Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 00:30:21 EDT From: KhaymanRice@aol.com Subject: What's Happening To Me...Chapter 5 When I got home, Mom was sitting in her office that she and Dad shared, drinking coffee and grading papers, I think. "Morning, Mom!" I said joyfully as I walked in. "Well, well! Look what the cat dragged in." She said, turning her face towards me, waiting for her kiss. Man, I love my Mom. She was the sweetest person I know, but I am biased. I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "Whatcha up to this morning?" I wrapped my arms around her neck, giving her a tight hug. "Oh, getting some work done. How was your night?" "I had a ball, Mom. (No pun intended) Nick, Mouse and I hung out in the village and had a really good time." "So, this Nick guy, your new friend, is a nice boy?" "Yeah, he's cool. He and Mouse really hit it off." I added, trying to hide my nervousness about her asking, thinking to myself that she sensed what happened between us. (That's ridiculous, huh?). "So, where's Dad?" I asked, changing the subject. "That's good, sweetie. Your dad is at the hospital, making rounds. By the way, your brother has been down here twice asking about you. He's in his room, I think." She said before turning back to her work. "What does he want?" We'd been arguing so much lately that I almost felt an instant dread, when she mentioned that he was looking for me. "I don't know, but it sounded important. You know your brother. Everything is important to him." "Yeah!" I said. I sure hope he wasn't still on this Nick kick. "Talk with you later, mom." I kissed her on her cheek again and left her office. I walked upstairs to Keni's room and knocked on the door. "Keni, you in here?" I asked, peeping into his room. "Z! Wassup, man? He was online. "It's about time you got home." He seemed really happy to see me. He rushed over, grabbing me by the shoulder. "You missed it last night. Where were you?" "Missed what?" I asked, as the shock of him grabbing me left and a smile showed on my face. I thought for sure he had something good to tell me. "The Argument! Calli and Stace got into a bad argument and they almost came to blows." He said, seeming waiting to see my reaction. "Really? Why? "Calli and Stace got into it over you." I looked at him in shock. "Over me? What do you mean?" I couldn't imagine why they would be arguing over me. "Stace was going on about you all last night, about you wanting to hang out with Nick instead of us. One thing led to another and then they were into it. She said something about you getting on her case about how she treated him Friday in the cafeteria." "Yeah, I did. So?" I said. I walked further into his room and sat in his desk chair, facing him. He sat on the bed. "She was being a real bitch to Nick and I wanted to know why. So I called and asked her about it. And, I told her that I only wanted her as a friend, nothing more, and for her to stop sweating me. She might have been pissed her off but she asked for it. So, tell me what else happened." By now I had gotten over my dread and was getting pissed. "You should have been there, man. Calli was about to pop her in the face for running off at the mouth about you. She was saying shit about how unnatural your friendship with Nick was." Now that really floored me. "Unnatural? What's that suppose to mean?" I yelled at him. "Z, calm down, man. Don't be yelling at me and don't go getting pissed. Take it as a compliment. The girl has got the hots for your nuts, dude." He said, trying to calm me and making light of the situation. I saw nothing funny about it at all.. "I don't give a fuck about what she has the hots for." I yelled at him again. I look down for a moment, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down. Keni didn't say anything. I guess he was waiting for me to say something. Then, something hit me. Why was Calli defending me? I looked up at him and asked him, "Why did Calli have to defend me instead of you? Where the fuck were you when all of this was going on?" I could feel that sweat beading on my forehead. "I wasn't there. I went to the store with Calli's brother and when I got back, Calli and the other's told me what happened. They were all talking about it. I haven't talked with Stace since I left to go to the store. The gang said that she got really mad and bounced after the argument. Word is that she's pissed." "Fuck her. Who cares if she's pissed!" I sat there for a moment lost in thought. I was hot as hell. "You ok, Zuri?" He asked, now