Black

chapter two.

Song for the chapter:

All I Want by Kodaline

"What is the real reason you came to my place?" I ask Jackie as I hold my cereal close. I decided to stay with her just until I can get money for a new place.

"Well since you're asking." She pulls her keys out. "Fredrick is having a little party for one of his bro's birthday. It's just a little get together and you..." She stabs me with her finger. "Need to make new friends."

I scrunch my nose up in disgust, making her laugh as she unlocks the door.

"Babe, I'm back." She calls through the apartment. The place is very high-end. It kind of has to be since its in the middle of Manhattan. Central Park is literally across the street. As soon as you enter the apartment, there's a small window that lights up the entrance. Right in the next room to the left is the living room with wide windows to show the beautiful view of the city outside. To the right of the entrance is a bedroom, Fredrick and Jackie's bedroom and right before the bedroom is a bathroom. The living area is decorated miserably with light yellow striped wallpaper against dark wood flooring.

"Raina, it's so good to see you again." Fredrick appears from the kitchen which is across from the living room. "And your Lucky Charms." He chuckles as he awkwardly gives me a side hug. Fredrick is definitely a catch for Jackie. She always talked about boys whose skin looked like milk chocolate and Fredrick was definitely that guy. His dark eyes and big smile made her fall for him even more and he's very sweet.

"Raina, here, will be staying with us for a little. Her place is crappy." She explains to Fredrick. He laughs.

"Of course. Mi casa es tu casa." He smiles a straight bright smile.

"Babe, it's our casa." Jackie says.

"Well I don't know how to say 'our' in Spanish." He says and I just stand and watch as they bicker about whose home it is. I clear my throat and they stop.

"I'll show you your room." Jackie smiles as she grabs my arm. She leads me past the amazing view of New York City and down another hall to a room. "Of course we'll clean it out for you." She says as she opens it.

The room is filled with boxes and a full size bed sits against a wall. Two large windows brighten the room too bright that I have to squint.

The wall of which the bed stands against is covered with dark gray bricks while the surrounding walls are a light tan color. The room is carpeted with a light brown carpet.

"Homey." I say lowly as I walk into the room.

"Fredrick will get the boxes out later. He's made breakfast so come on." She says.

"I'll be out in a minute." I tell her and she nods.

She shuts the door behind me as I place my bags on the ground and stand by the open windows.

The sound of the rain smacking the window pane lets me know that it'll probably rain all day.

Spring in New York City is always very soppy.

And that sucks for spring break. But it's always nice to get a break from NYU. I mean I love the school but the campus is always surrounded by people. Not that it's a bad thing it's just I like to be by myself a lot. I guess I've always been a person who's enjoyed their privacy.

Jackie was always the one to encourage me to step out of my comfort zone a bit and one day I came across something that I thought would help. It was an art competition.

That's kind of how I got into photography and art. In high school, I entered the competition and won a scholarship to any college I wanted.

So I chose NYU because I was always interested in what it would feel like to live in a big city. That and the school has great courses in photography and the media.
When I got here, it was something I never would've imagined. It's my Junior year in college now.

Although Naomi and Todd -the ones who raised me- didn't want me to leave, they wanted me to be happy.

It was a very emotional day when I left but I always knew I would go back to visit as much as possible.

After all, they did save me.

                               •••

I'm crying. I can't stop crying as I drag my sock monkey along the dirt road. I look around but I don't know where I am.

My daddy left me alone in the middle of nowhere.

Why?

Why would he leave me?

Did I do something wrong? He said he loved me but then why would he leave me?

My feet hurt. I don't know how long I've been walking. It's getting cold. I stop walking and pull my book bag off, unzipping it and searching it for a jacket. I find my bright pink rain jacket and pull it on before I start walking again.

My white butterfly shoes are covered in dirt and I cry even more.

I hear the sound of a dog barking and look up to see a little blue house on top of a small hill.

A lady stands on the porch with her hand over her eyes and she's looking at me.

                              •••

"You alright?" Jackie asks. I didn't hear her come in as the flashback fades into its place.

"Yeah." I say before I follow her out into the kitchen.

I sit at the counter with Fredrick as Jackie serves me a cup of coffee after I decline the breakfast. My hands hug the mug that has a picture of two red lips with the printed words 'SmOOch' on it.

"So Alec is the birthday boy. He's very shy so tonight we want to break him out of his shell a bit." Fredrick begins to explain.

"I think Raina should hook up with shy-boy Alec." Jackie raises her brows up and down repeatedly and I roll my eyes. "Come on." She says as Fredrick laughs. "When was the last time you got laid?" She asks with a hand on her hip.

"Jackie." I say, a bit embarrassed that she would ask such a personal question in front of Fredrick.

"I'm serious. You need to loosen up. Have some fun." She says.

"Alec's a pretty cool guy." Fredrick says and I shake my head.

"You guys are terrible." I say and they laugh.

"It'll be fun." Jackie says, grabbing my shoulders. "Please."

I sigh.

"Fine." I say. "But I'm not having sex with him."

"Whatever." Jackie says but in a way as if she knows I'll end up doing it.

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