"𝘐'𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯' 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘦"
Nicki Minaj - Black Barbies
~
"Boys... we have a problem"
In Kumal's living room sat the twins, Kumal had invited them over to play video games, but that had really just been a ploy to get them into his house so they could discuss some important matters, after catching up over some 2K, they finally decided now was the time to start their deep and insightful discussion.
"As you know, our boy Riley... is suffering from a disease" Kumal said, his voice sounding pained as though he were emotionally torn "this disease is known as Simpitis"
"Simpitis...?"
Kumal, seeing Dequan's confusion, nodded "yes, this disease is caught by every man once in his life, but the man can only catch it when he gets his first girlfriend" he then dramatically looked down "this disease causes the dude in question to make himself a slave to said girlfriend, doing as she pleases at all times even if she doesn't ask for it, often times sacrificing his own free time and social life for her..."
"Well shit nigga, is there a cure!?" Treshawn blurted out, receiving a nod from Kumal and an annoyed groan from Dequan.
"Why yes, there is a cure, however it'll be very difficult to pull it off"
Dequan scoffed "y'all better not try to break 'em up"
"Huh? Hell nah! They cute or whatever" Kumal said, shaking his head "no, the cure to Simpitis is by forcing Riley to assert his dominance in the relationship"
"I'm not following..."
Kumal the strained his voice, before saying "that means we have to... teach Riley how to say no to Tima"
The room went silent, before Treshawn scoffed "that ain't never gon' work, we all know Riley act all hard and shit, but Tima could tell him to kill forty babies and he'd prolly do it, he ain't never gon' say no to her"
"That's the problem!" Kumal wailed, dramatically holding onto the side of his couch "if we don't help him soon, what if Tima notices his sickness and takes advantage if it? We can't let our boy become a simp!"
Dequan sighed, rubbing his temples "I can't believe we're having this conversation..."
Kumal then crossed his arms "we're all gonna hang out next week, and apparently Riley said he's bringing a plus one with him to the event, this'll be the perfect opportunity! Until then, we must coach him on the proper ways of a man" he then swiftly pulled out his phone and began typing, before then sliding it back into his pocket "I just invited him over"
"Y'all are really gonna do this..."
"Hell yeah!"
Dequan could only sit there and watch as his brother and friend went on to talk about their plans and the 'lessons' they were going to teach Riley in order to cure this non-existent illness. He simply watched, before sitting back with a sigh, this was going to be a very long and exhausting day.
~
"Pick something cute!"
"Well, I dunno what's cute!"
"Show some skin then!"
"No!"
Valerie was sort of in the middle of an extreme breakdown, remember when Huey and her decided they would go out somewhere together alone one day? Well, they had set it up, and it just so happened that today was the day.
Currently, Tahiry sat on her bed, trying to help the panicked girl pick an outfit "look Val, Huey doesn't care about looks at all, you could go in a clown outfit and he probably wouldn't even notice! Just pick something comfortable-"
"It needs to be fair fashion, we're going to the fair, oh God, what do people do at fairs!?"
"Eat snacks, play games, go on rides-"
"I DON'T HAVE MONEY!"
"VALERIE!"
The biracial girl paused, before turning to face Tahiry "Valerie, girl... chill out"
When she saw that her friend was still clearly distressed, Tahiry shot her a smile "Val, Huey gon' think you look cute regardless, and as the guy who asked you out, it's his responsibility to pay for everything, I made sure he brought money, so don't worry about it! All you gotta do is wear somethin' cute and be pretty, hmkay?"
The other girl was still for a bit, before reluctantly nodding, receiving a smile from Tahiry "great! Well, I'm likin' that silk white top and blue jeans combo, you might wanna go with that" she said, pointing at one of the many discarded clothes laying on the ground.
Valerie picked it up and looked at the top, "hm, it does look nice" she said quietly, "I'll put this one on"
For the rest of the morning, Valerie attempted to prepare for this date, with the help of Tahiry of course. However, although the other girl assured her that everything was going to be okay, she couldn't help but still be nervous. This wasn't some regular old guy, this was Huey, her crush and probably one of the most hard to talk to people alive. Sure, now that they were actually friends that task had gotten much easier, but this was a date, and she was already feeling like she was going to pass out.
Eventually, the girl had finished getting dressed. She wore a white shoulder-less crop-top and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, on her feet were a pair of laced heels that Tahiry had lent her (luckily they were same size) and her hair had been tied into two neat space buns.
