Chapter One

"Fuck You. Fuck the plane you flew in on. Fuck them shoes. Fuck those socks with the belt on it. Fuck yo gay ass fairy faggot accent. Fuck them cheap ass cigars. Fuck yo yuck mouth teeth. Fuck yo hair piece. Fuck yo chocolate. Fuck Guy Richie. Fuck Prince William. Fuck the queen. This is America. My president is Black and my Lambo is blue, nigga. Now get the fuck out my hotel. And if I see you in the street I'm slapping the shit outta ya." –Riley Freeman

Huey

I hate that Jazmine acts this way. Don't get me wrong. I've always seen this coming. Deep down, I knew that Jazmine was only behaving this way because she had insecurities about herself. That didn't, however, keep me from being angry with her. I used to spend every day with the girl, telling her to accept herself. But Jazmine being Jazmine, she refused to believe me. I was trying to spare her feelings. That's what she told me. I laughed at the thought. I, Huey, Freeman, never spare feelings. It's a very rare thing.

I know that she's in there somewhere. I don't believe the rumors. I doubt that any of them are true. Jazmine is too honest to cheat on Kevin Bryce, not that he'd care. He cheats on her everyday with Tasha. I shake my head at the fact that Jazmine is probably too oblivious to know what's going on with them. And besides that, Jazmine would never fuck our principal. She's too shallow for one, and if my memory serves correct, she's not doing anything sexually related until she's found "the one." I guess that's Kevin's excuse for cheating. I don't believe any of it. The girl is smart despite her lack of common sense sometimes. She earned that number one spot. Honestly, I hope she keeps it. Sometimes, I take a look at her, and I can barely recognize the little girl with the afro puffs. All I see is some sort of fake girl who covers her insecurities with make-up.

At lunch today, I looked at her. She had been pretending to examine herself in the mirror, but I knew better. Jazmine was probably hungry. Seeing as though it wasn't acceptable to eat during lunchtime, Jazmine had to do something that occupied her time. Suddenly, she looked up at me, somehow feeling me watching her for a moment. She looked back, and in just one moment, I could see everything she wanted to say. I just wanted to hear her say it. Instead, she said nothing as she turned away from me, like always. I didn't care. I just glared at her, sure she could feel the heat of my potent gaze before I finally let it go, seeing her shoulders slump down in discreet sorrow.

After lunch, I was happy to be in class now. It definitely wouldn't be awkward. This was, after all, AP Psychology. Jazmine would never show up here.

"Sorry I'm late," A feminine voice panted, "I didn't know that you moved."

I sighed. Why had I gotten my hopes up?

"It's alright, Jazmine," Professor Elliot's voice was surprisingly colder as she spoke to a fidgeting Jazmine. Jazmine's hair cascaded down her back in true Caucasian form. I guess she was happy now. "I'm sure that it won't happen again."

Jazmine spoke in a small voice, "It won't."

"Take a seat, Dubois." Professor Elliot told her.

Jazmine moved to the back of the classroom. She stumbled over the chair in front of her. It rattled as she finally got to her destination. She sat down, sitting her purse down. It too fell down. The class could hold it in no longer. They erupted into laughter. Jazmine ignored them, picking up the many feminine items and placing them into her purse. She finally sat down. Professor Elliot cleared her throat.

"Not there, Miss Dubois, next to Huey," Professor Elliot pointed to the seat next to me. I looked up at her, hoping that for my sake, she would leave Jazmine where she was. Of course, I had no such luck.

Jazmine plopped right next to me. She pouted as she tapped her heels. She was still very muscular, probably from cheerleading. Her eyes were green, covered in some sort of gold makeup today. They were lined up with eyeliner, winged at the tip. Her eyelashes were covered in mascara, and she wore a form fitting collared shirt with her short skirt. I wrinkled my nose at the perfume she wore. It smelled too strong. I also wondered who sprayed that on her. I was already annoyed just looking at her, and that tapping was not making her any easier to be around.

"Can you please cut that out?" I groaned. She instantly stopped and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Stop what?" Jazmine wasn't being smart. She was dead serious. She really didn't notice.

"Tapping your heels," I told her, "It's disturbing."

