But We're Not Related

Chapter 2: She's Back

Cristal leans her tummy against the bathroom sink and lifts her plaid skirt. Jazmine holds positions herself so she can get the perfect picture of Cristal's ass for Cristal's OnlyFans. When Cristal's "photoshoot" is over, they decide to skip the rest of PE outside of school grounds in the woods. The school administrators are starting to crack down on kids who roam the woods between periods, but that doesn't stop the girls from going.

"So..." Cristal grins and peers at her through the side of her eye.

"No, I'm not fucking Riley." Jazmine kicks a pebble on the treey dirt path.

Cristal chuckles, keeping her voice low, as not to tip off any lurking administrators. "You said you'd put it on him on Friday. What you gon' do then?"

"What are you gonna do, Cristal?" Jazmine looks at her. "Why were you talking to that coach during lunch?"

Cristal sighs. "We may have arranged something."

"You're gonna fuck him? Isn't his salary shit?"

"He just coaches the team out of passion. He's got a banking job as his main job, so he's ballin'."

"Dang. How much is he paying?"

"$150 to keep his mouth shut and another $150 just for the pussy."

"Hey!" a grimey, deep voice echoes through the air. "Stop it right there, mulatto girls!"

The girls squeal and take off. Jazmine looks over her shoulder to find Administrator Ruckus sprinting after them.

God, why him? she wonders.

"You thought you could disguise yo' self as an innocent white woman behind that blonde weave, mulatto!" he yells at Cristal.

"Fuck you!" Cristal says over her shoulder.

"Psst!"

Jazmine looks ahead to her left where the hiss came from. An afro and a pair of eyes appear out of the ground on the grassy side of the trail. Huey beckons her and Cristal over. Jazmine grabs Cristal and dives into the hole with Huey. He closes the hole by dragging the slab of earth that covered it back over the opening.

Jazmine frantically looks around as she and Cristal rise back to their feet. They stand in a dim space that is the size of a bathroom. The space is illuminated by four candles in each corner. The walls, floor and ceiling are made of hardened clay. Caesar and Hiro sit in bean bags in front of small desk and computer, playing a videogame. Another bean bag and coffee table sit in the middle of the space with a book and Huey's phone on it.

"What the hell?" Cristal says.

Ruckus' voice echoes again from outside. "Curse you, mulattooooes!"

"So, you guys had a secret hideout and didn't tell me?" Jazmine asks Huey.

"I didn't tell Riley either if that makes you feel better," Huey says. "He'd try to throw parties and do drugs in here. It's hard enough trying to keep these two from rolling blunts in here and in general."

Hiro gives a breathy laugh and turns his head toward them. His eyes are bloodshot and droopy. "A blunt a day keeps the day away."

Huey rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "The only reason I helped you two is because Ruckus is harsh, and I don't want either of you to get expelled just for skipping class."

Jazmine engulfs him in her arms. "Oh, thank you, Huey!"

He squeezes out of her hold, and Cristal sniggers.

Embarrassed, Jazmine smacks a curl out of her face. "Anyway, I need your help with my fourth block test."

"Test my ass," Huey scoffs and sits down into his bean bag. He grabs his book and focuses his attention on it. "You could've studied last night instead of whatever it was you were doing."

Jazmine sits on her knees as Cristal sits on the clay as well.

"Please!" Jazmine says. "I just need the answers, since you took it this morning.

He lowers his book and leers at her. "It's really not that hard. It's just a quiz on an excerpt from A Raisin in the Sun. All you need to know are a few dates and answers to the context questions."

She eagerly listens as he tells her the answers and scribbles some dates and keywords on her hand, trying not to shiver at his touch.

"Fuck!" Caesar roars and shoots up out of his bean bag. "You cheated, bitch."

Hiro laughs like a hillbilly. "You just suck."

Caesar knocks him out of his bean bag and goes toward the ladder beneath the hideout door.

"C'mon, Huey, we got English."

Huey gets up. "Welp, I'll see you girls later."

Jazmine, Cristal, and Hiro follow them out of the hole to keep from missing their next class as well.

"I got you now!"

They look to the right to see a sweaty Ruckus jogging after them and immediately take off back to campus, losing him on the way there, thankfully.

Jazmine breaks away from Huey and Caesar when they arrive at the English building. She heads up to the third floor on her way to her World Literature class. In the middle of the hallway, all the white girls (and one or two girls of other races) crowd a 5'8" black girl in pumps in the hallway. The tall girl sports an HD lace front and a baby pink Juicy Couture tracksuit.

The other girls compete for her attention,

"Luna, how was Atlanta?" "Did you meet any famous rappers?" "Did you rent a luxury car?"

Jazmine side eyes Luna as she walks past. Luna flashes her a snaky grin, pushing up the beauty mark next to her grin. Luna shoves through the other girls and goes to Jazmine, wrapping her arms around her shoulder.

"Jazmine, how are you?" Luna gushes with too much enthusiasm.

"You have three seconds to get your hands off of me before I smack you," Jazmine deadpans.

Luna leans her lips into Jazmine's ear. "Riley told me about you and Huey."

Jazmine's heart nearly stops.

"And I haven't forgotten how you got slutted out by my ex in the summer before I left for ATL," Luna continues. "It'd be wise of you to drop the attitude and do what I say."