Ima just tell y'all, this is one long ass chapter....
Saturday~ March 12, 2019
10:35am
Kennedy's POV-
It was the day of the basketball combine and I honestly was too exhausted to even go. Last night, Gabriella and Dejuane got into a really big fight because he was texting his ex.
He wasn't flirting with her, she just texted him to check up on him and he responded. Gabriella wasn't mad at the fact that he responded more so the fact that it was his ex and they had a full blown conversation.
The worst thing was that it got physical and she punched in his lip and leaked him. She was about to start throwing things but I came out of the bathroom right in time before she picked up my lamp.
Yes, this all happened at my house.
Dejuane and Gabriella never made up so he left my house and Gabriella stayed an extra 4 hours. She ending up staying the night.
We didn't go to sleep until 5 in the morning. She kept me up talking about her and Dejuane's problems and flooding me with all of her feelings. I didn't mind though because I've done the same to her but with Mikey and Jalen and she was always a great listener.
She really loves Dejuane. A lot of people say that high school relationships aren't anything and they won't last but I really think that they're going to last. I've never met two people so in love like them.
Even though Dejuane flirts and plays around a lot everyone knows that Gabriella will always be his #1. She was his and he was hers.
Speaking of Gabriella, she trotted out of my bathroom after being in there for an hour like I still didn't have to get a shower.
"Nigga why aren't you dressed? We have to be at the school in a hour." She asked, lotioning herself down.
The audacity....
"Bitch you were in the bathroom all morning. I haven't even got the chance to brush my teeth." I said, forcing my body off of my bed.
"I can tell. Shut that shit up." She said, plugging her nose with her fingers and pointing to the bathroom.
I flicked her off then went into my bathroom. First, I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I didn't do my full skin care routine because we didn't have much time. I selected my in the feels playlist and began moisturizing and cleansing my body.
My favorite song, at the moment because it's most likely going to change by tomorrow, began playing and I almost had a heart attack.
This song helped me get over my first love.
As the song played it flooded my mind with memories of him. I sat there getting lost in my thoughts as the song continued.
"KENNEDY HURRY THE FUCK UP." I heard Gabriella yell, as she banged on my bathroom door. I rolled my eyes and quickly finished my shower.
"You claim you don't want to be friends with dirty bitches but rush people when they're in the shower." I playfully scolded her as I walked out.
I did my normal hygiene then got dressed in my outfit which consisted of a pink two piece set where the top is a tube top and the pants are velvet bell bottoms. Apparently bell bottom style pants are coming back.
After I got dressed I put my hair into a middle part then brushed it into a low ponytail. I did light makeup which was eyebrows, lashes, highlight, and lip gloss.
I had to do my hair and makeup in the window with my phone set up because Gabriella loves my vanity and insists that she uses it whenever she's here because she doesn't have one at home.
You may be wondering why we're getting all cute and stuff just for a combine. Well, these combines usually have a crowds of people and it's always cute guys, not that I'm scoping though.
"Come on Kenn the bus leaves in 40 minutes, it's takes 20 minutes to get to Sierra Canyon." Gabriella said as I gathered my things.
If you were going to the combine as a student to support you can ride the charter that the boys are taking to the arena it's being held at. Only thing was that you had to pay $7 to secure a seat but the boys paid for us so it didn't matter.
"Ok I'm ready let's go." I said, throwing my small purse on my shoulder and walking out of my room.
Gabriella followed me downstairs and out to the car that my mom was waiting in.
Surprisingly my mom was home for the weekend. This usually never happens. She always has trips from Friday to Sunday night and sometimes during the week.
Sometimes her trips last even longer to the point when I don't even know when she comes back.
It does hurt having your mom in and out of your life especially when you're all each other's got, blood wise, but I understand that she works to support me and supply us with everything in our house and on our bodies.
"¡Buenos días mami! Te ves hermosa hoy." I spoke. "Gracias mi amor." My mom said.
She stared at me for a second and started smiling to herself. I saw her eyes water and I immediately became worried.
"¿Que pasa?" I asked her. "Te pareces cada vez más a tu padre" she said, and I smiled and looked out of the window. Everyone always told me I looked like my father but with my mothers complexion.
I looked back at Gabriella who was leaning forward with the dumbest look on her face. I guess she was wondering what we we were saying. Gabriella is half Hispanic, her father is Hispanic and her mother is African American, but she's lived in America all of her life so she doesn't know much Spanish which is unusual as hell.
"Ma can we stop to Mcs?" Gabriella asked my mom.
Gabriella, Dejuane, Jalen, Mikey, Zaire, Jaina and Bronny call my mom Ma. They've met her very few times since she's always gone and we're always at my house. She still treats them like her own kids though whenever she is around. She treats everyone like that to be honest.
