A/N: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm soooooooo sorry for not being active on Fanfiction. Life got me man. That's all I can say. If you are curious to know more, you can PM me, I don't bite, so you don't have to worry lol. In all honesty, I was ready to give up on Fanfiction, until I scrolled through the Boondocks archive...like seriously, what happened? Before, the archive was filled with bomb-ass stories that deserved 5 stars, now...it's just, I dunno, meh (no offence). Don't get me wrong, some are good, but some are just...meh. So, I was like, you know what, I'll update Next (and my other stories), even though the chapter is half-completed.

Yeah, I know right? Half-completed and there's almost 9700 words...I know, that's a lot. But there was suppose to be more shit in this installment, but I decided to divide it into two. So, while you might reading it, you'll notice why it's less dramatic or less funny (hope not) then it should be.

Shout-outs

Guest: I know right. HueyxCindy don't seem bad together. But you'll never know, they might end up together...or they might not. Anyway, you might not enjkoy this chapter as much as before since there isn't enough CindyxHuey fluff (the chapter is divided in half...so the next chapter, there will be a lot lol). Thanks for the love.

Kajiumei: Thank you :) I just find it weird how everyone makes Huey and Cindy hate each other in their stories...so I thought, why not make it the opposite in mines lol?

Guest #2: Here's your update lol. I know. I suck with updates xD.

Boondocksfan102: Maybe your wish might come true...or maybe not :) Only time can tell :P

SammiSweetheart: Ahahah :') In Canada, we do speak English. It's just we have a province where they speak French, and I used to live there lol. But thanks tho, English isn't my first language, but I'm getting the hang of it. And nope, I didn't even use Google translate for the french sentence, it was all meeee :D! I speak French too!

SpicyWifey: Ahah, girl I know how you feel :) This story is kinda like a competition, on who gets Huey in the end. And I noticed that too while re-reading my previous chapters, I was being unfair with Jazzy-boo :'( That's why I'm gonna try to add as much JazminexHuey scenes as I did for HueyxCindy ;) Like I did with this chapter lol. It's half-fluff and half-friendly, but it's getting there, truuust me ;)

Lootmagoot: Hmm...to be honest, I was disappointed with season 4. There were barely any episodes that were solely focused on Huey, Jazmine and Riley. Cindy didn't even make an appearance, nor did Ed and Rummy. Uncle Ruckus was too much for me. And Aaron McGruder wasn't even part of the production. So, I'm not entirely surprised that there isn't going to be another season :/.

LilyT93: You thought the last 3 months of no update was torture...imagine this one then :/ Please don't kill me for not updating for 8 months :(

Guest 3: Glad you enjoyed the chapter. Oh really? You diggin' LaTequamesha ;)? Good, because you'll be seeing more of her, trust me :P

BossMan1: Ahaha, glad you enjoyed it :) I wanted this story to entirely be focused on the gang having fun, with a few dramas and romance on the side. And boy, how come I haven't seen you active on this site :o!? You got some explaining to do lol ;o!

AJQm: Yes, mission accomplished. You found the chapter funny. Then the chapter was a complete success ;)!


Disclaimer: I own nothing.


Fred stood in the middle of the living room of the Next House, showing his pearly whites. After witnessing the horrible interview, to which the boys did with all the 10 females in the confessional room, he forced himself to smile. He had no choice, for the camera crew was in the corner of the living room, filming him. There was still a few minutes left before the end of the first challenge, and the show must go on, no matter what.

He held the microphone to his lips, hiding his desire to scram and get a shot of wine, with his faux smile. "Hey America, we're back from the short commercial break. That interview was something, huh? I bet every one of you loved it. As a matter of fact, I bet our 10 female contestants loved it too, right ladies?" he turned towards the ladies, only to receive immediate shakes of their heads and series of boos.

"No, it was terrible," Sabrina Clover concluded, matter-of-factly. Seriously, did you all not realize how many minutes they'd just wasted in that confessional booth? 2 hours. 120 minutes that she could've used to watch 6 episodes of One Piece or Naruto Shippuden.

All the other girls nodded in agreement, making the poor host of Next sweat-drop. Seriously, don't they realize that they're giving the game show bad publicity, right now? Fred thought as he chuckled, awkwardly. "Come on girls…it couldn't have been that bad."

Jazmine DuBois shook her head, "Fred, I don't know if you're saying that to not give the show any more bad publicity," her words stabbed Fred right through his chest. "But let's be real, it sucked. Your goal was to get us to interact with the boys, but it felt like a cheap Facebook convo than an actual person-to-person conversation."

"Imma have ta agree with Mariah Carey here," Cindy McPhearson ignored Jazmine's glare (she hated when someone called her by that, especially if it was from someone she hated), "Da questions were very horrible and cliché. They were like a quick way to get a one night stand. Like, who da hell came up with dem?"

Jazmine averted her eyes away for a second, "Your Mom."

Cindy widened her eyes then narrowed them into slits, taken aback by Jazmine's comment. Her mumbling ain't slick. The blonde threw a warning finger at her direction, "Girl, I dare ya Mariah Carey ass to repeat that. I fuckin' dare y-"

Fred cleared his throat. Don't get him wrong, he loved the drama the girls were projecting, as a matter of fact, their hatred for each other was already boosting the show's rating. But there wasn't much time left for today's airing. "Yeah, yeah, what about you LaTequamesha?" he referred to the obese African-American who was sitting on the floor (she broke a couch, hence, she now had to sit on the floor) whipping out another Big Mac from her right tit.

"Imma agree with the two skinny bitches. That Bow Wow wannabe disrespected me, but don't worry, I put him back in his place," she putted her two cents in. The two aforementioned girls failed to realize LaTequamesha's bitch slip in her sentence. They were too busy glaring daggers at each other, and poor Sabrina was sitting in between them, caught in the deadly crossfire. "I didn't even get a chance to touch Huey. Damn, that boy's fine like a piece of chocolate cake. I can't wait to lick his chocolate goodness!"

