Edited

Kayla

The alarm on my phone went off telling me it was time for me to get up. I grumbled under my breath before turning it off. I slowly got up and made my way into the bathroom. I washed off and got dressed. I made a mental note to wash clothes since I was running low on appropriate outfits. Being a big girl means it would be hard for me to find clothes that are good for my size. I can't wear things too tight and revealing since a lot of people are disgusted with my figure. I have to admit I'm not too fond of it either. It makes me ashamed of myself.

I had on a pair of sweatpants and an oversized shirt. It's not very stylish but it's comfortable and it helps me blend into the background. I finished my morning routine and went into the kitchen for breakfast. My roommate and close friend, April was already eating her plate. She too was a big girl but she was one of those confident pretty ones. Anything she wore looked good in my opinion. And no one ever dared step to her crazy about anything since she was so fierce. A lot of times I wish I was like her.

"Hey Kay," she smiled at me. She frowned when she saw my outfit. "Really Kay?"

"I'm comfortable," I mumbled getting a plate.

She sighed. "If only that were true," she mumbled. I didn't comment back. I know she wants me to be more confident in myself. But it's so hard. "How are your classes?"

"They're good. Sucks I'm taking chemistry."

"You do want to be a nurse."

"I know," I pouted. "Why does what I want to do have to deal with science?"

"Life," she shrugged.

"How are your classes?" April was also a nurse major. It's how we met.

"Pretty good. I'm second best in my class," she explained with excitement.

I gasped. "That's great! You deserve it."

"Thanks," she sighed. "All those sleepless nights really paid off. I just got to beat that bitch Rita. Beat her ass into a coma that is."

"Okay," I laughed. "You're going a bit far."

She giggled. "You're right. That was a bit much. You better go before you're late."

"You're right." I quickly finished my food and rushed out of the apartment. The drive to school wasn't so bad. Since it was pretty early and all. I grabbed my bag and hurried to class. The elevator was broken again so I was forced to take the stairs. It was three flights. I was breathing heavily by the time I made it to my class.

"Why do you look like you were running a marathon?" Josh asked. Josh has been my longtime friend since middle school. He was a double major in biomedical engineering and business so we have some similar classes.

"Elevator...broke," I gasped taking a seat next to him. "I'll be...fine." I took a swig of the water I carried with me.

He shook his head. "You should really get in shape. This isn't healthy you know. Aren't you even the little bit embarrassed at the way you are?"

I ignored the sting to my ego. "I'll try." He shook his head at me. I say this all the time and never commit to anything. I'm not particularly proud of my body but I don't know if changing is the best option. I know it's confusing but there's a part of me that's silently fighting against others opinions of me. It's hard to tell if that's a good or bad thing.

"The team looks good this year," I heard someone say. I turned to see who it was but immediately regretted it. Chris Harrison, the 'big' man on campus came strolling into the room. He too was a double major in biological science and business so he too is in a few classes with me. Which is the worst thing imaginable. "Hey Ms. Piggy," he grinned evilly at me. I swallowed the water hard and looked away from him. "I saw the elevator was out of commission again. So you had to take the stairs huh? I'm surprised you made it."

I gripped my bottle and chewed my lip. I was trying hard not to cry. I tried ignoring his hurtful banter. Chris has been harassing me for years and his insults hurt no less than they have on the first day he began his verbal assault. I often wondered how we ended up here.

"Aye," he poked me. "You hear me talking to you fatty? Or is all that fat clogging up your ears?"

I looked up at Josh. I was hoping he'd stick up for me or something. Instead, he scrolled through his phone with headphones in his ear like I wasn't being verbally attacked. That hurt knowing he wouldn't stick up for me.

"You trying to ignore me you fat bitch?!" Chris snapped grabbing my arm. It was a shock and in a state of panic I pulled away harshly but ended up losing my balance. I made a small noise before hitting the ground. "Oh shit," he looked surprised and scared.

"Man you took it too far!" Josh yelled at him.

"I didn't do shit! The fat bitch fell for attention!"

I got up and ran out with tears rolling down my face. "Kayla!" I heard Josh call after me but I couldn't turn and face him.

I ran down the stairs and out of the building. Luckily there weren't many people out this early to see me crying like this. Normally I can stick it out with Chris's harassment but he never did touch me before and it scared me. I don't think I can handle physical and verbal abuse. It's too much. I was trying to rub the tears away but they kept falling. Since I was blinded by my tears and unable to see where I was going I ended up running into something solid.

"Oh damn!" Something reached out and caught me before I could fall. "You alright?"

"S-Sorry," I stuttered. I maneuvered around them and went to leave and find somewhere to go and be alone.

"Hold up," the person grabbed my hand and pulled me back. "What's wrong? You didn't hurt yourself did you?"

"N-No," I stuttered trying to get away.

"Then why are you crying?" They were strong and held onto me firmly.

"I-I just h-have to g-go," I hiccupped.

"This ain't going to work," the person said. They started leading me somewhere and for some reason, I followed. Don't ask me why. I know this is dangerous but for some reason, I didn't feel like I was in danger. I heard a clicking noise and looked up. I saw I was being led to a truck. The person opened the passenger side and helped me inside. They went into the glove compartment and got me some napkins. "Just calm down okay?"

I nodded slowly as I took the napkins. I dabbed my eyes and blew my nose. The person handed me some water which I took. I drank the cool liquid and immediately felt a thousand times better. "Thank you," I mumbled. I looked up and was practically speechless. This guy was gorgeous! Beyond that. He was finer than anyone I've seen. He was tall, much taller than my short ass. I'm thinking he's around six foot two maybe? Tattoos littered every available skin on his arms and he had long beautifully crafted soft looking dreadlocks on top of his head. His eyes pierced through me like he could see into my soul. He was absolutely breathtaking.