looking a bit concerned. I didn't mean to make you mad. Just thought you'd find it funny. "Yeah, I'm cool." I said after taking a deep breath. "Thanks for the heads up, but I don't find anything funny about being talked about behind my back. "I'm sorry, man, ok? He said, now realizing that I wasn't amused by the situation at all. "Yeah." I said. We both sat there in silence for a while. Suddenly, he looked up at me. "So, anyway, why didn't you come by? I thought you were gonna show up after hanging out with your boy. Then, Dad told me that you stayed at Mouse's dad's place last night." That feeling of guilt began to creep up in me again. I couldn't seem to get last night's events out of my mind. I constantly played them over and over again in the backdrop of my mind. "Oh, Nick and I got up with Mouse and we hung out in the village. We wound up staying at Mouse's place." He stared at me without saying anything,then said, "Cool!" I knew that look. I sighed deeply. "What now?" I asked. I knew he had something to say. "Nothing, Z. Stop being so paranoid." His mouth said one thing, but the look on his face told me something entirely different. I knew him too well. "Paranoia has nothing to do with it, Keni. I know you and there is something on your mind so you might as well spill it." He smiled at me weakly. I knew in my heart what he was gonna say, but I wanted him to get it off his chest, as much as I dreaded hearing it. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it. It's my problem." "Keni, spill it." I almost demanded. He looked down at the floor.. "Ok, I said it once already. I miss you, man. I miss hanging out with you. Over the last couple of days I haven't seen you much and when I do see you, we just argue. I'm tired of that shit; I just want it to stop. I just wanna hang with you again. Is that too much to ask?" He said, seemingly on the verge of tears but I knew better than that. He never cries about anything, as long as I could remember. He was always the stronger of the two of us. "Keni," I said, moving to sit next to him on his bed. I grabbed his hand and held it. "I have not gone anywhere, man, and I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry about that, ok? You my dude and I told you before, nothing is gonna change that." I hesitated a moment, then asked. "Keni, be honest with me. Are you sure that this doesn't have anything to do with Nick? I mean, Mouse is my friend and no one seems to be having a problem with him and never have, but when it comes to Nick, everyone seems to have something to say. Be honest." He looked at me, taking a deep breath. He lowered his head, appearing to be weighing what he was about to say carefully. "I don't know, man. It's hard for me to put it into words without making you mad. There is just something different about him that I can't quite put my finger on. I'm sorry, Z. I know he's your friend but you did ask." I thought about what he said. "I guess I understand how you feel." I told him sadly. "I don't agree with you but I guess I do understand. I just wish you and the rest of the gang would take the time to get to know him before you judge him. I really don't see what the problem is. He's really cool. Mouse thinks he's awesome and they hit it off from the start." I paused for a moment, trying to fully understand how he was feeling. "I want you two to be friends. I know he wants that. He knows you don't like him or at least he thinks you don't like him and he feels bad about that. He knows how close we are and he wants to be friends with you, too." "I don't know what to say" he sighed loudly. "It's just how I feel but I'll try. Guess I should give the dude a chance." "Yeah, you should." I said, smiling at him. He smiled back and leaned in to give me a hug. "You the best!" I told him. "Yeah, yeah! That would be me, the best!" He said, showing off that D'Alessandro smile. We sat there quietly for a few minute then he smiled at me, which caused me to smile back at him. Suddenly we both burst out laughing. "So, what's up with you today?" He asked, trying to change the mood. "Who knows?" I shrugged. "You wanna hang? Just you and me?" I asked him. "Yeah, that'll be cool. What do you wanna do?" he asked. He was now as happy as a kid in a candy store. "I wouldn't mind going to see X2 today." "I saw that movie yesterday. It was a good ass movie," I think he assumed that Mouse, Nick and I went to see it together and I didn't bother to enlighten him to the fact that it was just me and Nick, "but I don't mind seeing it