Crimsonwings92: Hey there! Hi there! Ho there! I'm back with a brand new story and I hope to God that it turns out well! I know it's been forever since anyone has seen or heard anything from me, but I assure you, that I'm trying to get back into the groove of things. To my readers of Only For You, I ran into some more trouble with the story and decided that I'm going to re-write everything because I think I've matured a little more since the last time I updated the story and realized that a lot of things aren't really connecting or making sense. So I decided to re-write it to make it better and less mediocre! I already have 5 chapters done, so I will be posting up the new revised version soon so I have more time to work on more chapters without you guys having to wait too long for the next one. I'm digressing! Anyway! Enjoy this new story and I hope you find it to your liking!

Disclaimer: Do not own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own Tiana, Lauren, and anyone else that was never part of the game.

Food and Basketball

Chapter 1: Friday Night Lights

My ears were filled with the noise of the comfortably warm water spraying out of the showerhead, my body tingling pleasantly as it hit my skin and tickled me as it trickled down. The longer the hot water ran, the more the bathroom filled with stream, the wispy white tendrils of air circling up and around me and then hitting the ceiling searching for a way out. I stared at those tendrils for a long while, my hands sub-consciously moving over my body as the body-sponge I used left a trail of soap behind. I loved taking showers, I think I just loved warm water in general, you know? Taking showers was always just such a…cleansing ritual for me and not just for my body, either, but for my mind as well. It's like, as I'm washing my body of dirt, I'm washing my mind of confusion and frustration and insecurities and things like that. However, just like dirt, it always comes back and soils me, forcing me to take a shower 24 hours later.

Not really a problem. I like showers. Long ones, too.

But I can't stay here for too long, I have to get out soon because I have plans. Plans with friends. Plans that I really don't care too much about, but I did promise my friends I would participate, so no backing out now. Sighing almost sadly that I had to leave the warm sanctuary of the shower, I shut off the water and stepped out, wrapping myself up in a fluffy, burgundy towel. I stood in front of my fogged up mirror and listened to the water drip out of the showerhead for a moment, just listening, then I raised my hand to wipe away the fog so I could see my reflection. The image that greeted me was that of a teenage girl, 17, with coffee-brown skin, burgundy eyes, and black hair that always seemed stuck between curly and wavy. My hair was sometimes a monster to tame, but what girl's hair isn't on those bad days. I stared at my reflection for a minute or two, my eyes transfixed on that beauty mark just underneath my right eye and I contemplated on whether or not I should get it removed in the future.

Shrugging, since there was nothing I could do about it now, I reached into the cupboard under the sink and pulled out my black, polka-dotted hair blow-dryer and opened the door to let the steam out a little more. Plugging it in and turning it on to medium, I spent about five minutes blow-drying my hair so it would look less frizzy. Satisfied with my half-dry hair and deciding that I would finish doing it after I was fully dressed, I turned off the dryer, threw my hair up in a ponytail for now and left my bathroom into the sanctity of my bedroom. Feet padding on the black carpet, I stood in front of my closet and stared at my assortment of clothing, wondering what I should wear for the evening. Probably something comfortable and close to sporty since I was being dragged to a basketball game.

"Let's see…I like these jeans. They're pretty comfortable," I mused quietly to myself, pulling down a pair of dark-blue jeans from the top shelf of my close and then, after some more consideration, took down a black, zip-up jacket that said Falcons across the front in red and had a red Falcon head on the back, "and maybe a red tank-top with the school jacket. Oh, and my red flats. That sounds good enough to me."

Laying the clothes on the bed, I dried myself off, reached into my dresser drawer for a bra and underwear to put them on before going about my routine of moisturizing, putting on deodorant, spraying a little body spray- Into the Wild from Bath and Body Works, love it- and then getting dressed in my clothes. After all this was done, and I had finished my hair by drying it, leaving it out and placing a head band in the curly locks, I finally checked my cell phone to see that I had a message from my best friend Lauren.

