*RING RING*
"Hello?" I answered my phone with a low groan.
"You aren't up yet?" A guy answered, I pulled my phone down to see who it was and look at the time. Darnell. 8:53AM.
"It is not even nine in the morning" I slowly stated.
"What time do you normally get up on the weekends?" He asked.
"Noon," I said as my eyes finally opened.
"Homie get your ass up, you said we can spend the day together while everyone else has something planned," Darnell stated, "I'm not waiting till noon"
"Ugh fine, but we are getting coffee before we start anything," I stated, and threw my blanket off of me.

I sat up and stretched out my body. Nine in the morning? Is he serious? I went over and flung open my curtains to let in the early sun. Before I start off this day, I went to the shower so I can redo my hair and cleanse before I go out.

The water ran for about five minutes while I stripped and combed through my coarse hair while it was still straight. I opened the curtain and stepped into the shower. The water was warm and I started to wash my hair. Once I was done conditioning, I left it in while I washed my body and face. I even shaved my legs and armpits because why not show some skin, I'm single now! I stopped the shower once I finished rinsing my hair, and when I turned off the water. I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a towel.

Today, I wanted to keep my hair's natural shape, so I parted it and applied my curl products, then attached the diffuser to the hairdryer. Part by part, my hair dried. My natural curls were tight and weighed down my hair, giving it length. I walked to my room to get dressed and finish getting ready. I had just shut my door when I heard a knocking at the front door. I peaked my head out my door.
"Who is it?" I screamed.
"Darnell," Darnell answered. Oh my god, what is he doing here? I'm only in a towel, and he never told me he was coming over.
"Uh- Um" I said hesitatingly, "C-Come in"

Darnell walked in and I shut my door, hoping he got the hint. I took off my towel and started to go to the closet to get my outfit for the day. I picked out a horizontal stripped shirt with a black skirt and threw it on my bed. Before I can even turn around, my door starts opening. I try to cover my parts with my hands as fast as possible.
"Stop oh my god stop!" I yelled and Darnell stood in the doorway.
"Girl you take forever to get ready, your naked still," Darnell said, staring at me, "But damn are you fine,"
"Darnell! I am trying to get dressed, I didn't even know you were on your way," I sternly stated.
"I texted you," He said and crossed his arms.
"Out! I need to get dressed," I shouted.
"I mean, your single so if I watch, it won't matter," Darnell said.
"Darnell, out, now," I sternly said.

Darnell left my room and shut my door. I was able to release my body from the uncomfortable position it was in and grab my undergarments from my dresser. Within five minutes I was fully dressed and got my shoes on. I put on a little bit of mascara and brushed through my eyebrows. I slung my small purse over my shoulder and headed to the living room, where Darnell was sitting.
"I'm sorry, you just take forever to get ready," Darnell said.
"It's okay, and I needed to shower boy, my hair needed to get done," I stated, "Now let's go, I want coffee,"

We walked out of the house and the sun hasn't even hit its peak yet. I looked at Darnell and gave him the dirtiest look and rolled my eyes. This is way too early for me to be up, it's not even ten and I'm already out of my house, not acceptable.
"So do you normally do your hair alone?" Darnell asked.
"If it's easy enough yes, like today I can, but when I'm braiding it though, Coop helps me because I normally feed in the hair add in's and it's hard when I can't see the back of my head," I answered.
"So your talented, homie you should do cornrows on my hair," Darnell added.
"Maybe," I laughed, "Braiding is a skill and it takes time, my hair takes like almost a day to do,"

We made it to the Slauson Cafe and I immediately went to order my latte, that I get every time. When I was done, I left Darnell so he could order, and I took my drink to a table and sat down. Within minutes, before Darnell got his order, I seen Cam and his friends walk in. I needed to not be too noticeable so I looked down at my phone and texted Spencer, knowing he was up.
Me: Help, Darnell woke me up before nine.
Spencer: Early bird catches the worm lol.
Me: shut up bro, and Cam just walked in
Spencer: J you can handle him
Me: do I want to? No.

Before I could check my phone to see what Spencer replied to my message with, Cam started walking over. Darnell was still at the counter and I was tense. Cam invited himself to take a seat at my table, which wasn't even for him.
"Good morning J," Cam said.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Well your up before noon, how?" Cam asked.
"None of your business," I stated.
"How are you?" Cam asked and I ignored him, "Silent treatment, nice. How come your all dressed up? You never did that for me,"
"I'm single now, I can dress however I damn well please, I meant what I said, leave me alone"
"What would happen if I didn't?" Cam asked.
"You'll have to answer to me," Darnell said as he towered over him, "Now leave her alone as she asked."
"Oh wow, didn't take you two long at all, you really are a whore," Cam said, and Darnell punched him in the face.

Cam stood up and tried to take a swing back but Darnell ducked before Cam could lay a hand on him. They kept swinging on each other, but I had enough. I'm not having two guys fight over me, and Cam was going crazy. Right now, Darnell and I are just friends and I want to keep it like that. I jumped in between them to break them up.
"Stop it! Guys! Stop!" I yelled, "You two look ridiculous right now! What is wrong with you guys?! Seriously, I'm not an object to fight over!" I paused and crossed my arms. "Cam, what I do is no longer you business, and Darnell you have no right to do what you did, I am out of here,"

I grabbed my latte and walked out of the cafe. If I was embarrassed enough from yesterday, today topped it off. So much for getting up early, my day was ruined big time. I get Darnell wanting to stand up for me, but he did not need to lay hands on Cam, that's just excessive.