For some reason my mom always had this look on her face when Dejuane called her Ma. It wasn't a bad look it was like a "omg im in awe" type of look. I asked her about it and she says it's only because Dejuane and I look alike.
Everyone says we look alike.
"Of course Ella." My mom said, making a u-turn and pulling into the McDonald's drive-thru.
We quickly ordered us breakfast and we got the boys something to eat so they won't starve on the bus. We had about 10 minutes before the bus left and we made it to Sierra Canyon right on time.
"¡Adios mami!" I say, kissing her cheek. I gathered some of the bags as Gabriella kissed my mother on the cheek as well.
"We need to stop getting individual bags for this big ass friend group." I said, as we struggled to walk to the bus.
"Yea but make sure I get that bag right there. I was fucking all them fries up." She said, pointing to a bag in my hand that had the most fries.
"Trifling." I said and she laughed. We walked onto the bus and saw half of our Varsity basketball players and some cheerleaders and students. It was a lot of people on our bus so who knows how many people will be at the event knowing that other schools are bringing people too.
I saw Dejuane, Jalen, Zaire, and Ryan at the back of the bus and made my way towards them. Mikey has to shoot some videos for Overtime today and Bronny was still upset with everyone.
Honestly, I think he's overreacting. I know she led him on and he has the right to be hurt about that but taking your hate out on Jalen, Mikey, Gabriella, and me makes no sense. I don't even know what I did for him to be mad at me.
"Hey kids." I said, distributing bags. "Hey KC." Dejuane said, it's a nick name he gave me because my name is Kennedy Carter.
"Gabriella." He said, crossing his arms and looking out the window dramatically.
I laughed to myself and took a seat in the triple seat in the very back with Jalen. Zaire and Ryan sat across from us, Jaina sat a few seats up with Kenley woah shocker, and Dejuane and Gabriella forcefully sat next to each other.
In a few minutes they're going to be all lovie dovie again.
"Hey kiddo." I said to Jalen. "H-hey Kenn." He quivered. He seemed so tense and anxious.
"Are you nervous?" I asked him. "Am I nervous? I'm literally shaking." He said, pointing at his leg that was bouncing up and down.
"Calm down. You'll be great. You're very talented and you're different. Stop doubting yourself, you'll do fine and you have all of us here to support you." I said, trying to comfort him.
"You're right, I'm overreacting for nothing." He said, leaning his head on my shoulder and eating some of his fries.
"You look beautiful." I heard him say as he scrolled on his phone, "I know you're not tryna impress my basketball friends." He said sarcastically.
"Not even, just wanna look cute for the one time." I said doing a little dance. "Stop." He said, killing my vibe. "So overprotective." I mumbled.
"What?" He asked. "Oh nothing..." I lied. I played games on my phone while Jalen's heavy ass head rested on my shoulder.
"Kenn..." I heard Jalen say and I looked up at my phone and he was recording me. I quickly flashed a smile then made some ugly ass faces and Jalen and I started laughing.
I watched as he typed the caption as "she's such a headass🤣💜💜"
I smiled but my smile dropped when he erased the caption and put a new one "my friends are so damn goofy😂"
"Why did you change the caption?" I asked him. "Alyssa. She got mad the last time you brought me food and I captioned it 'my favorite clutch💞' so here we are." He explained.
Maybe if she brought him food he would post her instead of me....but that ain't my business.
I silently nodded and moved over in the seat causing Jalen's head to fall off of my shoulder, almost breaking his neck. Jalen picked his head up as glared at me.
"Why you move for? I was comfortable and you almost cramped my shit." He asked.
"If she doesn't like something as small as a caption then maybe she wouldn't like you leaning your head on me." I said truthfully.
It was kind of disrespectful of me to sit next to him and "cuddle" knowing that he's talking to her so I need to back up and not overstep those boundaries.
"It's not that serious, she overreacts all the time. You're my bestfriend. I should be able to lay my head on you without any problem." he stated.
I simply nodded and went back to playing my game. Jalen went back to his previous position with his head on my shoulder and dozed off to sleep. While he was sleep I ate his fries but they weren't hot anymore so they were kinda nasty.
After a hour and some minutes of driving we arrived at the Staples Center. I knew it was a big event but I didn't know it was going to be held at the Staples Center.
Everyone piled off of the bus while Gabriella, Ryan, and I went through and cleaned it. We thanked the bus driver and walked off the bus.
We jogged into the stadium entrance after we noticed that our school had already went inside. After about 5 minutes of looking for them we found them on the other side of the court watching a 5 on 5 girls basketball game that was going on. We made our way over to them and watched the rest of the game.
After the game was over we all got out and walked into the lobby. We all bought refreshments and snacks such as skittles, pretzels, popcorn, etc. I had a big bag of popcorn but Dejuane and Jalen picked me up and I dropped the whole bag.
