Him?

Prologue

Alexis's pov.

"Lexi, you've got to see this!" The distant sound of my best friend's voice drifted to my ears from the living room. I was in my room, too busy trying to decide which sweet snack I should smuggle outside of the safety of my room today. Should I choose the bag of heart-shaped chocolates or the one filled with M&Ms?

"Alexis!"

"What!"

"Come on, he's so familiar. I just wanna make sure it's not him." Destiny replied in an irritated tone which made me roll my eyes exasperatedly. I'm the one who is supposed to be irritated. He just interrupted my daily routine of packing my "lunch."

I grumbled under my breath as I shoved my bag of sweets back into the secret chest, locked it securely with the padlocks and pushed it as far under my bed as possible before I left my room to see what DJ was so eager for me to watch.

I found Destiny at his usual spot on the floor of the living room with his laptop resting between his thighs and his earphones plugged into his ears. I stood over him glaring at his messy mop of hair that kept me wondering how he manages to get it neat and tidy so fast every day. He looked up at me after a while and beckoned me to sit beside him by patting the space on the rug.

I did so as I focused on what was on the laptop screen and my eyebrows started to furrow in confusion. "What is it?" I said, staring at some computer programming application shit that was seemingly swimming on the monitor.

"Oh, not that," DJ said as he clicked on the tab labeled YouTube. "This."

It showed a music video with some guy singing his heart out, while a bunch of skinny ladies dances to the music. But something about it made me a bit nervous and a little scared. Without asking, I grabbed the earphones from DJ and stuffed them in my ears to hear the singer. I suddenly wished I hadn't because the more I listened, the more agitated I became.

The voice seemed to be sending me way back in time to a place where I wish never to go again. To a dark and depressing period when I wished some people had never been given the chance to live around me, or even get to know me and I them. I blinked back some tears that I didn't realize were forming and handed over the set of earphones. I sat there silent for a while trying to get my head straight again. Trying to remind me that the past was the past. When I turned back to Destiny he had a worried look on his face with a hint of curiosity in his eyes. Like he wanted to ask me something but wasn't sure if he should.

"It's okay," I said with a sigh and forced a smile on my face. "Go ahead."

"Please tell me it's not him." He said, not quite believing himself.

I let out a shaky laugh before I replied, "it's not him."

"Don't say that just because I told you to. Of course, it's him! We always knew he'd be back one day and here the creep is." Destiny was clearly on edge about this whole thing, and I was ready to convince both him and myself that this isn't real.

"It's not him," I said, getting up.

"What do you mean it's not him."

I got ready to point out the many things I saw wrong with the video. "One, we both know that he's a rap artist wannabe, DJ. Not a freaking R&B singer. Two, he doesn't sing with back-up dancers. Three, if he's really doing music, he'd make sure his name is on every front page of every paper, the hot topic of every talk show, and on every damn billboard and social media platforms all viral and show off, just like the cocky little bitch that he is."

Destiny blinked at me as if he was surprised at my argument. Then he nodded in an understanding way and stood up too. "And you're not in denial, right?"

He asked it like a genuine question, but I knew him too well to think he was being anything but sarcastic. I slapped him on the back of his head as he passed me on the way to the kitchen. "You asshole."

I heard him chuckle as he continued to walk. "Aren't you going to school or something?" He asked, just as my alarm clock went off.

I sighed, "the darn thing is an hour late again." I grumbled as I dragged myself back to my room to get ready for my classes. I grumbled again as I slammed to door shut and got out of my bed clothes.

DJ shouted from the kitchen again, "want me to make you breakfast?!"

"No!" I shouted back a little too fast.

"Why the heck not?" Came his voice, a little offended by my reply but.

"I think I want the first day of my third year to be free from stomach aches," I replied truthfully. "I don't wish to die of indigestion anytime soon."

Destiny groaned in annoyance, "it's not that bad! I thought we were friends."

"And as a friend," I yelled back at him, "I'm advising you to take a cooking class."

DJ laughed a bit as he answered me, "I hate you."

"Love you too bestie."