𝗱𝘆𝘀𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘂𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 || [1] Nate Jacobs

8

I've actually been doing really well. But the morning after that whole drug-dealer-face-tattoo fentanyl excursion, I...got in a little bit of trouble...for disappearing for like 16 hours. After my adventure at Fez' and my emergency overnight stay at Jules' house, I sneaked into my home early in the morning. My mother was on my ass about my disappearance and drugs were the reason in her eyes. I mean she's not wrong, but I wouldn't admit that. I had to tell her that I was with a friend and all I could think of was Desi. She's responsible and someone I'm sure my mom would like. But my mom and Destiny weren't the only people upset with me.

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A soft knock on my bedroom door wakes me from my light sleep and I look at my alarm clock. Six o'clock in the morning. There's another knock and I walk over to the door and open it. My father is standing in front of me, sleepily holding the in-house phone out to me. Confused, I take it and watch him go back to his bedroom. "Hello?" I say into the phone and sit down on my bed. "Good morning, sorry to bother you. This is Leslie Bennett, Rue's mother. She told me she spent the last 16 hours with you. Is that correct?"

I can clearly hear the woman's concern in her voice, but I didn't see Rue yesterday after the pep rally. She was probably with Jules, but she certainly would have told her mother that. "Oh, hi, Mrs. Bennett. Yes, Rue, stayed over because it rained so hard last night and I didn't want her to catch a cold riding her bike. I'm sorry if you weren't informed," I lie and I can hear Leslie exhale in relief. "Oh no, that's not a problem. Thank you so much for your concern, Destiny. Um, would you like to come over for breakfast? As a thank you?" "I'd love to," I reply, simultaneously typing an angry text message to Rue on my phone. What the hell was she doing yesterday?

Yeah, I didn't fucking expect that, but that's what you get when you lie.

————

I park my car in front of Rue's house and nervously look at the back seat. My baby sits peacefully sleeping in her car seat, clutching her stuffed animal. I'm not afraid of Rue's mother seeing me as a teen mom, but that she sees me as a bad influence for Rue because I had a baby so early. She seemed pretty nice on the phone, but so was my mom at one point before she disowned me.

My phone pings and I read through Rue's text message.

Rue: are u here?
Rue: my mom is like really nervous and shit
Rue: she's running through the house and keeps redecorating stuff
Desi: I'm outside
Desi: I also brought someone with me...she's family
Rue: cool

I take one last deep breath before pocketing my phone and keys and getting out of the car. Then I carefully take my baby out of her seat and hold her to my chest while I take her diaper bag from the back seat. "I hope Mrs. Bennett is a nice woman," I whisper to my sleeping daughter before locking my car and walking toward the front door.

I press the doorbell and wait nervously for someone to answer it. Shortly after, the door opens and Rue is standing across from me. Her appearance is as beautifully disheveled as ever, but in her eyes I can see that she is just coming down from a high. "Who's the baby?" she asks, staring at Rosalyn. "My daughter. Where were you last night? And why are you high?" I reply. "I was with Fez-" "Rue, is that her?" Mrs. Bennett asks from inside the house and Rue lets me enter.

A beautiful dark skinned woman comes walking towards us and I nervously smile at her. She returns the smile and I notice her eyes fall on my baby. Her brow furrows a bit, but she says nothing.

"Welcome, Destiny. It's so nice to meet you"

————

Who would have thought that Destiny and my mom would basically become best friends? Damn, at least not me. Gia and Mom haven't laughed and joked as much as they did with Desi in the house in a long time. And Rosalyn brings them a lot of joy too. It turns out that Gia and Destiny's sister Naomi are in the same class and have become friends. If I'm being honest, I've been so busy with Jules and drugs that I forgot that Gia started a new school year as well. And I know you guys think of me as a bad person because of that. I do, too.