"Hey, girl, you ready or what? Picking you up in 10 min. ;)"

I checked the time; it was 7:25 and she sent the message 5 minutes ago. I sighed and shook my head while replying, "Yeah, okay, I'll be ready by the time you get here."

I sent the message and shoved my phone in my pocket along with my Ipod and some money; I know I'm going to a basketball game, but I pretty much take my Ipod everywhere out of habit. Checking myself in the mirror one more time, pulling the zipper of the jacket up a little more so it was just underneath my modest sized breasts, I left the room and bounded downstairs.

"Granda!" I called through the house, the little tick-tick sound of metal hitting metal reaching my ears, "Granda, I'm heading out!"

I walked into the living room where the sound was coming from and saw my grandmother, Granda to me and everyone that knew her, sitting in her favorite chair by the window with her knitting needles moving nimbly in her hands as the red and white yarn that was in the basket by her side was woven into the scarf she was making. Granda smiled at me when I walked in, her burgundy eyes that were so much like mine twinkling happily as she nodded.

"Where are you going, Tiana?" she asked, her gentle, warm voice making me smile.

"To a basketball game with Lauren and a couple others, I think. She's going to be here to pick me up soon," I answered, checking my phone for the time.

She gave a chuckle as her knitting needles continued to click together, "Alright then, child, you be safe out there, ya' hear me? I don't want my granddaughter returned to me in a body bag."

I rolled my eyes at her, but it was out of fun as I reached out to tuck a piece of her silver-gray hair back into the neat bun she had created on top of her head; "Yes, Granda, I'll be careful. I should be back before midnight, okay? So don't wait up and don't freak out when you hear the door open."

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here and go have fun," she laughed as I hugged and kissed her.

Honk! Honk!

I looked up as bright headlights flashed through the living room window; Lauren was here. I bid good-bye to my grandmother one more time before heading for the door. It was a chilly night since it was mid-fall, the temperatures slowly dropping every night and promising a relatively cold winter. I was already able to see my breath in the night air come out as white puffs. I quickly made my way to Lauren's dark red SUV, hopping into the front seat and smiling at my best friend.

"Hey, girlie," I greeted as soon as the door was closed.

"Hey, chick! What's up?" she greeted back, leaning over to give me a hug.

I shrugged, "Nothing much, just wondering why I'm agreeing to go to this stupid game with you."

Lauren rolled her eyes at my statement as she pulled out of the driveway and back onto the street, her dark brown eyes glinting in the street lights, "Oh, come on, Tia, it'll be fun! You, me, the Woolson twins, and a few hot basketball players? It's sure to be a good time."

She wiggled her eyebrows at me suggestively and ran her perfectly manicured nails over her neatly braided hair, making me laugh. Lauren was the prettier one out of the two of us, I think, looking all sporty in a red Falcons school shirt over a white long-sleeved shirt; a pair of black tights and her fuzzy black boots completed the look. She's a pretty African-American girl with all the right curves in the all the right places, the prettiest face with the highest cheekbones and darkest brown eyes and warmest smile you've ever seen, and a super cool personality. She's way outgoing and super friendly and sweet, but she's got her mean streak, too, so she's no push-over, ya know? It's a wonder how we're best friends, really, since I don't necessarily like to go to sports events or parties or dances that much, but she lives for that stuff!

Go figure.

"So Kairi and Namine are coming, too?" I asked, watching the urban scenery pass in front of my eyes.

Lauren nodded, "Yup, it was confirmed earlier in the day. You know, when it comes to the Hepler Twins, those two girls can't really stay away. Can't blame them, though, cuz Sora and Roxas are hot!"

"Oh god," I groaned, shaking my head playfully, "You three are so boy crazy! It's amazing!"

"It's amazing that you're not boy crazy! There are so many hot guys at our school," she trailed off, keeping her eyes on the road.

I rolled my eyes again, "Oh please, I have more important things to do with my life than obsess over some guy."

"You're right, like make me food. When are you going to make me that chicken, broccoli, and cheese dish? I've been waiting for, like, a month!"

I paused for a moment, scratching my head in confusion before stifling a laugh as I covered my mouth, "I forgot."

