"Hey how was-
Xavier shakes his head at my dad as I dump my shopping bags onto the island.
"That's a lot of bags", He comments
I just look at him before going over to the pantry
"What happened?"
"Her and Indiah got into an argument"
"About what?-
"I can hear you", I say annoyed
They both watch as I shut the pantry door
"I thought we stopped the whole stress shopping thing", Dad frowns
"It's not stress shopping, it's called boosting your serotonin and I need everything in those bags"
He snoops through one of the bags, "Three of the same perfumes...."
"Yes"
"Ok I'm sure you guys will fix whatever happened by tomorrow-
"Oh so what you're saying is that I'm weak and I'll cave and text her first?"
Dad tilts his head at me with narrowed eyes, "What's my next move"
"Say no", My boyfriend advises
"Right, no"
"Ree I'm gonna talk to her about it when I get home. I'll call you ok?" Xavier hugs me
"Ok"
"I'll see you later uncle T"
"Yeah, see you"
I could see that my dad was getting ready to ask me what happened as soon as he was gone but I simply took my shopping bags and went upstairs, he sighed.
Indiah and I didn't text or call at all for the rest of the night, even the next morning at school she walked straight past me like I wasn't there. And you know what? The feeling was extremely mutual. It went on like that for the next day too, the longest we've not spoken after an argument is literally one day. I guess we've found a new record.
"Can you guys just talk already", Blair complains
"No", We both reply
"Come on-
"I've got no words to say to her-
"Hilarious, she's playing the victim once again" I say amused
"She's talking to nobody but herself, again-
"Funny cause you just responded-
"Stop talking to me-
"Stop it", Blair says annoyed
We both don't reply
"I don't even know what's going on with you two but if you can't keep it together then don't bother coming over"
My face softens, "B-
"No. Its been like this the past couple days, if you're gonna act right then get in but if not then go home" She says before getting into the drivers side
We both eventually get into the car, and we decided we just wouldn't speak. I'll keep it cool for the sake of Blair.
**
Adeline smiles as she opens the door, "Indiah, Amariah. Good to see you guys"
We plaster on a smile, "Hi Adeline"
"Come, come" She gestures
"Hi mom"
"Hello Blair"
The three of us follow her into the house, I could already smell food. Not gonna lie even though Adeline's a bit coo coo, her healthy foods always hit.
"How are you girls?"
"I'm ok"
"I'm good"
"That's good to hear, I hope you don't mind but foods been made a little early"
Shes always had a very slim physique, she's very careful with what she eats and I mean very. Once when we were about fourteen it was a very rare occasion but she took us to a fair and obviously there's gonna be candy at a fair, we had bought loads and she'd read the packet with horror because of the high sugar content. I guess she just wants B to be exactly like her.
"That's fine", Indiah replies
"Can't we chill first", Blair frowns
Her mom checks her watch, "Well I've got about an hour before I have to head out for a meeting"
She rolls her eyes once her mom's not looking her way and we all head to the dining room. Claude (her dad) was already in there setting glasses on the table, but I noticed that he only set four.
"Don't tell me you're not staying", Blair scoffs
"J'aimerais pouvoir rester. Work called"
-I wish I could stay-
"Fuck sake", She mutters
"Blair", Adeline scolds with disapproval
I don't know whether to sit down or leave the room because now they're all arguing in French....we just got here. Indiah and I were just standing there but it wasn't really awkward because we're kind of used to this shit, eventually Adeline apologised to us both and the four of us sat down. Claude left after saying hi to us.
"Sorry about that"
"It's alright", We reply
Indiah side eyed me because of our identical response and I obviously ignored her cause I ain't got time for the pettiness.
"So how's school been? I hear you guys have work experience coming up. Any idea what you wanna do?" Adeline asks as we start to eat
"Yeah I was thinking of helping out at the vet that I take my puppy to"
"You've always loved animals haven't you"
"Mhm"
"What about you Amariah?"
"My dads firm", I answer shortly
"Oh you're into criminal law?", She says impressed
"Yeah"
"That's a promising career. I've always hoped that Blair would follow in my footsteps"
Don't we know it
"I told you that I found a place", She replies momentarily
"What, the psychologist thing again?"
"Yes, and it's not just a thing it's what I'm interested in" Blair tries not to sound annoyed
Adeline wipes her mouth with a napkin, "But who gave you the placement? And where?"
"At a clinic, and my boyfriends mother"
I pause from chewing with surprise, I had thought that her mom was aware of her and CJ but judging by her reaction I'm assuming not.
"Qu'est-ce que tu veux dire?"
Ha, I know that one. It means 'what do you mean'
"It means what I just said"
"Boyfriend?"
"Yes I have a boyfriend but could you at least have the decency to save the drama for when my friends are gone?"
