𝟗-𝟓
"..𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧' 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮..."
𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡..
Imani Lewis is forced back into a messy relationship when she gets paired with Samaj Ortiz for a...
The shrill sound of an alarm caused Imani to let out a low groan. Patting the bed she reached to grab her phone. After her eyes adjusted to the bright screen, she immediately hit the snooze button and tossed her phone to the side. She rolled back over to her welcoming, cool, pillow only to shut her eyes for a few more minutes until the alarm went off again. She repeated this process a few more times before she had enough."Fine! I'm up." This time as she went to click the snooze button she took a quick glance up at the time on her screen. Wait 6:40 am? "SHIT" She sprung out of the bed, tumbling in the process, and raced to her bathroom. As she was hurriedly brushing her teeth she heard the faint sound of a car pulling up in her driveway.
Imani laid her edges as fast as she could and tied her fresh braids in a messy bun, trying her best not to delay Connie and Annia waiting outside in the car. The brown skin girl spent her weekend dodging Samaj's calls and leaving him on read, while at the same fighting the thoughts of him swarming her brain. Unfortunately for Imani, avoiding the man at school would deem nearly impossible. But today was a very crucial day for the both of them. They had to turn in their son Manman, and hopefully receive a passing score for his care. She switched off the bathroom lights, threw on her favorite Aeropostale tracksuit, and packed all of Manman's baby supplies. Luckily for her, he had shut off earlier in the morning so she didn't have to worry about caring for him any longer. Imani put on some slides, picked up her backpack, and Manman's carrier, and made her way out the house.
She opened Annia's car door and hopped in the back seat, setting down the baby and all her things with a sigh of relief. Damn I really need a car, she thought letting out a sigh. "Hey boo what took you so long?" Annia asked as she looked at her through the rear view mirror. "Yoo you got my nephew with you too." Connie said taking a large bite out of his breakfast burrito. "I snoozed my alarm a lil too many times." Imani replied, making the yikes face. Annia and Connie both snickered, and went back to the conversation they were having before Imani entered the car.
☆
Imani tried her best to juggle the weight of Manman, and her backpack as she made her way through the long halls of the school. What made it even worse was that she still had to make it through science class, with that bitch Crystal, first block. Even though she was desperate to turn in the baby in her second block. she was not mentally prepared see Samaj again. The thought made all the butterflies in her stomach flutter around an embarrassing amount. Imani still had every right to be mad at him, how could he say he loved her but had Nadia lying on his chest, then try to deny it even happened. Her thoughts consumed her as she walked, so much so that she stopped paying attention to what route she was supposed to be on. She came fast around the corner and ran smack into someones hard chest with an "ouch".
The brown-skin girl rubbed the pain out of her nose and looked up to the culprit to apologize. Those familiar deep brown eyes pierced hers the second she made eye contact. "Shii my bad Mani, you good?" He said in a low voice, rubbing the spot where she had run into him. "I'm fine." Imani rolled her eyes and made an attempt to step around him, only for it to be thwarted as he stepped in the same direction. "Listen we need to talk." Imani twisted her face up when Maj reached to grab her arm. "There's nothing to talk about so move." Imani's tone was cold and blunt as she willed herself to not give in to his pleas. "No Imani." She could tell Samaj was not going to let this go, but she was not having it. "Move nigga you're in my way." With that she shoulder checked him and walked down the hallway not looking back.
☆
Somehow she survived her first block and now it was time for home ec. After the little incident with Maj in the hall, she was dreading walking through the door. Mani took a quick peek through the glass to see if he was already in there and to no surprise he wasn't. That boy never comes to class on time, she thought before shaking her head and reaching for the door. Finally mustering up the strength to walk in, she greeted Mr. Marino, and strolled over to the counter where all the carriers rested. Imani placed Manman's carrier onto the counter before blowing him a goodbye kiss.
When she turned around to head over to her seat, she saw Samaj walk in the room in the corner of her eye. She let out a deep sigh, and walked over to their shared desk to sit down. The tan boy took his time as he gradually made his way over to his seat next to her, dapping up friends along the way. When he finally sat down Imani made no attempt to say anything to him. She heard him let out a breath before speaking, "Why you keep dodging me and avoiding my calls?" She turned her body to face him realizing the ignoring game was over. "Samaj the project is over I don't need to speak to you anymore." The boy next to her let out a scoff of disbelief after taking in her words. "The fuck is that supposed to mean you were just chilling on Saturday?"
Imani opened her mouth to speak only to be interrupted by their teachers booming voice. "Great job taking care of the babies guys, your final scores will be emailed to you by tomorrow!" Mr. Mariano spoke with a large smile on his aged face. "Take today to catch up on any other work for your class but don't get too loud in here." The class erupted into chatter and Imani could hear Connie's distinct laugh coming from the back of the classroom. "Imani stop ignoring me mami." She turned her focus back on Samaj who had a creased brow and a look of desperation. "Maj I'm not gonna do this with you anymore you have Nadia for this shit." That name brought distasteful memories to both parties. "Yeah, don't think I forgot." Imani said trying to keep her voice steady so she wouldn't cause a scene. She began to realize just how much she was still effected by how things ended with them, and that thought alone made her even more upset.
"You know what, Samaj, just stop talking to me. 'Cause you 'bout to piss me the fuck off." Ignoring the heavy stare Samaj was giving her, she got up to go sit with Connie and without sparing him another glance.
☆
-
We're (kinda) back on our weekly update schedule!!! The editor and I are working extra hard to get these chapters out as quickly as we can. We hope to have this book fully completed by at least the summer so get excited! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and continue to vote and comment. Lots of love, later guysss.
