Sweetener

prologue

The first thing Drew noticed about the new girl standing in front of his kindergarten class was the way her beads clacked at the ends of her braids. He didn't know why that particularly stood out to him. Maybe it was because he had never seen that hairstyle on any of his classmates, or maybe it was the fact that he had never met anyone of a different color than him.

The second thing he noticed was the way she clung to her father's hand as he introduced her to the class. Her dad's Nigerian accent was so thick that he almost missed her name. He heard some of his classmates snicker at this but Drew ignored them. Instead, he watched as her eyes moved from classmate to classmate before settling on his. His eyes remained focused on hers and when it looked like his stare wouldn't waver, she took it upon herself to look away first.

That was the first and last time Imani had paid any attention to him that year.

The first time he had talked to her wasn't until a couple years later, in the second grade. Their teacher had noticed that Drew's math grades were slipping and had no other choice but to pair him up with the smartest kid in class. Imani Odo.

She switched her seat so that she sat beside him. Drew had opened his mouth to say something but the words got caught in his throat when he smelled the overwhelming scent of cocoa butter coming from her. She smelled so good that he moved even closer to catch another whiff. Imani turned around to face her new tutee, a smile on her adorable face as she said, "Hi, I'm Imani and with my help, you'll definitely pass math this year." Something about the way she winked at the end of that had him sold. It also had his heart beating a little faster.

As the year progressed, Imani and Drew became so comfortable with each other that they became inseparable. She would tutor him in math and he would repay her by making her laugh. His grades started to get better again and because of that, he adopted the nickname of Ms. O for her and to that she laughed.

"Ms.O?" Imani scrunched her nose at the name, "It makes me sound so old." She giggled.

Drew shook his head as he followed her around the playground, "I like it. I think it's...cute." He felt his cheeks grow warm.

Imani pondered over the name for a couple of seconds before turning to face Drew with a grin, "Okay, fine but only because you seem to like it so much."

From that day on, Drew was stuck to her side like glue. Wherever she was, he was right behind her. Whenever she was hurt, he made sure to beat up her bullies (often against Imani's wishes) and whenever she needed a pick-me-up, he was there to make her laugh till her stomach hurt. She was his first real friend and that was something he would never forget.

Soon enough spring break came and went and Drew found himself excited to be back at school. He hadn't seen her over the break and he couldn't wait to fill her in on all the cool things he had done with his dad. He waited patiently for Imani to take her seat beside him, only for that seat to be taken by another girl. He tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, you can't sit here. It's Ms.O's seat." He frowned.

The girl turned and raised a brow at him, "Didn't you hear? Imani switched schools."

Drew's mouth hung open at that. This had to be fake. He had finally made a friend, there was no way she could just up and leave him. Especially without telling him.

He got up to ask the teacher if what he heard was true and when the teacher confirmed his worst nightmare, it was like his heart split in half. He wanted to cry but decided instead to hold his emotions in. He returned back to his seat and sighed. He tried to pay attention to whatever the teacher was saying but he just couldn't.

He had lost his other half and what was even worse was that he never even got to say goodbye.

~*~

I'm back and I can't wait for y'all to see what I have in store ;)