Rave Girls

Rave Girls

Chapter 1


         "Oh come on Vivian! We hear about your boyfriend all of the time, why don't you talk about something else for a change?" Tiana taunted Vivian about how she always talks about her boyfriend. Actually Vivian talked about the same things all the time; her boyfriend, playboy, the marines, and how guys would flirt with her all the time and she found it so annoying but would always flirt back with them. Tiana and Shenelle didn't like Vivian that much, but there were times when all of them got along great and then there were their moments when they hated each other. But like all best friends, they'd always have each other's back by the end of the day.
         "Jara what do you think?" Vivian turned to me.
         "What?"
         "Do you think I talk about Freddie too much?" her eyes glaring at me.
         "Well.....Viv, you do talk about him almost all day every day." I stuck my tongue out at her and she flipped me off. "Hey! That's offensive!! Haha."
         "You guys are all crazy, maybe when you have boyfriends you'll understand one day." And with that, Vivian turned and walked away from the lunch table. She walked right out of the cafeteria and to the art room.
         "We need to be nicer to her" Tiana said to all of us.
         "What!?!? You're the one who was making fun of her, don't blame us for her leaving." I stuck my tongue out at Tiana next as we all laughed and joked around for the rest of lunch.
         The four of us had been best friends for about two years now. Me and Vivian had met freshman year and known each other since then. Tiana had met Vivian a year before in her English class but had only talked two times. Shenelle had met Vivian through her shop and a few classes together but they didn't get along too well. I met Tiana through a friend and had met Shenelle through Vivian and Tiana. We all got along pretty well except for Shenelle and Vivian but they were working on it...which was good.
         We were always together during school and always talking to each other. We rarely saw each other while we were out of school except for Tiana and Vivian. They lived near each other and would hang out from time to time. But as senior year went by, Shenelle and Tiana had started to hang out more and more and grew to being super close friends. Vivian and I were the ones who were super close to each other too.
         We were all different in our own way. Vivian loved to bake and wanted to own a bakery one day or be a kindergarten teacher. But she wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life yet. Shenelle wanted to be a baker too and wanted to go to college for it. I just wanted to work in a bank and take a few college courses for any type of major. I didn't know what job I wanted to have yet.
         But Tiana, she had her head stuck in the clouds. She wanted to be a singer and actress. She desperately wanted to be a star that she would go to any length to make it big. She wanted to go to a New York college for drama but her parents wouldn't let her. So she was going to go to college for legal studies, to be a lawyer. That was only because her parents wanted her to, even though she did like law and did want to be a criminal lawyer. But her heart remained with being a star. And she was determined to make it happen.
         Well anyways, back to the present day. It was the day before prom and the girls and I were so excited to go. We all had dates and dresses and a limo to take us there. Shenelle was going with her boyfriend but she didn't want to go with him since he had been annoying her lately and she didn't really like him that much. Vivian's boyfriend was in the marines at the time so he couldn't go, so she brought a guy she worked with. He had the hugest crush on her and he went with her without hesitation. She flirted with him anyways and led him on but never did anything with him.
         Tiana was going with the guy she worked with too since she didn't have a boyfriend. He was a pretty nice guy and they had a good time. Then I went with my cousin. I brought her since I didn't have anyone I was with either and my cousin and I had a pretty good time too. But anyways we watched Vivian walk to the art room and we made plans for one last rave before prom night.
         "We have to go to a rave tonight!" Tiana pouted. All four of us girls loved raves. We went to them as much as we could.
         "Yeah! I'm in! One last one before we go to prom." I smiled and pumped my fist in the air. We were going to go to a rave and have a great night.
         Lunch ended and we all went our separate ways to our classes. That night the four of us met up in our rave club outfits and some glow in the dark body paint. We walked into that club liked we owned it and we danced and boogied till we couldn't dance anymore. After it was over we went back to our cars and said good bye so we could get some sleep for prom tomorrow. But Tiana stopped walking and turned around and looked back at the rave club.
         "Tiana what are you doing?" Shenelle asked.
