It's Not All Roses

Chapter 9

The smell of coffee invades my senses, which makes me sit up and rub my eyes. I can see Kiya's silhouette in the kitchen. I push off the cover that someone put on me and stand up, making my way to the kitchen.

She smiles at me, "Morning."

"Morning," I return the smile.

She slides me a cup of coffee and some creamer, which I accept graciously. "Does smoking weed always make you sleep so good?"

She laughs before taking a sip of coffee. "Girl that's why I smoke. If I don't get sleep I loose my shit."

"I agree."

We both click our glasses together and smile. I can't help but feel a little relief knowing that Hero and Kiya are not dating. I know Kiya didn't tell me everything, but that's okay, I think over time she will. She's incredibly strong and enduring. I can't believe she went through some of the stuff she did, and that Hero has always been there for her.

She waves her hand in front of my face, "Mae you're a spacey little shit aren't you?" She laughs.

I laugh and nod, "Yeah. I am. Sorry, what did you say?"

"You can use my shower and change into my clothes. I have a bigger chest then you, so if you look in the bottom drawer all my smaller shirts are in there, no offense."

"Oh none taken," I giggle.

We head to her bedroom. She points out the drawer with her extra clothes. I find a pair of skinny jeans, a white tank top and a yellow flannel. As I'm grabbing the jeans, I notice a book. "What's this?"

Kiya looks up from the bed, she is holding a bong, which makes me bust out laughing. "Dude that one is pretty dope. It looks like something Wednesday Aadams would smoke from."

She coughs, "Holy shit. Grace and I named it Grimly Aadams because we thought the same thing!"

I grab the black book and bring it over to her. She grabs it and smiles. "Ahhh, this here is my pictures of Hero. You can look through them if you want. After that night I started taking candid pics of him in hopes to grasp real emotions. It worked."

I flip through the black and white photos, there's some with him glaring at the camera, or flipping it off. There's one where he's drunk and on a swing. There's one of him in a hot tub in the middle winter. He's looking up at the sky while the snow is falling. But the last one is  of Kiya on his back, at a game. They are both smiling at the camera. His smile is so big and real. So is Kiya's, confetti falling from the ceiling and into Kiya's hair. It's a great picture.

"That's my favorite, we won at nationals." She smiles and gets up. I do the same, putting the book away.

After showering and changing. Kiya walks out of the bathroom, wearing black Leggings, A crop top of NF with a red flannel over the shirt. Her red converse pull the entire outfit together.

"Look at us, dark and light," she laughs.

She grabs her backpack which is covered in buttons with sayings. I grab my car keys.

"Nah, you drive all the time," she says grabbing her keys. "My turn. I can bring you back between classes if you need that. Honestly, just start leaning stuff at my place."

"Will do."

I laugh and we leave the apartment complex. As were walking out to the parking lot she says something that surprises me. "Listen, Jess can be a total bitch sometimes, so if you need a place to run away to, my door is always open."

I'm not sure what to say, so I just nod. I do want to know the history between Jess and and her though.

We walk to a Dodge Charger, 2019. "Holy shit, this is yours?" I ask.