Against the Odds (Book 2)

♥ Chapter IV ♥

"Hey, you." There's a nudge to my side. I looked over at Jada and she was smiling at me with her arms crossed on the table. "You look distracted. Would you like to," she shrugged casually, looking away, and I knew what was coming next, "talk about something? Someone maybe..."

After leaving the beach not long ago, the five of us—me, Jada, Thion, Carlos, and Nate—decided to stop and grab a burger, pizza, and drinks before going home.

I squinted at her, biting my lip to stop my expression from giving away anything. She admired her golden-brown nails. "No, not really. Just thinking about college shopping," I lied blatantly.

Jada rolled her eyes but took the bait. "We should start shopping ASAP. I have the perfect décor in mind for you." She turned away, staring into space as she planned. Her hands did weird movements like artistic people did when they were trying to convey their vision.

"Rose gold and white everything," Jada said, her smile wide and sure. Then she turned to me. "And it's not because you're white," she pointed out, placing her hand on my shoulder lightly. "It just," her eyes take in my face and hair and I waited patiently for what came next, "fits your aesthetic."

I nodded slowly, "Okay..."

She went on explaining which of my things would be white and what would be rose gold and even threw in silver in the mix of my "aesthetic" colors. I let her because if I stopped her, she'd want to talk about Zahair again.

I wasn't ashamed or embarrassed to talk about him, but I didn't know what we had yet. Whatever it was, it's fairly new and I wanted to hold on to it for a while until I was sure, and not get my hopes up.

With every time we'd ran into each other, I knew there'd been something there. What happened between us today had tied the knot. I liked talking to him and if there was any chance he and I could at least be friends when we started college, it would be nice.

A snap in front of my face made me jerk in my seat. "What?" I blinked, focusing on Jada again.

Her full lips twisted into a barely-there smile and she said, "I asked what do you think?"

"Oh." Flustered, I shook my head, my mind reeling to remember what she'd been saying. "Totally agree."

Her head tilted. "Right," she muttered.

"Okay, fine! I zoned out at that last part but anything you come up with is great! Shiny stuff and glass are my thing, you're on the right track." I grinned and held up my thumbs in encouragement. That had been the truth even though I'd missed half of what she'd been suggesting before.

She let out an amused sound that was half a snort. "Have your list by next week—we're shopping décor first."

"Shouldn't," I paused, pointing at her as I finished, "the necessary things come first."

"And those are?" She genuinely looked confused and it made me laugh.

"I don't know, clothes, shoes, storage type things..."

Realization lit her face and she waved the idea off. "Oh! Those things are easy to get though. You already have clothes, you can get a suitable trunk anywhere. It's the décor that go fast. If you wait until the last minute, everything we need will be snatched up and devoured by those vultures. We need to act fast."

I thought she was being a little bit dramatic but Jada and I have specific tastes. We're used to the finer things in life. Growing up we had to understand that if we wanted to continue having those finer things, we had to be there first to get them. Sure our parents were rich enough to ship anything in that we wanted but we preferred to fight for our things. No matter how materialistic they may be.