'Jules' mind went back under the moonlight and night air of Baldwin's Fine Arts Center Garden, where intense anger shifted into an intimate moment of curiosity with a blow of the wind.
Maybe two flames weren't supposed to be that close when raging...
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"Living life is a choice. Making a difference in someone else's isn't."
— Kid Cudi
JULES looked up at Raheem and tried to size him up with her eyes. She knew they said what she couldn't repeat out loud.
Raheem cleared his throat, almost as if he'd understood instantly what she expressed through angry eyebrows and a focused glare.
She looked at the gold chain that swung around his neck, almost taunting her. She wanted to rip it off and throw it out of the open window that exposed the classroom to the chill that lingered from the outside.
"Look, put all the bullshit to the side. I don't like flunking projects, especially ones dealing with the rather creative parts of myself. So, let's be adults for once and make a schedule of when and where we need to meet for this shit."
Jules scoffed, "How could you be so arrogant and clueless -- like you haven't given me a reason to mug the fuck outta' you whenever I see you?"
Raheem laughed, only adding more fuel to the flame that welled in Jules' throat.
"What a brat," he whispered in a low tone -- yet not low enough for Jules to curse him out.
"The fuck did you just say to me?" She spat, wishing he'd disappear into thin air.
He sighed, rubbing the palm of his large hand against the side of his face,"Look Jules, as much as I like arguing with you -- everything I've been working so hard for here at Baldwin ain't worth pride. I'm sorry for dissing you at the store. I'm not even gonna' say if I hurt your feelings, because I know I did and honestly I meant to. Friendships aren't my forte, and I try to stay away from things that I'm not good at ---"
"How boring could your life be if you only go for the things you know you can achieve?" She snapped at him.
Raheem took a deep breath. Jules looked him over as he tried to hold something on his tongue.
" I like to think of it as being careful --"
Jules couldn't contain the chuckle she chose to mock him with, " Or a coward."
His smirk faded, leaving something in his eyes that wanted to prove her wrong. She looked into them, trying to dig out whatever it was. It almost made her rethink her words, but being as stubborn as she was, she decided to bundle it under her lips.
An awkward amount of silence passed over them as they attempted to untangle each other's brains with their pupils.
He cleared his throat as Mrs.Washington sauntered slowly by them, as if she'd interrupted their silent conversation.