Tahiry clapped as she stepped forward "woohoo! You look amazing, flawless, magnifiqué!" she said joyously, making Valerie hide her face in a small flush "when Huey sees you, he gon' be blown away! Now hurry yo' ass up and get to the park, you don't wanna leave yo' man waitin' now do ya?"
Valerie looked at the clock and noticed the time, before nodding. The two left the house Together, with Valerie waving goodbye to her friend and then making her way to the park. Her trip there was nerve-wracking, she could feel her heart racing and her mind being filled with thousands of thoughts, would the date go well? Would Huey ask her out after this? Would they stay friends? Was Tahiry lying about her looking cute when in fact she looked terrible?
She didn't have enough time to think this over, as it wasn't long until she had reached the park. She looked around for a bit, before pausing when she saw Huey standing by the bench they sat at the other day. He was dressed rather... nicely? Not to say he ever dressed bad, but he looked more put together today. He wore a white buttoned shirt, which was left free at the top three buttons, a pair of black pants (whether they were regular pants or suit pants she couldn't tell) and a pair of all black sneakers. It took all of her power not to stare, and considering he looked bored out of his mind, it was probably better for her to go and talk to him.
Valerie soon approached with a wave and a grin "hey Huey! Sorry for being a little late, I didn't make you wait too long, did I?"
Huey turned to face her, and for a second, his expression softened at the sight of her "oh, hey Val, don't worry, I only got here about five minutes ago anyway" he reassured, which made her sigh from relief.
"That's good" she smiled.
"You look nice today, I like the top" Huey then said, he wasn't too good with complimenting people, mostly because everything he said sounded like sarcasm, but considering the bay Valerie was beaming after the comment, it seemed as though she liked the compliment quite a bit.
"Aw, thanks Huey, you don't look too bad yourself"
With an awkward scratch of the back of his head, Huey asked "should be go to the fair now?"
When Valerie responded with a hum and a yawn, the two went. The local fair came around every summer and stuck around for about three weeks or so before soon leaving town, Valerie had never been because the rides always scared her and Huey had only been once and that was before he moved to Woodcrest. The two did as would expect, like Tahiry promised Huey had been the one to bring the money and pay for what need be. It was fun, they played a lot of carnival games and ate quite a few snacks, but they had yet to be on any of the attractions there.
The date had been going well, but it all came to a screeching halt when Valerie saw Huey staring at the Jumper. See, the Jumper was a ride at the fair which was exactly what it sounded like, they would strap you and about thirty other people into a circular thing held up by some sort of metal contraption, and the Jumper would then shoot you twenty feet or so into the air only for you to come plummeting back down. To add insult to injury, this ride would go on for about seven minutes and the Jumper would also be spinning you around as it threw you into the air.
In Huey's eyes, it was a cool carnival ride, in Valerie's eyes, it was what Satan would be if he was a carnival ride.
She looked over at Huey and quickly said "no, absolutely not"
"Come on Val" Huey let out immediately after "it's not that bad, look, everyone else is doing it"
"Just because everyone else wants to move like they're on an episode of Jackass doesn't mean I do as well, I am perfectly fine not going on that demon ride, you can go but I'm certainly not following you"
"But Vaaaal," he whined "I don't wanna go alone, so you just gon' leave me to go by myself?"
"Yup! Sorry but I'm not doing that"
. . .
How Valerie made it onto the Jumper, she had no idea.
All she could remember was Huey suddenly picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder, making his way over to the ride, paying the fee and strapping her in beside him. No matter how much she resisted, Huey easily overpowered her and placed her in a seat. Next thing you know she was sitting next to him, a few minutes before the ride was going to start.
Huey knew she was mad, if the pout on her face and the deep furrowing of her eyebrows didn't give it away, "Val-"
"Don't talk to me"
Huey just barely managed to hold in his laughter, but just in case she was feeling genuinely scared, he put a hand on hers, "it's gonna be alright, nothing's going to go wrong, we'll make it out of this safe and sound"
Although she was a little peeved at being put onto the ride against her own will, Valerie accepted his reassurance and decided not to snatch her hand away. Soon, they heard the announcement that the ride was going to start, and that all delicate items should have either been given to a designated person or placed somewhere safe. Before she could even process it, Valerie could feel them being shot into the air and spun around, almost losing all her breath at the sudden feeling.
