my backpack and placed it in the seat so he couldn't sit. Stokeley stood in front of me and looked at me with a 'really?' face. I just shrugged my shoulders. He pushed my backpack off the seat and onto the floor before sitting.
"Rude bitch," I said under my breathe.
"Don't be like that Leora," he said looking at me with tired eyes.
"Like what?"
"That," he said sternly. I just sighed and looked away. I decided to just ignore his presence and focus on the teacher. A few minutes went by before Stokeley spoke.
"I'm getting deja-vu," was all he said before looking at me.
"Me too," I said biting my slip.
"Look can we just drop all this and go back to the old us. I hate to admit it but I miss you and I'm sorry. I just really want my friend back," he said sending me a sad smile. Even though I wanted to yell at him and tell him how he made me feel I decided not to.
"I hate to admit it too but I miss you too. My dad asked me about you today"
"Oh word? Tell him I said hi"
"Will do"
There was a silence between us before I spoke up. There was something on my mind. And If Stokeley and I wanted to move on as friends I needed some clarification.
"So I see you and Yuri are dating now," I said looking in front of me. I've seen countless Instagram posts and Snapchat stories of the two together. Mostly from Yuri and it looked almost as if they were dating now. Yuri stopped talking to me and I liked it that way.
"Yeah we'll I wouldn't really consider us dating," he said scratching the back of his neck.
"Oh okay," I could feel myself getting butterflies and my body relaxing at the thought of the two not dating.
"So are you and Coolie dating?" Stokeley said in a light tone even though his eyes looked at me intensely.
"Nope" I said popping the p.
"Cool"
"Yeah cool," I said back awkwardly.
"You wanna come over to hang out? I'll smoke you out," he said flashing me a sly smile.
"Can't I have homework. Maybe tomorrow?" I said as the bell rang for the passing period.
"Yeah, that's fine I'll just text you tonight, okay?" he said grabbing his bag and standing up from the chair.
"Okay," was all I said before we made our way out of the classroom. We said our goodbyes before we parted ways. I walked to my next class with it feeling as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I finally had my friend back.
~
"Stokeley is my tattoo supposed to itch?" I heard Leora ask me on facetime.
"Yeah your straight just don't scratch it tho idiot," I said laughing at her while getting ready for bed.
"Fuck you," she said while having her whole forehead in the camera.
She' s so fucking cute.
"Can you back up damn. I can smell your breath from here," I said joking. I missed this. I missed talking to Leora. She was the only one other than Jahseh that I actually enjoyed being around and talking to all the time. Most of the time I liked being by myself and hated leaving the house.
"My breath smells good so stop playing with me boy," Leora said before I heard a text message come from my phone. I told Leora to hold on as I placed her on pause to check the text. It was Yuri texting me and I rolled my eye in annoyance. Yuri was a sweet girl but we had this disconnect with each other. She also talks my ear off and can be annoying sometimes. I sighed and opened the text.
Yuri: Can you call me back?
Ski: I'm on the phone with Leora rn
Yuri: Well we need to talk so can you hang up on her ass?
Ski: Bout what?
She didn't text me back right away so I went back to my facetime call with Leora.
"You straight?" Yuri said raising an eyebrow while lightening a candle.
"Yeah it was just Yur-"
Ding!
Yuri: My period is late
My heart dropped into my stomach.
Fuck no there's no way.
"You sure you good?" I heard Leora's soft voice say to me.
"H-hold on let m-me call you back"