"Hi"
"Hey", I reply as I sit down opposite West
We're currently in the library, it's pretty quiet and we're one of the only ones here.
"I heard about Indiah, I'm sorry"
I shrug it off, "It's ok. Wasn't your fault"
"Is she alright?"
I put my bag down, "Yeah I saw her this morning. She's enjoying all the extra attention" I say amused
Although she's too shook to even touch any sort of substance again which is understandable...we'll see how long that lasts.
"I didn't see you at the party yesterday", I then say
"Yeah I was mostly out back, I saw you though"
"Oh really? You should've said hi"
"I'll consider it a next time"
"Oh please", I then take the files out of my bag and he looks away from his laptop
It's only then that I notice all the little numbers and sequences on his screen, he also has some weird code thing connected to his laptop. I don't know I find the whole hacking thing confusing, do people just wake up one day and decide it's what they wanna learn?
"You never mentioned that you were dating Indiah's brother"
I laugh "You know you're not the first to say that. Was I supposed to?"
"Well no, but still. Does she know what's going on?"
"Mhm"
"I still don't"
I sigh
"All part of the agreement", West reminds me
"Ok, I'll tell you if you tell me something in return"
"Which is?"
"The bruises", I finally say
And then suddenly he becomes annoyed
"We're not talking about it"
"Why?", I ask softly
"Cause it's not your business-
"Ok but I know you know that I'd never even mention it to anyone. Even if I did you have leverage over me-
He scoffs, "What and you think that just because I did you that one favour we're besties?"
"Nope, not in the slightest. But you can trust me"
"Just give me the files"
"I will-
"Why are you so bothered-
"West, I care"
"We're not even friends"
"Well maybe not, but I don't need to be friends with somebody to care about them. You've become nicer"
He doesn't reply and I sigh, "Look I don't just leave shit alone. And I'm gonna keep on asking and asking until you talk about it, which in your case can get really annoying-
"You already know so I don't know why you want me to talk about it", He says annoyed
"Because it's not ok"
"Well life's not fair but we move on"
"Who's doing it to you?-
"Amariah, I can't talk about this. Now do you want me to delete these files or not"
I sigh, "Ok yeah"
He was typing for a good while, mentioned something about needing to get passed a firewall. I don't know it sounded like gibberish to me. But I waited patiently as he read the case facts.
"Has your boyfriend done these things?", West finally asks
"Most of them"
"Seems aggressive to me-
"All things that he never started", I defend
There's something in there about an altercation he got into with one of Treyvon's guys, he was constantly starting shit with Xavier. In the end they fought.
"Ok well what about this one, it says he beat up a guy cause he owed him money-
"Well he didn't necessarily owe him. He was just sent to do it, he had to"
"Mmm no, there's always a choice-
"And when you make the right choice you end up getting stabbed and snitched on", I say annoyed
West doesn't reply for a moment as he does something on his laptop.
"Look I know you think that he's a bad person but he's not, yes hes made some bad choices but he's tryna change that and he can't exactly do that when the person he works for has him on a leash"
"Ok so why doesn't he tell an adult or call the cops at the least-
"The guy he works for has people on the inside and he'll retaliate"
"Hmm"
"West, I love him" I say softly
He looks at me for a sec, "Yeah I can see that. It's nice what you're doing for him"
"Still waiting on the story time though"
I sigh, "Right so I'm pretty sure you've figured out the shit they got themselves into. That woman I was looking into when you caught me was the person they work fors mother, let's just call him T for now. And you know I've been trying to help but Xavier gets annoyed when I do cause he doesn't want T to find out about me for my own protection. So after you delete these I'm gonna have to stop helping"
"Ah so you trying to help others is a common thing"
"Yes, I'm persistent" I reply innocently
"I'm assuming you wanna be a lawyer"
"Yes I do"
"You know you can't rock up to an office in crocs right"
"Ok you have a serious problem with my lilo and stitch jibbets" I say amused
"They're childish"
"You're just jealous that I can pull it off and you can't. You know, since I'm prestige and all that"
"I apologised for that", West defends
"Doesn't mean I'm gonna let you forget it"
He rolls his eyes before turning his laptop to me, "There. No evidence of your criminal boyfriend, or his brother"
I frown as I lean forward, "Just like that?.....that was quick are you sure?-
"I've been doing this for a long time now, it's gone. But how did it get there?"
"I don't know, we had this theory that maybe the clerk was suspicious but maybe not" I mutter
West has this look
"What?", I ask
"Nothing-
"No you're doing the look that says you might agree, tell me" I urge
"I don't know he looks sketchy. But we'll know once and for all if this ends up back on the system"
"You'll know?"