She doesn't reply and instead just sips from her wine with a look of disapproval, the rest of the meal was kind of awkward. Adeline would ask questions here and there but it's clear that she doesn't know how to talk to Blair, she'd ask about interests that she grew out of years ago and even commented on how she noticed Destiny wasn't around anymore.
I really hope they're able to figure things out...
*
"Are you guys sure you don't want me to drop-
"No it's ok, talk to your mom" I say softly
She sighs, "Ok I'll see you guys tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes"
"Alright"
"Please try to fix things with each other"
We don't reply to her comment and instead just get into the back of her drivers car, I just wanna go home and chill with my sisters honestly.
The car ride was silent, I think Angelo was surprised that we weren't talking because usually when he drives us home we're always chatting and sometimes he'd let us play music too. But still, he didn't comment on it.
Indiah sat there on her phone and I was just looking out of the window as music played in my air pods, I thank God that I always get dropped off first. Thankfully there wasn't any traffic today and we reached my house in a matter of minutes.
To my surprise, she looked over at me as I undid my seatbelt. "So you're seriously just not gonna apologise"
Wow
I scoff, "Me? You started this"
Angelo's watching through the mirror
"You said some hurtful things-
"Right and so did you"
"I wouldn't have said that if you didn't start with your stupid remark"
"The whole reason it even got that far is because you went and took your anger out on me-
"Why the hell can't you just admit when you're wrong", She says annoyed
"No you know what Indiah I'm tired of you're bullshit because every single time we have problems I'm always the first one to call you-
"Because most of the time you're the problem-
"No you dumb ass, I still reach out even when it's your fault because I know how prideful and childish you are. I'm done doing that so when you wanna grow up then call me"
"Oh so now I'm prideful and childish?"
"I'm just telling you how it is-
She shrugs simply, "You know what if you feel that way then maybe you don't need to come to my birthday. I don't need you there anyway"
Ouch....just ouch.
Angelo turns back with a frown and I just nod, "Ok. That's fine"
Then I just get out of the car before any other hurtful comments are exchanged, I know we argue but I didn't think it'd get to that point.
But it's fine
â¢INDIAHâ¢
I saw the hurt in her eyes as soon as I had said that, I didn't think it'd get that far but in that moment I didn't care. Amariah can be real mean sometimes but of course, when I'm mean back it's always a problem and I'm in the wrong. I saw a look of disapproval on Angelo's face but I ignored it, I said my thanks as he dropped me off and that was that.
Mama was in the kitchen with my brothers when I got home. Zay was chewing on a toothpick whilst being occupied by his phone whereas Malik was eating.
"Hey", Ma smiles
I kick off my shoes before muttering a hi and she folds her arms whilst leaning on the fridge, "You and Amariah sort things out?-
"Why is that always the topic of conversation", I say annoyed
"I'll take that as a no then. I still don't understand what the problem is"
"Nothing, they're being petty at this point", Malik snorts
"Shut up"
"Nah you shut up, you're crying over the air bnb but pops booked it for you so what's the problem now?"
"Word", Xavier agrees
At this current moment in time I hate my brothers
"The problem is that she's rude-
"But you started it cause you got mad at her for something that wasn't even her fault" Xavier replies
"If you don't know the full story then shut up-
"Oh lord", Mom comments
"You know what stay mad cause I wasn't even getting involved in your shit, and she already told me the full story. You both said hurtful things to each other, just apologise and get over it"
"Ass kisser", I name call
"That's why you ain't got no boyfriend anymore"
Malik tuts, "Zay come on-
"Nah man, I'm done with her taking her bullshit out on everyone else. Grow up" He dismisses as he heads upstairs
"Did I hear that correctly?", Mom interrupts
Now I'm actually pissed because why is he getting himself involved. Malik looks over at me, "Indi-
"No fuck off", I say annoyed
"Don't start getting pissed at me too, he was wrong for what he said but it doesn't mean that there's no truth behind it. And if I'm honest he was the one defending you when pops thought about cancelling the party-
"I'm sorry but since when did you have a boyfriend?"
I ignore them both as I head upstairs, ok I seriously didn't know that Xavier stood up for me. But I'm still not apologising to Amariah, my brother and I will be fine by tomorrow.
Or not....especially after he finds out I uninvited her
â¢AMARIAHâ¢
I hear a knock on my door as I'm putting my bonnet on, "What"
It's opened by mom who is now frowning at me with disapproval
I sigh, "Sorry I meant hi mom"
"You ok?"
"Yeah"
"How was lunch at Blair's"
I shrug whilst lifting up my comforter, "The usual. Adeline and B were bickering but other than that nothing big happened"
She nods slowly, "Well I was wondering if you wanted to go on a little shopping date tomorrow. Maybe we can find you an outfit for Dee's birthday, and a present too"
I get comfortable in my bed as I use my phone, "No need"
"Oh you found something already?"