That popcorn smacked....
"I ain't know Mayfair was gonna be here." Zaire said, causing all of us to look up.
All of us as in Dejuane, Jalen, Gabriella, Jaina, Ryan, Kenley, and myself. We stayed in this little group the whole time. Kenley invited herself though...
"What? Where you see them at?" Jalen asked. We all started looking but I gave up because the boys were standing in front of us and were blocking the entrance.
"Awww nahhhh. I know that's not him. I know that's not my guppy." I heard Jalen say, getting hype.
The boy were dapping someone but I couldn't see who.
"If it isn't the one and only unicorn." I heard the voice speak. His voice was deep and smooth. I haven't seen his face but his voice alone is attractive.
"You pulled up with the Gucci bag and with the matching Gucci slides." Dejuane said.
"Man can you relax..." I heard the boy say and all the boys started laughing. "That's your favorite saying." Jalen laughed.
Gabriella and I exchanged looks and then we both had the same thought. Without saying anything we both cleared our throats, loudly at that, and our friends turned around to us and picked up on our signal.
"Ohhh Gup these are our bestfriends. They came to support." Jalen said.
"I'm Jaina." She said, batting her eyes. I rolled my eyes and looked down at my phone. I wasn't doing anything, I was just scrolling through my settings.
"Gabriella." Gabriella said, flashing a quick smile. "I'm Ry-" Ryan was saying but was cut off by Kenley. "She's Ryan and I'm her bestfriend, Kenley. You might of heard of me. My cheerleading team are 3 time world champions, my dad is one of the top lawyers in the country, and my mom works for App-" Kenley rambled but Dejuane cut her off.
"Girl, shut that shit up. We don't care." He said and we all held in our laughter.
It got silent as I began playing a game. I looked up and everyone was looking at me. I looked around but I quickly caught on.
"Oh I'm sorry. I'm Kennedy, Kennedy Car-" I was saying but the boy finished my sentence. "Carter. Kennedy Carter. I know who you are. My little sister watches your cheer videos all the time." He said, and I smiled. He looked so familiar until I finally realized who he was.
"I'm Josh Christopher." He said, holding his hand out. Our eyes locked as I placed my hand in his and everything was in slow motion. I watched as his eyes went down to my glossed lips and back up to my eyes.
He was definitely cute as fuck. His lips were perfect and the way he carried his self, appearance wise, was attractive.
•Joshua Christopher•
"Ayo, we should go back to the court." Jalen said, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me back behind him. He then threw his arm around me and slid it down to my waist.
I gave him a look and then I looked at Gabriella who was already looking at me with a smirk on her face.
"Rife just told me that his bus was pulling up so we should wait for him." Josh said.
I heard the name, Rife, and froze. It couldn't be...not my Rife. I haven't seen him in months and with our past seeing him would be even more drama than it already is.
"I'm going to the bathroom, Gabriella would you mind joining me?" I asked, even though it wasn't really a question.
"Yea, I don't have to pee." She said, checking her manicure. I dragged her to the bathroom anyway. I needed to do this quick rant.
•••
Omniscient
Kennedy just got finished from vomiting in a stall while Gabriella held her hair up. The thought of seeing her first love after all this time made her sick.
"If it's him I'm jumping off a bridge." Kennedy said, cleaning her self up in the mirror. "No you're not....well if you do can I come?" Gabriella asked. Kennedy glared at her and Gabriella sent an innocent smile.
"Why do you hate him so much?" Gabriella asked as she watched her bestfriend, reapply a fresh coat of lip gloss.
"I don't hate him. We just ended on an awkward note. We were literally the perfect couple but things happened and we just didn't work out. I just wasn't looking forward to seeing him anytime soon because I know if we still lived close enough to each other we would still be together." Kennedy explained.
"So was he....you know, the guy?" Gabriella asked her. "Yes. He's the guy. He's my first love." Kennedy sighed.
Gabriella remember the talk her and Kennedy previously had about 'the guy'. When Kennedy told her about him Gabriella fell in love with their relationship.
Who wouldn't?
They were literally the perfect couple. They were inseparable and they adored each other. They equally loved each other unconditionally.
However, the time wasn't right for them. Well that's what Kennedy tells herself.
"Damn Kenn..." Gabriella sighed. Gabriella didn't really know how to comfort her bestfriend in this situation. She has never been separated from Dejuane and they never broke up, even after their countless arguments.
However she did know what it was like having a first love considering Dejuane is hers. She related to Kennedy in many ways not just socially but family wise and personality wise.
"You're overreacting pooh. We don't even know if it's 'your Rife'. It could be a different Sharife." Gabriella said, trying to comfort Kennedy.
