•Oakhill Mall•
"Oooh.. These cute!" Mila squealed while looking at a pair of ripped jeans.
Malik had given Mila $500 to go shopping for new clothes since she was growing rapidly from her pregnancy. Jay didn't wan't Mila spending most of her money on his gift so he offered to pay for her gifts.
"Try them on. If they fit, get them." Jay told his girlfriend.
"Nah, I'm only buying leggings, jeggings, shorts, and sweats. That way, when I get bigger, I'll still be able to fit them. I won't have to do more shopping." Mila said.
Jay nodded his head and said, "Smart thinking. You'll still look good." He smirked and she smiled back.
The two walked around the mall for hours, shopping for a new wardrobe and for multiple gifts for her brother while waiting for Malik and Amari to get there.
***
•Jordan's Place•
Jordan had invited the guys over to eat and play the game. They did this every Wednesday. They took turns going to each other's house. If it was your turn, you'd have to cook food or have tons of food and set up the game.
"LET'S FUCKING GOOOO! NIGGA YOU ASS! Bruh, give us somebody else to play." Jordan yelled as him and Kameron won against Triston and Alex.
"Bro, you only won by one point. Sit yo ass down." Alex said.
"But we still won." Kameron said.
"All good, we gon' come back for the dub." Triston said while handing over the controller to Brandon.
Alex also handed the controller over to Cody.
Kameron turned to Jaylen and asked, "You trynna hop on bro?"
"Yeah, let me get that." Jaylen answered while reaching for the controller.
Kameron handed it over and stood up. "Bet. I'm finna go make me a plate. Y'all need anything from back there while I'm up?"
"Yeah, pass me another water." Cody said.
Kameron walked to the kitchen to fix him a plate and grabbed three waters. Two for him, one for Cody. He walked back to where the game was set up and sat back down. Before he could take a bite of one of the ribs on his plate, he got a call from Angel. This was her third time calling him. He shook his head and answered. "Wassup?"
"Where you at? And why haven't you answered any of my texts or my previous calls?" Angel fussed.
"I told you I was the homies at Jordan's crib. It's game night, baby." Kameron told Angel.
"But you told me you was coming over. Whatever happened to that?" She responded.
"AFTER BAEE!" Kameron was now annoyed.
"Alright. Whatever. See you then." She caught an attitude and hung up.
Kameron shook his head and started eating.
"That was Angel again?" Jaylen asked.
Kameron shoved a piece of cornbread in his mouth and said, "Mhm."
All of the guys shook their heads and laughed.
"Bro, no disrespect, but why'd y'all get back together?"Jordan asked Kameron.
Triston chimed in and said, "Yeah, fam. You know y'all becoming some toxic ass mutherfuckas trynna hold on to each other."
"Man whatever. Iain't trynna hear none of that bullshit. Y'all don't even know what happened when we got back together." Kameron told the boys.
"You right. Tell us what happened then." Brandon said.
It got quiet for a minute then Kameron looked up and noticed all his homeboys staring at him.
"We waitin' dude." Cody said in a funny tone.
Kameron then wiped his mouth and his hands and set his plate aside on the coffee table. "Y'all annoying and nosy as fuck. Iain't telling' y'all shit." He laughed and grabbed his water.
Everyone else laughed and started murmuring.
Alex made a lame face expression and said, "Bruh, I thought you was finna start talking bout the situation."
"On me." Jordan agreed. "You full of shit."
"Aight, aight... I'ma tell y'all, but don't say shit yo." Kameron told the boys.
Jaylen looked around at everyone then back Kameron and said, "Y'all the only muthafuckas I talk to."
Kameron giggled and nodded his head. "Aight, so Friday night..."
The boys all cut Kameron off and asked at the same time, "FIRDAY NIGHT???"
"Damn, can I finish?" Kameron asked with an attitude. "Anyways, Friday night, after we left the game... Angel blew my phone up. Iaint answer the first few times cause I was stuck on that bitch Amari..."
"Whoaaa... bro that's not coo." Jordan said cutting Kameron off.
The rest of the boys chimed in and agreed with Jordan.
"Whatever man. Y'all wanna hear the story or naw? Y'all keep cuttin' a nigga off and shit." Kameron said. He was now irritated. He had his reasons for the way he spoke. But the guys didn't know what had happened.
"We do but you ain't gotta call her a bitch. She coo people. And just cause she act like she not fucked up about you- don't mean she a bitch. I see the way you be lookin' at her. And I know she don't be payin' you no mind but still bro... don't do her like that." Jordan said, defending Amari.
"Aight..." Kameron said. He no longer wanted to tell the story. He got up, grabbed his plate and walked to the kitchen to finish the rest of his food.
