Perez was gorgeous

I was intrigued by him before we went on our date. Social media was good for something. I stalked his TikTok and he made good thought pieces about being racially profiled. He was Mexican and he was from Houston, Texas.

No girlfriend that I could tell from his pages, but that did not mean a thing.

We texted each other back and forth for a day before we decided to just go out. I had not been on a date in a while. I already did not know how to act.

What was I going to wear? What was I going to do to my hair? Luckily I took my braids out the week before but now I did not know what to do with my hair.

I stared at myself in the mirror for what for let an hour, and still had no idea. I missed the braids. At least I could get up and go with them. Now I had to do something with my hair. I combed it, flat ironed it, and I still looked like I stuck my finger in a socket.

"Ugh!"

I grabbed a jar of gel and slicked my hair back into a ponytail and then made a bun.

I was dressed in black leggings, tall boots, and a long gray sweater. Simple, not too dressy.

I applied a bit of foundation, but I did not need much. I was still learning how to do my makeup, so I was not into highlighting or contouring, or covering my blemishes. I added some blush for my cheeks, green eyeshadow because it was my fave, and then topped it with lipgloss.

I was cute! Well, I had to keep my confidence up like that. I did not get many guys thinking I was cute. Maybe it was my bubbly personality that guys liked.

Even though Perez had a car, we were hanging out on campus for our date.

"You look great," he said to me.

That was just what I was going for. "Thank you, Perez."

It was still cold outside so Perez was bundled in a thick coat and even wore a knit cap on his head. I was not that cold, only with a light coat and gloves.

"How about bowling?"

A total cliche date, but why not. We headed to the Student Union where there was a huge bowling alley. There also was a game room there, maybe we would play a few games as well.

"I love it here," he said as they walked.

"Here where? The school? Mizzou?"

"Yes, but Missouri in general. The weather, the people."

"Boy, really? Missouri is not that great of a place," I added with a chuckle.

"Have you been to Houston?"

"No, I haven't been to many places." Besides visiting Angel's parents in Phoenix, that's about the extent of my travels. Before my father met Angel, he never left the St. Louis area at all, so I at least was doing better than this.

"Think about St. Louis but bigger. Warmer weather and when we get cold or snow, we don't know how to act."

"You've been to St. Louis?"

"Have family there. My uncle attended Mizzou and then moved to St. Louis. He's the reason I chose here. My parents didn't go to college."

We made it to the bowling alley. I realized I had to take off my cute boots. Good thing I wore socks. Perez wore fresh new Jordans, which were nuts in the snow and all, but they still looked new. Perez dressed like money.  

"I don't want to get into your business, but your parents...what do they do?"

"They own a restaurant. We do okay I guess. My uncle, the one in St. Louis, actually does more than okay. He has a restaurant as well. Same concept as my parents, but he gets better business. He's rich!"

"Ooo, tell me where it is so next time I go home I can eat there."

"Oh, he'd love that."

Bowling was my thing if I may say so myself. I was pretty good at it. That or Perez was letting me win. Perez was not bad, but I had to give him some tips on playing better. That meant getting close to him and correcting his form.

I think he played me. Pretended not to play well so we could be close.

"So, tell me about this guy that was bothering the other day," Perez said after they finished a game and ordered a pizza to share. "Old boyfriend?"

"No! An ex-friend...well, not even that. We studied together last semester and he helped a lot, but we never dated."

"Some guys feel entitled to more than that when a girl hangs out with them. That's mad weird."

"And you? Girlfriend."

"Not yet. I'm working on her," he said with a smile at me.

"Me?" I blushed.

"When I saw you at the Black History Month trivia event, I thought, cute and smart."

I blushed so hard I think my cheeks turned purple if that was a thing. In my head, I think I was now ready for a boyfriend.

After eating our pizza, and taking the rest to go, we went to play some games. Perez was so cool to hang out with. We talked about how our classes were going, our favorite teachers, and things we liked to do on campus. Perez wanted to go into the family business, and work at the restaurant, either his parents' back in Houston or his uncle's in St. Louis. He had not decided, but he had time.

I told him about my father's business and Angel's and how I would love to work with Angel before I started my own thing.

"It's cool your parents have two family businesses. You could do either."