"When you hear the name Rife and high school basketball, who do you think of?" Kennedy rhetorically asked.
"You have a point. But just try to make the best of it if it is him. Distance yourself or try not to talk to him if it is actually him." Gabriella told her.
"And if he tries to flirt with you or sweet talk you, don't fall into the trap." She added.
"Do you think the boys would notice?" Kennedy asked.
"Nah they're too dumb. But don't make it hot." Gabriella said, "Jalen already got jealous because Josh was sizing you up."
"What?" Kennedy asked, looking at Gabriella curiously through the bathroom mirror.
"Everyone saw that face he gave you and Josh when he pulled y'all apart." Gabriella said. "Plus, Jalen actually-" Gabriella was saying but stopped herself.
Of course Kennedy was her bestfriend but she was also a recent bestfriend. Jalen and
Gabriella have been bestfriends since forever and their bond is untouchable. They talk about anything and everything with each other and always remained loyal. They were brother and sister without the blood.
Gabriella knows what's best for Jalen when nobody else does. She knows him more than he knows his self and that's how she knows that he really likes Kennedy. Jalen knows it deep down inside too but he continuously denies it.
Even though Kennedy was her bestfriend, Gabriella felt as if it wasn't her place to tell her about Jalen's feelings and it wasn't. She knows that the truth will come out eventually and she's going to wait for that time.
"Let's just go back out there. The boys are probably waiting for us and the event starts soon." Gabriella said, changing the subject.
Kennedy finished getting herself together and gathered her lip gloss and lash glue that was sitting on the counter. The two were heading out when they heard a faint sneeze.
Both of their necks snapped back at the stalls, which they thought were empty, and silently watched for a bit. After a few seconds they shrugged it off when nobody answered was revealed.
"Does my eyelash look crooked?" Kennedy asked, looking down at her phone camera as the two friends approached their friends, Josh, and a few more boys that weren't there before.
"Took y'all long enough." Dejuane mumbled. "Boy shut up." Gabriella said, walking over to him and cuddling in his arms.
Kennedy drifted away from the group and stood by a wall on her phone. She wasn't being rude or anything she was just scared of the fact that her ex/f.l might be standing with her friend group.
Jalen was the first to notice and quickly removed himself from the group.
"You good?" Jalen asked, standing in front of the stressed girl.. She looked at him then looked down it her feet. "I'm fine." She lied.
"You know I hate when you lie to me." Jalen said, rolling his eyes.
She did know. She lied to him one time and told him that she ate before they went to the arcade when she really didn't and he got upset because "that's not healthy", in his exact words.
"Talk to me." He said, in that soft tone that all the girls adored.
"I don't know if I want to tell you yet..." she said, avoiding all eye contact.
It wasn't like Kennedy was lying or anything. She honestly wasn't ready to tell her bestfriend, that she secretly has feelings for, that one of his basketball bros was her ex.
Even worst, her first love.
"That's fine, tell me when you're ready but I need you to cheer up. I need my hype girl for this event. It won't feel right without your energy." He said, trying to cheer her up.
He said that to cheer her up but Jalen honestly played his best when Kennedy was at a game or cheering him on. Kennedy missed one game and Jalen fouled out in the 2nd quarter and that has never happened before.
"Ok let's go unicorn." Kennedy said, plastering a fake smile on her face. "Come on big head." He chuckled, throwing his arm around her and they walked back over to the group of people they were previously with.
The two were smiling and cracking jokes, making the other laugh as they walked over to their friends. Anyone could look at them and think they were a couple but they were really two bestfriends who had that connection.
"Excuse me ma, I'm Dior, and you are?" Dior questioned, approaching Gabriella. Gabriella looked at Kennedy who buried her face in Jalen's chest as she was laughing with him.
"Um...I'm Gabriella." She answered awkwardly.
"And I'm Dejuane, her boyfriend." Dejuame said, placing his hand on her butt so everyone could see.
Jalen and Kennedy loved all of this. It was so entertaining to them but the next few hours weren't going to be as funny to them specifically.
"Jalen, my man." The two looked up and their eyes landed on the one and only Sharife Cooper.
Kennedy's heart dropped to her ass.
It was him.
Her Rife.
•Sharife Cooper•
Opposite from Kennedy, Jalen was actually excited to see his friend. Jalen, Josh, and Sharife had played together or against each other and done plenty of interviews together and were actually really good friends. They are all somewhere on the top 15 list and they all deserved it which connected them even more.
ft Jalen and Sharife^^
(all of those videos are funny asf i suggest y'all watch them😭^)
"Kennedy?" Sharife questioned and the group of people grew silent.
"Hi Sharife." She said, forcing a smile on her face. It was an awkward silence until Sharife pulled Kennedy into his arms, not caring who was around.
