New Heights (ONGOING)

• 9 •

"Yes he's still here. And no he does not need to know that you said hi mother." I heard.

I chuckled to myself at Athena's failed attempt to whisper while she ran out of the bathroom.

Not wanting to just stand there, I turned to throw away the paper towel I'd used to dry my hands then stood up straight, looking at my reflection in the mirror. I ran a hand over my head as flashes of what just went down rushed through my mind making me inhale deeply and release a long sigh.

"Cálmate" I muttered to myself. (calm)

I need to get a grip. The last thing I want to do is scare her away when she's just starting to warm up to me more. And I definitely don't want her feeling uncomfortable when I'm with her.

It wasn't a lie though.

She is beautiful and I don't regret what I said.
I just gotta be careful. I've learned her enough to know that when she starts feeling overwhelmed she runs.

I gotta take this slow.

"Despacio, Phoenix. Despacio." I mumbled under my breath.

After taking those few seconds to gather my self and senses, I turned off the light and made my way back up front. Taking a seat on her couch, I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through some of the unread notifications I'd received since being here.

2h ago: "Where u at bruh???"
2h ago:"The team lookin for u Phoenix"

2h ago:" Imma just tell all of em u sick atp."

1h ago: "Mane don't tell me u were actually serious bout not comin out..."

I read through the messages, seeing that they were all from the same person.

Lamar.

We been boys since we were kids. We've gotten so close over the years that I honestly consider him a brother.

When I first moved to Georgia he was the only one I talked to. Granted, I didn't really do much talking.

I've never been the type to initiate conversations with people if it wasn't absolutely necessary. It's just not how I am.

But Lamar was in majority of my classes and we could never seem to avoid each other. Especially after school, seeing as we had the same interests outside of the classroom.

No matter what we were doing he'd always find a way to make a joke about it. He'd say something completely off the walls, low enough so only I was able to hear it and I could never hold back from laughing.

We got so many funny stories together from our school days and they all end the same: we get thrown out of class and laugh about it all the way to the principal's office.

I've never been naive enough to picture myself going to the same college as my childhood friends, but somehow we managed to stick close and make it this far together. Nothing changing except our height, voices, and us learning to pay more attention in class now.

Not bothering to text back I locked my phone, returning it to my pocket as I made myself a bit more comfortable on the couch.

As my head rested back, my mind began to wander.

"Bruh I'm so serious. I got up and immediately had to sit back down. I was on that toilet so long I couldn't tell my ass from my legs. Everything was numb mane." Lamar said making me laugh harder at the story he was telling.

"You laughing, but I'm so serious. See you ain't never had food poisoning before and it shows. I missed three days of class. I was sleeping on the TOILET while holding a bucket nigga! You ever had to sleep on a toilet AND over a bucket bruh?" He asked, seriousness evident in his eyes. It still wasn't enough to make the humour of the situation fade and I continued chuckling as I shook my head.