"No. I'm not going"
My mom frowns, "What? Look I know ya'll ain't cool right now but if you don't go she'll be upset and you'll regret it-
"Well I find that hard to believe considering that she's the one who told me not to bother coming"
She scoffs with disbelief, "I-... seriously? What are you two still beefing about? Darnel already booked her the damn bnb-
"Look mom forget it, I don't care"
"Baby you do, clearly. You two are best friends and it'll be weird if you don't go to her birthday"
"Ma she doesn't want me there", I reply annoyed
It's like she can't even believe what she's hearing right now, "Of course she wants you there. She just said it out of anger, Amariah what did you say to her?-
I scoff, "She expects me to apologise first and I'm not doing that because it's always me having to be the bigger person. All of you have been babying her since the second she was born and I'm sick of it"
"We don't baby her-
"Yes you do. It's always Ree just talk to her cause you know what she's like. We wouldn't be friends right now if it wasn't for me texting her first every damn time we argue"
"Look I understand that but we're not babying her when we say that to you, that's just something she needs to work on the same way we all have something that we need to work on. Dee's gonna learn one day" My mom says softly
Will she though?
I stayed upstairs for the rest of the night until it was dinner time, slowly but surely the rest of the week had gone by and all anyone was talking about was Indiah's birthday and what they were gonna wear and what not. Nobody really noticed that we weren't talking, until the end of skating practise on a Friday.
"Good job girls, we'll continue next week" Coach says to us
I skate towards the doors before coming off the rink and heading over to the benches to sit down and untie my skates. Blair comes to sit beside me, "How long is this gonna go on for?"
"What do you mean by that"
"Come on you know what I mean, I'm having to go back and forth between my friends. I feel like a therapist"
I sigh, "B if you wanna hang with Dee then just do that-
"I wanna hang with both of you but I can't do that because you both roll your eyes or side eye whenever you're within walking distance with each other, it's like you can't even be in the same room anymore"
I've become so unbothered with the situation, she hangs with the cheer team and I hang with the skating team. I don't even roll my eyes when I see her, she's just there.
"Nothing I can do about it"
"But there is, if you guys would just talk-
"B, leave it"
"I can't, it's not gonna make sense for Destiny to be there but not you-
I pause "Hold up, Destiny?..."
Blair sighs, "Yes"
That one hurt not gonna lie, but I'm not showing it
"Right"
"Amariah you've gotta stop pretending that you don't care-
"Guyssss, I don't know what I'm gonna wear" Faye complains as she comes over
Blair looks at me for a moment before looking towards F, "What have you got so far"
"Ok so I was thinking corset top but I'm always wearing one, Mari you always have good outfits. What are you wearing?"
I lift my bag over my shoulder, "Nothing. I'm staying home"
She frowns, "What? Why?"
"If you still want an outfit idea then text me" I say before leaving
My only concern for the night is homework, and after that I'll be indulging in a tub of ice cream whilst watching marvel movies with my dad. Speaking of he's supposed to be picking me up today, so I was a little confused when I heard a car horn honk at me.
I frown as I look across the car park, although that frown turned into a smile once I saw who was behind the wheel.
Xavier
I head over to his car before getting in, "Hey"
I accept his cheek kiss, "Hey"
"You alright?"
"Yeah-
"This is why you made me sit at the back" I hear from behind me
For fuck sake
I give my boyfriend a bored look, "Seriously"
"Yes. Seriously"
I'm assuming my dads not picking me up then
We both roll our eyes as we sit there and Xavier starts the car, "You two are driving everyone crazy"
"Nobody told you guys to get involved", She mutters
"My sister and my girlfriend are best friends, it's hard not to"
I just sit there as he drives, praying for this car ride to go by fast. "Ree"
"What", I reply
"You guys for real ain't gonna talk?"
I shrug and he turns back to Indiah for a second, "I don't know how you've not said anything either. You know what pops said"
I frown, "What did your dad say"
"Nothing", She replies
I look at Xavier expectantly
"Uhhh-
"What did your dad say", I repeat
"Shit I thought you guys-
"Xavier-
"Chill out it's not even his fault, he's cancelling the bnb unless I fix things with you"
Now this? This is just sad
I nod slowly, "And he said this when?"
"Tuesday"
"So you'd rather have your whole party cancelled if it meant you didn't have to speak to me"
Xavier's face softens
"It's not like that, the party's still happening and I'm gonna have it at my house so don't be dramatic"
Now I just feel sad
"And you'd do all of that plus invite Destiny if it meant that you never had to speak to me"
"I didn't wanna give you a pity invite, plus you don't even wanna come anyway-
"You never asked me"
Then it just went silent as Xavier stopped the car. I undo my seatbelt before picking up my bag but he stops me gently, "Wait"
"Stop"
He sighs and just lets me get out of the car
So this is how things are it seems