𝚂𝙴𝚁𝙴𝙽𝙸𝚃𝚈 ᥫ᭡
CHAPTER TEN.

𝕚 𝕕𝕠 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦..

CAELYNN TAYLOR 🤍 | AUGUST 10

𝒄𝒂𝒆𝒍𝒚𝒏𝒏 finished packaging her last order then let out a relieved breath. but her relief was short lived when she realized she still needs to drop them off to a post office to mail them off to their respective customers. on top of that, she also needs to go to target and restock on some of her hygiene products, and while she's there, she also plans to buy school supplies.

she doesn't know if chicago's the same way, but back in baltimore, her and every other teen that lived there always shopped last minute until they ended up buying all the supplies before school started. it left a lot of things sold out and they were never able to really get the stuff they needed before their first day of classes.

so she wants to go early to get the exact stuff she wants, then whatever else she doesn't get she'll just order off of amazon.

after target, she needs to find a beauty supply store so she can get braiding hair. she wants to put braids in her hair before school starts because she already knows when it comes time to getting up in the morning, she's going to want to sleep in, which means her hair should be done prior.

if it isn't clear already, caelynn is a do it yourself type of girl. she believes if she can attempt to learn to do something on her own then she should try it that way first before blowing money on it.

so hair? wigs, braids, sew-ins, you name it. she taught herself that. it's easy now.

lashes? all she needs is some tweezers, the proper glue, and a good mirror. very easy.

nails? too easy. to her, nails are just another form of her art but on a smaller canvas. she wouldn't lie and say those didn't take her the most time to learn. she had to learn how to properly use the acrylic powders, when and how many coatings to apply and so on, but she got the hang of it after awhile.

she learned how to do all of these things starting when she was twelve and she perfected her skills by the time she turned fifteen. she's saved a lot of money this way too. the only things she comes out of pocket for are her toes and eyebrows. occasionally she'll go to someone else for her nails and hair, but it's more to support than anything. she doesn't need anyone to do anything for her.

caelynn's always been an independent person. independent to both pampering herself and making her own cuts of money. she doesn't need anyone for anything and she's stood by that for the longest. it never mattered how young she is.

maybe that's why she thought she could handle the deaths of her parents alone.

she's never had to ask for help or accept the help given to her.

it's just never been something caelynn taylor has had to do.

until she did. .

she wouldn't of had anywhere to stay if it weren't for her uncle and aunt being the first ones to take her in. she wouldn't of made it by without the support of isleigh and christian, and she wouldn't even be alive right now if it weren't for zakiar.

whether she wants to admit it or not, she needed those people in some way, shape, or form at one point — or many points in some cases.

it took a lot to swallow her pride and come to terms with that.

that's why apologizing to zakiar has been on her mind as of late.

she just doesn't know how.

caelynn brushed away all of her thoughts and checked her phone for the weather. it's another eighty degree type of day, making her huff in frustration.

she just wants to run her errands in peace but it's always hot out.

she couldn't wait until the weather starts to drop and the fall and winter seasons are welcomed. she can't stand the heat any longer. the only good thing summer brought her is she got to get her money's worth from all of the shorts and skirts she bought from places like fashion nova and so on.

speaking of fashion nova, she was going to wear that new skirt she ordered from them some days ago. it finally came in today so why not. perhaps she'll treat her and christian to a night out at cheesecake factory once she's done with all of her errands. she's been craving them for awhile now.

caelynn went into her closet to strip out of her pajamas and put on an outfit. she started by grabbing ahold of the washed-out black denim cut-out skirt she already knew she was going to wear and put them on, then she went from there to match. she slipped on a white graphic tee that had a grey, black and white design on the front, then finally her low-top off-white vulcanized white and grey sneakers, plus her favorite thick wide/framed square glasses.

instead of her usual go-to vanilla combo, she switched it up and took a chance with her new rose n roses miss dior perfume.

she sprayed it on her wrists and neck like usual and rubbed it in. as soon as she did, the floral scent hit her strongly, but in a good way. she's liking it a lot. hopefully it'll last her for awhile without her having to respray anymore on.

just in case, she added it into her black kurt geiger quilted leather cross-body purse.

caelynn rubbed on her clear dior lip glow oil and dropped that into her purse next, followed by the rest of everything else she wanted to bring before she was carefully carrying her packaged paintings downstairs, which was a bit of a struggle because she had ten total with each being a different size.

when she made it down, she placed them on the dining table so she could catch her breath for a second and also pull out her phone to call her brother that she was ready; however, she saw a message from him at the top that was telling her he couldn't make it because he needed to sort out business with his school.

she understands, but it really set her back.

her uncle and aunt are out school clothes shopping with izyais and kiyomi so she couldn't ask either of them for a ride. the only other people she can think of are one of the boys. but jalen told her that they started football season so him and the boys have been busy with conditioning camp, which left her only option: an uber.

"i need my own car," she sighed to herself. she needs her license first, though. not that it should be hard to get. she just has to take the test then 'surrender' over her baltimore permit.. whatever that means.

