The Unusual Suspects Book 2

Dom

I was standing there watching Justin mix these brownies after we put in all the ingredients as we were told. The teacher decided to give us the recipe without the chocolate. So I guess it's fair to say we're making blondies at this point. I had already greased the bottom of the pan in preparation for the oven. He then poured the mixture in and I placed it in the oven. I went to grab the bowl and mixing spoon from him. "D, I can wash those." he said to me.
"It's okay, I got it." I said as I took it and walked over to the sink and began to wash them.
"Hey Love, you okay?" Toya asked me.
"I'm alright for the most part." I replied to her.
"You're so strong. Babygirl, I know it can't be easy though." she said softly. If only she knew the half.
"It's not. Some days I don't even know if I can do this, but I keep trying though." I said as I rinsed the bowl and spoon off and began to dry.
"Are you attending group?" she asked me and I nodded. "Is it helping?" she asked me. I shrugged. I really wasn't sure yet, it was all still raw for me. "Well...I'm here if you need me." she said as she kissed my cheek and walked off as I went back to my station. I sat down and looked at the timer and then took out my writing pad to kill time while waiting.
"Are you ever gonna talk to me?" Jay asked me. I looked up at him and he was just staring at me.
"I just did." I said to him.
"No...I mean like talk to me. For real." he said and I just shook my head. "Dom...man you know I love you. I jus..."
"Please...please don't ever say that to me again." I said not looking up from my notepad as I looked over these verses I had been writing.
"But I do. I can admit that. The fact that you're so bothered by me, let's me know you feel the same way." I just laughed a little bit.
"None of that matters. You got your girl, just live your life. I'll pick up the pieces of mine. Go live your happily ever after." I said as I went back to my notepad and focused.
"So, let me help you." he said.
"One cannot heal in the same environment they got ill in." I said to him. He got quiet before he literally snatched the notepad from my hands and it immediately pissed me off. I took a deep breath.
"You act as if you did nothing wrong." he said to me.
"That's funny, I never put fault on anyone. But if faulting me helps you sleep at night, Justin so be it." I snatched my notepad back and gathered my things.
"Where are you going?" he asked me.
"Somewhere that you won't be. Just leave me alone. Go ahead and finish your school year as Jay Hay. Go ahead and become Prom King and reign supreme as King Ding-a-ling. Go ahead and continue spreading the word about how horrible I was to you. Go ahead and continue to blame me as you have been. Go ahead! Go ahead and parade around with the same bitch, you told me not to worry about when we were together. Cried to me and all and look at you now." I laughed for a moment. "Have fun and continue to be happy while I figure my shit out by myself like I've been doing since I met you. Fuck you and fuck this all this shit." I said as I grabbed my stuff and started out the door. "Don't worry Mrs. H, I'll walk myself to the office, I already know." I said as I walked out and headed towards the office. I heard footsteps approaching behind me and then I heard him.
"D, wait." it was Tony.
"I'm fine, just go ahead T." he grabbed my arm.
"Naw, you're not. D you've been my best friend since we were kids. I know we lost years, but I know you. You never ever let anything get to you. You've never been in any trouble. School is your life, you've always excelled and being Valedictorian has always been your goal. This ain't you dawg."
"None of this has been me. But I gotta accept it though T. I got to. Just...do better than me. Go fix your shit with your girl. You and Toy love each other like no other. Give that love to yall son. Don't end up like..." I said as tears started to come from my eyes and Tony hugged me. Every time I thought I was doing better, I ended up breaking down. Before I knew it, I felt a hand on my back and I looked over and it was the Guidance Counselor.
"Thank you Mr. Rodriguez, I got it from here." she said as T let me go and she pulled me the other direction.
"Remember what I said Tony." I said out to him.
"I will D." he said before he went on and I went and took a seat in the Guidance Counselor's office. She passed me some tissues and I dried my eyes.
"I know this isn't like you at all Ms. Johnson. I also know you're going through a lot at this time and I'm here for you Domonique. But you have to tell me what I can do for you." she said and we sat there quietly for a moment. "You think it was too much for you coming back here?" she asked. I didn't consider that.
"Probably so...I don't know." I said as I tried to stop my tears. She looked at me.
"Would finishing online be better for you?" she asked me. I contemplated the thought and to be real, that was probably what I needed to do at this point.
"If that's possible, yes." I said and she nodded at that.
"I can do that for you. Allow me to get some things going for you, so we can get you the software and you can go home with it today. Sit tight." she told me as she walked away and I sighed. This ain't how I envisioned ending school, but here I am...