Turnover

28

The Ballroom D was an empty huge room filled with chairs , red carpets , glowing chandeliers and Aziah's revelation which had a huge impact on Kesi's mood as she sat to process what her friend had just told her.

Her best friend.

"Kesi I've decided to drop out of college."

"Aziah , what? Are you crazy?"

"No I'm hired , Kesi I've been signed to a label and I got offered a role in a new horror film. This is my dream Kes, I jumped on it."

Aziah's face was bright with excitement which turned Kesi's mind , this must have been one of the best nights of Aziah's life , her boyfriend just got drafted and the stardom she'd always wanted was coming to her but Kesi was still uneasy , what would she have to fall back on?

She'd had conflicting feelings on following Brandon and now this , at least she was still in school , her friend was forgetting all that shit.

"Aziah , I'm happy for you but what if this doesn't work out?"

"I'm not thinking like that Kesi because it will , I know it will."

"Aziah , are you sure you're ready to take all this on?"

Aziah stepped back , folding her arms and gave a soft glare at her best friend , what did that mean? Did Kesi not think she was talented enough? It was one thing for her to basically ignore her for Brandon since he came in the picture but it was completely something else for her to be this skeptical of something she knew Aziah had always wanted.

She could always go back to college but this was her one chance at being the star she'd always dreamed of being and she was taking it, with or without Kesi's support.

"Yes." Aziah replied tersely , she couldn't believe Kesi was doing this , Kesi had all her wishes come true, everything she wanted , Brandon , the grades , the family , why couldn't Aziah be happy for a change?

"Azi you know I'm happy for you , I know this is what you want with your life but.."

"But nothing , just be happy for me Kesi , damnit , can you at least pretend that you support me even if you don't?"

Kesi stood up and reached for Aziah's shoulder but Aziah shrugged her off.

"Aziah you know I support you , it's just you've been through a lot , in a short time , picked yourself up and moved on too quickly. You're making a lot of big decisions and I just want to make sure you're mentally equipped to deal with it , that you're not forcing yourself to be okay when you're not."

Aziah smiled wryly , shaking her head slowly she got up and walked to the door.

"I'm fine , the only thing I'm forcing myself to do is try to understand why my best friend hasn't been the best for a while."

Kesi's jaw dropped , where the fuck had that come from? She cared about Aziah , if she didn't she wouldn't have shit to say on the matter but at the end of the day she did want Aziah to be happy,.

However, she also wanted her to be sensible.

"Aziah I love you , you're my best friend , that's a big risk and you have to see that."

"Yeah well so is you chasing Brandon , matter of fact your choice is even more impractical , you were doing just fine at Duke , in fact it's a better school than UCLA but you're still going."

It stung, settled in Kesi's chest, sat, sparked and then fizzled out. All her insecurities were tossed around the room , she couldn't believe Aziah had been the one to spill them , this wasn't her best friend. This wasn't the girls she had hundreds of sleepovers with , consoled , cried with and had endless inside jokes. This wasn't the girl she thought would be in her life forever , fuck Derryck for whatever he did to her , she hadn't been the same since and sadly, would she ever be?