"I know nothing about fixing cars."

"Don't have to. You could run the business side of it."

I never thought of that, helping my father. Something to think about.

By the time we walked back to our residence hall, I was tired from our long night. Perez walked me to my door.

"I had a nice time tonight. We need to do it again. You pick. Something better than bowling...something where I can beat you."

"That could be anything. We shall see."

"I like you a lot Rayvn. I know it's still new and all but...I want to see a lot of you."

"I nodded my head stupidly. "Yeah, me too."

"Can I...give you a kiss?"

Whoa! A kiss from a boy. That was a big deal to me. I liked Perez, I did, but thinking about kissing him was not on my mind. I always thought the next boy I would kiss would be King.

"Perez I...I need to be honest with you. I was in a bad relationship before and, how it ended, I didn't want to rush into anything with someone else. I thought this guy was everything, turns out, I am not a good judge of character. Anyway...thanks to you, I think I am ready to date again."

"And I have a feeling it's not me, huh?"

"Sorry. I know that sounds bad, and you can hate me and never talk to me again. I'm new to all this and-"

"Don't explain yourself to me." He picked up my hand and kissed the back of it. "You're pretty cool, I hope I see you around."

That seemed so easy, letting him down. I hoped he did not turn into another Todd and stalk me and harass me about going out with him. It would be my luck.

I went into my suite and looked at my phone in time to see my mother calling me.

"Ugh!" I yelled out.

Gay sat in the living area with her now boyfriend, Felix, watching television.

"What's up, roomie?"

"My mother." I put my leftover pizza in the fridge and looked to see what I wanted to drink.

"Oh, I understand that. Grades?"

I looked down at my phone again. Now my mother was texting me.

Answer ur damn phone

I need to talk to u

I need another thousand dollars. How much u got

Of course, bank of Rayvn, that's all I was to her. Again, I could easily give it to her, I had it, but this was never-ending.

I wish my mother was only worried about my grades and that's it. Heck, I don't even care if she butted into my love life at this point. I had nothing to hide there. If only we had a better relationship, I would love to talk to her about dating as I do with Angel.

Call me lil girl

What would she do if I did not call her back? I did not want to find out. I stepped into my room and closed the door.

"Hey, mom."

"Don't hey mom me! You way out there at that damn school while me and your brother struggling. I lost my job. How am I supposed to take care of this kid by myself?"

Poor Jalon. I felt so bad for him. If only he was older, I would give him money directly so he could buy whatever he needed. I knew my granny was feeding him whenever she could. I do not know what my other grandmother was doing, or how much she was helping out. She was there a lot for me, but it seemed she was not helping much with Jalon.

"Mom, my money is for school and I have-"

"Ask that bitch for more! Your daddy ain't had to pay child support in a year, he has money. What is he doing with it?"

I did not want to say he was still taking care of Symone, had a son, and had another baby on the way. That he also paid his share of the bills at the house and that was all his responsibilities.

"They're spending a lot of money on the new baby and-"

"Oh hell no! I don't need to hear about that. Tell your daddy to stop playing and give you some money."

"No, I won't!" I snapped at her.

"Lil girl-"

"Mom, no! He does not owe you any money. I don't owe you any money. Jalon is not his child and he's not mine!" I was yelling and I did not care. "You're a grown woman that made her choices, you have to live with the consequences."

"What the hell little girl?"

"I will tell my gran to bring over some food if you need it, but that's it. I'm not giving you any more money. Bye!"

I hung up on her. I was so upset and I did not care if she was upset with me and called and cursed me out. I was done dealing with it. I did not want to get depressed like I did last time.

I told myself to breathe through it. I took deep breaths to not cry or go numb.

"Rayvn, are you okay?" Gay came into my room.

"I'm good."

"I heard you yelling at your mom." She put her arm around my shoulders. "I told Felix to go and you needed some privacy. You don't have to tell me anything, but I'm here if you ever wanted to talk."

I was so tired of holding things in and being afraid of my feelings. I wanted to be happy again.

"My stepmother gave me half a million dollars for college, or whatever. I can't tell my mother, she would take it all."

"Oh shit!"

A/N: How does everyone feel about Rayvn telling Gay about the money?

And no Perez, but maybe she is finally ready for King. Yay!