Connected For Life

Khiry soon left Angel behind in middle school and moved on to high school. Angel became a loner, avoiding large crowds and never speaking to anyone, like when he left her back in elementary.

Khiry had begun dating girls here and there. He would tell Angel about them, but it was never a topic he like to get into detail about. He would always say it wasn’t important and that those girls didn’t hold his interest for very long.

Now it was Angel’s first day of high school. Khiry promised to look out for her and not let anything come between them. He didn’t want a repeat of middle school. Angel assumed that this is what worried him, the morning of her first day. He walked her into the school, barely speaking to her. She hadn’t seen this side of him in quite a while. But, Angel thought about it and realized he hadn’t been himself for a few days now. She brushed it off, for now. He walked her into the hallways and once again attempted to introduce her to some new friends.

“Hey guys, this is my girl Angel,” he said. “Angel, this is Ray, Khaleel, Vicky, and Annette.”

“Does Alana know about your girl, here?” Vicky asked.

“Here we go again,” Angel thought to herself.

“I don’t mean my girl, like my lady. I mean my girl, like my best friend,” Khiry explained.

“Who’s Alana?” Angel asked, curiously.

Alana walks up behind them. “Who wants to know?” she asked.

Angel and Khiry turned around. Then Khiry gives Alana a hug.

“Oh hey baby, this is Angel, my best friend that I told you about,” he says, pointing at Angel. “Angel, this is my girlfriend, Alana. I was hoping you can show Angel around. You know, make her feel comfortable,” he says to Alana.

Alana surveyed Angel from head to toe.

“I can do that for you,” she tells him.

“Thanks,” he says and gives her a kiss on the cheek. “Hey guys, let’s go get some breakfast,” he says to his boys as they began walking away.

As soon as they were gone, Alana started in on Angel.

“So, you and Khiry grew up together?” she asked her.

“Yeah,” Angel said uncomfortably.

She had a feeling that this was not going to be a friendly conversation. That feeling was confirmed when Alana leered at her. Angel could hear the roar of thunder in her head as the storm cloud of Alana’s anger began to circle above.

“Well, let me get a few things straight with you,” Alana said, crossing her arms over her chest, and shifting her weight from one leg to the other. “I’m hanging with you only because Khiry asked me to. We are not friends, and probably never will be.” She walked closer to Angel. “I don’t like you,” she told her in a superior tone. Khiry goes on and on about you and it makes me sick to my stomach.

A smile played at the corners of Angel’s mouth. She could not believe this girl was jealous of her and Khiry.

“Are you feeling threatened, Alana?” Angel asked. “You do know it’s not like that between Khiry and I.”

Alana let out a huff. “Why would I feel threatened by you? I mean after all; you’ve known him most of his life and he was never with you. I’ve only known him for a few months. Besides,” Alana continued as she flipped her hair, “you don’t have the looks to compete with me. You see, I’m beauty and you’re the beast,” she said as she jabbed her right-hand fingers into Angel’s shoulder. “Know your place in this school, and with Khiry. I don’t want to have to embarrass you. Now,” taking a deep breath, “what’s you first class?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll find it myself,” Angel said, walking away.

She went into the girl’s bathroom and hid in a stall until the bell rang for her first class. She asked the teachers for help to find each class. She would see Alana around, yet never spoke to her.

Later that day, at lunch, when Angel came into the cafeteria, she spotted Khiry in the corner, alone. She hurried over there before anyone else got to him.

“Hey friend,” she said as she approached the table and placed her food tray down.

“Hey, where’s Alana? He asked looking around for her.

“I ditched her,” she said.

“Okay,” Khiry said, with a chuckle.

“Why haven’t you told me about her?” she asked, as she began opening her milk. “You always tell me everything.

Khiry’s forehead creased. “I don’t know. I guess it just didn’t seem important,” he replied.

“You know she’s a b***h, right”

Khiry chuckles again. “Yeah, I know.”

“How often does my name come up in a conversation between you two?”

Khiry thought for a moment.

“I don’t know. Why?” he asked.

“Alana doesn’t like my, Khiry,” Angel replied.

“What are you talking about? She doesn’t even know you.”

“It doesn’t matter. She’s obviously sick of hearing my name come out your mouth. She went off on me this morning. She was saying things like, I’m his girl and know your place,” she said putting her hands on her hips, trying to roll her neck like Alana.