She didn't say anything else. She simply spun around in her seat. She stopped the tapping. Relieved, I looked towards the chalkboard. Crap. It was only the first day of school, and Professor Elliot had already given us a homework assignment, two projects, and a lab. They were all due this week. I looked around at the horrified looks in the class and saw a small smirk of satisfaction on our teacher's face. It was just as I suspected. She was trying to weed us out, and I, for one, wasn't going to fall for it. I would stay in this class all year. There was nothing that she could do to make me leave.

"And here is your test," Professor Elliot announced.

The class groaned out in frustration.

"If you have a problem, you can always leave," Her eyes locked on Jazmine, "You, maybe?"

Jazmine looked right back, "I'll take the test."

Professor Elliot tossed her the paper before handing everybody else there's, allowing us to begin. This shit was hard as hell. Who in the world was going to pass this? I sat there for at least ten minutes, staring at the paper. I heard the sound of a pencil hitting the desk. It was Jazmine. She got up and handed our teacher the paper, receiving a questionable glance from the teacher. Jazmine ignored it. She returned to her seat. I could hear her head hitting the desk.

"No sleeping, Dubois," Professor Elliot called out.

Jazmine's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. She only sat up and looked at her desk.

After class, Professor Elliot made us look at the list above her door to see who our partners for the year would be for our experiments. Of course, it was Jazmine. I winced. My girlfriend would not be happy about this. Apparently, Jazmine had already read the list. I could hear her in the room as my eyes scanned the list for somebody who would be willing to switch. Anybody but her was somebody I could deal with.

"Professor Elliot, please, I'll do an a thousand page research paper. Anything," Jazmine sounded desperate.

"Sometimes in life, you have to take what you're given, Dubois," Professor Elliot sounded calm and collected.

Jazmine, on the other hand, sounded hysterical, "Professor Elliot, you don't understand. I don't think I can handle him being my lab partner this year. Please don't make me. Please!"

"Jazmine," Professor Elliot sounded annoyed, "If you can't handle Mr. Freeman as your lab partner, maybe you should drop this class."

"No!" Jazmine exclaimed in protest, "I can handle it. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"Apology accepted." I heard our teacher tell Jazmine. I could almost picture Jazmine's sullen face. Her heels clicked towards the door, "And Jazmine?"

The clicking stopped, "Yes?"

"I still want that one thousand page paper," Professor Elliot told her, "You know? Since you wasted my time, I think it's only fair."

'Damn.' I thought to myself. 'That's fucked up.'

I could almost see Jazmine nod, "When do you want it?"

"How about in two weeks? I want it typed in MLA format. That wouldn't be a problem. Would it Dubois?" Professor Elliot asked her.

There was silence. Jazmine was probably shaking her head no.

"Well, run along then," Professor Elliot told her, "After all, I'm sure you wouldn't want to be late again."

I stepped down the hall as the heels got closer and closer to me. She looked at me, and I looked at her. Then, she went to her class. I was thinking about stopping her but shrugged. I had better things to do than bother insecure girls.

"Huey?" A feminine voice was in my vicinity. Luckily, it was the one I actually one I wanted to hear.

"Arielle?" I asked her, as I put my arm around her shoulders. I raised my eyebrow at her, "What's up?"

"I heard about your partner, and that bitch of a teacher!" Arielle looked at me, her brown eyes in awe, "Is she really that bad?"

"God, yes," I groaned as we walked towards class, "As in test on the first day, bad."

"Get over it," Arielle shrugged, "Or you can drop the class."

She was blunt too. That was one of the reasons that I liked her. She understood me; I understood her too. That gave us the perfect relationship. I hated guessing what people were thinking. With her, I at least had an idea. I shot her a look, "Not happening."

"Then stop bitching so much and do something about it." Arielle shrugged. Her braids swept over her shoulder. She didn't wear any make up at all. Her skin wasn't as light as Jazmine's but it wasn't as dark as midnight either. She had more of a caramel tone. Not that I cared. All black women had their own beauty. Arielle's was her personality, but her looks definitely didn't hurt.

"I wasn't bitching," I told her as she gave me a peck on the lips before heading to the class Jazmine just walked into. I walked into my own, gulping. That couldn't be good.

