𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 - 𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐍

DO I KNOW YOU?

discomfort and tension filled all inside of my body and between the two of us, and i watched him keep his eyes on me intently, as if he was waiting for me to look back at him.

but i wouldn't.

i couldn't bring myself to, at all. after the years, the pain and the heartbreak, i couldn't handle or believe ever seeing him again.

yet here he was, sitting a few feet away from me, looking the same as the last time i'd seen him, as if nothing had changed. so much had changed for and about me, yet he seemed unscathed.

eventually, he broke his stare, and i glanced over at him to see him occupied on his phone, which made me let out a breath i hadn't even known i was holding in, before fiddling around in my hair to distract myself as best as i could.

any and all noise surrounding me, and all the conversation and movement ahead of me was mute and still to me, and though my mind was silent and alone, i was in a daze, zoned out entirely.

i snapped out of it after a few minutes, feeling a pair of eyes burning holes into me, and i glanced back to see isaiah staring at me once again, which made me let out an exhale through my nose, though i stared back, not wanting to seem intimidated by him.

i stared back, my gaze cold and my facial expression flat and bored, though internally my heart was racing and everything in me was coursing with anxiety.

"why y'all niggas staring at each other like that?" stokeley spoke up, which broke isaiah's attention away from our stare and over to stokeley.

i kept my eyes on him, though, waiting to see what type of response he would have, as he shook his head and glanced back over at me before taking a sip from the small bottle of hennessy in his hand.

"she staring at me like she know me, i thought she'd look away but she ain't so i guess we having a staring contest." he said, letting out a laugh and equally earning one from the others in the room.

jahseh snaked an arm around my waist before he spoke, and i felt his chest vibrating as he spoke with his raspy voice. "she got a staring problem, vro."

stokeley nodded his agreement, shaking his head before he started laughing. "so do you! i swear, when those niggas first met each other they just stared at each other for a good five minutes."

while everyone laughed and began to continue the conversation, i took my gaze away from isaiah and back down at my hair, staying quiet and continuing my fiddle with my hair, ignoring everyone around me.

isaiah's ability to blatantly act as if he didn't know me and never had bothered me, and in all honesty, somewhat shocked me.

now that the conversations had resumed, and the attention was fully taken off of me, i could feel isaiah's stare return, though this time i refused to look back at him and even pay him any regards.

these types of games are for two players.

i tapped on jahseh's arm, signalling for him to release his hold on me, and he looked at me before doing so, and once his grip was freed, i got up from his lap and made my way out of the living room and into the kitchen.

i heard a whistle from behind me, followed by a statement about the size of my ass, followed by jahseh speaking in a firm tone. "aye vro, don't get fucked up talking bout my bitch like that."

i let out a breath of a laugh, though of course i knew nobody could hear, as i opened the freezer and pulled out a tub of vanilla ice cream, before opening the cabinet and flooding the ice cream in rainbow sprinkles, and then grabbing a spoon from the drawer.

"damn, fucking on my bro?" i heard from beside me, though i didn't have to look up to know who was speaking.

"sorry, do i know you?" i asked, before glancing up at isaiah and looking at him with the most clueless gaze i could put on.

he let out a huff, before crossing his arms and taking a step towards me. "aracely, don't play that bullshit. you know i ain't have no choice but to say that, and i did that for your sake, not mine."

i stared at him, not speaking or moving, and just waited for him to say or do anything more, to which he just stared back at me for a moment before speaking.

"you're still the same little ass girl i knew," he shook his head, making me narrow my eyes at him as he continued. "you like to act like you don't give a fuck about nothing or no one."

i furrowed my eyebrows at him, crossing my arms. "i don't. especially not about you."

he smirked at me, taking a swig from the hennessy in his hands before he shook his head and let out a laugh, quiet enough to not be heard from the kitchen but heartily enough to let me know he found comedy in what i said.

"okay, so don't give a fuck when i tell jahseh i already been on that."

~