ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ
𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐩 𝐒𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞
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ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ: ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮
𝟷𝟼:𝟶𝟶 ○─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎ 𝟸𝟻:𝟶𝟶

🏀

Hampton University
Sat. Oct 6th, 7:01 am
"Someone Like Me"

Laughter was the best medicine for any illness. Laughter was also best when it was just for something dumb. You could get diagnosed with a laughing disorder. If he was a doctor, Shai would diagnose Axel with a laughing disorder. But, he wasn't a doctor. And Axel didn't have a disorder.

Shai stood on the sidewalk like a statue. People walked by him with their faces scrunched up. A couple of times he scrunched his face up back at them since they were annoying him. Axel was too. Hunched over, laughing with tears in his eyes was Axel. What started off a snicker turned into complete dying of laughter. It was ridiculous at how Axel could take something so unfunny and die over it. Shai no where near amazed.

Shai looked at his watch then back at his friend. The reason behind this sudden outburst of laughter was because of Shai's enormous hairdo. Afro was a better description for how his hair was looking. Shai took it upon himself to make a huge decision in his life, cutting all his hair off. No, he wasn't going through a phase. The first question Dess and Axel asked when he mentioned it to them. He just wanted something new and different. Plus, he haven't been keeping up with his air the way he needed to creating issues. For once, he shampooed and conditioned his hair and it was a disaster.

Combing through it was even worse. What would normally be a quick twenty-thirty minute wash and comb, ended up being two long and dreadful hours of his time. Time wasted he would say if they didn't make their haircut appointment.

Axel stood up straight and let out a deep breath. Shai stared at his overly complicated friend who really did have tears in his eyes from laughing too hard. He shook his head, not having anything positive to say.

"Stop being dumb and come on." Shai aggressively told Axel.

"Don't be mad at me cause you look like Mufasa head ass." Axel cracked on Shai, hitting his shoulder while a laugh escaped his lips. Shai sucked his teeth, moving Axel's hand off his shoulder, and continued walking.

He wasn't playing with Axel anymore. Reaching the barbershop, BK's Barbershop, Shai didn't bother to wait for Axel and entered the shop. Old school tunes was the first sound his ears picked up on. Razors and conversations was the second. He looked around the black owned barbershop, feeling a sense of comfort in the presence of older black folks. They didn't have to do anything besides stand there and do their job for him to feel safe. He haven't felt this way in a while.

The pretty woman at the front desk finished up with the client that was in front of Shai. The guy turned around to walk out, giving Shai a head nod. The official black community greeting to one another. Shai returned the nod before the dude walked out. He put his attention on the woman who gave him a smile, showing the gold grill on her bottom set of teeth. She looked good with it in.

"What I can for you boo?" She asked, her voice soft and raspy.

Shai approached the desk, "Uhh, I have an appointment at 7:15." He told her. She nodded her head, opening the big book that was in front of her.

"What's you name?"

"Shai."

"Whatchu getting?"

"All of it cut."

The lady looked up at him quickly. She raised her brow, giving him an odd look.

"You wanna cut that off?" She asked, waving her hand in the direction of his hair.

Shai nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am."

The lady hummed, shaking her head in disapproval. "Oh no, baby. You have some good hair, too good to be cut off. I'll hook you up with a cut and a few snipes. We'll get it right." she told him, smiling.

Normally, Shai would stick to his guns but the smile of the woman did it for him. He shrugged it off and put his trust into her. He signed into the book then followed after the woman to a free chair. He sat down, relaxing in the cushion. The scent of peppermint filled his nose from the woman as she put on the cape. He knew this was going to be on experience.

🏀

Going to his camera, Shai held his phone up so he could check himself out. It was very much an usual thing he wasn't use to doing, but he wanted to make sure he looked good. His hair was looking better than it had ever been and he was loving it. He was thankful that the stylist, Eve, stopped him from cutting it all off. He put his phone away then looked up and down the line they were currently standing in.

It was long and barely looked like it was moving. They were standing in line to get into a club for a highly promoted all black party that went around on Instagram. Everyone at Hampton had came out which explained why the line was so long. He noticed that people's patience was wearing thin. He had front row seats of the anger too.