"you need a ride?" someone asked from off to the side, causing her to jump a bit in surprise. it was zakiar. of course it is. she didn't even know he was over, but she isn't surprised that he is either. he's over a lot with nyani and vise versa when she stays nights at his.

he had just come down the stairs when he heard what she said.

caelynn's face heated from being caught talking to herself. she shook her head while averting her gaze back down to her phone. "i'm ordering an uber."

wouldn't now be a good time to apologize?

yet her lips are sealed.

zakiar sucked his teeth at her, "just come on, caelynn. i'm heading out anyways."

he started walking away with his keys in his hand before she could even refuse him again.

caelynn bit her lip and debated. she needs to get these paintings shipped by today and the nearest post office closes in an hour. she doesn't have time to spare to wait on an uber, so she sucked it up and took zakiar's offer.

when zakiar saw her coming out with all of the stuff in her arms, he helped her put them into his backseat then he went ahead and opened her door since he was standing on her side anyways.

"thank you," caelynn quietly told him, getting into the passenger seat.

he just hummed while closing her door.

and once he got in, just like the last time these two were in the car together, the air was tense.

caelynn's heart was screaming at her to hurry up and say sorry but her mind is being clouded with her ego which is keeping her from even speaking to him.

he didn't have much else to say to her either. what can he say? she's rude as hell to him whenever they do talk and then she made it perfectly clear how it is the last time they spoke. so why should he go out of his way again to talk to her? he doesn't care if shes's nyani's cousin. caelynn can really have it.

the ride to the post office was done in complete silence. not even the sounds of caelynn's tiktoks could be heard because she moved the audio to her left airpod.

zakiar parked in one of the front spaces to make it easier on them when they carry her stuff inside.

she didn't say anything when he helped her again. she just got greeted by the receptionist at the front desk, and after politely explaining what she needed, the woman left to go weigh caelynn's packages for pricing details.

caelynn glanced back at zakiar who waited for her some feet away, occupying himself with his phone.

"zakiar," she called out for him, making him look up. "you can go now."

his head tilted to stare at her as if she was dumb — not even over the fact that she just tried to shoo him off as if she's dismissing him and not even over the fact that he just gave her a free ride without as much of a thank you from her. but more over the fact of how she's still coming off so ignorant to him.

see what he means by she's rude as hell? and he knows she's this way with just him solely because she seems to get along just fine with everyone else she talks to. so this is personal, right? is it really because he made her spit those pills back up? does she hate him for that? he doesn't regret making her do it that morning but the way she keeps treating him is making him think she wants him to regret it.

he doesn't know anymore. the way she's so closed off makes it hard to read her, and that's what bothers him.

"how you gone get back, caelynn?"

"i can uber this time," she answered, turning back to face the counter. "i have other places to be."

zakiar is so sick of her.

so why doesn't he just leave her here? she's asking to be left anyways.

he tried to convince himself to listen to his thoughts as he left the office and returned inside his car, but then he found himself sitting there and waiting for her to come back out, telling himself it's only because he wanted to make sure she could at least get in her uber okay.

why does he keep making it a habit to check after her even though she directly told him she doesn't want him to? he really can't tell you. it's just the part of him that cares.

caelynn came out of the shop around five minutes later, instantly spotting zakiar's car still parked in its parking spot. she sighed while going over to it and getting back inside. "why're you still here?"

"why'd you get back in?" he asked back. "thought you was getting an uber.."

"i am."

"so what you doing?"

she could ask him the same thing back, but she didn't. for whatever reason he didn't leave her behind, she knows it just may be God throwing what she needs to say back in her face.

she feels ashamed of herself that she can't just get it out already, but sometimes one's ego and dignity can be their worst enemy to fight. caelynn's learning this the hard way.

she literally had to swallow to say her thought out words. "you weren't wrong," she finally admitted. zakiar remained quiet to let her say what she wants to say. "you weren't wrong for wanting to help me that day, but i was wrong for implying that you were. i took my anger out on you that night and i know i shouldn't have, but i did. so for that, i'm sorry. i'm sorry you had to be the one to stop me that day, too. i didn't mean to scare you . . . i thought it was what i wanted. it took a lot of self-reflecting to realize it wasn't. so thank you for stopping me from . . yeah.."

there.

she said it.

a huge weight lifted off of her shoulders after she did.

zakiar also felt relief hearing her apology. so it wasn't what she wanted, and he doesn't have to keep beating himself up for believing that it was.

he needed to hear that, so he appreciates her for telling him.

but now it's his turn to tell her somethings. "i accept your apology . . but you gotta attitude problem, you know that? yo mouth slick as hell, folks. you keep using it with the wrong person. quit talking to me like that when i'm only tryna look out for you."

"i don't need you to look after me."

"and that's yo issue now. it's not about what you need or what you want. i ain't lookin after you because you want me to and i'm not doing it because i have to. i'm doing it cause i want to. there's a difference."

"but i'm better now, zakiar. i really am. so if you're just keeping watch on me because you think i'm going to break again, i promise you i'm not. i'm okay."

"i know you are, caelynn. but that still don't mean i'm not gone be here for you. it ain't got nothing to do with what happened. i'm always around for everybody. that's just how i move."

she couldn't say anything back to that. she doesn't know zakiar from a can of paint to know how he moves, but she also knows he isn't lying about what he's telling her.

he's got a kind soul. she can sense that much from him.

zakiar held up his fist and smiled a little. "we cool now?"

caelynn chuckled and bumped her first against his. "yeah. we're cool."

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