"𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦"
Hayden Panettiere - Still Believe
~
Cindy wanted to scream.
Ever since Riley had left Woodcrest, everything had changed rather drastically, one of those many things being Cindy and the way she acted.
Before he had left, Cindy had a rather intimidating reputation. She was the white girl you don't fuck with, the girl scout you don't try to go sleazy on, that girl in school you don't want problems with, and with Riley that was only elevated. Whenever the two were together, you knew some chaos was about to pop off, nobody ever tried to fuck with Reezy and C-Murph because that was an ass whooping waiting to happen. They were a dangerous duo, and Cindy liked that.
However, when he went to Chicago to live with that aunt of his, everything changed. It was as if the glue keeping everything together had disappeared, because that reputation Cindy had gathered had vanished seemingly out of nowhere. She stopped hanging out with her gangsta friends, had began focusing on school and her grades, her accent had completely reverted back to its original form.
To put it simply, all the 'hood' in her had gone.
Now, this wouldn't have been such a big deal, since the chances of her and Riley meeting ever again were slim to none. She could just pretend it all never happened, it made her look fake, and it made her look like a pussy, but at least it was the least damaging option.
Then her parents sprung some news onto her.
Turns out she had family in Chicago that she had to spend the summer with, she didn't know the details, something about her mother making up with an estranged sister of hers, either way, Cindy had to go. Now, Chicago was actually rather big, so she held onto the hope that she would never cross paths with Riley for as long as she was there, but there was still a chance that she would. She couldn't face him, not after what she had become. He couldn't see how C-Murph the hood white girl had become Cynthia McPhearson the school prefect, that was beyond humiliating, it would crush her.
She laid in her bed and sighed, luckily it wouldn't be a while until she had to go, she had a solid two months to prepare herself for that, so she tried not to stress too hard over it and instead looked up at the ceiling. As she did so, a faint version of High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco began playing, and with a sigh, she sat up, picking up her phone "Hello?"
"Hey CiCi, it's me"
"Oh, hey Jazz"
Cindy then turned around, allowing her legs to hang off of the bed before she spoke again "what's up?"
"Nothing, just wanted to talk, it's been a while since we've done that anyway"
Cindy the sighed, things between her and Jazmine had gotten pretty distant too, mostly because she didn't know how to approach her now. Jazmine had gotten taller, prettier and much more confident, she hadn't nearly been the same Jazmine she was used to, so she unintentionally began distancing herself from her.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that, been busy with school and stuff" Cindy shrugged, receiving an understanding hum from the phone.
"Totally get you, it's been like, so hard! Like, Michael asked me out today and stuff, it's so much needless stress" Cindy heard Jazmine sigh.
Unlike her biracial friend, Cindy hadn't faced a random metamorphosis during the time since the Freemans had left, her face looked the same, her body looked the same, she was the same height and she was certainly not getting any attention from boys. Jazmine on the other hand decided to become a supermodel overnight and was constantly getting affection and admirers left and right. For the first time in a while, Cindy felt... insecure.
"But enough about me, I heard you got on the school's prefect list, you could get selected next year!"
The mention of that list only made Cindy feel worse. Cindy McPhearson wasn't supposed to be a prefect, or a scholar, she was supposed to be that rebellious student that was always in trouble with the school prefects and never followed the rules. She wasn't supposed to be an upstanding student, she was supposed to be a menace, but when Riley left, so had her will to continue her façade.
As far as the school was concerned, she was goody-two-shoes Cynthia, the girl that did everything she was told and never got into trouble, she didn't even do sports anymore. Sadly enough, she had even become a bit of a pushover, she wasn't being bullied or anything, but no one was intimidated by her, no one really cared about her.
Jazmine, presumably noticing her friend's silence, spoke again "CiCi? Are you okay?"
Cindy snapped out of her trance, before sighing "I'm okay Jazz, just got lost in my own thoughts there"
"Oh, okay! Anyway, sorry to cut this convo short, but Larissa wants me to hang out with her and the girls, so I gotta go, bye!"
