When Olivia's given an ultimatum by her parents, she chooses to stay with her grandfather in South Crenshaw. And what was originally supposed to be temporary, turns into a permanent memory that will last a lifetime.
This morning I woke up to a strange text from Layla and I spend my last on gas to visit her in Beverly Hills.
When I get there, her cleaning lady lets me in and I search around the entire house before deciding to check her family's safe room. _____________
"Lay, are you in here?" I ask as I enter.
I can hear sniffles coming from the other side of the room and I walk over to see her sulking.
"What's wrong, Layla?" I ask as I grab a few tissues.
"I think Asher and I are really done this time," she cries.
"What happened now?" I ask as I hug her.
"I went to his house to talk last night and he was leaving with another girl," she tells me as welts start to form underneath her eyes.
"But I thought you were interested in the guy from the party?" I ask seriously.
"I don't want that guy! I literally had to go in my phone contacts to even remember his name," she says with slight disgust. "I just wanted to use him for some photos to make Asher act right. But how am I supposed to do that when he's entertaining other females?"
"But you called the other guy to ask him to be your date, right?" I question.
"I called but he didn't answer," she admits in frustration. "Honestly, he wasn't even worth my kiss. And he acted weird when I asked for his number. I should've just left his ass in the dust of my M8 when I had the chance."
"You kissed him and not the other way around?" I ask for reassurance and she has no clue why.
"The fireworks were going and I wanted to see if kissing him would light the spark in me that I needed to rid Asher. But that wasn't the case. I literally went to see Asher the night of the party." She says in a pouty voice.
"What about the guy from the party?" I ask in slight irritation.
"What about him?" She asks. "I mean, he was okay, but he took no initiative. If I wasn't me, I would've thought he wasn't interested. But we all know better than that! I'm too fine for him not to desire me."
She smiles a little as she wipes away more tears and I grow even more irritated by her words.
"What if he really wasn't interested in you?" I ask and she seems surprised by my response.
"Liv, what's going on with you? Why does that guy even matter?" She asks. "We're here to talk about me and Asher."
"Do you really not give a damn about how or what your selfishness may have done to him?" I ask as I think about how her matter-of-fact attitude is a big reason I made my boyfriend leave my house yesterday without even looking his way.
"Am I missing something here?" She questions. "If I recall correctly, you were the one saying I should try something new."
"I guess I was hoping you would try to make a real connection with someone first, Layla! Not kiss the first guy you see and essentially disrupt what I'm building in Crenshaw." I blurt out and I can see the confusion on her face.
"What are you talking about, Liv?"
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"The guy you care nothing about is the only guy I've cared about for weeks. And to hear you belittle the moment you shared with him, surprisingly, hurts more than knowing you kissed him to begin with."
"Spencer is the guy from Crenshaw?" She asks in pure disbelief as her hand covers her mouth. "I had no idea, Olivia! I'm so sorry!"
Tears roll down my face while she embraces me as the tables turn very quickly and I'm the one who needs to be consoled.
"He's not just the guy from Crenshaw, Lay. I believe he's my person! And I've been living for every moment we share."
"I would never purposely hurt you," she promises me and I believe her. But it still stings.
"I know—- it's just this whole thing is crazy," I whisper and she hugs me tighter.
"It's no wonder his ass wasn't into me or that eighth grade caliber kiss we had," she says as she grabs both side of my face and forces me to see her. "He literally has the baddest chick in all of California in you! And if he ever forgets that, he has to deal with the wrath of your best friend."
I know she's trying to make me feel better. And I appreciate it. But there's so many layers to this that makes me unsure of what to think or do.
"How are you so sure he wasn't into you? I mean, he did give you his number!"
"Liv, he made no effort to take my number. And when I suggested he put it in my phone, he didn't seem all that enthused to take it," she reassures me and I guess that makes me feel a little better. "I mean, had I not been pissed at Asher, that night would've gone absolutely nowhere with him. And I'm pretty sure he would've been just fine with that!"
My friend is very vein. So the fact that she's telling me a guy wasn't interested in her, with so much humility, means the world to me right now.
"Really?" I ask as I try to think about what I want to do about this whole situation. "I mean, that's all good to know but he still knew about this for a week and didn't tell me!"
"That's definitely messed up! I won't lie. But I wouldn't write him off because he was afraid of damaging what you two have," she says to me. "I mean, I can't imagine having to tell the person I really like anything remotely close to this."
"You mean Asher wouldn't totally understand if you kissed JJ?" I joke and she pretends to gag.
"Look Liv, I'm all the way 'Team You' in this situation. And whatever you choose to do, I'm riding with you. But please don't allow my bullshit with Asher to be the reason you don't go after what you want. And from what I can tell, Spencer is who you want!"
I smile because she knows just what I needed to hear in this moment. And I'm so lucky to call her my best friend, despite the mess she has me in.
"He asked me to wear his jersey to his game today. And before I came over here, I had totally decided I'm not going to his game at all." I admit. "The way we left things off last night was atrocious and I don't want him focused on me in the stands when he should just be focused on playing."
I wait for my best friend to give her opinion, as she often does. But that never comes.
Instead, she runs out of the safe room and leaves me for about ten minutes.
When she returns, she has a bag of popcorn, a blanket, and our favorite chocolate in her hands.
"I don't know what time his game is. It's early. And you very well may change your mind about not going. But I meant it when I said I am 'Team You', so my plan is to be right here for whatever you decide to do."
She plops down beside me and puts on my favorite YouTube channel before breaking our favorite chocolate bar in half and sharing it with me.
I smile and lay my head on my best friend's shoulder as my mind goes directly to Spencer and his game.