again, K, if you wanna go. I'm telling you it was awesome." Actually, I missed most of the movie yesterday when I saw it with Nick. I was more preoccupied with him and his hand play than I was with the movie, but I couldn't tell him that. "You sure, Z?" He asked. "I mean I can go by myself or ask Calli to go with me. You don't have to." "Nah, Keni. No worries, man. I wanna see it again and I wanna go with you. Remember, this is our day. We do everything together today, Ok?" "Ok, you got it." He smiled at me, kissed me on the cheek and hugged me again. "But before we go, I need to call Stace and see what's up with her, though. I have something to say to her that she's not gonna like. I promise you that." I said to him. "Z, leave it alone today. You'll see her tomorrow at school. Just wait until then. Let's just hang together today, you and me, ok?" He had an almost pleading look on his face. "Ok, only for you, but her ass is mine tomorrow." "Cool." "Let me go take a shower and change clothes. I'll be ready in a few, ok?" I said, rising to leave his room. "Ok, I'll be ready, man." "Make sure you run this by Mom while I'm getting ready." "Sure thing." He said, as I was leaving his room. Thoughts of Nick immediately began to flood my mind again. I was more at ease to think about what happened yesterday now that I was alone. I smiled when I thought about the cool time we had and the sex, well the oral sex, was awesome. I couldn't wait to do it again. My nature was already at attention and I knew what I had to do before I got ready to go. As I was taking off my clothes, getting ready for the shower, my cell went off. I checked my caller ID and a big smile came to my face. Great minds really do think alike, I thought as I clicked the answer button. "What's up?" I answered with a big, cheesy grin on my face. I knew my smile was brighter than a 14 karat diamond. "Nothing much!. Just got home not too long ago and my dad's gone somewhere.Wanna come over?" he sorta laughed. I could almost see that smirk on his face. "Nick, you don't know how bad I wanna come but Keni and I just made plans to hang out today. He was really on this kick when I got home about missing hanging with me, so we decided to hang together today. We're going to see X2." "You saw it yesterday." "Yeah, I know but he wants to see it and I wouldn't mind seeing it again. I would invite you but it's just our day." "Yeah, I understand. You go on with your bruh. I just thought I'd call and invite you over for a while." He said. "So, you called to try and get me to come over, huh?" I asked. I could tell that he was smiling. I could hear it in his voice. I was cheesing too. "Yeah. I thought you might wanna come and hang." "Hang, huh? Is that what they're calling it now?" He found this funny because he laughed out loud, which caused me to laugh, too. I had never felt like this before. This dude really had a way of making me feel good. "Sure, if that's what it takes for you to come over." "Nick, man, you don't know how much I want to. Actually, I whispered, I got a stiffy right now thinking about you, but like I said, I promised Keni to hang out with him today and I don't wanna hurt him again. You understand, right?" "I'm just joking around. You go ahead and do you thang with him. I can catch up with you a little later. Call me when you get back?" He asked, sounding as sexy as always. "You know I will, man. I can't wait to talk to you." I couldn't help but play with my dick while talking with him. "You got me so hard." I laughed. "What you wanna do about it." He asked. "I can help you with that, you know." "Help me how?" I asked, kinda confused over what he said. "Let's have phone sex." He whispered. "Phone sex? How?" I had some idea of what he was asking but not quite sure. "Where are you right now?" He asked like he was asking a secret. "I'm in my room about to head to the shower. Why?" "Go lock your door and take your clothes off." He barely said into the phone. "Nick, Keni is waiting on me. I got to hurry up and get in the shower." This wasn't amusing, but loved the idea of it. "Oh, come on, Zuri." He said almost pleadingly. "It'll only take a few minutes. My dick is hard as hell and I wanna get off. I wanna get off with you, but since you can't come over, let's do it. Please!" I thought about it, smiling to myself. "Ok" I said chuckling, "but we can't be too long. Keni will be coming up here soon, if I do." "OK" I went to the door and yelled to Keni. "Yo, K. I gotta make a quick phone call before I shower. Be ready in