"What do you mean?" I ask, pulling away to look at her. 

"You were late. I saw you walk in." Ruby says. "I thought I could count on you to be here for me on time." 

"I'm so sorry. Traffic was horrrible. I left my house early and everything!" I plead. 

"Is that 'traffic' over there?" Zaria interjects, putting air quotes around "traffic". I follow her gaze to Hakeem sitting where I left him. 

"Seriously, Roxanne?" Ruby says, hurt showing on her face. "He's more important than me?" 

I'm thrown off by her use of my full first name, but I ignore it. 

"No, of course not. It was an emergency and I just picked him up on my way here. There was actual traffic." I explain, omitting the fact that there was no actual emergency. 

"What emergency?" Zaria asks. "An emergency make out sesh?" She continues, adding fuel to the fire. 

"Why don't you mind your business and leave just like you did this morning?" I bark at her, my filter dissolving completely. 

By the way her smirk drops, I can tell that I've hit my mark. 

"Roxanne. What are you doing? You're not usually like this." Ruby says, stepping in front of Zaria. 

"And you don't usually go around matching with people and treating me like a stranger." I counter. A couple people shoot glares our way. Ruby takes notice and walks toward the exit. I follow her out to the hall. 

"Roxanne, you know I really like her. You always get what you want. Can't I have something, too?" Ruby says. 

"It's not like that. Of course I want you to be happy! I just didn't think you'd date a spoiled brat who thinks she's better than everyone." I say, trying to make Ruby understand. 

"Okay." She says simply, catching me off guard. I can tell by the look in her eye that she has more to say, but just chose not to. 

"Look, I'm really sorry. I just miss my best friend." I pout. She doesn't respond, but I pull her into a hug, hoping to squeeze a response out of her. 

"I'm going to go watch the performances." She says, pulling away and walking back inside. 

I sigh and walk back in as well. I find my seat next to Hakeem and slide in. 

"It doesn't look like she took that very well." He says once I sit down. 

"You don't say?" I roll my eyes. 

Hakeem makes the right choice to not respond. Instead, we both turn our attention to the performer on the stage. She's a short girl in black jeans, a navy blue knit sweater, and black Vans. Her kinky hair is styled in two braids that are pinned to form a sort of halo around her head. 

The words that come out her mouth captivate the audience. She begins her piece by describing a happy family. There's two loving parents and one loved child. A faint smile forms on my face. The description reminds me of my own family. 

The tone and mood shifts as the girl describes the sudden disappearance of one of the parents. I feel the pain through her words and I notice that Hakeem is just as entranced in her words as I am. 

"Every night you made me the canvas for your pain
You painted me black and blue
I'm still unsure what you had to gain
From then on, I knew I had lost you, too."

The way her voice cracked was as if she was on the brink of tears. I'm on the brink of tears myself. I can't imagine what it's like to lose a parent, or be abused; but from the way she pauses to prevent her tears from falling, I can see the damage it does to a child. 

The audience bursts into applause. A couple people stand and others follow until we're all giving her a standing ovation.

"That was amazing." I say, turning to Hakeem. I'm shocked to find him wiping a tear from his face. 

"Aww, it made me tear up, too." I say, wrapping an arm around his waist. 

"I just got something in my eye." He lies. 

"Whatever keeps your masculinity intact." I tease, sitting back down. 

He chuckles. 

A couple more people perform after that girl, even though they were all amazing, none surpassed her performance. 

Finally, the moment we were waiting for arrived. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today at our Annual Young Writer's Contest." The host pauses for applause. He's an average looking Asian man that looks to be in his mid-thirties. 

"The judges need a couple minutes for deliberation before the awards are given out. So, we will have a brief intermission. There are some refreshments in the back, courtesy of the cafe." He announces as the applause begins to die down. 

I turn to the refreshments table and find that it has been stocked with various baked goods. There are slices of cheesecake, regular cake, and brownies. They also had cookies. I tapped Hakeem's arm and started heading towards the table. I didn't want to be the last person to arrive and find nothing. I'm putting some sweets on my plate when a sweet smell hits my nose. I follow it to see someone pouring themselves a cup of hot chocolate. 

"Damn. I wish you looked at me like that." Hakeem chuckles. 

I feel my cheeks heat up as I rip my eyes away from the treats to look at him. "Maybe if you were always as sweet as this brownie, I would." I tease. 

"That can be arranged." He smirks. 

I blush again, which is unusual for me. I turn back to the table and pick up the brownie I was looking at and a few cookies. I wanted to take a piece of the cheesecake, but I didn't want to be inconsiderate to the people behind me in line. After serving myself some hot chocolate, Hakeem and I walk back to our seats. 

He places his plate down and I notice that he took the piece of cake I wanted, along with one chocolate chip cookie. We talk about the show while I eat my treats and he nibbles on his cookie. 

He finishes his cookie and leans back in his chair, staring at me intently. 

"What?" I ask, squirming under his gaze. 

"You didn't finish your cake." He smirks, putting his plate on my empty one. 

"This is yours." I point out, taking a sip of my hot chocolate. 

"I know you want it. I brought it for you." He says. 

A smile forms on my face. He noticed that I wanted it? "You sure you don't want it?" I ask, to make sure. 

"It's all yours." He says with a wink. I don't know when he became so cute and flirty, but I love it, so I don't ponder it too long. 

"Thank you." I smile. 

"Everyone please find your seats, we are about to announce our winners!" The host says from the stage. He waits for the remaining people standing to settle in before continuing. "First I want to thank everyone for participating. You were all amazing and the judges had a hard time choosing the winners, but they had to." 

I roll my eyes. They say this every time knowing that's not true. The judges know exactly who they want to win. 

"Now, without further ado... Our first winner is..." 

--------

Hey guys :) 

You didn't think I'd just tell you... did you? 

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I have a very important question to ask. 

Do you guys think I should add a couple chapters from Hakeem's point of view? I was considering going back and adding some of Hakeem's point of view so you guys can know what he was thinking in some situations. I wouldn't change the plot of the beginning, just add his thoughts and view of things. Should I? I think it'd be a nice addition. 

xoxo
-Gaëlle