June 5th

For some reason Tay had been on her mind the past week. She'd never felt flustered or tingly before so it was strange.

He hadn't made her uncomfortable or anything, he was just nerve wrecking to be around. Something about him made her wanna walk on egg shells.

"That boy is here." Jaleah said, surprising Laylani.

"Why you here?"

"For you bae." Jaleah smiled and put her leg up against the door seductively.

"Jay get out my face before I tell yo Shay you being annoying again." She warned, putting a bra on beneath her tank top.

"Damn why you playin like that? You know my momma understand what we got it special. She don't care that you two years-"

"Jay get yo gay ass away from me."

"Oh? Ok. I see. Bitch you ugly anyways. Long ass back. You ain't got no ass or eyebrows and you the only Lightskin one. Chinese lookin bitch." Jay rambled, peaking her head in and out of the doorway as Laylani threw bottles of lotion at her.

"Get out bitch!"

"Okay! You picking this up though!" She screamed from down the hall, scared of getting battered with bath and body works again.

"So damn- oh nope." Laylani got up when she heard her dad talking and began putting her stuff back up. She walked out and froze, not knowing what to do in this kind of situation.

"Laylani. Who dis?" Nasir asked, pointing to Tay who had an unbothered look on his face.

"His name is Tay."

"Why is he here?"

"His hair. I do his hair."

"Hm. Wassup." Nasir mugged the boy, getting the same mug back.

"Nun."

"How old you is?"

"17."

"You like my daughter?"

"She's nice."

"You know what I'm asking."

"I don't wanna fuck yo daughter."

"Oh wow. Oh wow. You're vulgar."

"But that's what you was asking."

"You right."

"Aight.."

"Bye." Nasir shooed him away, not caring to ask too many more questions. The boy seemed nonchalant and relaxed, not like he was about to go put his paws on his daughter.

And he trusted Laylani. She wasn't a fast or sneaky girl. By the blush on her face he figured she had some sort of interest in the boy even if she didn't necessarily like him and he wasn't mad about it. At least Tay wasn't no nerd ass nigga.

The only thing Nasir wouldn't tolerate was a nerd ass nigga.

Tay walked away from Nasir and yawned, his hair itched and it was frizzy and dry but he was always too lazy to learn how to do it himself.

"My room is this way." She said quietly, walking in behind him.

Laylani took him to her bathroom and pulled out a stool so she could stand and untwist his hair. They stood in front of the mirror for 5 minutes as she unraveled each twist and checked for shedding since he'd had his hair like that for almost 2 weeks.

It was quiet but it wasn't awkward. Just two quiet people in a quiet room.

She reached up to get the twists at the top of his head and realized she wouldn't be able to reach.

"Give me a second." She moved off of her stool and climbed onto the sink, undoing the 4 twists remaining at the top of his head.

She's so tiny. Like a midget.

"I know what you're thinking.. and quite frankly I don't care. The doctor said I should be 5'8 by the time I turn 21 so don't even start on my height."

"The doctor lied. I'm trying to imagine it and nah. You're standing on a sink so you can reach the top of my head without straining your arms." He cracked a smile when he remembered the sad look on her face as she climbed onto the sink.

"Doctors alway right."

"What happened to 'the doctor can't even measure'?"

"I don't sound like that."

"I don't sound like that. You sound just like that."

"Why you making me sound so country?"

"Cause you is. Why you makin me sound so country? What's lil durk girlfriend name? India? That's who yo ass sound like."

"Stop talking to me." She got down from the sink and walked to the other side of her bathroom, pulling the shower head down and turning on the water.

He walked to where she was and leaned over, putting his head in the tub before she began drenching his hair with water. Tay liked the way she washed his hair.

Her fingers were dainty and she had small hands. When she scrubbed his scalp with shampoo he closed his eyes, enjoying the way her gentle fingers felt. She didn't try scratching the hell out of him and she was careful.

"Sorry if you don't like feet. I'm standing in the tub so I don't get my floor wet trying to wash it from the outside." Its not like her feet were in his face but if he turned his head he'd be able to see them.

He looked to the side and laughed. She was like a size 5.

"You good."

She put the shower head back up and grabbed a towel, wrapping his hair up. Naylani walked out of her bathroom with hair products and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for him to sit down.

"The same size as before?"

"Yeah."

Naylani did his hair and talked to him, engaging in simple conversation. When she finished he looked in the mirror and sighed, feeling a sharp pain in his neck from holding his head down so long.

"Here." Of course he paid her to do it, his hair seemed sweet and easy to do but it wasn't. Just because it's curly don't mean it ain't course.

"Mmm thank you."

...

"Because that's some nut ass shit."

"How? Its amazing."

"No it ain't. Nigga just go around punching people."

"He's called One Punch man."

"The show is about him so why he ain't in the second season?" Tay asked, not understanding what she made him spend his day watching.

