The day goes by. We have lunch together and make jokes. His homeboys were skeptical of me being his friend at first, but once Bad Boy Marcus made it clear that we are only friends, they got used to me. At the end of the day, he didn't follow me home. Being his friend was much better than trying to avoid him. It was kind of nice to have one friend, I guess, and the amount of flirtatious remarks he made decreased. They didn't end completely, but they slowed, which is a start. He watched me sign up for my clubs. Turns out, he absolutely despises Drama club, so he signed up for college readiness with me.

"I promise I'll come to your plays." He said.

"Yeah, no thanks." I say.

"No seriously, I will come."

"Please don't." I respond.

——————————————

BACK AT HOME

I walk in the house and Belle is dressed in a knee-length white dress and a small purse. My dad is wearing a white button-up and black pants. I look at them like they are crazy when I walk in.

"Why are you dressed like that?" I ask, slowly.

"Church. It's Wednesday. Bible study." Belle chirps.

"Doesn't bible study start late at night?" I ask.

"It starts at 6:30, but we have to be there at 5:00 because there is a special event that I volunteered to help out with." she replies.

"What's the special event?" I ask blankly.

"A black history month dance!" She chirps.

"A dance for black history month?" I ask.

"Yes. It's the church's way of celebrating."

"Shouldn't they just preach about Harriet Tubman or Martin Luther King Jr, or Sojourner Truth or whatever?" I inquire.

"Nope. They wanted to do a dance. It's 4:30 right now. So you need to get ready." My father interrupts.

No one was talking to you, dad.

"Is there a dress code?" I ask.

"No. Just dress formal."

I nod, and go upstairs. I groan in annoyance. Do I have to go?

I decide not to risk asking. I look through my closet that contains the clothes that actually look good, and I look for something that makes me appear presentable.

I find a long sleeved red dress, but it's short. It's right above my knees. I don't want to expose my legs. I put the maroon dress on. I throw my stuff around while looking for my pantyhose. I will not go to church with my scarred legs exposed to the world. I have to go downstairs to ask Belle if she has some I can wear. Ugh. I don't want her to see my scars either. She might scream and hold up a cross and say for the power of her hands to compel me. I decide that I have to ask, and I creep down the stairs slowly.

Creek.

I hate the stairs.

After 6 more loud creek noises, I make it downstairs. They are buried deep in conversation and don't notice me. I cough to gain attention. Belle looks over and the color drains from her face. Judgmental much?

Way to play it cool, Belle.

"Uhm, Belle...?"

"Y-yes?" She stutters.

"Do you have any pantyhose I can borrow?"

"Sure, I'll go get them. I'll be right back." Belle stutters.

She stumbles up the stairs. I hear her sigh when she gets up there. I hate people.

Maybe she's getting her wooden cross.

No, that's mean. I seriously need to get a life.

"Brianna." My dad says sternly.

"Hm?" I reply.

"Why did you come down here like that? You almost gave Belle a heart attack!"

"She shouldn't be that shocked since you already told her my whole life story!" I snap.

He glares at me, but doesn't say more because the creek of the steps give a warning that Belle is returning. She hands me some black pantyhose. I grab them and run upstairs to my room to change into them. They had footies. That's good, because I hate socks. I put on some black flats. I put on a heavy amount of makeup. I hate wearing a lot of makeup but I "have to look formal"., apparently. I put on some dark brown eyeshadow, and some winged eyeliner. I also put eyeliner on my waterline. I put on false eyelashes. Itchy. I put on some crimson lipgloss. I brush my hair for the second time today and put it into a fishtail braid on the side. I leave a few stray hairs in the front so I don't look like an alien. I put on some blush. I feel like my eyelashes might fly away any second. I put in some diamond earrings and grab a purse. I put in my phone, my lipgloss, my money, my earbuds for music, and that's it because the purse is tiny. My diamond earrings are the only earrings I own. I don't like earrings. I go downstairs. Looks like we'll be a little late. Since when does my dad attend church? We all went when my mom was alive but he always fell asleep. It's 5:02 when we get in the car. I guess we'd be kind of late. I don't care. We get there at 5:10.

