Black-owned business of the day:
Hafiz Sisters Beauty Supply

Hafiz Sisters Beauty Supply is a family-owned and operated business that specializes in a variety of hair products, and accessories.

We are one of very few black-owned beauty supply stores located in the heart of the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pa. with products available for men, women, and children.  With keeping our motto as well as our work ethic, we strive to give top-notch customer service to everyone that walks in our doors, or shops on our site. We are very knowledgeable in our products which makes shopping with us easy because we can assist you with what is best for YOUR hair type.

Website: Hafizsistersbeautysupply.com

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"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round"

My phone said at three in the morning. I've been on Tik-Tok for about two hours. At one point I've gotten up to do randomly do the renegade.

I was slowly being sucked into the world of uncoordinated dancers and seeing the woah in every routine.

This app has me stuck in a maze at this point. I have a morning class and I'm still not asleep. I can't be late for my architecture class. I don't know how my new teacher is like.

After watching twenty more videos, even though I promised myself to stop after one, I went to sleep only for me to wake up in the middle of the night and watch random cooking tutorials.

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Today I decided to not plan out my outfit. I covered my eyes and went in the closet not knowing what to get. I picked up random pieces of clothes and kept on walking.

When I laid my outfit on the bed it was a pair of beige high-waisted jeans, a blue 2Pac shirt, and my blue and white low top Jordan 1s.

It's giving me very much little boy vibes and I'm loving it. Something about dressing up as a boy gives me a little more pep in my step.

My flat booty is looking a little flatter than usual but it's cool.

Since I didn't want to be late for class I didn't take pictures to send to my parents. Almost immediately my mom sent me a message.

She always finds a way to make me feel bad and it's funny. She pouts and cries every time I don't stick to our little routines. It's cute though.

I decided to put her out of her misery and send her two quick pictures of my outfit. She started hyping me up, saying I should be on magazines.

My dad started blowing up the family group chat once he realized my mom had the pictures and he didn't. I had to send the pictures on the group chat since they started fighting over me.

It feels good being the only child.

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The class was better than I expected. u new teacher wasn't a sexist pig who appreciated lackluster building models. He welcomed me with open arms and he let me have a partner.

That kind of luxury wasn't available to be before. Being treated like a human being was never apart of my agenda in my old class.

I was walking to my car when Dominic stopped me. I hugged him and took in a deep whiff of his perfume. He smells like expensive cologne.

"You wanna go out for tacos?

"Are you asking me if I want food? Boy hop in my car"

He laughed and sat in the passenger seat. I don't know why he asked anyway. He knows imma say yes.

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We were sitting outside of the restaurant, looking at our view of the beach. Seagulls would occasionally walk to the beachgoers and beak their head.

It was almost winter so they're assaulting the very few people who decided to go for a swim today. This is giving me Miami vibes.

"Welcome to Locas Tacos, how may I take your order señorita?"

The lovely old lady says only looking at me. It's like Dominic wasn't there at all. After she took down my order she turned to Dominic, shuddering. She then went back to me.

"You look very beautiful mami"

She said then looking between Dominic and I. It's like she's saying I'm too cute to be sitting with Dominic. I thought only black moms were blunt like that.

My mom and dad will look you in the face and say exactly what she's thinking. But they're up late at night questioning where Cassidy gets her bluntness that from. They swore up and down it was from my grandma.

Dominic caught on immediately to what she was saying. He took out his phone and started occupying himself. He must be dumb hurt.

"Thank you very much, Mami"

After she took Dominic's order she walked away. I can still see the hurt in Dominic's eyes.

"If it makes you feel better, you're very handsome."

"Then that's all that matters to me"

After that, we started talking about our favorite meals. We've concluded that we have two different tastes. Dominic likes to venture out when it comes to meals like trying octopus and owl brain while I stick to the basic chicken and macaroni and cheese.

We like the same favorite fast food meals. One fast-food place we hate is McDonald's though. There's no way a beef burger is for a dollar. Y'all eating deer ankles at this point.

Nothing beats a home-cooked meal. The stress of waiting for the food to be done and getting popped in the hand for stealing the food is unmatched.

Sometimes I'm tired of fast food and home cook meals. I be ready to bite the wall by that point.

"You know before we meet I heard this rumor about you that you being a Trump supporter". I choked on my damn spit. No way he heard this floating around the school.

But no lie some of my favorite childhood actors let me down by supporting the imposter. Amy from Good Luck Charlie, Henry from Henry Danger, and Kalani from Dance moms. It's a damn shame.

"Where did you hear that from?"

"Iyanna"

"Why would she say something like that? Is she trying to get me jumped?"

"She wanted the school to hate you so she said that you supported the most hated person in America"

It's never the rumor that gets me, it's the audacity of the mouth it came from.

"I don't walk around campus with her name in my mouth so I'm confused why my name is always in her mouth"

"I don't know but, your name is pretty"

"If you wanna moan my name just say that"

"What?"

"Huh?"

I started looking around the restaurant, trying to distract myself. As if right on cue the waiter placed my drink in front of me. Dominic was still giving me a weird look like he didn't know I was weird before we started being friends.

"So, I wanna ask you something"

"Go ahead and ask. You better speak before the food comes out and I start stuffing my face"

"Ok, I want to be more than just friends"

I stopped all movement. I looked at him to make sure he was being serious. He indeed was. Lord have mercy.

Girl, just act dumb.

"Ohhh, so you want to be best friends?"

I saw where he was going with this. I don't want to ruin our friendship by turning this into something more. I don't want our bond to go to waste.

"Yes, that's exactly what I was going to say"

He said with his shoulders slumped. I know this hurts his feelings but I don't want a boyfriend right now. The thought of Cassidy taking him from me is still a possibility. And if he's easily taken from me they mean he wants solid from the start and he wasted my time.

I'm not ready to go through that heartache I went through a few months ago. It took several therapy sessions for me to forgive her and let the situation go.

"Here is your food"

I've never seen a sexier plate of food before. One of them always gotta be ugly.

Everything was perfectly aligned from the tacos to the burritos. The sauces looks perfectly arranged right to our meal.

After we finished our food we went back to our rooms. Dominic took an extra minute to hug when he dropped me off. He started leaning in but I backed up. I gave him a quick hug and pulled away.

"Good night best friend"

"Yeah, goodnight"

He looked sad as he walked away but, it had to be done. We're friends and nothing more than that.