"So who is this friend that's throwin' the party?" Keia asked Lei as they walked throughout the mall, carrying a few shopping bags. The girls needed a few more pieces for their outfit that they put together for the party — which they were excited for.

"I don't know, he didn't say." Lei shrugged, texting Isidro back after he asked her what she was doing.

Keia glanced over at her, seeing the small smile on her face as she continued texting. "Textin' ya' li'l boo?" she teased her, grinning.

Lei sucked her teeth but couldn't hold back the smile that grew. "Isidro is not my boo, we're just friends." she tried convincing her.

"Oh girl I wasn't talkin' bout him, I was talkin' bout Raj." Keia laughed.

"He's just a friend too,"

"Mhm that's what they all say," Jaelyn nudged Keia, as they both continued snickering.

"No but seriously, Elias wants to get back together, so I don't want to lead anyone on until I'm sure or not about giving him another chance." Lei confessed to her friends, they both exchanged glances before looking at her again.

"Elias? What was the point of him breaking up wit' you if he wanted to get back together?" Keia scoffed, rolling her eyes. She wasn't too fond of Elias, given that he was Lei's first heartbreak. A few months before Xahir passed, Elias broke off the relationship with her, stating that the love between them wasn't simply there anymore.

It did hurt Lei, that one day he woke up and decided he no longer wanted to be with her but she appreciated his honesty with her. Though she was heart broken for a while, she had no ill feelings towards him — or at least she convinced herself that she didn't.

That's when Lei begin talking to multiple guys, to try to take her mind off of Elias. Of course none of them, could ever compare to how he made her feel.

"He misses me," Lei told them, she heard Keia hum as she stared at her.

"Sure he does,"

"Oh no, he does. Trust me, he never shuts the fuck up about her. I made him hit her up," Jaelyn told Keia. Jaelyn and Elias had been best friends since high school, when Jaelyn became friends with Lei, Elias was instantly drawn to her. Whenever she came around, he became nervous and clumsy. Eventually he asked his best friend to hook him up with her, since he seemed to always blow it.

Lei however, turned down the advances when Jaelyn approached her on the situation, letting her know that she wanted him to ask her himself, finding that super childish he was sending someone else as if they were still in grade school. As time progressed, Elias became more comfortable around her and eventually asked her out.

"Well...do you miss him?" Keia glanced over at Lei, raising an eyebrow.

Lei twisted her lips to the side, shrugging. "I mean, a li'l. But before I can give him another chance, he has to prove why he deserves it because like you said, he did break up wit' me." she deeply sighed, feeling conflicted.

"Right, I think you guys should sit down and really talk about it before any decisions are made." Jaelyn added her input, Keia narrowed her eyes at her, placing her hand on her hip.

"Bitch, you were the one that encouraged him to hit her up. You basically vouching for him," Keia said.

"Girl cause he wouldn't shut his crybaby ass up, plus—" Jaelyn paused, clasping her hands together. "It was really bothering him that he wasn't able to be there for her because of, you know..." she trailed off.

An awkward silence fell over the three girls, Lei clearing her throat as she picked at her nails. "That's um, that's nice," she mumbled, looking away.

"We need to go to the hair store after this, I gotta get my ponytail, and get Joziah's wig." Keia spoke after another moment of silence, wanting to change the conversation.

"Yea' I gotta get some more gorilla snot to lay my edges, since you used the last of it," Lei side eyed her, adjusting the bags on her arms.

"Where my girls at?! From the front to the back! Well, is you feelin' that? Put one hand up! Can you you repeat that?! Tryna take my man! See, I don't need that, so don't play ya' self!" Lei yelled along to the lyrics of 702's 'Where My Girls At', swaying her hips to the rhythm of the beat.

Keia stood next to her, shouting the lyrics as well while she recorded the two on her Instagram story. The friends arrived to the party a little while ago, instantly vibing to the music as soon as they stepped into the building. Though Raj texted her earlier, asking if she was still attending, she hadn't seen him yet. However, he told the group of friends to mention that they were friends of his once they arrived at the entrance.

