Saturday 2nd July, 20:30
Chardonnay's POV
It's been hours since I said goodbye to Kehlani and left her with my number for Jasiah. I took my cue to leave as soon as Jasiah bolted out of the door. Fortunately, I only lived three roads away from her house. And since I've been home, I've just been replaying memories of what has happened in the past twenty-four hours. I've gone from being bullied in sixth form to being entangled in a watch theft. I should've never gone to that stupid party or dragged Eva along.
At least Eva isn't involved with me in this mess. This is my mess.
Although if I didn't go to the apartment party, I'd have never met Jasiah. Even after being threatened to be killed, I still craved for the familiar scent of his perfume. What the hell is wrong with me? I can't have feelings for him, I'm his employee now. Sighing, I glanced down at my phone. There were notifications from the news and Bible App. Before I could switch off my phone, the screen lit up with a number that I didn't recognise. Nervously, I accepted the call.
"Hey, hey, Chardonnay, you good?"
"Kehlani?"
"Nah the singer," replied Kehlani sarcastically. "What are you doing now?"
I could picture Kehlani rolling her eyes so accurately.
"Not much, how about you?"
"Planning a sleepover with me, you and Eva and Yaz."
"Me?" I squeaked.
"Yeah we didn't really have a proper one after the party, we all conked out."
"I'm not sure... I'm your brother's PA now."
"It's the weekend, relax," laughed Kehlani. "Get your ass over here before half nine."
Swiftly, Kehlani hung up the phone on me. I changed into a tank top, shorts and put on my sliders. I picked up my Primark handbag, grabbed a few extra things and headed out towards Kehlani's house with my black bonnet on my head.
Once I arrived, I saw a motorcycle parked outside of her house that wasn't there before. The initial K was engraved on the side. Taking a deep breath, I quickly knocked on the door. The door was opened by a girl I didn't recognise. She was at least 5'11" and her cheekbones looked like they could put Angelina Jolie's cheekbones to shame. She wore tight leather trousers, a satin black bustier top with a matching leather jacket. Strands of her brown hair whipped around her violently. Twisting her face in disgust, she looked me up and down.
Turning behind, she yelled, "Kehlani, who the fuck is this?"
Kehlani ran to the door and hugged me. The tall brunette in heels stared at me in confusion.
"Katana, this is Chardonnay. Chardonnay, this is Katana, a family friend," explained Kehlani.
Katana, 21 (looks like Mila Kunis)
"Oh, you're Jasiah's assistant. Did you actually steal his watch?" said Katana, raising an eyebrow.
"No, she didn't," explained Kehlani, ushering me inside. "We'll talk about it later tonight."
Thankful for Kehlani answering for me, I pulled the door closed behind me. I walked into the living room and saw Eva and Yasmin were already curled up on a couch, texting on their phones.
"Hey guys," I grinned.
"You finally made it," smiled Eva.
I sat down next to Eva on the couch as Yasmin nodded her head at me. Katana and Kehlani sat down opposite us.
"I hope you like Chinese because that's what I ordered from West Green Road," said Kehlani, looking at me disapprovingly.
Nodding, I replied, "Yeah, I like that Chinese shop."
She stood up and walked towards the kitchen. Admiring the décor, I looked around the living room. The wooden coffee table gave the room a homely feel and I could smell the sweet candles that were burning on the mantlepiece. However, I didn't feel at home. Katana, presuming that is her actual name, seemed to dislike me already. She vaguely reminds me of Kitana from the Mortal Kombat video game. A deadly warrior.
Scrolling through Snapchat, Kehlani kissed her teeth. "It's always come link me not imma link you up with one thousand pounds."
"Who is it?" laughed Eva.
"Some GM saying he's from Newham. And I don't give a flying fuck where he's from," moaned Kehlani. "I just know he needs to move from my Snapchat."
Shaking her head, Eva asked, "Chardonnay, what happened with you, Jasiah and Anna?"
"How does everybody know about it? You were asleep and Katana wasn't even there."