a few." I closed the door and locked it, but not before hearing him yell from downstairs for me to hurry my butt up. After I took off my boxers, I picked the phone up and told him that I was back. "Ok, tell me what to do." I was acting like a kid discovering a secret. "You got your clothes off?" "Yeah" "Ok, lay back on the bed while I talk to you." OK, but hold on. Let me connect my earpiece to my phone so my hands are free. I did what he asked. I laid on my back after putting the earpiece in my ear. I spread my legs and put on hand on my nuts and the other on my dick. " I'm ready. Are you?" "Yeah. Ok, tell me what are you doing now? "I'm playing with my dick and thinking about what we did yesterday." "What about yesterday did you like? I know I liked how you suck my dick and how you made me suck yours." He said in an almost inaudible whisper. "Your dick tasted so good. I never thought about doing it before but I liked doing it with you." "Yeah, I like that, too. I also liked how you sucked my butthole. I can feel you tongue in there now." I said, as I rubbed my finger over my hole. "Oh Nick, I want to suck that hot Italian dick of yours." "Yeah, I wanna wrap my hands in them rows and lick your ass." "Damn, boy, you nasty!" "And you're killing the mood, dude." "A'ight, sorry." I said, feeling a bit stupid. "Let's try some role play. I'm gonna go get some ice." "Ice? What for?" I asked, still a bit unsure as to what Nick was planning. "You'll see, hold on." There was a pause, then I heard him coming back. "Ok, I'm back." He said. "So what you gonna do?" "You'll see. Ok, here goes. Aww, man, I'm rubbing ice all over my body cause it's so hot for you." Nick said, causing my dick to jump up. I was imagining him running that ice all over his big chest and hot nipples, making them erect and eager for me to suck on them. "Mmmm, yeah. I'm leaking like a faucet over here. Come put that hot mouth on me." I said, with lust in my voice. "Damn, you taste so good, boy. I got the cubes in my mouth." "Yeah, suck me harder!" I said, getting louder and louder with each stroke of my now rock-hard dick. "Harder?" "Yeah!" "Zuri! I wanna eat your ass again!" he said, making me moan even louder. "I can feel your finger on my hole, man. Yeah! You know how I like it!" "Oh, Zuri, man, your ass feels so hot and tight against my finger. Push back on it baby." I was on my heels on my bed rubbing my hole with my fingers while still jacking furiously with my other hand. Damn this Italian stallion knew how to get to me. I needed to turn the tables and soon or else I'd blow my load too quickly. "Yeah, I'm eating that hole of yours now. I'm sucking that hot pink ass, dude. Spread them cheeks some more." I demanded, with a bit of authority in my lustful voice. "Oh fuck yeah, lick my ass, man, lick that thang. Oh yeah!" Nick nearly screamed. I could sense that this was really getting him off. "You like it, huh? Come here and suck this fat black dick." I said. "It feels so good, mmmm, I'm rolling it against my cheek. It's hard, Zuri! And it tastes good too!" Nick managed to get out in between moans. "I can't hold on any longer! I'm gonna cum!" I forced out. I was jacking 30 miles a minutes and still had my finger rubbing at my hole. "Cum in my mouth, dude! Let me have that hot nut!" Nick demanded of me. "Oh Man, Oh Man, UUUGGHHH!!!" I blew my load everywhere. The first 3 blasts hit the headboard. Two quirts landed on my face and on the earpiece, then the rest seemed to hit my chest and stomach. I couldn't believe that I could come like that after I had had all that sex with Nick just yesterday. "Zuri, I'm cummin'!" he managed to say before I heard what I could have sworn was the sound of come hitting the microphone. "Was it good?" I asked him a few seconds later. "Wait, lemme catch my breath." He replied. Obviously his orgasm had taken a lot out of him. He was still breathing really hard. I laid there for a few minutes, panting as hard as I could to get my own breath back. "Nick, dude, that was off the hook. You should see me. I'm covered with cum." I said laughing. "Me, too. I definitely need a shower now." "I know what you mean. I really gotta get going." Just then Keni knocked on my door and jiggled the doorknob. "Z!" He yelled. "What are you doing in there? What's taking you so long?" "Hold on Nick." I whispered into the phone. "Keni, I will be out in a min." I shouted at the door. "I had to make a call. I'm about to get in the shower in a few." "Who did you have to call?" He asked. "Don't worry about