The guys watched him leave then looked at each other. They all shook their heads and went back to playing the game. All of them except for Brandon.
After a few minutes, Brandon got up and walked to the kitchen to check on Kameron. "You good bro?"
Kameron looked up and nodded his head.
"Angel pregnant, huh?" Brandon asked Kameron.
Kameron didn't say anything. He only nodded his head again and looked down.
Brandon glanced over at the boys to make sure they weren't paying any mind to them and asked, "Well, is it yours or Michael's? You know they fucked at the game."
"Mine. She been pregnant. We boutta find out what we havin' bruh. I don't even know what I'm do. Iaint even gon' lie... I'm scared as fuck." Kameron let out.
Brandon shook his head. He didn't know what to say.
***
•Thursday Morning•
"What happened to y'all? Y'all never showed last night." Mila asked Malik and Amari.
There was an awkward silence.
"Okay, so did I do something wrong? 'Cause of I did then say that. Don't give me this awkward ass silence." Mila snapped.
"You didn't, sis. I'm just tired. I had a lot of homework and shit to deal with last night. Malik had some business of his own to handle too. We're sorry we flaked." Amari explained and apologized to Mila.
Mila let up and looked at Amari. She could tell Amari was up crying all night. She looked it. "It's coo. How you feelin'? You good? You've been off lately."
"Yeah, I'm fine." Amari said.
*I'm Fine... that's what she got tatted on her wrist* Mila thought to herself as she glanced at Amari's tattoo.
Mila grabbed Amari's arm when she noticed new cuts. She looked up at Amari and got sad. Tears started streaming down her face. She didn't understand why Amari harmed herself instead of just talking to someone. She tried and tried countless times to get Amari to understand she was there for her. But Amari didn't want to talk. She dealt with things differently.
Amari snatched her arm back and shook her head. "Don't do that Mila. I'm not in the mood for no lectures."
Mila wiped her tears and tried to calm herself down. "Why don't you just tell me whats wrong? Do you not trust me? 'Mari, I'm your sister!"
Amari got irritated. She hated when people forced her to open up about her problems. The few times she did, no one understood. She didn't expect anyone to either. That's why she didn't speak about much. Amari gritted her teeth and hushed Mila. "I swear I will never speak to you again if Malik come in here and finds out about these lil ass cuts. It's not even that serious... stop crying!"
Mila got frustrated and walked off. She tossed the rest of her breakfast and left outside to sit and wait in the car for Amari.
"Hey, we out. See you later." Amari told Malik.
"Aight. Stay safe." Malik responded.
Amari nodded her head and walked towards the door.
"Yo!" Malik called out.
Amari stopped and turned to him.
"What time is y'all game?" Malik asked.
Amari's frown turned into a big smile. Malik never showed up to any of their games since she's been there. She was happy. "It starts at 6:30p.m."
"Bet. I'll be there." Malik told Amari. He knew it was what he needed to do.
***
•Otw to School•
"Mila... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap on you." Amari told Mila who was blasting music to avoid the awkward silence.
Amari noticed she was ignoring her and started singing louder. She turned the radio down and looked at Mila. "Yo, are you listening?"
"Nope." Mila answered bluntly.
"I'm serious. I'm sorry, okay." Amari apologized again. "I know I fucked up yo appetite so did you want me to stop by anywhere to get you some food?"
"Nope." Mila answered bluntly again. She was pissed at Amari.
"Mila... I'm trying okay. I've been stressed and overwhelmed and tired of EVERYTHING! I've had soo much happen to me in such little time! I lost my parents, had to move, adapt to a whole new school and now everyone won't leave me alone about Kameron and shit. It's all fucking stressful! I CAN'T FUCKING TAKE IT ANYMORE! And I'm tired of crying bro! This shit is annoying as fuck! Like this shit really ain't for me!" Amari let out while crying.
Mila was scared. She let go of her attitude quickly and looked at her sister. She didn't know what to say or do. "I... I'm sorry... I just don't like you hurting yourself. I used to do that. And I know how it feels to just bottle everything up and become a ticking bomb. 'Mari just please... talk to me. I'm not trynna force you, but... at least try to talk to me before cutting again."
Amari wiped her tears away while driving. She nodded her head and said, "Okay... I will. Thanks."
"Yeah, of course." Mila said.
The two got quiet for a moment, listening to the song that played on the radio.
"Malik coming to our game." Amari told Mila.
"Really!?" Mila squealed.
"Mmhm... hey... do you know of any girl Malik might be dating?" Amari asked.
Mila looked at Amari strangely and said, "No.... he hasn't had a girl in YEARS! Why?"