"Who's saying my name?" questioned Katana, finally appearing with bags of Chinese and drinks in her hands.
"I said how come you and everybody knows about me getting framed for stealing Jasiah's watch."
"It was on Snapchat. Anna must've been the one taking pictures of you with him."
"I don't understand, what's so special about Jasiah?"
Laughing, Katana threw to me a bag full of Chinese and a Supermalt bottle. The other girls looked at me like I was out of my mind.
"I'll cut you some slack Chardonnay since I've heard you to go to school in Essex," shrugged Kehlani, opening her fried rice, "and you've probably never chilled in ends to know about Jasiah like that."
I began to nod my head, unsure as to what I'll hear about Jasiah. That his Greek god-like physique and seductive smile was all a dream? Popping open the lid on my Supermalt, I glanced around expectantly for an answer.
"My brother bangs for our ends, GPK. Glassfell Park Estate," began Kehlani, "and he makes the most p's in North London, just from trapping."
"That's how he got the name Trap King of Tottenham," added Yaz.
"So Jasiah has a reputation to maintain, whether he likes it or not," explained Kehlani.
"He makes sure Kehlani, Eva and Yaz aren't involved with the gang ting but I'll tell you now that opps are itching to wet up any GPK member, including me," sighed Katana. "Now they'll probably start claiming they sent Chardonnay to steal his watch."
"I didn't steal it," I said, rolling my eyes.
Huffing, Kehlani put down on her food. "I think Anna did set you up though so we are going to help prove it to Jasiah."
"Man said we. I swear you got a 3 in French?" scowled Katana.
"I got an 7 in French actually and I meant all of us are going to help clear Chardonnay's name."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because we all hate Anna and Chardonnay's innocent."
The room went silent. Somehow, I knew they were going through the same thing as me: reliving all our experiences with Angelina Valdez. I was bullied by Anna for two years and she did the unspeakable to Eva. I couldn't even begin to imagine what she did to Yaz, Kehlani and Katana.
"I don't hate her and I don't beef youngers," shrugged Katana, "but she's the cousin of someone I do hate so I guess that counts."
"How can you not hate her? She roams around Westfield in Stratford looking for man," said Eva.
"Some local jezebel, doing up tour de la penis," snickered Yaz.
Standing up, Katana began to pack away everyone's empty takeaway. I decided to help so I picked up the empty cans of fizzy drinks and followed behind her into the kitchen. Shaking the remaining liquid down the sink, I snuck a glance behind to the bin. Katana glared back at me. I noticed she had already disposed the takeaway bowls. Embarrassed, I turned back and finished emptying the cans before moving to the bin next to her.
"You're a weird child," frowned Katana.
"What?"
"You're pretty but very insecure with yourself."
I looked up at Katana. "Thanks I guess but why do you think I'm insecure?"
"The way you carry yourself, moving as if someone called you butters."
I closed the bin, taking in a deep breath of air. What Katana said hit a bit too close to home.
"Sometimes I feel ugly because of what Anna says to me in class, other times I feel alright," I explained, switching off the kitchen light. "Overall, I must be somewhat ugly."
Strolling out of the kitchen, Katana's eyebrows furrowed. "You're letting someone, who has a forehead big enough for 128GB of storage, tell you if you're peng or not? Don't fucking kill me."
We began to walk up the stairs with our bags towards Kehlani's room in silence. I lead the way to the door and stopped in front of it.
"Do you think I should wear makeup?" I asked.
"I don't know, it's your face not mine."
"It will make me prettier though."
Katana wrinkled her nose as she leaned against the wall. "Listen, no amount of Fenty Beauty is going to pattern your low self-esteem."
"What do you mean?"
"Boys will say a natural girl is ugly then she'll start wearing makeup. Now they'll cuss the girl for wearing makeup so just do what you want to do."
"Why do you wear makeup then?"
"It makes me feel good but I don't need makeup to feel beautiful."
"Being confident must be nice."
