Vanilla

Chapter 39

It's the first day of school, and I had to drag myself out of bed. I was so tired that I almost fell back asleep on the toilet, and decided that the dining table was a pillow.

"Dani!" Nyree shouts from outside, she was leaving the house and saw me drifting back to sleep during breakfast.

I jumped out of my sleep that I was falling back in, and looked at her pretending I didn't fall asleep at the dining table.

"I-I'm awake!" I stumbled to pick up the fork and stabbed the eggs on my plate.

Nyree looks through her work bag to check that she has everything. "My class starts at twelve, and my shift ends at eleven. If you need me, call me in between that time or just come straight home."

"I can skip school?"

"I didn't pre-write those excuses for nothing, girl." Nyree places her hand on the doorknob.

"I'm a woman now," I said, swallowing my eggs and stabbing my waffles that were now soft from the syrup.

"Damn right, you'll be moving out of my home in nine months."

"Why are you keeping count?" I pouted at Nyree.

She laughs and slowly starts closing the door. "To know when to start measuring that room to turn it into my extra storage closet."

"Nyree!" I whined. "Why are you being mean?"

"I'm just playing, but you'll be moving out to go to Paris anyway."

"I know, but don't rush the time."

"Whatever, I have to go, my patient needs their oxygen refill in thirty minutes. Bye." Nyree waves and closes the door.

I roll my eyes and stuff my mouth with the waffles. I was almost finished when my phone rang. I used my knuckle to answer it and put it on speakerphone. "Hello?"

"Dani!" It was Lauren.

"Yes, Lauren?"

"Babes, can you pick me up today? I kind of...missed my bus."

I looked at my phone in disappointment and shook my head. "You overslept, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry, okay! I was given this summer packet and I forgot to complete one page!"

"You are lucky that we have time today."

"My mom woke me up five times, and I still overslept! Dani, please!"

"I'm coming, geez! Let me finish my breakfast first!"

"What are you eating?"

"Waffles, eggs, and bacon. But Nyree burnt the bacon a little."

"My mom always hands me greasy bacon and says 'my bad'."

"Gross, grease."

"I know right, ooh! Also, Melanin texted me-"

"You two texting buddies now?"

"The audacity of you to be jealous, anyways-"

"I'm not jealous."

"Anyways!" She raised her voice as a way of saying 'changing the topic'. "She says Lexie and her are driving to school together."

It's too early for the sexual acts to start.

"Oh really? That's nice." I said, trying to hide the obvious 'ugh no' that wants to escape my lips.

"We should park next to them, if we can."

Absolutely not. Nope.

"Yeah, sure," I replied, finishing my breakfast.

"By the way, remember those guys that walked up to me yesterday?"

"Mhm." I stood up to put my plates into the sink, walked back to grab my bag and phone.

"Okay, so, that one guy with the buzz cut, uh...Daniel...I think?"

"Okay, what did 'Daniel' do?" I asked, walking out of the house to my car.

"He asked me who I was dating, and I told him I was dating you. Dani Hills. He told me 'oh, you're really dating a girl? You tried getting fucked by a dick, yet?' Which I told him 'no, but I'll ask my girlfriend to put one on'."

I climb into my car and scrunch up my nose at her words. "You assumed I would agree to that?"

"I just said that to get him off me, but he replied with 'I think a real one would feel better' like sir, Daniel, I am a lesbian. A lesbian!"

"And?" I started up my car and checked my uniform.

"He said 'after you get a taste of me, you'll be straight' and walked away. I was about to tell you, but my new teacher pissed me off criticizing my makeup."

"What did they say?" I backed up out of the driveway and drove onto the road.

"It's too much."

"Aw," I drove over a speed bump. "That's a shame someone had to tell you."

"Dani, he said it like it disgusted him."

"He probably sipped bitter coffee yesterday, but if he pisses you off again then tell him off. Piss him off too."

"As much as that sounds like a good idea, I don't want to be sent to detention."

"In my opinion," I turned a corner. "He was overreacting."

"Yeah, he was."

"Also Lauren, since we have plenty of time before school starts, you want to look for a new book cover."

"You lost yours?"

"I just don't like the way mine look in my textbook."

"Smart kids struggle."

"Shut up."

"Haha, how close are you?"

"The amount of time it takes you to do your makeup."

"...twenty to thirty minutes?"

"Yeah, Nyree lives kind of far from you, but there's a shorter way through the neighborhoods, so twenty minutes."

"Okay, baby."

"You call me baby? In the morning?"

"Yeah wh-oh shit."

~

Lauren was side-eyeing me while I was laughing.

"You did it to yourself."

"I don't carry concealer to cover this, Dani." Lauren points to her neck.

"Seems like a you problem." I press on the gas to match the speed limit.

"Why did you have to leave three?"

"I have to make sure that Daniel sees them," I smirk.

"Well, Daniel will definitely see this."

"He better see it, because he needs to know that the girlfriend really loves your ass."

"My ass? Or me?"

"Both."

"Ugh, so damn cringy."

"I didn't hear that." I pull into the store's parking lot. "You need anything?"

"Concealer."

"You said soda? Alright." I closed the door before she said anything. I jogged away to the store and chuckled hearing her roll my window down.

"Dani! You better buy me concealer!"

"Ahaha! Hell no!"