it. I'm getting off now." I yelled out to him. "Yo, Nick, I gotta go. I'll call you when I get back, ok?" I whispered again into the phone. "Cool! I'll be here." He said. "Ok! I love you." I blurted out, then realized immediately what I said. "You what?" he asked. I froze. I felt my heart skip a beat. I couldn't believe I said that. Where did that come from and more to the point, why did I say it? "Zuri, you there?" He asked. The tone in his voice changed from lust to seriousness. "Umm, yeah, I'm here. I'm sorry I said that, man. I don't know where it came from." "No, don't apologize for it. I like hearing you say it. It came from somewhere, man." "Yeah, well, I gotta run. I'll call you later." I immediately hung up the phone before he could respond and just laid there for a minute, staring into space. "Where the fuck did that come from." I asked myself. "Oh well, let me get going." I thought to myself, shaking it off. I ran and jumped in the shower and quickly washed off. It took me only a few minutes afterwards before I was ready to go. I still couldn't get over what I let slip out to Nick. "Keni," I shouted, running down the stairs. "I'm ready, man. Let's bounce." "It's about time. Who were you talking to? You sure took a long time. Mom, we're going." He yelled out. "How long will you be? I'm making dinner and I wanna have it ready by the time you two get back." She yelled from her office. "Around 6:30." I answered. "Ok! Love you guys" "Love you, too, mom." We both said in unison. Keni and I spent a really cool afternoon together. It was like old times, if you considered two or three days ago old times. He seemed to have really enjoyed the movie and I enjoyed being with him. After the movie, we went to the arcade that Nick and I were suppose to go to yesterday. It was ok. I whipped his butt in Soul Calibur II. That was our favorite game. "Z, thanks for hanging out with me today, man. I know I've been on this kick and have pissed you off a lot." He said, as we were leaving the arcade. "You don't have to thank me for that, man. You know I like hanging out with you. You're my bruh and you're not pissing me off. Well. Maybe you are just a little, but I can overlook that." I winked and smiled at him, letting him know that we're cool and that all was well with us. "Anyway, thanks." He said, putting his arm around my shoulders and we headed home. I felt so close to Keni and I hated keeping my secret from him. I wanted to tell him everything that was going on with me and Nick, but wasn't sure how he'd react to it. Man, I was itching to tell him. Keni and I got home around 6 p.m. Mom had dinner already prepared and she and Dad were setting the table as we walked in. "Mom, we're home." I shouted. "Hey guys! How was the movie?" Mom asked. "It was awesome." Keni responded. "Did you see X2?" Dad asked. "Oh, wassup, Dad? Yes sir. We went to see X2. I wish you were here when we left. You could have gone with us." Keni said, walking into the dinning room with me close behind. "You would have loved it." I added. "Maybe next time. Let me know." He said to us, giving us both a brief hug and a pat on the back, which was his usual custom. "Dinner is almost ready, guys. Go wash up, please." Mom said. Keni and I went and washed up and we sat down to dinner. We talked about everything. Mainly, we talked about our party on next Friday. "Guys, since this is your 18th birthday, your mom and I decided to let you go at it alone. We will have everything set up but your mom and I are going away for a few days. "Really?" Keni asked, as his face lit up. "Well, don't be that excited." Mom said smiling at us. My family and I spent the rest of the evening together. After discussing the party and cleaning up, we sat in the living room and watched TV. Mom and Dad laid on the couch and Keni and I laid on the floor like we used to do when we were kids. I felt so happy to be a part of this family. I looked at my mom and dad. They were obviously still in love, as much today as they were when they first got married. They were wonderful parents. And then there's Keni. What can I say about him? There's no doubt in my mind he moved me and I knew for sure how I felt about him. I laid there thinking about them and also about Nick. I thought back to our afternoon phone sex encounter. It was awesome. As I laid there, I felt my dick get harder. The more I thought, the harder I got. I needed relief. Maybe I could call Nick again and repeat what happened earlier. "Mom, Dad! I'm gonna head on up to bed." I said, getting