I walked up the front steps to Zander's house and rang the doorbell.
I was nervous about seeing the boys together again, especially Loyal, who I hadn't hung out with since last term. Hopefully, no one would bring up Arisa's name and we could talk about other things. Literally anything else. I got a good whiff of my pits while waiting for someone to welcome me inside. Did I smell like my crush? Was her scent all over me after last night? My heart fluttered at the thought of it. God, I was such a loser.
The door swung open and Zander's older sister stood in front me. "Oh, shit—um, hi, hey, Zenith," I waved awkwardly.
She was three years older than me and a total smoke show. Her body was curvy and the dresses she wore always hugged her in all the right places. Her eyes were a deep brown, her hair knotted in a golden braid, and her dark skin looked radiant even when she wasn't wearing any make-up. Hino and I promised each other that we would forever crush on her from afar, it was a little embarrassing to think about. Zander couldn't blame us. His whole family was hot, it was one of his biggest flexes.
"They're in the backyard," Zenith said, pointing me to the pathway on the side of the house.
I couldn't help but show teeth. "Oh, wow—okay then, thanks. Thank you. You look lovely today by the way."
"Oh, how nice of you to mention," Zenith smiled, before closing the door on me.
I stood there for a minute to get over my encounter with her before proceeding to the pathway. As she said, the boys were indeed gathered around the patio enjoying cold beverages. Tomasia was there too, with Zander's little sister Zola on her lap. Children were allowed to join in on the meeting? What the hell was Loyal thinking? As cute as Zo was, the little brat had a tendency to piss the living shit out of me. She was the only Easton sister I tried to keep at arm's length.
"It's Khaleel the Ka-utie!" Zo announced. I took a deep breath and kept my cool as my friends turned to greet me. Zo jumped off Tomasia and ran over to violently hug me. I picked her up and carried her over to the group.
"Sorry, I'm late," I told my friends. Zo reached her hands out to play with my hair. It felt like I was getting a very bad scalp massage. "I was sleeping when Loyal texted."
"Zola, leave him alone!" Zander said, coming over to smack his sister's hands away from me. The brat jumped down and stuck her tongue out at her older brother. She then waddled back to sit on Tomasia's lap. I took the time to fix my poor hair.
"You're so annoying," Zander told his sister. "Get back inside if you're going to be like this."
"Tomasia said I could stay!" Zola argued.
I moved to sit beside Hino, who offered me ginger ale from the cooler under the table. It was a little chilly for a drink, but I accept it anyway. I couldn't bring myself to look at Loyal yet, so I kept my focus on the can of pop, and opening it. Zander and Zola continued to bicker until Tomasia offered to bring her indoors. Thank god. Zola made me question whether or not I wanted to have children in the future.
"So, just to catch you up, Khaleel," Zander said, taking control of the conversation. Again, I purposely looked anywhere but at Loyal. I didn't know why but the guilt of waking up next to a naked Arisa was weighing heavy on me. I didn't know what to do to shake off the sickening feeling, but I had to get my shit together. Loyal wasn't an idiot. He would notice that I was avoiding him.
"Tommy and I have gone public and although I'm fine with that, what I'm not fine with is that scumbag who slut-shamed her on the admin site. Loyal thinks our first point of contact should be Findlay, but I'm thinking of speaking with Joon Lee, her competition for presidency."
"What do you want me to do?" Khaleel asked. "Rough up Joon Lee?"
Zander shook his head. "We need you to work on our back-up plan in case Findlay and Joon turn out to be a bust."
"And that is...?" I asked.
Loyal finally spoke. "Get Kohaku to hack the school system for us."
I looked at him, puzzled. "Come again?"
"He's being a little bitch because he's not a fan of Loyal or...Zander to be honest," Hino supplied. "Still salty about the whole video game incident."
"And I'm done apologizing," Loyal replied. "It was an accident. We didn't mean to break it."
"I think it's because this one tried to replace it," Hino laughed, looking at Zander. "That's what really sent him off."
"How the hell was I supposed to know it was a two-disc edition with behind-the-scenes commentary worth thousands of dollars?" Zander scoffed.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, get Kohaku on our side. Done. What else?"
The boys went quiet. My stomach churned as I waited for them to tell me what the unnerving request was going to be. Zander looked away, not wanting to be the one who asked, and so did Loyal. My eyes landed on Hino.
"What the hell are you all being so weird about?" I asked.
"We need you to ask Arisa to join the campaign," Hino said. "The bullying might get out of hand and we need someone to protect Tomasia."