Prologue

"Oh, she may be weary. And young girls, they do get wearied."
- Otis Redding

She was trying so hard to stay calm.

The girl whispered something into his ear, and he smirked in response, gripping her hand and leading them down the hall to her next class.

"What an ass." Her best friend Cindy remarked. "It's been what, two weeks?"

"Three and a half." Jazmine corrected her. "You'd think he would at least wait. Guys are such jerks. Even him."

"Especially him." Cindy tossed her backpack over her shoulder. "l hope you move on soon. That way you can really stick it to him when he comes crawling back."

Jazmine tried to ignore the warm feeling of hope rising to the surface. "I hope not. I'm done this time. It's over."

"Uh huh." Cindy made it clear that she didn't believe a word her friend was saying. "Sure."

"I'm serious." Jazmine glared at her. "This is really it this time."

Huey snorted from behind her and stared over at Cindy. "They broke up, again, huh?"

"Yup." Cindy leaned onto her locker and grinned at her best friend's brother. "Want to place a bet? No entry fee is required."

"Absolutely." He nodded. "Is there a prize?"

"I'm standing right here you know." Jazmine pouted. "Heartbroken. Depressed. Forever alone."

"A thousand bucks for you if I'm right." Cindy leaned on Jazmine's shoulder. "All I want if I win is for you to perform a song. Preferably a selection previously performed by a wrongfully accused musical genius. With choreography."

" Dizzy, , Say Wrongz, and are not wrongfully accused victims." Huey rolled his eyes. "But I do need money for a part to my car."

"I'm falling into the abyss!" Jazmine crumpled against her locker dramatically. "No. More. Joy."

"Let's get into specifics." Cindy placed her thumb on her chin and then shrugged. "We need to set clear guidelines around collection of payment."

"Exactly." Huey rubbed his hands together. "Are they back together when they kiss again, or are they back together when they're an official couple again?"

"Does it matter?" Cindy mused. "The two normally happen around the same time."

"Trust me." Huey intercepted Jazmine's locker door with his foot just in time. "It matters."

"When they are a couple again." Cindy decided, snapping her fingers. "Oh! Let's make it interesting."

"More interesting than me getting a thousand dollars for something that's inevitable?" Huey turned around to check out a girl walking past. He turned his head back to Cindy and laughed. It was almost too easy. "Are you sure?"

"Yep." Cindy stepped over Jazmine, who had made a show of falling onto the ground. "If you can somehow get her to move on, I'll toss in another thousand bucks."

"You guys don't love me." Jazmine groaned from her spot on the ground. "The people who loved me wouldn't treat me this way."

"Even better." Huey shook her hand. "Now, I just have to find someone who would be crazy enough to date this lovestruck shell of a human being."

"Still standing here!" Jazmine huffed. "Just because you two don't have feelings, it doesn't mean that I can't. I have loved, and I have lost. It's way better than having never loved at all."

"You've loved and lost about five times." Huey finally acknowledged the girl. "I'd say you're worst off than the both of us."

"Hey!" Cindy grabbed a shirt out of Jazmine's locker. "This is mine!"

"Three weeks." Huey said. "Got that, white girl?"

"It's not." Jazmine snatched the shirt out of Cindy's hands. "So keep your hands off my stuff and...wait, what did he say?"

"I give it three weeks until she's back with Vince or dating somebody else." He smirked at the girls before smoothly shifting directions. He was headed to his class on the opposite end of the hall. "You'll see. I won't be shucking and jiving for Master Fearsome any time soon."

"Even though his hater response is a bit much, we both know he's right." Cindy laughed and stared over at Jazmine, watching him disappear. "I might as well pay him right now. You and Vince are so getting back together."

"We don't know anything." Jazmine shrugged and tossed her long hair behind her. "Have some faith. Get that song choice ready. When the clock strikes twelve in three weeks, I won't be with Vince, and I'll have a front row seat to my best friend humiliating himself."

"Yeah…" Cindy patted the teen's shoulder. "Keep believing that. I've got class. Bye!"