At that very moment, Fred and all the girls heard the sound of someone barfing profoundly, from upstairs. "What was that?" Juliet Michelle Hudson asked, pointing upwards, where the sound came from.

Ming Long Duo, who was sitting beside the Creole descendant, waved her hand in no worry. "Don't sweat. It's just Huey barfing again. He must've heard LaTequamesha's sentence from upstairs."

Everyone oh'ed in acknowledgment, nodding in comprehension. It actually made sense, but LaTequamesha didn't think so. She sucked on her teeth and folded her arms on her chest, watching everyone else chatting about it. "Don't be talking about me when I'm sitting right by y'all."

Kassandra Fernandez nonchalantly observed her manicured hands, checking if they were still perfect, and flicked inexistent dirt off them. "I don't know what you all are talking about. I thought the first challenge went great," she commented indifferently, her attention solely on her babies, as in, her nails.

Everyone deadpanned, especially Ming. "Well, I'm not surprised by your comment, after all, you were practically riding Riley's dick right after the interview ended." Kassandra casted a mere side glance.

"Chino, don't hate because you didn't get the chance to do it."

Ming's eyes practically popped out. "EXCUSE ME, YOU LITTLE DICK-SUCKING BITCH ASS DÀNG FÙ?!

Kassandra yelled, not fazed by Ming's outburst. "Please hermana, keep it down or else you'll wake up Riley. He needs all the rest he can get for round two," she sent a wink to Ming, obviously trying to provoke her.

And guess what?

The little puta succeeded.

Ming was right now, being held back by Sabrina, Jazmine, and some buff guy from the camera crew, preventing the angry Asian to land a swift kick on Kassandra. The air in the living room was filled of her loud screaming and her foreign profanities. Even with all the commotion happening, the said Latina wasn't fazed, and still sat on the other side of the couch, now reading through her texts on her phone.

Simultaneously, Juliet tilted her head, watching the spectacle, "What the hell does dàng fù mean?"

"It means hoe, in traditional Chinese," Crystal Like The Champagne answered, taking a drag of her cigarette. Juliet gave her a look. "What? I worked for a Chinese pimp once," the ex- (or maybe still active…?) ho shrugged, finding no error in what she just said.

Juliet took a step back, mildly surprised, mind you. She kinda had a feeling Crystal was linked to that department. I mean, what type of person would name themselves after liquor, other than strippers? "Wait, you're a ho?"

Crystal swatted her hand downward, gesturing the girl to calm down. "No, no, no. Ho is a very hurtful and strong term. Think of me as anatomical sales associate."

"No," Juliet straightforwardly denied. "You still a ho."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

Silence, between the two girls anyway.

"Wanna be friends?" Crystal held out her hand, waiting for Juliet to shake it.

Juliet simply stared at it. "I…ah…I'd rather not."

Meanwhile, LaTequamesha was still sitting on the floor, watching the whole thing. She pulled out her fried chicken from her bucket of KFC. Nobody knew where she got her food from, not even the authoress of this story. "Hmm. This way better than TV. Oh wait! I am on TV," she let a humorous snort, "Oh, the irony."

Allison Dawson scooted by LaTequamesha's side and attempted to steal a chicken leg, only to be slapped into unconsciousness. The obese African-American glared at the fallen George Bush lover, "Nice try bitch…"

Fred sweat dropped at the girls' interaction. How the hell was Huey going to survive with those girls? He sighed. Only God knew. He faced the camera once more with his faux smile. "Sorry fans, but that's the end of the first challenge. Be back for some more, after the commercial break."


Chapter 7: Dinner with the Cool Cast - Part 1


Huey's eyes fluttered open as his mind started filtering through the mess of information his sense were feeding him. The sight of the white ceiling met him. Where am I, again? That was the one thing his mind could think. His ears could distinguish a few voices and utensils clicks in the air, coming from downstairs. He blinked dazedly, and pushed himself to sit up. He rubbed his eyes and studied the room.

It turned out, he was in his room – well, the bedroom he chose to reside in for the next 21 days. What the hell, he thought, confused. It took him a minute to figure out why he was in his room, and when he did, he opened his mouth in realization. Oh yeah. The horrible interview tired me out; he looked down his stomach as he felt a small pang of pain. And got me sick.

After the little interview, Huey didn't want to stay any longer in the confessional room and had run for his bedroom (well, not before stopping by in the bathroom to barf, after hearing LaTequamesha's sentence from downstairs) and had taken a well-deserved nap. He was now wide awake and he felt better than ever. A few Advils and a few hours of sleep eased away the pain.

He staggered out of bed and walked out of his room, now walking through the corridor, towards the stairs that'd lead him to the dining area. All the while climbing down the short flight of stairs, Huey looked upwards, at the window-glassed ceiling. The sun was starting to set, with the sky in a purple-orange hue, which meant it was almost night time, meaning it was around 6-7.

The familiar voices pulled his attention forward as his feet reached the hardwood dining area floor, finally done with the stairs. Peace seemed to have taken over the area, because he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Ming sat in the dining table, minding her own business with her cell phone, Jazmine was in living room, watching TV, and Crystal was in the kitchen, drinking orange juice straight from the carton.

The retired (he thinks…) prostitute felt his glare on her, and waved an innocent hello to him. "Hi, Huey," she gestured to the orange juice carton. "Ya want some?"

I need to burn that later, he thought blankly as he eyed the carton of juice. With a shook of a head, he ignored her and walked for the living room.

A part of him wondered why she signed up for this dating competition, but he didn't care enough to ask. And his emotionless scowl was the proof to the statement.

Huey sat on the couch, a few inches away from Jazmine. He grimaced at the images shown on TV. "Seriously, Jazmine?" he pressed a hand to his head, numbing away the headache that was sure to come. "You still watch The Little Mermaid?"