         "I belong somewhere like this....to party all night and have fun and enjoy myself...I was meant for a life like this...I can't keep going on pretending I'm a serious person and that I want the life that my parents want for me."
         "Tiana, we should get home now. Prom's tomorrow night. Go get your beauty sleep hun." Vivian said as she kept walking towards her car.
         "No, I don't want to go to college for being a lawyer, I love law, I really do...but I belong somewhere else...an acting, singing, dancing school." She shook her head and walked away from where she stood and went to her own car, got in and drove away without looking back.
         The three of us looked at each other and shook our heads. Vivian drove off while Shenelle and I stayed and just stood there thinking. Shenelle opened her mouth as though she was going to say something but she stopped and thought some more.
         "I wonder about the three of you girls... I would be miserable if I ever lost any of my friends. Be careful Jara." She looked at me so seriously and sadly that I agreed to be careful and told her to be as well.
         
Chapter 2


         The next day we all got primped, polished and pretty for prom. We had nails, hair, and makeup done, and ready for our dresses. We met at Vivian's house and took as many pictures as possible, and then off to prom it was.
         Each one of us looked beautiful and had a smile on our face. Tiana stood up through the moon roof and shouted, "I'm free!!"
         She sat back down and had a smile on her face for the rest of the night. None of us won prom queen and none of us were elected prom princess. But we had fun nonetheless and wanted the night to last forever. Finally the end song came on, Graduation Song, and we danced together and remembered all the good times we've had.
         When the night finally came to an end, we took the limo back home. Tiana and Shenelle had a sleepover at Tiana's house and Vivian went back to her parents' house for the night. I was still in the limo when the driver had hit something in the road and crashed in a tree. I hit my head so hard on the divider that divided me from the driver and I went unconscious.
         The police and ambulance had arrived as fast as they could and I was transported to the hospital. I died an hour later. They did all that they could and I'm not mad at them. I know there wasn't much they could do for me. The driver had got a concussion and was okay besides that and a broken leg. My cousin needed stitches on her forehead and fractured a few ribs but was fine to leave.
         The doctors let my parents know who then in turn let my friends know and their world had crashed when they found out. Tiana, Shenelle, and Vivian had walked into school the next day in a daze.
         By then, it had gotten around the whole school and when those girls walked in together with sad looks on their faces, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at them. Tiana then snapped out of it and linked her arms with Shenelle and Vivian and walked about with confidence. She did not like when people did that.
         "Come on girls, let's head to class!" she said loudly and continued on her way with Shenelle and Vivian. They walked into the hallway and went to their lockers before going to class. Tiana slammed her locker shut and took off without saying anything to her friends.
         "What's up with her? She seems really angry and not that sad about Jara, just mad." Vivian noticed.
         "I don't know. I think she's just angry about everyone else in the school looking at us like that and staring. I do agree that it is rude of them but I don't see how it could make her that mad like that..." Shenelle answered back.
         "Well, I don't know. I think something's wrong with her. She'll tell us about it later."
         The day went on and Tiana never told the girls what was going on in her head. She never told them that she was having a problem in her life, in fact, she never once brought it up to anyone but her stuffed bear that she had for years and was her only friend before she became popular in high school and made friends. She didn't want to go to college and was debating whether or not she really wanted to go to college to be a lawyer or to go to a music school. She wanted to get into music and make a career out of that instead of 4 years of college plus another 3 of law school... school just wasn't her thing.
         School let out and Tiana got in her car and drove off without saying good bye to Shenelle and Vivian. They just stared at her driving off and got in Vivian's car and drove away to Shenelle's house. It was the day of my wake; my parents wanted to hurry through the wake and funeral so they didn't have to keep thinking about me being dead. I was their first daughter and the pride and joy of both of them and I was taken away from them.
         The girls then met up with each other before my wake and had all looked their best and walked together into the viewing room. Every head turned back to look at them as they walked up to my casket. Tiana went ahead first and went to grab my hand. She held it and said, "You are still one of my best friends." She fixed my hair as I lay in the casket and said a silent prayer then let go of my hand while tears flooded her eyes as she walked away and took a seat in the first row. Shenelle kneeled in front of my casket and said a silent prayer for me. She then whispered that she didn't know what to do about the three of them anymore, where their friendship will take them and where it will go after high school.
