Complicated

22. Flashbacks.

1. Courtlen & Kiloni

Late April of 2012, inside the school gym. Courtlen was in the 10th grade and Kiloni was embracing freshman year. At this time, life seemed ideal. Jordan and Michelle were going strong and Jordan came home around 8 every night, sometimes even earlier to spend time with his family. Kiloni and her brother hadn't met Jake yet and Courtlen hadn't done anything along the lines of drugs or being rebellious. They were just a regular family of four in California.

At the time, their highschool was having their annual Spring dance. Everyone dressed their best to impress one another and had a good time. Luckily, the gym was nothing bad to begin with but it completely transformed. The whole room was themed with balloons and streamers along the walls and ceiling in vibrant spring colors. There were bright lights, the signature disco ball, snacks and drinks, a cool dj, everything was just perfect. It was like a downgraded prom for the better.

Since it was Kiloni's first year of highschool, she got along with alot of other kids in the same grade. Along with her good looks and being the best dressed in the moment, everyone else seemed to like her too. She had that happy glow in her face that she always has, having fun with a group of girlfriends, including Abby. (They've been friends even before this; their friendship has been going on since they were kids.) As for Courtlen, he was harmlessly hanging out with his boys, Danny and Shameik, by the snack table. Instead actually dancing and talking to girls, they tried to play it cool from standing on the wall.

The evening was wasting fast and Courtlen did nothing to really show for it besides coming in the first place. At the time, he saw Abby as a little sister figure; just like another Kiloni. The thing was he saw something else about her that he somewhat liked, more than just seeing a sister. To prevent the awkwardness, he kept that to himself. Halfway through the dance, a group of boys walked into the gym. There was alot of people in the gym to begin with but they surely made a big entrance and everyone noticed. They all looked thuggish yet cool and somewhat questionable; some of them looked way too old to be in highschool but majority of the kids were like that anyways. As the group walked in, they walked together behind a boy as he was their leader. That leader was Jake.

They walked to the other side of the gym, to the snack table and the other boys, dodging the dancing teenagers. By accident, Jake bumped into Kiloni and her friends. "Oh shoot, sorry!" she innocently apologized. Before Jake could even tell her to get out of his way, he got caught off guard by how pretty she was. The long curly hair, the red lips, she looked flawless to him. He stared at her for a second or two and she smiled back at him. "Oh um.. it's okay, it was my fault," he answered. "I'm Jake," he held out his hand. "Kiloni, but my friends call me Loni," she said, shaking his hand. "I like your name.. you're a freshman, right?"

"Yep!"

"Then how come I haven't seen your pretty face around? I mean, I'm a freshman too."

"Hm.. I dunno. I'm here all the time so you tell me, haha."

"Well, I dunno either. Maybe I should see you outside school sometime."

"So you're asking to hang out?"

"Maybe I am.. would you like to?" Kiloni blushed at the quick offer and couldn't resist his smile. "..sure!" she answered. "Cool.. I'll see you after the dance, Loni," he smirked, walking away. After he was gone, all her friends darted their eyes at Kiloni and snickered, catching her by surprise. "What?" she laughed. "Hmmmmm, look at you. Pulling cute niggas without even trying, you need to do that for me!" Abby said. Kiloni couldn't help but chuckle, "Haha, yea yea yea whatever, Abs."

Making it to the other side of the gym, the boys dapped up Jake and his clique; Courtlen just looked at them uneasy. "So you got that loud for me?" Danny asked Jake. Let it be known that Danny was one of the few white people at the school but he was also one of the ratchetest people in the whole building and everyone knew it. He was mostly loud and obnoxious in general but getting to know him, he's laid back and funny. Shameik was just a boy who kept his business to himself and only those who he trusted knew what he was really about. They were both pretty cool with Jake. "You're really asking me that?" Jake asked in an irritated tone. "My bad, bro. Lemme see." Danny added. Jake had his hands in his pockets and peeked out a bag of weed from one of them. "Wooord. Let's go light this out back!"