I quickly make my way to my history lecture, which had started thirty minutes prior, while holding a coffee in one hand and my tote in the other. I don't even know what time I went to sleep because I worked through the night and into the early hours of the morning.

Having consumed my cup of matcha in less than two minutes, I dash across the university square. I exhale with relief as I open the mahogany doors and find individuals talking and going about their business on their laptops and phones.

"Kiki, over here." I scan the crowd to find my best friend Roman beckoning me over. Except for James, who switched his major last year, all the boys are in this class. When I realize that the only available seat is the one between Devontae and Roman, I sigh beneath my breath.

I feign a grin as I approach them, pull out a chair, and sit down, feeling terribly small in the presence of the two enormous men. I give a fist bump to Travis and Lucas then wait when it comes to Devontae. Still awkward. The guys laugh as we try to figure it out and finally decide on a clumsy handshake. Mr. Hudson walks in as the doors reopen.

Morning everyone, as much as I'd like to say good morning, this isn't a nice one because I have to be here with you every day." Mr Hudson laughs and gives a little grin before turning on the overhead projector and delving into the issue. "Today's topic is twentieth-century Europe." Mr Hudson shakes his head, "yes, okay moving ahead..." as the lecture hall explodes in groans.

Devontae is peering into the side of my face, but I don't dare make eye contact because I know if I do, I'll cave. I felt strange. My face feels warm, my gut is twisting, and my palms are sweating profusely. So much for keeping apart. "May I ask anyone of you what happened in Europe throughout the 20th century?"

Silence. Then Mr. Hudson says, "Ah yes, Carter," which I hear.

"The Russian Revolution and Communism, the Great Depression, the growth of dictatorships, the war in Europe, and the attack on the Soviet Union were all factors in "the war to end all wars," also known as World War I (1914-1918).

"Thank you, Carter," I said. Mr. Hudson beams a fatherly grin." He turns off the projector and moves to stand in front of his desk. Mr. Hudson folds his arm and leans against the edge of the desk. This gives me a proper view of him. dressed entirely in black, including a black trench coat, black turtleneck, and black pants. He has the dad bod of your usual lecturer. I can tell he was a heartbreaker when he was our age despite his salt-and-pepper hair and beard, round reading spectacles, and beard.

After the lecture, everyone starts to leave until.

Whoa, wait on, for you, Christmas came early. I give the lecturer a dubious glance. I can see that he's being sarcastic, which makes me fear what he'll say next, and I'm not sure whether anyone still uses the phrase "hold your horses" in 2020.

This project will account for around 60percent on average of your overall grade for the semester, so if you decide to botch it or turn in substandard work, feel free; I'll just take it out of your grade, which makes it all the simpler. The speaker shrugs.

"Shit." I curse.

"Damn." Roman echoes.

You must work in pairs, which I will choose for you. The class murmurs as they glance around at Mr. Hudson, who is grinning. Oh, and you have four weeks to complete it; if you turn it in after that day, it will automatically receive a zero.

It saves me time and energy, says Mr. Hudson as he approaches the front of the class, "you cannot switch after you have picked." "Brooks and Carter," he says, pointing at Devontae and me, "you're partners now."

Since that night, Devontae has unofficially raised my standards for sex and ruined me for other guys. In our first year together, we left everything up in the air, and with what happened at the party a week ago, I'm not sure how I'm expected to work with him. lasting four weeks. Alone. "Would you stop pacing; you're making me dizzy."

I glare at Cassie and continues to pace as I chews on my acrylic nails in anxiousness. This is going to be the worst twenty-eight days of my life.

My nerves shot, and the fact that the thirsty ass DM I sent a while ago only makes matters worse. Even though we agreed to make things awkward, my friends are secretly loving how awkward things still are.

I pause. He read it. It's not like I sent it to him on purpose; alright, I did, but I wasn't aware that he had a girlfriend. I grumble and pull at my hair in frustration.

"All right, you need to relax." My forearm's grabbed by Sasha, who pulls me down on the couch next to her. I slump into the couch and put my head on my friend's chest while pouting. Why does God continue to punish me? Sasha comforts me by stroking my head while I whine and complain.

Cass merely reclines in her chair and flings her legs onto the coffee table, saying, "I think you should look at the bright side."

"Which one?"

Cassie sighs "You two actually had sex, big deal. More reason to have meaningless, no strings attached sex again."

She is right, daily penetration is therapeutic, I believe. I glare at Sasha as she nods in agreement. "It's not like you decided to work with him as a partner, come on. Plus, I think it's the universe finally bringing the two of you together," Amaal says from the floor. So, what if you fucked; both of you grown anyway. Shrugging, Cassie I sigh, "Hopefully during the next month, neither one of us will jump each other's bones."

"Not with the sexual tension you are facing, snorts Sasha." Cassie joins Amaal in her giggling.

"A sword can actually cut it." The girls laugh even louder, and I ask, "Is it really that bad?" before I start laughing myself.

"Oh, honey. Every time you two are in the same room, I see you giving each other the "fuck me" stare." Look, just at least finish the project first before he blows out your back again, Sasha adds as she finally stops giggling. They begin another laughing fit and I flip them off, "I hate y'all."

....