         "Jara, we needed you here with us, to join us on our journey through life and all of us would be old ladies one day and have grandchildren and still be laughing about the time we accidentally flung food at Mr. Laganas during lunch one day. Just wish you could be with us when we did go on and need someone." Shenelle started to tear up and went to join Tiana.
         Next was Vivian. She didn't kneel or grab my hand. She just stood there and stared at me with her mouth slightly open. Before whenever she would stand with her mouth open, Tiana would say with a smirk on her face, "you are soo unattractive with your mouth open." But she was already sitting and this wasn't the time or place for Tiana to say that to Vivian.
         But she just stood there. She looked like death herself. Of the four of us, she and I were the closest ones. We had known each other since freshman year and had really bonded. Vivian started to cry and yelled at me.
         "How could you!!! How could you leave us like that?? We need you Jara! And you left us! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you..." she started to really cry and had collapsed. Tiana and Shenelle just sat and watched, starting to cry themselves. Shenelle looked up and closed her eyes as tears flowed from her face; Tiana let her head fall into her hands and she sobbed so hard it shook her whole body.
         No one helped the girls; they just sat and watched with misery. They knew there was nothing they could do to help. You know how someone breaks up with someone and say they lost their other half? Well we were all one person combined and they had lost me, which meant they lost a quarter of themselves. It was devastating for the three of them and they didn't know what to do...how to go on.
         Vivian eventually got up and walked back to sit with Shenelle and Tiana. They were quiet the whole ceremony and kept their eyes glued to other things besides each other. Tiana stared at the open casket willing me to move with her mind, hoping I would jump out and say "Oh yeah! Got you bitches!" but that would not be happening today. Vivian kept her eyes glued to her phone where she was texting Freddie, trying her hardest not to cry anymore and ruin her makeup. Shenelle stared at the ground, the wall, the ceiling, anywhere she could keep her eyes without looking at me or our friends.
         My wake ended and the girls were the last ones to leave, staying with me till the very end. They drove off to the local subway near the Church and had a light sub for lunch, well Vivian and Shenelle ate light; Tiana had a huge Italian sub. She was practically full Italian and could eat like you wouldn't believe. The girls sat in silence for a while, just enjoying their meal without any sounds.
         "She was lucky..." Tiana murmured as she bit her sub.
         "What?" Shenelle looked up at Tiana confused.
         "Nothing..." Tiana's eyes were glazed over when she returned Shenelle's gaze. "What do you guys want to do now? Go shopping?"
         "Yeah, I need to do some retail therapy really bad, let's go to the mall after this." Vivian agreed.
         "How insensitive are you guys?" Shenelle said angrily. "Thinking about shopping? At a time like this? Jara deserves our attention, not watching us go out and spoil ourselves."
         "She would want to do the same thing. And it's not insensitive. What else are we supposed to do? Sit here and sulk over her death all fucking summer? Well I refuse to do that. I've been miserable for too long in my life." Tiana said angrily.
         "Oh please Tiana!" Shenelle argued back. "Jara was our friend; we should mourn over her for a little while longer than a couple days."
         "This is the summer of our lives, that transition from high school to college, teenager to adult. We need to have fun this summer instead of wasting it on the fucking dead. I love Jara; don't get me wrong, she was my best friend like you guys, a sister in a way. But I cannot sit here and be miserable all summer long if that's what you plan on Shenelle."
         "Teenager to adult? Puh-lease!! You won't ever be an adult, you got your head stuck up in the clouds girl, you aren't ever going to grow up and be mature. You're a kid!!" Shenelle yelled.
         "What do you know? I am mature. You're not so mature yourself either. Face your parents and tell them off instead of telling me to do the same." Tiana finished.
         There was a moment of silence where there was tension between Shenelle and Tiana. Vivian just sat there quietly, in shock over the outbursts of her friends and their anger towards each other.
         "Are we all done here? Or do you guys want to keep this going?" she asked timidly.
