𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧. riki

eleven

ELEVEN
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

jonah and riki were on a video call, the girl finishing up on her history paper-that was due in a day-and the boy currently stretching in a spacious dance studio. the girl's phone was plopped against her computer while his own was against the mirror.

"it's so quiet over there." she commented as she fixed her eyes to his form. he was tying his shoe now, seemingly done with all his stretching.

"well i usually play music, but i'm kinda using my phone right now." he replied to her, walking towards his device to pick it up.

he adjusted the white beanie on his head in the camera, then fixed his gaze to the girl. she wasn't looking at him anymore and instead typing away at her paper.

he thought she looked very pretty when she was focused.

"stop staring at me, weirdo." she mocked, not once looking his way. he could only smile at her words, shifting his gaze somewhere else.

his eyes went back to her.

jonah stopped her typing, letting out a relaxed exhale. "i'm finally done with this ghetto history paper. no more long nights fighting for my life..." she wiped imaginary sweat off her forehead and smiled when she heard the boy snort.

"you're being dramatic, but congratulations."

"dramatic?! this paper has done nothing but make me miserable for weeks, riki!" she emphasized. it was true though, the whole concept of the paper has haunted her since it was introduced by her wretched history teacher.

she-bitterly-hoped that white man slept good at night after assigning things like that.

riki was prepared to respond to her, but the loud sound of a door hitting the wall cut him off. "nikay!" came the loud voice of another. "stop calling me that." he snorted in response, unable to be serious towards the dude.

"you know i'm not!" the voice responded with a goofy laugh.

"that's gotta be a negro." jonah mumbled to herself, eyes focused on the face of the boy who was obviously trying to hide the fact that he was on the phone.

there was a silence for a second, then the sound of rough shuffling as the camera aggressively moved on his end. "leave me alone!" riki yelled, his face red as he stared-probably-in the direction of the other boy.

"nah, who you on the phone with?" the voice loudly replied in hopes to get the attention of  jonah-the one on the phone.

"none of your business." niki responded glancing down to look at jonah.

"it's definitely a girl." another voice spoke, monotone but with a hint of knowing.

"jay when did you get here?" the voice of the-presumably negro-boy spoke, seemingly startled. there was no response from the jay guy verbally.

there was silence again.

then more shuffling.

jonah couldn't help but laugh out loud this time.

"it is a girl!" the black one spoke. "what's her name?"

"none of your business tye." riki responded, exasperated.

"definitely a negro." jonah said to herself. she continued to stare at her screen as it roughly shifted, finally showing the face of the black boy. he was very handsome, brown skin and waves adorning his head. she could see his dimples as he gave her a smile, feeling accomplished for being nosy.

he was a fine black boy, indeed.

"wassup?" he spoke to jonah, face in the camera as if he was trying to get a good look at her. "you and riki talk? or is you looking for a boyfriend? you know what they be saying about mixing races-"

"give me my phone back."

jonah let out a loud laugh at the encounter, watching as tye struggled to hold on to the phone as riki ripped it away from his hand. "damn i can't talk to her?!"  he asked, playfully frustrated. riki didn't even bother to reply to the boy, giving jonah an exasperated look.

"it's jonah." she spoke up with a smile. it only earned a raised eyebrow from riki. "people call me 'jo' though."

tye sounded like he had a grin on his face. "and she sound pretty! you sure you don't wanna pass her over-"

the other boy, jay, spoke up this time. "tye chill out, that's niki's girl." he sounded like an exhausted parent dealing with a rowdy toddler.

riki's face changed as he heard the sentence. "she's not my girl!" was his embarrassed reply.

"oh." jonah spoke up. her face was suddenly serious as she looked at him through the phone. riki stumbled over his words. "no- i mean like we're not dating. we just talk..."

jonah snorted over the phone, unable to keep up her act. riki only looked at her though the phone, obviously wary of what to say. "you... good?"

she nodded with a smile. "i was just playing with you." he only pursed his lips in reply.

"it's 5:25, we got work to do." jay spoke up, causing tye to groan.

riki stared at jonah through the phone some more before speaking up. "well, i gotta go. i'll call you when i get out of here, or when we take break, you okay with that?"

jonah bit the inside of her cheek as he talked, nodding her head at him. "i'm cool with it, i might be sleep though."

he gave her a look. "answer my phone call."

she rolled her eyes at him. "fine."

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