Chapter Ten: Try It On
568 Words
Wednesday felt like payday freedom.
Lyric stood in front of the mirror inside a little streetwear boutique in the mall, holding up a cropped black hoodie that said “Unbothered” in rhinestone script.
“I’m not gonna lie, this might be the one,” she said, turning to the side to check the fit.
“You need to get that,” Janiyah said from behind her, already holding three bags and sipping an iced drink like she owned the food court. “It’s giving quiet flex. Like, ‘Yes I’m fine, and no I ain’t tryna prove it.’”
Lyric smiled. “Exactly.”
After buying the hoodie and a matching pair of cargo pants with zips down the legs, Lyric hit the sneaker store. She didn’t know if it was the check in her pocket or the new confidence growing inside her, but she felt different.
Lighter.
Like she was finally catching up to the version of herself she always pictured.
They sat outside the food court on a bench eating fries and talking mess.
“So,” Janiyah said, leaning close, “don’t judge me, but… I slept with Smoke.”
Lyric choked mid-bite. “What?!”
Janiyah grinned. “I know, I know. It wasn’t planned. He pulled up late Monday night and said he just wanted to talk. Next thing I know we on my couch... and let’s just say, wheww. That man knows what he doing.”
Lyric’s eyes widened. “You serious?”
“Serious serious. He got that whisper-in-your-ear and choke-you-a-little energy,” Janiyah said, fanning herself. “I ain’t gonna lie. I might be stuck.”
Lyric shook her head, laughing. “You’re insane.”
“And you’re next,” Janiyah teased, nudging her. “Zay already act like he halfway own you.”
Lyric rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.
Because maybe… maybe he kinda did.
Elsewhere that same evening…
Inside Zay’s garage, Smoke leaned against the car hood rolling a blunt while Zay scrolled through his phone.
“Shorty you been texting,” Smoke said, “that the girl with the curls and lip gloss?”
Zay glanced up. “Yeah. Lyric.”
“She bad,” Smoke smirked. “Real lowkey, though. Ain’t like these loud girls always in the mix.”
Zay nodded, eyes still on his phone.
“She different.”
“You like her?” Smoke asked.
Zay didn’t answer right away. Just lit his blunt, took a drag, and exhaled slow.
“I ain’t used to wanting nobody,” he finally said. “But she don’t even be trying… and I’m still thinking about her.”
Smoke laughed. “She got you soft.”
“Nah,” Zay said with a smirk. “I just know what’s mine when I see it.”
Smoke raised an eyebrow. “So it’s like that?”
Zay just nodded. “It’s exactly like that.”
Back at Lyric’s place, she laid out her new fit across her bed.
Cargos. Hoodie. Sneakers. Everything she needed to walk in that party with her head held high.
Her phone lit up.
Zay.
Zay:
What size shoe you wear?
She blinked at the message, confused.
Me:
7. Why?
Zay:
Just asking.
He didn’t follow up with anything else. No explanation. Just left it at that.
Lyric smiled to herself, not even questioning it.
She didn’t need to.
Not yet.
- Writer