A groan escaped Freya's mouth as she tossed her head back. "This is taking too long." she complained. Her and Shai made eye contact and she rolled her eyes at him. Shai couldn't explain why she had an attitude towards him, but he didn't care.

She fixed her posture then turned around to face the rest of them. "We honestly could've went somewhere else seriously. Look at this damn line...it's ridiculous." She continued complaining.

"Relax, shawty. It's worth the wait cause this party bout to be lit as fuck. Having a bunch of black people in a club together will always be fun as hell or completely violent. Both is fun in my opinion." Axel spoke up while he checked the line out. The line had wrapped around the corner from what he could see.

Freya rolled her eyes, "We honestly could've went somewhere else. This is ridiculous." she complained again, crossing her arms. She placed her attention back on Shai, sizing him up and down with a disgusted look on her face.

Shai tucked in his lips, feeling whatever tension she had towards him. Why? He wasn't sure, but the feelings were mutual. Her vibe was off. Shai put his attention on Dess who was standing beside him, so he didn't have to worry about Freya. Dess was moving around a little to gain some warmth as a breeze came through. Though standing here was quite frustrating, Dess couldn't help but be excited to go to a club for the first time. She made sure to dress to impress in leather pants and a long sleeved cropped top. An all black party was most definitely within her comfort zone. She was ready to dance all night until her feet hurt.

"Uhh, I heard hugs are best to help with warmth." Shai spoke, making Dess look at him. She smiled, having a feeling where this was heading.

"Oh really?" She asked and he nodded his head. "And where did you hear this from?"

"Wikipedia." Shai responded, Dess busting out laughing.

"Yeah, that's a reasonable site." She said in between her laughing.

Shai chuckled, putting his arms out. "Hug?" he questioned. Dess nodded her head, stepping into his arms. Hugs did indeed help bring warmth.

Standing there in his arms felt like a dream to Dess. It was interesting how she went from liking all his posts to being in his arms. Looking up at him, Dess took a moment to admire his features. She never noticed how sharp his jawline was and how big his nose was. His skin clear as day with no type of defects in sight. His two-toned big lips fitted perfectly on his face along with his small beard. He was one attractive young man. My God did Dess seem lucky to be in his presence.

Sensing the staring, Shai looked down at Dess. She gave him a smile and he returned one. She was one hell of a sight, he thought to himself. Her face card was always on ten whether she wore makeup or not. Her big brown eyes showed youthfulness and innocence. Her roundly shaped face was a perfect placement for her small button nose, big lips, and chubby cheeks. The beautiful smile she gave him caused butterflies in his stomach. An over joyous feeling—a feeling he rarely has—taking over him every time her eyes landed on him.

The two of them stared at each other like a bunch of weirdos. Dess coldness had left but she didn't say anything because she didn't want to let go. Being in his arms felt better than anything in the entire world. A whistle broke their moment. The both of them turned their heads to Axel. The line was moving and they were soon up next. Hesitantly, Shai and Dess pulled away from each other and moved up in line with everyone else. They didn't want to be apart, their bodies begging to be close to one another again.

As the line continued moving up, they looked at each other for a second. After looking away, a smile showed on both of their faces like two kids with crushes on each other. Little did they know, they indeed had crushes on each other.

"ID check!" The bouncer shouted for everyone to hear. Dess watched as people surrounding her pulled out their ID's. She did the same, wondering if she was going to be able to get in. She prayed she could.

Freya and Axel got through fine. Shai showed the guy his ID and was approved. He stepped to the side and waited for Dess. Showing the bouncer her ID, exactly what she imagined happened.

"You can't get in." The dude told her aggressively, moving to the next person.

"She's with me." Shai spoke up, reaching out for Dess hand. The bouncer blocked his way and shook his head.

"18 or older to get in. She can't get in, so move." He told her, slightly pushing her out the way so people can step in front of her. Dess tucked in her lips, taking a deep breath.

Shai excused the bouncer, walking in between the person he was assisting. "Come on." He said, giving Dess a reassuring smile. He reached for her hand and began walking away.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"You think imma let you stay out here by yourself?" Shai questioned, glancing back at her. She shrugged her shoulders.