Lei could admit that she liked how exclusive she felt, being at the same party as Raegan, who happened to be one of her favorite artists. She wasn't sure how Raj knew her or how close they were but she wasn't complaining.

"Oh y'all look so cute!" A girl passed by the friends, seeing their outfits. "Can I take a pic of y'all?" she asked them, holding up the Canon camera. Lei nodded her head, snaking her arms around her friend's waists.

Over the course of days, the friends threw out ideas as to what era they wanted dress as. They knew majority of people would show up dressed in 90's clothing—which is exactly what happened. They wanted to dress up differently, but also wanted to pick an era they knew they could pull off. After seeing a soul train video on twitter, Lei suggested the idea of channeling the 70's era. They all agreed and immediately started shopping for outfits.

Lei was able to find a pair of dark denim, high rise bell bottom jeans. Earlier at the mall, she came across a red and white floral halter top that would compliment the jeans. She paired the outfit with her black platform heels. As for her hair, she curled her hair similar to Donna Summer back in the 70's, and fluffed it a little.

Keia and Jaelyn wore similar outfits, except Keia brushed her hair back into a slick bun and bought a puffy, but loose coiled ponytail to wear over it, giving it a dramatic look. As for Joziah, he was channeling his inner Jackson Five with a large fro, a wig that Keia also bought from the hair store.

"Chile, I see why women wore these jeans in the 70's, it makes my ass look a li'l fat," Jaelyn joked, looking over the picture the girl took of them. They shared a laugh, thanking the girl before continuing to sing along to the lyrics.

Raj walked through the crowd, Ximena and a few of their friends behind him, as they made their way up the stairs to the VIP section. Raj decided to be simple, and dress as Nelly in the 90's. He wore a baby blue baggy tracksuit, two NBA headbands placed over his head, topped with all white air force ones. He even went as far as to place a white bandage over his cheek and wore a few golds in his mouth.

As soon as they entered the section, his friends departed, going their separate ways. He slapped hands with a few people he knew, before finally approaching Raegan. He placed his hands on her shoulders, as some of her friends stared at him in awe, causing him to grin cockily.

Raegan turned around, a huge smile on her face once she realized it was him. "Raj — okay then, Nelly! You look so handsome!" she beamed, as he gave her a side hug.

"Thank you, thank you, you look pretty." he complimented her, gesturing towards her outfit.

"Thanks, I was startin' to think you weren't coming. Gotta be fashionably late, huh?" she teased him, he chuckled and shook his head, grabbing the cup that Ximena passed to him that was filled with liquor.

"Oh, hey Ximena," Raegan waved to her, giving her a warm smile. Ximena returned the friendly gesture before leaving the two to talk.

"Yea' I got caught up wit' some shit earlier, plus I had to drop my son off at my in-laws. But you knew I wouldn't miss this for nothin', you know I mean good on my promises." he explained, sipping from the cup.

"Mhm," Raegan hummed, smirking. "Most niggas be breaking promises sometimes,"

"Well, I'm not most niggas." he shrugged, licking over his lips. Raegan blushed a little, fighting to hold back a smile from how he was looking at her.

They started to engage in another conversation, Raj's eyes occasionally scanning the building out of habit. In the midst of his response to her, he spotted a few familiar faces maneuvering through the crowd, laughing and joking.

"Aye um, my bad, I'll be right back a'ight?" Raj told Raegan, interrupting her mid-sentence. Raegan seemed to be a little taken aback by it but nodded her head anyways.

Raj walked around her, starting to head towards the stairs. Before he could reach them however, his friend Kieran, stopped him. He threw his free arm around his neck, as the other clutched a bottle of Don Julio. "Bro, this party swangin'!" He exclaimed.

Raj shrugged and pushed his arm off of him and narrowed his eyes at him. "Aye look, don't be on no weird shit dawg." he said, knowing how his friend acted whenever a little liquor got into his system.

Kieran shot him a toothy grin, twisting the cap open. "What chu' mean? I'm chillin'," he replied.

