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𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
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𝟸𝟷:𝟶𝟶 ─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎─︎○︎─︎─︎ 𝟸𝟻:𝟶𝟶

🏀

Hampton University
Fri. Oct. 19th, 2:30pm
"Friendship and Relationships"

Pressure. A feeling of stressful urgency caused by the necessity of doing or achieving something. That's what she was feeling right now. Pressure. Dess took a deep breath, preparing herself for this small battle during cheer practice. Her coach called her and the co-captain, Natalie, out. She was nervous, yet she was ready for whatever. Standing by the bleachers, Dess did the cheer to herself while everyone else did their own thing. She clapped her hands and stomped her foot lightly, muttering the words to herself.

"Alright, everyone! Gather around!" Coach MiMi shouted, clapping her hands.

Dess took another deep breath. It was time now. She walked with the rest of her teammates over to the center of the gym where MiMi was already standing at. Everyone stood around in a half circle while Dess and Natalie stood in the center of them. The two girls faced each other, Natalie stood with a straight face ready for the showdown. Meanwhile, Dess had a smile on her face. She wasn't going to take this serious because it wasn't serious. Natalie thought otherwise clearly.

"Alright, ladies. It's a tradition to end practice off in a battle to help our new girlies and boys out. Tonight's battle is against our new girl, Dess, and our co-captain, Natalie. You ladies will do our Shake The Best cheer. Ready?" MiMi asked the two girls. Dess nodded her head, Natalie continued standing there with a straight face.

MiMi nodded her head, giving them the okay to start.

"WHO SHAKES THE BEST!" Dess and Natalie voiced at the same time.

"Shake it to the East!" They shouted, stomping to the right and clapping their hands.

They did the same thing, going to the left now. "Shake it to the West! It really doesn't matter who shakes the best!"

They turned to their sides, repeating the cheer even louder. "Shake it to the East. Shake it to the West. It really doesn't matter who shakes the best!"

"Cause everyone know we shake the best!" Dess clapped her hands repeatedly, shaking her hips along with the beat.

She heard Mikey and Beth gassing her up, which made her shake some more. Dess knew she was doing good and wasn't worried about Natalie. This was for fun. Stopping the shaking, the girls clapped their hands and stomped to the left to ended the cheer. Dess placed her fists on her hips, a smile on her face still. The rest of the team clapped their hands, Beth and Mikey the loudest.

"Good job ladies. You did amazing, Dess, just fix your form a little." MiMi told her, Dess nodded her head taking the advice.

Dess moved out the way when MiMi called out Mikey and AJ for a battle. Tired and thirsty, Dess made her way back to the bleachers where her stuff was at. She grabbed her water, sipping it while watching the boys do one of the varsity cheers. She couldn't wait until she got the actual opportunity to battle other teams. Basketball was going to be her time. While she got herself together, she ended up hearing her name being called. Stepping back, she ended up seeing Axel at the door in the window.

She scrunched up her face, confused as to what he was doing. That was until she saw Shai where a smile showed on her face. She skipped over to the door, opening it up for them.

"Hey!" she dragged, waving only at Shai.

"Damn, am I not here?" Axel questioned, looking around.

Dess chuckled, "Sorry. Hey, Axel. What are y'all doing here?" she asked, looking Shai up and down. He was wearing a wife beater that was wet from sweat she assumed and grey sweatpants.

"We were working out. Then I remembered that you had cheerleading practice and I wanted to stop by." Shai answered, giving her a smile.

Dess returned one, loving the fact that Shai thought about her. It seemed like after getting each other's number, their friendship improved. They were texting each other all day and night, and FaceTimed while in class. It became a routine for them for the past few days. He texted her good morning with a heart emoji, they sat on FaceTime with each during their first and second class. Since their schedules were differently, they didn't talk to each other again until after practice. And they didn't get off until twelve in the morning.