         "Nah, I'm all done. Truce?" Tiana looked up at Shenelle with a smirk on her face and put out her hand.
         "Truce." Shenelle smiled back and shook Tiana's hand. "So, uh, which mall do you want to go to?"
         "Rockingham mall, as always." Vivian didn't bother looking up at them.
         "Well, let's get started on this supposed best summer of our lives." Shenelle smiled at Tiana. Tiana's eyes brightened and she smiled the biggest smile that any of them had seen since the day they found out I had died.


Chapter 3


It had been two weeks since I died and the girls were doing well. They still got upset at times when something good happened and I wasn't there to listen to them talk about. Tiana was working at her job still and so was Vivian. Shenelle was getting ready to go down to Florida to the college that she wanted to go to. She left earlier than Tiana had to for her college. The three of them were avoiding for when the time would come when they'd all have to separate and be on their own. They already lost one; they didn't want to lose the rest.
Tiana had been in such a sour mood a few days after my funeral. The guy she took to prom had broken up with his girlfriend and started hitting on her and suggesting they hook up sometime. But Tiana didn't know what to do, she did have a crush on him, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to hook up with him. She wanted to date him and get to know him better but she didn't know if that was what he wanted, so she just went along with whatever he said.
Every night, after he would say goodnight to her, she would say a prayer to me and tell me about how she was so confused and didn't know what to do about him. She would fill me in on every little detail about their little thing. She would say how she missed me and wished I was back on earth so she could tell me everything as she painted my nails or braided my hair then we'd have Vivian or Shenelle on speaker phone.
"But we can't have that. Not for now at least. We'll have to wait a while to see each other again. Love you Jara, and I miss you so much." She would always say before she went to sleep each night.
One morning, a few weeks after my death, Tiana woke up with a sort of excitement about her. She jumped out of bed, checked her hair and makeup in the mirror and threw on a bra. She took off for Vivian's house and burst right into Viv's room.
"Ugh Jesus, you scared me." Vivian was standing in front of her vanity applying her makeup to her face. "What's up girlie?" she went back to putting on her mascara.
"Oh nothing. I just felt really alive when I woke up this morning. I wanted to, I don't know, just rush over here and see what you were doing." Tiana smiled a huge smile and stood by Vivian and grabbed a lip gloss and applied it.
"Well, there has to be something going on, you don't feel 'alive' like this all the time. What's going on?"
"I already told you, nothing. I can't come over and see my bestest friend in the whole wide world? Is that such a crime?" Tiana gave a sweet little innocent smile. "Besides, I have the feeling to go out and do something reckless or something to do with music. You know Viv, I don't think I'm gonna go to this school that I have to go to in a couple months."
"Oh really? Then where ya gonna go?"
"A music school. I can't be cooped up in some law school surrounded by a bunch of people with sticks up their asses and who don't know how to have fun. I need to be around fun people who are just like me. The kind of people who will do what I do and love it."
"Good luck finding someone to slack around and be an idiot with."
"That's what I have you and Shenelle for."
"You're a dick."
"Someone had to say it. So what you wanna do today? It's wicked nice out. Like gorgeous weather."
"Hmmm, let's go for a walk. You know, get some exerci-"
"Yup, I'm done. Exercise is not in my schedule for today. Let's do something invigorating!" Tiana's eyes lit up as she said the word.
"Fine, what do you have in plan?"
"I don't know. Let's just drive around and see what we come up with."
The two divas stumbled out of Vivian's house and into her car. Tiana took the driver's seat, revved up the engine, and sped out of the driveway. They were driving around for quite a while; Tiana bobbing her head and singing along to every top hit pop song on the radio while Vivian painted her nails in the passenger seat. All of a sudden Tiana hit the brakes in the middle of the street and turned excitedly towards Viv.
"Woah! What the fuck is wrong with you? We're in the middle of the fucking street dipshit!!" Vivian freaked out.
"I got an idea!" Tiana was excited. "And calm yourself, there's no one in the street anyways, just us."
"Okay, fine, what's your idea?"