Jazmine jumped in surprise and whipped her head to him. She was so concentrated on the movie; she didn't notice him sitting beside her. Now she kinda wished she wasn't watching The Little Mermaid. He probably thought she was a baby, when she only watched it just to pass the time. "Yeah," she blushed embarrassingly, "Why?"

"Nothing," he shrugged. "It just reminded me of how you'd always make me watch all the Disney movies with you, when we were 10." Jazmine beamed at the childhood memory, which happened to be her favorite one.

"Oh my god! You still remember that?" Huey grimaced once more.

"How could I not? I practically had headaches because of you." Jazmine amicably slapped Huey by the arm.

"Hey, give me a break. I was an innocent Disney fanatic." Huey did his infamous eyebrow quirk.

"Wait. You were a Disney fanatic. As in, you hate Disney now?" Jazmine nodded and focused her attention on the TV screen.

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I watch a few of their movies when I'm bored, but I don't like the type of thing Disney is projecting," she opinioned. "Disney is part of our everyday lives, and is often used to teach children lessons about…well, life, in general, and morals. But it demonstrates negative stereotypes of girls, reinforces racism and sexism. The fairy tales from Disney weren't even meant to be for children. The fairy tales were meant for adults, they just re-written a few things to make it acceptable for the youth."

Huey stared down on the floor, amazed. Now that he she mentioned it, it all made sense, in a way. Like for example, Aladdin. When it was first released, the movie began with the song Arabian Nights, which was filled with Arab stereotypes. The beginning of the song offended many people, that Disney had no choice but to replace the first following line of the song with another one, just to avoid lawsuit.

Huey looked up at Jazmine. She physically changed. His eyes lingered from her vibrant strawberry-blond curls to her bright green eyes then to her small, luscious lips. And she mentally changed too. He was seeing her in a different light. "Impressive, DuBois."

"I know," Jazmine threw a triumphant smirk, followed by a wink. "You must be attracted by my smartness."

Huey deadpanned. "You mean intelligence."

"No, I meant smartness," Jazmine said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"No, it should be intelligence," he corrected. "It sounds better."

"But I prefer smartness."

"Yet intelligence sounds way better than smartness."

Jazmine puffed her cheeks out, bringing out her childish side. "No, it does not."

Huey sighed, "Yes, it does."

"No."

"Yes."

They both approached their faces, competitively glaring at each other.

"No," Jazmine childishly opposed.

"Yes," Huey stubbornly countered.

"Oooh…such sexual tension."

Huey and Jazmine whipped their heads to the source of the feminine sing-song voice, who stood right in front of them, clad in black booty shorts and white spaghetti shirt, which we could see the form of her nipples. "Shut up Crystal," barked the two college students, before returning back to their glaring game.

Then, realization finally hit them. Hard.

They were practically close, nose-to-nose, invading their personal space. One more step forward and they might accidentally kiss. They blinked owlishly, their cheeks taking in a pink hue. They slowly scooted away from each other and averted their gazes, out of awkwardness. Jazmine etched her fingers to her lips. She was so close to Huey. Her lips almost touched Huey's lips. Oh god.

"Ah," Crystal sighed happily to herself, "Young love. Reminds me of the time I was your age. I once fell for a boy who presented me to his friends, then…" she slumped her shoulders and held a scowl, as she reached the conclusion of her nostalgic, mini flashback. "…Oh yeah, he was the reason how I got to prostitution."

Again, Huey and Jazmine simultaneously turned towards Crystal. "Shut up. No one cares."

Crystal pouted a grimace, "What's up with everyone here not giving me respect? I'm a grown-ass woman who-"

"-who's a ho," Ming interjected while playing Don't Tap The White on her phone. "How the hell you gonna gain respect if you can't even respect yourself?"

Crystal sucked on her teeth, and then pulled a white iPod out of her booty shorts pocket. "Fine, if none of y'all are gonna talk to me, I might as well listen to some music."

Ming was still focused on her phone, but she, a person who double tasks, spoke up. "Let me guess, No New Friends?" Crystal shot daggers to Ming, before swiftly turning on the balls of her feet.

"Yeah, ya know why? Because I don't need new friends," she cried out loud for everyone to hear and at the same time, walked down the stairs, to the basement. "No new friends, no new friends, no new friends, no, no new…"

Everyone else in the living room/dining area rolled his or her eyes, annoyed by Crystal. Jazmine widened hers, "Wait a second," the mulatto searched through her pockets, and pointed in the direction of the basement. "She stole my iPod!"


"Alright," Juliet gave everyone a serious look. "We're here to do one simple job, and that is grocery shopping."

Everyone groaned, a few burying their heads in their hands, and the other few stomping childishly on the sidewalk. She rolled her eyes.

6 of Next's contestants were standing before Wal-Mart, much to their chagrin. After the interview, Juliet felt it was important to get some food for dinner. They did have food back in the Next residence, but, um, they were mainly junk food, and the Creole descendant was not going to end her first day in Next, with cardiac arrest or diabetes.

"Come on, people. Don't y'all want to finish the day with dinner?"

"Yeah, if ma hoe's doin all the grocery shopping," Riley mumbled. Juliet turned to Cindy, darting a thumb to him.

"Again, why did you bring him?"

Riley scoffed, "Hey Mrs Romeo! Don't be actin like ya don't want sum Reezy." Juliet ignored him and focused on Cindy.

Her good friend shrugged. "I didn't wanna get bored while shopping."

"You, Cindy McPhearson, get bored of shopping?" Juliet snorted. What was she talking about? The girl was practically a shop-a-holic.

Cindy slumped her shoulders even lower, out of laziness. Sue them for being tired mofos. Did they need to remind her that they just came back from a long plane trip and from an exhausting interview? "Okay, maybe I was bullshittin but come on! We have butlers to do this."

"Butlers have lives ya know," Caesar interjected, texting away on his cellphone. After hours of receiving no response from his girlfriend, Maci finally answered back, so it was no surprise he was back to his optimistic self.

