AALIYAH
"can you drop me off at work? i have to go talk to ms clark really quick but it won't take long."
i ask
miles stood in front of me putting away his old books and taking out new ones he needed for homework.
"uh yeah,i have to go talk to coach anyways so."
he closed his locker,shoving the books into his bag.
it was the end of the day and all of the students were walking down and out of the hallways to go home.
some leaving out of side doors to get to buses,some walking to their cars.
but i was here,with miles.
i leaned up against the other lockers,with my arms crossed.
"what are you doing later today?"
he froze.
"uh,i have to go over to anthony's house,we have to study for a test tomorrow."
he said,looking everywhere but my eyes.
"but i thought that they had to-"
he looked up at me as i closed my mouth,making him furrow his brows.
i shook my head.
"nevermind."
he shrugged putting the bag onto his back adjusting it.
"i'll be waiting in the front for you."
he walked away,down the hall as i walked in the other direction.
"study for a test,my ass."
i pulled out my phone,pressing anthony's contact number,letting it ring.
"aaliyah! what's up?"
i shook my head,laughing at his foolishness.
"we just saw each other at lunch"
i laughed.
"anyways,i just wanted to know,what are you doing tonight?"
"oh! uh staying home,you know ice cubes new movie just came out,i gotta catch it."
he laughed.
"what about that dinner?"
the line went silent.
"what dinner?"
he said cluelessly.
"you know,the one you and your parents are having to plan that event."
he laughed on the other end,making me stop in the middle of the hallway.
"my parents aren't even in town,my mom is in la and my dad is on a business trip until tomorrow afternoon"
i pulled the phone away from my head.
now i'm not saying that i'm sherlock holmes but it ain't that hard to connect the dots in this situation.
anthony yelled through the phone as i put it back up to my ear.
"sorry,i dropped my phone.anyways,where's destiny,i can't get ahold of her?"
i lied.
"I'm guessing her little cycling class."
he said crunching on some food.
"what cycling class?"
i ask.
"a couple weeks ago she told me she was joining a cycling class.it's usually a few times a week and some days she doesn't come home til like after midnight."
i nodded my head,smiling.
"thank you anthony,you have no idea how much you helped me."
"shit,you know you can thank me in other ways too.you know how it is liyah."
he chuckled.
i made a disgusted face.
"shut up anthony."
i said hanging up the phone putting it in my pocket.
i walked down the hallway to ms clark's room,thinking to myself.
i don't wanna just assume that destiny has been messing with miles,but i mean what else could it be.
miles is barely ever home,me and destiny never hang out anymore and i know damn well destiny ain't taking a cycling class.
destiny doesn't even do p.e.
she hates sports or any physical exercise.
thank god for her genes,cause the way she's built you'd think she works out twenty-four seven.
i'm not gonna go accusing her of anything,i'm just gonna keep my mouth shut and let this all cool down before i make a move.
i walked into ms clark's room seeing her sitting at an easel,painting a new piece.
"you wanted to see me."
i said leaning on the door.
she turned away from her easel,motioning for me to sit in the chair next to her.
i put my bag down doing so,watching her paint in silence.
she was working on a painting,looking back and forth at the sketch next to it.
the sketch showed a woman leaving a grocery market,and giving all of her food to a group of hungry skinny kids.
the painting was only about halfway done but i could tell it was gonna be amazing.
"so what's the story behind this one?"
i ask,getting a closer look at the canvas.
she sighed.
"who does that look like to you?"
she pointed at the woman handing the kids food.
i shrugged genuinely not knowing.
"jessica alba? i don't know."
she laughed shaking her head as i did the same.
"it's me."
i leaned back in shock,looking closer at the sketch which did in fact resemble her.
"where is this?"
i ask looking at her as she painting slowly.
"last summer,me and my husband went to port au prince in haiti.it's just on the gulf of gonâve,and a lot of the children there are starving.so me and my husband,just a few hours before our flight,spent the rest of our money on food and gave it to the kids who needed it."
i examined the sketch a little more thoroughly.
the kids were all insanely skinny,you could see their ribs and bones.
regardless of their state,they all had smiles on their faces when they received the food they gave them.
"my husband took this picture when i wasn't looking and i've been wanting to paint it for a while now"
i shook my head,in awe at the beauty of the picture.a smile overtook my face.
"that's incredible."
she nodded putting down the paint brush and turning her chair towards me.
"you know a lot of those kids will probably never have a future or even live to a day past five."
the room went silent before she got up walking over to her desk.
i didn't know what this exactly was about but my throat was stuck in my ass at this point.
"have you ever heard of the national art association for gifted youths?"
i nodded as she came over to me and sat back in her chair.
the naagy was an association that focused on the growth and coming up of young gifted artists.
every year,they hold a competition and auction where they pick ten kids to showcase their art and possibly win the competition.
first prize is a full ride scholarship to one of the many art schools in the country.
i've tried to get into the competition multiple times but you have to be entered by an art teaching staff.
it was hard as hell to get accepted,even if you did have a teacher that would enter you,the chances of making it to the final round were slim.
about two million kids enter from around the world,and only ten get picked for each state.
so far,they only have the competition in about five us states,i've only applied to ones outside of florida.
and i don't think that they are starting a competition anywhere near florida anytime soon.
"have you tried to enter?"
"a couple times yeah but i didn't have a teaching staff and they're all out of state so."
she hummed holding the piece of paper in her hand.