"I too wanted to come see you, Dess. It wasn't only Shai's idea. I'm just saying." Axel mentioned, inserting himself in the conversation.

Dess chuckled, nodding her head. "I believe you."

"Yeah, but we really came out cause we wanted to see if you wanted to come out with us tonight. There's a yard party tonight to start off homecoming week. We're tryna get fucked up tonight no cap." Axel suggested, leaning his arm on Shai's shoulder.

"Also, ya boy desperately wants to make out with you tonight." He added, hitting Shai's chest. Shai tucked in his lips, shaking his head at Axel and then Dess.

"I don't." Shai mentioned, looking at Dess. "I don't."

"There's nothing wrong with kissing you, I just wasn't planning on doing so tonight..." Shai cleared up quickly just to make sure Dess didn't take it the wrong way.

She didn't.

"Okay." She chuckled. "I actually can't go out tonight because I need to do some studying. I have a test in a few days and need to be prepared. Sorry." she told them.

"A test? During homecoming week? That's bull. Who's the teacher?" Axel questioned.

"Herbert." Shai and Dess said at the same time. Dess raised her brows, staring at him.

"Ion know that nigga, but having a test is some bullshit. You should still come out though before you have to stress yourself out. Come out for my boy." Axel hit Shai chest again, giving Dess a smile that said a lot of what he wasn't verbally saying. Dess caught on fast, slowly nodding her head.

"Gotchu. I still can't come out tonight though because I have to study. But, knowing Shai, he'll call me later and tell me everything." Dess replied, flirtatiously smiling at Shai.

"Go." Shai shoved Axel off him.

"I-"

"Nope, go." Shai told him again, pushing Axel again. Dess chuckled, noticing the face Axel was giving them at the moment.

"Bye, Axel." Dess waved at him. Axel smacked his lips, put up the middle finger then walked off. Dess snickered, shaking her head.

"Anyway, you have Herbert?" Shai questioned, leaning on the door.

"I do have Herbert. I'm going to assume you have him as well." she answered, crossing her arms.

Shai nodded. "Yup, and we have a test. So, would you like to study together?" Dess smirked, glancing back at her team who were conversing amongst each other. She looked back at Shai and his pretty smile.

"Now, you know how important education is to me, Shai. Studying with you will not be good because you're going to distract me. And I don't want that." She answered, shaking her head.

Shai licked his lips, shrugging. "Ion know, distracting sounds like a perfect way to study in my eyes. Put us together and it'll be even better." He mentioned.

Dess rolled her eyes playfully. "I'm not going to play with you, Shai. I'll let you know when I can come out and party with you. In the meantime, I'll be in my room studying. Now, go." She told him, shooing him away.

"Aight, can I get a hug first?" Shai put his arms out, smiling at her. Dess stared at him, debating if she wanted to give him a hug. He was sweaty, but she didn't mind.

Dess playfully rolled her eyes then stepped out the gym. Shai knew she wanted to hug him, sweaty and all. She stood on her tippy toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, Shai placing his hands on her waist.

"I'll call you later." he told her, kissing her temple.

Dess smiled then pulled away. "And I'll be waiting. Go have fun."

"I'll try."

🏀

"They said that yard party turned into a disaster. Bitches were fighting out there and everything like some banshees. Shit is crazy." Ashley said while scrolling on Twitter.

All on her timeline were videos of what was occurring on the yard at the moment. A fight had broke out between several girls within seconds of the party starting. Ashley was unaware of how it started and didn't care enough to find out. On the other hand, Dess, was busy trying to get into the zone. Her and Ashley decided to chill in the student lounge for the night. Neither of the girls wanted to attend the party for several reasons. Dess main one was because she needed to study. She wasn't getting much done though since she couldn't help but wonder what Shai was doing.

It was mentioned before that Shai wasn't much of a partier. She knew that. But, not receiving any call or text from him didn't sit right in her heart. Was he talking to someone else, was a constant thought that came to her mind. She prayed he wasn't entertaining anyone else.

