september 7th, 2019
7:17 pm
THE FIRST THOUGHT THAT CAME TO SHARIFE'S HEAD UPON MEETING DEVON TAYLOR WAS...
This nigga don't be talking about shit.
The second thought was that he didn't deserve to have someone as kind and unjudgemental as Kylah was in his life.
Sharife had arrived at Kylah's house almost a half hour ago and had to sit through him telling bullshit stories, trying to impress her enough for a real chance. Any other girl would've already called him out on his bullshit but Sharife had to sit by himself while he waited for Destiny and pretended like he didn't notice that the too-wide smile on Kylah's face was fake.
"You were at the USA Camp right? I got an invite but I had to turn it down because I got injured." Devon said, his eyes on his phone but directing his statement to where Sharife was sitting a few cushions away on the red leather couch.
Sharife gave Devon an amused smile, "Oh. You play basketball?" He met Kylah's eyes past Devon's shoulder and was greeted by her watching the interaction with a hand pressed to her mouth in an attempt to hide a smile.
Devon's smile started to fade a little, "Yeah. I think we played each other sophomore year."
Sharife nodded to give the pretense of remembering and Devon stood, "Where's your bathroom again?"
Kylah pointed behind her to the hallway, "It's on the left."
As soon as Devon had walked off, Kylah quickly rose to her feet and perched only a few inches away from Sharife, her legging-covered knee brushing against his outer thigh, "Okay, what do you think?"
Sharife licked his bottom lip at the mix of her proximity and the fruity scent of her perfume invading his senses, "Of what?"
"Of Devon. What do you think of Devon?" Kylah responded, gesturing with her palms up to the ceiling.
"Do you want honesty or do you want me trying to be nice?" Sharife mused after a deep breath.
"Honesty?" Kylah said in a hesitant tone, "No, wait be nice. No! Honesty."
"He is the biggest capper I've ever seen. He's not talking about shit, Ky," Sharife admitted with a laugh.
"I mean... There's no proof that he's-." Kylah began. "He is. I didn't even know ole boy existed until today. Talking about how he was supposed to be at USA Camp." Sharife shook his head, "Trying way too hard."
"I noticed that too. At least he knows he has to work to get me back." Kylah shrugged.
But he doesn't deserve you.
You could do way better.
Kylah asked something but Sharife was lost in his jumbled thoughts that he didn't fully hear her. "Huh?" Sharife asked, sitting up against the back cushion a little.
"So you don't like him?" Kylah asked.
Sharife sighed, "All that matters is that you like him, Ky. Do you like him? Do you trust him?"
Kylah paused and then opened her mouth, about to respond, when Devon walked back in, Destiny on his heels. Upon seeing Kylah sitting so close to Sharife, Destiny paused, her hand on the strap of her purse, "What's... What's going on?" Her eyes flickered back and forth between them.
"I was just asking Sharife about something," Kylah moved back over to where she was previously on the couch while Destiny slid her shoes off to sit next to Sharife.
"What was it?" Devon asked, not so subtly tucking Kylah into his side again.
"Nothing. It's just us continuing a previous conversation." Kylah said in an overly casual tone.
The 'us' in Kylah's sentence wasn't lost on Devon and his eyes flashed with something it took a moment for Sharife to place.
Ole boy is jealous, Sharife thought to himself smugly but it evaporated as soon as the feeling came.
This is BJ's cousin, you're supposed to protect her, not be with her.
Then he glanced down at Destiny whose head was lying on his chest, feeling slightly guilty over his thoughts. Sharife shrugged his shoulders over and over until she got the hint to move her head from his torso to a nearby pillow, with a flash of hurt.
Sharife needed to end this situationship and fast.
When he looked up, he spotted Kylah looking over at them with the same flash that Devon had in his eyes only moments before. The minute their eyes met, she looked away and cleared her throat, "What movie should we watch? I just got HBOGo."
"Uh, we could watch Mamma Mia. I know it's your favorite." Devon said. At that, Sharife smirked, Actually, dumbass, her favorite movie is-.
"Grease. My favorite movie is Grease." Kylah responded.
"Oh. A musical is a musical." Devon shrugged, "They're all the same."
Sharife shook his head lightly at Devon's response, "No, actually, they're not. Two entirely different plots with different songs."
