KING
...
Once homecoming had come and gone, the rest of the semester seemed to fly by. It was already the day before Halloween, and while midterms were rapidly approaching, no one was worried about studying.
"You going to the-"
"Shh!" I heard before I was even able to step out of my room fully. I thought I was stepping out to converse with my room mate, but as usual, it was Siena in my living room while her bestie was in the other room getting bombed.
"Why are you always here?" I joked, but she put her head down to look at her textbook.
"Sorrry. Gia doesn't like to come alone and drags me. I was trying not to disturb or-"
"I was just joking, Si. You're not bothering me." I assured and noticed her force a smile. She had been a bit standoffish since my party and I was trying to figure out if I had done something to her.
My lips blurted my thoughts against my will and I found myself asking her "did I do something to you?"
"What? No! No" She assured. "No."
"So what's going on?"
"Nothing. What are you talking about? I'm just stressed about this math test." She told me half truthfully.
I scooped up the book and her notebook and took them into my room waiting for her to follow.
"I'll help you after we talk."
She awkwardly entered and took the seat at my desk while I stood, towering over her. Now in private, I could get to the bottom of things without the thought of others in my conversation.
"Why you been acting distant again? I thought we were good?"
"We are good. I've just been dealing with a lot since me and Malik broke up and trying to get ready for midterms." She told me, fidgeting with her hands and trying to avoid my eye contact.
I squatted beside her to make sure we were eye level and waited for her to look my way before speaking. "You know you can't lie to me."
She didn't even try to speak. Only looked at me, knowing that I was right.
"I just feel bad," she finally admitted.
"See, here we go." I smiled, pinching her cheek while she rolled her eyes and tried to hide her own. "What you feel bad about?"
"I came at you wrong. I shouldn't have accused you or even thought you did something like that."
"If I told you I wasn't tripping on that, why are you? There was nothing abnormal about what you did and you know I understand that. Why you keep acting like you don't know me. I'm starting to feel insulted."
"No it's not that. I just blamed you instead of thanking you for making sure I was good that night. So, thank you."
"You're welcome. Now stop being weird." I told her, picking up her notebook to look over her notes. "You're struggling with freshman algebra Siena? Really?"
Her face flushed red as she snatched the book out of my hands. "You know I'm bad in math."
"Then stop being stubborn and ask for help." I suggested, snatching the book back.
She stared up at me and blinked while I waited, trying to suppress the smirk that began to tug at my lips. It was funny that not much about her had changed since high school. She was still as stubborn as they came and wouldn't ever ask for help.
"You're really going to make me ask?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"You know I am."
"Fine. I need help, Kingston. Can you help me please?"