Arielle

I couldn't stand that fake ass Mariah Carey. She thought that she was so cute. At least she had been a genuine cry baby when I moved here at age eleven. Now, she was some fake ass bitch. She sat in the theater, looking relaxed, and despite myself, my eyes softened. I remembered how the girl loved acting more than anything in the world. She probably gave that up for popularity too. My own eyes hardened again. I snorted. That was her fault. If she didn't care, why should I?

Jazmine and I had never gotten along anyways. She was always hanging out with Huey and Riley. They didn't even like her. She was annoying as hell, even then. She asked the most stupid questions know to man. Besides, she still believed in Santa when we were twelve. How gullible did you have to be to believe in Santa at that age? Apparently, as gullible as believing Kevin Bryce wasn't cheating on you with your supposed best friend. I shook my head. Everybody knew, but Jazmine wasn't buying it. She stuck to that boy like glue. I guess that's one thing I could still say for her ass. She was loyal.

The thing that hurt the most when we were younger is that both of us liked Huey, but he would always take her side. No matter how stupid and idiotic she sounded, he would defend her. Even when she had left all of us in the dust for her new artificial friends, he believed that Jazmine would come to her senses. I snorted. Everybody knew that would never happen. Even Cindy, Jazmine's ex-best friend, had snorted at Huey. But after about a week of silent treatment, Huey got the picture.

I still couldn't believe it had been three years since she just cut off any contact with us. It was so unlike her. Normally, she would have run to us squealing like a pig at the thought of obtaining such popularity, but that day, she had turned her head, nose upturned, as she walked away with the rest of her new crew. I had clenched my fist in protest, but Huey had held me back. That didn't help. It only made me angrier. Even then, he was protecting her, and I wanted nothing more than to beat her to the bloody pulp that she deserved to be put in.

Jazmine could see me too. I saw her eyes widen as she made eye contact with me. She shrank back a little bit. It wasn't entirely visible, but it was enough for me. I smirked on the inside. On the outside, I glared at her. After all, we didn't talk, and I still couldn't stand her. I didn't care how pretty the girl had gotten. I didn't care how popular she thought she was. I would still beat that ass.

"What are you looking at?" I growled.

"Nothing," Jazmine shook her head as she spun around in her seat.

"Are you sure?" I asked her cracking my knuckles.

She nodded again. It annoyed me. I walked towards her.

"Arielle, leave the girl alone," Somebody called out, not realizing that they pissed me off.

I lifted my fist as I made my way towards her chair. She looked up at me with her eyes wide as she watched me pull my fist back and strike. I felt strange. Had I hit her? The class chuckled. Jazmine was still in her chair, and I was on the ground. My butt hurt, and there was a light delicate handprint around my wrist. My eyes widened. Jazmine had retaliated with her own attack. I almost tackled the brat out of her chair, but the teacher walked in.

"This isn't over." I growled with a warning in my voice that I made sure she heard. I could have sworn that I heard an apology as I turned on my heel, walking away from her. She could sit with the fakes in here if she wanted to. I, on the other hand, pulled out my encyclopedia of influential black leaders. It never got old. Our teacher, Mrs. Wells, called out the roll. She peered at Jazmine over the rims of her glasses, smiling. I shook my head. She was just as bad as Huey used to be.

"Jazmine Dubois," She called the name.

I sighed loudly.

"Is there an issue Miss Nordstrom?" She asked me.

"No," I sighed innocently, shaking my head, "I don't have one at all."

"Good." She told me, nodding her head vigorously.

I rolled my eyes at her only to catch her rolling her own back.

"Jazmine, Arielle!" Mrs. Wells called our names.

"Huh?" We both looked up, hoping we weren't in trouble or anything like that.

"Get up there," She looked at us like we were crazy. I guessed that we were. The room got quiet. Everybody wanted to see the tension erupt. I could feel it. Judging from the look on Jazmine's face, she could feel it too.

We walked onto the stage.

"What do you want us to act out?" Jazmine piped up. She looked like she belonged in the spotlight. I shook my head. It was ironic that she was there, seeing as though that's how her life always seemed to be.

"Just wing it," Mrs. Wells told us, "Make something up."

I threw my head back in laughter. That was the wrong move to make.

"Oh, poor, poor Chrissy," I gestured to Jazmine, "She's oh so lost. She thinks she has everything."

Jazmine looked confused, so I continued as the class chuckled, knowing exactly who I was really talking about.