Jazmine stared blankly as the bell rang loudly. She didn't even bother heading to class. She was late again. So what if she was missing the exhilarating world of Latin? Those people were dead. They wouldn't hold it against her.

"I'm not going back this time." Jazmine grumbled, already on her way out of the door. "They'll see."

It was a nice day out. The birds were chirping. The sun was bright. And he wasn't in that godawful drama class reciting Shakesperean novels to Uriam Kent.

He was definitely excited that he didn't have to spend another hour of his life doing that.

Skipping was one of the best concepts teenagers had invented. Especially when you were missing class to see the latest Star Wars movie without any irritating distractions.

"Huey!" A familiar voice shouted behind him. "Wait up!"

He rolled his eyes. "Vince actually went to that girl's house. I think it's right over there."

"What?" Her head snapped over to the house that Huey had motioned to. "That asshole. Hold up. I'll be right back."

"I lied." Huey chuckled when Jazmine whacked his arm. "He's not over there."

"Then why say it?" She made a funny face. "How juvenile."

"It's not my fault you won't put your foot down." Huey kept walking. He pulled out his phone to double check the movie showing times. "How can you expect for things to change when you keep taking him back the minute he asks?"

She ignored him for a moment and then sighed.

"You're right." She looked over at him and changed the subject. "Where are you off to?"

Huey lifted his phone and looked at his friend. "New Star Wars movie. Heading to see it. Wanna come?"

"Hell no." She turned in the opposite direction. "You and your nerd movies are soulmates. I'd never want to come in between you two."

"I'm inviting you." He wasn't sure why he was dragging her alongside him, but she wasn't protesting. "It'll be fun. You'll see."

It had not been fun.

Jazmine had dozed off several times, and when she woke up towards the end, she'd found herself drooling on Huey's bicep.

He was so wrapped in the movie that he didn't seem to care. When the credits finally appeared on the screen, he watched them intently, only pausing to shoot her a warning look after she had apparently popped up too soon for his liking.

When the lights slowly brightened, Huey brought his hands to both armrests and playfully slapped them down. "You have finally experienced real cinema."

When she didn't say anything, he lifted his arm and stared at it. "Well, most of it. Your drool probably saw more of it than you did."

"Whatever." Jazmine fumed. "Your stupid movie was boring. It wasn't all that."

"You have to actually watch a movie to have a valid critique on it." Huey was walking down the ramp of the empty theater behind her. "The Star Wars movies can actually be applied to real life. Something that you would benefit from greatly."

"Uh huh." Jazmine stopped to glance at a poster. "Look, Huey! They're doing a MyScene Live Action movie."

"I don't know what that's supposed to mean to me." He looked away from the poster that Jazmine was pointing at. "But I'm sure you will have so much fun whenever that garbage premieres."

"Come with me." Jazmine smiled. "I came to your movie. It's only fair."

"Can't." Huey stopped walking all of a sudden and then stared at her. His voice was soft. "You'll probably be back with Vince by then."

She blinked. He blinked. Then, they burst into a fit of laughter. Neither one of them was able to breathe.

"On a serious note." Huey was still recovering from laughing so hard. He held his stomach as they entered the parking lot of the theater. "Why do you keep going back to him? Seems like a waste of time."

"You wouldn't understand." Jazmine shook her head. "I love him."

"Jazmine, I'm a year older than you." He snorted. "I skipped a grade. I've been taken into custody by Homeland Security several times. I've been in two serious relationships-"

"Three months older. And no, you haven't." Jazmine put her hands on her hips and stared at him when he opened his mouth to protest. "You were only serious about Arielle. You and poor Brooklyn didn't stand a chance. So technically, you've been in one serious relationship."

"I liked Brooklyn." Huey objected, staring at her in surprise. "Just because it didn't work out, it doesn't mean that I didn't care about her."

"Is that why you cheated on her with Arielle for three months?" Jazmine glanced over at his wide mouthed expression. "Because you cared so much?"

"I did not cheat on Brooklyn." Huey stopped walking to stand in front of her. "Arielle and I were just friends."

