recognize / b.simmons

34

"girl, my feet hurt," nia says as they walk down the street on their way back to their hotel. they were in philly for the season opener game tonight. nia flew out from cali yesterday as well as amari, and have been exploring philly together. so far, they've shopped way too much.

"can't wait to take these bitches off," amari says, referring to the cute, but uncomfortable air maxes she's wearing.

"at least you got sneakers on. my stupid ass is wearing boots," nia says, making amari laugh. they link arms as they walk down the sidewalk, their hotel only a few blocks away.

they chat as they walk, catching up with each other on things that they didn't talk about yesterday. "wait. how are you and josh?" amari asks, realizing that her friend hasn't mentioned him at all since they've reunited.

mia rolls her eyes and gives amari a look. "girl," she says, dragging it out. he definitely was acting stupid. "don't even get me started on his ass." she says, rolling her eyes and licking the inside of her jaw.

amaris eyes widen and she gapes at nia. "girl, what he do?" nia lets out a bitter laugh which lets amari know that some shit went down since she's been gone.

"first of all, we've been at it since june, a cool little four months. but all of a sudden he just wants to start acting different, not answering my texts or calls. so i went through his phone, and bitch... when i tell you that he's a dog, i mean it!" nia rants, her blood boiling.

"now, if we were having casual sex i wouldn't give a damn, okay? but we're together! but i cussed his ass out and now i'm single and on the hunt," nia concludes, peeking at passerby-ers over her shades.

amari processes this information. she's surprised her friend even went through his phone. nia isn't the confrontational type, not to her boyfriends. she has no problem telling men how she feels if she's not acquainted with them, like that day she stood up for amari to d'angelo. she didn't care.

"take a page out of my book," amari says, making nia laugh.

"i'm about to have my hot girl summer in the fall! i'm tired of these niggas," nia says, muttering the last part. any other day, amari would agree, but shes in a happy relationship.

they reach the hotel and enter inside. the two women walk to the elevator and press the button, waiting for the elevator doors to open. when they finally do, the two step inside and ride up to the third floor. "what are you wearing?" amari asks nia, looking into her shopping bags.

"i don't know if i should wear that black top with a skirt or the dress," she replies, looking into her bag as well. the elevator dings and they get out and walk to their hotel room.

they enter and throw their bags on their beds. nia kicks off her boots with a sigh of relief and wiggles her toes. "what time do we have to be there? are you seeing ben before the game?" nia asks, flexing her feet.

"mm, we should probably leave at 6 to get there at 6:30 for the game—and i'll just see him after." amari answers, dumping out her bags of clothes on her bed. she bought an unnecessary amount of clothes for a trip that she only had two more days on, and for the amount of clothes she already brought.

she picks up an orange silk dress with spaghetti straps that cross in the back, and puts it in a separate pile. amari then grabs her second dress, a pink and orange ombré with a blue pattern on it—that she loves—and puts that in another pile. both nia and amari separate their clothes silently, both trying to figure out what they were going to wear.

finally, after minutes of sorting, the two of them figure out what to wear. amari, in the pink dress and nia, wearing a one sleeve, sleeveless, black crop top and a black mini skirt. in other words: they were going to look bomb.