"No problem." He watched my face closely. "Why were you crying?"

"N-No reason," I said nervously.

"You were crying out of habit?" He raised his eyebrow at me. I blushed and looked away. "What's that?" he picked up my hand and looked at the darkening area around my wrist. My eyes widened in fear. I knew Chris grabbed me hard but I had no idea it was hard enough to bruise. I mean, I'm not that light you know.

"I-I fell," I brought my hand closer to myself. "I embarrassed myself and fell. That's why I was crying. It was humiliating. I'm just being a drama queen. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"You sure?" I nodded. "Are you fine now?" Again I nodded. "What's your name beautiful?"

I felt my heart flutter at the compliment. I bit my lip and squeezed my hands together. "Kayla." This guy made me way too nervous.

"I'm Andre. Nice to meet you." He stuck his hand out to shake mines.

"Y-Yeah," I shook his hand. "I have to go." I quickly hopped out of the truck. "Bye." I rushed off.

Andre

Classes had been in session for a week or two and I was just now getting my admissions and everything straight. There was some bullshit about not transferring my credits from my last school. Even when I researched this school before transferring and all of my credits were able to transfer over. Then they were saying some other mess about my application and other things. But I finally got everything situated.

This was my last semester before I graduated so I have very little classes. But I did decide to walk around campus to get a feel of it. I was able to locate my classes so I was just about to hang out until it was time to meet up with some people. I ended up running into someone. Or should I say they ran into me. It was a girl who looked like she was going to have a panic attack.

I took her to my truck to give her a little bit of privacy. Once she calmed down I noticed she was actually really beautiful. So naturally, I had to figure out why this beautiful girl was crying. She didn't give me an answer and when I saw the bruise it made me suspicious. I didn't get much from her aside from her name.

"Kayla huh?" I mused as I walked into the café where I was meeting my cousins. She was one of the most beautiful people I've seen in my life ever. I was able to sneak a peek at her figure and she was a full figure woman. I smirked to myself. "School just got ten times better." I had expected a lot of things out of this place. But meeting a beautiful goddess like that wasn't one of them. Things really have gotten a bit more interesting for me.

"What are you smiling at?" my cousin, Chris asked.

"Nothing," I immediately straight-faced him before taking a seat. "Josh," I acknowledged the other one. He looked irritated and so did Chris. "Fuck is wrong with y'all?"

"Nothing," they said. I shrugged. I didn't really care.

When people see us they don't really know we're related. Mainly because we hold none of the same features. We're all close cousins. By genetic definition at least. All of our pops are blood brothers. But their pops all married outside of their race. Josh's mom is Cuban and Chris's mom is white. We're all close in age but I'm the youngest. Also the smartest.

"So what's up?" I asked.

"Our parents want us to get along," Josh said.

"And?" I shrugged. That's nothing new.

"Don't be difficult," Chris glared. "It's the least you can do after all the bullshit you caused over the years."

"Don't start no shit with me Chris," I glared back at him. "I don't owe anyone a damn thing! We couldn't get along when we were kids what makes you think we're going to get along now? After all the bullshit do you really think I'm interested in anything you or your parents want?"

"We're family," Josh said.

"Blood doesn't make you family," I said. "I didn't ask to be a part of your fucked up family."

"Listen," Chris sighed. "We're adults now. Can't we put the past behind us and move on?"

"It's childish to hold onto a grudge," Josh said. "And if anybody should be holding onto anything it should be us. You weren't the one walking around with bruises and black eyes you know."

I smirked at the memories of me causing those two hell growing up. I was a rowdy kid but I didn't do anything that didn't warrant my behavior. If I felt disrespected in any way I retaliated. Simple. They always picked the fights while I won them. "Regardless I don't really care what you want," I shrugged. "Physically you two did nothing but that doesn't change the mental and emotional strain you two caused me. I'm not fond of playing friends with a couple bitches like you."

"Damn it Andre!" Chris hissed. "Stop being so difficult and grow up!"

"There's going to be a huge gathering Thanksgiving," Josh cut in. "We can't exactly pretend to be buddy-buddy but we can at least be cordial and at least try to get along. Get to know each other. Hang out maybe. You're right. We always picked fights so we have no right to hold a grudge. We missed a lot out of each other's lives. We're all first cousins and know nothing about each other. We should at least try right?"

I scuffed. "Whatever. Like I said I'm not really interested in being your friend but I guess I'll be cordial."

"What's your major?" Josh asked. "I'm biomedical engineer and Chris is a biological science major."

I smirked a bit. "Just as close as ever I see." Josh squirmed a bit and Chris just glared at me. "Following behind your parents as well. Not surprised. You never did have brains of your own."

Chris slammed his hand on the table. "You always going to be this damn condescending?"

"Possibly," I shrugged. "I'm a civil engineer major. I've already obtained my business degree."

"That's cool," Josh said. "You live on campus? You're on the football team right?"

"I live in an apartment with a friend of mines a little ways off campus. And yes, I'm on the football team."

Chris smirked. "I'm the captain."

"And I don't give a fuck." He frowned and glared at me. "Now that we're all caught up I'm about to leave."

"You should come to our place and hang out sometime," Josh suggested.

"I'll think about it," I lied. I was not going to their damn apartment. Hell nah. They'll be lucky if they even get a text from me. I'll be civil but I won't be damn friends with them. That's a dead mission. "I wonder if I'll run into Kayla again." I wouldn't mind seeing her beautiful face. I met her once and I'm already feeling myself get attached. Those big brown eyes, deep curves, and don't get me started on those thick thighs of hers. Making a nigga drool and yearn for her and I haven't even had her yet.