He shook his head, "Nah, I can't do that. I never wanted to come to this shit anyway, Axel forced me to. Plus, your friend has weird energy surrounding her." he told her. He thought about apologizing for talking about her friend, but he didn't find the need to.

"Yeah, I don't know what's up with her. But, I want you to have fun and show off your new hairstyle to all these ladies." Dess joked, Shai smacking his lips.

"I only want to show off to one girl." he said, looking back at her again. Dess smiled, lowering her head.

Shai chuckled. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, so they were walking closer. Dess held his hand and took in the whiff of his cologne. He smelled like Heaven.

"So, what are we going to do, Ms. Young?" Shai questioned, looking at the building around. A lot of them were bars—Dess couldn't go in—and others were dark suspicious buildings. He slowly started to realize that the neighborhood they were in was slightly dangerous.

"I feel like you should go to the club and I'll head back to my room. I don't want you to be bored with me." Dess tried to convince him to go, but he wasn't having it. Shai knew deep down if he was to go into that club without Dess, he was going to be sitting down bored to death.

He had a feeling what was going on at the moment. Axel managed to get a drink or two with his fake ID which meant that he was returning to their dorm drunk. Freya probably was walking around with a stank face, complaining about how crowded the club was or sitting around with her arms crossed. Basically, being a buzzkill. He could be wrong about Freya, but only had those thoughts cause of her attitude. She never seemed happy for shit.

"I'm not going to the club, so stop trying to get rid of me." He told her. Dess opened her mouth to speak, but shut it since she was defeated.

"Okay, fine. We need something to do though. I did not get dressed up just to stand around." She mentioned. Shai glanced over at her, checking out her outfit. Honestly, he wasn't worried about her outfit as he continued to look at her.

His thoughts were taken over by one's he never had before. "Damn," he thought to himself when he looked back and saw her ass. He tucked in his lips right after and looked away. He will admit, leather was perfect for her. For a second, he looked back again just to see if he get those same thoughts. And he did.

He cleared his throat, trying to get rid of these inappropriate thoughts. They were indeed in the back of his mind though. Looking around again, his attention landed on a building with bright blinking lights. He saw the words Angel's Bowling and knew exactly what they could do.

"Let's go bowling." He said, moving his arm. He grabbed Dess hand again, looked both ways, then walked across the street to the building.

Once they entered, Like Me by Pop Smoke was being played at a reasonable volume. Dess allowed Shai to lead the way while she checked out the slightly crowded area. She wondered how she was going to tell him that she didn't know how to bowl. Shai approached the desk where he was greeted by the older white bearded man.

"Hello, what can I do for you two?" He questioned with a slight country accent.

"Can we have a lane for two hours?" Shai asked, pulling his wallet while still holding Dess hand.

"I can't bowl for shit, Shai. Also, that's seventy dollars." She told him and Shai shrugged his shoulders.

"Lane for two hours please." He told the man again. The older guy nodded his head while Shai took out the money.

He paid for the lanes then gave the man their shoe sizes. Dess hummed to herself, shaking her head. Seventy dollars was a lot to go bowling and she felt bad for him paying for her.

"I'll pay you back." She told him, grabbing her shoes off the counter.

"Don't worry bout it." He told her. They were given their lane and headed over. Dess took a seat and started to put on her bowling shoes.

"I really can not bowl, Shai, so I'm not putting any points on the board." Dess told him again once her shoes were on.

Shai chuckled, "Let's make a deal." he said, putting their names in. "If you're able to beat me at least once, I'll buy you anything."

Dess raised her brow, leaning back in the seat. "Anything?"

Shai nodded his head. "Anything. Doesn't matter the price either, but that'll only happen if you beat me." he let her know. Dess twisted her lips to the side, thinking about it.

"I'll take your deal."

"You had no other choice."

🏀

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Discussion Board:
1. new hairstyle, new personality😊

2. seems to be some tension or animosity between Shai and Freya...thoughts?

3. Shai starting to look at our precious Dess a little differently now, hmmm