"You're a bitch."

"I'm sorry! It was an honest mistake! Ow! Hahaha!"

The car was filled with our laughter the entire trip back to the school. In less than 15 minutes, we were pulling up into the student parking lot of Twilight Town High School, named after the good old city of Twilight Town! Original, huh? The parking lot was already kind of packed since our school was pretty big on attending sports events, like this basketball game for instance. Tonight was the first game between the Twilight Town Falcons and our long-time rivals, the West Chesterfield High Vikings. Fellow schoolmates adorned in the Falcon colors of red and black littered the campus as they slowly, or quickly, made their way into the gym where the game was to be held.

"Lauren! Tiana! Over here!"

At hearing our names being called, Lauren and I turned around as we got out of the car to see two girls that looked strikingly alike skipping over to us, both wearing matching school spirit sweatshirts with white mini-skirts, black leggings, and boots. Kairi and Namine Woolson were identical twins, but with one big difference between them. While Kairi had red, almost magenta, hair with pale skin and blue eyes, Namine had blond hair with pale skin and blue eyes. They were both really pretty and really sweet, but Kairi was more outgoing than Namine and sometimes outshined her. I don't think Namine really cared, though; as long as she had her sketchbook and art supplies, she was happy.

I smiled at the two and nodded my head up, "Hey, guys, what's up?"

"Tiana!" Kairi exclaimed, throwing her arms around me and practically squeezing the living breath out of me, "I'm so happy you're here! I was almost certain you would back out last minute."

"Yeah, well, you guys know I'm not a huge fan of these kinds of things," I defended after Kairi released me only to have Namine throw herself at me, too.

"Nonetheless, we're happy you decided to come," she added to her sister's declaration, voice gentle and sweet.

I forced a smile for the two before we all made our way into the gym, our ears immediately being assaulted with the deafening sounds of blaring music and screaming spectators. The bleachers were almost filled on both sides, so the four of us quickly rushed to the Home side to find good seats which ended up being somewhere near the top and in the middle with a few other people that we knew from around school. I greeted everyone and endured a few minutes of how 'the hermit finally left her shell for the first time since the school year started' before I took a seat beside Namine and waited for the game to begin, only talking when addressed.

The initial noise in the gym started to grow louder in volume as our boys on the basketball team made their rounds around the court before settling in on their side of the court to do warm-ups. I heard Kairi squeal excitedly when she got a look at Sora in his pre-game uniform and I noticed Namine blushing profusely when Roxas began his stretches. When he bent forward at the waist, her cheeks just got redder and I blinked.

"Namine," I started slowly, raising one of my eyebrows in amusement, "are you…are you checking out Roxas' ass?"

She must've been because her whole face turned the color of a cherry and I could've sworn steam was coming out of her ears. So Namine's a bit of a pervert, huh? Never would have guessed.

"I-I was not! I-I wouldn't…that's completely not…I-I mean it was just…in my face!" she justified herself, covering her cheeks.

"Wow, Namine, I knew you were kind of into him, but really? Checking out his ass? Wow, girlie!" I teased her more, waving my hand around.

I swear her head was about to explode, she was so red.

"No! That's not it!" she cried over the noise.

"Are you guys talking about Roxas? He has a nice ass, huh?" Lauren cut in, pretending to be eyeing said blonde's nicely formed backside, "I mean, Namine, if you don't want him, then-"

"STOP TEASING ME!"

There was lots of laughter at Namine's expense, but we eventually stopped with our blond friend making us promise not to tease her like this again. I didn't make that promise because I can't trust myself to keep it, hehehe, but I DID promise her that I would TRY. It soon came time for the game to start and the players on both teams set up in the middle of the court. I settled back and waited, my ears picking up a conversation that a few girls were having with each other behind me.

"Riku looks really hot tonight!"

"He looks hot all the time!"

"Yeah, but he looks really hot tonight!"

"Wait, which one is Riku again?"

There was a moment of stunned silence that almost made me laugh before a resounding smack to the arm reached my ears, the girl that asked the question giving a painful cry.

