The next morning, I pull up outside of Ruby's house. We talked this morning and I chose to keep my distaste for Zaria separate from my friendship with her. I call her and tell her that I'm here.

While I'm waiting for her to come out, a bright red car pulls up and stops in front of me. The logo indicates that it's a Porsche GTS. I internally groan as Zaria steps out of the car. She walks around it and up to Ruby's door. I don't think she notices me sitting in my car, so I watch to see what happens.

Ruby comes flying out as Zaria approaches the stairs. She nearly crashes into Zaria before realizing the situation. Zaria wraps her in a hug, oblivious of my presence. Ruby locks eyes with me from over Zaria's shoulder. I don't feel like arguing, so I sit patiently in the car waiting for Ruby to make her choice.

Zaria starts walking towards her car, still unaware of my presence. Ruby stops in front of the passenger seat of my car. "Zaria, I told Roxanne I would ride with her like we always do."

"What?" Zaria asks, turning around. She looks at Ruby and then notices my car. "You'd rather ride in that than a Porsche?"

I roll my eyes. "Shut up about your damn Porsche already."

"I ride with Roxanne every morning. She's my best friend. You know that." Ruby says.

"Seriously?" Zaria asks, in disbelief.

"Hurry up. I don't want to be late." I tell Ruby, ignoring Zaria's attitude.

Zaria closes her eyes and inhales sharply. "You know what? Ride with Roxanne. I'll see you in school, Ru." She says, her demeanor shifting completely. She winks at Ruby and even waves at me before stepping into her car and speeding off.

"Your girl is very suspicious." I comment once Ruby settles into the passenger's seat.

"She just wants to spend time with me." She reasons.

"Well, she needs to realize you have a best friend." I say. "I've gone through so much in the last 24 hours. I really need you right now."

"It's about Hakeem, isn't it?" She asks.

"Yes. I'm still required to attend his tutoring, you know."

"Even if you weren't, you would try to hang out with him as much as possible." Ruby says.

"Well obviously. Things have changed since I first met him."

"Okay. What happened?" She asks.

I ignore her lack of enthusiasm and begin filling her in on everything she missed.

"He says his aunt lives in that building? Didn't we drive by there on our way to Damien's party?" She questions, pointing out a detail I had missed.

"Oh damn, maybe we did." I respond, thinking back to that night.

"So, it was Hakeem getting violated in front of the building." She concludes. "Do you think it was his uncle?"

"Maybe. That would explain why he's always there with his aunt." I shrug. "I still feel like he's hiding something from me, though."

"It's probably just the uncle thing. He's met your parents. He probably just doesn't want you to think he comes from a bad family." Ruby speculates.

"I don't know. I guess I can just ask him, later." I say, pulling into the parking lot.

"Yeah." Ruby mumbles. I park close to the entrance and we both get out of the car. We link our arms and begin walking side by side.

"And to think that Zaria thought she could get between us." I giggle.

Ruby laughs along. "She's cute and all, but the only thing that could break us up is you missing my contest tomorrow." She teases.

I laugh it off, but inside I feel my confidence falter.

We walk into the school building without any issue and head straight for our locker. We switch out our stuff. "I'll see you later." I say before walking to my first period class.

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After an uneventful day, I walk to History. Zaria is walking next to me, which I owe to Ruby for making us agree to act civil. Zaria is going on and on about how many politicians she met in D.C. and how hard this move has been because she's had to meet new people. I refrain myself from rolling my eyes. If I had those connections, I wouldn't be complaining.

"You can always email them." I say, trying to get her to shut up.

"But, that's no-" She starts before I tune her out. My thoughts drift to how strangely quiet today was. I didn't see much of Damien or Hakeem.

I would much rather have Hakeem's deep voice describing math to me than little miss princess's perfectly average—but still annoying—voice complaining about her perfect life. I quicken my pace, hoping to see how Hakeem is doing before class starts.

"Why are you speeding up?" Zaria says from behind me.

"Reasons." I say, not trusting her enough to share the details of the event last night.

"You want to see Hakeem?" She asks, using her long legs to catch up.

I choose not to respond and instead keep walking. We're just a few feet from the classroom.

"He's not here today." She says casually.

"He's not?" I say in disbelief. I poke my head into the room and find his seat empty. My heart immediately sinks.

"I thought he would've told you. Since, you guys are kind of a thing now..." Zaria shrugs, sliding by me and into her seat.

I sit in my seat with a seed of doubt planted in me. Why wouldn't he text me if he wasn't coming? What if he got hurt so badly that he's at the hospital? My mind fills with all the possibilities of where he is.

Instead of pulling out my notes and forcing myself to pay attention, I pull out my phone and text Hakeem. After a few minutes of anxiously waiting, I see his notification pop up.

Hakeem: I'm fine. Pay attention in class.

Roxanne: No, you're not! I saw what happened last night :(

Hakeem: Don't worry about it. I'll see you, Monday.

Roxanne: That's so far away... And there's supposed to be snow storm Monday. We might not have school.

Hakeem: I'll come tutor you, anyway ;)

"Roxanne, do you believe that the Executive Order leading up to the Korematsu case was constitutional?" Mrs. Brown asks from the front of the room.

I wipe the cheesy smile off my face and look up at her. I push my worries to the back of my mind and turn my focus to the class.

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Hey guys :)

I'm really sorry about missing yesterday. I think frequent, but not daily, updates would be best for right now.

(That's Zaria's car at the top. It's custom and cost 106k.)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Vote, comment, share!

xoxo
-Gaëlle