"Wait, so your parents got divorced and then your mom had a baby with another man?" Demi questioned as her and Odell walked out of the local Starbucks after hours of studying for her psychology final. She was studying and Odell was "helping" her. His version of helping was bursting into random song and dance to make her laugh every time she started to look overwhelmed.
"Yeah. It's complicated. What about your family?" Odell questioned as he took Demi's oversized tote bag and carried it for her. He always stressed about how the uneven weight distribution on her shoulders was going to slowly paralyze her, but she didn't listen to him.
"Our house is a former plantation if that tells you anything about my family. I started having nightmares once I learned about slavery," Demi shuddered as she hugged the one book that Odell would let her carry to her chest.
Odell talked about his family all of the time and he expected the same from her but it was hard for her to open up about her family because it was painful. Talking about them reminded her that they wanted nothing to do with her. Sure, they were a bit racist and hard hearted, but they were still her parents.
"They taught you about slavery in that expensive Upper East Side private school?" Odell said in mock surprise as Demi chuckled.
"My history teacher was black. There was only a paragraph about it in our text books but she talked about it for at least a month," Demi answered as she pushed her hair away from her face.
"To be white in America..." Odell huffed as Demi merely shrugged.
There were a lot of things about Odell that she simply wouldn't understand because he was black, and she wasn't. Both of them grew up in wealthy families but his experience was still totally different from hers. The only thing that Demi could do was try to be as understanding as possible when he talked about the things that he had experienced that she never would.
"What do you want for dinner?" He asked, trying to change the subject like he always did when he didn't feel like talking about certain things.
"Pizza!"
"No, we are not getting a damn pineapple pizza again," Odell objected as Demi rolled her eyes.
"But we can get it from Fuel, that way we'll have separate pizzas," Demi suggested but Odell still shook his head.
"Those pizzas aren't big enough for me. Can we please get something else? Like burgers or some shit?" Odell questioned as Demi shook her head.
"What do I have to do for us to get pizza?" Demi questioned as they stood in front of Fuel.
"I could think of a few things." Odell gently pressed her against the brick wall of the restaurant before gently pressing his lips against hers. He was always ready to take it all the way with Demi no matter where they were, but Demi didn't share that same sentiment.
"We can get burgers," she said against his lips before pulling away and walking towards Five Guys.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Demi questioned as she watched Odell stir everything that he had just put into the large pot.
He said his grandmother gave him her gumbo recipe but Demi had never seen Odell cook something as complex as gumbo. He could make an amazing grilled cheese. His homemade French toast was to die for. And he was great at making perfect pizzas. But gumbo?