"How can you not know who Riku is?" one of her friends hissed violently.

"Because I don't! So which when is he?"

"The point guard; the one with the long silver hair held back in a low ponytail."

"You mean the one in the center with the pale skin and…hard muscles?"

"Yeah, and his hypnotizing blue-green eyes. They're like the sea, you know? Always changing from one color to the next and then back!"

"Wow. He IS hot!"

"Told you!"

While the girls behind me continued to gossip, unaware that I was listening, I decided myself that I would look at Riku, too. It was no surprise that he was really cute, because he was; Riku Lexington was this surreal beauty on campus, a very manly beauty with a strong jaw, lean yet defined muscles, a sloping nose and tall stature. What made him more beautiful, though, was his long silver hair, alabaster pale skin, and those blue-green eyes. I've heard from other girls- while I was eavesdropping, of course- that it's incredibly easy to get lost in those eyes of his. I can't tell you for sure because I've never taken the time to sit and stare into his eyes. Yeah, we're schoolmates and everything and yes, we have had classes together before in the past, but we've never actually…acknowledged each other.

So yeah.

Guess what I'm not going to do? I'm not going to run through every detail of the game, so let's just settle with the fact that we, the Falcons, won the game with a score of 58 to 42…yeah, it was great and the Vikings on the guest side were anything but good sportsmen about it, but whatever. With the end of the game came the post-game stampede of everyone rushing for the door as if the building were on fire.

"That was a really good game," Lauren commented, turning to the three of us as we waited for the crowd to die down a little before we got up to leave too.

"I'll say! Sora did amazing in defense and he's not too shabby at the free-throw line," Kairi gushed, getting stars in her eyes at the thought of her could-be lover.

"And you, Namine? How do you think Roxas did tonight? Wasn't too bad, was he? Pretty decent, huh?" Lauren asked our blond friend with a teasing smirk and a wiggle of her eyebrows, "Not to mention how tight and round his ass looked, am I right ladies?"

"YOU PROMISED!" Namine cried indignantly, her face turning that interesting shade of red again as she covered her cheeks with her hands.

"Crossies!" Lauren and Kairi both declared as they held up their right hands, showing their index finger and their middle finger crossed together.

What a way to bring back elementary school.

"Seriously, you guys, don't make fun of me. It's hard enough just having these feelings for him without you three rubbing it in!" Namine begged, looking desperate.

I held up my hands and shook my head, "Woah, woah, woah. I didn't say a thing this time, so don't loop me in with these two knuckleheads."

"Knock, knock," Lauren taunted with a grin, knocking her knuckles against her own head.

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever, I think it's good for us to get up now. It looks pretty clear at the entrance."

The others followed my lead as I made my way down the stairs of the bleachers, somewhat eager to get out of the gym. We followed the small flow of other people out the door and into the crisp night air; I breathed deeply, filling my lungs with the clean air, and exhaled deeply with a content sigh.

"So, what's the deal now? Are you going to continue holding me hostage or can I go home?" I asked half-teasingly as I turned to my best friend and my other two friends.

Kairi rolled her eyes at me and shook her head while putting her hands on her small hips, "Honestly, Tiana, you're such a kill joy. Why not enjoy the rest of the night? There's plenty of moonlight to burn, hehehe!"

"Only werewolves burn moonlight…MONSTER!" I shouted back at her, shoving her playfully and earning a squeal in return as she jumped on me, Namine and Lauren laughing behind us.

"Hey, who are those cute girls I see?"

Kairi and I stopped our playing around and all four of us turned our heads towards the cars in the parking lot. There, we saw a few of the basketball players lounging about in front of a few cars; Kairi had to restrain herself from squealing too loudly. Sora, Roxas, Riku, and some dude with red hair- I think his name is Axel- were all looking our way. Sora had this big grin on his face as he leaned against the black Honda he and his brother drove here, his eyes obviously staying glued to Kairi.

"Hey, Kairi! How are you tonight?" he asked my now blushing redheaded friend.