Giving me a sympathetic smile, Katana pushed the bedroom door open. I grabbed the door as she entered and stepped in after her. There were extra mattresses, pillows and blankets on the floor. And not just any blankets, the heavy throws that had tigers printed on them, which were my favourite. Even if it is a warm July night, I'm still going to sleep with a blanket. Call me a baby but I don't want my legs to be exposed to demons before they snatch me under the bed. Tiredly, I kicked off my sliders and settled down whilst everyone tied their head scarves and sleeping bonnets.
"Was that your motorbike outside Katana?" I questioned.
"Yeah and you ask too many questions, coming like one fed."
Katana rolled her eyes and pulled out a speaker from her bag, tapping the buttons to connect the Bluetooth speaker to her iPhone. The slowed and reverb version of What You Need by The Weeknd began to fill the room with his hauntingly beautiful voice. I smiled to myself as I realised Katana had a good taste in music.
I just wanna take you there
He don't got to know where
Does he touch you here like this?
Let me take the friction from your lips
My mind travelled to the face of one boy. His enticing eyes. His luscious lips. The way his warm hand brushed against mine as he left me on the balcony last night with Eva. I could imagine myself curled up against him, tracing the countless tattoos on his skin with my finger. Or my tongue.
And he don't gotta know, I got you on the floor
Doing things you never thought you'd do
Baby leave them high heel shoes
'Cause I love it when you're lookin' down at me
I'm lookin' up at you
And I don't give a damn shorty, watch me knock them boots off
And imma love you girl
The way you need
I felt a foreign heat intensify within me, sending electrifying sparks through my body. I closed my eyes, trying to conjure the scent of his Aventus Creed from my memories.
And imma give you girl, what you fiend
I'm the drug in your veins
Just fight through the pain
He's what you want
He's what you want
He's what you want
He's what you want
I'm what you need, what you need, what you need, what you need
I'm what you need, what you need, what you need what you need
"Looks like someone already knows who they need," teased Yasmin, nudging my side.
Feeling my cheeks heat up, I looked around at everyone. They all gave me knowing smiles whilst Katana glared at me, it was as if she had heard all my previous thoughts about him. Jasiah Clarke.
"You like Jasiah?" asked Katana, raising a perfectly arched brow.
My cheeks warmed again. "Is it that obvious?"
"Yeah so if you even want to wink at him then you need to clear your name, little thief."
"Don't worry, we've got you," smiled Eva, pulling herself under my blanket.
"Alright, let's shift topic," began Yasmin, changing the music to another Weeknd tune. "What's everyone's first date experiences?"
Awkward silence filled the room, minus the lyrics of Secrets. I fixated my gaze on the strip of LED lights that bordered the ceiling. The vibrant change from red to dark blue to purple was satisfying to watch. Flames of the red candles on Kehlani's desk seemed to dance in unison to the change of the coloured lights.
"My brother won't allow me to date anyone," shrugged Eva as she tilted her head on my shoulder. "And Chardonnay hasn't been on one either."
Kehlani switched off her phone. "Jasiah won't allow me either but it's understandable after everything that's happened to me."
"On my first date, I rode a ped to link him and he ran away," mumbled Katana.
Yaz chuckled, rolling her eyes. "He probably thought you were mandem trying to rob him. My first date was spent in a bando."
"Well no amount of Weeknd songs will save our shit love lives," grinned Katana as she switched off her speaker and phone. "Let's just go to bed."
"This sleepover was dead," groaned Kehlani. "Next time we're gonna drink til we drop."
And with that, Kehlani switched off the LED lights and blew out the candles. I nestled down into the mound of blankets that I shared with Eva. Despite being indebted to Jasiah, for once I felt at peace. Yet I knew this feeling of serenity would be short lived.
Aww, Chardonnay was really in her feelings but who is Anna related to that Katana hates? Find out in the next chapter and don't forget to drop a vote guys. Also follow my insta @jaymunnildnn - Jaymunni