“You know what? I could just leave her alone,” he said.

Angel placed her hand on his arm. “Don’t do that again. You keep your friends. I’ll be alright,” she said to him.

“Nope, I’ve learned from the last time. I won’t abandon you again, not while I still have control over it.”

Angel’s eyes tightened. She wondered what he meant.

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Angel, I have something important to tell you,” he said as he grabbed her hand. He put his head down and took a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He had a worried look on his face. His forehead creased, as if he were trying to figure something out. Just when his mouth flew open to talk, Ray and Khaleel came out of nowhere and sat down.

“Hey, what’s the deal?” Ray greeted them.

He sat down across from Khiry. Khiry dropped Angel’s hand and slumped back in his seat. He seemed a little upset that the boys had come to sit with them.

“Dude, did you see that new teacher, Ms. Stanford?” Khaleel asked. “Ooh, that thing is fine. I but you I’ll f**k that,” popping a spoon of food into his mouth.

Ray smacked his teeth, and said, “Man, you ain’t f*****g no teacher.”

Angel wondered what was on Khiry’s mind, but he never spoke, not even to ask the guys to leave.

Eventually the girls came to sit with them and he seemed to become even more annoyed. Everyone squeezed in at the small table. There was no place net to Khiry for Alana to sit, and she just had to sit next to him. She was beginning to behave like an animal trying to claim its territory.

She stood behind Angel’s chair. “Angel, can you move over so that I can sit next to my boo?”

Suddenly Khiry snapped. “No, she’s not getting up for you,” he shouted in frustration.

Alana’s mouth fell open.

“What? You don’t want me to sit next to you?” she asked.

“I didn’t say that,” he said, trying to calm himself down, “but why make her get up? Why not just sit in another chair?”

“Why can’t she sit at another table? Alana asked angrily.

“She was here first,” he replied.

“Why are you taking up for her?” Vicky jumped in. “Alana’s your girl.”

“Why are you in my business?” Khiry asked her.

Vicky rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying, man. That’s wrong.”

“Oh, and the s**t she told Angel after I left this morning was right?” Khiry asked, as he sat up straight in his chair. “You see, that’s y’all f*****g problem. Y’all think Alana is a f*****g queen or something. She can’t do anything wrong in y’all eyes. But she’s not gonna be disrespecting Angel like that!”

“Well, if you would talk about something other than Angel, maybe she wouldn’t have said those things,” Annette added.

“Another one in my business.”

“Well, she’s right, Khiry. All I hear all day is Angel this and Angel that,” said Alana.

Khiry looked at her. “Oh, so you thought that you could intimidate her into not being my friend. Let me tell you something. This girl and I have been friends for a long time. You can’t break that up. She was there before you and for damn sure gonna be there after you. You could believe that. We connected for life, you here me.”

“I guess I’ll go find another table to sit at,” said Alana.

She turned to walk away, but Khiry stopped her.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll go somewhere else,” he told her. “Come on, Angel.”

They got up and left the cafeteria. They went to the outdoor break area and sat under a secluded tree. Angel had never seen him get that angry. She wondered what was the source of it, but was afraid to ask him.

They sat under the tree for about five minutes. Angel stared at the ground and Khiry stared at her. He noticed a stray hair had escaped from her ponytail and was dangling in her face. He reached over and gently brushed it away.

“Did I scare you back there?” he asked, in a soft soothing voice.

“A little. You seemed a little irritated,” she replied, still not looking at him.

“I’m just sick of being around all of those other people,” he said taking a deep breath. “I just wanted to be alone with you, for just a second. Being popular is nice and all, but those people are not my friends. You’re my only friend, Angel. No matter what happens in the future, you and I will always be a part of each other’s lives. I want you to remember that.”

“There he goes again, talking like he’s going to die tomorrow,” she thought.

The bell rang for them to return to class.

When they stood up, he grabbed her hand. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your class,” he said.

When they got to her class, she began to ho in, but he wouldn’t free her hand. She looked at him, and it seemed as if he wanted to say something, but he just didn’t know how to say it.

He looked down at his feet for a moment, and then stared into her eyes, just as he did in the lunch room. “I’ll see you after school?’ he asked.

“Yeah, of course,” she replied.

He released her hand and walked away.