"She thinks that I'm her best friend!" I laughed hysterically as I rolled over the ground. Abruptly, I stopped and narrowed my eyes, "But I'm not."

Jazmine caught on now, "Really? As if I didn't know that,"

"Well, sometimes, it's hard to tell," I nodded towards her as she took a step back.

"And more times than not, it's relatively easy," Jazmine runs a hand through her hair, rolling her eyes, "But why is that, I wonder? Could it be repressed feelings? Insanity? Rage? Or is it just plain old jealousy?"

I was shocked. I wasn't expecting her to retort to my call out. We clearly weren't acting now, "No, Chrissy. After all, you're the one who skipped town and left the ones you cared about. What did you expect?"

Jazmine shrugged, her hand on her hips, "Nothing."

That tone that she gave me meant much more than nothing, "Well then, I guess that's all I needed to hear. So walk back off into the sunset. That glamorous life you always wanted is what you got."

"Gladly," Jazmine said as she turned on her heel, receiving a standing ovation.

I shook my head. I could never understand why no matter how silly Jazmine looked, people still loved her. It was stupid.

"Great job ladies," Mrs. Wells gushed, "Notice the tension between them. The way that their body language speaks for them. They look like they hate each other, almost as if they would murder one another. Yet they did something deeper, they showed the participation of envy on both sides."

Jazmine and I both snorted loudly. Why would I be jealous of her?

"It was subtle, but it was there. There also that small hint of sadness at what they lost," Mrs. Wells smiled at us both. She was too perceptive for her own good, "They clearly missed the relationship with each other they used to have. I especially enjoyed Arielle's look of disgust and disappointment in Chrissy."

"I try," I smirked happily.

"Now, Stanley and Gus," Mrs. Wells called out abruptly, "What you got?"

Cindy

I missed my old best friend. I didn't really care for Arielle, and now that Riley and I were going out, I really missed having Jazmine to talk to. Sometimes, I would feel lonely. I missed having that real female friend to talk to. Arielle was too damn blunt for me. Unlike Jazmine, she always had an opinion. She just had to open her mouth. I just wanted somebody who would listen.

It had been a long first day of school. Apparently, the rumors about junior year I had heard were true because I had this shit load of homework just waiting to be done on the first day of school. I wanted to fast forward to senior year because this shit just wasn't going to get it. I was happy to see the stinky yellow school bus pull up. At least, I could finally go home.

"I hate global warming!" Arielle announced to nobody in particular, "What's wrong, Cindy?"

"Nothing," I shook my head, not wanting her to know that I was missing my old best friend.

"Whatever. Don't commit suicide or something either and blame me," Arielle shrugged.

I wanted to tell her to go pull that stick out of her ass, but I thought better of it when I noticed Huey next to her, "Alright."

The bus pulled up. I looked around for Riley. I hoped he was walking out soon. I really wasn't in the mood to walk because we missed the bus home.

"Mane! These teachers are bugging! What's wrong with them?" Riley yelled out.

Ah, there he was.

"Riley, what are you talking about?" An exasperated Huey asked him as we headed towards the bus.

"Mane! I had to have tests on those shitty ass books we had to read over the summer!" Riley announced as he fanned himself, "Who actually reads over the summer? Not me! I'm Young Reezy!"

"So I take it that you already started failing this year," Arielle answered as she snuggled into Huey like it wasn't over one hundred degrees outside.

"What she said," Huey nodded as they loaded the bus, or at least they started to. Ruckus was at the door. We all let out a huge breath.

"Damn! I thought yo ass finally got fired!" Riley yelled out. He was clearly angry.

"Of course not," Uncle Ruckus laughed as his belly shook with the motions.

"We just want to ride the bus, Ruckus," Huey's voice was cautious.

"You can walk. You darkies were made for the heat," Ruckus told us as his eyes looked at something behind us. We turned around.

"What's back there?" Arielle snorted.

"Look at that white girl," Ruckus gestured towards Jazmine, "She's only a junior and she's already princess of the school."

"Not you too," Huey groaned.

"The white girl is clearly powerful. Look at that hair. And she's number one in the class," Ruckus beamed at me, "That's the kind of people you should hang out with. Not these jungle bunnies over here."

Arielle made a face of disgust, "You know that Jazmine is black too, right?"

