Senior year started, and it had a different energy to it. With Calvin in college and Rashad already set up in his new adult life, I was the only kid in the house. So it was a lot of silent mornings and not having to fight over a bathroom, something I didn't think I'd miss, but I kinda did.
Quincy and I were officially back together, which was a hard sell to my family, but I knew they were just looking out for me. I was happy, and it wasn't hard to see. So that was enough to let them leave me in my peace.
Will and Leon were together and going strong. Will slowly but surely evolved, not completely straying from her tomboy appearance, which was a good sight to see. Kaylen had a new boy trying to weave his way into her life, Lorenzo Parks, someone who was easy on the eyes but had some ties in the street life. The girls and I warned her to stay away, but the boy was persistent, and Kaylen was always open and accepting. Nicki, who spent her summer going on dates here and there, swore up and down she wasn't looking for anything serious, just wanting to graduate and go on into the world a free bird. While Raquel found herself crushing on Tahj. After he did a piece on her for the school newspaper about her being student body president, she was sprung. It was interesting and exciting that one of my best friends found herself wanting to be with one of my man's best friends, so we were doing anything to make that happen.
And I had my first hater.
Bianca.
Quincy had to explain to me that he didn't always talk nice about me with Bianca after our breakup, so she was just being protective of her friend. But all I knew was if she was ready to speak some words rather than glare at me like she wanted to run me over, I'd gladly have a conversation.
"I'm telling you, she doesn't like me." I spoke as I walked down the hall with Rocky and Will.
"Then that means she likes Q." Will concluded. "Simple."
"He denied all claims though." Rocky responded.
"Rock, what is he supposed to know? She ain't about to tell him she's feeling him when he's got a girl." Will replied.
"But she'll watch from the sidelines like a hater and say nothing?" Rocky asked, trying to make sense of it all. "That makes so much sense." She rolled her eyes, her sarcasm being evident. "I haven't even seen them talk once since the school year started. So that's some friendship."
"I don't push it." I stopped at my locker, putting the combination in.
"Why do you even allow it?" Will asked, leaning against the locker next to mine.
"Why do you allow Leon to have girl friends?" I quipped.
"Cause I have nigga friends. What kind of bitch would I look like getting tight about that?"
"My point." I told her as I reached for a book, tucking it under my arm, and slamming my locker shut.
"You wanna talk about shit that doesn't make sense." Will brought up, pushing herself off of the lockers. "Why you haven't made a move on Tahj yet." My eyes looking to Rocky as a smile instantly came on my lips.
"You know you have to." I added.
"No." Rocky firmly stated, starting to walk away, leaving us to keep up.
"Why?" I demanded. "It's been a couple weeks since the article came out, Rodney's throwing a Halloween party. Everyone's gonna be there, make a move."
"That's a really good idea." Will commented.
"Thanks." The two of us high fived.
"You're really tryna make us go to a party after what happened the last time?" Rocky gave us looks.
"Hey, that was her not me." I defended, pointing at Will.
"Bitch shut the fuck up, we all know it was Nicki." Will blamed, making the three of us laugh as we walked into our shared English class.
"You're going, and you're gonna look fly, and you're gonna dance with that boy." I insisted as I slipped into my seat, smiling as I saw Rocky trying to fight a smile of her own.
Rocky deserved happiness. And if snagging Tahj was gonna be the highlight of her senior year, it was happening.
🖤
"Alright. Mission get this bitch a boyfriend is underway." Nicki smiled as we all sat around for lunch. "Who's driving for the costumes?"
"Me." I offered.
"You never offer to drive." Kaylen said.
"Cause y'all always jumping at the opportunity. And with Calvin not out here hogging a damn car. I can manage to take us."
"So like, what we going for? A little slutty, risky?" Nicki asked.
"Oh God no." Rocky shook her head.
"Oh come on you-"
Rocky was quick to decline Nicki's insistence. "No."
"Show off the legs a lil bit." Kaylen tried.
"I'm good." Rocky just took a sip of her water.