He wasn't.

"Dess!" Ashley shouted, making her look her way. "Did you hear me?" she questioned.

Dess shook her head, completely lost. She haven't been listening to Ashley for a moment now. And it wasn't on purpose either. She was good at tuning people out and falling into her own little world. Dess' world is what she liked to call it.

"I asked if you knew him." Ashley repeated herself, showing Dess her phone. On the screen was a boy she never came across in the three months she's been here.

"No, why?" Dess asked, leaning back in the seat.

"That's the dude who backed me into the corner at the mall." Ashley answered nonchalant. Dess eyes widened when she heard that.

"Are you serious?"

Ashley nodded her head, putting her feet up on the table. "Yup. He attends Norfolk which is only 29 minutes away from us. Coincidence? I think not." she continued speaking in a nonchalant tone.

Dess stared at her friend, confused as to how she was able to stay calm. Knowing the dude who was messing with her was at her school didn't feel right to Dess. Moving her books off her lap, she placed them on the table then turned to look at Ashley who was still on her phone. Ashley glanced up when she felt Dess staring at her.

"What?" She asked, oblivious.

"What do you mean what? You were a victim and the dude is literally at the school. He's in your personal space. You can go to the dean about that or tell guidance. Someone has to know that this dude harassing women-"

"He's going to get away with it, Dess." Ashley cut her off. She shrugged then continued speaking, "He's going to get away with it because he's a man and I'm a woman. Digging a little deeper, I'm a black woman screaming out sexual assault against a black man. No one, and I mean no one, gives a damn when a black woman is assaulted in any type of way. I told my dad already and he shrugged it off. He's getting away."

Dess tucked in her lips, not knowing how to feel. She didn't like how calm and collected Ashley was about the situation. She also didn't like that there was possibility that he was going to get away with it. But, she had to realize that that was the way of the world.

"It's upsetting to know people don't care." Dess spoke, placing her cheek on her palm.

Ashley shrugged, "It's really not. At least not to me. It's expected when you live in a world that's strictly black and white. No type of color in between. Which is why I decided to stay in this dumbass school so I can become a danger to society."

"I'm glad you decided to stay cause I would be upset. I wouldn't have anyone to get in trouble with!" Dess exclaimed, waving her arms around.

Ashley chuckled, shaking her head at Dess antics. "You have Freya. She seems like a perfect person to get into trouble with." Ashley remarked, which made Dess stop waving her arms.

Dess twisted her lips to the side. "Yeah, ion know about that. Freya's trouble is far from what I enjoy. Plus, I don't think she's feeling me and this guy." Dess spilled the beans. She was going to keep the feelings to herself, but felt it was right to tell Ashley just because.

Ashley raised her brow, "You and a guy? Ooh, Des, what are getting into?" she squeaked, leaning over the chair and touching Dess.

Dess chuckled, waving her hand. "It's not like that." she said, so Ashley could calm down. That wasn't happening.

"Yeah right. If you could see how hard you're cheesing right now while you're thinking of him. You nasty, nasty girl!" Ashley continued, speaking in a much louder tone. It didn't matter since they were here by themselves.

Dess hid her face with her hands, trying to stop herself from cheesing. She couldn't help it though.

"Dess has a crush! Dess has a crush!" Ashley sung loudly.

"Stoppp..." Dess dragged, slouching down in the chair. Ashley continued singing that Dess had a crush. She got up off the chair then got on top of the table.

She began dancing and chanting repeatedly. Dess moved her hands from her face to see her friend acting up. She couldn't help herself, so she started laughing. Ashley leaned forward with her hands out, trying to reach Dess. She grabbed Dess hands and pulled her up out the seat. The two of them started dancing—Ashley still on the table with no care in the world—while chanting.

"Dess has a crush!"

"I have a crush!"

🏀

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