Huey found it fun, and was laughing pretty much the whole way through, what he had expected from Val was screams of fear. However, when he looked over at her, she was completely still. Her eyes were wide open and she gripping onto the bannister as if her life depended on it, she wasn't even yelling, she was just completely silent.
He couldn't lie, the look on her face was hilarious.
This went on for about seven more minutes, before the ride eventually came to a stop. As people began to unstrap themselves, Huey did the same to him and his date before then sighing "well, that was exhilarating, how about you Val...?"
Valerie still had that wide eyes expression, and was shivering a tad bit, she walked over to Huey, quickly holding onto him by the sleeved of his shirt, "Val, you okay?"
"Yeah..." was all she said gently.
"You mad at me?"
"Yeah..."
He then snickered, putting a hand on her shoulder "you wanna get somethin' to eat?"
"Yeah..."
With that, the two made their way to the food place nearby.
~
Cindy was having a surprisingly good time in Chicago.
What she had thought would happen ended up not happening, and because of this, she was able to keep the secret of her true nature away from Riley. Not only that, but her Fatima seemed to be getting along rather well, she didn't expect it, as she would assume Riley's girlfriend would be overly protective and mean, but in fact she was the complete opposite.
Earlier that day, Cindy was just hanging around the local area when she was spotted by the two, and they soon insisted on her joining them. Though at first she didn't want to, as she felt like she was third wheeling, they pretty much begged her to tag along. Whenever Riley would go on tangents when talking to Cindy, Fatima wouldn't mind, and would simply watch with an amused and or entertained grin on her face. Suddenly though, Riley had gotten a message but wouldn't disclose from who it was, and claimed he had to go due to 'super secret nigga business'.
The two were now in the park together. Upon talking to her more, Cindy realized that Fatima really wasn't who she assumed her to be, she wasn't as rough around the edges as Riley, but she wasn't the super boring good girl either. She was like Riley's boulder in a sense, grounded and there to make sure he doesn't do anything too stupid. However, she also knew how to loosen up and have fun, even if that meant breaking a few rules in the process.
"Damn, so Huey got jumped and y'all was gonna get him?"
"Yeah, but after they made up at the party we decided to cancel the plan, since there was no point dragging it out if both parties involved were over it"
Cindy nodded, damn, so much had happened since the brothers left Woodcrest, it was kind of ironic how whilst they were living an exciting and cool life, Cindy's life back home was boring and mundane. She almost wished she came with them, but that was just unrealistic.
The girls continued to walk through the park before Cindy then asked "so... how did you and Riley become a thing? It's just, you two are so different, I wouldn't have expected it"
For a second it looked as though Fatima was in deep thought, and Cindy hadn't failed to notice the gentle grin that had placed itself on her face, "to be honest? I dunno, it sorta just... happened..." she sighed happily.
Cindy looked at her up and down, before then looking away. It just wasn't fair, Fatima was able to be all sweet and well behaved and Riley liked that enough to date her, but if she did it she knew he would probably have a problem with it. It was annoying seeing someone else who could just... be themselves around him.
Well, no one asked you to be like that around him.
Fatima had soon asked for them to take a break, so the two sat down underneath the shade of a tree and simply relaxed. This gave Cindy more time to think, Riley was going to be introducing her to his other friends next week, would they like her? Hopefully they would, especially since he seemed to hang out with them pretty much every day.
She then grimaced, when she returned to Woodcrest, she'd be alone in school. Jazmine was going off to high school, this was good because so were her bullies, but it also meant she wasn't going to have anyone to go to when she needed someone to talk to. In a way, Cindy wanted the summer to last forever, no school kids to deal with, no parents, no stress, just her old friend and some new ones.
Fatima then brought her head up and grinned, "you know, I'm pretty mad Riley didn't mention you much, you seem cool, I could see you getting along with Deja or Emily"
"Deja or Emily...?"
"Oh, my bad, they're two other girls in our friend group, Renegade" Fatima responded with a hum, "you totally match their wavelength, I could see you guys becoming friends"
Cindy looked to the ground, oh yeah, if she wanted to make a good first impression on these Chicago bred girls then she needed to amp up her persona by the max. She doubted she could intimidate them, but she also had to let them know she wasn't scared, this was so much easier when it was other girl scouts and classmates, but these female friends of Riley's were probably in a whole different calibre, they weren't going to be that easy to fool.