"Y'all know each other?" Dejuane asked. "Yea..." Kennedy sighed, pulling out of the hug.
"Kennedy and I used to—" Sharife was saying but Kennedy finished his sentence.
"Be good friends. We used to be good friends." She said.
"Is that so..." Jalen said, throwing his arm around Kennedy once again. Jealous was an understatement to describe Jalen's emotions and everyone could tell.
"Oh I see." Sharife chuckled.
Awkward was the only word that could describe the atmosphere now.
"Fellas, the event is beginning. head to the locker rooms to change and prepare." A coach said, rescuing everyone from this weird interaction.
"Wish me luck." Jalen said, hugging Kennedy one last time. "Good luck kid, I'll be watching." She smiled.
She felt eyes on them and she already knew it was Sharife. Jalen and the others walked off and Sharife walked up to her.
"Can we talk?"
Those words alone began to make her fall in love all over again. She missed his voice and his nonchalant act. She adored it.
She looked over his shoulder and saw Gabriella watching them with a look. It was a look that Kennedy couldn't read.
Her eyes met with Sharife's once again and they began to water. "I don't think that a good idea." She said.
"Come on Alani...." He spoke, calling her by her middle name. He always used to call her by her middle name.
"This isn't the right time Rife. You know it. We split up months ago, why should we 'talk' now?" She protested.
"Because we never talked about it and now you're here with me and I don't know how long this is going to last." He said. "What is going to last?" Kennedy questioned.
"This. I'm only in California for 1 more week. After that, I'm going back home to New Jersey and then I'm committing to Auburn. If we don't talk about it now we most likely won't ever see each other again." He said.
Kennedy honestly didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she should talk to him or send him packing. However, she did want closure and she kind of wanted to see his intentions though. Y'all can't blame her. He's her first love and he still has that affect on her...
"Come on Alani. Don't be like that. I just want to explain myself and tell you how much I've missed you." Sharife pleaded. "Fine, but after the event." She gave in.
She felt dumb. She fell into his trap, exactly what Gabriella told her not to do.
"Thanks mamas. I'll see you later." He said, placing a innocent kiss on her cheek then walking to the locker room.
Kennedy looked down in regret then looked up at her bestfriend who was shaking her head.
"I messed up." Kennedy admitted. "I told you not to fall for the trap and what did you do?" Gabriella asked her. "Fell for the trap..." Kennedy sighed.
Gabriella took her bestfriend into her arms and rubbed her back to comfort her. Gabriella now realized that Kennedy was very complicated when it came to relationships and feelings. Kennedy was confused with her own feelings.
She likes Mikey because it's him. She likes Jalen because of their connection and 'friendship', she felt something when her and Josh has that 'moment', and she's rekindling feelings for her ex.
She was a mess and she knew it.
The two friends finished their hug and headed into the arena and found seats. It was a lot of people in the stadium for this specific event and the girls were overwhelmed. It seemed like 300 more people arrived ever since they had.
"Kennedy stop stressing yourself. Just focus on Jalen and Zaire. We're here to support them." Gabriella said, trying to distract Kennedy from her thoughts.
Kennedy could not stopped staring at Sharife. It was like she automatically gravitated to him. She didn't want to though. Anytime she looked at him she would physically turn her head the other way.
"I'm trying. I just can't stop thinking about him, and us....and what we used to be." Kennedy expressed causing Gabriella to roll her eyes.
Gabriella was automatically Team Kalen, Kennedy and Jalen. She believed that Kennedy was bringing the old Jalen back and she was. Gabriella could tell that they are the perfect match and she won't settle until her bestfriends are together.
"You look like you seen a ghost." Dejuane said, approaching the two girls and taking seats next to them.
"She did. The ghost of Kennedy's past." Gabriella joked. "Talkin bout Rife? Everyone saw that extravagant ass hug." Dejuane said, and Kennedy snapped his neck at him.
"Everyone?" She questioned, now thinking about Jalen. She forgot that Gabriella had told her that he got jealous because of Kennedy just shaking Josh's hand. Imagine how Jealous he got after that hug with Sharife.
"Yea, Jalen saw and he was pretty bummed." Dejuane said, reading her mind. "What do you mean?" Gabriella asked.
"I was in the locker room with the guys and he barely laughed at any of the roasts the other guys were making and he was walking around like a sad ass puppy." Dejuane said.
Kennedy looked at Gabriella and got even sadder.
Of course, Jalen was just her bestfriend but she still liked him. They like each other and don't even know.
Technically Kennedy was talking to Mikey and Jalen was talking to Alyssa so they both were occupied but it didn't stop their feelings for each other to stop progressing.
Kennedy and her friends saw the guys walk over to the benches and they were all talking to a coach. The coach from LSU actually. Kennedy's eyes kept shifting for Jalen, to Josh, to Sharife.