Cindy shot him a knowing look. "So you gonna help us cook?" Caesar snorted.

"Pff...Yeah right."

"That's what I thought, nigga."

Juliet sighed. "Look, let's get this shopping over with. It's almost 8 o'clock, and if we keep standing around and talking like this, I doubt we gonna eat tonight."

"Why don't we just call it a night and order something?" Sabrina inquired. Again…she should be at home, doing an anime marathon. She only came because Caesar forced her, well, not forced her, but more like asked her to join, and she accepted his offer. She didn't mind doing the stuff he asked her to do, oddly enough.

Caesar threw his chin at her. "I'm with four-eyes on this one." Sabrina sucked on her teeth at his four-eye slip up, but at the same time, didn't complain about it.

"Look." Juliet gave each and every one of the lazy Next participants a list. "Just team up with a person and try to get the food that are on the list."

"Fine, fine." Cindy grabbed the list of food. "But Imma be doin' dis with ma boy Reezy."

Riley eyed the blonde up and down, thinking she was out of her damned mind. "Who said I was gonna help y'all? I just came fo da Twinkies." Sabrina gave him a confused look. The boy sighed, disgust written on his face. "Da fat-Big-Mac-smellin ho ate all of our Twinkies we had, back in da villa," he gave the deets to the four-eyes.

She nodded in understanding, as her hand covered her mouth, preventing the giggles to escape. Caesar had let her in on Riley's Big-Mac bitch slap he had received from LaTequamesha. Ever since the confessional booth, she'd try her hardest to not laugh when she'd talk with Riley.

Cindy grabbed Riley's arm. "Come on Reezy. We can ride the shopping cart," she tempted, but failed, as you could see from the offended look Riley was giving.

"White girl, who d'ya think I am? A baby? I'm Young Reezy, a real nigga. Real niggas don't be playin with shopping car-"

"…I'll even push you."

Riley immediately ceased his rant with a dead serious look. "…C-Merph. Get. Da. Cart. NOW."

And off the two troublemakers go, through the double sliding doors. Juliet let out a breath of relief. All was left was Hiro, Caesar and Sabrina. "Okay guys," she turned to face the remaining people. "Let's…go?"

Caesar and Sabrina were no longer by her side. Juliet blinked, confused. She turned to Hiro, who was texting, with a horrified face. She could inwardly tell he was talking to his current girlfriend (Riley slipped a few words about the Japanese-American's relationship with the half-Dominican). "Where are Sabrina and Caesar?"

Hiro shrugged. "I dunno…"

Juliet shook her head as the boy sauntered through the doors, the two of them starting further into the busy store, glancing around. Her gut churned, meaning something bad was going to happen. Not the doo-doo kind, but the kind that'd somehow get her kicked out of the store.

But she doubted that'd happen.

They were going grocery shopping. That's it.


Meanwhile, back in the Next house, Huey was still lounging in the living room, his eyes on the TV. His mind was elsewhere. He wasn't exactly paying attention to the show, Goardie Shore…and who would? Jersey Shore was already bad enough. They didn't need another spin-off of that garbage, especially in Britain. It was like MTV was purposely trying to kill its viewers with this…horrible obscenity. Ugh.

Mental Note: Shut down MTV, he thought and didn't waste a second to turn the TV off, with a zap of the remote. He turned over his shoulder, taking a glimpse of what the girls were doing back there, in the dining room/kitchen. Ming and Jazmine were by the kitchen island, mixing something in the kitchen and as for Crystal, she was probably in her room, cruising in her computer for new clients. After the Disney discussion he had with Jazmine, the house had gotten quiet and peaceful.

Literally.

There were no noises.

Was this finally heaven for the revolutionist?

"Hey, where's everyone?" he asked, taking in the rare peacefulness. There was never a time where he could take a deep breath and relax.

"They went out, grocery shopping," Ming said, adding canola oil and water in the mix. "With your 3 friends gone too, there's no doubt trouble came up."

Huey gave a slow nod, understanding the stitch. That explained why the house was so peaceful. "What are you guys doing back there anyway?" he asked, getting up and walking towards the kitchen, where the girls were, then stopped, amazed by the mess they'd created. Eggs were thrown on the floor, flour brimmed the kitchen, smoke slipped out of the oven. It was a catastrophe. "What the -"

"We're baking cake for dinner," Jazmine cut him off, putting her energy into bating the mix with the wooden spoon. She was wearing a green bandana on her head, obviously attempting to prevent her curls from falling in the cake mix, and a white apron around her waist.

Huey shook his head. Why did I even ask? He thought, his stomach already crying for help - for anyone out there to not get him to eat their horrible excuse of food. He stilled remembered Sara's peach cobbler, and he tried everything to get the memory out of his head. "There's no way in hell I'm eating your cake." Ming sucked on her teeth.

"Freeman, why? The whole point of baking a cake is for everyone, including you, to eat."Ming interrogated, shaking her head in slight disappointment. There were other people in the earth who didn't get access to food and die of hunger. He should consider his ungrateful ass lucky to even get a shit-cake. She clicked her tongue, displeased. She thought Freeman knew better.

When he got inside the kitchen, which wasn't an easy job with the mess and whatnot, he darted a knowing look to the two girls. "Because I know first thing you both can't cook."

The sound of the kitchen utensils falling on the kitchen island vibrated from the walls of the kitchen. Huey wasn't phased by the loud noise, or by Ming and Jazmine's facial expressions. They gasped. "Huey, how dare you say that! You never even ate my stuff!" Jazmine threw the wooden spoon- she was not going to withstand such insult.

"Yeah," Ming strongly agreed, sticking to Jazmine's side.

"I mean, yeah Ming isn't a great cook, but I don't suck!"

"Yeah - wait a second!" the aforementioned, not-so-great cooker gasped as the words of her assistant cooker sunk in. She turned to give Jazmine an insulted glare, "Hey!"