"Yup"
"Can't he just tell someone that it's gone missing?"
"Not if they don't know that it was there in the first place"
I feel relief settle inside me, "Thanks for this"
"No problem"
Now I can burn those files in peace
I texted Indiah about it right before I went into class, she's bored as hell so she wants an update on everything.
Honestly I don't know why she hasn't been discharged yet
**
"How come you're still here, I thought you were going out with CJ?" I frown
"Pfft no, we're arguing right now" Blair replies
"How come?"
"She thinks the whole coke thing is Archie's fault and obviously he's not gonna think the same thing since that's his boy. I don't know it was kind of a long one" Raven explains
"I haven't seen Archie today, but I'm annoyed too. You know he hasn't even gone to see Indiah?", I scoff
"Really?", They both say surprised
"Yup"
"Anyway shes finally been discharged and I'm gonna call her tonight to see how she's feeling"
"We're gonna go see her now with the rest of the cheer team"
Since my mom found out about the whole situation shes been quite paranoid, she doesn't want me to go to parties for a while which if I'm being honest I'm fine with. There's been one too many. Once the girls were gone I waited for my sisters to come out of their site, this is the one day where none of us have any activities so we go straight home.
"Hey"
"Hey", They both reply
I frown at the card in Neveah's hand with amusement, "What's that"
"Some guy in our class is crushing on her" Trinity snorts
"Little Josh?"
"Yup"
Veah flips her hair back innocently, "Don't hate cause I'm pretty"
"Hey you do you", I reply as we head to the car park
We had to walk back to my site since that's where the car park is, it isn't more than a three minute walk though. "Can we stop at target"
"For?"
"I need to buy mom a birthday card"
it's her birthday soon
"Yeah alright"
As I'm about to unlock the car I spot a familiar black benz nearby, there's two people leaning against it and conversing. "Hold on" I start walking and they walk with me
"What are they doing here?", Trinity says confused
"That's what I'm wondering-.... Zay?"
He looks over, "Hey. You alright?"
I frown as he kisses my cheek, "Yeah...."
"Well hello Kaian", Neveah smiles innocently
"Six year age gap Neveah", He reminds her
"Age is just a number-
"Veah", I say with disgust
Xavier chuckles, "Let her dream"
she has an odd crush on him
Trinity knocks on the window and Malik lowers it, "Hi"
"You alright?"
Despite Malik being an annoying prick, he has a soft spot for the twins. "Yeah, when are you taking us to the movies"
"Anytime"
I return my attention back to my boyfriend, "Dee isn't here you know"
"Yeah I know", He puts his arm around me as he says this
"Right so what are you doing here"
"Well I came to see you first of all since you didn't wanna say bye to me last night?"
"I mean I was a little rude to your mom"
"I know you thought I was mad at you but I wasn't. Also I found out why she was so on edge and it wasn't even to do with you"
"What happened"
"She found Malik's gun, it just set her off for the rest of the night"
Why am I not surprised
"Well I'm sorry about yesterday", I say as I kiss him
"Don't sweat it"
"I got your files removed", I murmur
"Really?"
I nod, "Wanted to tell you in person-
Kaian interrupts the conversation by nudging him, "Ain't that him?"
I turn back to see what they're talking about, Archie is currently making his way out of the building with CJ and Weston. I should've known that this was about Archie.
"Woah woah woah, is that what this is? A set up" I scoff
"Ooh who's getting set up?", Neveah asks with intrigue
"It's not a set up, we're gonna have a nice conversation" Kaian corrects me
"Nice conversation my ass, what's wrong with you? Does Indiah know what you two are even doing?"
"Nope", Xavier starts walking but I stop him
"Have you got anything on you?"
"No"
I start to search him anyway and he rolls his eyes, no for real I checked his arms and patted down his shirt. Then I had to double check his belt cause that's where people like to hide shit, "Touch me all you want. I don't mind"
"This isn't funny"
"I'm never strapped Ree, what do I look like to you-
"You couldn't even give me a heads up that you were gonna talk to him? I could've talked to him"
Kaian makes a whistling noise which causes the boys to look over, West frowns but Archie goes a ghostly white. Meanwhile Trinity's checking that Malik gave her a real twenty dollar note by holding it under the sun.
Now if you were to ask me now, it's one point to Kaian and zero to Archie because it's not looking good for him at all.
"Oh so nows the time you choose to start regretting your choices? It's either you come here or we come to you"
It's literally just us in the car park
"Seriously. This feels right to you?"
The boys eventually start to make their way over
"He provided her with the coke, didn't even stay with her when she took it, nor did he text her last night. And when he did find out cause I know shit travels fast in this school, he didn't even come visit her in the hospital. Now tell me, does that feel right to you?", My boyfriend returns
I roll my eyes but don't intervene any further because hes got a slight point.
