Just Like That

60. "look at yourself"

Grayson Reid Jansen

KNOCK! KNOCK! I pounded on Leila's apartment door. Or so I thought.

"What?! Who the Hell are you, the damn FBI," a large white woman with curling rods in her brown hair roared in my face. The smell of cigarettes invaded my nose the second the door swung open.

"Uh-" I laughed. "Wrong apartment, ma'am. S-sorry."

She slammed the door shut in my face and I couldn't help but laugh at the encounter.

Leila must've moved, I thought in my head. Honestly I felt defeated. Now who am I gonna talk to?

"I live in three-forty-seven, num nuts, not three-forty-right," Leila said out of nowhere. She walked up from behind me with a laundry basket in her hands.

"I knew that," I played it off.

"You would if you ever came to see me sometime," she nagged.

As Leila struggled to unlock the door, I volunteered to hold her heavy basket of clean clothes.

They door opened and she let me come inside.

"Hungry? Thirsty? I finally went food shopping! Remember, you hated my vegan food options, so I bought some junk since we're friends now and we'll be hanging out," she talked so much.

Making myself right at home, I looked around the snack pantry and grabbed a pack of golden double stuffed Oreos.

"Thanks," I said back dryly, opening the pack.

I slid some to Leila who took a risk and ate it anyway. She admitted they were good while I sat on top of the counter and stuffed my face.

"So, what's up," she asked me in a chipper tone.

"LJ and I just got in a fight," I told her.

Leila hopped on the counter across from me and sat Indian style [unless that's offensive, then she sat criss-cross.]

Leila's hazel eyes rolled. "You'll be friends tomorrow, you guys always fight," she thought, waving it off as nothing serious.

I put my hand up so she could see my knuckles.

"You got in a fight?!" Her eyes bulged out of her head and she hopped down to get some ice for me.

My lips smacked at her worry. "Leila, it is not that serious," I laughed as she gave me a frozen bag of peas. She stood short in between my legs and pressed the ice onto my hand anyway. Looking up, she stared into my eyes until I looked away and cleared my throat. I playfully pushed her back and laughed it off.

"What happened?" She asked.

"He was talking about— never mind," I sighed. As bad as I needed to vent, I didn't want to ruin our friendship more by bringing up my ex.

Leila studied my face and wondered what was on my mind. "It's about Brea, isn't it?" I nodded in response to her question.

Leila sighed, too. She hopped back off the island and stuck her hand out for me to grab. When I did, I asked what she was doing.

Leila said "you don't have to talk about it right now. Let's go watch some movies and finish eating these cookies."

So, that's what we did.

When the movie ended, I sat up and ate the last cookie.

Leila burped and rated it a six.

"Nasty," I laughed, lying on my back on her twin bed. Small but we made it work on more than one occasion.