The African Princess

Prologue

"I am pleased to welcome the class of 2017!"

The whole gym went into an uproar as the air filled with red and blue caps. We finally made it, meaning I finally made it. I'm not going to lie.. I'm not the smartest of the bunch. Matter of fact, no one here is. But I'm getting way ahead of myself here. Hey. I'm Ailani Singleton of Oakland, California. I'm currently eighteen and going off to college believe or not. I live with my mom and grandma with no dad. He decided to disappear on me and mom.. leaving her to take of me and of course my other brothers who had other dads. Out of all my mom's three kids, my father was the only one who never did shit for me. No birthday wishes, Merry Christmas, or a fucking phone call to see if I was okay. So when I heard the news about his passing, I shed no tears. How could I for a person I barely even knew?

"We did it! We finally made it!" Imani screamed throwing her cap into the air. It was graduation day here at Georgetown High School. After 4 years of petty drama, me and my girls were finally done.

"I can't believe it! It seems just like yesterday day we were walking the halls as freshman!" I said only to get stop by Jamila.

"Girl.... Please do not bring up that year. That when we found out that Freshman Friday was real."

Looking back, all of us have been through so much this year. but we can finally say we made it out of this shitty school. Good bye Georgetown High, Hello community college! Yes community college.. I told y'all I wasn't the smartest out of the bunch. But that didn't matter because I was getting out of the hood! I saved up and waited my whole life for this moment. Of course my girls decided to not go to their ivy league schools to stay with me. That's honestly true friendship.

"Look at my baby! All grown up and about to leave me!" my mom said as she squeezed me tightly in a hug.

"Mommy please stop! You're embarrassing me in front of everyone..." I slip from her grip trying to catch my breath.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so proud of you! and I'm going to miss you..." tears started pouring out of her eyes as I kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. Even though I'm ready to leave Cali, its not going to be so easy leaving her behind. I can honestly say my mom is my rock, #1 fan and my BEST friend. She worked her ass off just to get me and my brothers what we wanted, and sometimes we didn't need it.

"alright now.. you got all summer with her. Now y'all bring y'all ass on so I can finish cooking!" my grandma said making her way to the car. We both laughed as we followed behind her.

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When someone graduates in our neighborhood .. the whole block turns into a huge party! I headed outside to see my uncles and next door neighbors at the grill, my mom and my aunts setting up the tents, my brothers and cousins setting up the game sections, and of course my grandma outside watching everyone like a hawk. I ran back upstairs to beat my face to the gods! literally. Then I slipped on a cute colorful romper I just got from Charlotte Russe.

"Ailani I hope you're ready! Everyone is starting to come!" My Aunt screamed as I slowly walked down the staircase with my cute brown wedges trying to make a beautiful entrance.

"I'm here. I'm here. I am h...." I stopped in mid sentence only for my eyes to meet with Javon Bryson, my childhood friend. More like ex crush. I could not believe it was him. He left town during his 5th grade year because of "personal problems." But we all knew his mom was fucking our science teacher when her husband so suddenly walked in catching them in the act. Told y'all our school was shitty. After that Javon's dad got full custody and moved to Florida to live with his grandparents.

"Ailani! It's so good to see you after all these years! You know when your mom told me about your graduation party, we just had to be here! Come give me a hug." Mr. Bryson embraced me with a hug while moving along to talk to my uncles.

I looked at Javon as I held my arms out signaling for a hug. He walked in my arms as he picked up me spinning me around before safety putting me down. "It's been so long since I seen your beautiful face." He said as he rub my cheek gazing into my eyes.

I smile and replied, "Well a text, DM, Snap would of be well appreciated. You know since we are 'suppose' to be best friends."

He chuckled rubbing the back of his head. "Well you see what happened was..."

"BABY!!!" I looked pass Javon to see the wicked bitch of them all, Ava Kovlington. Me and Ava haven't liked each other since birth. I know it hard to believe... but it is the honest truth. My mom and her mom had beef back in the day and hated each other with a passion. Somehow that passed on to us. Ava and her mom are the neighborhood boujees. They always put themselves above others because of their "light skin." Just think of Ava as LaCienega from The Proud Family. Anything I wanted, she always got to no surprise.

"I missed you like crazy. Why didn't you stop by my house before coming to the ghetto" Ava said to him looking around in disguise.

"You do know you live down the street?" I replied with a little bit of attitude. I'm really not pro-black and all but damn. She had no respect for the race that she is! I guess you can say her mom brain washed her too much about being "white."

"So Ailani, I think you already know Ava. My girlfriend." He said trying to less the tension but its didn't help. So after 7 years of not seeing each other he managed to keep in touch with this boujee hoe but not me? And this boy knew from the gecko that I had feelings for him. We had so much history, but it looks like it wasn't hard for him to ease half of it. That's another reason why I need to leave this place. The drama. I honestly just want to start over and find myself in the process. I put on a fake smile nodding my head yes.

"Of course! Why wouldn't she know the girl who's better than her?" She said whisking him away.

"All you have to do is say the word and that bitch will be knocked out." Jamila said to me under her breath. I laughed because I knew she would do anything for me.

"Nah I'm saving it for a better time." I replied giving her a side hug as we joined the rest of the party.

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So did you guys enjoy the prologue?

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