She noticed that Jalen wasn't focused at all. She shifted her mindset to just Jalen and locked her eyes on him. She knew that if he played bad today his future could be in jeopardy and she definitely didn't want to be the cause of that. She definitely had to step her game up as a hype girl and bestfriend.
....
"Ayo nobody fucking with us." Josh said as the whole crew walked out to the busses. After a long day showcasing their skills, all of the boys were energy drained.
"Facts. I just wanna get on this bus and go to sleep." Jalen said as he walked with Kennedy under his arm. Jalen and Kennedy wandered away from the others as they all halted at the end of the sidewalk and waited for the rest of the buses to pull up.
"Thank you." He said to her. "For what?" She questioned.
"For rooting for me. Something came over me and I got really upset but as soon as I heard you cheering for me in the stands my whole mood changed. I ain't never hear you cheer that hard for me. I played the best I have ever played in there." He explained.
"I was like this....and then I was like that... and then Dior tried to sauce me and I said 'nope not today whore' that's still my bro though but he can't sauce me like that and expect not to get dunked on." Jalen said, doing all these movements which made Kennedy laugh.
"Our team fucked that 5 on up. How are you gonna put me, Gup, Rife, BJ, and Cassius on the same team and expect us not to dog everyone?" He said.
Kennedy just silently smiled at him. She admired how he was so passionate and energetic when it came to his sport or talking about it.
"Speaking of Rife...is there anything I should know about? Y'all seem really close and the vibe y'all give off together is weird." Jalen asked causing Kennedy's smile to instantly drop."
"Nope. We were just really good friends back when I lived in New York. That's all." She lied.
Jalen just glared at her. He couldn't believe that she was deadass lying to him, right to his face. Jalen knew a lot about Kennedy in a short amount of time and he picked up on little stuff like how she plays with her clothes or her charm bracelet when she's nervous or lying. He thought about it as he watched her play with the rim of her velvet pink pants that he thought fit her figure all too well.
As good as she looked, she still was lying to him.
He didn't care to argue or interrogate her so he just left it alone. But just because he let it go doesn't mean he forgot.
"Speaking fo your boy toy..." Jalen sighed and walked away from Kennedy. She turned around and came face to face with Sharife.
"What?" She asked. "Aht. Let's run that back." He said, turning around with his back facing her.
"Hey Alani." He said, turning back around with a goofy face. Kennedy couldn't help but laugh at him. Sharife never had a problem with making her laugh.
"Hello Sharife." Kennedy chuckled, "How can I help you?"
"I told you that I wanted to talk, why are you acting clueless?" He asked her. She shrugged and crossed her arms.
"Go ahead."
"Well I just wanna start off by saying that I'm sorry. I should've supported your cheerleading career and I shouldn't have slept with Claire." He spoke, "When I found out you were moving to California coincidentally months after Bronny I felt some type of way. I thought I was losing you to him and I didn't want to get hurt so I hurt you first."
"None of this would of happened if I just trusted you. I'm so sorry Kennedy." He said sincerely.
Y'all are probably very confused.
Let's rewind...
Sharife and Kennedy dated from 6th grade to her sophomore year, his junior year. They were literally the perfect couple. He was humble, loving, driven, selfless, clingy, and respectful. He was really the whole package for her.
You're probably wondering why they broke up....
Sharife was really good at basketball, like really really good. At the time he lived in New Jersey and Kennedy lived in New York so that just added on more stress. It wasn't a far distance but with his busy schedule and her cheerleading "career", that he didn't take serious, they barely got to see each other.
After the two broke up they continued to text, FaceTime, and even link whenever they had the time to but then Bronny came into the picture.
After Kennedy came back from the cruise that she met Bronny and the James' family on, Bronny and Kennedy began to get closer and closer, as well as their families. The thing is everyone thought they liked each other when they were strictly just friends.
Sharife hopped on the "Bronny and Kennedy like each other" train and began getting mad jealous.
Kennedy and Sharife weren't even together and he broke it off with her so why would it matter all of a sudden?
Sharife stopped talking to her and even removed her on snap and deleted her number.
When Kennedy found out that she was moving to California, she went to his house for the last time to tell him and his mother, that adored Kennedy, that she was leaving and they.....did the nasty.
It was great, Kennedy was ready, Sharife was ready, and they both thought it was a good time for it. So nobody should judge them, right?
Anyways, the two haven't talked since then and it's going on 8 months. Kennedy's love will always be with him but she doesn't know if she could ever love him again.
She found out that he had sex with another girl, Claire, the day after they took each other's virginity.
That shit hurted Kennedy but it's in the past now. When Kennedy moved to California she wiped that memory from her mind and began her fresh start. Seeing Sharife today brought back that memory that she didn't want.
