Just Friends

Chapter 2 ~ Exams

When I found out that if you don't have an exam the day everybody else does, you don't have to come to school, I got really excited. I started making plans with Lupita and Maia in hopes we could all hang out. For me it's easy to go places, not easy as in, "Hey mom, can I go to a party?" (cause that answer's usually no), I mean easy as in I live close to everything and I love exercise. Lupita lives one street over from the school; so all i'd have to do is walk there from my house (which is only like six minutes), or take the bus to school and walk there from the school. I chose the second option after I asked my mom. Maia decided she could come too.

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I was two houses away from Lupita's and talking to Maia as we were walking when she asked me something that caught me off guard.

She said "Nora.. do you love Lucas? Cause I thought you and Shamon were kind of cute together"

I instantly replied with "No, I don't love him, I can't love him. He cheated on me. It hurt Maia, and to be honest I kind of miss Shamon, but I don't know what you meant by 'cute' when literally all we did was sit at my house and watch tv.."

"Yea but, didn't his family take you to Richmond?"

" I mean yea.. to Dave and Buster's, it was fun and everything.. I mean, I just don't know" Thoughts of Shamon flooded my mind.. How we were in the back of the car just singing and laughing. It was the perfect day. I remembered how him and his brother were singing "Latch" by Disclosure and he reached a note he couldn't hit. I was laying down in his lap and he was drawing and I didn't think anything could make the moment more perfect, then he kissed me. Shamon had been my first kiss a couple months before at my church. I don't know why but I always pulled away when he kissed me. Kissing made me uncomfortable, I always loved the thought of it, and I loved doing it. But, I didn't find that out till my sophomore year.

Before I knew it I was walking upstairs to Lupita's bedroom with Maia. She was laying on her bed with her phone over her head looking through Facebook.

"Hey bitches!" she jumped up.

"Um. I don't know who you're calling a bitch." Maia retaliated. It wasn't in a hateful way, that's just the way we all joke around. It's like we speak another language that nobody else can fathom.

"Hey Lupita," I replied. "Aren't you glad that we didn't have to go to school today?"

"Shut up Elizabeth.." Maia said.

I looked over at Lupita's flat iron, which was already heated, and said "Is that for me?"

"Yea, sit down and take out your hair."

I did what she said and I started brushing it out. Lupita always fixes me and makes me beautiful when I come over. She straightens my hair so much you'd think I was a white girl. Well, I mean.. Technically I am but, you can't leave out the fact that I'm also black and Mexican as well.

Thirty minutes pass by, and we're done with spraying perfume, and covering our noses from the smell of my hair burning, She moves on to makeup. She starts off with putting foundation on that's almost a little too light for my caramel complexion. I close my eyes and wait for her to be done, I go back to thinking of Shamon and the relationship we could've had. I started to tear up so I decided not to think about him anymore for the rest of the day.

After we were done admiring how much makeup fixes me, we started to take pictures, we do that every time we come over.

"Can we go eat now? I'm hungry." Maia started to whine.

"LaCaretta?" I asked. We eat there every time, that's our favorite mexican place, plus it's right down the street and cheaper than Taco Bell. Usually It's either me or Lupita who pays. We don't really establish it at the house it just usually who takes out their money first.