Kairi sub-consciously smoothed down her skirt and fixed her hair as she smiled back and made her way over to the four boys, the three of us in tow; "I'm doing just great, Sora! Great game tonight, you guys totally killed!"

I swear Sora's grin grew bigger, "Thanks, lovely! It wasn't that much of a challenge, though. Everyone knows the Vikings suck in comparison to us." Kairi giggled girlishly as she leaned in closer to the brunette, just close enough for him to probably get a whiff of her perfume.

"Honestly, though, you guys were awesome out there. Exciting, as always," Lauren piped up, grinning up at the four boys while I stayed quiet and to myself.

"Yup, I expect nothing better. They did learn from the master over here," the redheaded male voiced out in playful pride as he held his head up high.

Was his name Axel? I couldn't remember.

Lauren blinked her eyes curiously as her brows furrowed together and her head tilted to the side, "Are you part of the basketball team, too? I don't remember seeing you."

"Well, I'm not part of the team, per say, but that doesn't mean I don't play," the tall, lanky guy answered, peering down suggestively at my best friend.

"No, it means we won't let him play. The guy has about as much skill as a toddler," Roxas piped in, effectively earning a glare from redheaded guy.

"I was actually curious about that. I couldn't remember seeing you at any games before or even the practices," Namine commented quietly, startling herself when she made eye-contact with Roxas and her smirked at her, making her blush profusely.

"That's just Axel, for you-"

His name IS Axel!

"He likes to think he's so good that he doesn't need to be on a team lest it give us too much of an advantage," Roxas continued, grinning at the redhead as another glare was thrown his way.

"You know, you weren't making all these cracks when you were begging me to help you with your lay-ups, Roxas," Axel sneered at the blond male's blushing face before he turned to us, "Who are these lovely ladies again? I don't think we've all been properly introduced."

"Oh, I'm Kairi Woolson and this is my twin sister, Namine!" Kairi started, bouncing on her toes.

Namine waved shyly, "Hi, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, cutie," Axel replied, turning his green eyes towards me and Lauren.

"My name is Lauren Campbell, nice to meet you," Lauren held her hand out for Axel to shake, which he did.

He turned to me, "And you?"

I just blinked at him, Lauren jumping in for me; "That's my best friend, Tiana Sellers. She's a little quiet."

"Oh, a quiet one huh? Does that mean you're kind of shy?" Axel questioned teasingly as he returned to leaning against the car with the other three boys, "Don't worry, Tiana, I won't bite. Unless you want me to, of course."

He smirked suggestively my way and it was all I could do to not roll my eyes loudly; "For the sake of keeping all of your teeth, you better not bite me," I warned him, stuffing my hands in my jacket pockets as I narrowed my eyes.

"Woah! Quite an attitude you got there! It's cute," Axel continued, unfazed by my threat.

This time, I did roll my eyes and scoot away from him a little bit, listening as Sora asked us what we planned to do now that the game was over and the weekend was ahead of us.

"Well, I was planning to go home," I muttered to myself, earning a smack from Lauren as Kairi giggled girlishly and twirled a lock of her red hair around her dainty finger.

"Well, we didn't really have any absolute plans," she said flirtatiously, batting her long lashes at the brunette, "Did you guys have any plans?"

"Not really. At least, not until now. Why don't you girls join us for a piece of victory pizza? We would love the company," Sora answered, obviously flirting back.

Oh, gag me! Why don't they just get together and save us all the drama? Someone give me something else to listen to! Please!

"Well, looks like we got ourselves a couple of hot dates, man! Told you it wouldn't be long."

Well…thank you. Upon hearing those words, my ears zeroed in on the conversation that Axel and Riku were trying to secretly have, both of them unaware that I was even within listening range.

"It'll be cool, man! We'll take all the girls out for pizza and cozy up to them to get their numbers. Well…all except one, maybe," Axel whispered excitedly before his voice dipped into an unsatisfied tone.

"What are you talking about?" I heard Riku ask.

"Well…maybe that Tiana chick should just a hitch a ride home or something."