Ok, back to the story...
"What are you trying to say Sharife?" Kennedy asked, biting down on her lip.
"I'm saying that I still love you and I'm sorry for those past mistakes. I was hoping we could start over..." he said, flashing a smile.
Kennedy smiles but her smile faded away when she turned around and saw Jalen, Dejuane, and Gabriella watching them with clear disappointment on their faces.
"No."
"What? What do you mean no? I said all of that and you say no?" Sharife questioned.
"No Sharife, we can't start over. I spent months getting over the fact that you fucked Claire right after you fucked me and you claimed you loved me so much. If you did that and you loved me, imagine what else you would do." Kennedy stated, "Plus, I will always have love for you but I can never love you again. Of course we were great together but everything happens for a reason. We broke up first and then I moved, maybe it was all a sign."
"I came here and started over, leaving you and New York in my past. I have great new friends that love me and support me and wouldn't do anything to hurt me unlike you. I don't need a relationship, with you especially, when I couldn't be happier with my friends. Well actually my family..." Kenned explained.
Sharife clenched his jaw and looked pass Kennedy.
"This ain't about us. It's about him." Sharife said, eyeing Jalen.
"I don't know...maybe. But the point is we're done. It's no more Rife and Kenn and now that I know what your intentions were today I can finally remove you from my life." She said.
"C'MON KENN! THE BUS IS HERE!" Dejuane yelled causing Kennedy to laugh.
"I love you Sharife. I always will but our time is up." Kennedy said.
•••
Jalen's POV-
"Jalen she's fine. Get on the bus." Zaire insisted as I continued to watch Kennedy and Sharife. It looked like they were having some serious talk about who know what.
"I don't trust it." I said, not taking my eye off of them.
"Gabriella is standing there waiting for her. You know she won't let anything happen." Zaire said and I finally gave in. My legs became sore and I need to sit down so I just went with it.
"What's that about?" Jaina asked me as I sat down in the back of the bus, referring to Kennedy and Sharife. I rolled my eyes and kept quiet.
"Y'all haven't heard?" Kenley said and everyone became silent and gave her all of their attention.
"Apparently they were the IT couple back on the East Coast. They were first loves and everyone thought they were soulmates. They broke up once she moved." Kenley explained and all eyes fell on me.
"How you know all of this?" I asked her.
"We may or may not have been eavesdropping in the bathroom." Jaina giggled, high-fiving Kenley.
Jalen took in all this information and put it in the back of his head. He was going to wait to see if Kennedy ever tells him and if what she tells him aligns with what he just heard.
Kennedy and Gabriella walked on the bus a few minutes later and Jalen gave her the cold shoulder and didn't talk to her or interact the entire bus ride, well that was until he fell asleep on her shoulder again. He wasn't mad that they were talking, more so that she lied to him.
________________________________
@gabri_ella
liked by dejuane.mccoy, kenn.city, mikey, and 27,495 others
@gabrie_ella expect the unexpected🙂
10,395 comments
dejuane.mccoy have my kids😖😖😍😍
↪️gabri_ella 😬
kenn.city ahhhhh😍😍😍😍😍
jalen sis💜🤟🏽🤟🏽
mikey ya chain crooked😂
↪️gabri_ella 😭🖕🏽
••••
@jaygup
liked by kenn.city, queenkenley__, zaire, and 395,223 others
@jaygup linked with my brother today and you k is it was a movie💜🔥
101,835 comments
jalen 413💜💜
sharife.cooper bros🔥🤝
kenn.city 🔥
queenkenley__ 🥰🥰
↪️dejuane.mccoy you really be in everybody comments
•••
@kenn.city
liked by sharife.cooper, jaygup, mikey, and 220,110 others
@kenn.city pretty in pink💞 outfit from: @fashionnova pc: @gabri_ella
99,274 comments
kenn.city damn i have no ass...but at least i have a good personality🙂
gabri_ella thanks for the pc😍😍
sharife.cooper 😬😍😅
jaygup ❤️🔥
↪️kenn.city ❤️
fashionnova 😍 check dm
jalen ok best🤤
•••
@jalen
liked by alyssa.howard, gabri_ella, dejuane.mccoy, and 591,333 others
@jalen trust the process💯 pc: alyssa.howard
201,472 comments
overtimeshaderoom new crush👀??
↪️jalen just a friend
alyssa.howard 🤤🤤🤤🦄
dejuane.mccoy wait a damn minute....
gabri_ella if im not mistaken kennedy took this picture🤨
zaire i ain't never seen a comment section this awkward but the pic is fye
________________________________
Kennedy's POV-
"Are y'all good to drive home?" I asked Dejuane and Jalen. They were very exhausted and could barely keep their eyes open which is why I drove us to my house.