"did you know that for the past two years,they've been working on hosting one here in orlando?"
i didn't speak.
i didn't wanna assume what i thought this woman was about to tell me.
there's no way.
"where is this going?"
i ask fumbling with my fingers.
she smiled handing me the pamphlet.
'naagy contestant' was plastered in big letter right on the cover.
i lifted the book up in front of her with a clueless look on my face.
"what-"
"i entered your work into the competition and they accepted it"
she smiled.
i sat in silence as i tried to process the words that just came out of her mouth.
she bounced up and down in her seat slightly with a smile.
"i know you didn't give me permission but i thought this could be big for you."
her smile faded away slowly as i didn't say a word.
"i'm sorry if that's not something you wanted.i can contact the administration-"
before she could say another word ,i was out of my chair and hugging her.
"oh my god,thank you."
she laughed as i hugged her tightly.
i'm almost certain i was cutting off some form of circulation.
i pulled away trying to hide my smile.
"how did you even know that was something that i would be interested in?"
i ask.
"what young art student wouldn't be interested? i took a leap of faith.i saw an opportunity and i took it."
she got up from her seat,going back to her desk chair and sipping on her tea.
"what am i gonna do about school? i mean i spend most of my time doing homework and the other at my job-"
"don't worry about it.we'll find a way to work around your schedule.i'm also counting this as your senior grade,so don't worry about any more work from me.i want you to focus on this."
i put my hands on my face,leaning into my lap.
i cannot believe that this is happening,how the hell did i get accepted into one of the biggest youth artist competitions in the country?
"i've seen the kids that get accepted into these competitions and their work is insane."
she shook her head putting her tea down immediately.
"and so is yours.i wouldn't have entered you if i wasn't confident that you had a chance at winning.don't doubt yourself,that's the worst way to start off.you getting in already goes to show how talented you are"
i nodded slowly,opening the pamphlet to read more information that only contestants received.
"the competition isn't until the end of the school year so you have time,don't worry."
i skimmed through the booklet seeing other students that had won the previous year from different states.
"what's the theme?"
i ask.
she sighed looking up at the ceiling as if she was trying to find the right words to use.
"this is gonna be hard to process but there isn't one."
she folded her hands.
"in this competition,your piece is completely up to you.they want it to be original,unique and raw.although they did mention that they are looking for something that screams 'when one door closes,another one opens'"
-
it was getting late and it was almost time for me to go home.
i sat at the counter,eating my 'dinner' or as much of a dinner it would be,while scrolling on my phone.
the williams wouldn't be back until after i left for the day and i haven't seen aaron since school in ms lee's class.
the house was quiet and it did in fact scare me slightly,which is why all of the lights were on.
it's not like it would break their bank anyway.
i forked a potato before hearing loud footsteps running down the staircase.
after a few seconds,aaron appeared on the other side of the corner and sat in front of me at the counter.
"yes?"
i put the potato in my mouth looking at my plate.
"has your dad ever missed one of miles' games,like ever?"
i looked up trying to remember.
"not that i know of williams,why?"
he sighed shaking his head.
"no valid reason i guess."
he pointed at the refrigerator.
"i don't know asl,you're seventeen,not seven,use your words."
i said forking another potato.
"can you get me a drink?"
he asked.
i stood there not moving as he sighed trying again.
"could you get me a drink,please and thank you?"
he said slightly louder.
i smirked turning around to get the strawberry lemonade.
"much better."
i poured him a drink before sliding it over to him and watching him drink it out of the corner of my eye.
"so what's up? you haven't called me any insulting names or anything today so it must be a good day for you?"
he asked drinking his drink.
i shrugged.
"kinda yeah,but i mean,i insult you because you usually give me a reason to,but since i haven't seen you all day that's kinda hard to do."
he finished his drink,placing the cup down before looking at me.
"i saw you at the game yesterday."
i drew my eyebrows together,this was the most random and civil conversation we've ever had in the past two months i've known him.
"i mean yeah,anybody with eyes could have seen that.i was right in the front so."
"so did i prove myself,out there on the court? you know since you're such a basketball expert i figured you could tell me how i did."
i shook my head laughing as i took his glass and put it in the sink,turning on the tap water.
"you were alright i guess.but that little stunt you and chris pulled on miles was foul."
he went silent,knowing exactly what i was talking about.
"my bad."
"don't apologize to me.i'm not your teammate.don't do it again though or i'll bust your car windows."
he smiled as i kept a straight face letting him know that i was not playing.
"what's up with you? you're all calm and somewhat decent.did somebody educate you on your behavior or something?"
i asked washing the dishes.
he shrugged.
"i don't know.i've just been thinking a lot recently."
"about?"
i said washing a plate in the sink.
"just stuff i guess.i don't know,it's stupid."
he rubbed his face shaking his head like he was frustrated.
"it's not stupid,thinking is good.it helps you understand yourself and clear your headspace.you need that desperately."
i laughed.
"would you forgive me,if i said sorry?"
he asked.
i looked at him pausing in place.
"for what exactly? you've done a lot of things so the list is quite long."
i joked.
"just everything i guess.i don't want any bad blood or nothing if you're gonna be teaching me."
"i'm not teaching you,i'm just guiding you.think of me as your mentor.and the answer to your question is possibly."
he nodded,looking down at the counter as he thought to himself.
he looked back up to me as he folded his arms on the counter.
"then,i'm sorry."
"i apologize."
-
the ending was bad but my birthday is literally in less than an hour but i'm tired so we might not be staying up til twelve.bye.