William

XXXI.

DANNY

I think things been good between the gang and I. The holiday break has been boring and I was ready to head back to school to be honest.

The twins and I were about to go to the movies, so I guess that was some type of fun. I texted Will to see if he wanted to join, but he said he was busy. He must be with his girl.

The movie started at 9:45 pm and it was already 9:10. I was waiting for the twins to pick me up, but damn they were taking their sweet ass time. 10 minutes later, they pulled up honking the horn. I left out and hopped in the car.

"Hurry up before we miss the credits." I said as we pulled off.

"We're not gonna miss them." Brayden replied.

We pulled up to the movie theater at 9:35, luckily. Once we were inside, we grabbed our tickets, and went to the theater to find our seats. We found our seats as the beginning credits started rolling.

About an hour into the movie, I wanted popcorn.

"I'm going to get popcorn." I got up.

"Get me some nachos." Brayden said.

"Shhhh, y'all loud as hell." Aiden whispered.

I was on my way to the concession stand, when Kani came into view. She was standing in line.

"Hey, Kani." I walked up to the counter.

"Ohh..hey, Danny. You're here alone?" She asked looking around.
"No, I'm with the twins."

"Is Will with you?" She asked, nervously.

"No, I assumed he was with you."

"Did he say he was with me?" She asked with an attitude.

"No, he just said he was busy, wait. If you're not here with Will, then who you're with?" I asked, confused.

"Umm, just a friend-" She was saying until she got cut off.

"Hey, I got our tickets." Andre stated, walking up.

The look on Kani's face was priceless. Was I seeing this right? Is she on a date with Andre? Isn't Andre with Leah? What the fuck is going on?

"Uh, I think I should go." I started to walk away.

"Yo, isn't your name Dan or something? You used to be on the basketball team at Liberty." Andre stated.

"Yeah that was me. I really gotta go, see you later, Kani." I walked back to the theater.

Before I walked back in, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey...Danny it's not what it looks like. We're just friends, hanging out."

"If y'all friends, does Will know y'all hang out?"

"Of course, he knows, but we don't have to mention this."

"Yeah, sure I gotta get back to my movie." I walked back into the theater.

"What took you so long? And where are my nachos?"Brayden asked.

"Shhhh, damn!" Aiden whispered.

"They didn't have anymore food." I replied.

I couldn't even focus on the movie because of what I just saw. Is my best friend getting cheated on? Shit, I need to tell him, but he's busy. I'll just tell him the next time I see him. I tried to enjoy the rest of the movie.

WILL

I sat in my thoughts as I drove home from the hospital. I wanted to stay with Leah, but her parents said that they'd take care of her, and I should go before it got too late. I couldn't even think straight. Her grandmother just passed and I know how much she meant to her.

Shit, it hurts me too. She was so nice to me and treated me like a part of the family. She told me to fix the situation with us and I said fuck that. Now, when it finally looks like Leah and I could be friends again, she couldn't even see it.

I feel like I let her down, but I won't do it again. All she wanted was for us to work things out and that's what I'm going to do. That's the least I could do for her grandmother.

Once I got to the house, I walked in the door and locked it behind me. Ma was still asleep on the couch, but she woke up when she heard the sound of the door.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." I sniffled.

"Are you crying? What's wrong hunny?" She turned the lamp that was next to her on.

"Leah's g-grandma just passed away and she just treated me like family you know." I cried as I sat next to her.

"Aw, hunny I'm sorry to hear that. She was a lovely woman." She patted my back.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go upstairs and text Leah to check on her. She was taking it hard." I wiped my tears.

"Okay, hunny send my condolences. Again, I'm sorry." She said, turning off the light.

I went upstairs to my room and just plopped on my bed. I was going to text Leah, but I thought I'd give her some time. Before you knew it, I was dozing off to sleep. Hopefully, my dreams are better than today's events.

LEAH

I laid in bed with the blanket up to my face. My pillow was soaked from my tears as I continued to silently cry. Hurt. Angry. Empty. A combination of them all was how I felt.

The TV wasn't on nor the light. I laid in complete darkness and silence. Suddenly, a knock occurred on my door, but I was too distraught to move. Moments later, it slowly opened and my father walked in.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked in a gentle tone as he sat on the side of my bed.

I stayed quiet as I stared into space.

He sighed. "Lee, you think she would want you to be in your room sulking?" He asked as he wiped my tear stained face.

I didn't answer him as I kept a blank face.

"I understand that you need to grieve, but you also need to be strong for your mother."

"How's Mom?" I mustered up.

He lowered his head and sighed. "Not good. She's hysterical, but with time I'm sure she'll be okay."

"I'm going to check on her." I sat up.

"Alright." He replied, giving me a kiss on my forehead.

I followed my dad out of my room and went into his and Mama's room. She was lying in bed with piles of tissue covering it.

I sat next to her. "Hi, Mama." I said in a low, soft voice.

She got a glimpse of me and stared back at the wall.

"I just wanted to check on you."

Still, I got no answer.

"I miss her too." I whispered as a few tears fell.

She sat up and brought me into a big hug. We pulled apart and she held the both of my hands, looking into my eyes.

"We'll get through this together." She stated.

I nodded as we embraced each other and cried into each other's arms.