Once the boys are here West narrows his eyes at Kaian, he's silently judging I can tell. Then there's CJ' who is literally just standing there, he's cool with Xavier and Kaian so he wasn't really too bothered.
Archie's the first to speak, "Xavier I'm sor-
crunch
He received a punch to the nose, which Archie probably deserved but it just didn't feel right. But who am I to talk because had this been me and my sisters I probably would've done the same.
West frowns as he catches Archie and I widen my eyes, "What the fuck"
"That's for not texting or coming to see my sister"
"You can't just-
"West, it's fine"Archie says with his hand covering his nose. There's now blood pouring down his left nostril.
"She's still making dumb excuses for you and shit ion even know why, she ain't even mad about the coke. She's just mad that you haven't come to see her"
"Woah", Neveah says with raised brows
"Go to the car", I say to my sisters
"But-
"Now"
They roll their eyes before taking my keys and walking away.
"And why is it that you haven't gone to see her again?", Kaian questions
He sighs, "I can't...it's my fault-
"Stop being a pussy"
"She cried. Does that even mean anything to you?"
"Yes but-
"If the cops question her she wouldn't even think to put in on you, but that's fine cause I'll have no problem doing it"
I'm shocked at how much Kai cares for her
"You're not gonna do shit", West says annoyed
"Why cause you said so?", He says amused
for fuck sake
"No cause you do that and I'll have no problem putting Xavier's file back where it belongs, Maliks too" He says simply
I frown
"So you're the infamous hacker", Malik says from the car
He doesn't reply
"You ain't scaring nobody. Put that shit back and that bruise under your eyes gonna be looking way worse-
"Malik", I scoff
"Archie let's go", CJ says
Droplets of his blood keep on hitting the ground, Xavier got a pretty good hit. I don't even know what to say right now.
As they start to leave I mouth an 'I'm sorry' to West, he nods before leaving with them and I clench my jaw a little. "You done?", I say annoyed
"Amariah-
"No what the fuck is wrong with you? You said it'd be a conversation-
"And it was a conversation, he's lucky it was me that punched him and not Malik" My boyfriend replies
"It's true"
"Yeah you're right keep it up, no it's fine"
"Don't do that cause now you're pretending it's actually fine. Why you so mad for-
"Oh please you know exactly why I'm mad, do what you want Xavier I don't even care"
Malik observes me, "Ree. You know he deserved that"
I get into the drivers seat of my car, kissing my teeth as I start it up. Clearly they're not understanding what's annoying me.
"So is that white boy still bleeding?" Trinity asks
"Yes"
"Ok well-
"Leave it alone"
"Jeez", They both mutter
My sisters were still asking so many questions as I drove us home but I barely gave them responses, we didn't mention what had just happened to our parents when we got home.
"Say ahh"
"Ahh", My brother opens his mouth and I feed him a spoonful of cough syrup
He claps his hands as he swallows it, "Mmm"
"Taste good?"
Aidan nods
"You get one more small one"
I feed him one more spoonful, "Mmm" We both say
Hes been having a bit of a bad cough recently
"Alright come on let's get you down"
He stretches his arms out and I help him down from the island, we head into living room which is where dad currently is. He's sat on the couch, looking at paperwork.
"That an affidavit?" I ask as he seals an envelope
"Yes"
I've picked up on a few terms here and there
Aidan starts playing with my hair as I sit him on my lap, "Aidy"
"Hm?"
"You know the attentions not gonna be on you when the twins get here right" I say amused
He frowns at me
"Mom and dad might not love you but I still will", I coo before giving him a kiss
"You're such a shit stirrer", Dad tells me
"Thanks", I smile
My phone rings and I end up putting it on silent, it's Xavier. Hes called and texted me a few times but I don't wanna talk right now, besides Indiah's annoyed at both him and Malik for making things worse and talking to Archie. If he wasn't too pussy to call her before then he's certainly too pussy to do it now.
"Aidy, bath time!", Ma calls out from upstairs
"Yayyy", He slides off my lap before scurrying away
On his way he actually ends up tripping, I kind of saw it coming and I couldn't help but laugh, soon enough my brother starts to cry and mom comes down to pick him up. "Aww my baby, are you ok?"
"Mommy" He cries
"Here let me see your boo-boo", She kisses his hand before taking him up and I reach for the tv remote
Dad frowns, "Hey I was watching that"
"You haven't even glanced at the tv"
"I was still processing what was being said"
"Well as you always say to me, process your work instead"
He tosses a pillow at me