I addressed this in my other story, and it only feels right to do it for this one. Rest in peace to all the black men, women and children lost to police violence. Rest in peace to Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Delrawn Small and to every other person who may fall victim to police brutality in the future. As a black woman, it really pains me to see how unjust these cops are, how easily it is to fall prey to them. I have a black father, brother, mother, sister, etc; I fear for them daily. I want you to find something wrong with this, I want you to be angry that they are literally killing us for no reason. Over fear. Please educate yourselves and do your research. Do what YOU can do to bring awareness to situations like this whether it be marching in your city or posting your thoughts on social media. Don't be silenced. Please don't derail the #BLACKLIVESMATTER movement. Please tell your loved ones that you love them, please be safe. For non-poc, please support us. Thank you for reading, enjoy the story.

Why did I tell Hiro what the hell went on between me and Huey? It wasn't as if me and Hiro were a thing and me and Huey didn't do anything. So why did I go opening my big mouth like I always do? I had been nervous ever since I told Hiro last night, a ball tightening in my stomach with each passing second. Now I look like a chicken shit because I skipped out on getting a ride from Hiro. I should've sat right down in his car and acted like I didn't do anything wrong.

But I didn't.

I didn't even know what to do with myself. I couldn't focus on my classwork, I couldn't take a nap. All I could do was be a nervous wreck. I didn't know Hiro like that. Sure, he seemed like a nice guy on the surface but for all I knew he could have been malicious, ready to speak down on somebody who did him wrong. Besides, not knowing whether or not he and Huey were talking about me like I was the kind of girl who tried to mess with the whole crew didn't sit well with me in anyway. I felt ashamed, all though I know I didn't have a reason to. Hiro seemed like a nice guy and I liked him. Huey seemed like a mysterious and deep guy, and I liked him too. I'm eighteen, they're eighteen, so where was acting like little kids going to get us? Of course I could say that to myself but not to anyone else, not unless I really felt the need to.

"Jazmine, did you not hear me ask you a question?" Mrs. Gold asked me, scaring me out of my thoughts. I blushed a deep red at being called out and shook my head, "No, I didn't. I'm sorry."

She pursed her lips, "Of course not, first you ignore the lesson and try to go to sleep, why did I expect you to be paying attention?" She said sarcastically before calling on some kid on the other side of the class. I bit my bottom lip, not sure why she was being so nasty about it. I wanted to say something so badly but she was my teacher and I had to deal with her for the rest of the year. It was better to stay on her good side. The kid answered the question and she smiled, apparently it was the correct answer. "Good thing you were paying attention, Jonathan, unlike Miss Jazmine over there."

"Not to be rude, but why are you calling me out?" I blurted out. "You act as if I'm the only person not paying attention to your lesson." I could feel my face turn red. The smile never left her face as she told me to go down to the dean's office. I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my bags and left the classroom. She called goodbye after me as I left and it took all the strength in the world not to flip her off. There wasn't anyway I was going to the dean's office, not like I even knew where it was in the first place. I didn't want to take my chances wandering the hallways for another forty-five minutes, so I headed down to the library, hoping I wouldn't need a pass to get in during class time. I almost stopped dead in my tracks and turned right around when I saw Hiro walking in my direction, talking to two guys. I looked straight ahead, trying not to make eye contact but of course he would notice me. "Hey Jazmine."

"Is that her?" The guy on the left said, ogling at me. Hiro nodded as he stopped walking. What the hell did he mean 'is that her'? The other guy just looked at me and laughed. "Will you give me and the squad top, too?" Hiro looked at both of them before hitting them on their arms and pulling them down the hallway.

What. The. Hell.

I turned around and walked down the hall after them, I didn't need a teacher coming out and asking for a hall pass. "Hiro!" I sped walked faster until I caught up with them, his two friends walking off. I got in Hiro's face when he finally turned around to face me. "What do you want?"

"I pray that you did not lie and tell these boys that I sucked your dick, because that's never happened. Don't go around trying to slander my name because you're mad. That's petty." I said. It took all I had not to cry. This wasn't going to stop. Maybe Hiro would have heard me out, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't told anybody those lies. But gossip spreads around school like the plague. Those two boys were going to tell whoever would listen and then I'd be the new girl that sucked dick only after being here for a week. Nobody would listen to what I had to say, that I didn't give Hiro Otomo head and that it was the other way around. I sniffed, dabbing at my eye so my mascara would get messed up. "Fuck you Hiro. You might as well be a little kid." I said, turning around and heading towards the library.

I spent the rest of my math class in the library, and the rest of my art class, grateful the librarian didn't pay me too much attention. He had made some other kids who looked like they were skipping class leave and walk to the dean's office, but I figured since I grabbed a book and sat down quietly I wasn't too much of a problem. I don't really know why I skipped my first two classes, maybe because I didn't want to run into Hiro or Huey, or anyone else Hiro had opened his big mouth to. Maybe I was just overreacting? A rumor was just that; a rumor. As long as I knew the truth, then I should be okay, right? The bell dismissing second block rang and my stomach growled loudly. I was hungry but I didn't want to go through the lunch line so I stayed in the library, hoping Huey wouldn't show up. I kept my head down and in my book, reading quietly and turning up my music a little bit. I had read half of a chapter when I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I glanced back and cursed under my breath when I saw Huey towering over me. "Hey." he said, sitting down at the table next to me. I waved at him, "Thought you weren't talking to me?"