Amari stayed silent for a minute then answered. "Cause... yesterday... when we were talking, his phone started ringing. And it was call from someone who's name in his phone was Esposa wit a ring emoji. And esposa is Spanish for wife."
"Whaaaat...." Mila said shockingly. "He's never told me anything about any girl he was dating or married to."
"Ohh... we'll find out one of these days. What'd you get him for his birthday?" Amari asked Mila.
Mila palmed her face and said, "Giirrrll, a bunch of tees, two pairs of J's and I wanted to get him something customized, but I didn't wanna empty out Jay's wallet since he was paying for it all. He ain't want me spending what Malik gave me for my new wardrobe on his gift, so he offered to pay for it."
Amari looked at Mila and asked how much did he spend total.
Mila thought for a second then said, "Mmm.. about $500 almost $600. He told me he had just got paid from both of his jobs so he had $800 to splurge, and he planned to save the other $900."
Amari's eyes widened. She didn't say anything but she was going to pay him back. "We'll go back tomorrow after school... before the game, of course. I need to get more clothes too and get him some gifts. We can get whatever you wanted to get customized for him too."
Mila smiled and said okay.
***
Lunch Time
"Did y'all see who we playin' today?" Leilani asked.
Amari looked up and around. She was waiting for someone to answer 'cause she was curious.
"East Bay, huh?" Khelani asked.
Queen nodded her head and said, "Mmhm. Hopefully y'all ready. 'Cause I'm lookin forward to another dub ladies."
"Shit, me too." Leilani said.
Angel laughed at Leilani's comment and said, "Not like you starting... Coach subbed you out for Toni."
Leilani then laughed at Angel and snapped back. "You right, I'll be sitting right next to you on the bench."
Angel was still unaware of her swap out with Amari.
"The fuck you mean? I'ma starter. Always have been." Angel said with an attitude.
Kameron wrapped his arm around her trying to calm her down.
"Yeah, and tonight you'll be starting on the bench." Leilani said while laughing.
This only made Angel's blood boil. She was heated. Especially since Leilani joked about it and the other girls were giggling.
"It's not funny y'all. Fake asses knew all along and didn't tell me? Fuck y'all." Angel snapped at the girls.
Kameron held onto her and told her to chill.
Everyone stopped laughing except Queen and Khelani. "Okay, go off then." They both said I'm synced. They looked at each other noticing they had just said the same thing and laughed even more.
Angel didn't even bother arguing with them. She had already got her ass whooped by Queen on Friday. She wasn't trying her again.
"Okay, so please don't tell me this bitch ain't subbing for me?" Angel said while pointing at Amari.
Mila instantly got mad and stood up. Jay grabbed her and sat her back down, calming her down. Mila looked at Amari wishing she'd say something. Amari was unbothered. She was sipping her drink when Mila kicked her feet. Amari nodded her head and set her drink down while standing up. She took her tray and walked towards the trash to dump it.
Angel laughed and continued talking while eyeballing Amari. "That's what I thought, sit the fuck down Mila. And Amari keep walking away witchyo sca-..."
BOOM! Amari came back with her empty tray and smacked Angel with it. She dropped the tray and yanked Angel's hair, pulling her back. Amari got in Angel's face and said, "Keep talkin' yo shit bitch! I'll fade yo ass like Queen did right here in front of yo nigga. And I promise you he can't do shit to save yo stupid ass." Amari let Angel's hair go and stood up straight, waiting for her to do something. But Angel just sat there and cried.
All the girls stood up and circled around to block the scene. They were trying to avoid any adults catching what was happening.
Kameron stood up and got in Amari's face. Amari stepped up closer to him. "I wish the fuck you would touch me Kameron. Do it! HIT ME if you want to!" Amari told Kameron as she pushed him, causing him to almost fall over.
He caught his balance and stepped back up to Amari. "I let you slide wit disrespecting me yesterday... but over her, I'm knocking shit. Keep yo hands off her 'Mari."
The guys then stood up and waited for Kameron to put his hands on Amari. He noticed it and looked back at them.
"We get it Kameron. You love yo girl... but you not puttin yo hands on no female. If yo girl gon' talk her shit, make sure she know how to back it up." Jaylen told Kameron.
Kameron cut his eyes back at Amari and said, "You heard what I said. I'm not playin' wit you." He walked over to his girlfriend and helped her up. The two got up and walked off.
Amari only laughed at Kameron. She was not scared of him at all! She looked at the group and apologized.
"Girl, you good. Don't apologize for putting a bitch in they place." Aaliyah said.
Toni was irritated. She didn't like Amari even more. Nor did she like the rest of the girls, so she decided to ask a question to be petty. "Khelani? You not mad about yo boyfriend sticking up for some random newbie?"