Urgh, the girls. Aside from becoming a pretty boy magnet, Jazmine had also become rather popular too, whether it was her newfound beauty or confidence, she had attracted a rather close friendship group that followed her everywhere like some lost puppies, Cindy? Well, she maybe had two people she spoke to regularly...
Damn, she was really lonely without Riley.
"Sure Jazz, bye" and with that, the phone call ended. Cindy leaned forward, her blonde hair (which she rarely braided anymore and usually just left out) slinging over her shoulders and covering a majority of her face. From Robert dying, to the Freemans moving, to Jazmine becoming the school it girl and her becoming the school loser, everything had changed so quickly, and she hated it.
Cindy the huffed, if she and Riley crossed paths in two months, would he have to know about the change? As far as he was concerned she was still C-Murph from the block, he didn't need to know she became a soft ass nobody since he left.
"Yeah" she then said to herself softly "he'll never know..."
~
Valerie was about to pass out.
It was a Saturday when Tahiry had asked her to go to the local café, the two girls had been talking a lot over the past day and a half, so Valerie felt like she could trust her. What she had assumed was that the other girl wanted to meet face to face and talk to her, so imagine her utter shock when she saw none other than Huey Freeman sitting inside on his phone, looking bored out of his mind.
According to Tahiry, Huey had no idea that Valerie was the secret admirer, she had told him it was a prank set up by some guys that didn't like him, so all Huey knew was she had set him up with a female friend of hers. Valerie was grateful for this as it made the situation a lot less awkward, but she still wasn't ready to talk to him yet!
The longer she took though, the worse Huey would think of her, she so took in a deep breath and walked inside.
Inside the café, Huey was playing a random offline game on his phone, waiting. According to Tahiry, she was upset that the admirer was all a prank (not that Huey cared) and believed that Huey just needed a girl in his life, the boy didn't really agree, but decided to entertain her by meeting up with this female friend of hers. He doubted he would fall in love or anything, but maybe he could at least make a friend.
Soon, a girl approached where he was sitting. They girl had thick dark brown hair that was messily tied into two buns, she had soft caramel skin and big green eyes, she wore an oversized pink hoodie that had 'Bulma!' written on it in colorful writing, light blue jeans and white Puma sneakers.
Well, at least she ain't ugly, and peep the hoodie, she probably likes anime too.
As the girl sat down, Huey stared at her, she reminded him of someone but he simply couldn't put a finger on it. She then looked at him, looking nervous and behaving rather skittishly "o-oh, hello! I'm, um, I'm V-Valerie Thompson"
Aw, she's the shy type? That's adorable.
"Huey Freeman, Tahiry's friend"
The girl, Valerie, nodded "yeah, um, she- uh, Tahiry told me a lot about you"
"I see"
After that, the two sat in a rather awkward silence. Valerie just wasn't sure what to say, she was already bad at talking to people, but now striking up a conversation wit her crush who was infamous for being pretty much silent most of the time? This was way too difficult for someone like her to achieve, she felt like she was going to disappear.
She then looked up at Huey, trying to hold in a rather dreamy sigh from escaping her, he was so... maybe it was her 'teen girl with a crush' vision talking, but she'd never seen a guy so attractive, in her eyes, he was perfect, especially those eyes, she could feel her pulse quickening the longer she stared at him...
Her phone then buzzed, and when she checked, rolled her eyes before putting it away.
Huey looked to her with a tilted head "what was that?"
"The manga app I downloaded just notified me, one that I'm reading got updated"
For a split second, he paused, making Valerie freeze. What if he wasn't into that and now thought she was weird? Oh know, he probably thought she was some lame nerdy loser now-
"You're into that kinda stuff too? Cool" while simple, she couldn't begin to describe how happy that statement made her, he didn't think she was weird! Well, at least, for now he didn't.
"Yeah, I'm reading this one called Shy, it's really cool"
Huey hummed "I think I saw that one on Mangadex once, skipped over it though, too busy finishing Death Note"
"For real? I just finished Death Note, it's so good!"
