The Word

Chapter 5

The rest of the day was pretty lackluster. The first couple weeks were over, so we actually had work to do, but even that wasn't enough to add anything important to the day. Surprisingly, I missed seeing Kaliph in class today. He wasn't in the class we have together, or on the bus. I look at my phone and pull up his contact. 

"You ok? I didn't see you at school today"

 I quickly hit send and rush into my house before I have time to think about it. As I walk into my house, I notice that it's quiet. Though it's normal for the common areas to be empty, I've never walked in to the house being completely quiet. There's always a game being played or music being listened to. I stuff my phone in my pocket and start looking into people's rooms. My mom and dad's room is unsurprisingly empty and my big little brother seems to be missing. He's 15 but he goes out more than I do. I go to my room, throw my bag down and flop on my bed. This Friday has been long and empty, but I have something important to do now. I quickly dial Dahlyia and wait as the phone rings. She picks up before it rings twice (like she always does). 

"Hey, Dal. I just got home a few minutes ago. You busy?", I say.

"Not at the moment, no. What's up?", she responds.

"You wanna go out and then get something to eat?"

"Sure! Just give me an hour to get ready," she says.

"Oh, wait....Can you bring me one of your pieces please? I wanna look nice for an event tonight," I say quickly.  I hold my breath as she goes silent for a moment.

".....Sure", she finally responds. I let out a breath of relief and hang up. I quickly get ready and set a reservation at our favorite restaurant for later in the evening. I want her to be able to have the option to actually do what I asked her to do if I piss her off with my plans. I start to clean up my room, when I hear my phone ding. 

"Yeah just dealing w some stuff rn" 

It's Kaliph. I stare at my phone for a moment before I text him back.

"Wanna talk ab it?"

"Not rlly"

"Ok. hope it works out wtv it is"

"thx"

 After cleaning my room up again and waiting for a few minutes, I finally hear Dal's car pull up in the driveway. I take a deep breath and walk down the stairs to her. She walks in wearing a beautiful blue ensemble with gold bangles and heels. She's holding her garment in her arms.

"Hey, Dal", I say enthusiastically.

"Hey," she says suspiciously, "I never asked where we were going before lunch"

"It's a surprise duh"," I respond simply as I take the piece away from her. I quietly slip it into my "mom purse" and we head out to the car.

We both hop into my car out of habit. Ever since we could drive, I've always been the one to drive us both places, which makes this whole thing much easier. As I drive Dal to the location, we talk about nothing and everything. She tells me about the pieces she's created recently and shows me a million pictures. I feel even more determined to stick to the plan than I was before. When we pull up to the building, Dal looks at me in confusion. 

"Look, I know you said this is just a hobby for you and you don't want to do anything with it but I've seen your work and I've heard you talk about it. You're amazing. I took you here because there's a competition today and I wanted you to enter a piece," I pull the piece out of my bag and continue," If you win, you'll get a $5,000 prize and the opportunity to work with some pretty significant people. I know you're scared but I also know you really love this, so just give it a chance," I finish with a breath.  She looks at me for a moment and sits in silence. We literally stare at each other for a good minute. 

"Thank you," she says as she grabs the garment and gets out of the car. 

As we get out of the car, I notice she's wiping a tear. She grabs my hand and we walk into the building together. As soon as you walk in, the love for fashion and style in the place is palpable. The walls are covered in old magazine clippings, and different parts of ensembles. There are skirts, headwraps, shoes, and even belts. There are huge display cases for full outfits and meeting rooms all with glass doors and decorative interiors. Even the architecture of the building is stylish. Some of the walls are at asymmetric angles and the ceilings are high with different decorations that have to do with styling. Dahlyia stares at it all as she walks in, probably understanding all of it. We stand for a moment and marvel at the sheer beauty of the place before we walk up to the lady at the front desk. She gives her all of her information and the information about the garment. We go through a long process of filling out papers and in the middle of it, I realize something.

"Hey, Dal?" I say.

"Hmm?" she responds, still looking at the pile of papers in her hand.

"What does the piece look like?", I ask her tentatively. She stops writing and looks up at me, grinning now. She grabs the opaque wrapping on it and carefully removes it, laying it on a line of chairs. The piece is actually a dress this time. It's a slim-style olive green piece with one sleeve. It shimmers in the light as she adjusts it and it's gorgeous. The neck line is low and there is a slit on one side. As I touch it, I realize it's even softer than the other one she made.

"Oh my god, Dal. This dress is perfect," I say enthusiastically. She smiles and puts it away. She's clearly nervous, but I can tell it made her feel better. The woman informs us that the contest is done in rounds. People must advance to the semifinals, and then three advance to the finals to see who wins. We thank her and start to head out of the building when we walk past a "help wanted" sign.

I turn around quickly and walk back to the woman's desk as Dahlyia looks at me in confusion and follows me to the desk.

"I'm sorry, Hi. There's a sign over there that says you need employees. Is that true?" I ask quickly.

"Yes, we have applications available right here," the woman responds promptly. 

"Can you give me one, please?", I ask.

"Of course, here you go," she says passing me the papers," Just bring it back here when you're done and we'll give you a call".

"Okay, thank you," I say hurriedly. Dahlyia fills out the form pretty quickly and we both get in the car for real this time.

"Seriously, Niy. Thank you for this," Dahlyia says as we back out of the parking lot.

"Of course. I love you, girl. You have the power to do anything you want. You just gotta be reminded sometimes is all. So...you hungry?", I ask as more of a statement than a question. We both are starving. 

"Yeah, you got any idea where you wanna eat?", she asks.

"I set a reservation for us at Pappadeaux earlier," I respond simply. She smiles and we head off to get lunch.

~Don't we all love a good bestie bonding moment?  They're so cute. Don't worry, we'll get back to Kaliph and Zion next chapter. Comment and vote please! ~