Despite It All

Chapter Four

In reality, the weekend was dead, my hanging out privilages taken away. I had to sit in my room and rot, if it weren't for my phone of course.

The girls had completed lost it when I told them what he said. And when I asked him what he meant, like the ass he was, he said he'd tell me later. Later or not, I still felt the butterflies in my stomach, even if I didn't have him in the flesh.

And despite Jessica who always complained that her conversations sucked, it was like we couldn't stop texting each other. There were too many things to say and wonder about. Like I found out his favorite color was green and just like me, he liked dogs over cats. He has younger siblings, Kylie and Kayden, and apparently they got on his nerves. He knew how to ride a unicycle, juggle, but he was terrified of clowns, which was beyond hilarious. We even got to the deep stuff, talking about the death of his dad and how it kind of sucked trying to be a kid and the man of the house. The conversations never seemed to have an end, and I didn't want it to.

Monday came and went, gratefully, because I was ready to go back to school. I wanted to hang out with my friends and have fun. And maybe I wanted to see him, a lot.

More proof of that was me caring about what I wore. I took a page from Jessica's book of fashion, searching my closet for that cute, grey fitted skirt I wore once on my birthday. It went past my knee, but considering it hugged me so perfectly that even I had a little something back there to show off. I finally decided on a floral shirt that could be considered a crop top if it was a few inches shorter, and though I would catch an earfull from Jessica, I slid on some Keds, at least they were my cleanest pair. I stepped into the bathroom, undoing the braids from the night before, picking out my hair so it was a damn good circle on my head. I combed my hair today, so I'll go no hat, I thought to myself.

When I was finally satisfied with myself I threw on a few gold rings, and a pair of gold studs, rushing out the house just incase my mom wanted give me another talking to. I got to the bus stop where Jessica was waiting, giving me a once over.

"Damn, I mean he better be relevant nowadays. You didn't even comb your hair for my birthday." She said with a roll of her eyes, though it ended with a smile. "But you look cute, or whatever. You ain't shit for those shoes and you know it." She said, narrowing her eyes at me. I chuckled softly, clinging onto her arm with a smile.

"How am I supposed to be cute if I'm falling on my ass in heels, hm?"

"Let that be the excuse." She said, pursing her lips, stepping forward when the bus pulled up. We talked about the weekend happenings, how Jamie had almost gotten her nose pierced and Kitty got a shirt that had sesame street on it to match her bookbag. It sounded like they had fun without me, but I didn't hold it against them. The world didn't stop because I got in trouble.

The bus pulled up to the school, Jamie and Kitty already waiting outside on their phones. When they looked at me, Kitty let out a whistle and Jamie clapped.

"Queen, please slay me." Jamie said with a laugh when I turned to give them a full view.

"Like there's ass and everything. What ever happened to no booty gang?" Kitty said with a pout, making me wrap my arms around her.

"No booty gang for life. This skirt is magic, that's all." Which made Kitty laugh as we started into the building. I got a few more looks than usual, which didn't surprise me at all. I never went full afro, so they were kind of amazed.

The first few periods went past pretty quickly, though honestly, I was ready for lunch. Only now did I regret running out the house this morning.

We went down the hallway, cracking jokes, turning to corner where Tyler stood. He seemed to invested in the papers in his hands and I didn't want to be rude. But of course Jessica, Jamie, and Kitty didn't give a damn about being rude, pushing me in his direction. It was like my heart was banging on my chest, making me want to have a heart attack then and there.

I finally got close enough, clearing my throat a bit. When he mumbled something, I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Hey to you too." I said with a slight attitude in my voice.

And like my voice was a realization, he looked up at me. Now if I wasn't feeling myself before, I damm sure was now. His eyes started at the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, then right back up again to look me in my face. His mouth was practically hanging open, so of course I couldn't stop myself from grinning.

"Hey to you." He said, running his hand across his face. Tyler swallowed hard, fixing his posture so he was standing up tall.

"How has your day been?" I said in a sing song voice, unable to not want to tease him.

"Way better now." Tylee bit at his bottom lip before he chuckled at something he must have thought to himself. "This for me?" He said, gesturing to me and I rolled my eyes.

"Its for the student body." I said with a smirk, repeating his words to him.

"Now why do you have to make me jealous?" I didn't reply, just giving him a small shrug of my shoulders. I turned on my heels to disappear into the cafeteria where they were all sitting and waiting for me.

"What did he say?" They almost said in unison.

"Nothing." I said, my smile still plastered on my face. They all groaned, complaining that I withholding important information. I hadn't sat down for five minutes before Tyler was strolling over, still biting at that lip of his, and honestly, it was killing me.

"Hey," He said, acknowledging everyone at the table. They gave him small waves before turning their heads back to me. "If you aren't busy, would you like to have lunch with me?" He said with a hopeful smile. It didn't help that he had his hand clasped behind his back and he was basically swaying. It was way past adorable.

All three of my friends just stared at me, which only made my face heat up even more. It was embarrassing in the good way.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You guess? Girl, you know you want to be all in his space." Jamie said with a roll of her eyes, making my ears sting with heat. The only thing I could do to stop it was if I got up, not giving them enough time to say anything else. And when I did, he grabbed my hand in his slowly, making me stare down at my feet with nervous laughter.

They were still clapping and hollering when we walked out of the cafeteria. If the entire student body didn't see us already, those three made sure they did. They were the worst best friends ever. But I couldn't focus on them too long, only on Tyler who seemed too proud to be holding my hand.

It was just little ole' me.