Loud

Chapter Three

"Can we take a break, Diggs? I'm tired, man," Malik claims, turning the music off himself.

"Sure."

I decide now is a good time to start on my homework. Malik snickers and plops down in the chair next to me.

"You still get homework at twenty-eight years old?" he laughs.

"It's college," I remind him.

"Yo, what ever happened to that bi-"

"That girl you mean? Don't call her that," I snap. "And Jessimae is fine."

"She likes you."

"How would you know?"

"Um, plenty of girls have been in love with me before," he brags, leaning back in his seat. "I would know."

"You're gonna fall over if you keep leaning back," I warn him.

"Ok, dad."

"So if girls like you so much, why don't you have a girlfriend?" I challenge with a smug smile.

"I don't want one right now. They're too much work."

"Or maybe you can't find someone who would voluntarily date you. That's what you meant, right?" I chuckle.

"Shut up." Malik waved me off as I started laughing again.

"And even if I really wanted to date Jessimae, I couldn't because she has a boyfriend," I explain, thinking about the glare Terrence gives me all the time.

"So?"

"So?" I scoff. "That's wrong. I wouldn't do that."

"Her boyfriend wouldn't have to know," Malik says simply.

"Malik, you're acting like this is no big deal. I'm not gonna date Jessimae. Terrence is scary as hell."

"So?"

"Forget it."

"What does she look like again? I don't remember."

I sighed and pulled up a picture of Jessimae on my phone. Malik nodded in approval.

"So explain to me why you haven't made an effort to ask her out or talk her into breaking up with her boyfriend because it's not making sense to me. I mean, look at her!"

"Malik, I'm not gonna purposely ruin a relationship! Jess and I are just friends, okay?"

"Jess?"

I nod slowly. Malik bursts into laughter while I'm wondering what's going on. What did I say?

"You call her Jess. It's obvious you like her, okay?" he says between laughs.

"I don't like her like that! Oh my god."

"You focus on your homework, okay? I'll leave. Tell Jess I said hi," Malik jokes standing from his seat.

"Stop!" I groan, wishing I had never even told Malik about Jessimae.

"And why is her hair blonde?" he asks. "She look fake."

"She looks beautiful. Shut up."

"So you like it blonde?"

"Yeah so...?"

"You don't have to be embarrassed, Diggs. I know you think she cute. It's a'ight," Malik says as he walks to the front door.

"Goodbye, Malik."

"Cuz if you don't want her, I'll take her."

"Goodbye, Malik."

He laughs and slams the door shut. Honestly it's not that funny.

About thirty minutes later, I get a text from Jessimae that I answer immediately.

Hey Diggs! I know it's SUPER last minute but could you do me a favor boo???

Sure Jess. What's up?

Well I'm sitting here struggling to do my math hw but it's hard af. Do you think you could help me? I know you smart ;)

Lol I guess. If you want you can come by my place

FR?! Omg you so nice!!! Are you serious?!

I'm serious

Ok then I'll be there! Ty ty ty

No problem

I decide that I'll turn our little study session into a hangout and order pizza right after I finish texting her. I also clean up a little so I don't look like a slob. Malik always says my house is really clean but it has to be perfect for Jessimae. Girls judge these kinds of things.

There's a knock on my door literally when I finish cleaning. I take one last look around before answering.

"Thank you so much, Diggs. I really appreciate this," Jessimae says as I let her inside.

"It's fine. I got some pizza just in case you were hungry," I say. "I hope you like pepperoni."

"I love pepperoni. You didn't have to do that, Daveed," Jessimae gushes as I lead her to the kitchen table.

"I was feeling nice."

"You're always nice."

I smile and go into the kitchen to get pizza as she unpacks her things. I think she glances at me but it was probably just my imagination.

"How many slices do you want?" I call, opening the box and letting the sweet aroma fill the house.

"One for now," she calls back.

I put pizza on both plates and put one in front of Jessimae. "So what do we have here?"

"I don't even know," she laughs flipping through the pages of her textbook.

I lean over and take a look at the equations and immediately remember how to do these kinds of problems. It takes some practice but Jessimae learns how to do them too and our study session turns into more of a social hour.

"What the hell happened to your wrist?!" I gasp when she pulls up the sleeves of her sweater.

"Oh, I broke a vase yesterday," she explains turning a little red.

"Ouch."

"Yeah, it sucks."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she assures me with a sincere smile.

"Are you sure?"

"Really sure."

She smiles again and my heart skips a beat. Her teeth are literally perfect and for some reason I love that about her.

When it nears around nine, Jessimae decides to head back home. I want her to stay so bad but Terrence would make sure I never saw the light of day if she didn't come back home.

"Quick question, Jess," I say as I open the front door for her. "Do you and Terrence live together?"

"We do. Why?"

"No reason. I just wanted to know."

"You're cute. Well, I'll see you at your gig tomorrow maybe. I'm still working out the kinks," she says tucking a blonde lock behind her ear.

"Don't worry about it. I don't want you to risk your life to see my friend rap."

"I'm not risking my life. It's fine."

She smiles again and pulls me into a hug. I wrap my arms around her cute little body and squeeze her tight because I know Terrence isn't around. Even though we're just friends, he thinks there's something going on. I think she's absolutely flawless but I don't like her like that.

"I'll see you later, Diggs."

"Yeah."

She grins and exits, strutting down the hall to the elevator without knowing what she does to me. I close the door to stop myself from staring so intently.

God, she's cute.