Khelani caught her drift of trying to be petty and laughed. "Why would I be? Amari's my friend, and if I was Jaylen, I would have done the same. The fuck? I'm not a jealous hoe like yo best friend."
Toni didn't say anything. She just rolled her eyes and left the group.
***
•Check Day•
"Alright class! I will be going through every group to see where everyone is and how much progress y'all have had. I will ask both persons in each group questions to test the team effort. I hope y'all got everything ready cause today is check day!" Mrs. Franklin announced.
Amari rolled her eyes and put her head down. She didn't feel like faking it with Kameron.
"Here. Everything done except yo shit." Kameron scooted the poster over to her.
Amari picked her head up and grabbed the poster. She didn't even look at Kameron.
But he did. He kept staring at her.
"I can feel you staring at me... the fuck you lookin' at." Amari snapped.
"I wasn't..." Kameron lied.
She looked him and squinted her eyes. "Liar."
"Not, but whatever." Kameron responded.
Mrs. Franklin finally made it to them and began her questions. She examined the two's work and watched as they went over everything together. They fooled her 'cause she thought they were the perfect partners. "I did an amazing job making y'all partners. Good job y'all. Keep that team work up. I love it." Mrs. Franklin smiled and went on to the next table.
"Ugh. Finally." Amari said.
Even though Kameron was mad at Amari, her slick comments were still hurting his feelings. He didn't understand why she hated him so much. He sat and watched Amari as she pulled out her phone. He seen that she had a message.
"I miss you. I hope I can see you tonight.😘 @1424pm" - Bae💙
Kameron looked away after reading the message. He shook his head and put some headphones in to listen to music with his head down as Amari finished their project.
***
•Home-Game Run Through •
It was now 6:00 P.M. The game was about to start, and the girls were running over warmups.
"Amari, look! It's Malik..." Mila pointed out. The girls was standing in the outside-hitter line near the bleachers where the home team supporters sat. The guys always sat at the bottom of the bleachers closest to the court. The 'view' was 'better' there.
Amari looked up and cheesed. Not only did she see her brother, but also her boyfriend following behind Malik.
The guys looked over to see who she was cheesing over. They knew who Malik was, but didn't know who the other guy was.
"Must be her dude Mila mentioned yesterday." Brandon said to the guys.
Cody looked back at Amari and said, "Mhm... he just winked at her and Amari damn near fell out. She ain't hiding shit. It's obvious that's her dude."
The game finally started with some new starters- Amari instead of Angel and Toni instead of Leilani.
"Hey buddy. Isn't it nice to still be a starter..? On the bench!" Leilani joked while sitting down next to Angel.
Angel only rolled her eyes and watched the game.
It was a good game. Lady Tigers took a dub and everyone was now in the lot chatting and leaving.
The group of friends walked up to Amari and Mila and yelled, "GOOD GAME Y'ALL!"
"Thanks." Amari said with her head completely faced elsewhere.
They turned to see who she was staring at.
"That yo crush, Amari? You been stuck on him all night." Khelani asked.
Queen laughed and added, "Righhttt... since before the game started."
Amari looked at everyone in the group and stopped before looking at Angel and Kameron. She shook her head and said, "My mans Mila mentioned yesterday." She was blushing.
*I knew it.* Cody thought to himself.
"Okayyyyyyyy! Now we need Queen to get with somebody." Aaliyah joked.
"Yeah, with me." Jordan let out with a smirk.
Queen laughed and said, "Keep dreaming Jordan."
"Why dream? When I can live it? C'mon Queen. Make a nigga's dreams come true." Jordan said while grabbing Queen's hand.
"You so damn corny." Queen said while snatching her hand back. She winked at him and only him and Khelani caught it.
Josiah walked up to Amari and kissed her. The group watched in shock.
"Well, okay then!" Jade said. "Y'all cute!"
Amari smiled a little then introduced her boyfriend. "Y'all this is JP. Bae, these are my friends. Well, Some of them are my friends... That's Queen, Jordan, Khelani, Jaylen, Triston, Aaliyah, Alex, Jade, Leilani, Brandon, Cody, Toni, Kameron, Angel, Jay and my sister, Mila. You already met them two at the house though." Amari said.
Josiah nodded his head at the group. "Sup." He said.
Everyone said hey then walked away allowing them two and Mila and Jay to go home. Malik allowed JP and Jay to stay the night so the two had their bags packed.
They got home and went to bed after talking about the game with Malik. Yes, he was there, but he wanted to know what their coach was snapping about. The girls explained everything then left upstairs to take a shower and to sleep.