Lemonade (BWWM)

16

Three days later, at school, it was a regular day for Aliyah. After lunch she walked with Noah through the hall. They were having a casual conversation about their upcoming math test when Tony walked past them. He was headed in the other direction but something odd happened.

He made slight eye contact with Aliyah before looking away as if she was just some stranger. His hoodie over his head mostly hid his earbuds peaking out underneath. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and he carried a dreary energy.

Aliyah looked over her shoulder and watched him as he continued down the hall, without so much as a second glance. She scoffed as she turned back to Noah.

Tony played the complete strangers role very well and was very convincing. It was impressive, to say the least but Aliyah didn't understand. She believed that he didn't have the right to be ignoring her. That was her gig. His uninterested behavior got under her skin in a very suspicious way.

If one of them was gonna be petty, it was sure as hell gonna be her.

"Did you see that?" She whispered to Noah as they walked out the front entrance of the school.

Noah looked around, "No, what? Tony?" He asked looking back at her confused.

"Yeah he's being salty as hell." They walked out to the parking lot where Noah's car was and entered it together.

"I still can't believe your ex is an ex-convict!" He joked, but it definitely was a truthful statement.

Aliyah groaned, "We only went on one damn date!"

Noah laughed weakly before asking, his face shifting to a very serious look, "How're things at home?"

Aliyah automatically assumed he noticed her bruises that she tried to cover with concealer but it didn't completely do the job, "Fine. Everything's fine. Why?"

"Oh nothing! Just wondering is all..." He said looking away again, a tinge of guiltiness lingered along his eyes. He drove them away from the school and to her house.

The car pulled up to Ali's house and she said thank you to Noah for the ride before getting out of the car and going inside.

Aliyah's POV
When I got into the house, I noticed that it was quiet. Gabe was usually blasting Travis Scott in the kitchen or Momma was in the kitchen, yapping away on the phone with her friends while making dinner. But none of that.

There was an overall tense energy radiating through the house.

I walk into the living room to see my mom sitting on the couch sobbing lightly, there were used tissues scattered around on the coffee table letting me know that she'd been crying for a while. Gabe was sitting next to her rubbing her back comfortingly. Across from them sitting in the loveseat was an older looking hispanic woman.

She had a clipboard on her lap. It seemed as though they were in the middle of a conversation. I walked forward cautiously and slowly let my backpack slide off my shoulder as I put it on the ground.

All three of them looked at me at the same time with a look that made me nervous. It felt strangely like an intervention.

"Hi." I said looking at the woman before turning to my mom, "Mom, umm where's Mark?" I asked. I could only assume that woman was one of his co-workers.

As soon as I asked, Gabe clenched his jaw and my mom began to cry harder. Something was really wrong. Was there an accident? Was he dead? I got more nervous immediately.

"Aliyah." The woman said calmly. My gaze jumped over to her. "Please come have a seat."

I carefully walked over and sat next to her. That's when I saw it.

Her clipboard. It had the bold seal of CPS on it. Child Protective Services.

My heart sunk to my stomach.

She looked me deeply in the eyes. "Aliyah, dear..." There was a slight pause before she continued.

"Mark has been arrested for child abuse."