The day went by very quickly and Imani raced home. As soon as she got into her small home she made a fast break to the toilet. The sound of retching and convulsing filled the entire room. It was probably the spaghetti Imani thought as she finished vomiting. She then brushed her teeth and wiped her saliva and chunks of food off her face with a wash cloth. Then she laid down on the bed hoping that she wouldn't have to throw up acid next. She gently closed her eyes and rested her head on the pillow. She used her hand to make the tears that were appearing in her eyes quickly disappear. After a few moments she drifted into a flashback combined with a dream she was having.

In her dream/flashback…

Imani was at a huge party with her boyfriend, Darnell. They had just got there.

As soon as she got into the house Darnell pinched her butt. "Keep your hands off my ass and anywhere else on my body," she said grabbing the boy's hand.

"You need to loosen up, Mani," Darnell told her. Usually she was the flirty, out- there-girl at parties but something was different tonight.

"I can loosen up," she said as she walked away from him into the kitchen were he couldn't see her. She got a cup of punch and reached on the counter and poured a half of bottle of vodka into the punch. She then pulled the cup to her lips and drank as much as she could in one swallow. After about 10 minutes at the table she started to giggle and make her way back to him. "See I can get loose all I want. Let's dance, baby," she said her voice was slightly suggestive. After a few minutes of dancing Imani lead him downstairs into the basement/ bedroom, where he lied down on the bed and she looked at herself in the mirror.

Imani looked at herself in the mirror.

"You look good. How do you feel?" he asked her.

"I've never felt better, sexy" her voice slurred slightly. Then she ran to him and jumped on him and pinned him down on the bed.

"Mani, are you drunk?" he asked her as he looked at her.

"You mean, am I drunk enough," she smiled her tone sounded even more slurred.

She leaned down to kiss him but instead she turned her head to vomit into the trash can next to the bed. The alcohol had come back to bite her.

"Okay, now I know," he chuckled as he pulled her hair out of her face as she continued to convulse. "Margarita meet wastebasket; wastebasket meet margarita(1)."

That flashback ended but her dream continued with another…

Imani had been spending most of her time at Darnell's house. (A.N/ no, they didn't do 'that' then) Her dad was out-of-town as usual so it made no since to stay at an empty house. Darnell lived by himself because of the fact that his mother was an alcoholic in rehab and his father left when he was seven years old. He had a job as a mechanic in a small garage that pays the bills for the small one bedroom/ one bath apartment

Everyday was pretty much routine. She'd wake up, run to take her shower and all the other things; then sneak out of the house before he woke up and drive to school. Other times Darnell would wake up in time to drop her off at school, but usually Imani would drive herself. Then there were the few times when she'd forget to set the alarm clock and be awakened by him. She was in loved and she loved every minute of it. She felt like she wasn't put on the back burner; like someone actually cared for her.

"Hey," Imani smiled as went into to the living room and sat on the arm of the sofa, looking down at her boyfriend who had just woken up.

"What's up," he asked her as he opened his eyes. He got up and stretched as his back popped.

"I told you, I'd sleep on the sofa and you can have your bed. After all it is your bed,"

"It don't bother me,"

"But I think it's wrong of me to come into your house and steal your bed,"

"I asked you if you wanted to stay here. You said you did so here you are."

"Thank you, so much," she said as she leaned down over the arm to hug him but lost her balance and fell on top of him on the sofa. She rested her head under his chin, comfortably; it seemed to fit there like a piece of a puzzle. He didn't move and neither did she. She felt comfortable and secure.

In the real world…

Imani's phone rang loudly, abruptly awaking her from her dreams. She reached for it and groaned from exhaustion as she looked at the caller ID. The screen read Keri. She thought about Keri for a minute. Keri was her friend from Burbank. She would always make her laugh she was known for being chick with an attitude who could be nice but gets mad easily at her school. Sure she was nice to her friends but if you made Keri mad, watch out. A lot like Imani.

"Hello?" Imani asked into the phone, her voice still groggy and sleepy.

"Hey, Mani, where have you been? You've missed like three weeks of school," Keri informed her friend.

"I moved," she said into the phone. Technically it was half true. "I'm in Albuquerque, Ker," Imani told her friend. She remembered when she met Keri in 2nd grade and she had a Care bear's bag.

"Well you couldn't tell anybody. Almost everyone's worried sick,"

"I'm sorry; the move was kind of," she sighed, "sudden."

Keri was not completely convinced but she didn't want to escalate the matter any further. "Do you know when you're coming back?"

"No, not for sure. Tell everyone not to worry."

"Okay, be safe, love ya," Keri told her friend as she hung up the phone.

(1) Does anyone out there know what the line is from. Put it in the review or PM me if you think you know it