I'm minding my own Black business, when I'm tapped on my shoulder and when I turn around, I wish I could've continued to mind my own. Sean Foster, star athlete of the university's football team, man whore and a disgusting human being. Other than his talents on the field. Sean's known for his way of picking up women and low behold he still manages to get female attention. If he weren't such a dick, he'd wouldn't be a waste of good looks.

"Hey, girl you got a minute?" He asks me and I simply blink at him, tilting my head to the side. "Uh, no. Thanks." I turn my back to him again yet as he whips me around to face him, annoyance spread throughout my body. "Girl, look. Depending on how long you stay in bed, I may not even need a minute of your time.

Ew. I catch Cassie taking her earrings out of her ears out of the corner of my eye, and I shake my head at her, telling her that I got it. "Then, I hope you don't mind being referred to as Minute Man."

"Damn." Travis comments. I swear I can feel my skin itch and bile rising in my throat as he goes on to look me up and down. I rub my temples in exasperation, "Look, I'm gonna save both of our time and say I'm not interested, ok."

His eyes narrow slightly before he masks it with a cheeky smile, "shawty, you don't have to play hard to get." then he steps closer, and I step back. This makes the guy's step in, "ay, man. Clearly the girl doesn't want you." James interjects and I smile at him in appreciation, and he nods in acknowledgement. "I don't believe I was talking to you, Young." Sean waves him off, not taking his eyes off me.

"Bruh, chill. Can't you see she's not into you?" Lucas says and Sean just narrows his eyes at him. "Why can't y'all mind your business? I was talking to..." He gestures towards me, and I roll my eyes at the fact he didn't even bother to ask my name.

"It is our business cos you clearly not getting the message. She not into you." Cassie says, glaring at him. Sean sneers, "you better watch your fucking mouth."

"A'ight, because these ones already told politely, I'm not," says Travis as he stands up from the bench and crosses his arms in front of Cassie. So please, back off, dude."

Sean sneers, "Your punk ass believe you talk to me like that just cos you think you big and bad, huh?" as his face scrunches up in disgust.

My eyes widen in terror at what is about to happen as Travis's nostril flares. When given the opportunity, Travis never backs down from a fight because of his short temper, "people like you give us guys a bad rep." He has a violent temper. What are you going to do, huh?

"Sean, I don't think you should ask the question once again." Devontae answers him, approaching me.

"Yo D'! What up my man?" Devontae simply folds his arms across his chest and looks at Sean's raised closed palm instead of reciprocating the sign of a fist bump. He retracts his hand after receiving the message and lets it fall casually to his side.

"Leave. Now." Sean laughs despite Devontae's rage, and when Devontae doesn't join in, his look changes to one of astonishment. "Come on dude, are you serious?" He gives Sean a stern look. Sean scoffs, "you can't be fighting over damaged goods, man."

At him, I avert my eyes. If I'm damaged goods, why were you hitting on me then? "Until five minutes ago, she wasn't damaged goods." Amaal says, putting my thoughts into words.

"She's a woman who said no." says Devontae. Sean mocks him and daringly approaches him. Both have diverse physical characteristics; Devontae is leaner but still has muscle while Sean is bulkier because he plays football. I keep looking between the two, waiting for one of them to act-anything.

Devontae has a habit of clenching and unclenching his jaw, in anger and I see his fists flex. Roman flies in and slings his arm over his shoulder, leading him away from the group. "Look, it's obvious that this isn't working We all heard my best friend reply, "No," but since you're an entitled ass and won't let it go, I must mention the last time my friend got into a fight.

Sean initially appears perplexed, but as soon as he remembers, his eyes expand, and he begins to speak clearly, "ay, man. I didn't mean to cause any -"

Roman gives him a blank expression and says, "But you did. You better thank me because I just prevented a broken nose and two black eyes from happening to you. Have good one man." With a shove, Sean walks away, with his tail between his legs. Roman walks back to the group and immediately hugs me.

"You good?" He asks me and I simply nod, he gives a hug again messing with my hair and grabs his stuff to head to class as he's doing so the bell rings. "Oh my God, I don't know why y'all are holding me back because he needed to get fucked up." Cassie says, struggling to free herself from our friend's hold.

"Relax, Mike Tyson. It's over." Sasha chuckles at Cass's agitation.

"Nah, let me go I need to beat his ass into tomorrow," Cassie says, still trying to break free. "What ─ no, I'm fine Travis." She says when Travis asks her if she needs to take a minute before going to class. The rest of the group shuffles off to class. Sasha gives me her a kiss on the cheek and Amaal gives my hand a squeeze.

Now it's me and Devontae, "you, okay?" He asks, searching my face. I nod, not exactly lying but also not telling the full truth, "Yeah, yeah. No, I'm fine. Are you okay?" And he waves me off.

"Thank you." I say, lowly. His dark mocha eyes meet mine, "You don't have to thank me. I did what anyone would've done."

"Yeah," is all I say looking down at the floor. He peers at me before opening his mouth, "listen, about what he said -" I raise my hand to stop him from talking, already knowing what he's about to say, "I'm good, honest."

His eyes soften at my adamance, "you're not damaged goods. At least not to me." I want to believe him, but I can't bring myself to do it, so I simply plaster on fake a smile, which I'm quite sure he can tell it's genuine, "let's get to class."