"Instead of going to college, let's just buy a bunch of scratch tickets and keep going until we get a hit and get rich. It's simple. No school or work. Just scratch the tickets and become a billionaire off of that!" Tiana was beaming.
Next thing you know, the two of them are on Vivian's bedroom floor with a huge roll of scratch tickets surrounding them. They were both intently scratching the tickets. I can't remember a time when I saw two girls do this, even in the movies I never seen it.
"Hey guys, you'll never guess what-" Shenelle walked into the room with some shopping bags and stopped abruptly in the doorway when she saw the two of them. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Tiana has this theory that if we get rich off these tickets before leaving for college, then we won't have to go to college." Vivian said as Tiana looked up from her losing ticket and gave her a dirty look.
"As if, I just want to see if it's possible to get rich real quick before going to school. I mean, hey, I have to try everything I can to prevent myself from going to school and wasting my parents money on something I'm never going to do in my life." Tiana looked back at her ticket. "Shit! Another loser! So far I've won twenty five bucks and that's less than the amount I paid for all these tickets."
Shenelle and Vivian just looked at her with blank faces. The same blank faces they would have during statistics class. The three of them would sit in the back of the class room and pass notes back and forth or do their own thing instead of paying attention to the class. Though they did learn what they needed to because Nick would give them his tests and quizzes and they would copy it down and hand it in.
"You, need to go to work and get your head out of the clouds. But anyway, I got you guys this cute necklace that I found!" Out of one of the shopping bags she pulled out a little jewelry box. Inside were four sterling silver chain necklaces. On each necklace was a butterfly. It was silver with a sparkly color on each of them. There was a blue one, which was Tiana's favorite color, pink for Vivian, and purple for Shenelle. There was a green one too.
"Who's the green one for?" Vivian asked as Shenelle handed her the necklace. They weren't those cheap looking necklaces that break after a couple times, they were real and durable.
"It's for Jara." Shenelle said as Tiana and Vivian looked up at her in surprise and seemed as if they were questioning her sanity as if Shenelle thought I was still alive. "I was thinking that we could put it on her grave and leave it there. I thought of them as friendship necklaces; something all of us could have while we are all away from each other. I saw them and thought it would be perfect for us."
"They are. They're beautiful. Thank you Shenelle." Vivian hugged Shenelle and put her necklace on.
"We won't be away from each other. We're all going to stay together and never leave. We can't abandon each other like Jara did to us..." Tiana looked out of it and put the necklace on.
"We will have to go on and move on in our lives. And move on from Jara. You know that right Ti? We can't linger on her death forever. You even said it yourself before." Vivian helped Tiana put her necklace on.
"I am not saying move on from her. I'm just saying that we shouldn't abandon each other like she did to us when she died." Tiana got up and grabbed her stuff and left the girls. She went into her car and sped away as fast as she could. She drove all the way to Winnekinnie castle. She drove up past the parking lot and parked her car behind the castle. She cried her eyes out so hard. She slammed the steering wheel over and over again, crying so hard.
"How could you? How could you just leave?" she screamed. "Why couldn't it be me? Why couldn't I have just left this world instead? At least you had a future, I, I'm stuck in this hell! I just want to leave it here! Why can't I just leave this stupid place! I have no future! You had one, you could've been someone great! And I'm stuck here, going onto nothing in life. I should be dead, not you. You would've at least had a life to make for yourself while I rotted away at school and work and eventually end up killing myself with my choices."
She got out of the car and started kicking the wheels of the car and hitting her car. She eventually sank down and cried and sobbed. She looked over to the lake. She slowly got up and walked over to the lake. She stood at the edge of the dirt and sand, just staring into the water. Then she jumped in. She was under for quite a while before she resurfaced. She gasped for air as she came up. She just floated in the water and stared lifelessly at the sky.
Tears sparkled in her eyes as she floated. She looked like she was dead. She was soaked through with lake water as well as her hair. The butterfly necklace had shown bright on her skin. She put her hand on it and closed her eyes. She squeezed them shut as she held the necklace. Wishing that I was still alive.
