by Lady Lissa
“Honey, that may be but I know that you have feelings for him. I can see it in your face when you talk about him and look at him. I could really tell when he came around with that Mindy girl. You like him, don’t you? You like him as more than a friend.”
“Mom, have you been drinking?”
“Now you know I don’t drink unless it’s a special occasion. But I know a lil bit about these things. So, how long are you going to keep hiding your feelings for Onyx?”
“Mom, we’re sophomores in high school. I doubt that either of us are going to run off and get married any time soon. Besides, Onyx is my BFF and that’s it. Now, if you will excuse me, Miles is coming to pick me up so we can go to the movies and I’m already late getting ready,” I tell her.
“Okay, I won’t say another word about it,” she says.
I take off for my room, climbing the stairs two at a time. It’s almost 7:15 and Miles will be here any minute now. I haven’t even taken a shower yet. I quickly go through my closet looking for something to wear. I choose a pink and white stripe Guess shirt and a pair of white Guess jeans. I turn the shower on, put on my shower cap and once I see steam, I step into it. The water feels really good on my skin.
As I rub body wash all over my body, thoughts of what my mom just said plays through my mind. Of course I care about Onyx, he’s my best friend. But we aren’t anything more than friends. Everyone thinks that I have feelings for him that are more than what I say they are. Wouldn’t I know if my feelings for him had changed? Why do people keep trying to make more of this friendship than it is? I continue to scrub up real good until I’m satisfied with the fantastic scents coming from my body.
I step out of the shower and dry myself off. Then I step into my bedroom and begin applying strawberry scented lotion all over me. Oh God, I smell so good. I know that Miles is going to think I’m teasing him by smelling this good, but he may want to think again.
Once I’m completely dressed, I fix my hair and apply my makeup.
“Damn, I look good,” I say as I twirl in front of my bathroom mirror.
My mom yells upstairs ten minutes later, “Starr, Miles is here.”
“I’ll be right down,” I yell back.
I slip into my pink Guess Redell Quattro G sandals and grab my white Guess wristlet and head downstairs to meet Miles. When I make it downstairs, he is in the living room chatting with my mom and brother. When I walk in, he stands up and approaches me, giving me a gentle hug.
“You look pretty,” he says.
“Thanks,” I say.
“You kids have fun, but not too much fun,” my mom says.
“Yes ma’am,” Miles responds as I give my mom the evil eye for embarrassing me.
We head out the door and Miles opens the passenger’s side door of his truck for me. Miles is a couple of years older than I am. He is actually a senior and will be graduating in the next four months. He hops in the driver’s seat of his Chevy Avalanche and backs out of our driveway. I notice that Onyx is shooting hoops outside when we pass by his house. I would have liked to continue playing with him, but my girlfriend duties call.
Miles and I make small talk until we get to the movie theater. Miles had ordered the tickets online, so we skip the long line and go straight to the window. Once he proves he purchased his tickets already, we are let in.
“Do you want any popcorn or something to drink?”
“Sure, we can get some popcorn and I’d like a Coke too please,” I tell him.
Miles and I get in line and wait for our turn. When it is our turn, we step up to the counter and he places the order. He pays for the popcorn, a tub big enough for the two of us to share and two small Cokes. These sizes of drinks at the theaters never cease to amaze me. How can a small size drink be just as big as a large drink?
We make our way to the theater where Transformers 3 will be playing and take our seats in the middle of the theater. The movie begins and I actually like it a lot. Bumblebee is the funniest transformer and I like Optimus Prime’s take charge attitude. I give the movie two thumbs up for sure.
We leave the movies in great spirits. But when we are leaving, who do I see with another dude? Mandy. I thought she and Onyx just broke up earlier today. If they just broke up today, how is it she’s with another dude so soon? She must have been seeing both of them at the same time. I pull Miles in her direction so I can confront her ass. If she was cheating on Onyx, why didn’t she break up with him a long time ago instead of stringing him along?
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” I tell him as I pull my smart phone out of my back pocket.
She is all laughing with the dude while holding hands with him. I just walk up in front of them and snap the picture. She stares at me with such anger in her eyes.
“What the hell are you doing bitch?”
She is staring at me with such a disgusted look on her face. I used to think she was a bitch but I always thought she was pretty. Now she looks ugly as fuck and it makes me wonder, what did Onyx see in her ass anyway?
“I’m just making sure that Onyx knows he made the right decision by leaving your ass. I took this pic to send to him just in case you ever try to get him back,” I tell her.
“How do you know we broke up? Of course, he must have rushed over to your house to tell you as soon as he left mine. Well did he also tell you why we broke up? I mean, since you know so fuckin’ much, you must know that your grimey ass was the reason behind our break up,” she says as she stands there snarling like a pitbull.
“Bitch what the fuck are you talking about?”
“I got tired of you always insinuating yourself into our business and our lives. Every time I was with Onyx, you were texting, calling and every damn thing else. I mean, you just couldn’t help yourself huh? That friendship thing, you ain’t fooling nobody. I know you want Onyx and Miles, if you were smart, you would get the hell outta that little relationship y’all in, because trust me, she don’t want you. The only man she has eyes for is Onyx,” she says.