"I wasn't but Hiro had some stuff to say to me this morning." I shrugged my shoulders at him. "I'm not mad. You did what you thought was the right thing to do. I figured you wouldn't eat lunch with him considering you skipped the ride to school this morning. Look, Hiro… he's a great guy but he's the spiteful type. He always does it and always feels bad about it later, but until he feels bad about it himself, it'll keep going on. I'm sorry he's spreading lies about you, Jazmine. I know how easily a girl's reputation can be ruined when anything sexual is involved."

I nodded my head once, closing my book. "Thanks. I guess I'll be the school slut for a few weeks until someone else takes my place, right?" I shook my head, "That's fucked up and you know it is."

"I didn't say it wasn't, did I?" Huey snapped back. I rolled my eyes and shook my head again. "I guess you didn't."

"Want me to be honest with you?" Huey asked me, his voice softer than usual. I bit my bottom lip and nodded. "Like I've said, I've known Hiro for a long time. He is a great guy, he is mad chill and all that other stuff you might be interested in, but he's never interested in a new thing for too long. He's had four girlfriends this year and he thought he was in love with three of them. I'm not trying to make him look bad, I'm just telling you how it is. And there's nothing wrong with that, that's just his personality, you know?" I nodded, not really sure why he was even wasting his time telling me. Of course I was done messing around with Hiro, maybe in the long run we could be friends, but if he had hopes for more than that he ruined that by lying about me giving him head. "Okay, so why are you telling me all of this?"

Huey sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Because even though you really overstepped your boundaries, there is something about you I really like. So, why don't we try again?" I put my hand up and shook my head quickly. "I'd rather not. Next thing you know I've got another rumor going around about me and I don't want that. You act like you didn't say all that stuff at the mall."

"Yeah, I said it. In case you haven't noticed I'm not the nicest person. How would you feel if someone you barely knew came in and was poking their nose in your business behind your back?" I blushed deeply and looked away, mumbling a weak sorry. He chuckled and smirked. "I know how to keep my business to myself. Look, if you don't want it to be anything serious, I understand that. Give me a chance though?"

"And what about Hiro?" I asked quietly.

Huey looked at me for a moment. "I can talk to him. We can keep it on the low until he's over himself, if you want? And anyone else that messes with you, just let me know and I'll deal with it." I tried to look everywhere but at Huey. "You're… you're really frickin' confusing Huey. I don't know if you like me or hate me or wanna do whatever. Can you just, I don't know, make up your mind and pick an emotion?"

"I can't really help it." He shrugged. "Did you get to eat lunch?"

I shook my head at the same time as my stomach growled loudly. I laughed sheepishly and a small smile spread across Huey's face. "If you're up to it we can skip and go get some lunch."

"It's really cold outside, are you crazy?" I squeaked. "No, we can catch the bus downtown and find something and then catch the bus back home. Unless you want to come back?"

"Ugh, fine. I have to go to my locker to get my jacket. I hope you know that this is the type of thing that needs to be planned so that I can wear the right shoes. If I slip on a patch of ice in these shoes I'm suing you."

"Sure, sure. Come on Jazmine, let's go so we can make it out the same time as the bell. Maybe we won't get caught leaving campus." Huey smirked and stood up, grabbing my bag and handing it to me when I finally got up. I don't know why I was skipping the rest of the day with Huey. I had a feeling he was just a really good talker and made everything sound look a good idea. The last thing I needed was the school calling my parents saying I didn't show up to any of my classes today. Knowing my dad, he'd have the cops searching for me. I sighed. "This isn't gonna take the rest of the day, is it? I can't go home early just in case one of my parents are home."

"Come to my house afterwards." Huey said. I rolled my eyes and took my bag from him. I said bye to the librarian and we started to make our way to my locker. "As if going to your house has done me any good."

"If you wanna get caught, be my guest." He shrugged. I groaned and shoved him softly to the side, all though he barely budged. We were talking about Samurai Champloo, the show we watched on Friday when one of the kids Hiro was with earlier came into view along with some kids I've never seen before. He nudged his friends in the ribs and they all looked over at me. I immediately shut my mouth, looking straight ahead and trying to pass him. I heard him laugh to himself before they busted out, "I don't want no thot, a thot is somebody who bang bang everybody in my squad!"

I honestly didn't even know what to say. I really didn't. So while I stopped dead in my tracks, dumbfounded and frozen in place I watched as Huey approached the four guys and looked at them. "Are you talking to Jazmine?"

"Yeah, man, I know you know what the business is." One of them smiled at Huey, looking me up and down in a way that made me feel dirty. Huey nodded his head slowly and looked back over at me. "This is your warning, next time I hear anything about you calling her a thot or a hoe or whatever, you gonna have a problem with me. And don't go opening your mouths spreading shit you can't even validate." He clenched his jaw and stood up to his full height. "Y'all understand? If I hear it or if she tells me, matter of fact, if anyone tells me it's all y'all asses."

"Man, fuck outta here with that shit." The shortest out of the four sucked his teeth and shooed Huey away. Huey caught his hand in his fast and squeezed it. "Ow. Ow. Ow. OW! Wasgood with you nigga, let go!" He shouted. Huey squeezed harder and got in his face, "I can kick your ass. Don't disrespect her." Huey dropped his hand and they all walked away quickly, mean mugging him the whole time. I looked down and then back up at Huey and mumbled, "Thank you."

He shrugged his shoulders, "Nah, it's whatever. Even a hoe doesn't deserve to be ridiculed, and you not a hoe. Let's hurry up so we can catch the bell at the right time. It won't look right if we leave when there isn't anybody walking around.