𝟗-𝟓.

𝟗-𝟓 ²

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢 "𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢" 𝐋𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐬
                     📍𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐠𝐨, 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬
                                                      𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠..
ᵖᵉᵃᶜᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵐⁱⁿᵈ, ᵖᵃʳᵗʸⁿᵉˣᵗᵈᵒᵒʳ

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓

   𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈 sighed out of slight annoyance, aggravated at how her day was going. There were around thirty-ish people in that class and with just her luck she got the most inconvenient partner. Samaj and Imani had history, if you could even call it that, and since they didn't necessarily end on great terms she was sure this project was going to be extremely awkward.

The brown-skinned girl could hear a deep sigh somewhere further back in the classroom and she could tell just who it came from. Fuck is this nigga mad for? He actin like I did him wrong.. she thought whilst rolling her eyes. As the class erupted into chatter, moving to sit with their new partners, Imani reluctantly started packing her things getting ready to walk over to Samaj's table. Before she could even finish packing up her things she heard a chair screech and some shuffling coming from beside her.

She looked to her left and instantly her eyes connected with his deep brown ones. After a second or two, she looked away and began unpacking her things. She heard him clear his through quietly before he began talking. "You look mad good.." he dragged and she rolled her eyes. There is no way I'm making it through this she had thought before looking around the classroom for the teacher. Whilst glancing around the room, her eyes fell on the bolded words written across the whiteboard. NO PARTNER SWAPPING IS PROHIBITED FOR THIS ACTIVITY. The girl visibly deflated, slouching back into her seat.

Realizing she had yet to respond to his comment, the girl looked over at him once more. Seeing he had turned his attention to the rubric in front of him, she took the time to fully observe his appearance. Sure she had seen him during class changes and a few times at basketball games, but she had never really paid any attention to him. Her eyes trailed down his face catching sight of his perfectly shaped eyebrows and long wispy lashes. She took note of how his face had gotten slimmer over the years and his hair had grown out a bit. His style had also adapted and it seemed as if he had grown a few inches. He had definitely changed. Physically.

Imani eventually looked away, not wanted to get caught gazing at him, and began to also observe the rubric provided to them. Imani could only assume Samaj had grown uneasy at the silence because began shifting in his seat and kept glancing at her as if he had something to say.

"Waddup Mani" he finally uttered, maneuvering his head a bit to try and catch her gaze. She gave him a one over and turned back to look at her notebook. "Damn it's like that shorty? Aight" she felt her tense body loosen at his playful tone. It had felt comfortable, familiar.

"Hey Maj" she spoke making Samaj slightly smile, his deep dimples popping out, before he walked off to go grab any extra paperwork they needed. Imani sighed, she was definitely aware she needed to talk to him since there was no switching partners, but she still felt unsettled about how they ended things making her even more uncomfortable about the situation than need be.

Eventually Samaj plopped back into his seat next to her, gently placing the papers on the desk so he could stuff his hands back in his pockets. Mr. Mariano began reading over the rubric so all of the class could fully comprehend it. "You and your partner will raise this babydoll like an actual child. You will feed it, name it, change diapers, and overall spend time with it."

Imani tuned out the teacher as words spilled from his mouth. She glanced around the classroom and stifled a laugh as she noticed
Lay-lay whining about not being paired with Connie's whilst he was struggling to contain his grin. Eventually she got bored of people watching so she pushed her headphones back over her ears and clicked her school playlist.

At some point in the packet Maj must've needed her to actually start working with him, so he turned to her to gain her attention. However, instead of tapping her or calling out to her he decided to grab her thigh and gently shake it. Imani flinched, her eyes opening with the quickness, and slapped his hand away.

She mugged the boy hard while he stifled a laugh. "Fuck is funny?" She said balling her face up. "Nun" he replied and turned away from her. She gave him a one over before turning her head as well, not missing his dimples showing as a sign of his amusement.

-write both parents names down
-name your robot baby
-use the chart to track your care of the baby

"Listen, Mani, I know I fucked up but you're stuck with me so.." She sighed knowing that if she doesn't cooperate her grade will drop and lord knows her mother wouldn't be pleased. "Okay, we need a name for this thing first." She replied, reluctantly. Samaj, in turn, furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought. Suddenly he burst out laughing and grinned once he controlled himself. "We're naming it ManMan."

Imani rolled her eyes, clearly he had lost his mind there was no way Mr. Mariano wouldn't let that slide. But Imani knew how stubborn the boy could be so she didn't argue with him over it. "Aight well Manman staying with you tonight" Samaj mugged her. "Why he gotta stay with me first?" "Because I said so, fuck?" She replied, kissing her teeth. And with that the bell rang so she packed her things and left.

Imani made a beeline straight to Connie, where he was being cussed out by Lay-Lay. "Shorty I don't know how many times I gotta tell you but we ain't together, aight?" Connie looked ready to jump off a bridge to get away from the girl. Taking pity on him Imani stepped in. "Yo Constance your mom called me saying you're getting your ass beat if you don't get home right now."

With his attention now on Imani he gave one last look to Lay-Lay and walked right past her falling in sync with Imani walking out the school. "Mani you never had to say allat" Imani scoffed. "Shutcho ass up Connie, damn" Connie laughed and held his hands up in surrender.

☆

As soon as Imani stepped foot in her home she went placed her bag down and went straight to her couch, not wanting to dirty up her bed with outside clothes. Today drained me the girl thought, laughing to herself at her own joke. The curly haired girl slouched back and scrolled on her feed for entertainment. Before she knew it her eyes were already shut and light snores came from her mouth.

When Imani awoke she felt completely refreshed, she reached over for her phone to check the time before she did her nightly routine. All the tranquility left her body as she read the latest notification on her screen. Maybe: Maj

☆

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Hi guys! Thanks so much for reading this chapter we appreciate all of you sm for getting us to almost 100 reads!!

I'm also pretty sure the outfit didn't show up last chapter but hopefully it shows up for this one .

- Storyfiles