Page 129 of Lyric Squared

“Yes, nigga. And pick your face up. You act like I just told you your best friend got smoked.”

It felt like it.

I’d kept my distance and stayed away from the girl who was slowly becoming a woman. But, my admiration hadn’t felt a day of the distance. The thought of her made my body weak and my heart heavy.

“Prom already?”

“Yeah. With some lame ass nigga whose name I can’t even recall,” he chuckled, splitting my heart into four pieces.

“Some nigga? She got a date?”

“Yeah.”

“And we ain’t rode down on the nigga before now?”

“No reason. He can’t handle Lyric. All he needs to worry about is her curfew. Long as he has her back by midnight, the thunder won’t begin roaring.”

“Man, when the–”

“Get in and take me to the house. If she leaves before I get there, then it’ll be me you’re worried about. Not her date.”

I hopped in the whip, head and heart at war. I was silently chastising myself for staying away so long, but I was secretly satisfied with my decision. Lyric was too close for comfort. I was becoming a man. I was having thoughts that shouldn’t have involved her.

I was having dreams that shouldn’t have involved her. She was becoming my reason for nearly every move I made. Her proximity was dangerous. And, I didn’t have the gumption to fuck over my friendship like that. Not yet.

One day, though. Maybe.

I broke one traffic law after another getting to Luca’s crib. Upon arrival, something inside of me changed.

Things broke.

Things shifted.

Things yearned.

Things hid.

Things pained.

Things shut down.

“Aye, keep your cool. Deflate your chest. It’s prom. It ain’t marriage.”

Cause that’s reserved for me.

“I’m cool,” I lied. “I’m not gone do nothing to this boy.”

“I’m just letting you know cause ain’t no talking to Laike. He’s a loose cannon.”

Chuckling, I exited my ride. I rounded the car and pressed my body against the door that Luca had just shut. I watched as he pulled Lyric into his arms.

The smile that pinned my lips backward caught her eye. A year without seeing that face was enough to send me to the nut house. Though her arms were wrapped around Luca, her gaze stripped me of everything I had to hide.

I cleared my throat and used my fingers to pinch my nose before letting them fall. With both hands in front of me, I folded them, hoping they behaved instead of blowing up my spot.

Revealing my feelings.

Telling my truth.