After she said that, I am ready to beat the shit outta her. I move towards her but before I can do anything, Miles pulls me back.
“Onyx and I are just friends. The way I understand it is your ass was so insecure, you couldn’t help but blame me for what happened between y’all. Miles knows that Onyx and I are best friends, but you don’t see him trippin’ and flippin’ like yo ass. You know what your problem is? You are an insecure and scared little bitch,” I say as I laugh in her face.
I guess I struck a nerve because the next thing I know, she pushes me and that is all I need to start getting in that ass. I’ve had so much pent up emotions inside me concerning this darn girl that it doesn’t take long for me to begin pummeling her ugly ass face. I cannot stand this girl so the beating that I’m putting on her is definitely going to reflect just that. I punch her in her eye, face, and even her chest. I just want to hurt her in any way possible. She got a couple of pretty good licks on me though, before the boys finally separate us.
Miles is holding me back and whoever that boy is, is holding her back. Her face is scratched and bruised as I’m sure mine is.
“Let me go!” She yells at the boy that is holding her.
“Do you want to go to jail? Because that’s what will happen if y’all keep fighting out here in public,” he says angrily.
She finally calms down and says to me, “It ain’t over bitch!”
“Any time you ready whore,” I say with a smile as Miles and I walk off.
When we make it to his ride and are settled in, he turns to me and ask, “What the hell was that about back there?”
“What do you mean? I was defending myself. I know you saw that bitch pushed me first.”
Why the hell is upset with me? Had she kept her damn hands to herself, I would have done the same with mine. I hadn’t gone to the movies to get in a fight with anybody. I had come here with Miles to enjoy myself, to enjoy ourselves. She pushed up on me so I ga
ve her what she needed. Maybe now the bitch will finally stay in her fucking lane.
“Yea, she pushed you first but after you got in her face. What did you expect her to do when you stood in her face and snapped a picture of her and her date? We were on our way out. Why couldn’t you have just left well enough alone?”
Oh no this nigga is not trying to blame me for what just happened back there. How dare he? I mean, what kind of friend would I be to Onyx if I didn’t try to protect him from that she-devil? That’s not who I am and that definitely isn’t the type of friendship we have. Onyx and I have each other’s backs, no matter what anyone else thinks about it. I just wanted to make sure if he ever thought about taking that bitch back, she ain’t worth it. He’s better off without that two timing slut.
“Onyx is my friend. He deserves to know what kind of tramp he was involved with. I took that picture just in case he ever thought about taking her back. That shit back there, clearly showed that she was cheating on him and he doesn’t need no two timing bitch in his life. I would do the same for any of my other friends as well,” I tell him.
“Is he just a friend Starr?”
“Why the hell are you asking me that for when you should already know the answer?”
“Because maybe that girl had a point. Maybe you are in love with him,” he says.
“You dare to say that to me because of some shit that bitch said. I have been seeing you and only you for the last three months,” I say.
“That’s not true. You see Onyx every single day. We don’t even see each other every day,” he says.
“Yes we do. We see each other every day at school and on weekends when we chill. What is this really about? Are you now having insecurities about my friendship with Onyx? Because that isn’t necessary,” I tell him.
“I don’t know. I guess what that chick said back there brought some feelings I’ve been harboring to the surface. Like I knew in the back of my mind that I didn’t like the relationship between y’all, but I been trying to keep the peace. But I gotta tell you, it’s either him or me,” he says looking serious as a heart attack.
“Are you serious right now?”
“I’m dead serious,” he says.
“First of all, you knew about my friendship with Onyx when we started dating. You knew about us as soon as we got to ninth grade. Where did you think it was gonna go?”
“I have seen dudes and chicks have “platonic” friendships before, but that shit don’t last once they become involved with other people. If you are in a relationship with me and he’s in a relationship with some other chick, y’all should have let that shit go. There’s no reason that we should feel like we coming in second to someone else,” he says.
“You never told me you felt this way before. You and I have only been dating a few months. Onyx and I have been friends for years,” I say.
“So. What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means, how can you expect me to end my friendship with him when it has lasted longer than the relationship I’ve had with you? Who’s to say that after I end our friendship, that this relationship between you and I will even last?”
“So you don’t think our relationship will last?”
“You are about to graduate and go to college. I am going into my junior year in high school. I can’t say if this relationship will last or not. I can say that my friendship with Onyx will weather any storm. That I know for sure. I’m sorry if that hurts your feelings, but it is what it is,” I conclude.
“Hurt my feelings? Girl please, I wouldn’t give yo lil ass the satisfaction of doing that shit,” he says and starts the truck. “Since you and Onyx have been such good friends and all, let him come get your ass. Get the fuck out of my damn truck.”
He reaches over and opens the passenger’s side door.
“What the hell! I ain’t getting’ out this fuckin’ truck. Yo ass picked me up from home so you can drop me off there too,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Sssshhiiiddd! I bet I don’t. Now you can either get out on your own or I can put you out. Which one do you want?”
