Loving Knight: Book One of the Cresswell Series (COMPLETED)

31. ALIYAH

"Aliyaaaah. Get up."

I groan and swat away Kira's hands as she shakes me. "Stop it. Go away."

"Aliyah, come on." She shakes me again. "You gotta get up."

I swat her hands away again. "Leave me alone. I don't wanna get up." I start to drift off back to sleep when I feel something hit me, making me jump up. "Ow! Kira!"

Kira puts the pillow down on my bed. "Sorry, but I told you to get up."

"You didn't have to hit me."

"Maybe if you had listened to me, I wouldn't have had to hit you."

I groan again, removing the covers from off of me before getting out of bed. "You're lucky I don't have the energy to hit you back."

"You do know what today is, right?"

"Yeah, it's Friday," I say. "And we don't have any classes today, so I don't know why you woke me up so early."

"Girl, it's homecoming!" Kira exclaims.

I run a hand through my hair. "Shit, I forgot."

"How could you forget? Everyone's been talking about today basically for the whole week."

I grab my phone, switching it up. "I gotta be at practice in an hour."
"You don't seem so happy," Kira says. "You're literally performing at your first homecoming game."

I go over to my dresser, a plain black t-shirt and tights. "I guess with everything that's happened, I completely forgot."

"Well, you need to cheer up and put a smile on your face. And you also need to get some food in you. I'm not letting you go to practice on an empty stomach."

"Yeah, you're right," I say, changing my clothes. "I need all the energy I can get, especially for this performance tonight."

"And you know I can't wait to see you-" A knock at the door cuts Kira off. "Who could that be?"

I shrug. "I don't know. You weren't expecting anybody, were you?"

"Nope. You?"

I shake my head. "No."

Kira goes over to the door and opens it, letting out a scoff at the sight of the person she sees on the other side. "What're you doing here?"

"Kira, please. I just need to talk to Aliyah."

I turn at the sound of Jennie's voice.

Kira crosses her arms. "I highly doubt that Aliyah would want to talk to you of all people, or would even want to see you at that."

"Kira-"

"It's fine, Kira," I say. "I'll meet you down at the cafeteria."

"Alright. I'll see you down there." Kira gives Jennie one final glare before exiting the room, closing the door behind her.

The room was filled with a tense and awkward silence until Jennie spoke. "Thanks...for not telling me to leave and letting me talk to you."

"What could you possibly want to talk to me about?"

"Look. I just came here to say that I'm sorry."

"And what exactly are you sorry for?" I ask. "Lying to me? Sleeping with Deion behind my back? Pretending to be my best friend this whole time?"

"For everything," says Jennie. "I'm sorry for everything. And I know it doesn't mean a lot, but I really am. But...I'm not sorry that I slept with Deion."