'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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"Cherish these nights, cherish these people. Life is a movie, but there'll never be a sequel."
– Nicki Minaj, All Things Go
JULES winced as the tuscan sunlight pulled at her eyelids; the rich yellow glow etched its shadow across her face. The night before seemed like a big fever dream; almost as if today was actually Friday instead of the middle of the weekend.
Her body rose from the creased pillows that served as cushions for a smooth slumber -- they'd taken her the whole semester without losing their form since being unwrapped from their plastic casing. She scratched at the satin head wrap that kept her hair in place that night before wiping the crust from her eyes.
Ayden came into clear view, smirking at her like she'd done something devilishy wrong. She wore a bralette while her locs were wrapped in a turban to the back of her neck.
"Why the hell are you looking at me like that, have you been staring all morning?" Jules questioned groggily.
Ayden spelled out every word that left her mouth with her eyebrows, she still held that sinister look on her face. "I know what you did last night."
Jules felt the flesh of her cheeks grow warm, warmer than the comforter felt while it covered her legs. She thought back to the way a barrel of a gun stared at her like she owed it something last night; how she felt like a statue frozen in time in those seconds -- hoping desperately that if she didn't move, she wouldn't be struck.
She gulped, "You do?"
Ayden gave her a slow nod before leaning back into her headboard, it made a creak as the back of her shoulders touched its corners.
"Mhm, you think you and Rah are just gonna' disappear into the garden and you come back all flustered and your girl wasn't gonna' notice what's up? The way he just jetted and then needed to come by here last night was so obvious. How good did you put it on him girl?"
Jules let out the exhale she'd held in for the last minute at Ayden's last words. She hadn't seen anything at all.
She jumped up from her covers and walked over to the drawers that housed her clothes, "Girl, I didn't put shit on that man last night."
Ayden smacked her lips and rolled her eyes routinely, "You telling me I gave Marcus his cut for the bet over a misconception?"
Jules paused as she closed a drawer, "What bet?"
Ayden pretended to sink back under her covers and fake into slumber, snoring obnoxiously.
"Ayden..." Jules trailed out before walking over to snatch the covers off of her, "What did you do?"