selfare | a.jogia

001.

I grew up in a very nice house in Houston, went to private school all my life and I've never even been to the 'hood. Not that there's anything wrong with the 'hood.

-Beyonce Knowles

THREE MONTHS LATER

Avan sat outside on his grandmother's porch, taking a swig of Colt 45 that was handed to him by his friend, Jaquan.

"Nah, no way Keke was lookin' at you, dude. You out ya melon." The New York native, Jaquan Lewis, snorted at TJ, pulling the hoodie of his dirty gray jacket over his head.

The darker-skinned boy sucked his teeth, waving a dismissive hand in Jaquan's direction.

"Whatever, man. You just mad because she was sweatin' me and not you." TJ stuck his tongue out, receiving a chuckle from two of the five in the group, Pedro and Jug.

Jaquan scrunched his face, not from the alcohol but from his friend's words, sizing him.

"My guy, you're not even half of what I am, baby, c'mon!" He exclaimed, raising an arm and flexing his biceps, kissing the skin over the muscle.

TJ furrowed his brows and quickly pulled the sleeve of his jacket up his arm and began mimicking the boy's action.

"Negro, please." Terrance sucked his teeth, smacking his flexed arm, as if they were in some muscle competition.

"Yo, are y'all serious?!" Pedro, the only Hispanic in the group and the skinniest of them all, added another arm, showing both bicep and triceps.

"Pshh, you might as well drop out the competition, Chico, before you get ya feelings hurt." TJ addressed to the Hispanic boy, looking from the small bump formed on his upper arm to his face.

Laughter erupted amongst the boys, all except Avan, who just sat and smiled behind the rim of the glass bottle.

The long-haired boy didn't really get involved with the conversations his friends stirred up, mainly because they were usually about the same thing, females.

He didn't have a problem talking about girls, don't get him wrong, but it wasn't an everyday, 24/7, kind of thing.

Avan was into topics that made you think, like 'Why're clouds white and not blue?' Or 'What's the purpose of almond milk?'.

That was the thing, he loved to learn and ask questions.

He blamed it on the fact his mother listened to Beethoven when she was pregnant with him.

At least, that's what his grandmother told him.

They say if you did that then your child will be born smart, as crazy as that sounded.

And they say that smart people ask questions and strive to learn as much as they can.

So, for that, he was thankful his mother decided to listen to some dead composer's music.

However, though Avan was bright, he didn't allow himself to reach a certain GPA nor a grade above the average 'B' or 'C'.