Jazmine scratched her scalp, apologetically smiling as she shrugged in an I'm-sorry-don't-kill-my-guts manner. "...No offence?"

"Humph, too late," she lifted her nose in the air and pivoted on the balls of her feet to walk over to Huey's side, mentally patting herself on the back for causing a whiplash on Jazmine's face. "I take offence to that."

Jazmine pulled out the few strands of the Asian's hair from her tongue, "...Baby."

"I heard that," Ming turned over her shoulder to pull her tongue out.

"Anyway," Huey diverted their conversation back to the main subject. "Jazmine, you didn't stay long enough in Woodcrest for me to try your food, but you still stayed long enough for me to try your mother's cooking and I have to say, her peach cobbler tasted horrible."

Ming hissed, pained for the mixed gal. "Ouuuuh...Pown'ed." Jazmine didn't even focus on the Asian for she was too busy exchanging intensive, competitive looks with Huey.

"Do I hear a cooking challenge?"

"Maybe, and maybe not," he challenged. Their intense eye-looks were like lightning, striking for each other. Watching their little exchange felt kinda uncomfortable for the Asian; the sexual tension between the two contestants was there, and stronger than ever.

Jazmine gave a boastful smirk, "Are you saying that because you're too chicken to admit defeat?"

"No," Huey opposed, refusing to claim default. "I'm giving you a chance to not make a fool of yourself and poison a human being with your food." Jazmine gasped, like how teens of this generation would say; she got powned - hard.

Ming choked a laugh and slapped her knee as she bent over, holding her sides and laughing her yellow ass off. Huey was on a roll today. She gotta give him props for the major pownage. She ignored Jazmine's glare and continued to laugh. "Team Huey all the way!" she cheered, placing a hand on Huey's shoulder, not only for encouragement, but also for support. Her body might not be able to stand with her constant laughter.

Jazmine waved off Ming's laugh. "Look Huey, here's a challenge for the-"

"Wowow," Huey gestured the girl to stop. "Since when do you make the rules? Last time I checked, competitors can't make the rules; only those who aren't in the challenge can."

Jazmine tilted her head, "So we need like a person to be the judge, right?" Huey nodded. She contemplated, "Then who should be the judge?"

The two competitors synchronously whipped their heads to Ming; the answer to their problem. "Ming, you're gonna be our judge, got it?" The Chinese blinked, grimacing as she took a cautious step back.

"B-but I don't wanna try Jazmine's food - I'm too young to die," she whined...then dodged Jazmine's wooden spoon. She didn't miss the glare her gal had darted. "Fine; if I die because of you, my soul will be haunting you."

Jazmine rolled her eyes to the girl's poor threat, "I'll take my chances."

Huey shook his head to the girls' interaction. He didn't know whether they were close friends or not; they'd been like this since the day they'd first met - the day of their kickball tournament. He replayed the scene, as in their very first interaction at the bleachers, before the tournament even began; Jazmine, being the little, innocent ball of sunshine, had walked up to her and politely asked her to be best friends. Don't worry, it'd be normal for anyone else to be confused by her straightforwardness, however Jazmine had never befriended a girl, so she'd decided to do it with Ming. Of course, being the feisty one, Ming had spat a no...

Ouch, right?

Well, the day after the tournament had ended with Huey's victory and Ming's loss, Jazmine had vowed to make the Asian be her friend, even if she'd have to do it by force - which was the tactic she used to get everyone to befriend her, including Huey...

Ming clapped her hands, bringing the competitors' attentions back to her. "Okay guys, this is how things will work," she said with the same authoritative tone from back when she was her old, kick-ball self as she waded through the sea of eggs and cookie dough that separated the kitchen from the dining room. "You'll both have about 2 hours to prepare me three trays of deserts, and they have to be different from one and another, and they have to be delicious" she darted a knowing look to Jazmine, "...and edible."

Jazmine's eye twitched but didn't say anything. If only she could see the middle finger I'm doing to her right now, she thought, then received another darted look from the supposed judge.

"And I could see the finger that you're doing to me, Jazmine."

"What the-" she slid towards Huey, her face approaching by his ear as her thumb jabbed to Ming's direction. "How the heck did she know I was thinking about that?" Huey slightly straightened up, somewhat trying to ignore the shiver that climbed up his spine. He noticed how her voice was no longer squeaky, but a bit rich like velvet, and that was only her normal whisper tone.

He masked his uncomfortableness to her sudden proximity with a mere shrug. "Who knows."

"Alright," Ming began, "Before we get this cook-off going, somebody's gotta clean the kitchen up." The deafening silence of the kitchen followed after the conclusion of her sentence, only to be shattered by her yelp. "Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not..." Huey trailed off and looked from Jazmine, to Ming, and back again. They both had an equally smug look on their faces, and it was then that the poor boy realized his loss. "...goddamn."


"Da fuck is dis?"

He had seen and lived many shit throughout his years of in a crazy household with an old, Facebook-crazed grandfather and a pessimistic, retired terrorist. You name it; crazy wolf-bitches who could do the Kumate (ah-yah), a poor, sap of a lawyer who'd almost lost his wife to Usher, and whatnot. But at the end of the day, he'd just shrug it off and continue his day.

But, this was ludicrous!

"Look at dis!" He thrusted the object to her face, "Dis is unacceptable!"

With the object close to her face, he failed to notice her deadpan look, not just by his over-exaggeration...okay it was mainly over-exaggeration. He had been doing nothing but complaining like a bitch about the items prices, for the past half hour she'd been pushing him in the shopping cart all over the store. He'd complained about the donuts' sudden boost of price, then the fried chickens', now the chocolate twinkies'. "Now what, Reezy?" she posed, her tone blended with boredom, as she knew his answer.