“Fine, I’ll get out but you will pay for this shit. You ain’t nothing but a fuckin’ loser anyway and I’m glad I didn’t take a chance and give you any,” I tell him as I step out and slam his door.
“I’m a loser? You may be right about that. I have to be a loser to fuck around and date yo ass when you already loving some other mufugga!”
He raises up his window before he burns off, leaving me standing on the sidewalk in a state of shock. I can’t believe this nigga just left me here. I pull out my phone and hit speed dial. Onyx answers on the second ring, “Wassup bff?”
“Hey, are you busy?”
“Naw, wassup?”
“Can you come get me please?”
“What? I thought you were on a date with ole boy,” he says.
“I was but it’s a long story. Can you come get me please?”
“Yea. Where you at?”
“At the theater on Peachtree,” I tell him.
“Okay, gimme a few minutes.”
“Thanks,” I say.
We end the call and I walk to the front of the theater to sit out front and wait. After about twenty minutes, he finally pulls into the parking lot. He spots me standing on the curb and comes to pulls up, unlocks the door and I slide in.
“Thanks Onyx,” I tell him as I close the door.
“You’re welcome. What happened to your hair and why you got a busted lip? Did that nigga hit you? I swear if he laid a hand on you, I will kick his ass,” he says.
“No, he didn’t hit me but we did get in an argument and he put me out of his truck,” I say.
“The fuck y’all was arguing for and why the fuck you look like you been fighting? You lying to me about that nigga fighting with you?”
“No, I’m not lying Onyx. He didn’t hit me. For real,” I tell him.
He gets on the road and I dread the conversation we are about to have because I know he is not going to let this go.
CHAPTER FIVE
Onyx
When Starr hit me up for a ride from the movies, I didn’t know what to think. I mean, she said she had a date with that nigga so why didn’t he bring her back home the same way he picked her up? What kind of shit is that? When I pull up to the theater and see her hair standing up on her damn head, I immediately think that she and the nigga got in a fight. When she gets in the car and I see the swelling around her eye and the scratches on her face, I know she’s been fighting with somebody.
She insists that it wasn’t the dude she was fighting with and that better be the truth. If I find out that he laid a finger on Starr and he’s the reason she looks like a chicken head right now, I’m beating that nigga down on sight. That’s something I have zero tolerance for; a nigga putting his hands on a woman in that way. I will fuck that nigga up if he hit Starr.
As soon as I get the car on the road, I ask her, “So, if you didn’t get in a fight with that dude Miles, who were you fighting with?”
“Mandy,” she says.
“What! You got in a fight with Mandy? What for?”
Why the hell would she get in a fight with that girl? I told her that the two of us had broken up. I’m sure Mandy probably went to the movies so she could clear her mind and be alone. I know that sometimes when women experience something that hurt them, they tend to go sit in the movies as a distraction. Mandy was probably just needing a distraction while she tried to get over what happened between us. She doesn’t answer me. Instead she scrolls through her phone until she finds what she’s looking for and shows it to me.
“This is why,” she says.
I’m looking at a picture of Mandy holding hands with some nigga that I’ve seen before but don’t really know. What the fuck was she doing with him? I thought she was broken up about our break up.
“Who is that?”
“That’s your new ex with some other dude. I was pissed when I saw her with t
hat dude so I walked up to her to snap the picture. She starts blaming me for y’all breaking up and then she pushed me. So I let her have it,” she says.
“So y’all were fighting in front of the theater?”
“Something like that,” she says.
“Why did you take the picture?”
“Just in case you decided you made a mistake, I wanted you to see that you made the right decision. If she could move on that fast, she ain’t the one for you,” she says
“So what was the argument between you and Miles?”
“He got mad because I fought with Mandy. He gave me an ultimatum, you or him. I told him I know that I can always count on you, no matter what because of how many years we’ve been friends. I told him it was a no brainer since he and I had only been dating a couple of months. He said if I cared so much about you, to have you come get me and put me out of his ride. At first, I was like, hell no I ain’t getting out. Yo ass gon’ drop me home where you took me from. He was like, get out or I’ll put you out so I got out,” she says.
“You should have let him put you out so I could have fucked him up,” I tell her.
“That’s not a reason to let that nigga manhandle me,” she says.
“I’m just saying though. So, y’all done too?”
“Hell yea we done. I don’t want his ass. Any dude that would try to come between our friendship, ain’t the one for me,” she says.
“You got that right,” I agree.
“I just don’t get why people who want to be with us, just stop worrying about our friendship. I mean, why can’t they concentrate less on our friendship and pay more attention to the relationships we have with them. It’s like they’re jealous or just forget that we’re individuals. What is it with these people?” she asks.
“I don’t know. You would think that as long as we been friends, people would have accepted it by now. Anyway, you wanna come chill at the crib? I’m by my lonesome,” I tell her giving her the puppy dog eyes that seemed to work for Mandy.
“Okay,” she says.
I pull my dad’s car into the garage and we get out. I open the door and she walks in.