"Grandma," Tammy started as she sat down on the couch. The elder woman just looked diagonal at her as she sat in her special recliner.

"Hm?" she grunted.

Tammy shifted in her seat and fidgeted with her fingers. "I keep apologizing to Bri, and she just won't listen-"

"Girl, you know that sister of yours is a drama queen. Just give it a week or so, and she'll be alright," her grandmother lectured, rolling her old eyes. "If anything, she just was probably mad you embarrassed her in front of that Jacobs boy at that damn party ya'll went to."

Tammy considered this, sticking her bottom lip out in thought. Maybe this was true. She wasn't one to apologize over things, but she felt obligated for once to do so. She had asked her friends, Riley sucking his teeth in response and punching her in the shoulder, while Cindy only rolled her blue eyes and smacked on her cinnamon flavored gum.

If everyone was so nonchalant about it, then hey, she should be too. So, she'll just let her sister give her the cold shoulder until things heal on their own. What she did was a mistake, a big one, so just let it be.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Bri furrowed her eyebrows at the noise, rolling over in her bed to glare at her bedroom door. What is it this time? Did Grandma actually come back to yell at her some more for being so irresponsible? "Yes?" she said, her tone light and dry. There was a moment of silence before a slightly deep voice registered through the door.

"It's me…Mikey," it said.

Bri sat up instantly, her brows softening. She hadn't seen him since the other day, and here he is, knocking at her bedroom door. "Please open up. I just wanna talk," he continued, his voice soft and calm, just like it had always been. The girl sighed then, slowly moving to unlock and open the door.

Mikey stood leaning against the wall, nervously fidgeting with his fingers. He looked up to the now opened door, his sad eyes brightening at the sight of her. Bri looked at him, shifting in her baby blue pajamas, slightly frowning. "Who let you in?" she demanded, but her voice wasn't harsh.

The boy shrugged. "Your grandma."

Bri rolled her eyes, opening her bedroom door wider to allow him inside. He went to comfortably sit on the edge of her bed, folding his hands in his lap. Bri took in his appearance as she sat next to him, pulling her knees up to her chest. The boy wore black sweatpants and a long-sleeved navy blue shirt. She couldn't take her eyes off the diamond stud in his left ear, a gift she had given him a while back in Brooklyn.

Mikey looked down at his hands, not seeming to want to look in her eyes just yet. "Should we just…start over? Because.." he mumbled quietly more to himself than to her. He was never really great with apologies, and this was all new to him. At least the girl knew what he was getting at.

"I know. We kinda got off on the wrong foot the the day…didn't we?" she suggested, looking down at her own hands then. She saw him nod silently, sighing to himself.

"And, you know I'm sorry, right? Like, really sorry."

"I'm sorry too Mikey."

"So can we just like forget-"

"Uh huh, way ahead of you."

"Good."

They sat there in silence a little more before the boy continued again. "You know what was funny though?" he said, his tone in its usual humorous state. Bri looked at him expectantly.

"What?"

The boy chuckled. "When you were yelling at me, your face looked like a tomato."

Bri blushed with a small smile, punching his shoulder. She knew she was a very emotional person. "Yeah, whatever."

She watched at his laughable expression turned soft again. "I like your face though. It's all warm and soft..and you have these cute little pudgy cheeks..with just a dash of freckles even though you have to look really close to see them..and then.." his quiet voice trailed off as he continued to look at the ground with a dazed look.

Bri felt her cheeks warm, holding on to every word that flowed out his mouth. She'd never seen him spill out his feelings in front of her, especially as something so silly as her own appearance.

"And then there's this cute way how your hair sticks up to the side, as if you just put a bunch of holding gel there to keep it in place, but you don't use gel..so I'm always stuck wondering. Another thing that I can't help but think about are your eyes..so brown..and they sparkle all the time…and I just love the way they brighten at the sight of me..like I make you happy somehow.." he paused when he felt Bri's hand suddenly in his, warm and plush. He smiled, squeezing it in return. They hadn't had a tender moment like this in a while.
Michael looked in her eyes then, brown staring into brown, the small smile on her face making him warm up inside. She always did have that effect on him. He could see the almost invisible brown freckles that dotted her cheeks clearly, and her tannish complexion seeming to glow in his presence.

Bri watched his eyes flicker to their intertwined fingers. "You do make me happy," she said just as quietly as he had been, almost a whisper. She closed her eyes a bit, taking a breath, then opened them again. She just about had a heart attack when she saw his face coming closer, holding her breath. But the boy only extended a hand out to brush a stray hair from her face instead, completely oblivious to her sudden tenseness.

He noticed how close he was to her then, the personal space between them a bit gone now. He brushed her cheek bone, before slowly bringing his lips down to kiss her cheek. Bri could feel her heart pounding in her chest, not really sure how to react. The warmness of his plush lips against her cheek made her heart flutter, and everything that happened between her and Huey the previous night was now out the window. The afro-headed boy wasn't here now in her darkest hour, but Michael was.

Her eyes widened when she felt his lips on hers now, taking another breath. His hand rested on her upper thigh firmly as he leaned into the kiss, closing his eyes shut. He couldn't help but love this situation, and wanted more, his heart beating fast.

Now feeling more comfortable, the girl in front of him leaned back a little and wrapped her arms around his back, pulling him closer. His hand traveled to the curve of her hip, making her eyes open anxiously. She was in heat.

Michael was surprised as she pulled him down to her, laying back. She deepened the kiss, running her hand underneath his shirt to rest on his slender lower back, other hand reaching up to tug at his soft hair. The boy moaned against her mouth a bit, not expecting such power from her. Bri took the opportunity to slip her tongue inside, surprising herself even at all this neediness she felt inside her. Both of his hands rested on her hips firmly, but one started to drift off farther down. The girl could only moan against his touch as things started to dangerously progress.

"Dammit, ow! Chill the fuck out Reezy!" Cindy yelled as Riley yanked on her braid to get her attention. She had been ignoring him for the past ten minutes after he beat her at a round of Street Fighter. He had cheated, after all, and had told her after the fact of celebrating his victory with the celebratory booty dance.

Riley laughed. "Did yo white ass not hear me the first time? I said I was sorry," he said, smirking as he yanked on the braid again. Cindy just about growled, pushing him off of her again.

"Nigga, chill out!"

"Not until you say I accept your apology, Reezy."

"I accept your apology, Reezy."

"For real?"

"Hah, nah I'm just playing."

"Bitch."

"Nigga."

"Bitch ass nigga."

Cindy threw her head back and laughed then. This boy was too much. "Boy, please."

Riley laughed with her before coughing. "So, where Tammy's ass went?"

Cindy shrugged. Ever since Tammy came into the picture, Riley acted like he couldn't hang with her if the other girl wasn't present. Like, the fuck? "I dunno. Probably still crying about how her sister ain't talking to her no more."

"True," Riley agreed, nodding. But a small part of him still wanted the other girl with him as well.