Fallin' From The Tree (StemxStud)

57

[ Valentine ]

After I calmed Anaela down enough, I told our mothers to come with us somewhere private so that we could talk. We ended up driving back to the hotel so that we could get some privacy, leaving my family members to fend for themselves under Auntie Melissa's watch.

I stayed silent the entire car ride until we got upstairs to the hotel room. "We're related, Valentine. That makes us...gross!" Anaela screeched. "We didn't know," I kept repeating, trying to calm her down. Some part of me even wondered if she was disgusted with me, as if I had known. Despite what I know, I can't imagine wanting to take back all we've done.

"Listen, I'm sure that girl was just fooling around with us," my mom said soothingly.

"She looks almost exactly like me, Ms. Booker," Anaela cried. "It ain't no joke."

"I still feel the same about you, Anaela," I said quietly. "How could you? We're first cousins, Valentine. Not second, not third, not even fifth."

"So you're saying from the moment Cali told you that we were related you immediately regretted everything we've done and you've lost feelings?"

"Oh, so now you know her name."

"I just remembered it from when she told us. I don't even know shorty like that. I have a huge family apparently," I threw up my hands.

"Valentine, we- This," she gestured between us, "can not go on. We're too closely related."

Tears welled up in my eyes. I was so frustrated that I wanted to scream. "But Anaela I love you."

Anaela started crying, "I know but we can't do this."

I looked at our mothers for help. "There has to be some way we can confirm this without everybody figuring it out."

"I can get a team on it," Anaela's mom said quietly, shuddering. "The things I've done with Melissa."

"This isn't about you and Melissa. This is about me and Valentine!" Anaela shouted at her mom. My mom walked over to my girlfriend and hugged her tight. "It's alright mama. Just breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe."

They rocked back and forth as Anaela cried into her shoulder. I laid my back against the wall watching as Ms. Hampshire called her people and as my mom comforted Anaela. So I guess I'll be alone for forever, huh?

Anaela was the one and I know it. I fucked up so many times when I could have been enjoying our time together before we found all of this out. Now it's all over. What am I going to do without her? Go back to playing bitches with Teece and being poor and find another toxic girlfriend to be with?

I closed my eyes, swiping my hands over them as hot tears spilled out.

I silently cried, because that's the only way I've learned how to.

The results from Ms. Hampshire's people confirmed what we all didn't want to hear: Anaela and I are first cousins. I started looking around the room to grab my things. "Valentine, where are you going?" Anaela asked with red eyes and a broken voice.

"Leaving. You want me gone, right? You can't stand to look at me, right?" I yelled. I stuffed my things into plastic grocery bags and headed to the door. "Don't do this Valentine. You need to end things on the right foot," my mother called out.

"All of this. All of this was not even started on the right foot," I said, and slowly closed the hotel door behind myself. I could hear Anaela loudly sobbing from the hallway. I wonder what our neighbors were thinking of us. I angrily walked down the flights of stairs instead of taking the elevators. I needed to be mad and to let the anger lash out.

I was only being perfect and being natural for Anaela, but I don't have her anymore so why not go back to my old ways?

I picked up my phone to call Teece but saw it was dead. I wanted to throw my phone, but I hadn't reached that level of stupidity yet. I let my tears run down my face, and let my nose get stopped up, and let my body shake because I'm tired of holding it in.

"She's gone," I whispered to myself, coming outside to the front of the hotel. "She's gone."