muse; nasir jones

four ➢ acceptance letter(s)

february 23, 1993

nas tapped his fingers against the textbook in his lap before his guidance counselor sighed loudly.

"nasir" mrs. carter narrowed her eyes at the young man that sat in front of her with slanted eyes.

"yes" his low eyes and sarcastic tone wasn't the best for his case.

"cut the bull" she gave him a pointed look, "before i put you out of my office"

"alright" he fixed his posture and attempted to appear sober, "what you call me out of class for? what i do this time-?"

"where you going to school?" she pulled out a short pile of envelopes with various universities on them.

"mrs. carter you know-"

"nas, don't start with me. you got a lot going on, i know, but you got too much potential to just stop here. now i'm not saying you need to go across the country..." she smiled softly and her words were laced with sympathy.

he dropped the scowl on his face and softened his gaze. mrs. carter had been protecting him since his sophomore year - letting him take naps in her office when she left for lunch, making him sandwiches sometimes, keeping his favorite candy bars in the top drawer behind her desk and so on. all he had to do was go to class and keep his grades up. she'd helped him with applying to schools, but he didn't think much about that.

he and clif had music plans - he'd stay behind the scenes as long as the paper rolled in and clif could spit. college was a waste for him; he was tired of wasting days in a classroom when you could be working on art. in that way he was like his father; being so passionate about music. school had never been a thing for him; he got the grades because he had to. plus the new york scene was hot - he could make a name for himself and getting paid while he was young. he didn't want to be 25 making his first million.

"these acceptance letters?" nas gestured towards the pile in front of him.

"yeah. in state" mrs. carter bit the inside of her cheek trying to hide a smile.

"there's more?" nas' eyebrows joined together in the center of his forehead.

"yes, but i'm not letting you go to no HBCU unless you going to Jackson State" she wiggles her eyebrows, "you did get something from them and of course i got that conn-"

"mrs. carter stop recruiting me. how many clif get?" nas looked through the pile with a faint smile. he didn't think all these schools would want him - yeah he had decent steady grades, but his attendance was terrible - plus he couldn't get any recommendations from his teachers.

"you know i can't tell you - he'll tell you himself" she returned the look he gave before she pointed him towards her door.

"y'all both are going to be thanking me later. make sure he make it to my office before y'all dip" she gave him a pointed look causing him to chuckle.

"i will mrs.carter."

"and open them before the week is over. we need to be set on a school soon - that goes for you and clifford"

"alright" he chuckled at her gentle but demanding tone before he was headed back to class.

nas struggled to keep his eyes open during his history course. they were taking a chapter test and a lot of his classmates had been taking their precious time. it was eerily quiet and it wasn't helping that the window in front of him was slightly cracked. he'd finished his test barely five minutes before he dosed off.

those wild curls were pulled up into a loose ponytail at the top her head. her brown skin appeared so smooth. her smile was so big and bright he smiled too.