Kaylen opened her mouth to continue to debate only to close it, seeing Jaleel, Tahj, and Quincy snatch the empty seats at our table. "Um, hi." Kaylen greeted.
"Some brick headed freshmans jacked our table." Jaleel informed. "So we here."
"So what we talking about?" Quincy asked, throwing an arm over my shoulder.
"Um, just, like stuff." I shrugged.
"That sounds so believable." Quincy sarcastically responded with a smile. "Who we talking shit about?"
"Bianca." Will spoke up. "And why she's acting like she's got a foot stuck up her ass, or wants one."
"What?" Quincy asked, pulling a face. "Did something happen?" He looked at me.
"No." I shook my head. "You know how Will is."
"Out here putting negative energy out here." Will just rolled her eyes, snatching Rocky's water bottle and taking a sip.
After running into her in the halls after English, her and Will ended up having an intense stare down. And Bianca muttered the words "get your friend" before walking away with some sass. If Rocky and I didn't get a quick grip on her arms Will would have surely been right behind her ready for a follow up.
"I'll talk to her, okay?" Quincy just rubbed my shoulder and all I could do was nod.
I'll let him handle it since it was his friend, while I just focused on my own.
My eyes went to Rocky, noticing how tense she got since Tahj took a seat at the table. She kept looking down and around with her head but her body was as stiff as a rock.
It was adorable yet concerning.
"Y'all going to the Halloween party?" I asked, looking to Jaleel and Tahj.
"I don't know if I'm dressing up but yeah, I'll be around." Jaleel responded. "Y'all going?"
"We're thinking about it." Kaylen responded.
"What do you think Rocky should dress up as?" I wondered, looking to Tahj.
Rocky instantly looked up and dead at me with shock while I tried to hide a smile, watching Tahj observe her. "Uhhhh... a cat."
"A cat?" Nicki and I repeated, pulling faces as we looked to him.
"Yeah y'know. The whole black suit with the tail. Draw on some whiskers. It'll be cute." He simply explained.
"What about me?" Kay tried with a smile.
"Superhero." He responded.
"Which one?"
"Pick one."
Quincy just chuckled softly at that. The rest of lunch being filled with all of us going back and forth joking around with each other, or normal conversations turning a lot more interesting due to the fact that we had boys around to provide different opinions.
It felt nice to have all of us together.
🖤
"So I'll pick you up later?" Q suggested as we sat in the parking lot of my job, he was dropping me off before going to his own job a couple minutes away.
"Yeah." I nodded softly before leaning forward and pecking his lips. "See you then." I let myself out of the car with my bag, starting to walk to the entrance.
"Hey!" He called out to me, making me jog back to the car, going to his window.
"What?" I questioned.
"I love you." He smiled.
"Love you too." I placed multiple kisses on his lips before rushing inside so I wouldn't be late to clock in.
I spent the next couple hours filling in where I was needed whether it be at one of the registers or stocking shelves. I was all over the place, making the time I spent there useful.
"Oh, you work here." A voice spoke, making me turn around from restocking the pasta shelves, seeing Bianca.
"Shouldn't you know that?" I asked, taking a second to take her in before turning around, and pulling a face. "Being my man's best friend and that."
"I wouldn't say best friend." She responded. "We didn't talk about you much." She reached beside me, and grabbed a spaghetti box.
"So if y'all ain't talk about me, what's the issue?" I questioned, turning back to her.
"What are you talking about?" She pulled a face of her own.
"You really think I don't see the faces you be pulling when I walk past you in the hall? Did you or did you not have a whole staring contest with my best friend a couple hours ago?"
Bianca just shrugged softly. "She looked like she had a problem, so I did the mature thing and told you to handle it."
"You know what's real mature? If you stay out my business and my man's business. And if that's an issue address it to me directly." I crossed my arms as I stared her down. "Feel me?"
Bianca let out a small smile before starting to push her cart further down the hallway. "Whatever you say."
I watched her disappear in front of me, leaving me to roll my eyes and get back to my job. "Hatin' ass bitch."
I didn't do well with people getting on my bad side. And if her choice was gonna be to carry on, it wasn't gonna end well for her.