Incredulously, Riley's eyebrows shot up. Way up. "Dis!" He pulled the pack of twinkies back to him, and then thrust it back to her, so hard that the pack was practically touching the tip of her nose. His action tried to prove his point, but all Cindy could do was bat her eyelashes, indifferently. "Dis used to be $0.99"

"And now, it-"

"it's $2.99!" He exclaimed, concluding the sentence for her, and Cindy didn't seem to appreciate that.

Cindy lowered the pack of chocolate sweets. "Reezy, can I tell ya a secret?" She looked at him and waited long enough for her question to dawn on Riley. He started to step closer, just like how he would when engaging in a secretive conversation.

He looked left and right, then placed a hand over his mouth. "What's ya secret?"

"Dis," she repetitively wacked him upside the head as he scooted away to avoid her series of hits. "I don' care about yo damn Twinkies!"

He took another step back, offended and betrayed, as if she'd just stepped on his PS4 nonstop, then hit it with a baseball bat...then put it on fire with a flick of a match. You get what I meant. "Girl, why you trippin'?"

"I wanna ride the cart now." Riley gave her a scowl. She stomped on the linoleum floor. "Sue dis white girl for complainin' fo her lack of turn in the cart!"

He couldn't help it.

He had to laugh. She sounded like a baby; and the expression she held was cute. Beneath her long eyelashes, her eyes shined with little innocence. Maybe it was the reflection of the array of lights strung up from poles overhead. But he knew they were illuminating; just like an aquamarine stone. His pair of red-wine orbs locked with her aquamarines. A grin formed in his mouth showing off his teeth. "You mad cute, ya know dat?"

"Huh?" Cindy blinked, confused, but her red cheeks said otherwise. "Wha dya mean c-" Her words broke off no thanks to him. He picked her up and carried her bridal-style over to their shopping cart, that was all the way down, at the end of the sweet aisle. She struggled to get out of his grasp in no avail. "Reezy, put me down, now!"

Riley looked down and caught her eye and shook his head, "Damn...white girl, calm yo ass down. You said you wanted ta ride in da cart and I'm gettin' you to da cart. And besides..." He tightened his grip around her as he approached his face close to hers, dangerously invading her personal bubble. You had no idea. She could practically feel his breath. "I think ya like dis kind of attention I'm giving to you," he whispered, his tone way too low for comfort.

Cindy gulped - wait, why was she gulping? She snapped out of her trance. She shouldn't be intimidated by him. This nigga probably had done this before, like this was probably his billionth time doing it to a lady. It ain't a secret he was a player; anybody could tell from a mile away. "Euh..Um," she was in loss of words. C-Merph was never in loss of words.

Footsteps were heard from the background. "Instead of flirting around, y'all should be grocery shopping," nagged Sabrina as she pushed her cart with Caesar and grabbed a pack of vanilla Twinkies. She jabbed a thumb to the left, the direction of the dairy aisle. "And do it quick or Juliet ain't gonna be too happy."

Riley grunted, not sure if it was due to his laziness of completing his task. He...kinda wanted to stay this way and keep holding Cindy. He didn't know why. She felt, kinda, maybe, half-admittedly, weirdly good in his arms. Tch, like he was going to say that out loud and ruin his G cred. "Fine."

Cindy felt his grip on her loosen up and it enabled her to free herself from him. As soon as her feet finally made contact with the floor, she mentally thanked the Lord for getting her out of her sticky predicament. If Sabrina hadn't interrupted their little eye-to-eye contact...then it certainly wouldn't had been just eye-to-eye contact. She swore; that boy's charm was like groveling for trouble.

"Yeah, Sabrina's right, yo." She swiped the grocery list out of her jeans and surveyed. "We still haven't checked off the stuff from our list."

Riley walked by her side, "Lemme see dat." He grabbed the aforementioned list and took a good look, with a contemplative scowl. Cindy diverted her attention elsewhere, away from Riley. She hadn't recovered fully from their mini-chat. She wasn't falling for the man...his charm doe; it was too dangerous. "All we need to get is chicken, cheese, brocol-" He gave their grocery list a double take. "Da fuck? Who da hell still eats dat shit-ass veggie?"

Caesar and Sabrina slumped their shoulders hopelessly to the boy's stupid question. "…Normal people." Riley sucked on his teeth, casting a side glare to the duo.

"Well, ya'll ain't normal."

Caesar rolled his eyes, "Says the person who's never known what the news was until he was 8 years-old."

"I heard dat!"

"You were supposed to hear that."

"Faaaack you!"

Caesar irked, physically exasperated. "'Preciate the love, but nigga, that's gay."

Cindy and Sabrina shook their heads as they laughed and Riley growled and struggled to shoot back a remark, which made the girls' laughter augment to the point that all the customers in the shopping establishment could hear them. Every one of them shot daggers at them - mainly Riley due to his sudden inappropriate outburst with his potty mouth. If he was still in the Next Residence with the filming camera crew, you'd only hear beeps in the air and his mouth would had been censored. A few of the citizens covered the ears of their infants, horror written on their faces, as a few others shook their heads.

Their over-dramatic reactions killed Cindy's vibe; if it wasn't obvious from the way she glared right back at them, her eyes practically shooting lasers. She smacked her lips. "The fuck y'all lookin' at?" Granted, the spectacle was beyond inappropriate, the crowd would rather stay and observe it. With Cindy, of course that ain't gonna happen. They all left. They had to. Didn't you all hear what she said back there?

As a matter of fact...

Caesar and Riley both looked at each other, something clicking in their minds, before simultaneously targeting their looks at Cindy.

It sounded familiar. Very familiar.

"Yo, C-Murder." Cindy turned to Riley, hesitantly though, unsure if he was really addressing to her. It was a first time somebody called her by that. She hummed in thought. C-Murder. Not bad. The name had a nice ring to it. "You know Ed?"

She perked up, "Ya mean da crazy, wealthy ex-soldier who cleans his ass with his own hands?!"

"Uh-huh."