"Give me a sign. Give me a sign to keep going on and try to make it in life. I'm trying, I really am Jara. But, I don't know what to do. Where to go, who to trust. I will listen to any sign that I get." She opened her eyes and swam back to the sand and walked out onto the land. She got in her car and drove back home.
Back at Vivian's house, she and Shenelle had put in Sixteen Candles and were lounging around, painting toe nails and texting. They didn't do much while Tiana was away.
"Think she's okay right now?" Vivian asked.
"I don't know. She just up and left. I don't understand it." Shenelle said after she burped. They knew how Tiana was. They knew she had these problems that she couldn't talk to them about. She never talked to any of us about the problems that ran through her mind. She had never told anyone, she kept them to herself. They knew they could probably help her with whatever was bothering her but she never let them so it was useless. They just sat and were patient about it, waiting for her to tell them about things. But the time hadn't come and they doubt it ever would.
Tiana had finally gotten home and just sat in the car in the driveway, still soaking wet. She just sat there staring at her house, not getting out of the car. She put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. She drove back to Vivian's house and ran back inside the house.
"We should go see that movie soon, Bad Teacher. That looks so funny, plus Cameron Diaz is awesome, and all of us love her." Shenelle was saying as Tiana barged into the living room still dripping water.
"Woah, what happened to you?" Vivian jumped off the couch and ran to grab a towel.
"I broke down." Tiana started crying again.
         "Oh, honey, what happened?" Vivian was drying her hair with a towel.
"Can I go shower first?"
"Yes of course honey." Viv said as Tiana got up and went upstairs to shower. "Oh shit I just fucked up my toe nails."
"Shut up Viv, there are more important things than your toes. Besides, it looks like we may finally find out some of the problems that haunt Ti's mind."
"Or, she may just dodge the question all together and forget about telling us what's happening." Vivian looked doubtful.
"Well I hope we get some kind of information out of her tonight." Shenelle went back to painting her nails.
Tiana had finally come out of the shower by the time Shenelle and Vivian had gotten halfway through A Cinderella Story. She was wearing one of Vivian's robes and was drying her hair up with a towel. She sat down on the couch in the middle of Shenelle and Vivian. Viv took the towel out her hands and started drying her hair herself, and Shenelle grabbed Ti's hand and started filing her nails.
"So you wanna tell us what's going on?" Shenelle asked timidly.
"I broke down... again." Tiana looked distant. Shenelle and Viv were waiting for her to go on and say more.
"I drove to Winnekinnie and cried in the car. Then I jumped into the lake and tried to stay under for a while. But I came back up and floated there for a like 15 minutes. Just waiting for something, I don't know what though." Tiana was saying as she fiddled with the necklace. "I really need help guys, I need something. I wish I was the one who died, ya know? I have nothing going for me. Jara, she did. She would've had a great life, unlike me, who's going to school for something I don't even want to do in my life. I'm just a fool."
"You're not a fool. You just don't know what you want to do in life. It happens to a lot of people, not just you. You'll find something someday. Don't worry about it. And don't worry about what your parents say to do either. Just keep on going doing what you want." Shenelle told her.
"You don't get it. There's more in my mind than going to college. I really think there's something wrong with me. Like, I can't figure it out... I need to go to a psychiatrist or something. I need some sort of help." Tiana continued. "I need to figure stuff out before I go to school, like what I really want to do, not what my parents want and where I want to go instead of where they want. Ya know guys? I really need to figure things out."
"Then do that. Plan everything out and really figure out what you want. It's your life and you have to live it for yourself. Stop worrying about your parents and job and school, just focus on what you like and what makes you happy. Okay?" Vivian said.
"You guys are right. I'll focus on myself and really think about it. Thanks guys." Tiana feigned a smile. "Sooo, what are you guys watching?"
"A Cinderella Story. We were thinking of going out to go see Bad Teacher, the movie with Cameron Diaz. Would you be down for that?"
"Hell yeah! I love Cameron Diaz! Let's go now and see if we can catch a showing of it."
"You still need to put on some clothes besides a robe which happens to be my bathrobe." Vivian laughed.
"I'll just grab something from your closet. Be back in a minute."