"That's Jazmine?" Ruckus looked at her as she got into her car, "Thank god that little girl got a relaxer. It's about time!"

"Her hair was fine the way it was!" Huey shouted. We all looked at him but said nothing. We knew he missed Jazmine the most out of all of us. No matter how much he denied it.

"The white blood in her is clearly dominant," Ruckus nodded his head as we passed by him and made out way onto the bus, "She will be a great woman. The white woman has such a great heart. God bless little Jazmine Dubois, her mama too."

"That nigga's crazy mane!" My boyfriend Riley told me. I couldn't help but laugh before he pulled me into his arms against his muscular chest. He must have known I was stressed, "Better?"

"Much," I nodded as the bus lurched forward.

Jazmine

Kevin was not happy with my lab partner results to say the least.

"Huey? Huey Freeman?" He threw his hands up in the air as though he were exasperated, "Jazmine, he's a terrorist. He's a threat to society."

I rolled my eyes at him, annoyed with his words, "Huey Freeman is not a terrorist, Kevin. I've known him since I was eight years old."

"Jazmine, I just don't want him to hurt you. You know he's done it before," His voice softened, and he looked at me with those gorgeous hazel eyes. His muscles stood out against his shirt. The nice comforting ebony skin that I had come to love taunted me. I wanted to believe him, but Kevin had a manipulative tendency. I wasn't buying it.

"And you haven't?" I asked him as I sighed. I moved away from him and sat on the opposite side of the couch. I felt stupid now for being in his house alone. I was in a really compromising position. I made a mental note to end this quickly.

"What's that supposed to mean, Jazmine?" Kevin's eyes narrowed warily. I hated when he did that. He made me feel like I was less than him.

"Don't pretend like you don't know," I huffed as I turned to look at him in his eyes. They held a little fear. He really didn't think I knew, "You've been cheating on me with Tasha."

"Babe, they're lying," He told me as he tried to pull me to him. His eyes weren't even on me. They were shifting, wild, "I love you and you only. Those other girls, Tasha, they're nobody to me."

"Really?" I asked him lifting an eyebrow, "Because I could have sworn-"

"Jazmine, if we're going to be in this relationship, you need to trust me," His hands fidgeted in his lap as he bit his bottom lip. Shit. How was I supposed to focus when he was doing that?

I wanted to tell him that I knew he was lying. I had seen them together after all. I had just left his house, feeling giddy on our last date before school started. In turn, what did he do? He invited Tasha Fight, in the flesh, to his house as soon as I turned the corner with my new Mercedes. I realized I left my favorite bracelet there, so I did a U-turn. No sooner had I turned the corner did I see Tasha and Kevin on his doorstep, kissing fervently kissing in a way that Kevin and I had never kissed. Ever.

"What about Jazmine?" I heard her ask as I pulled the windows of the car down.

I allowed the tears to roll down my face as I heard his answer. With it, he gave Tasha, not me, that devastatingly beautiful grin, "Jazmine, who?"

But I didn't tell him that I knew. I didn't lay down any type of laws. Instead, I looked up at him.

"I do trust you."

"Then, believe me, baby," Kevin grinned at me. Then, he frowned, "Because I make you hotter."

I frowned. That was a threat. It meant that I could get down or lay down. It meant that without him, my popularity I had worked so hard for meant nothing. I should have known better and tossed his cocky ass out of the door, but it's so hard. He's so easy to fall for. I know that he's an asshole, and I know any guy would say I deserved better. But honestly, any relationship is going to have its issues. I shuddered at the thought of my parents' own. I wondered if anybody was at home, now. I doubted it. They never came home until after midnight. Who cared what I did?

I smiled at him widely, pretending to be stupid. In a way, I was, "You do, baby. I love you. You know that right?"

He kissed me deeply then. And to my surprise, I could form thoughts of pure rage as he attempted to ram his tongue down my throat. Ew? I wondered how I could hate him and love him at the same time.

I also wondered why I wanted to keep kissing him and take a pair of scissors and give him my own personal vasectomy.