…Excuse me?

"Axel, are you serious! What the hell is your problem?" Riku hissed at him.

I turned my head a little to look at them from the corner of my eye to see Riku staring at Axel with a hard look, the redhead just shrugging it off with a defense.

"I'm just saying, Riku, that she would just cramp our style. I mean, she seems like a nice enough chick, if you can get past the attitude, but come on. Do you really want someone that looks like that trailing along behind you?"

For all of you that suddenly either got very confused or very angry when he said that, thinking that he was being racist and bagging on my skin color, be assured that he wasn't. He was actually talking about the size of my body. I'm a full-figured girl, ladies and gentlemen, and that means that instead of wearing a size 2 or 4, like a lot of my friends, I actually wear a size 16 to accommodate my wider hips and thicker thighs. I have a bit of a tummy, a more than modest set of breasts, and just all-around look like the big girl that boys don't really go for. Oh, don't worry, it's not like I really hate my appearance or my body, I just hate that I get comments like the ones I just heard from guys like Axel. I'm not grotesquely fat, like 800 pounds or anything, but I may as well be with how they treat me sometimes.

I heard a thump next as Riku hit Axel in the chest, his eyes narrowing angrily and his voice taking on a slightly panicked tone, "Dude, shut up! She's right there! She can probably hear you!"

The tall, lanky, green-eyed redhead merely chuckled as if I were some joke, "So what? What is she going to do? Sit on me?"

I guess I am just a joke.

"No, but I'm pretty sure I can knock your dumbass out and then break you in two," I finally spoke up, turning irritably to Axel and Riku.

The others stopped talking at my comment, all of them falling silent to listen to us. Axel just smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea what you're-"

"Save it," I snapped, cutting him off, "If you're going to try and be a man to talk about how me being fat is cramping your style, then at least be man enough to admit it to my face cuz I already heard you, dumbass!"

He stopped then and his smirk faltered, probably embarrassed that he had been caught and had been called out by the object of his jokes. I felt Lauren move closer, her hand touching my elbow hesitantly.

"Tiana?" she asked quietly, questioningly, wondering why I was so pissed.

"Hey, Tiana, I didn't mean anything by it, okay?" Axel replied back, finally, his hands up in surrender, "I was just joking around, no big deal!"

"It is a big deal because I'm not a joke!" I yelled back, feeling my anger starting to surface more, "You don't even know me and yet you think it's okay to start poking fun at me because of my extra weight. Guys like you make me sick!"

Everyone was silent then, all of them just staring at me and then at Axel and then back to me. The redhead looked stunned and lost for a minute, as if he couldn't decide what to do at this point. I looked at Riku and then at the rest of them, seeing their stunned faces. Lauren, however, looked very concerned. No matter how much I say that I don't really care about my appearance, the topic of my weight is still a touchy one.

I sighed deeply and shook my head, holding out my hand to Lauren with my eyes closed, "Give me your keys. I'm going to go sit in the car."

She just stared at me for a long moment before she shook her head and put her hand on my shoulder, "No, let's just go. We'll go to my house and do something so we don't bother your grandmother."

I opened my eyes and looked at her, nodding my head before the both of us turned to walk back to her car; "Bye guys, see you all at school!" she called to the group as we retreated, earning a chorus of weak farewells in return. I could feel their eyes on me as we left and it bothered me, but I calmed my anger and continued forward, jumping into the car with Lauren and staring out the window as we pulled out of the parking lot.

This is why I don't like going out.

I told Lauren that I didn't want to go to her house that night and just wanted to go home, telling her I was too tired to really do anything fun anymore. Thank goodness she understood without getting mad and took me home while trying to cheer me up at the same time. To make her feel like she wasn't wasting her energy, I laughed and smiled a few times to make her feel better. When we pulled up in front of Granda's house, she cut the engine and looked over at me.

"So…you want to tell me what he said?" she questioned, running her fingers through her braids before wrapping one around her finger.