"Nah you be off the shits when you drink, handle yo' liquor my nigga. I was courteous enough to invite yo' ass, don't embarrass me bruh." Raj warned him, as Kieran threw his hand up in surrender, drinking from the bottle.

Raj continued down the stairs, but unfortunately he was stopped again by another one of his homeboys.

"Shit Keia, you could've gotten a wig wit' a li'l soul glo' in that muhfucka," Joziah complained adjusting his wig, he wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead as the girls cracked up.

In the midst of their laughter, Lei was bumped into, almost making her spill her drink. She instantly stopped laughing and sucked her teeth, turning around to confront whoever had bumped into her. Raj turned around, ready to apologize, instead met with the gaze from Lei.

"O-oh hey love," Lei stepped back a little, caught off guard by him. He stared back at her as if he were surprised to see her. "Why you look surprised? You forgot I was here?" she lightly laughed.

"Na-nah, I saw you when I was standing up there, I-I was comin' to speak to you actu—come here, gimme a hug," he beckoned her, stunned by how good she was able to pull off the 70's look. Lei obliged and embraced him.

"What's up y'all," Raj spoke to Keia and the rest, keeping one arm wrapped around Lei, resting his hand on her lower back. She could hear Keia dramatically clearing her throat, she glanced back and seen her nudging Jaelyn, moving her eyes in the direction where Raj's hand was.

"Knock it off," Lei semi-whispered, playfully smacking her arm. The two girls giggled, continuing to drink from their cups.

"Where y'all was headin'?" he asked them, wondering why they were moving from their original spot.

"It was hot as hell where we were, we just wanted to get away from that area," Joziah explained. "We'll be over there if you need us Lei," he grinned, Lei glared at her friends, catching onto what they were doing.

"Come wit' me real quick," Raj looked down at her, nodding his head in the other direction. Lei followed him up the stairs back to the VIP section. He would've invited her friends as well, but of course he didn't want to be disrespectful bringing too many people in Raegan's section. She was nice enough to let the people he did come with, stay in the section.

"You look good by the way," He complimented her.

"Thank you, you do too." she smirked, holding onto his arm. Once she made it into the section, the first person she saw was Ximena, hanging out a few feet away with her best friend. "Is that Ximena?"

"Yea' but I didn't bring you up here for h—" he managed to say before Lei let go of his arm and rushed over to Ximena. "Nevermind then,"

"Mena!" She called out to her, Ximena whipped around with a confused expression on her face. She saw Lei approaching, the confusion dropping from her face, replaced by surprise.

"Soleil! Hey mamas!" Ximena beamed, running to her with her arms extended out. "Oh my gosh, I didn't know you were coming. You look cute pooh,"

"No, you look cute." Lei grinned, looking over her outfit. Raj stood off to the side, deciding to let the two girls chat, since they hadn't seen each other in awhile. While he waited, Raegan gently grabbed his arm.

"What's up?"

"Who's that?" she questioned him, staring at Lei.

"That's Lei, the girl I was telling you about." he reminded her, after Raj revealed to Lei who was hosting the party, she had told him that Raegan was one of her favorite artists. During a conversation later on, he had asked her if she was willing to meet someone for him.

Raegan being the sweet person she was, told him that she was always willing to meet anyone who supported her from her earlier years in Daytona.

"Oh okay," Raegan nodded her head, letting go of his arm. She approached the group of girls. Raj tried stifling his laugh, watching as Lei's eyes lit up and almost bulged out of her head. "Nice to meet you, Raj told me about you."

Lei stared at her, as she was star struck. She's even more beautiful in person, Lei thought to herself.

"I-oh my gosh, I feel so awkward." Lei groaned, stomping her foot a little, mentally cursing herself. Raegan let go of a laugh, and pulled her into a hug. Lei quickly pulled out her phone and shoved it into Raj's hand, wanting him to take a picture of the two.

"It's my day off Lei, I don't take photos on the weekend—" He heard as Ximena, Lei and even Raegan sucked their teeth, mugging him. "I was just playin' dang, ready to beat a nigga up. Raegan, you fake as hell,"

"Boy shush, I don't play when it comes to Raegang, now take the picture," she waved him off, posing with Lei.