With that, the two actually began having a nice conversation, so much so that Valerie had almost forgotten all of her nervousness from earlier. As they spoke, Huey felt himself becoming less stiff and a bit more chill, this Valerie girl was nice, and they seemed to have similar interests, maybe Tahiry knew what she was doing when she set them up.
Didn't mean he wanted her in that way, but she was cool.
Little did they know, that seated near them, in a large coat, glasses, oversized hat and newspaper was none other than Tahiry Norwood. She looked over in excitement as the two began chatting comfortably instead of being all quiet. In reality, Valerie hadn't been notified about anything, since she had found out that her and Huey both liked stuff like anime and manga, Tahiry had texted her and told her to bring it up in a conversation after seeing how awkward everything was, and that she did.
Luckily, Valerie didn't question how Tahiry knew their conversation was going nowhere, because that would have opened a whole can of worms.
She watched as the two conversed and happily sighed. She was doing the right thing, Valerie liked Huey, and Huey needed someone who could bring him some sort of joy during this time in his life, setting them up was a great decision, she hoped it would work, they'd be a lovely couple.
So why does seeing them act friendly make you feel weird?
Tahiry froze, shocked at the thought that just crossed her mind. She was happy that they were becoming friendly, it didn't upset her at all, she was surprised she would even think that. Especially since it was her idea to set them up, so no, it didn't make her feel weird to see them act friendly.
So you're just going to ignore that small pit of dread that you feel in you stomach when you think of him and Valerie getting closer?
Yes, she was, because there was no small pit of dread. She didn't mind it at all, in fact, she encouraged it, she wanted them to get together.
Because you think if Huey get's a girlfriend, it'll be easier for you to get over the fact that you l-
"NO!" Tahiry suddenly bellowed, before realizing she said it out loud. The girl the girl then sunk into her seat, covering her face with the newspaper and trying to ignore all the eyes that had now turned to face her. She then sighed, that little voice in her head was just trying to piss her off, she didn't like Huey and she wanted Valerie and Huey to get together A.S.A.P, not because she was in denial but because Valerie was sweet and deserved to be with her crush.
It was that simple.
Over with the others, they paused when they heard the voice suddenly yell, before Huey looked back "huh, sounded familiar..."
"Yeah, you're right" Valerie said, before bringing out her phone "oh, well, my mom wants me to help her with something so I gotta go, sorry for leaving so abruptly..."
"It's cool, wait" Huey then stood up "could I see your phone?"
Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh-
"S-Sure!" Valerie said, quickly handing it to him.
After fiddling with it for a few seconds, he handed it back to her "I added my number, it was cool hanging out with you, so I wouldn't mind talking again"
OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH-
"C-Cool! Talk to you later!" she said, before skittishly leaving the café, Huey Freeman just gave her his number! Sure, it was solely platonic, but this was still a really big deal! It meant he actually wanted to get to know her! Unable to contain her excitement, Valerie was a ball of giggles and blushing as she skipped down the street back home.
Huey left feeling okay, he had just made a cool friend and didn't hate the experience, plus, that Valerie girl was pretty cute, so he had no qualms in talking to her again after today, who knows, maybe something may come out of this. With a pleased exhale, he soon began making his way home also, not noticing a rather heavily dressed person in a large hat walk out right behind him.
~
Okay nigga, you can do this, it's just a simple invitation.
Riley stood outside Fatima's apartment, ready to knock on the door. He had recently found a paintball venue near Tigerlily and wanted to ask her if she would go, since paintballing was the least romantic setting to take a girl, she wouldn't suspect a thing, so he could take her out and not make their friendship awkward, it was a win win scenario. With a sigh, he looked up, fuck was he scared for? He was Riley Freeman! Big Reezy! He'd be damned before he felt scared to talk to a girl. He then quickly knocked, standing back when he heard footsteps.
Instead of a pair of pretty dark brown eyes looking back at him, he saw a rather tall darkskin guy with long dark locks wearing nothing but a vest, shorts and some flip flops. The guy looked rather uninterested, and glared at Riley.