She finished his hair hours ago but he ended up staying because she was showing him cartoon shit.

"He's super strong, so they can't have him fight everybody cause it'd get boring. Think." She said, tapping on him temple.

"I'm thinking and I ain't thinking nothing good. Nigga was fye in season 1 and he's barely in season 2. Fuck that."

"You're so negative oh my god be hap-"

"He still here?" Nasir asked, peaking his head through her door.

"Yes. Bye."

"It's 8pm this nigga been here all day. You making him watch that namine shit?"

"Anime. And yes."

"Nerd ass." Tay mumbled feeling the excitement radiate off of her.

"You gon watch HunterXHunter with me?"

"Play that lame ass shit and be quiet."

Tay didn't know how he ended up at her house all day but he wasn't complaining. Her positive attitude made it easy to be around her and it was nice listening to her talk.

Shy soft spoken ass.

He wasn't that talkative himself but he'd still asked questions about the show here and there just to hear her voice.

Laylani spoke like she was in a quiet classroom. Not a whisper but a small calm tone, like she'd get a zero in the grade book for being too loud.

...

June 24th

Laylani just wanted to eat and Ciara and her friends were being a nuisance.

They were loud the entire car ride and she was sick of hearing them talk. She'd grown impatient over the last few weeks, becoming more irritable when she heard stupid ass stuff. She usually just smiled and nodded at Ciara's dumb friends but it was only so much stupid shit one person could take.

Laylani was calm with a big personality and a big heart so people often tried getting close to her through humor and ended up sounding stupid.

But she never said anything because she didn't wanna make people feel bad.

"You should cut your hair." Vivy said, pointed at Tay who sat next to Laylani in the booth.

"No."

"Why?"

"Cause I like it?"

"I wasn't saying you don't look good with it I'm just saying a change would be nice." She said defensively.

"And I'm just saying a muzzle would be ni-"

"Tay you don't have to be so mean." Naylani said, turning to look at him.

He looked at her and squinted, not wanting to completely ignore what she said but also wanting to fry Vivy annoying ass up. Conflict made her uncomfortable and he liked seeing her calm and relaxed. He didn't know why he even cared about what she thought but he did.

Over the past few weeks they'd began spending more time together and he sort of considered her a friend.

Which was crazy because he rarely gave out that title. But she was such a sweet person to be around, he couldn't help but appreciate her company.

A lot of girls became friends with him looking for something else but he never felt like she was being shady or sneaky. She talked to him about stuff she found interesting, not stuff she found interesting about him.

That was rare nowadays.

"Sparing you for now. I don't like you." He said casually, knowing he could've said that a little better. Too bad he didn't care.

"You two seem friendly." Moriah didn't know when this happened but she didn't like it.

"Yeah." Vivy questioned it as well.

Her friend wasn't fast so she didn't know why Tay found her so interesting. He wasn't getting sex out of her if that's what he thought.

"Chillin since June began. She cool." Tay kept it simple and short, knowing they were only asking because they wanted to know if he was having sex with the girl, but obviously he wasn't nor was he planning on it.

"Mhm. You like him?"

"He's nice."

"That ain't what I asked Laylani."

Tays eyebrows went up because he'd never seen Moriah get bold with anybody. She was usually fake nice and passive aggressive, which was the worst kind of aggression. Be upfront.

"I answered." She said, furrowing her eyebrows.

What else did she wanna know?

"Laylani are you-"

"No. No she ain't. Worry about yoself." Tay answered, not wanting to hear Moriah talk anymore.

"No because I ain't heard from you all month. And what you been doing? Chopping it up with her virgin ass. I don't believe it." Moriah started getting louder and Tay was getting bored with this.

"Why are you so worried about what I'm doing anyways?"

"You've been letting me do your hair for two years, letting me sleep with you for two years, letting me stick around for two years and you out here embarrassing me like this." Moriah said, getting emotional.

Tay let out a laugh and covered it up with a cough.

What was this bitch going on about?

"You've been asking to do my hair for two years, letting me fuck for two years, and hanging on to something that was nothing for two years." He shrugged, not feeling bad for the girl.

"That was nothing?"

"Nothing. Having sex with somebody doesn't mean you love them. Common sense would tell you that I don't like you romantically if I've told you out loud."

He felt no responsibility for how she was feeling. He never hinted on to wanting a relationship so that was her own assumption. Tay didn't even call her, she called him and offered it.

"Taylin you so fake I swear to god."

"Just because you suck my dick real good don't mean I love you. Yo sister do too. I don't love her."

"What?"

"Yo sister a skeezer who give 3 star head. She also told me you fuck with other niggas so you saying all this love shit don't make sense. If you love me because I fuck you, you must love a lot of niggas." He laughed, seeing the waitress laugh as she served other people.

"You and my sister..."

"Are nothing. Like you and me. Like you and Jessier." Tay felt Laylani looking at him with disappointment but it was too late.