"We should watch It. I haven't seen that movie yet." Destiny chimed in.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Kylah agrees then stands up, "Imma go make popcorn. Don't start it without me."
Kylah shot Sharife a glance then walked out to the kitchen. "How do y'all know each other?" Devon asked. "I'm cool with B.J." Sharife responded curtly.
"But when did you get cool with Ky like that?" Devon pressed with an eyebrow raised.
"Damn, Dev. Relax." Destiny chuckled as she touched Sharife's shoulder, "They're friends." Devon glanced at Destiny then Sharife and smirked then turned back to the TV and Sharife felt the hand that was inside his Champion hoodie pocket ball up into a fist.
He took a couple of silent deep breaths and Kylah came back, a bowl of popcorn in her right hand and three cans of soda pressed against her chest.
"Where's your soda?" Destiny asked, sitting up to grab a can of Sprite.
Sharife grew annoyed with Destiny at the question, Why is she always worried about what Ky's got going on? Shit is annoying.
"Ion like to drink soda or juice during the season," Kylah replies as she passes Devon the last soda can. Destiny smiled at Kylah, but only Sharife noticed it was fake due to his proximity to the girl. Sharife bit down lightly on his tongue so he didn't cause a scene and scooped a few kernels of popcorn into his hand and then into his mouth.
Kylah grabbed the remote off the matching ottoman in front of them, "We decided on It, right?" Sharife and Devon both murmured a yes, gave each other a wary glance, and then looked towards the wide flat screen in front of them.
The infamous red balloon was on the screen then the opening credits started to roll. Despite his guilt reappearing, Sharife took a chance and moved his eyes from the screen to look toward Kylah again only to find that Devon had scooted up a little on the cushion to block Sharife's view of Kylah, his eyes steely and full of warning.
"Hey," Destiny whispered as she patted his knee, "Are you okay? You're quiet."
Sharife flinched a little at the reminder that she was so close and then coughed into his elbow in an attempt to cover it up, "Yeah, I think I'm just coming down with something."
"If you sick bruh, you should probably head home. Rest up." Devon interjected with a more assured tone, his arm wrapped around Kylah's shoulders similar to the way a python wraps around its prey before consuming it.
"Yeah," Sharife replied, already starting to sit up and then rose to his feet, "I'll catch all of y'all later." By the time Sharife had made it outside to his car, the sun was beginning to sink and create a fuschia and tangerine sky.
"Rife! Rife, wait!" Kylah called from behind him, along with the muffled sounds of slippers slapping against the paved driveway. Sharife had just pressed the unlock button on his car keys when Kylah caught up to him, a yellow packet of Halls in one hand and some generic cold & flu medicine in the other.
"Hey, before you go, I just thought you should take these," Kylah held out the packet and the box between them and Sharife gingerly took them, touched by the gesture, "Honey lemon?"
"Yeah, it's my personal favorite. It always makes me feel better so I figured it would work with you too," Kylah exhaled.
"Thanks," Sharife let his smile extend wider, "I appreciate you, sweetheart."
The nickname slipped out of his mouth involuntarily and Kylah's eyes widened for a fraction of a second and then relaxed.
"Um, also, Ny is throwing some big party for me and I was wondering if you would like to go? I know you don't do parties and I don't either really but," Kylah shrugged and then glanced at the ground and back at him after a few blinks and a long eyelash fluttered onto her cheekbone.
Without thinking, Sharife reached out and gently swept a finger across to remove it, the heat from the blood underneath radiating across her skin. Kylah blinked and Sharife cleared his throat, "My bad, you had an eyelash. Yeah, I'll be there, for sure."
This time Kylah was the one to grin, "I'll send you the flyer. Text me when you get home, okay?"
"Okay," He murmured as she stepped back with another wide smile to head back up the stone steps and into her home.
Sharife looked back to the sky, widening his eyes a little hoping that the colors would catch his interest more than going back inside and discovering if the lip gloss Kylah was currently wearing had a flavor.
But it was no use, his eyes couldn't help but drift over to the house and stay, remembering features he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before today; high cheekbones, sparkling brown eyes, and full lips that hid a grin that only brought happiness to the people around her.
How had he missed all of this before?
But Sharife knew the answer even as he asked it: he was too blind to see her clearly before now but now that he had, Sharife couldn't possibly bear to look away.
NOTE FROM KY
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