I just shook my head and sighed through my nose, leaning my head against my hand as I propped my elbow up on the window sill, "It wasn't anything, like, degrading like 'oh, she's as fat as a cow! Let's tip her over!' He just said that I would cramp everyone's style because of the way I look."

"Wow, what a jerk! I can't believe he said that to you!" she cried, brown eyes flashing dangerously.

"Oh, he didn't say it to me. He was trying to talk quietly to Riku, but you know me. Bat ears and all," I retorted, trying to make light of the situation.

"Well, still! He shouldn't even be marking you off already just because you have a voluptuous figure! What a shallow asshole!" she all but yelled, clenching her fingers.

See why I love her? Such a confidence booster and she's one of the size 4s I was talking about earlier.

"It doesn't matter anymore," I sighed, "It's over and done with and I just want to relax in my own room now. Sorry for ruining your night with Kairi and Namine and the others."

"Oh, Tia, you didn't ruin my night! The night was ruined for you!" she insisted, bringing me in for a hug, "One of the few times we actually get you out of the house and this happens. I feel like I caused this."

"Oh, hush, girlie. You did not cause this," I reassured her, breaking the hug and putting my hand on the handle of the car, "But I'll see you later, okay? Maybe we'll hang out tomorrow or something, yeah?"

"Alrighty, sounds good to me. Later chick!" she bid as she turned the car back on and put it in reverse.

"Later!" I replied, shutting the car door.

I remained in the driveway as Lauren backed her car out, waving bye one last time before she turned onto the street and drove off. It was silent again all around me, my ears ringing slightly once the noise of her engine had been carried away. Sighing, I turned towards the house and made my way inside, moving quietly so as not to startle my grandma.

The last time I kind of barreled through Granda's house, she thought I was a burglar and tried to knock me out with the metal bat she keeps near her chair at all times. Close call. Very close call.

"Tiana, baby, is that you?"

Speaking of Granda…

"Yeah, Granda, it's me," I replied, closing the front door and walking into the living room. Granda was sitting in the same spot I had left her in about two hours ago, her knitting needles still clicking away as gospel music blared through the TV.

"You're home kind of early, little girl," she commented quizzically, "Didn't you say you would be home closer to midnight."

I shrugged, "Yeah, well, I wasn't having that much fun and we didn't really plan to do much of anything after so…"

Granda stared at me, long and hard, her needles coming to a halt as her dark eyes shined with a serious emotion. She put down her knitting, "Did something happen, baby? You seem a little down. Or, at least, irritated in some way."

I just shrugged again and shook my head, "It's nothing, Granda, really."

"Tiana," she started in a warning tone, "Now, you know I know you better than that, baby. Come on, tell your Granda what happened."

I sighed and stuffed my hands in my pockets again, leaning my weight on my right leg as I bent my left one, "It's really nothing. It's just some guy didn't really want to hang out with me and the girls if I was going to be there. Said I cramped his style because I'm not a little Miss Skinny Body."

My grandmother looked at me like she had just heard someone pantsed me during gym class; "Oh, baby…"

"Granda, I told you, it's fine!" I groaned, rolling my head back until I was looking at the ceiling.

"I'm so sorry, Tiana. Here, give your Granda a hug so she can make it all better," she put her knitting in her yarn basket, got up from the chair, and shuffled over to me to give me a warm hug, patting me on the back comfortingly, "Do you want me to whip you up a batch of my famous home-made double chocolate chip cookies?"

"Granda, I don't think I need to be eating right now after my body weight was just questioned," I declined, shaking my head.

"Oh, now baby, it's no trouble at all! Besides, I have a bit of a sweet tooth myself, right now and cookies will make everything better for everyone," she insisted, already shuffling passed me.

"Granda," I tried again, only to give up because once she's in that kitchen, there's no stopping her. So I just sighed, but smiled warmly and followed after her into the kitchen.

She's right, though; her cookies always make everything better.

End Chapter

Crimsonwings92: You like? Yes? No? Maybe? Got to hell you horrible writer? Let me know what you guys think and if I should maybe continue this story, yeah? Ciao!