He had took the gloves off already. She was a slut and that was perfectly fine, it was just her pretending like he was the bad guy that annoyed him. Fuck who you want how you want when you want. He didn't care.

"I didn't have sex with your bro-"

"You did. No need to lie, you ain't gon hurt my feelings shit go do it again. You gave me my nut already."

Ciara laughed and covered it up, not wanting to laugh at Tay evil ass comments.

"What you think I'm a hoe or something?"

Tay ignored her and picked up a mozzarella stick. He didn't care in the first place he just needed to clear the air.

He didn't need Laylani thinking he was some evil inconsiderate ass person because he liked how she was cupcake and rainbows around him. He would've been kind of upset if she got paranoid and decided not to be his friend thinking he wanted to fuck.

He didn't have romantic feelings for her. He was just happy to have a new friend that didn't annoy him.

"No offense but everybody does. But being a slut ain't a bad thing if you ain't being a dirty slut. If you clean and doing what you do it don't matter what somebody say. You know yo pussy clean? Ok then." Ciara tried changing the mood up but Moriah was still a little salty.

The fact that he was sitting there unbothered annoyed her as well. She could never get a reaction out of him no matter what she did.

Moriah tried saying she was pregnant once and he didn't even flinch. He watched her take the test calmly then when it came out negative he grabbed his phone and left. He was never a worrisome or anxious person.

Little did she know, he wouldn't have claimed that baby anyways. At the time she was fucking at least 3 other people and he backed off from her. He just went to see if she was the liar he thought she was.

"I'm not a hoe. Why do I get called a hoe and he doesn't?"

"Because he's not. If he was I would say that. Taylin got 3 bodies." Ciara said slowly, looking at the girl like she was dumb.

"Sike." He mumbled, not wanting to laugh. He wasn't no dirty ass nigga and he didn't trust bitches to just be having sex with anybody, condom or not.

"That ain't true."

"You took his virginity."

"That wasn't no virgin d-"

"Okay please." Naylani spoke up, not wanting to hear about his genitals.

"I'm just saying. If I took his virginity you'd think he'd be a little more.."

"Attached? No. I had plenty of chances to lose it before I met you, I was just bored and said fuck it." He let out a sigh, wondering why she was still talking about this.

He made it clear where they stood and she still wouldn't shut up.

"Ok. Cool. I'm done." Moriah shrugged and acted like she didn't care as their actual food came to the table.

"Good. This was gettin awkward." Vivy said, speaking up for the first time since Tay told her to shut the fuck up.

Naylani let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when the conversation dropped. Conflict stressed her out even if it wasn't her conflict. She wanted everybody to be happy even though she knew some people would never be satisfied.

"Tay." She called his name and pointed at the mozzarella sticks he'd lost interest in, making him laugh a little bit.

"You want em?"

She just nodded and he shrugged, sliding it over to her.

"Y'all do seem real buddy buddy." Vivy said, making Tay freeze up.

"Ain't I tell you not to talk to me?" He asked, not looking up the acknowledge her.

"Calm down. I'm just saying."

"You always just saying something. Shut up sometimes. Fuckin weirdo."

"You so hostile."

Tay just ignored her. If he responded she'd try making conversation.

"Damn. All up in his plate."

Laylani's food was good but she wanted his.

"Okay?"

"Calm down I'm not tryna argue. Y'all got the same thing and you eating his food."

"It taste better when it ain't mine." She said honestly, picking at his plate because she could.

"What?" Vivy asked, not understanding.

"I got Alfredo and he did too. But for some reason his food be better than mine. Eating other people's stuff is just more fun."

Tay didn't care, he wasn't gonna eat it anyways. He wanted Taco Bell but Ciara insisted on him eating 'real food'.

"He don't eat a lot anyways." Ciara said, knowing he wouldn't have taken more than 4 bites regardless of what Laylani ate.

"I just eat candy and fruit. Which is why I still have to wear a retainer. I got my braces off and went nuts." He complained feeling his gums throb.

"Your teeth are probably shifting again. Yikes." Laylani laughed, smiling and showing off her free teeth.

"I don't care. I'll knock them mufuckas loose and you'll need more than braces." Tay said snidely, mugging her again.

"Stop making that face. It makes you look mean."

"He is mean." Ciara added, putting her finger up.

"No I aint." He pushed his hair back and sighed.

"Ouuu shhhh." Laylani touched his hairline and pulled her hand back dramatically, making him look at her and hold in a laugh.

"You so fuckin ugly." He laughed as she held her finger like it was bleeding.

"Boy that thang sharp!"

"Get out my face." He leaned over holding his stomach, trying not to encourage her childish acts of boredom.

"No really. Look at it." She put her finger in front of him and he pulled her nail.

"Do this hurt?" He asked, tugging at it harder.

"Yes and you're about to make my rhinestone pop o-owww chillllll you already cut me."