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Twenty Five

May, 1995

"Tiyana! Wake up bitch!" Dana yelled in my face as I was sleeping peacefully in my bed. 

"Time to get ya old ass, birthday havin' ass up!" Brandy also yelled as they both jumped on top of me. 

I laughed sleepily as they shook me. "Guys I'm up! I'm up!" I said as I started to sit up and they moved off of me. I rubbed at my eyes and slowly let them adjust to the light. I laughed again as my eyes fully opened and I saw Brandy holding out a shot of tequila in one hand and a lime in the other.

"Drink up old lady!" Brandy squealed. 

"What fuckin' time is it?!" I giggled as I grabbed it from her. 

"That doesn't matter." Dana said. "Lick your hand." I complied and licked the top of my hand with the lime in it. She poured a little salt onto it from one of my shakers and I quickly licked my hand again. I downed the shot and then bit hard into the lime. Both of them squealed and clapped as I shivered from having such a hard liquor enter my body at god only knows what time. 

"Okay get up. The phones been flyin' off the damn hook all morning, you got a hell of a lot of people to call back." Brandy said as they both started moving off my bed. 

"Do you know who?" I asked as I also started getting off my bed and following behind the both of them. 

"Uhmm, your mom, Pepper, Sharonda, DeShaun, someone by the name of Rufus? Denaun, Marshall..." Brandy trailed off as we got into the hallway and then stepped to the side. My eyes immediately zeroed in on Devon standing at the end of it where the living room connected. 

"What are you doing here so early?" I said happily as I walked a few feet towards him and he engulfed me in a big hug. 

"Came to say happy birthday." His voice was smooth as he kissed me gently. "Happy birthday." He held out a tiny black leather box with 'Chanel' stamped into it. My eyes widened at the sight and I shot my head up towards him. 

"I- I can't accept whatever the hell is in that box." 

"Yes you can, they're beautiful!" Dana yelled from behind me. 

"You ain't even know what's in it yet." Devon reassured me. "Open it, then decide." 

I bit my lip and took the box from him. I slowly opened it to reveal absolutely stunning silver and diamond Chanel earrings. It was the iconic interlocking CC design, with diamonds placed all over the front of them in the shape of the CC, including one big diamond in the middle where the 'C's overlapped. I shook my head. "Yeah there's no way in hell I can accept this." I looked back up to him. 

"Too late. You already opened it. They're yours." He quickly kissed my cheek and then pulled away from me. "Aight what's the birthday plans?!" He said clearly trying to change the subject as I just stood there stunned and still staring at the earrings. These damn things have to be worth almost as much as my moms fucking house. I quite literally don't even know how to take care of things this expensive. 

"Well Tiyana does have to actually call back I swear her entire damn family, then we're doing a girls lunch, then we're doing mani pedi's, then we'll drop her off at your place." Brandy said. 

"Aight, dope. I'll be waitin'." He said as he gave me another kiss on the lips and wrapped his arm around my lower back. "Wear them." He whispered and his hand lightly grabbed at my ass. He quickly released me and started walking back towards the door.