My Neighborhood Love Story

Chapter 27: Let It Be Known

Serene's P-O-V

"Hey, Serene!" Aria greeted as I let her in.

I was surprised that she actually came over. She's a really nice person. She's the first person that didn't judge me by what was said about me and decided to see for herself who I am. She seems like someone that I could actually call a friend. Hm... haven't had one of those for a while. It feels good to know that I could.

"I'm so glad you're here," I said leading her to my room.

"Glad to be here."

Jalil stopped us on our way to the stairs, "Hello sister. Who's your friend?"

We stopped and turned to look at him.

"This my friend Aria. Aria, this is my big brother JaJa."

"What did I tell you about calling me that?" He complained.

"But I like that name."

"And I don't."

Aria giggled, which seemed to make him even more defensive.

He turned to her, "My name is Jalil. Word of advice, never let her introduce you to someone new. Especially if she has a nickname for you."

With that, he walked away and Aria and I burst into laughter.

"Come on, let's go to my room."

"Okay."

We got up to my room and I locked the door.

"So..." she said taking a seat on my bed.

"So..." I responded, sitting next to her.

There was so much to this Khalil story that I had to fill her in on. Where can I even begin?

"What's up?"

"Well, nothing much. I have company over, so... yeah."

"Company? No. I am more than just company, I am royalty, darling. Get it right."

We laughed, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

"But we both know why I'm here. You want to talk about it now?"

"Talk about what?" I replied pretending to not know what she was talking about.

"You know what. The Khalil situation. Don't play dumb."

"Okay, okay, alright. Khalil and I's relationship wasn't always this way."

"How so?"

"Well, before, we were the best of friends. He would come over every day and we would talk for hours. That's how it was until middle school. Eighth grade year."

"What did he do?"

"He lied. Told everyone in school that we had sex. He humiliated me, ruined my entire life."

I looked at Aria and she seemed shocked. The exact reaction I was expecting.

"But why? I mean, if you guys were such close friends, why would he do that?"

"I asked myself the same question. But he always wanted to be this popular kid. When you're a guy, being a virgin doesn't give you any cool points. I guess he just cracked under the peer pressure."

"I mean, I guess that makes sense... but it still doesn't give him a right to throw you under the bus. You want me to talk to him?"

I laughed, "No need for that. After almost four years, we talked about it. I forgave him."