Cindy nodded an immediate yes. "Hell yeaaaaaaaaah, he my home-boy. We go way back." It was true. They'd holla back at each other when one or another visited. Sure, there were a few moments when the boy's brain didn't work half the time with the things he'd do and say, but he was off-the-chain. And as a bonus, he was the one who'd hook her up with the weed and whatnot, all thanks to his connections.

Then again, relying on his connections so much was why she was in a predicament with Jazmine.

"No way," Riley threw the grocery list over his shoulder. Sabrina shook her head at that. So much for their tasks. "He my homie too! We used ta do crazy-ass shit together with Rummy. I remember one time how we made dis a big-ass plan to rob Oprah, but we accidentally robbed dat ol' Maya Angelou and Bill Cosby."

Cindy barked out a laugh, clapping her hands. "Da fuck? How did dat happen?"

"We went to the wrong building. Dat's why."

Her laughs grew at that, "No doubt them two boys had somethin' to do with dat."

"It was!"

"It's always them who be sabotagin' things." She wiped a joyful tear off the corner of her eye. "But you gotta admit doe, they know how to turn up and make things hella fun!"

He agreed, "True dat. If it ain't for them, Woodcrest who'd been boring as hell, and I would had never gotten Huey high."

The world immediately seemed to have stopped for Cindy. Her mouth hung low; she wouldn't be surprised if it touched the floor. "Wow. Wow. Wow. Hold da train up. Nigga, you mean to tell me Huey McHater, has already gotten high once?" She had only known for almost a day and she knew for a fact, he wasn't the type of nigga to be fooling around drugs and whatnot. Refinedness was practically stuck up in his ass. "Huey...high?" The words didn't even mix well together.

Riley slowly nodded, as if he accomplished something big, and hell he did, if he must say. It hadn't been easy for him and his crew to get him under the influence of weed, but they did it. "Yeah girl."

Cindy called it bullshit. "...Or nah."

"Actually," Caesar joined in the conversation, laughing. "It did happened. And boy, was that day unforgettable."

The shocked blonde tried to imagine Huey with a college level book...then with him holding a roll of weed in his other hand...and with him holding a faded, red-eyed look. And it was impossible. She'd reach a blank when doing so. That was it. She was so going to find a way to get him high. She just needed to see him high. Just for once. It'd be like getting an early christmas present, no more like finding out if the system, P. Diddy, or maybe even Illuminati were the ones who conspired Biggie's death.

"How did you guys do it?" she asked, desperately waiting for the answer that'd surely blow-mind her inner sanctuary. "I demand answers from y'all, now."

Riley beckoned for Cindy to come closer, "Fine, Imma tell you," he whispered. As soon as she approached him, he smoothly slid away from her. "Sike."

Cindy glowered. A strained chuckled was heard to her left, and she turned her head to throw daggers at Caesar. To her dismay, the effect lessened by the light flush of her cheeks. She watched their backs as they headed further down the aisle to take sharp turn to the frozen meat aisle. That was so not cool. How could he be playing with his home-girl's hope like that? She was going to get her answer, whether they'd like it or not. There was such determination in her eyes, but it subdued as she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She glanced up to see Sabrina pouting, the hungry grumbling of her stomach demonstrating her lack of patience.

"Come on now. I'm hungry. Let's get this grocery shopping over with," her stomach growled once more. "Please."

Cindy smacked her lips, defeated. "Fine."


It took a lot of hard work on Huey's part to clean the kitchen, and Ming wasn't going to lie, it was spotless. The counters were practically shining. It was like she and her childhood fellow...or whatever she was, had never used the area. Props to Freeman. She didn't peg him as the clean freak. She was confident the place would remain in its impeccable state, of course, otherwise the boy wouldn't have slaved himself with Mr. Clean's sprit.

But, sitting in front of the two cook competitors, the supposed judge couldn't help but shake her head. It was like World War III had begun. The Jazmine and Huey batted the cake mix with mad speed; the both of them throwing themselves competitive growls.

Excitement budded in Ming. She'd finally get the chance to witness the two testing their skills against each other. This pained the ex-kickballer's soul to admit this; but Jazmine was a pretty worthy adversary. Her ability to control the efficient amount of ingredients whilst applying them in the mix was proficient. She didn't even need to stop to double-check.

Huey needed to be extra cautious or he might screw up the cooking challenge, but then again, he was completely out of her league. What the hell was she saying? The boy was completely out of everyone's league...like a stiff robot he was.

"Come on; there's two hours left!" Ming bossed around as she gestured to the time her iPhone showed. "Even my grandfather's chihuahua can go faster! Move it!"

Jazmine evenly poured the cake mix from the metallic bowl to the mini cake pan set and wasted no time in sliding it inside the oven. She firmly shut its door and turned around, once again facing her judge. Much to Ming's surprise, Jazmine was ahead in the game; she was already on her way to baking her first set of pastry whilst Huey was still in the middle of batting the mix.

"So, Ming," the ever-joyful mulatto leaned against the counter, her smiley face invading Ming's personal space. "How's your grandfather doing? I mean, it's been a while since I've seen him."

Ming kept herself from rolling her eyes. Out of all the things she could've talked about, the pipsqueak just had to pick her grandfather as the main topic. Ugh. Somebody shoot her. And why the hell would Jazmine even want to know how gong gong was doing? Last time she checked, he practically scared the shit out of her during the kickball tournament.

"He's doing fine, just, I dunno, probably, trapping another wealthy mayor into debt," she said it so casually, as if her grandfather putting another person's life into financial ruin wasn't the worst he'd done. And Jazmine hadn't even batted an eye to the sentence.

Huey shook his head. This world is fucked up. He thought to himself then proceeded to pour the cake mix inside a normal-sized cake pan. He was going to keep it simple. The whole point of this cooking challenge was to see who cooked the best and the food's look didn't obligatorily had to be perfect. After one last drop of cake mix was poured inside the circular baking form, Huey opened the oven and placed the cake inside, not without shutting the door.