"Sorry we're late." Belle apologizes when we enter.

I've never met a twelfth grader who is so involved in church.

The young people and old people hug her when she enters. We are the only people who came late, it seems. I sit down in a random chair, while they help. I put in my earbuds and listen to Bmike. I'm tapped on the shoulder by Belle.

I look up at her.

She points to her ear, telling me to take the earbuds out.

"Huh? I can't hear you!" I lie.

She points to both her ears this time.

"You have ear wax?" I ask, too loudly.

I was trying to embarrass her. My dad comes over.

He takes the earbuds out my ears.

"She said to take the damn earbuds out, Brianna." He snaps.

He laughs to rid the tension between us. F.A.K.E.

He's so fake. When is Belle not around? It's almost like she moved in already.

"Did you even go to school today?" I ask Belle.

"Yup. I get out of school at 3:00."

"Ok. Do you have a house? Cause you sure do love to occupy mine." I say, too quiet for my dad to hear.

She laughs.

"Yeah. I just really like your dad."

Ew.

"Anyways, what'd you want?" I ask, casually.

"Can you help us? We could really use your help."

"With what?" I ask.

"Well, you're young, help us pick the music." She chirps.

"If it has to be gospel, than I'm useless to you."

"Nope. They want any songs by colored artists." She says.

"Okay, I'll help, but I can't promise they'll be church appropriate." I say.

"They don't have to be. It's not a church event, it just takes place at the church, and the church members are attending."

"I don't think the old people will like my taste in music." I mumble.

"Who cares?" She squeaks.

Okay, I finally found the teenage part of her. Wait, that reminds me of something.

"You're the same age as me, you pick the music."

"I don't want to. I will probably end up picking something gospel."

The teenager in her just flew out the window.

"Ok, I'll be over in a sec." I say.

After 2 minutes, I decide to finally come over there. I pick out some songs by popular rap artists, and pop artists. Even some underground rappers. Underground meaning, less popular. Not less talented, though.

At 6:00, some more people enter. I am sitting in a corner in a chair, on my phone, scrolling through my gallery.

I'm ignoring everything until I see someone out the corner of my eye.

"Is that-" I mumble aloud.

I stare. He walks in, in a button up white shirt and tan khakis. I can't help but laugh. I burst out in laughter. That's the most formal I've ever seen him dress. He's with a beautiful woman who looks about 36. I'm guessing it's his mom, because they look similar. I continue to stare and smirk at his attire. I look around the room. It was now dark. There were snack tables and drinks- wait, alcohol? At church? Oh my god. There is alcohol in the church. Wow. How ironic.

There are chips, dip, punch, and more. There is also regular food. I'm considering whether I should get some or not when a hand taps my shoulder. I look over.

"Hey Brianna Rose." He says.

"I swear, I regret telling you my name every time you speak." I joke.

"Why are you here?" He asks.

"I'm being held against my will." I respond.

"Me too. My mom made me come. She said I've been 'drifting away from the lord recently'."

"Why does she say that?" I ask.

"Because I refuse to come to church. But she said this was a dance, so it's not that bad." He says.

"It's still that bad." I remark.

"Is that why your in this empty corner with the cleaning supplies?" He asks, a smirk on his face.

"Actually, yes. Also to avoid any awkward contact with anyone." I reply.

"Well where's your family?" He asks.

"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you." I respond.

"Are they that bad?"

"That's an understatement." I reply quietly.

"I feel like every teen is ashamed of their family, so I'll drop it." He says.

"Who in your family is here?" He asks.

"I thought you were dropping it." I reply.

"I lied. If you don't tell me, I could probably find out myself."

"How so?" I respond jokingly.

"Well..I could look around and find someone who looks like you, or..I could do this.."

He walks away.

"Where are you going!?" I call out, worry filling my body.

I get up to follow him but stop dead in my tracks when I see what he's doing.