breathe

iii.

The first and only person I told about my encounter with death and Nolan was Leah. I made sure to include every detail I possibly could. The part where I closed the door on him was especially embarrassing. Leah, legit gave me a sorry look at that part. I leaned back into her couch and covered my face when I was done.

Go easy on yourself.

I'm a freaking mess.

"So what you're basically saying is a fine man came to your place, practically praised your excellence,  asked you out, and you slammed a door in his face."

I nod my head and peak through my fingers.

"I mean, he asked me to hang out. Not on a date or anything."

"Naomi," she yelled

"What? I'm sorry okay. I haven't talked to anyone since high school.  We all know how that went."

Definitely not a good time whatsoever. I barely made it out of that relationship in a good mental space. I've blocked out a lot of it in my mind so it's hard to remember.

Leah let out a sigh and simply asked, "y'all didn't hook up?"

Now it was my turn to yell.

"Leah!"

Instead she shrugged and laughed. "What? You got that good sex glow going on."

I rub my face in response to that accusation. My face is just really oily.

I stood up from her couch and walked over to her balcony. I could see the park from it. Park watch was already painting over my piece I made this morning. Ms. Kelly was no where to be seen so I'm guessing she was off duty now. Sometimes I wondered where she went. It was an angry piece so I wasn't too mad about it.

It needed to be erased.

Leah came over and joined me. She managed to make a hot cup of chai tea in the few minutes I was at the balcony. Sis couldn't even hook me up with my own cup. By the way the wind was traveling, I was getting a nose full of its aroma. I could feel my tastebuds starting to long for the taste.

I really like tea.

She took sip after sip looking out into the city. She would slurp every so often which would make me cringe. She obviously hasn't mastered the art of tea drinking let alone drinking in general. Slurping is a big no in my book. I hadn't realized I was staring until the cup of tea was right under my noise. I willingly took a sip.

"You were literally drinking my tea in your mind. Just take it."

I grabbed the cup from her and held it firmly. I was grinning like a child in ToysRUs. Though I had my tea and was enjoying the view I couldn't help but feel like something is off.

"Are you alright, Leah."

She turned to me and smiled, "No yeah I'm great. It's not like my best friend disappeared for like 3 weeks, pulled up out of no where last night, forced me to be her chauffeur to school, took my tea from me, and still won't tell me where she went. Yes, I'm definitely great."

That smile was definitely fake.

"Well you kinda gave me your tea, so I guess I'll spill my own."

"As you should." Leah took another sip as did I.

"Naim is sick." I actually never thought I would let those words come out of my mouth. Before it could even register in my mind that what I was saying was really true, Leah had already wrapped her arms around me.

I wondered where her tea went as I felt my shirt getting wet. Fortunately it wasn't the tea pouring down the front of my shirt. Unfortunately it was our tears and boy were they hot.