"Friends don't look at friends the way that you looked at her back then." Jazmine swatted at a bug whizzing past. "You and Arielle were together for most of your high school career. Brooklyn made it for a few months after middle school. After that, you were riding the train of love with Ms. Nordstrom."

"Jazmine, shut up." Huey kept walking. "It's not like you're so innocent. Didn't you end up making out with Dominic Haywood while you were with Vince two years ago? And let's not forget Scott Graham."

"I didn't cheat!" Jazmine clasped her hands together and walked slowly, kicking out one foot after another. "We were on a break!"

"You're citing the one original storyline from Friends?" He threw his head back and laughed. "That's rich."

"You can't be serious." Jazmine walked backwards just to look at him. "We just watched a three hour snoozefest…"

"A two hour and thirty two minute masterpiece that perfectly illustrates the everlasting themes plaguing our society." Huey stopped and stared over at a familiar face, snorting. "Friends is just a rip-off of a show that actually properly highlighted the Black American experience."

"You even made that sound boring." Jazmine grimaced. "Gross."

"Speaking of gross…" Huey grabbed Jazmine's attention. "Are you gonna let him get away with that right in front of you?

They both stopped and watched Vince make out with Simone Kyles. Jazmine faintly recognized the girl from their brief interactions at school. Her ex was tonguing the girl down in broad daylight, and even though Jazmine knew that she shouldn't, she felt sad all of a sudden.

"What do you want me to do?" Jazmine tore her eyes away. "He doesn't want me."

"I want you to stop letting him walk all over you!" Huey shouted. "Seriously, how long is this going to continue?"

"I love him!" Jazmine was already walking away. To where, she didn't know. "You wouldn't-"

"You're right." He turned around to look over at Vince and Simone, who had moved over to the hood of his car. "I wouldn't. Ever."

When he noticed that his friend was starting to tear up, he caught up to her, his voice softer.

"Jazmine..."

"He's never going to change, is he?" Jazmine fell to the sidewalk. Her head in her hands. "I just don't get how a guy can be crazy about you one day, and then the next day rolls around, and you're just nothing!"

Huey sat next to her, in deep thought for a moment.

"Then let's get him back." Huey shrugged. He reached out his hand and pulled her up so that they could walk side by side. "I'll help you to get every guy in a ten-mile radius to treat you with the respect you deserve. You'll have options, and you'll have a new relationship to get excited about."

"And you'll get two thousand bucks." Jazmine mulled it over. "Seems like a completely fair trade."

"Not my fault you didn't negotiate when you had the chance." Huey slowed down when they got closer to their homes. "Later on, I'm going to put an important booklet into your mailbox. It's important that you read it thoroughly. We'll review it in the morning."

"A book?" Jazmine was dumbfounded. "How is some stupid book going to help me with dating?"

"I originally made it for Granddad." Huey said it as if every teenage boy wrote self-help books for others in their spare time. "Riley used it most recently, so the jury's still out on him. Caesar used it and has been in a relationship with Cindy for almost two years now. Granddad used it, and he's planning on proposing to Ebony Brown next weekend." He paused dramatically and nodded. "And now, I'll be able to do the same for you."

"If your advice is so great, why aren't you dating anyone?" Jazmine looked over to her house. Her parents weren't home yet. "How can you help me if you can't help yourself?"

"Once you read my guide to dating, you'll be able to understand why I am able to make healthy choices for the sake of myself and others." He lifted a hand to stop her next comment. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a phone call to make. Some of us explore our options at this age and casually date like regular people."

"Be sure to tell Homeland Security about that next time." Jazmine strolled over to her house. "I'm sure they would love to hear all about their favorite regular domestic terrorist."

"My success rate speaks for itself." He laughed and glided to the front door. His phone was already out, and when he propped it open, he shouted. "Mailbox tonight! There's a pop quiz on Chapter One, tomorrow! Don't be late!"

Jazmine turned around to yell something back, but he was already inside of the house. She pushed the door of her own home open and headed to her room, wondering how some dumb book could possibly change her life.

Author's Note:

If you're a mod, can you at least PM me before erasing the names on my stories?! It's seriously ridiculous how many times entire lines that I've written mysteriously disappear in ways they don't on other platforms.