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⟅Chapter 20⟆ The High

JANUARY 1993
DEVANTE SWING
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"Spark me up Donny! NOW!" Natalie's voice interrupted our studio session. We all turned to the door and she stormed in. I couldn't read her face but her body language told me she was upset. She sat down next to me and pulled the pre-rolled joint from out of my shirt pocket that was hanging out, before placing it in her mouth. I pulled the lighter out of the same pocket and lit the joint. She inhaled it and blew out some smoke. I took this as an opportunity to ask her what was wrong.

"Nat...what's going on. I thought you stopped smoking?" She began mumbling some curse words before I asked her again. She took the blunt out of her mouth and looked over at the guys and back at me. She wants them to leave. I looked at them and nodded at the door. The groaned and mumbled some incoherent words before leaving. They'll be aight. They needed a break anyways.

She sighed and handed the blunt over to me. "My fucking family is what's wrong." I inhaled the blunt and waited for her to continue. She explained everything and I was speechless. Nobody deserves to go through that, even though I could relate to what she's going through.

"That family is so damn toxic! I swear I'm done with them! I'm cutting them off for GOOD!" She groaned. I had nothing to say, since im not the best person to give advice. Imma leave that to Joel. I rubbed her hand before I passed the blunt back over to her. Which is all we did until the guys came back.

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"So De, what was earlier all about" Dalvin asked me when he stepped out of song booth. K-Ci nodded his head as well. I looked over at Joel who was fast asleep, damn these two motherfuckers are so damn nosy.

"Not my business to tell. But I will tell y'all this" I started.

"Keep an eye out for Natalie. Make sure nothing pisses her off. Aight?" I finished and they looked at me funny but nodded their heads. We then proceeded to put the finishing touches on the album, song wise. We had a lot to do after that. Like take pictures for the album cover, add out special thanks, and print out the clean and explicit copies. Andre wanted that done before it hits twelve...am. His fat ass must not know how long it takes for an album to be created, by people with actual talent and who respects their craft.

As we continued to work, Natalie was still on my mind. She's like my best friend, whom I love a lot, but I love her love her. She was becoming more than a best friend to me as we spent more time together. It's not like I'm scared to tell he I'm in love with her, because the boss playa, cat daddy Devante is never scared, it's just that I don't want to ruin our friendship. Know what I'm sayin? She deserves better and I'm trying to give her it. She's like my natural HIGH, that's why she deserves to know how I feel.

HOURS LATER
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"A nigga hungry and tired. Yo De, please tell me we done. This shit draining me" Dalvin whined. "Nigga if you don't quit whining. Shit. You haven't done shit to be complaining" I retorted but mumbled the last part. "We about to be done in a bit, I just want to see how the tracks flow right into each other". I began to play the album and smiled with satisfaction. The album sounded beyond perfect. It was all that and then some. Andre better not say shit about the album either, cause WE worked hard on this shit, while he sat on his fat ass and complained all day.

"Devante and Company! I have some food for you guys!" Natalie's voice filled the quiet room. Dalvin and Cedric got up so fast and began to tear the food up.

"Greedy asses..." Joel mumbled and I chuckled and shook my head. Natalie began pulling the drinks out of the brown paper bag and I thought it was the perfect time to pull he away and tell her how I feel. When she put the last bottled drink on the table i grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the hall.

"What's wrong Donald?" She asked calling me by my government name, since she's the only person I'll let call me by real name, besides my mom, I decided to let it slide.

"I need to talk to you about something. Something that could possibly effect out friendship" I calmly stated and her eyebrows rose. We stared at each other for a while and my palms began to grow sweaty. Why was I so nervous?

"Look....Nat, what I'm trying to say is– *beep beep* –" her pager beeped, saving me from embarrassment. She took it off of her belt clip and looked at the number.

"Hold on D', I gotta take this. I'll be right back" She said giving me a small smile before going over to the phone hanging on the wall. I wiped my hand on my pants and quickly thanked God for saving me, before I walked back into the studio room.

"Aye Dalvin! Stay away from my food!" I shouted at my little brother who was eyeing my container of food. He looked at me and growled lowly as he backed away. This nigga really might be dog. While I sat down and began eating the food Nat brought for us, she came back into the studio room and sat on my lap.

"Everything Alright?" I asked and she nodded. "Aye what did you have to tell me?" She lowly said so the guys wouldn't hear us. "Nothing-I'll tell you later" She nodded and gave me a small smile. While we talked with guys, all I could think about was her, and how I was going to tell her I LOVE her.

im back y'all !