Tiana came back down in a pair of Viv's faded blue jeans and a pink halter top. Vivian was a size smaller than Tiana and Ti's bust was a lot bigger but she still rocked Viv's clothes. They all clambered in Shenelle's car and took off for the movie theater. Vivian was texting Freddie as they were on their way to the movies. They were having an argument and it was putting her into a bad mood. They had been dating since her freshman year and his junior year. She was so deeply in love with him, but he didn't seem as though he was as in love with her.
It was killing her inside to know that he still flirted with other girls, after four years together. He also decided to apply to the Marines which broke Vivian's heart. She had started to get into a depressive state ever since he said he was going into the Marines. She knew they were growing distant but the Marines would make the distance physical instead of just emotional. When I met Viv freshman year she was an extremely sweet and happy girl. Gorgeous and talented when it came to makeup and fashion. Then she met Freddie and I knew he was going to be good for her, he swept her right off her feet, and he did so occasionally sometimes still. Though lately, he was just an ass to her and it really took a toll on her. She tried hard not to show her emotions around her friends so not to bother them with it and she didn't want to talk about it anyways.
So she kept it all to herself and continued on being "happy" even though she wasn't fully happy. Plus her parents were on her case about always being with him and not going to college. But she wanted to do what she wanted and unlike Tiana, she knew she didn't want to go to college and decided not to let her parents run her life. She was strong girl and really tried to make it through things strong.
Even though she tried her hardest not to show her unhappiness, it did leak through sometimes and caught her friends off guard. She was always the one who was happy and loving and seemed as though she never had a problem. But she did have her problems and needed to let them out sometimes.
Vivian slammed her cell phone shut, turned the volume up on the radio and looked out the window with a miserable expression on her face. Shenelle took her eyes off the road for a second to give her a confused look.
"Hey! Keep your eyes on the road!" Tiana shouted from the backseat of the car. Shenelle glared at her through the rear view mirror and turned her eyes back to the road where she had to slam on the breaks to avoid going through a red light. Tiana stifled a giggle as Shenelle glared at her more.
"So Viv, what's going on? Is your dad bothering you?" Shenelle asked cautiously. We all knew that Vivian had problems with her dad. He was a good dad sometimes but other times he was a complete ass and we all knew he was a big ass when he was mad. He would always get upset when Vivian would stay at Freddie's house. He was uncomfortable with it but he didn't do that to her two older sisters. It was just to her that he acted like that towards.
"What makes you guys think there's something wrong with me?" Viv feigned a smile.
"Well, you slammed her phone, and blasted the radio. That makes it seem like your upset at something."
"I accidentally shut my phone like that and I really like this song. Why can't I turn up the volume on a song I like? Is that a sin or something?" Vivian got all defensive.
Tiana and Shenelle just looked at her but didn't keep asking her questions. Eventually she would relax and calm down and say something. They pulled into the movie theater and bought their tickets.
"Hey! Look!" Tiana stopped in her tracks and pointed at the other side of the movie theater's entrance.
"What are you looking at?" Shenelle asked as Vivian traipsed off for some popcorn.
"Lee! He's over there. Oh God! He is just too sexy for words!" Tiana pouted.
"Come on, get yourself together girl, he's here with his girlfriend." Shenelle rolled her eyes.
"Hey, you guys Lee's here. Let's go say hi to him." Vivian came back to them. She and Lee got along pretty good. She walked up to him and started a conversation with him. He was a gorgeous guy. I had dated him in middle school, before he was hot in high school. He was a chubby little guy but now he was male perfection. He had smoldering hazel eyes and dark brown hair with a chin strap and he was jacked. He was half Italian and Puerto Rican and he drove Tiana nuts.
"I hate her."
"What? Why?"
"She can just walk up to him and talk to him and be completely normal while I just drool over how incredibly hot he is." Tiana knew I had dated him but we didn't think it was weird if she ever dated him after I did. After all, I dated him when we were thirteen.
Vivian and Lee turned and looked at Tiana and Shenelle and waved at them. Lee had a huge grin on his face, flashing his perfect teeth at the two girls.