Jalen ignored me and Dejuane answered instead. "We good Kenn, get some sleep." Dejuane insisted. Gabriella and I nodded and walked into my house.
Jalen's been giving me the cold shoulder ever since we got on the bus. He even posted a picture that I took on Instagram and gave AlYsSa credit for it. That's disrespectful. I knew it was because of Sharife but I told him we were just friends so what was the big deal?
I just shrugged it off, I was too tired for all of this.
I walked into the living room and saw my mom passed out on the couch, snoring and all. "So I accidentally slammed the door and she still didn't wake up?" Gabriella questioned.
"She's a heavy sleeper." I shrugged it off.
We threw our bodies up the stairs and into my room. We were so exhausted. We left the Sierra Canyon around 12 and got back at 7:30.
Gabriella and I have been yelling and jumping around, trying to cheer the boys on and Jalen and Zaire have been playing hard all day.
We all crashed on the bus and I didn't even know if any of us should've drove. I insisted that my mom could come and pick us up but the boys didn't want to leave Jalen's car at the school over the week.
"Ima take my shower in the morning." Gabriella yawned, falling into my bed. "Girl get ya ass up. At least take them close off, you been around sweaty boys all day." I said, stripping in to my underwear and bra.
I grabbed two of my oversized graphic shirts and put one on and gave the other to Gabriella.
"Bitch this my shirt." Gabriella said, examining the shirt I just gave her. "You act like you don't leave your clothes here all the time." I said back.
Gabriella and I have grown extremely close ever since I transferred to Sierra Canyon. She stays at my house almost every weekend and she's always at my house after school or after a function. It's a routine for her to fall asleep in my house and I give her something to sleep in that she ends up taking home, but I still love her. My mom loves her too. She doesn't mind her always being at our house.
"Kenn?" I heard Gabriella's raspy voice say. "Yes Gabri?" I answered, climbing under my covers and into my rose gold silk sheets. Y'all don't know how long I've been wanting these sheets and my mom finally got them a few weeks ago.
"You think that your mom would let me stay with you guys for a few months? I'm just asking by the way, not that I need somewhere to live." She asked and I turned over to her and she was looking at me.
"Of course Gabri. She loves you, I love you." I said causing a smile to appear on her face, "Why'd you ask that though?"
She remained silent as a tear trickled down her face. I quickly wiped her tear away with my thumb and pulled her into my arms. She began to silently weep as I held her. I didn't know what was going on but her body began to shake and I just wanted to cry for her.
"I'm about to lose my dad, Kenn..." she quivered.
I remembered that conversation we had all to well. When I told her about my dad passing away she told me about her dad who's really sick and her family doesn't know if he has much time left. She cried to me that night also.
"If I lose him I'm going to be stuck with my mom. My little sister's, Malika and Mikala are stranded with her for 5 more years. When I turn 18 in a year and a half, I'm moving away. But I can't take them with me since they're minors." Gabriella explained, sobbing through her words.
"What's so bad about your mom Gabri?" I asked but soon regretted.
"She's so controlling and abusive. She literally locked me in my room for 4 months before because I went to Dejuane's house and we didn't even do anything. She put bars on my windows, chains on my room doors and I couldn't even see my sisters. Theirs a level of strict parents and she tops it more and more everyday and I can't take it anymore." She sobbed.
"S-she hit me before and she continuously beats my sisters for nothing."
When she said that my heart broke.
"They are the sweetest girls ever. They're quiet, they never cause problems, they don't act grown and they are straight a students. They're literally the perfect children and she hurts them..." she said.
"I'm afraid if I tell her she's going to beat me even worst than she did before." She said, lifting her shirt that revealed a huge bruise on her lower back.
"Tell her what Gabri?" I asked. "Kennedy I-" she was saying but paused. Her eyes grew big and she jumped off the bed and into my bathroom.
I had a curious look on my face but when I heard her throwing up it all came to me.
I rushed into the bathroom and pulled her curly hair out of her face and rubbed her back.
"She's going to kick me out when she finds out." She sobbed.
"I'm here, I got you. We'll figure it out." I assured her.
She continued to throw up for about 15 more minutes until I heard my phone began ringing. I felt as if Gabriella was more important right now so I just ignored it but the number kept calling back.
"I'll be back." I said, getting off of the bathroom floor and grabbing my phone from off the bed.
I answered the phone without even checking the caller ID, "May I help you, you've called 12 times in a row?" I said with frustration booming in my voice.
"You and Gabriella have to come to the hospital now."
•••
What do you think happened?
Thoughts on Sharife and Kennedy?
Thoughts on Jalen and Kennedy?
Thoughts in general😭?
COMMENT//VOTE I want to interact with y'all and see what y'all are thinking about everything.