What Are We Doing?
Written By: Shenelle

Intro: Yanique’s P.O.V.

Oh my goodness. I can not believe what just happened. What are we doing? What have we done? There is no way I could’ve let something like that happen. No. Not me. What have we ruined? What was I thinking? What was he thinking? Hell; what were we thinking? [sighs] Man; I never thought a moment alone in a soft bed could change everything. I never thought that we would go to this extreme. I mean; it felt so right. But; I knew that it was so wrong. We both knew it. But; that didn’t stop us. We suffocated all thoughts of negativity and did what we thought was right. Now we’re both laying here with no words to exchange. Not one word. With the comforter pulled up to our necks; we stare blankly at the ceiling as silence takes over this awkward moment. How could we fall into a trap like this? I mean; I never seen it coming. [pause] Okay well; maybe I did. Here’s the scoop.

Chapter One: The Wood

I have a best friend by the name of Omari. We’ve been best friends for thirteen years now [since 3rd grade] and we’ve established a family type relationship. Omari has always been like a brother to me. Even though we’re only three months and five days apart. Still; he always looks out for me as if I were his blood sister. And I always look out for him as if he were my blood brother. Everyone knows that we’re super tight. Whenever you see O; you see me. And vice versa. Our family’s are really close as well.

We grew up in Inglewood, California. Boy; those were the days. The good ’ole days. No responsibilities; no drama; and most importantly no worries. The only job that we had was to go to school and to be kids. That’s it. Pretty cool; huh? Yeah. I think so too. But; being that we lived in the hood of Inglewood; we had to really watch each other’s back and stick together. Even in Elementary School. Yes; I said it. Elementary School. Sad; huh? I know right. But hey; that was life in The Wood.

I was always a very quiet girl. I didn’t interact with the other kids that much; and I always stayed to myself. I dunno why. I guess I felt that being involved with a crowd was nothing but trouble. And trust me; going to school at Marshall H. Greyder Elementary -- trouble was as contagious as flu season. Everyday there was always some type of mischief going on. Whether it was boys running in and out of the girl’s bathroom with lizards. Or girls putting dirt down the boy’s shirts. No matter what it was; it was always something. Most of the time it was dumb shit. But; they didn’t care. This was the way of life for us. Or at least them.

One day; as I was sitting alone in the cafeteria eating my peanut-butter and jelly sandwich -- a huge fifth grade bully by the name of Walt -- came up to me and grabbed my bag of cookies out of my lunch box. Walt picks on everybody and their Mama -- literally. As quiet as I may have seemed; I was no exception to his routine. I’m thinking to myself “Oh no; not my grandma’s homemade chocolate chip cookies!“ Startled by his actions; I looked up and began to shiver a little. As I looked into his parsimonious face; my eyes began to tear up. Puzzled and at a lost for words; I had to think of something fast. So; I thought to myself -- “Wait a minute -- what’s cookies without ice-cold milk?”

I did what any other cookie-loving chick would do. I instantly picked up my carton of milk and poured it onto his head. By this point; we had an audience surrounding us. “Ooo’s” and “Ahh’s” were coming from every direction as the milk ran down each one of his coarse cornrows. I dunno where; but some way -- somehow -- I managed to cough up this ball of courage. I stood up in his face and put on a serious mean mug. I then lashed out at him. “You wanna steal cookies? Well; there’s your milk. Enjoy!” Now that I think about it; that line was kinda wack. But hey; at the time -- I thought that I was the shit when I said it and so did everyone else.

Feeling good inside with what I had just done -- I grabbed my lunch box and was about to be on my way. Tsk; at least that’s what I thought. As soon as I was walking by Walt; he grabbed me by my ponytail and swung me against the wall. I thought that I was a goner then. I didn’t know a fifth grader had that much strength in their body. Gotdamn. So anyway; to make a long story short -- as soon as Walt was heading over to me; he was stopped by another kid [whom I’ve seen around school but we’ve never associated] who purposely tripped him.

With that smart move being done; it instantly focused Walt’s and everyone else’s attention on the other kid. Everyone crowded around and chanted as Walt and the kid threw out curse words to each other. All of a sudden; a fight broke out and Walt and the kid were immediately sent to the principal’s office.

Of course Principal Giles had to eventually send for me as well; because that’s where the whole ordeal started. Come to find out; the kid that tripped Walt -- was Omari. And the reason why he did it was because he seen the situation that we’d gone through with the cookies; and he felt that no man should disrespect a female the way Walt did me -- especially being that I never had beef with anyone and I was really nice and quiet. Even though we were only nine years old; it still was a matter of respect that was to be met.

Anyway; as we were waiting for Principal Giles to come back to his office with our detention slips; Omari and I began conversing and we realized that we had a lot in common. I thanked him abundantly; and that was the day Omari Grandberry and I became best friends. We promised that we would always look out for each other; and always stick by one another’s side.

Okay; skipping up a few years. We were now in the eleventh grade and both attending Alexander Hamilton High School. The years were going by quicker than you can imagine. It felt like just yesterday; O and I were back at Marshall H. Greyder bringing each other snacks and switching lunches. Man; those were the days. Now we were in high school and we were closer than ever. People started saying that we really looked like brother and sister. Some even said that we looked like boyfriend and girlfriend. But we would look at each other in disgust; and shiver that thought away quickly from our brains.

Eww. Me and Omari? Together? As in lovers? Nuh uh. No way. That could never happen. We were too good of friends to even think that way. And besides; that’s gross. Why would I want to date Omari? He wasn’t even my type. I mean; don’t get me wrong -- he was definitely the “Ladies Man” back in school. But; to me -- he was just Lil O.G. Ya know?

So anyway; with the kind of relationship that we had -- of course it was a major issue to Omari on what kind of guys I could date. He was very popular at Hamilton; so he knew basically everyone’s reputation. No one was ever good enough for me. I used to think he was just jealous of the thought of me having a boyfriend; because it would decrease the time that we could spend together. You know; like hanging out wise.

But; I understood how he felt -- because I felt the same way with him whenever he dated a chick. I had to approve of any female that he was with before things got too serious. Of course he used to get mad at me for acting that way. But; who cares? He did the same shit to me. It was only right. Right?

Junior year was going by pretty well. Omari was Homecoming King again; and the captain of our school’s dance team. I was Class President for all of the Juniors -- and I was the captain of the swim team. Life was good. Nothing could ruin this joy that overtook me. I was living the life of a Teenage Princess. Well; I wouldn’t say that much but -- shit. Life was great. At least that’s what I thought.

••CHAPTER TWO

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