"Who are you?" he simply asked.
Riley took in a breath, it was time to use his famous charisma "aye, it's Riley, Tima's friend, she home?"
The guy glared, "you the lil' boy she won't shut the fuck up about" he said plainly, before shrugging "come in"
Although he wasn't being mean, this dude's energy was just off, like Riley being there annoyed him. The younger one didn't care though, he walked in with a shrug and a swagger in his walk, letting him know he didn't phase him "she's in her room upstairs, it's a bright purple door so you'll know what it is"
"Bet, who are you by the way?"
The guy sat on the couch, picking up his game controller and staring at the TV ahead of him "Kwesi, her brother"
Riley froze, before turning around to go find her, he had just spoken to her brother! This wasn't necessarily ideal, he wanted them to at least be a thing before he started meeting family members, and that wasn't an ideal first impression either...
He then snapped out of his trance when, as Kwesi had said, he saw a large purple door, but he could hear another voice in there. It sounded feminine, he prayed she didn't have sisters, he wasn't sure he was ready to meet the fam. He walked up to it and knocked on the door, feeling his resolve soften when he heard a sweet "come in!" from the other side.
When he walked in, he saw Fatima in a simple top and shorts combo with socks on, which would have been fine, had he not also seen Emily sitting beside her, dressed in an all white tracksuit with socks also, their shoes scattered.
Fuck, why is she here?
This was a problem, Emily being there was going to completely mess up his plan, but he still went in "hey Riley! What are you doing here?"
Riley shrugged "just wanted to talk to you, and ask about sum' too, hey Emily"
"Sup" was all she said, continuing to eat the bag of chips in her hand.
"Oh, well, hey! Emmie and I were just finishing some Spanish homework"
"Cool" he said, standing around in the room. Fatima had a very practical bedroom, it wasn't overtly girly, it simply had all the essentials she needed in a bedroom, it made sense, she was the type to keep things practical and organized, so of course her room wouldn't be overly decorated or anything.
She then looked to him with a smile, and Riley could have sworn his heart jumped or some shit "so, what did you want to ask?"
"I wanted to know if you wanted to go paintballin-" before he could even finish, Emily quickly swallowed the chips she was eating and sat up.
"Yo we goin' paintballing? Lit!"
Bitch who the fuck is we? Tell her goofy ass this a you and Tima event only!
"Uh..." Riley began, before shrugging "yeah, I was gon' ask the rest of Renegade too, so I wanted to ask you first and allat"
Now why the fuck would you say that when you know damn well you don't want them niggas there?
Riley sighed, to be honest, he panicked. If he had said he wanted to go paintballing alone with Fatima and no one else, Emily would have gotten extra suspicious, and would have probably figured out he liked her, which would have started some more shit, so as much as he didn't want to, this had to go from a Riley and Tima event to a Renegade event.
Fatima thought about it for a second before nodding "sure! Plus, I missed the water gun fight so I may as well come too, this is gonna be so fun!"
Emily nodded "I'm gon' aim for you Tima!"
"Emmieeee!"
Riley then sighed, well that plan failed. He was planning to go and leave before Fatima then looked up at him "Riley, did you do the Geography homework?"
"No" he snorted "didn't understand that shit, why, you gon' let me copy?"
"Hell nah, you betta sit down" she chuckled "we gon' do it together and you gon' understand it!"
"But Tima-"
"I said sit down!"
Although he sounded upset, Riley couldn't stop an amused smirk from growing on his face as Fatima brought out her own homework. Emily watched the interaction go down, intrigued. It was cute, but it was also very suspicious, she had never seen Riley so at peace when speaking to someone, not even with Kumal or Treshawn. She smiled a little, their friendship was cute, really cute, so instead of barging in, Emily stayed on her phone, allowing the other two to get on with their work and banter.
~
Another chill and cheesy chapter! Hey, I did warn you last time that the next few are gonna be sappy ;)
I was going to write Kiren's apology in this chapter, but it felt out of place, so that'll come later
Also, 600 reads? Omg ty-