After Class (Janet and Aaliyah)

Chapter 51

I know, I know, and I know. 🤷🏾‍♀️😪

Acacia

My stomach wouldn't untie itself from the permanent knot it was in as I straightened out my hair. Aaliyah was laying in my bed, programming numbers into the cellphone that she'd bought herself earlier in the week. It's all she'd been talking about since then. But today was Friday, almost 7 pm, and I had my first—dare I say—date with Matt. And I absolutely wanted to die.

Aaliyah and I had been devising a plan for this evening all week over the phone: where he and I would go, what we would talk about, whether or not I'd go back to his place... All of it was dreadful. And the day was finally here. Matt and I had been having lunch every day together, and quite honestly, I wish I had more complaints. Aside from the accusations and blackmailing that we both agreed to forget about, he was just too perfect. Too good looking, too charismatic, too much of a gentleman.

He was going to pick me up tonight, and Aaliyah was going to leave just before he was due to arrive. She'd been here since school let out to provide the moral support I desperately needed. But with her new cell phone singing a high-pitched tune every five minutes, and her face buried in its bright screen every time I looked at her, she was less than helpful.

I was growing more annoyed with my hair and the ringtone and this whole situation by the second. I set the comb down on my bathroom counter and all but stomped into my bedroom. Aaliyah was laying on her back with the phone hovering above her face. I reached over and grabbed it right out of her hands.

"The hell?" She sat up straight and frowned at me. I put the phone in my bra. "Acacia."

"Can you come help me with my hair please?" I asked annoyedly.

"Did you have to snatch my phone out my hand like that to ask me a question?"

"You haven't put it down once since you got here. Just come help me."

She got up and followed me into the bathroom with a huff. I grabbed her waist before she could get too mad and pecked her lips. "Thank you." She just rolled her eyes.

"What time is he supposed to get here?"

"8:30," I muttered as she started to section my hair off.

"Why so late?"

"Basketball practice."

"What are you going to wear?"

"This black dress I bought a while ago." I messed with my fingernails I'd painted earlier to match it. It had been a really long time since I'd been out on a proper date, and I forgot how much work it was to get ready. I hated that.

I felt Aaliyah's fingers brush my neck as she made it closer to the back sections. For no reason at all, it made me shiver. She laughed and placed a small kiss at the base of my neck.

"Why do you always do that?" She asked.

"I don't know." I grabbed my ear in embarrassment. "We all have our thing."

"I don't," she countered with a shrug. I looked at her in the mirror.

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes—"

"What is it, then?"

"Your left collarbone."

"Huh? Since when?" She twisted her face up.

"Since the first night. You haven't noticed?"