sierra checks the time for the fourth time in the last ten minutes, as if the constant checking will make time speed up. the quicker cole gets here, the quicker she can leave and come back home.
"whats up with you," deja asks, looking up from her phone at sierra. both herself and jasmine have sensed that she's been off since last week. deja liked to say that it was after the club that changed, but the fact that she even suggested them to go was even stranger, so she knows it's been awhile now.
"you're acting weird," jasmine chimes in, scrolling on her phone. sierra scoffs at their tag team and shakes her head.
"nothings wrong. i just want to leave," she replies. deja gives her a look that makes her hold her arms out to the side. "what?"
"you can talk to us," jasmine says, putting her phone down and looking over at sierra. the two girls sit on the couch while she stands in the kitchen behind a counter. the space between them feels metaphorically on point, and it bothers her. she feels like she's been keeping a lot of things from them that she shouldn't be, but she's trying to figure things out for herself.
her two friends look at her expectantly, eyes wide and waiting. sierras eyes ping-pong back and forth between the two girls, everything she's been keeping from them threatening to get blurt out, right now.
she opens her mouth to speak, but is interrupted by her phone ringing. cole. she sighs and answers, putting him on speakerphone. "yeah?"
"i'm outside."
"cool, we'll be out in a second," sierra hangs up and looks over at her friends. "i promise i'll tell you guys later. lets just get there so we can come back."
jasmine and deja exchange a look before getting off of the couch. it makes sierra feel incredibly left out, but she knows it's her fault. she had several chances to be open and tell her friends what has been happening with jack, and whether or not she thought their influence was good isn't the point. she still could have mentioned it.
the three girls leave sierras apartment. cole stands outside of his matte black g-wagon, dressed in a nice pair of pants and a white, short-sleeved turtleneck. "damn, yall look good," cole says, pushing off of his car and meeting them halfway. he hugs each of them individually, his embrace with sierra very brief.
"you too, cole," deja says—practically purrs. her eyes say more than she does, and she's brushing past him before he can respond. sierra raises her eyes in surprise and relief—at least she knows that cole won't be after her tonight. but she didn't expect deja to have a thing for cole.
jasmine and sierra share a look before walking over to the car. cole pulls the back door open for them and they slide in while deja sits in the front. he get in and they pull out of the parking space and sierra crosses her legs and looks out of the window as they drive down the road.
jasmine glances over at sierra and furrows her eyebrows in confusion. she gently kicks her with her heel, and sierra turns to look at her. "hmm?"
"you good?" jasmine asks, cutting her eyes towards cole and reverting them back to her friend. sierra let's out a breath and nods her head to the left. i'll tell you later. jasmine nods and settles back into her seat, nothing but the low music and deja and cole's voices filling up the car.
-
sierra, deja, and jasmine huddle in a bathroom stall, the quietest place in the entire building. the moment they made their greetings, jasmine claimed that she had to use the restroom, and cole didn't question it when she grabbed the two girls and took them with her.
"spill."
sierra sighs and crosses her arms over her chest. her friends look at her with mirrored stances and similar looks on their faces. "okay. jack hit me up a few days ago," she starts. jasmine gasps and dejas jaw drops.
