Spoiled Rotten {JUSTINE SKYE X KEITH POWERS}

Brand New

Evelyn
My phone vibrates as I lay in the dark on my bed. Probably one of my friends. I grab by phone and squint at the bright screen. Keith! Oh shit, he texted me!

"Hey. How are you?" Is what he said.

I sigh in disappointment, but what else did I expect? "I love you and let's be together."?? I internally accept the "Hey" as a starting point.

"I'm okay, I guess. Already homesick... how are you?"

"I'm good. Thinking about this college thing and whateva 😪." He responds.

"You havin trouble deciding??"

Sometimes, I forget that Keith is graduating and going to college.

"Nah. I know where I wanna go. Morehouse...don't tell anyone tho..."

My heart sinks down into my gut. Morehouse?! What's wrong with the schools in New York. Damn it! Despite my emotions, I text him congrats.

"That's so good, Key! 👏🏾What's the problem?"

"I'll be leaving behind my moms and the siblings. She'll be struggling on her own without me around to help."

I raise an eyebrow. Struggling by herself? I don't know much about Keith outside of school. He keeps to himself about his business.

"Oh, that must be so hard for you...You get into any schools in NY?"

"Yeah. Syracuse and Columbia."

He's a genius.

"Those are great schools too tho. But at the end of the day, follow whatever God tells you."

"Thanks sis. Enough about me, how was your trip?"

I scoff at him calling me "sis". We continue texting until like 1am before he finally texts me a friendly good night. But at least we talked and he kinda opened up to me a little. On another note, I start my new school in the morning. Great! I'm gonna shit my pants.

5 Hours Later
"Evelyn," someone shakes me awake.

I groan and bury my head under the pillows. I would rather repeat junior year then go.

"Stop that and get up. Breakfast is almost ready." My grandma says before leaving the room with the door wide open," Oh, and the water isn't working so you'll have to go fetch it from the spout outside."

What the hell?! Y'all don't understand the frustration and anger inside me. Vexed, I throw the blanket off of me and get out of bed. My grandparents' cat, Mimi, strolls into my room and hops into my bed as if to mock me.

I slide on my flip flops and make my way downstairs. The smell of the fried eggs my grandma is making hits my nose, but I frown once I spot Jerome at the kitchen table scoffing the food down his throat. We make eye contact briefly before he rolls his eyes and returns to his plate.

My grandpa sits at the table reading a newspaper. Realizing the tension, he puts the paper down and looks at us.

"Who's gonna say good morning first?" He questions.

"She's supposed to since she walked into the room." Jerome states.

My grandpa nods.

"He's right. Evelyn?"

I swallow my pride and force out a good morning. Jerome smirks in victory as he sips his juice. Bitch.

"I'm going out for water... where's the bucket?" I ask searching the kitchen with my eyes.

"Jerome, where did you put the bucket? You had it last." My grandma asks.

"It's outside the door."