His ears perked up to Jazmine's voice. "So Huey, how did your grandfather react to you and Riley being here...you know, in Next?"

"True," Ming's cheek fell on the palm of her hand. "Your grandfather must'd freaked out about you and Riley going to another state for 21 days, right?"

Huey blinked, "Umm..."


Flashback: 8 hours before the flight to Hawaii...


"Granddad, are you being serious?"

"Boy, do I look I'm laughing right now?" Granddad applied most of his strength on Huey as he desperately attempted to push him out of the house. "Of course I'm being damn serious about this; now get out of the house!"

Huey's fingers held on to the doorway of the front door, applying as much energy on his arms as he was doing to the heel of his feet, both of them struggling to keep himself inside. This wasn't right, nor legal. He was duped into participating the dating-show, courtesy of his dumbass brother and friends and their infamous skills in forging signatures on contracts, and his grandfather wasn't willing to help him get out of the predicament.

He was all for it, actually.

"Never," Huey opposed as he still struggled to stay inside. This man never showed this kind of strength before; where did that all come from? "Why do you want me to leave so bad?"

"Because this a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to have peace for 21 days, without one of y'all taking all my orange juice, my full time supply of Vitamin C, and breaking the house," the oldest Freeman exclaimed. "And besides, I'm sick of you being a hater; ya need a girlfriend!"

Huey rolled his eyes, "But Grandda-"

"No buts!" Granddad grunted, having a hell a hell of a hard time kicking Huey out. "You need to stop being selfish! Don't just do it for yourself, but do it for yo granddaddy! I can never bring a cuty pie home because of y'all."

The 19 year-old gritted his teeth, determined to stay. "Really granddad? Must we go through this again? Do I have to remind you of that time when Luna, that crazy wolf chick, tried to kill you, twice. Or that time when crazy Tara tried to kidnap Riley? Or tha-"

Granddad had enough of this boy's resistance. "That's it boy! You leave me no choice. You gonna go to that trip, whether you like it or not!" He pulled out his notorious, brown belt ; he'd have to use his last resort.


End of Flashback


Was he ever going to tell the girls he'd been forced by his grandfather's ass-whoopings to participate, and possibly be mocked for life? Hell no. "Euh..." he diverted his attention back onto the girls. "Yeah, he did freak out," he fibbed, but they didn't need to know that. His credibility was at stake here.

Ming nodded, unsurprised, and Jazmine tilted her head. "Aww, my Dad freaked out too when I told him about my participation in Next. He's probably crying his eyeballs out at this moment," she babbled, in the midst of licking the metallic bowl, which rubbed Huey the wrong way, but she could care less. She was totally digging the chocolatey goodness. "And my Mom's probably by his side, passing him tissues."

Huey shook his head and took the metallic bowl away from her and dumped it into the sink. "I'd appreciate it if you don't speak while stuffing your cheeks with raw cake batter."

"Please, stop being the health inspector that you are," Jazmine bellyached while licking the chocolate mix off her fingers. "This is the best part of making cake."

Ming nodded, agreeing with her, for once. "That is true, Freeman."

"Right..." He made a sarcastic face. "Eating raw cake batter and possibly increasing your chance of getting salmonella is so awesome. Wow."

Jazmine smiled, ever so joyfully. "I know right!"

"Jazmine, I was being sarcastic."

"Oh." And there went her bubbly enthusiasm; what a waste.

Ming didn't show any bit of interest on the two colleagues' conversation, as a matter, she was pretty occupied with a new game that'd just came out and got popular; you guessed it, Don't Tap The White. She blew a frustrated air. "God, this game pisses me off! I always lose everytime 200 tiles."

Jazmine giggled, "Oh silly Ming, only 200? I'm at 700 tiles."

"Yeah, right," Ming called it bullshit; how could little miss sunshine over here beat her in this mind-complex game? She beckoned Jazmine to come over with her phone in hand. "Prove it then, by playing in front of me."

Jazmine pulled her sleeves up and cracked her knuckles. She asked for it. "Alright then. Be prepared to witness my awesomeness," she winked and took the phone from Ming.

Meanwhile, Huey walked out of the kitchen, then he maneuvered to the bathroom and reached for the doorknob, dusting flour off his hands before doing so. He jiggled the doorknob and couldn't open the door. "What the..." He placed more force than he should. "Jazmine, is there someone in the bathroom?" he asked over my shoulder. He needed to urinate as soon as possible, and when he said as soon as possible, his bladder really meant those words.

He heard Jazmine click her tongue against her teeth. She was clearly in her gaming momentum. "Urgh, I don't know Huey, just...break down the door or something."

"Oh my god Jazmine, you're at 800 tiles!" He heard Ming cheer on.

Nobody obviously cared about Huey's problem. He tsked to himself; who does anyway? He took a slow step back and strike the door with a brutal kick as he watched it fall flatly on the ground. When he looked up, he wished he hadn't broken down the door, because what he just saw brought fear and disgust to his soul...and to his poor eyes and nose.

There wasLaTequamesha, in the bathroom shitting the life out of her as she scrunched her face up. "Chocolate baby cakes, close the door. Can't you see I'm using the bathroom?" she grunted; she was close to blowing up.

"I can see that," he mumbled.

LaTequamesha arched an eyebrow. "Whacchu say?"

"Nothing," he coughed a lie; he only coughed because the stench was suffocating him. Well, not just suffocating him actually. He was seeing dark circles in the air and felt drowsy. He accidentally took a whiff of it and...bam, just like that, he fell unconsciously on the ground. LaTequamesha watched his fallen form, blinking.

"You shouldn't have smelt that babycakes."


A/N: I know, kind of a bad way to end a chapter. But like I said, this is part 1, so you'll hopefully see part 2 of this chapter soon :) Again, I'm so sorry for not updating in a while. Sniff. I'm sad y'all.