recognize / b.simmons

20

amari rifles through her clothes and checks the time on her watch. 5:25. ben was picking her up at 7 and taking her out to a nice restaurant, but her told her dress business-casual. amari had no fucking idea what "business-casual" was.

she was unbelievably nervous, and for no reason. she feels weird going out in public with ben. she's so used to sneaking around with him and only being at each other's houses, that she doesn't even know how to get ready for a date with him.

amari groans frustratedly and grabs her phone to facetime nia. she answers after the third ring and greets her with a "whats up?"

"girl, i don't know what to wear!" amari exclaims, leaning against the wall and holding her towel up.

"let me see your closet. and where are y'all going?" nia asks, looking down at the camera as her friend flips it and point the phone at her closet. "ooh! what about those white pants?" nia says, referring to the white cargo pants in the closet.

amari wrinkles her nose. "those? i don't even remember buying them," she admits and takes them off of the hanger and lays them on the bed.

the pants were cute and could easily be made cuter with the right shoes and shirt. "now what?" amari huffs, looking down at her friend who was typing on her computer.

"bitch, you can't dress? get a white shirt," nia instructs, glancing at the camera and then going back to her work. nia works at IBM as a computer engineer.

"bitch i am nervous. i don't know what the fuck to do," amari says, skimming through her clothes. she passed several shirts before stopping on a plain white, cropped, boxy tanktop. "what about this?" she asks, flipping the camera and then holding the shirt up in view.

nia looks at the camera and nods approvingly. "free ball it," she says. a bra would simply ruin the look, and it's tight so it'll hold up her boobs anyway.

"word. all right, i'll let you go. thanks mama," amari says. nia blows her a kiss before saying goodbye and hanging up.

amari tosses her phone on her bed and starts getting ready, starting with her lotion. she moisturizes her body and then puts on her underwear and then her tanktop and pants.

amari looks at herself in the mirror. it wasn't a bad outfit and these pants made her ass look fat. perfect first-date 'fit. she then finds a white jean jacket with gold accents to throw in some color.

she walks into the bathroom and starts on her hair. she parts it on the side and takes the flatiron so she can curl her hair.

amari shouldn't be this nervous, she should feel at ease—especially since it's ben—but she can't. somehow, it was easier with kyle and d'angelo and all of the other guys. those dates didn't mean that much to her—this date with ben was something that she had to prove.

she finishes her hair and starts on her makeup, going for a bronze look. she didn't feel like being too over the top, but she still wanted to look good.

amari finishes her makeup and checks her watch. 6 o'clock. she was officially done, which gave her an hour to overthink and freak out. not good.

amari leaves the restroom and sits on her bend and chews on an acrylic nail. it's just ben, she thinks to herself. she knows him, it's not the first time they've ever been alone, but it is the first time since the club that they've been publicly, and that was almost two months ago.

she can't believe that it's only been two months. this 'relationship' felt like it happened a lifetime ago and five seconds ago, all at the same time. she can't believe that she had rules, that she created, and broke just for him. this should've been a giant sign that there was something that attracted her to him, something that was more than lust, but she was too hard headed to acknowledge it.