𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞.

Thirty-eight: Stranger.

I think we may be in a different book, on a different page. You said you were different but you're the same, stranger..

Jhené Aiko: Stranger.

Chyna and Cimani sat on the roof of their high school, both of their legs dangling off of the edge. Cimani was afraid of heights, but her best friend was dying of cancer and all of her fears seem to have diminished—being that she was face to face with death on multiple occasions.

The wind blew, yet neither of the girls felt cold. They both felt warm. Being with each other, in each others embrace was enough for both of them.

"You ever think about.. love?" Chyna questioned.

Cimani cocked her head to the side, not fully deciphering the question Chyna was asking. "What do you mean?"

"You know..a husband, a family. A white picket fence, I don't know.. maybe a dog?"

Looking up at the sky, Cimani took one of her blue raspberry sour straws and popped it in her mouth. "Honestly.. no. Not even with Jared, I love him but he's just not some one I can see myself building a family with. He's a good boyfriend but hypothetically speaking? He wouldn't make a great father.. or husband."

Chyna laughed, crossing her arms over her shoulders. "Then why are you with him Cimani? If you see no future with this man then maybe it's time to leave him. You see me, I wasted most of my teenage years on a boy who left me as soon as I got diagnosed. The same boy I snuck into my aunts house even though she said she didn't want him there; I risked my home for him, all because he had nowhere to go. And he left me, with no remorse. Dont let Jared get in the way of you finding your husband."

Cimani smiled, intertwining Chyna's hand with hers. Her eyes started to water, and she peered down at the passing cars. "You're right Chyna, but it's hard.. it's so hard for me to detach from a person I love. Once my heart is involved my love sees no limits, I want to branch off from Jared so bad, but I'm scared."

"Scared of what Ci?"

Shrugging, Cimani tucked her bottom lip in between her teeth. "I don't know, I guess I'm scared of getting attached to the wrong person again."

Smiling, Chyna squeezed Cimani's hand. "Well.. did you?"

Cimani's face scrunched up, her eyebrows raising. "What you mean?"

"I know all about Ezriah, your new boyfriend. You did it Ci, you moved on from Jared. I always knew you'd find better than him. Im up here, but I'm also down there." Chyna spoke, Pointing down at the passing cars, and people as they sat all the way at the top of a 15 story building.