up off of the floor, walking to the stairs trying to hide my stiffy. "Nite, sweetheart." Mom said. "Nite, son." Dad added. I looked at Keni when I got to the stairs. He winked and nodded back at me. On my way upstairs, my mind wandered back to Nick. I had to hurry up and get my stuff ready for school tomorrow so I could give him a surprise call before lights out. I couldn't believe how much over the course of a few days my life had changed. I spent the next 30 minutes or so getting ready for school and my call to Nick. I'd laid my clothes out, took a shower and sorta picked up my room. For some reason, I procrastinated in calling Nick, putting it off to the bitter end. I knew I wanted to do it, but didn't know how to bring up the subject. Finally, I had gotten into bed, took off my boxers and readied myself for another round of phone sex, as I held my phone in one hand and my hard dick in the other. Just as I got comfortable and picked up my phone to dial Nick, Keni knocked on my door. "Yo, bruh. You up?" He said, as he gently tapped on my door. "Shit!" I whispered, as I dropped the phone and got out of bed, looking for my boxers. "Yeah, man. Hold up." After putting on my pj's, I unlocked my door and immediately ran back and jumped in my bed, trying to hide my wood from Keni. "You were asleep?" He asked as he walked in and sat on the end of my bed. "Not yet, just getting ready. Whatcha up to?" I asked him, hoping he wouldn't stay too long. I wanted to make my call before it got too late to call. "Nuttin. Just wanted to check in on you before I headed to bed." He said. "Man, I think the party's gonna be da bomb. It's really cool that Mom and Dad trust us enough to let us have a party without them being around. "Yeah, that is cool! We can get together and go over the guest list tomorrow after we get home from practice." "That's a good idea." He said, as he moved farther up that bed and before I knew it, he was resting on the pillow next to me. Our conversation had drifted to just trivia conversation about different things. The next thing I remembers was waking up and finding Keni snuggled up behind me. I looked at the clock and it read 2:15 a.m. "Man, I didn't call Nick." I thought for a moment then decided it was probably for the best anyway. I reached over and turned out the nite light and fell back against my bruh in a deep and soundful sleep. My alarm went off around 6:15 AM. I opened my eyes and reached over and hit the snooze on the clock. I knew I had a few more minutes before I really had to get up. I laid back down and noticed that Keni was still in bed with me. I turned to face him. He slept so peacefully and I didn't want to disturb him from his restful sleep. I laid there and stared at him for a moment. He was quite a handsome guy. (What does that say about me...hehe). He lightly snored in his resting position and from time to time would scrunch his nose. It was cute how he did that. No one except identical twins could image how I felt at this moment. When the alarm went off again, Keni opened his eyes. He looked disoriented for a few moments then remembered where he was. He noticed that I was laying on my pillow looking at him. He smiled at me, showing his teeth and those deep dimples. I smiled back before reaching behind me and turning the alarm completely off. I turned back to face him. Again, we stared at each other for a minute or so before he said, "Wassup, bruh?" "Morning, man. How did you sleep last night?'' I smiled at him when I said that. "Yo, dude. Sorry I crashed in your bed last night. I must have dozed off while talking with you." "That would be my guess." "Hope I didn't make your night too uncomfortable." "Nah, not at all. It was kinda like old times, don't you think?" I asked. "Yeah, it was kinda cool. I guess I need to get up though. Dad'll call us for breakfast soon." "Yeah, I know." I said, sitting up. "Damn, I'm still tired. I could use a little more sleep." "I feel you, bruh, but the day awaits. You better get a move on." Keni and I both got out of bed. He headed out of my room and I headed for the bathroom. I needed to take another quick shower to wake up. I stripped down and jumped in the shower. I was all lathered up when Keni walked in the bathroom. "Thought you took a shower last night?" He asked. "I did, but I needed to take a quick one to wake up. Will be out in a sec." "Hurry yo little ass up." He said laughing. "Little? Fuck you, you munchkin." I said laughing and getting out of the shower. I declare, we were the splitting image of