Credentials of Fame (Tyga/Roc Royal Story) *Sequel*

Chapter 10: Back To The Past

Roc Royal’s POV

In the studio, Bianca forced me to sit next to her. So I did, and then while the others were talking, she slipped her fingers into mine slowly.

The bad thing about me is that I’m really…shy isn’t the word. I’m just really considerate of people’s feelings. When she held my hand, I wanted to let go—I was actually starting to think of Janelle as my girlfriend—but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

I tried to move my chair over, to pretend to be making myself more comfortable, but she just followed me when I slid away. And then finally, when I was contemplating just pulling my hand away, she leaned in and whispered:

You’re such a cutie.

Before I could react, Janelle walked in.

She had this bewildered look on her face, like she’d just seen a ghost.

“Jay, are you okay?” Prod asked her. He would be the one to develop a nickname for her already.

“Um, yeah I’m good. I’m fine.” She said out of breath. Then Prince walked in and she jumped, but he acted nonchalantly about it. Prince sat down next to Ray-Ray, and Janelle took the empty seat next to me.

Bianca wasn’t in the room anymore. When did she get up?

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked her. She looked away from me and nodded. I held her hand tight, and I didn’t feel awkward like I did with Bianca. Things were better—I was SURE I wanted to be with Bianca for a while.

The only problem? There was something wrong with Janelle. Something happened when she was with Prince. And I needed to find out.

Prince hadn’t stopped acting suspicious when we were going home. So while we walked (we didn’t feel like staying in Ricky’s car) I stayed close beside him, making conversation with him. It was the only way I knew I would be able to detect some kind of…just something in him.

“So when is that iPhone going to be shipped to you?” I asked him.

“What iPhone?” He asked in response.

“You know, the custom-made blue one you ordered.”

“Oh, that one…Yeah, I don’t know. Soon I guess.” Prince mumbled. I had to keep him talking. I had to steer the conversation in the direction of Janelle and make him tell me what was up with her.

“That’s Janelle’s favorite color.” I continued.

“Blue?” He asked.

“Yeah.”

Janelle told me her favorite color was khaki, but Princeton didn’t order a khaki iPhone. He ordered a blue one. And in order for me to make a connection between him and Janelle, I had to lie.

“Oh, well that’s cool. I would’ve gotten her one if I knew.” He remarked.

What was that supposed to mean? I thought to myself. Is it that he cares about her so much that he wants to give her gifts even when she hasn’t asked for them? If I told him she liked blue earlier, would he have ordered a blue iPhone, brought her into a closed room and presented it to her as a surprise? And then…would they hug? Would they…

“But she likes khaki better.” I added, just to prevent him from getting any ideas about gifts.

Okay, one could say I was being too over-protective and jealous. It wasn’t even official with Janelle and I yet. But I could never be too sure about that. The way Janelle looked when she left that room with Princeton made my stomach twirl. I didn’t know what to think.

“Roc, I got a text for you.” Prodigy said to me, interrupting my thoughts.

“From who?” I asked, hoping for a text from Janelle.

“Sapphire. She said she needed me to talk to you, and to tell you to call her. What’s up with you and her?” Prod asked. He handed me his phone so I could read the text Sapphire sent verbatim.

I pretended to read the message, but I didn’t even look at it. I was already feeling guilty in the very back of my mind about ignoring my phone every time I felt it buzz and it wasn’t anyone important.  But wasn’t Sapphire supposed to be important to me? Wasn’t she supposed to be my one and only love, my number one girl?

I handed Prod’s phone back to him.

“I’ll call her.” I told him. Hopefully, that wasn’t going to turn out to be a lie.

* * *

“Is she busy?”

After a few hours hanging out with the boys in our house, I left them to go to Sapphire’s house. The guilt was just eating me up inside, and the fact that Janelle hadn’t called or texted me since we left the studio motivated me to give some attention to Sapphire.

“No, she’s not busy. You can come in.” Sapphire’s mother said to me. She let me into their house and closed the door behind me. I slipped my shoes off my the rug filled with dirty pairs of shoes, and began walking towards Sapphire’s room upstairs.

As for as Sapphire’s mother was concerned, I didn’t know where Sapphire’s bedroom was. But she wasn’t aware that I’d snuck up here a million times to see Sapphire when her mother wasn’t home.

I knocked on her door gently. There was no response. I pressed my ear against the door to see if she was even in there, but the door just opened. I let myself in.

There was  a long gray figure on the bed in the room, which I soon realized was Sapphire. She was wearing gray sweatpants and a gray t-shirt, along with gray socks. Some light music was playing in the background. It was one of our songs, one of Mindless Behavior’s songs.

“Seppy?” I whispered my nickname for her. She flinched, and then turned around quickly. Her chocolaty smooth face lit up when she laid eyes on me. She leaped off the bed and closed the door behind me, and then pulled me into a tight hug.

“I MISSED YOU.” She screamed into my shirt. I laughed and returned the hug.

“Come here.” She said, pulling me onto the bed with her. We sat there, staring at each other. I tried to read the look in Sapphire’s eyes—happiness, excitement, love…

“I’m sorry I haven’t been answering your calls.”  I apologized.

“Have you been busy?” She asked.

I sighed. “I guess, yeah. We’ve been working hard in the studio.”

Something in Sapphire’s expression changed. “With who?” She asked.

My eyebrows curled. “What do you mean ‘with who’?”

“Who have you been working hard with in the studio?” She asked, obviously suspecting something.

“With the rest of Mindless Behavior, Sapphire. I mean…duh.”

“Oh really? So who’s Janelle?” She asked.

I swear, all the saliva on my tongue just ran away. How did she…How did she find out about Janelle?

“Oh, her? You know that rapper Tyga? Yeah, that’s his daughter. She’s been doing some work on a song with us, too.” I said, trying to sound relaxed about it. My heart was pounding in my chest.

Sapphire sighed and came closer to me. She put her hands on my shoulders, pulled me closer, and pressed her lips passionately against mine. I didn’t stop her. I needed to stop her. I tried to push her away, but she wouldn’t let me.

It didn’t last long, fortunately.

“What was that for?” I asked.

“Just remember, Roc, I was your first love and you were mine. You can’t erase that. I’ll always be right here, no matter whose daughter comes into your life.” Sapphire said slowly, touching my heart when she said ‘right here’.

Then I just…said goodbye. And walked back home.

Damn. I was in love with two girls.