He mumbled something under his breath, but snapped a few photos of the pair before passing the phone back over to Lei.

"Thank you so much," Lei pouted, hugging Raegan one last time. "Had I known Raj knew you, I would've bullied him into letting me meet you a long time ago,"

Raegan snickered, sneaking a glance over at Raj who was glaring at Lei. "No problem, thanks for supporting me. I appreciate it a lot," she said.

"So when you droppin' the album? The streets need dat," Lei grinned, as Raegan cackled, shaking her head.

"Not you tryna get the tea," she laughed, as Lei held the grin on her face. "It's coming though, I just gotta put a few more finishing touches on it,"

"Can't wait,"

Lei waved goodbye to her as Ximena linked arms with her. Raegan started to walk away from the group but not before beckoning Raj with her index finger. Raj threw his arm around her, walking away from the trio.

"Hm, I wonder how he got her to do that," Ximena's best friend, Alexis said, suspicious of the two.

"Right," Ximena scoffed, watching the two interact. Lei furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, gazing back and forth between the two girls and Raj and Raegan.

"You think she likes him?" Lei raised an eyebrow, realizing she was oblivious to it.

"Probably, I wouldn't be surprised. Siraj knows he's good looking, bitches throw themselves at him all the time." Ximena shrugged, leading her to the stairs. Lei hummed, glancing back one last time at the pair, seeing that Raj was whispering in Raegan's ear, one of his hands resting on her waist, a small smile on her face as he did so.

As they headed down the stairs, Candy by Cameo started to play throughout the speakers. "Oh shit, this my song!" Lei took the rest of her liquor to the head, quickly rushing back to her friends to dance.

Ximena and Alexis cracked up, recording the friends as they started to dance as if they were in the 70's.

"It's like candy! I can feel it when you walk, even when you talk! It takes overrrr me!" Lei and Keia sang along to the lyrics, as a small circle formed around them. Other people joining in with them, singing and dancing to the song.

Raj peeked over the balcony, seeing the crowd form. He squinted his eyes, seeing Lei and Joziah dancing together. A laugh slipped from his lips, seeing how his fro moved in sync with him. Shortly after, he hit a split causing the crowd to become a little hype, that a soul train began to form as well.

"I know y'all see that soul train line ova' there!" The DJ spoke over the mic, also seeing it from where his booth was.

"Yesss! Get it Lei!" Ximena hyped her, still trying to contain her laughter as Lei came down the line, hitting a few moves.

"Looks like ya' girl know how to party," Raegan giggled, looking up at Raj, after saving the video she recorded to her Instagram story.

"Yea' she be lit," he leaned on the railing, watching in amusement.

After the party ended, the group of friends headed back to their house for the night. It was currently going on two in the morning, Lei was now tipsy as the liquor finally set.

Raj followed Lei and her friends back, none of them not wanting to go home just yet. They were still a little hyped, and were having a good time with each other.

Lei got out of the front passenger seat, loudly laughing as Joziah continued to crack jokes. She held onto the car, for support as she tried to keep her balance. One of her hands placed on her stomach, feeling the cramps from laughing so hard.

"Um, Lei?" She heard Keia call her, she caught her breath and faced her, seeing that she was staring at something in the street. She saw Elias standing in front of his car, his hands tucked away in his hoodie.

Her heart dropped a little, jerking her head back in surprise. She slowly made her way over to him, as the rest went inside. Raj stopped halfway up the driveway, noticing Elias as well.

"Raj, it's fine. Go inside," Lei assured him, knowing that he had a strong dislike for him like Xahir did. When Elias broke up with her, she spent a few days in her room, still completely upset. The boys tried to make her feel better, by threatening to beat him up for breaking her heart.

Raj nodded his head but not before shooting Elias a dirty look. Lei couldn't help the laugh that slipped from her lips. Xahir is definitely living on through his ass, she thought.

Once everyone was inside, Lei stood in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you doin' here?" she tilted her head, shifting her weight.