Riley Freeman

No offense to nobody in this house or whatever. I think the world of my big brother when his ass ain't being gay and all that shit, but his girlfriend, Arielle, gets on my last nerves sometimes. I mean don't get me wrong. That bitch is a hell of a cool ass girl, but come on now. One Huey is enough for my ass to deal with. Hell, he's enough for anybody to deal with. Plus, they asses just ain't right together. I don't give a shit how Cindy tries to tell me that they're alike, so it's okay. Don't try to tell me that. I know who belongs together and who doesn't, and Huey and Arielle just don't. Besides, if Jazmine hadn't decided to become an entirely different type of female, Arielle's ass wouldn't have Huey to begin with.

Huey actually does care about a nigga, beneath all the sarcasm and shit. But I can tell that Arielle is different. If I died today, the only reason she might look sad is because Huey did. That's the only evidence I've ever seen when it came to her having a heart, around Huey. Plus, she be abusing a nigga. Even though I think that she just likes Huey because she finally found a nigga with some fancy ass talk or whatever. Oh, and she just like that she found on with intelligence that ain't ugly. No-homo though. Hell, I shouldn't be talking like this anyways. It's not like it's my problem. If he want to love these hoes, that's his problem.

If Huey heard me say that, he would probably attempt to tell me that Cindy is a hoe. If Huey tried to tell me that, I would probably tell him the shut his gay ass the fuck up with that bullshit before he gets that ass beat. Cindy is an honorary black woman, a gangster, a true friend, a ride or die chick, and she's sexy and classy at the same time. To put it lightly, my girl is bad. But I have to push her out of my mind right now because I have to do these punk ass book reports or papers. They sound like the same thing to me. I head to the computer and what do I see? Yup, you guessed it. Huey's gigantic afro, swallowing that big ass head of his.

"Ay! Get up! I need to use the computer!" I tell him. He looks up at me. He does that stupid ass shit with his eyebrow. I swear sometimes I can't stand his ass.

"No, I'm busy," He tells me as he continues to type like he's the one in jeopardy of failing. He never ever fails.

"So what am I gonna do?" I asked him, folding my arms.

"I don't know," Huey told me in his annoying ass know it all voice, "How about you use Granddad's?"

I grimaced. Granddad's computer was old as dirt and slow as hell. Besides, I was not cool with pictures of Granddad in a thong popping up on that old ass shit. That was just nasty- and homo.

"Hell no! How about you get off that computer, nigga?"

Huey ignored me as he continued typing.

"So you just gonna ignore me?" I asked him.

He still didn't reply. Thus, I narrowed my eyes. After all, in this house, there was always a way to get what I wanted. I looked up.

"Granddad!" I shouted.

"What? Alicia? Get it baby. Shake that booty Miss Keys!" Granddad was asleep- as usual.

"Granddad, wake up!" I yelled out as Huey rolled his eyes.

He walked into the room about ten minutes later. He looked grumpy, but Granddad always looks grumpy. I think he let the hoes get to him.

"What's the problem?" He narrowed his eyes as they surveyed the room, "Nothing is damaged and neither one of ya'll is broken."

"Granddad, Huey is with that hating shit again!" I told Granddad.

"Hating?" Granddad looked at Huey as he shook his head, "Boy, that's just unacceptable!"

"Granddad, I'm doing my homework!" Huey told him as he let out an annoyed voice.

"Well, homework isn't so bad, Riley," Granddad told me. He shrugged, but I wasn't going to give up that easily.

"But Granddad," I acted all dramatic and shit, rolling my eyes and letting my voice go up just an octave, "I'm trying to do my homework and all! I can't get the computer when I want to do the right thing and get the education that you fought for me to have because Huey's being a hater? Shit, that's cold mane."

"You were trying to do homework?" Granddad looked surprised, "Boy, let Riley use that computer. This may never happen again."

"Granddad, can't he just wait another hour?" Huey sighed.

"Did you buy that computer?" Granddad asked him.

"Actually, I did," Huey told him, using that stupid gaze.

"Oh, well then, sorry Riley, there's nothing I can do," Granddad looked at me, "You can use my computer."

"Fine," I sulked, "Bitch ass nigga."

"What was that?" Granddad walked into the room as he began to pull off the belt. I couldn't believe I was still getting hit with that thing at age fourteen. Damn.

"Nothing," I say as I walk into the room with Granddad's dusty ass desktop. I wait for it to turn on, and the first thing that pops up is Granddad in a purple thong. I tried to keep myself from saying it, but damn, a nigga is only human, "Granddad, you gay!"