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JALEN JUST NARROWLY MISSED SYDNEY'S SLAP, ducking his head as she tried to collide her palm with his skull.
She made contact the second time, landing a solid hit right above Jalen's left eye.
"Ow, Jesus, Sydney! Get away from me, damn!" Jalen said, stepping away from her.
"A bet? Are you dumb? What is wrong with you?" Sydney yelled as Jordan wrapped his arms around hers in a restraint.
The group were in Jalen's living room back in Napa.
Jalen's suitcase was still by the stairs and the rest of the house was empty.
Jasmine, Coleman and Nimari were sitting on his couch while Jalen was standing near the front window.
"Syd. Syd, chill out." Jordan replied.
"Oh, please. He deserves it. And y'all deserve it too!" Jasmine chimed in, rising to her feet and looking down at her boyfriend and Nimari.
Coleman passed Nimari a glance then turned back to the group, "We did try to warn her..."
"And what did that do? Huh? What exactly did that do?" Sydney managed to whirl on the two boys even with Jordan pinning her arms down.
Coleman, Jasmine, Jordan and Sydney started to argue amongst themselves while Jalen simply stared out the window.
He was too numb to fully contribute to the conversation, too numb to properly defend himself.
"Okay, but he ended the bet when he knew that he wanted her to be his girlfriend." Jordan interjected.
"That's not the point. It's the fact that he did it at all and that y'all three," Sydney swept her arm to gesture at the three remaining boys, "Became genuine friends with her. If you knew anything about her family, none of y'all would've encouraged the shit."
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Jasmine snapped towards Jalen.
Jalen stared at the sidewalk, remembering the last time that Noelani had been at his home.
There was hardly a room in the house that Jalen could go into without hating himself due to the loss of his girlfriend.
"Well?" Sydney asked.
In the reflection in the mirror, Jalen could see that everyone in the room was looking at him expectantly.
He turned to face them, "I'm in fucking love with the girl and she basically told me that I ruined her life and then her uncles kicked me out of her house. I don't need anyone to tell me that I fucked up. I know I did. I've done nothing but wish that I hadn't made that dumb ass bet then right now I would be learning how to surf instead of being here wishing that Lani was too. That girl was- nah, she's the other half of my heart, bruh. I'm never gonna love someone like I love her and I know y'all all know what that feels like," Jalen paused to take a ragged breath, feeling his voice catch in his throat due to a choke up.
"I didn't know y'all had gotten to that point." Jasmine commented softly.
"Me either." Jordan chimed in.
"The only people who needed to know that we are in love is us. So, no, Syd. I don't have anything to say. I don't wanna defend myself. I just miss her and I want her back." Tears started to flow down his face uncontrollably.
There was a silence as everyone stared at Jalen in surprise.
Crying wasn't usually his style but then again neither was a heartbreak and Jalen was currently going through both.
Sydney cleared her throat, "Well as long as you know."
Jalen rolled his eyes a little, then dragged one hand down the length of his face and felt his palm dampen a bit, "I just wanna see if I can make things right. Do y'all know when she's coming home?"
Sydney and Jasmine looked at each other, clearly in a silent debate.
"I know that y'all know. One of y'all does." Jalen pressed.
Sydney shook her head, "What makes you think that you deserve to know?"
Jalen screwed his face up at her words, "Do you know or n-?"
"She should be back in time for school on Monday." Jasmine spoke up.
Sydney lightly slapped Jasmine's arm and Coleman pulled Jasmine away from Sydney by Jasmine's waist, "Syd, chill. You're doing a lil too much."
"I'm just mad. Why aren't you guys more pissed at him?" Sydney asked, looking around at the group.
Jalen had turned back to the window to stare outside.
"He's already beating himself up, Syd," Jordan said lowly as he slipped his hand into hers, "If it was you and I in this situation, I would want to know so I could fix it too."
Sydney considered his words as Jalen ran his hand down his face again in an attempt to stop his tears.
"We should help him make this right," Nimari finally spoke up.
Throughout the conversation, he had been silent with an expression of contemplation on his face.
"We fucked up just as much as you did. We'll fix it." Nimari nodded at Jalen.
"Ion know about all tha-." Coleman starts to say until Jasmine kicked his knee causing him to grit his teeth for a moment, "Okay. Okay, sure. Do you have a plan?" Coleman asks Jalen.
Jalen turned back around to face his friends, his eyes red with tears and narrow with suspicion, "Y'all really want to help me?"
Nimari, Jasmine, Coleman and Jordan let out a chorus of assent while Sydney crossed her arms.
Jordan elbowed her and Sydney let out a sigh, "Fine. Okay, I'll help. But the minute she gets pissed, and y'all all know that she will," Sydney pointed around the room, "I'm gonna stop helping. Poor girl has been through enough already."
Jordan gave everyone a childish grin, then extended his arm straight out in front of him.
"No. I'm not doing that." Coleman said immediately.
"Come on," Jordan replied as Nimari slapped his hand down on top of Jordan's.
Sydney rolled her eyes but put her hand on top of his.
Jasmine pulled Coleman up from the couch and after he let out a groan the couple both joined the circle.
Jalen studied them for a bit before joining the circle of arms.
This plan was a long stretch but Jalen would take it.
He was willing to do anything if it meant Noelani would be with him again.