I didn't even know where I was going, I just kept walking. That's when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Darnell. I shook my head and kept walking. I had nothing to say to him. I felt him following me.
"Homie, wait up," Darnell shouted.
"What?" I said, and stopped.
"Okay, look I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hit him," Darnell apologized.
"No you shouldn't have, now if you excuse me, I'm walking," I stated.
"Janeari, wait, look, I know that what I did was wrong, I just know you had a bad week and I wanted to give you a good day, and I didn't start it off good, and I will make it up to you," Darnell said, "I have an idea follow me"
"This better be worth it," I stated.
"You really are not a morning person are you?" Darnell asked.
"Have you not seen me at school?"
"Fair point,"
"I'm sorry I'm not a football player who needs their sleep"
"Smooth, respect"

I followed Darnell half way across town to make it to the school, I think he forgot about the barbecue for the reunion today. We passed everyone and went to the football field. We walked to the bench and he set anything he had in his pockets on the bench.
"What are we doing here?" I asked.
"Well you said that you used to help Spencer with plays, so you got two choices, either coach me or run plays with me," Darnell stated.
"I have a better idea, let's race," I said.
"You race? In a skirt?" Darnell questioned.
"Yes, I was in track for a mean minute, plus I have gym clothes in the locker room, which I highly doubt is locked right now with the reunion going on, give me about fifteen minutes," I stated.
"Fifteen? Girl you take so long," Darnell said.
"Hey, I'm not messing up my hair, I just did it earlier," I laughed.

I walked to the locker room and unlocked my locker. After getting my clothes out, I switched my outfit and shoes then threw my hair up in a loose bun. I put everything, but my phone in the locker then locked it back up again, and headed back to the field.

Darnell was out there stretching, so I joined him because it's been a while since I ran. I still remembered the stretches from when I did track. It only took five minutes to get stretched out and warmed up for this race.
"So Homie, what are the rules of the race?" Darnell asked.
"We start at the beginning of the end zone, but that one with the scoreboard," I stated, "And we run to the other, who ever gets there first wins,"
"Imma smoke your ass," Darnell stated, "I'm a quarterback you have no chances,"
"Oh yeah, I ran sprints and distance, I was on varsity my freshman year, chances of making it to the olympics," I sassed as we started to walk to the start, "I was the reason our school won the matches,"
"Confidence much?" Darnell made a snarky remark.
"Maybe a little, but living in Crenshaw you gotta know how to run, if you know what I mean, especially as a black female," I commented.
"I got you girl, you're on," Darnell stated. We got into position, my body was facing forward with my right leg on the line and my left behind me ready to push off.
"Ready. Set. Go!" I shouted.

We both rushed off and I brought myself up. Breathing through my nose and out my mouth. My hands half closed and I ran on the balls of my feet and I kept up on my speed. Darnell kept his posture but started falling behind a little. I kept pushing as I only made it to the fifty yard line. Darnell was close behind me.

I was almost to the other end zone when I felt arms grasp around my waist and pick me up. I started kicked. I was spun around facing the scoreboard and Darnell then spun my hand to have me face him. He grabbed me by the face and kissed me. I grabbed his hips to bring myself closer and kissed back. My right hand took my hair down. Darnell picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He let go from the kiss.
"I wasn't racing, I was chasing you," He said.
"What?" I asked.
"Your race idea gave me a great opportunity to chase after you," Darnell answered.
"You are ambitious," I stated.
"I can be, especially when I want someone, and that someone is you," Darnell stated.

I slid down, off Darnell and went back to the locker room to change and put on some more deodorant so I didn't stink. When I walked back to the field, Darnell was laying in the middle of it. I joined it and we just stared at the clouds.
"Do you accept my apology from earlier about Cam now?" Darnell asked.
"Yeah, just next time, word violence please?" I asked.
"I got you," Darnell moved onto his side facing me, "I listen, okay? You said the football field brings you peace, which I knew you needed,"
"Thank you, I appreciate it," I said and flipped onto my side. Darnell gazed into my eyes.
"You're just so gorgeous," Darnell stated with a smile and ran his fingers over the perimeter of my face.
"You know, your not bad looking yourself," I said with a smirk.
"You're too funny," Darnell laughed.
"Look, I gotta be real with you for a minute, Darnell," I said, "I don't want you to be a rebound, I want this to be real, I want us to be real, all of it,"
"I respect the honesty and if that's what you want I will respect it," Darnell stated.
"Why are you so good?" I asked.
"I'm all about respect, remember my mom is in the army" Darnell answered.
"Are we just gonna lay here all day?"
"If that's what you want"
"Um, no I'll get bored, plus I'm hungry,"
"We can go back to the cafe and get food"
"I'm so down,"

Darnell and I stood up, and walked out of the field. Spending this day with him didn't start out how I wanted, however it's turning out really well. I appreciate him for trying to make this day great after the week I had. It was hard, I didn't even think my life would change so drastically in one week, but things change. When Coop left because my mom didn't accept her being gay, I left with her to prove a point that it's not okay to tell your own daughter that she can't love who she wants because of your own values. That was the last drastic change I had.

My mom and I have always had a strong bond, like Coop and our dad, however my mom has has a stick shoved up her ass our whole life. I get it, she wants the best for us, but sometimes it's better to bend your own morals to accept your children and what they want. My mom did like Cam, but she also saw how he was with me, and warned me. I haven't even told her about Cam yet, and I know I should. I just hope she likes Darnell, because I do.