Candid

Chapter 27

Please be warned that it can get intense with topics of sexual abuse and harassment in this chapter.

Enjoy!!

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Saturday night flew at me so fast I barely had time to get ready for the art show. I slept for most of the morning, exhausted from the flight home and I had only fallen asleep after one in the morning from emptying out my suitcase.

The amount of times I hit the snooze button on my alarm was impressive. On a normal day I would wake up at six in the morning and seven on the weekends, depending on my schedule but today I woke up just after noon from the sound of my mother knocking on my door and asking me if I'm still alive.

Now, it was five in the afternoon and I was parked outside SJ's apartment building downtown waiting for her to come downstairs. There were little cafes and boutiques surrounding the area. There were a lot of people bustling through the heart of the town further down the street.

Hanging out with SJ today...she said it was a date. I texted Grayson, wanting to see his reaction.

My phone pinged less than a minute later.

Bitch putting moves on my girl?? How dare she. -Grayson
JK, have fun. Don't fall for her charm she's smooth as butter! -Grayson

I laughed and started typing up a reply when another text came through.

If you do happen to kiss at the end of the date...a picture would be nice #justsaying -Grayson

You pervert. I replied with a middle finger. He sent back a kiss emoji.

A knock on my window caused me to jerk in my seat and squeal. SJ's face was right by the window, a light smile on her face from my scare. I unlocked the doors and she pulled it open, giving me a look at her outfit. She was wearing a simple black long sleeve turtle neck shirt with high-waisted black jeans without rips in them. Her shoes were black velvet booties and she had a black leather jacket in her arms.

"Hey hun," she said, leaning over the console and kissing my cheek loudly.

I sat frozen in my seat and looked at her out of the corner of my eye. "So this is how we're doing it?"

She gave me a sly smile. "I told you this was a date and I shall treat it as such." She took a second to glance down at my outfit. "Huh, cute skirt and I'm living for those thigh-high boots."

A genuine smile shined on my face. "I even brought my tan coat and not my black coat because tan is more casual."

Her eyebrows were high as she nodded her head. "Really." I nodded my head realizing that I may be coming off as too excited.

"So," I started, leaning back in my seat casually and faced the front. "Where are we headed?"

"The Cortez Conference Center," she answered, typing the location into her phone.

I pulled out onto the main road waving a hand dismissively. "Oh yeah I know that place, it's where the State Championship for the Debate team was last year."

She dropped her phone into her lap and faced me. "Did you win?"

The smirk on my face was a natural reaction when thinking about the championship. I made the opposing team member cry from frustration in the holes of her argument. "Yeah, I did."

We slipped into a slightly awkward silence for the fifteen minutes it took to get there. I only regretted the skirt I was wearing when we had to walk across the street towards the entrance of the conference center. The wind was blowing harshly and I wrapped myself in my tan coat in the hopes of not flashing anyone. I was thankful for wearing my hair in a high ponytail.