UnMuted (Sequel to Mute)

~8~

When the girls all made it here in a total of half an hour, Normani immediately felt like something was wrong. I've assured her that it's not necessarily bad, but she didn't look as if she believed me. Which I understand.

We were all in the living room, scattered about except for Ally that fit herself comfortably on Camila's lap.

"So, what's up, Y/N?" Lauren says, emerging from the kitchen with a canned soda. She takes a seat between Dinah and Camally, setting her opened soda down only for the younger girl to take it.

I stand before them, playing with my fingers nervously. I stare down at my hands, fidgeting while shifting my weight to one side. "Is everything alright?" Ally's voice calls out in concern.

I glance up and let my eyes meet everyone else's before they land on Mani. She gives me a worried smile and I let out a soft sigh.

"Everything... everything's fine," I say, swallowing my spit. "Are you sure?" Lauren was next to ask. I nod at her, "I just... h-have to... tell you all... something v-very important."

I'm met with two sets of furrowed brows, an anxious lip bite, and two unreadable expressions.

I clear my throat, going over what I had rehearsed so that they can understand me better. I'd hate to repeat anything.

"So," I start, running a hand through my hair and leaning against the wall opposite of the girls. "When I was at... Rydell, there was this girl," I continued, watching everyone's faces as I spoke.

"Her name is Ariana and... she was my only friend there. We were... pretty close. Actually," I pause, chewing on my lip gently. "She was my first time and... that first time was our only before...," I sigh, wondering why I'm taking so long to get it out.

"I have a son," I finally get out. Everyone had a mix of shock on their faces. Though, the surprised look on Normani's face held more hurt than anything.

"I saw them today... at the store and... his name is JJ... and he's three years old," I wait for verbal reactions. The silent air made me even more nervous and my face hot due to how long I'm unintentionally holding my breath.

"H...How long have you known?" Normani was first to speak. I turn to her, crushed by the undoubtable hurt look in her eyes.

"Before I left... she told me she was pregnant, but... I wasn't ready. When I saw them... and she told me he was hers... I connected the dots. He's even named... after my brother," I say the last part mainly to Lauren, whose eyes widen.

"So, yeah... I'm a parent," I end with putting my hands in my pockets. "What're you gonna do? This is a big responsibility, Y/N," Ally says and Camila nods in agreement.

I mess with my hair again, "Honestly, I wanna be in his life... I want him to know me."

"What's stopping you?" Dinah asks, sipping from Lauren's soda can. I huff out a breath, "She's getting married soon... This guy named Blake... he made my life there... a living hell. I saw him, too. She said... they were moving after... the wedding. Seeing him with JJ... I knew right then I wanted to really step up... I refuse to let that asshole... raise my kid."

I look at Normani, who no longer looks as hurt as before. "You should call her ASAP and figure something out," she says, which took me back a bit.

She must've noticed the shock on my face and smiled softly, "There's not a lot of young parents that want to be in their child's life. I think you and her should discuss it."

I shake my head slightly, "She's pretty stubborn." I hear Dinah scoff, "She's not gonna at least let you have a day with JJ?" I could tell by her tone that she already disliked Ariana. I shrug, "I dunno."

"Yeah, you should call her and see. I'd hate for you to not have a relationship with your kid," Camila says the last part a little sadly. "Me, too," Ally agrees. "As a matter of fact, you should call her now."

I subconsciously look at Normani and she nods. I hum and pull my phone from my pocket, going to my messages. I tap me and Ariana's messages and went to the call button. With a racing heart, I hold the device up to my ear and waited as it started ringing.

"Hello?" The girl's familiar voice sounds after three rings. "Hey, Ari," I greet awkwardly. "Hey, Y/N," she says a little more cheerily. "What's up?"

"Do you have anything to do today?" I ask while scratching the back of my head. "Not that I know of. Why?"

"I was wonderin'... if you wanted to meet up today?" I ask, dropping my hand from my head. There was a long pause and I was about to call her name, but then she speaks. "Uh, JJ is gonna be with me," she says. "That's perfect," I say seriously. "It's about him anyway."

She goes quiet again then sighs, "Meet us at Dante's in 30." Her tone held that familiar hostility from when we were kids.

"Okay," I say simply before hanging up. I look up at the girls that all had expectant looks on their faces. I turn to Lauren, "Can I borrow your car?"

------

"Hey, there," I smile at the child that sat on Ariana's lap, playing with his action figure. He beams at me, "Hi." My smile grows a bit at the sight of his little dimples in his cheeks. I look at Ariana, my smile fading gradually.

"Before you say anything, I'll have you know that Blake and I broke up," she says gravely. I raise my eyebrows high, "What?" She nods, "We got into an argument about him and... and your involvement in his life."

"As his other biological parent?" I say with a single quirked brow. She nods again, "He said that JJ doesn't need confusion and needs a male figure in his life." I scoff, "So, he calls off a wedding?" I cross my arms over my chest with a sardonic chuckle.

She bows her head a bit, then looks over at the boy that's preoccupied with his toy. "I must say, I'm glad that he's gone. I didn't want him... near him anyway," I say, causing her to bring her eyes to me.

"So, how do you wanna do this?" She says after a minute. My brows furrow at the tiredness under her words. "Hey, are you okay?" She puffs out her cheeks and moves some long hair from her slender, exposed shoulder. "Well, now, JJ and I have nowhere to go," she says, sounding as if she were on the verge of tears.

My eyes widen, "What?" She nods, sniffing and wiping her eyes. JJ turned around to look at her, "Why you cryin, Mommy?" His little voice laced with concern. He reaches over and helps wipe some stray tears away.

The sight made my heart clench.

"Ari-," I start, not knowing what exactly to say. The more JJ tried to wipe her tears away, the more they started to flow. On instinct, I stand up from my seat opposite of them and approach her. I wrap her in a one-armed hug, letting JJ do most of the comforting.

"Mommy, stop crying, pwease?" She sniffs and takes his hand from her face to kiss his little knuckles. She then looks up at me with wet, brown eyes and I chew on my lip for the third time today.

I quickly take my phone out and go to Lauren's contact. I tap the call button and told Ariana I'll be back in a second as I left the little pizza place and stood out front; the two still in sight.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Lauren's voice sounds after one ring. "I got a dilemma," I say, feeling a tad panicked. "What do you mean?" She asked just as panicked as me.

I look back at Ariana and JJ; the boy had his arms wrapped around his mother's neck. The girl held him tight, looking as if she'd break down any moment.

I pass my hand through my hair as my cousin calls my name and repeats the question.

I take a deep breath before telling her.

------

*S'been a while, eh?