BEST FRIEND, c. d'amelio

009

chapter 9: don't start !

NARRATIVE
***

AS THE CHAOTICS of the party took place around her, samira stayed focus, honing in on the red solo cup across the table. she threw the ping pong ball over to the other side, kissing her teeth in disappointment as the ball hit the rim of the cup and bounced off onto the table, missing the red target.

"damn," she muttered, scowling at bryce and josh from across the table as her opponents celebrated the tiny victory with a bro shake.

vinnie made his way across the table from where he stood next to her, grabbing the glass bottle of some random drink and going to fill her cup.

mira scrunched her face in disgust at her pong teammate. he knew better than to think she wanted any of that.

vinnie rolled his eyes at his friend and grabbed pink whitney for her while the girl only smiled in spoiled appreciation.

"you know," bryce began from the other side of the table. she knew he was about to make some smart ass comment. "you have no room to be acting picky since you can't get a single shot in," he pointed out to the younger.

mira took a sip of her drink while sharing a look with vinnie. she side eyed towards him causing him to stifle a laugh and look down.

"stop bein' worried bout me, dawg. it's your go," she finally brushed off, prompting the boys across the table to continue the game.

while samirah continued to watch them take their turn, she felt a hand snake around her waist and a person pull her to their chest. she looked up to see chase.

"hi," she smiled, looking at him. he didn't respond to her, instead pointed at her drink. "you done with that?"

mira shakes her head. "no. why?"

"nothing. just maybe you should take it easy," he suggests, though she knows he means it as more of a demand rather than a request.

just to spite him, she turns around fully facing him and looks up while hiding a smirk on her face and bringing the cup to her lips to take another loong sip.

once she finishes, she walks a few steps back towards the pong table.

chase rolls his eyes, not having the patience or energy to deal with her drunken antics. he says something causing her to stop. "you like to piss me off, huh?," he asks with a smirk on his face, but it's clear that he doesn't actually find her amusing in the slightest.

samirah gives a slight shrug, showing that she didn't quite care. finally chase had enough. he grabs her cup and raises it up out of her reach and the girl whines while rolling her eyes.

he pours the remaining contents out on the floor inside the nice house as if he has no home training. she couldn't believe his lack of respect for the people's house or who would have to eventually come clean it up.

"you're so annoying," she rolls her eyes. he was always trying to embarrass her by getting his way and it pissed her off.

"don't start," chase cuts her off, by now he's received the disapproving glance of vinnie who's no longer as focused on the game.

"no. you don't start. you're so controlling," mira mentions again, trying to walk away from him and back to the table to try and ignore him. before she can leave he latches onto her wrist, squeezing it a little too hard for her liking.

"ouch. the fuck is wrong with you?," she mutters before harshly ripping her arm away and walking back over to the game.

chase follows behind her over to the table where she is clearly trying her hardest to ignore him. he doesn't like that.

he comes up behind her once again and latches his arm around the front of her waist, this time pulling her uncomfortably against his chest.

"do we need to go have a talk?," he whispers into her ear, not even trying to speak low enough for only the two of them to hear.

"are we not talking right now?," she doesn't even look at him as she speaks, her eyes staying focused on the game in front of her.

chase sighs before saying lowly, "excuse yourself and meet me upstairs." samirah immediately recognizes the shift in the tone of his voice as he detaches himself from her and walks off.

her jaw ticks and her eyes shift to focus on nothing in particular, thinking. here she was joking and having fun, not even five minutes prior. but of course chase always had to make something out of nothing and she was tired of it.

"samirah," her best friend's voice brings her out of her thoughts. the expression on vinnie's face made it apparent that he was all too aware of the conversation that had just went down between her and chase, despite how they tried to hide it.

she looks at vinnie as he gives her a look that she can translate without words.

you don't have to go with him.

samirah gave him a small, falsely reassuring smile before turning and making her way through the crowded party and upstairs to meet chase.

***
a/n: so sorry this took forever. i didn't
know if i wanted to post it or not cuz i
wasn't sure if this was a direction i
wanted the book to go ....
after about 6 months of thinking, it is.

started: nov 23 2022
finished: feb 2023?
published: oct 28 2023