handle [discontinued]

AUTUMN // 1

I woke Nano up to drive him to school. We both had breakfast together, waffles and bacon, and then we hopped in my car.

It was a nice, warm day, and I watched Nano walk onto the school grounds before I left. My phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Your an ass. I had to ride the bus."

I frowned, still watching Nano as he made his way towards the school entrance. "I'm sorry Roe, I really am. I had to drop my brother off at school."

She sighed. "It's gucci. Do what you have to do. But you owe me." I could hear her smirking.

"Okay." I smiled, and Nano had already entered the school. "I'll be at school in a few."

I saw it was 7:30, and that means Denim should be waking up soon. I hadn't seen him as much, so I decided to pay him and his family a visit. I drove over to his house, and Ms. Alicia greeted me at the door.

"Hey honey!" She brought me in for a hug and kiss.

"Denim's still here, right?" I asked, closing the door behind me and looking upstairs.

"Yeah, yeah. He should be waking up in a second. You want some breakfast?"

I was still kind of hungry, so I gladly said yes. This could also be my way of paying back Monroe. Alicia walked back into the kitchen to continue cooking while I jogged upstairs into Denim's room.

I opened the door, and Denim was sprawled across his width of his bed. I made a dip in the bed, and I poked Denim on the shoulder. When I saw that he wasn't waking up, I shook him.

He groaned and turned the other way, muttering about how his alarm hadn't even when off yet. Literally two seconds later it went off, and he groaned louder. He turned over with his eyes still closed, then he slowly opened them to see me smiling.

"Hi." I waved. Denim smiled and winked at me. He got out of bed to go to the bathroom, and I left him to his own business. I went back downstairs, and Rashaad was sitting at the island while Alicia cooked. She layed out Denim & I's waffles on separate plates, both topped with strawberries and pineapples.

I thanked her for it and dug in. I heard a bark, and a bulldog scurried over to me, continuing. I only looked and cooed at it in amazement while it continued to bark. Rashaad's voice boomed for Bam, the bulldog, to be quiet. Bam was silenced, and he began panting.

"You're so cute." I cooed and gave him a little of my waffle. He devoured it in seconds.

I could hear Denim's large feet come down the stairs, and Bam immediately ran over to him an followed him back to the table. Denim wore a thin burgundy sweater with some cargo pants with a chain. It was simple and he looked good.

"Are you gonna drive Drew to school?" Rashaad eyed Denim, then Denim looked at me.

"Do you want me to?" Denim raised an eyebrow (I always found it interesting on how he could do that.)

All the attention gathered upon me, and I could even feel Bam's eyes on me. "Um, sure. Can you just drive me & Monroe back after school?"

Denim nodded and continued eating his waffles and fruit.

"So Drew," Alicia began putting the dishes in the dishwasher. I looked up at her as I chewed on a sweet pineapple. "What do you want to do for your birthday?"

I hadn't even realize that it was almost September, which is when my 18th birthday was due. I shrugged and ate the last strawberry present on my plate. "I don't know. Maybe I could go skating with my friends. I didn't have anything planned, really."

Alicia looked at Rashaad, and when I looked at him he was looking at her, then he looked at me. "Ok." He clarified.

"Well," Alicia stated, clearing the silence. "Y'all should get to school."

We exchanged hugs and kisses, and Denim drove me to school. In the car, he was asking if I had anything big in mind. Skating was the only thing really; I hadn't been skating since the end of school last year.

When we got to school, everyone was waiting for us in the hallway. I saw everyone but Monroe, then I saw her talking to Bianca far down the hallway. I walked up to everyone and greeted them, and then the bell rang. Denim gave me a long kiss before class, and I giggled when he tugged on my lip.

I saw Monroe by my locker on her phone. She looked up and I waved her over.

"Were you talking to Bianca?"

"The tall brunette? Yeah." She nodded.

We began walking to class, and Monroe explained the entire explanation.

"She was really trying to keep calm, I could tell. She was just elaborating about how she's known you since 7th grade and how y'all were close and everything. Saying y'all were still best friends and everything." Monroe nodded as we greeted everyone in the halls. "I was just like 'Ok?. . .', then she was like 'Just don't come between us, Drew wouldn't like that.' And once again I was like 'Ok?. . .', and she left me alone about it. Then, just to roast her a little bit, I asked where she got her makeup because she drew in her edges really well."

I laughed at Monroe's behavior and then had to come back to reality about what Bianca had said to Monroe. I guess she was mad because I had something she didn't: a true best friend. And that the true best friend wasn't her.

"Don't worry about her. She's just all talk."

Monroe scoffed. "I ain't worried bout nun." Then she started dancing in a little circle, whipping and cooking. She was absolutely hilarious and unpredictable. That's what I loved best about her.

And I was gonna have to confront Bianca about her coming up to Monroe, knowing she tried to scare her. But Monroe had it all under control, she wasn't scared of Bianca. And I wasn't either. Bianca was just a follower, she couldn't function if I wasn't around.

"Hey, um, you wanna have a sleepover tonight? My mom said I could as long as it's one friend and it's you since she only knows you." She laughed.

"Yeah, sure." I nodded. "I love your mom."