My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter Twenty-Four

I throw my phone against the room with a strong force.

I cannot believe everything is going wrong on homecoming day. My twist out did not turn out right because it was still a bit wet when I took it down, so I had to twist it all over again. My mom keeps reminding on how I should have gotten a sew-in because it looks more formal. She has never really liked the fact that I'm natural, and she continues to get relaxers to this day. I have to keep reminding her that times have changed and my natural hair will be coined as professional and formal if I want it to be.

The simple fact that she thinks my natural hair is a problem kind of pisses me off. I'm trying to dismiss the fact, but it is still buzzing in my head. Considering that my hair is not cooperating, I think it may be pissing me off even more. Not to mention, I have to rush to get dressed because my makeup appointment started an hour late. I lost an hour of time to get ready for one of the most unforgettable nights of my life.

Everything is taking a turn for the worst and I don't know what to make out of it.

My phone starts buzzing from across the room and I groan as I walk over to pick it up from the floor. It's Fergie. He's probably calling to tell me he's on his way, considering the dance starts in a hour and a half. We're supposed to take pictures at a park somewhere, but I honestly don't think we'll have the time to. I send him a quick text, before rushing to get myself together.

Devin is already dressed and ready to go. He's in the kitchen eating some pizza our parents bought earlier. We were going to go to a local restaurant to eat before the dance, but clearly none of us are good at time management, especially me. Brittany should be on her way, as well. To be honest, I'm completely over this night already. It's supposed to be important and fun. So far all that I have gained is a headache and the consistency of my blood boiling. I just want it to be over already.

Thirty minutes later, I stand in the full length mirror perched on the back of my bedroom door, gazing at my appearance. I managed to dry my hair with the blow dryer, but it is no longer super curly from the twists. It is a bit frizzy, but it doesn't look bad. My afro goes nicely with the olive green, body con dress. I chose black heels with straps across the ankles. I was going to go with closed toe heels, but I decided against it. A burgundy dress was originally my first choice, but I could not find a cute dress that suited me. That is why I chose an olive green dress, instead.

Fergie arrived about fifteen minutes ago, but I refused to let him come into my room to see me. I wanted to wait until I was done getting ready completely. We have an hour to spare before the dance starts. We can still take pictures at the park, if we want to. No one ever attends a dance when it starts anyway. It normally starts getting packed after an hour of beginning.

I finally walk out of my bedroom and into the living room where my family and Fergie are. I immediately witness a bunch of coos and compliments because they never see me dress up like this. The only thing that stands out to me the most is the look on Fergie's face. He looks at me in awe and it makes me feel good inside.

"You look so good!" Brittany walks up to me and gives me a hug.

"Thanks, you do too." I smile.

"Okay, picture time. Everybody outside before the good lighting goes away." My mama claps her hands and we all follow her to the front door. We almost never use the front door, but I guess this counts as a special occasion.

Fergie and I are the last ones to follow in tow. Before we walk out of the door, he grabs my arm and pulls me aside. I gasp with surprise and he kisses me on the cheek.

"You look amazing." He smiles. "And I love your hair like this. Wow."

"Thank you." He doesn't know how much his compliment means to me because I've spent the last couple hours worrying about my hair. "You look handsome."

"Well, I figured you ought to see me in something other than football attire." He chuckles.

"You're funny." I playfully slap his chest. "Let's go outside before my mama get all crazy."

~

As bad as the night started off, I can surprisingly say that it isn't going so bad. Fergie and I have been dancing with each other all night and staring into each other's eyes. I can honestly say that I have never had so much fun with him. This is an incredible first date so far. Seeing him be so carefree, dancing with that goofy smile on his face, makes me happy.

As much fun as I'm having, I knew it would come to an end.

My smile falters as soon as I see Tamara and Ethan walking towards us. Fergie notices the sudden change in my mood and stops dancing altogether. He follows my gaze and frowns when he sees them. He knows exactly just as much as I do that this encounter cannot be a good thing. I have never told them that Fergie and I are talking.

"Hey, guys." Fergie says as soon as the pair stand before us.

"So, what's going on?" Tamara ignores him, looking at me.

"I'm at a dance. Dancing. Just like everyone else." I state.

"With Fergie, though?" She raises her eyebrows.

"What's wrong with that?" He replies. "Two people can't just dance."

"Not when the two people are you." She says.

I glance at Ethan for a split second and my heart drops a little. He is the most caring, selfless person I know and I hate for him to find out this way. I should have told him that I was into Fergie, instead of being a coward. Then again, it is my business who or who I am not talking to. I just feel so bad about it. In my defense, I did tell him that I liked Fergie, but I didn't state how serious.

"Are you two dating?" Ethan asks. He finally speaks.

The moment I hesitate to answer his question, Fergie swoops in and saves the day. "No, we're not. I just asked her to be my date because I didn't have one. She's a good friend so she agreed."

"Could of fooled me." She snickers.

"Okay cool, you can miss me with all the bullshit. Clearly that apology meant nothing." I but in.

"Bitch, if I'm being honest, we were never really friends." She rolls her eyes.

"Tamara, chill out. You don't have to call her out her name." Ethan places a hand on her shoulder and she shrugs it off.

"You're always taking her side. Get over her, Ethan! She doesn't like you. She clearly likes Fergie." She yells at him.

What's her problem?

"We don't have time for this." Fergie says. "Deuces."

He grabs my arm and leads me away from Ethan and Tamara. I briefly look over my shoulder to see an upset Ethan and a very pissed off Tamara. Just when things are going well, something always has to come up and ruin everything. I don't even know where this leaves us. I honestly don't know where the three of us stand in our friendship.

"I wasn't gonna let them ruin our night." Fergie states.

"Thanks, for telling them we were just going as friends." I say. "Really saved us from a lot of drama."

"Apparently not enough." He chuckles. "Especially not with Tamara."

"I'm sorry." I frown. "I was having a really good time with you and then that happened."

"Hey," He cups my cheek in his hand, "I'm still having a good time."

"You don't have to lie."

"I'm not, I promise." He smiles. "Can we just go dance again and pretend that never happened?"

"Yeah, of course." I smile.

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