𝟎𝟏𝟏, 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾𝗌,𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌,＆𝗌𝗍𝗎𝖽𝗒 𝗌𝖾𝗌𝗁
𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍': 𝖼𝗋𝗒𝖻𝖺𝖻𝗒 𝖻𝗒 sza

𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐚'𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

the first time me and imani met was the community court where damn near everybody hanged out at. you had the boys on the court balling basketball and the girls hanging around on the old wooden picnic tables gossiping most likely about some boy.

but, imani was at an table by herself sitting on the top of it with her head low writing down in her lisa frank journal. i hadn't notice her until my older cousin had stopped mid game and pointed over at her.

"who that girl is?", she asked me, i turned my attention towards her and shrugged not thinking too much of it. "ion know", i said and he shrugged along turning our attention back to our game.

it was shortly after when a group of girls had gathered around her laughing at her snatching her journal and throwing it into the dirt. "ju what the hell", ronnie mumbled as i held the ball between my arms watching the girls.

they giggled as one of them as sasha the ring leader stood in front of her with their arms folded running her mouth. i threw the ball at ronnie and made my way over towards the ball.

"and where you from lil girl?", sasha asked her and imani looked at her with a mean glare. "instead of asking where im from you betta ask yo self who you messing with, you came ova here to mess with me but lemme tell you sum-", before imani could even finish sasha interrupted her snatching her by the shirt yanking her off the table.

the girls laughed as sasha bullied her, "let her go sasha, you ain't nun but a bully and you know it", i spoke. i never talked or messed with sasha but everybody heard and knew about her.

sasha looked over at me letting grow of her grip of imani and smiled at me, "oh hi juju", she spoke with a giggly tone. i rolled my eyes at her before i picked her imani journal and wrapped my arms around her walking us away from the group of girls.

"you okay?", i asked her handing her the journal and unwrapping my arms to take a look at her. "ian need yo help, i was just fine by myself", she spoke her accent was so thick now i knew why sasha asked where she was from but it sound so pretty coming from her lips.

i smirked at her little bit, "im sorry i just wanted to make you was good, my bad", i said. she hummed fixing her shirt and holding her journal tight. "sorry, thank yew for helping me but to be fair you only saved her from one hella of ass whooping", she commented and i laughed.

she was feisty ass hell, she had to be somewhere from the south but I didn't bother to ask. "im judea but everybody call me juju", i introduced myself. "imani", she told me her name. for the rest of the day i had ditched basketball with ronnie and spent time with imani, which was when we became friends.

now, back here in southern cal imani and i became friends again. she was no longer a memory but she was here and i was nothing but happy.

the smile of my face, the way i walked with pride, the energy i placed in basketball and my overall being had proved how grateful i was to have imani back.

it's only been two weeks since our meet up at the cafe, we only talked once or twice because we were busy and plus either of us wanted to come off overbearing. i knew she still needed space.

"you been so smiley these days", kennedy mentioned to me as we all sit around the cafeteria after a lift and practice. i smiled at her comment as i munched on my fruit. "it's because i have a lot to smile about", i said and she smiled at me, "okay i know thats right", she teased and i laughed a bit.

malia took a seat beside with her plate, "it's crazy how it takes a girl for us to see all yo 32", she said and kennedy gasped. "YOU SMILING BECAUSE A LIL BOOOOO", she said and i groaned in embarrassment.

they all laughed around the table. i mushed my head into my hands hiding my face. "please stoppp", i begged as i looked over at malia wishing i could jack her up for running her mouth. "my bad, my bad", she said still giggling with kennedy.

"so who is she?", kennedy asked mellowing down her laughs. "she's not my boo and we just friends... ion know where malia got them lies from", i said. "but my FRIEND name is imani", i told her.

kennedy hummed, "wait i heard that name before...", she trailed and i looked at her confused because not a lot of people knew imani.

"where?", i asked. "from my roommate friend her name is alex and she came over one day talking about some imani she met at our lil party", kennedy said shrugging her shoulders.

oh.

that had to the girl i saw imani with at the party. i had been so caught up with the excitement of being friends with imani again i had forgotten all about it. once again that feeling pinged inside me and my smile was wiped off my face. "oh", i mumbled and you could easily feel the energy shift.

the feelings i had been joy riding on for the past two weeks had been ripped away that fast and a feeling much stronger override me. all the five w's ran across my mind about alex.

malia and kennedy had moved on from a different conversation to notice my mood shift. i pushed the cup of fruits away from me and leaned back in my chair scrolling on social media.

♥️ 𝟑𝟓𝟏 💬𝟐𝟓 📩𝟓
𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝖽𝖺𝗒𝗌𝗌𝗌𝗌 𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗍 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗇 𝖼𝖺𝗅

𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝗈𝗁 𝗎 𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗌𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖺𝖺𝖺

𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝗌𝗈 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗍𝗍𝗒

𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡𝐡𝐡 𝖻𝗂 𝗐𝗁𝗈？𝖨𝖬 𝖲𝖳𝖱𝖨𝖢𝖳𝖫𝖸 𝖲𝖳𝖱𝖠𝖨𝖦𝖧𝖳 𝖥𝖮𝖱 𝖸𝖠

𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝖿𝗅𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗇 𝖼𝖺𝗅 𝖱𝖭

𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝗎 𝗅𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝖿𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗂𝖺𝗋

𝐔𝐒𝐂 ❤️💛

𝐚𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐲𝐚𝐡𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝗆𝗒 𝖿𝖺𝗏 𝗅𝗂𝗅 𝗍𝗋𝗈𝗃𝖺𝗇

𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝗈𝗎 𝗂 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗌𝗆𝖻 𝖽𝗈𝗇𝗍 𝗉𝗅𝖺𝗒 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎

𝐣𝐮𝐣𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗍𝗍𝗒 𝖺𝗌 𝖺𝗅𝗐𝖺𝗒𝗌 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝗂 ❤️

𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐱𝐱 😍😍😍

𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝗈𝗈𝗉𝗉𝗉𝗉𝗉

you ever seen a dog in heat? well that's me after scrolling through mani instagram but after looking at her recent post seeing alex in her comments i couldn't help but roll my eyes at the sight.

was i jealous?
nahhhh

territorial maybe over my friends but not jealous, i had no right to be because mani and i were only friends. friends or not, alex need to move around. i sighed as my brain and emotions didn't mix well together.

"ou is that the girl?", kennedy spoke looking over my shoulder. i nodded softly and she hummed, "yeah i see why alex talking about her. she a baddieee", kennedy said.

alex this and alex that i was slowly growing annoyed, "whatever", i mumbled. "yall need anything? finna grab some more fruit", i told them finding a excuse to clear my mind.

malia looked at the cup of fruit that sat in front of me still full but still nodded her head along with kennedy. i asked them what they wanted and went over grabbing it for them.

as i got them their food my phone dinged, i paused my actions grabbing it out of my pocket and reading the recent message. i was little surprised to see it was from imani.

𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢

𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝗃𝗎

𝗐𝖺𝗌𝗌𝗎𝗉 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝗂

𝗂𝗆 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗎𝗀𝗀𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗋𝗇 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗉𝗋𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗅 𝖺𝗇𝖽
𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗂𝗄 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖼𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗌， 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗁𝖾𝗅𝗉？

𝗅𝗆𝖺𝗈𝗈𝗈

𝗈𝗆𝗀𝗀𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄 𝗒𝗈𝗎
𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗎 𝖿𝗋𝖾𝖾 𝗍𝗆𝗋𝗐？

𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗁 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗎 𝗍𝗋𝗒𝗇𝖺 𝗆𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝗎𝗉

𝗂 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗌 𝖺 𝗌𝗉𝗈𝗍 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖻𝗂𝗀 𝖿𝗅𝗎𝖿𝖿𝗒 𝖻𝖾𝖺𝗇 𝖻𝖺𝗀𝗌
𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗆𝗉𝗎𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝖻𝗋𝖺𝗋𝗒

𝖺𝗅𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝖼𝗈𝗈𝗅
𝗂𝗌 𝟤 𝖺 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾？

𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗁
𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄 𝗒𝗈𝗎

𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝖾𝗅𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾，
𝗆𝖺𝗒𝖻𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗅𝗅 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗉 𝗆𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗉𝗋𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗅 𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗎 𝖽𝗈𝗇𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖺𝗏𝗈𝗂𝖽 𝗆𝖾

𝗍𝗋𝗎𝖾．
𝗌𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍

𝗂𝗍𝗌 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽
𝗂 𝗀𝗍𝗀 𝗆𝗒 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝖼𝖺𝗅𝗅

𝗅𝗆𝖺𝗈
𝗈𝗄𝖺𝗒 𝗌𝖾𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗍𝗆𝗋𝗐

the next day, i had a quick work out and shot-a-rounds. the time had went by fast knowing i was going to see mani after. i freshened up and made my way towards the library.

when i got there it was two o clock on the dot but imani still wasn't around, shortly 2:10 came around and she was here with a cup of coffee. "shit sorry ju, i lost track of time", she apologized and i shook my head. "you all good. you here now", i told her and she smiled.

we took a seat on the fluffy bean bags and focused onto the work ahead of us, she was for real struggling in pre cal but i was lucky to help her.

"this shit still don't make sense like... am i really gone use this in real life?", she commented and i laughed at her. as kids she always hated math and it was nice a little to see things didn't change.

she sucked her teeth as she worked on the problem, a soft hum escaped my lips as i watched her a smile creeping onto my face at the sight of her.

her eyebrows arched in confusion, a soft pout on her lips and her big cheeks were plush out as she worked. "mani", i called out, she snapped her head towards her me. "yeah", she replied with a soft tone.

i let in a breath as she stares at me thoughts crashing through my brain, "i-uhm... shit", i rambled on. "our first home game is this weekend... and i was wondering you wanted to come?", i asked.

she tapped her pencil against her journal, "of course ju i'll come". i tried my best to not let a smile come onto my face but it was hard to push it down when she gave me a small smile.

"i'll invite my friends too", she went on and i nodded. "okay that's cool, ill make sure to save yall some good seats", i told her and she hummed in response turning her attention back to the pre-cal work.

we had been in the library for about an good fourth-five minutes before she gave up on the work and decided to deal with it another day. we stayed in the library still comfortable in our spot talking amongst each other.

we had laughs i had missed, talks i enjoyed and company i always adored from her. "i miss this ju", she commented as our laughs die down from our previous conversation. "me too, i missed you a lot", i told her.

i didn't miss how her eyes lingered at me nor the way she look of her eyes made me feel a little fuzzy. after a while of staring she cleared her throat and spoke, "well i promised elijah, i would watch waves with him so", she went on. "yeah yeah", i went on hinting that it was time for us to say our goodbyes.

on the way back to my dorm shuffling music an instagram notification from imani popped up saying that she mentioned me. i tap the notification and chuckle a bit at the post on her story.

𝐣𝐮𝐣𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