[Highest ranking: #72 in General Fiction]
Spring semester is here!
Classes are back in session but will the girls be able to handle the struggle or will they get taken down like 'hay fever'?
College wasn't easy before but throw in a proposal, newbo...
Alyssa could feel the glare of Safiya's sepia eyes searing her cheek as they stood in the Jamba Juice line that snaked around three small white tables, which were occupied by a chatty group of teens.
The smoothie shop was the beneficiary of a steady influx of customers from the speed cycling gym two doors down and the boutiques lining the promenade. Alyssa was overjoyed for two reasons. The first was the amalgamation of lemon, banana, and strawberry swirled in the cool air quelling the body odor of the sweaty men standing in front of them, and secondly, was the news Laurent gave her about her arrest.
"So, Lyssa what's going to be your celebratory smoothie?" Safiya inquired slowly rolling the strolled back and forth to soothe a fussy Ameera into her noon nap. "An Orange Dream Machine or Mango-A-Go-Go."
The corner of Alyssa's mouth quirked up from the last option as she looked up at the menu board. "Well, since I won't be going to jail..." she tapped her finger on her chin as the whirl of the blend mixed a vibrant yellow concoction. "I'll think I'll get a Banana Berry."
"Really." Safiya squawked tilting her head towards Alyssa. "There's nothing celebratory about banana berry." She uttered the words drably. "You get that every time."
Alyssa tsked as the line moved up, "Then what are you getting it better not be a Pomegranate Paradise."
"I..." Safiya started as she dramatically placed her hand on her chest, "Am getting an Aloha Paradise since I can't be in Corpus Christi on the beach I might as well have the beach in my mouth."
Safiya's last words prompted the gorilla-backed man in front of them to flash her a coy smirk.
"What?" Safiya chirped with a scrunched forehead.
"Turn around." Alyssa snarked. "Our lives suck, right now." She combed her hair to one side of her face—her Betsy Johnson crown earrings catching the sunlight blazing through the glass.
Safiya let out a faint huff as Alyssa continued, "I was arrested and to find money that I don't have to pay off a fine."
"Just ask your parents for the $500."
Alyssa gawked at Safiya for a beat then moved up with the line, "Just ask my parents." Safiya nodded. "Then I'd have to tell them that their beloved daughter has a class C Misdemeanor." She shook her head.
"Just tell 'em." Safiya licked her lips at the creamy chocolate smoothie being handed to a brightly dressed woman at the counter. "I'm sure they'll understand."
"Are you for real, right now?" Alyssa folded her arms as she angled her body towards her friend, "Telling me to be honest with my parents when you haven't told yours you sired a human."
"Sired." Safiya chuckled. "First, your Vampire Diaries privileges are revoked and my parents are pulpit snobs. They will not understand or be accepting...they're not like yawls parents. They're strict and having a baby out of wedlock...." She took in a deep breath. "They'll dub me Hester Prynne."
Alyssa sighed as she overheard the gorilla-backed man ordering a protein boost in his smoothie as the voice of a ninety's pop queen spill from the speaker overhead. "I think I might go to this support group on campus. What do you think?" She held her neck feeling the pulsing of her jugular vein under her thumb. Detective Jensen's words sipped into her psyche after she settled in bed.
"Well, you can talk to me...I support you but..." Safiya tapped Alyssa's shoulder. "If you need to talk to someone that's been through what you're going through...do it."
Alyssa stopped nibbling on her lip, "It doesn't make me seem weak." Her chestnut eyes brimmed with hurt and pain.
"Alyssa Sasaki." Safiya locked arms with her friend, "There's nothing remotely weak about you, and doing what you have to do to get your life back is more close to courage if you ask me."
"Oh my gosh." Alyssa's mouth twisted into a snarl. "Are we getting along?"
Safiya released Alyssa's arm like it was a soiled diaper, "For the moment, it seems."
"Next in line." The girl behind the register called and Alyssa stepped up.
"I'll have a Caribbean Passion." Alyssa told the brushing her eyebrows up at Safiya, "Is that celebratory for ya?"
Safiya nodded with a grin.
Should Alyssa go to the campus Support Group?
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