Hell, they'd probably be able to smell the phony from a mile away.
Before she could ponder some more, Fatima tilted her head in her direction before then asking "do you have a boyfriend Cindy?"
"H-Huh?"
"Well, do you?"
"Um, no, I don't..."
"Oh" Fatima said before then asking "well, do you have someone you're interested in?"
"Why do you ask?"
Fatima then smiled "because, you're really pretty, I'm sure if you liked someone you'd have no issue in telling them, or at least making them like you, you probably have guys drooling over you back in Woodcrest"
Quite the opposite in fact.
The blonde cringed, she couldn't tell Fatima that back in Woodcrest she was a nobody that probably couldn't get a guy to look her way, so instead, she scoffed and said "pfft, tell me about it, the dudes back there be so damn weird, always trynna spit game knowin' damn well they ain't got nun' for me"
This seemed to work, since Fatima let out a giggle "didn't know it was so rough for ya, not surprised though, as they say, pretty girls struggle most"
It wasn't long until their conversation delved into a regular one, talks about hobbies, interests, likes and dislikes. Cindy liked talking to Fatima, the other girl was so chill and mellow most of the time, it felt like she could trust her with anything, or at least she could talk to her without feeling like she was being judged.
"So, you and Riley met on the court? How sweet!" Fatima squealed with a grin.
"Yeah, don't tell him I said this, but on everythin' I can and will wash his ass on the court, Ion know why he thinks he ball better than me but he need to quit that, asap"
Fatima giggled, "I knew he played basketball but I don't think I've ever seen him do it in person, is he any good?"
"Please," Cindy started, "he's aight, he can do a lil' dribble or whateva, but he ain't never gon' be better than me, especially when I hit them lay-ups on his ass"
The other girl let out another laugh at the statement, "well, I won't tell him you said that, and I definitely won't tell him I'm on your side" she said with a cheeky wink. The two both laughed, subconsciously deciding on their new inside joke.
Fatima then stood up and stretched, "well, I gotta go, there's some bomb wings in my fridge callin' my name" she then waved, smiling "bye Cindy, see ya around!"
"Bye Tima" she waved back, before then getting up and beginning to make her way back home. This was the worst part, she was going to have to go back to that stupid apartment with her stupid cousin and do stupid shit with him, she wasn't in the mood to deal with Randy, then again she never really was.
Eventually she had gotten to the apartment, and deep down she hoped if she was quick and quiet enough, she wouldn't have to run into him, sadly, it seemed as though the universe had been punishing her for something she did because it wasn't long until a certain blonde haired teenage boy walked out of the side and glared at her.
"The fuck have you been?"
"Nunya"
Randy snorted, "you know you're not supposed to leave the house without letting my mom know right? You're lucky she's at work today"
His younger cousin glared at him "Randy you keep saying all of this but I simply can't find it in me to care, leave me alone already, gosh"
"No need to be so hostile, god, no wonder no one fucking likes you" was all he said before turning around to go to the kitchen, Cindy let out a hateful growl before storming up to the guest bedroom. See? There was a reason she didn't like him, he was just mean and rude to her for absolutely no reason, but let her say anything and now she was the one in the wrong.
She slumped onto the bed and sighed, she was tempted to call Jazmine, but the girl was probably busy doing something fun and not worth her time, and she had no other friends she could really talk to right now. So, she simply lay on her bed.
Cindy hated this feeling she had been having lately, this feeling of having a millions thoughts running through your head at the same time. She was sick of feeling stressed out all the time and she was sick of having to keep up face when she really wanted too. None of this would have happened if the Freeman's had never left Woodcrest.
It was awfully ironic how the death of a man she didn't know all that well had indirectly affected her.
Cindy then sighed, there was no use in crying over spoiled milk, she had to make the best of the situation, and she would stop at nothing to do so.
~
Okay so! I've been thinking of how I wanna structure the story from here and I think I've finally decided what I wanna do!
I decided that writing each school year would be too long and would eventually get boring asf, so instead I'll be writing about Huey's first year in high school and Riley's second year in middle school, but I'll be skipping Riley's last year in middle school and Huey's second year of high school and going straight to Freshman Riley and Senior Huey.
This means when this arc is over, there'll be a timeskip, hopefully this makes sense!
(P.S, don't worry, the rest of the date will be happening next chapter ^^)