each other. I guess I looked like a munchkin too, but a cute one...hehe. "It's all yours, bruh." I dried off and went through my morning cosmetic rituals. Afterwards I headed back to my room and got dressed. Keni had just walked in my room around 7:00 when, like clock work, dad called us down to breakfast. Mom had prepared a hearty breakfast as usual and we ate greedily as usual. She kept telling us to slow down, but you know teens, we do everything in a hurry. We finished in record time and had the table cleared off and dishes in the washer. "Yo, Z, we better get a move on. Remember, we have a team meeting at 8:00." Keni said, running up the stairs to get his book bag. I was right behind him. After getting our stuff from upstairs, we kissed Mom and Dad good-bye and headed out. It was a regular Monday morning at school. Kids were hanging all outside in the breezeways, drinking and smoking cigarettes. Keni and I got our fair shares of hellos from everyone, as he headed for our lockers. As we passed the drink machine located on the first floor, I noticed Keni was staring at something or someone, but trying to pretend that he wasn't. I looked in the same directing and noticed Stace standing next to the girls' restroom, talking with some people. I looked at her and walked over to where she was standing. Keni started to follow, but I told him that I'd meet him by the locker in a few minutes. "Keep your cool, Z. Remember, what I said. She just likes you a lot and she's not handling it well. Be nice, ok, bruh." "Yeah, I will." I told him right before I reached her. "Stace, we need to talk." There was no pleasantry in how I said it. I knew she knew I wasn't happy with her and that I was gonna say something that she didn't wanna hear. She didn't say anything, but just followed. When we got outside, I turned to face her. "Zuri, before you start, let me explain. I was..." she started to say but I cut her off. "NO!" I said even shocking me by the tone of my voice. "You listen to me. What the fuck is up with you, girl. Keni told me about what happened at Calli's sister's party with you and how you were going on about me. And what the fuck did you mean that my friendship with Nick was unnatural. What exactly were you trying to imply?" I was hot and getting hotter by the moment. "I know that you have this thing for me. God knows I hear it enough, but like I told you when we talked Saturday morning, we are just friends. Nothing more. I thought you understood?" Stace had tears rolling down her face. I knew I was being a little too hard on her but hell, she deserved it. I noticed Mouse and Nick walking up to us. My heart almost skipped a beat and for a brief second, I thought about the phone sex we had had yesterday morning. I held up my hand as if to tell them not to come any closer. Apparently, they got the hint because they walked on inside without saying a word. I looked back at Stace. "Zuri, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by what I said. I don't know why I even said it or why I got upset with you when you didn't wanna hang out with us yesterday." She was crying and practically begging "You mean hang out with me, don't you?" I stared at her with dagger looks. "Why are you doing this to me?" She screamed, acting like a mad woman. I remained calm. "I'm not doing anything to you, Stace. You brought this all on yourself." I turned and left her standing right there. I walked in the building and headed towards my locker. I say Mouse, Nick, and Keni all standing around talking. Keni was actually laughing and talking to Nick. I couldn't believe it. I walked up to them with a big old, cheese-eating grin on my face. "Sorry about earlier, guys. I had to get something straight. Wassup with you two this morning?" I said looking from one to the other. "What did you do, Z?" Keni asked before Nick and Mouse could respond to my question. I looked at Keni and smiled. "Something I should have done a few days ago." Just as I said that, Stace walked by us with tears rolling down her face. Keni looked from her to me. He left us standing there and ran behind Stace, calling her name. "Wassup with that?" Mouse said to me. He looked totally confused. "Is something going on?" Nick asked. "Nah, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. Listen, I have a meeting in the gym in a few. I'll catch up with you guys later." I took off before they had a chance to respond. I knew I was being rude but I had to get out of there before they asked anymore questions that I didn't wanna answer.