Jalen asked Noelani, his hand already on the medium cup full of lemonade from Chick-fil-A that was on his night stand.

The two were in Jalen's bedroom, watching Stranger Things on his tv.

The door was closed and the most of the lamps were off except the tall one on the right side of his bed.

They were laying flat down under the orange covers, Noelani's legs was intermingled with his, her head resting on his bare chest and her fingers gently playing with the gold chain with his basketball number he had on.

Noelani was dressed in a sports bra and matching loose running shorts, her shirt and jeans on the edge of the bed.

Jalen's other hand was on Noelani's back, passing it back and forth over her naked spine area and holding her tightly to him.

"No. You already finished yours." Noelani responded without looking at him.

"Come on, Lani. Please?" Jalen pouted at her.

"No."

Jalen pecked her lips, "Please?"

Noelani kissed her teeth, "Fine. A sip. And I'm holding the cup."

She plucked the cup from his night stand and sat up next to him.

Jalen sat up as well and put his lips on her straw before taking the cup, pushing her away and taking a couple of gulps.

"Jalen! A sip!" Noelani laughed as she snatched the cup away from him, "Greedy ass."

"You like me though."

"Barely. Just barely."

Noelani laid back down on his chest so they could resume their previous positions, then turned her attention back to the tv, "Eleven's a badass."

"Eh. Professor X can do the same shit." Jalen responded in a dismissive tone.

"Professor X could never open another dimension. Case closed." Noelani did the 'period' motion, sliding her nails under her chin.

Downstairs, the sound of a door opening and closing echoed and Noelani immediately sat up and began to tug her gray t-shirt from her old high school on, "Your parents know I'm here right?"

"Yes, baby. For the millionth time." Jalen sighed.

Noelani went to the door and opened it wide, "Sorry. I got PTSD."

Feet beat against the carpeted staircase and Jalen's little sister Jurnee came into the room.

Jurnee stared up at Noelani for a bit, "Are you my brother's girlfriend?"

Jalen straightened up against the headboard in surprise.

"Uh," Noelani glanced at Jalen, "No. Me and him are just really, really, really close friends. I'm Noelani, but mainly everyone calls me Noel. What's your name?"

"I'm Jurnee," She turned to Jalen, "You're supposed to be taking me trick or treating tonight."

"No. I have company." Jalen responded.

"No. You're taking me." Jurnee stomped her foot.

"No. I'm not."

"Mom!" Jurnee yelled then ran out of the room, back downstairs.

"You should take your sister out. I'll just see you tomorrow at school." Noelani swiped her hair out her eyes.

Jalen sighed but got out of bed to put a shirt on as well, "You're going too."

"I don't want to intrude." Noelani responded.

"Mom, can you braid my hair for my costume?" Jurnee's voice could be heard from down the hall.

"Not right now, give me a minute." Bree responded.

Jurnee ran back into Jalen's room, "Do you know how to braid hair?"

"Yeah." Noelani responded.

"Can you braid my hair like Jessie's from Toy Story?" Jurnee asked, hopping up and down on the balls of her feet a little.

"Yeah, of course. Ask if it's okay with your mom."

Jurnee ran out of the room again and Noelani sat on the edge of Jalen's bed.

Jurnee came back into the room, fully dressed in her Jessie costume, then planted herself on the floor between Noelani's legs.

"One braid or two?" Noelani asked.

"Two. Why aren't you dressed up?" Jurnee asked.

Jalen picked his head up from his phone with interest, watching the exchange between Noelani and his sister.

"Didn't find a good costume in time. Yours is amazing though." Noelani began to neatly part Jurnee's hair into two.

"I know right?," Jurnee grinned, "I wanted to make sure I was the only one in my class that went as a Disney character."

"I remember one time, I think it was third grade, me and this other girl both dressed up as Tinkerbell and..." Noelani started to braid one section of Jurnee's hair.

And there it was again.

That flighty, butterfly like feeling in Jalen's abdomen appeared, similar to the way he felt a couple of nights ago in San Francisco with her.

"Jalen! Come downstairs!" Bree, his mother called up to him.

"I'll be back." Jalen left his bedroom to head downstairs.

In the kitchen was his mother, washing the dirty dishes in the sink.

"So, things are getting serious, huh?" Bree said, her back turned to him as she washed a red dinner plate.

"What's getting serious?" Jalen responded putting his basketball bag down in one of the chairs placed near the kitchen table, "What are you talking about?"

"Uh, the girl currently braiding my daughter's hair. Been spending a lot of time with her lately."

The comment made Jalen smile a bit, "Uh, yeah. I guess I have. Lani's tough."

This made Bree pause, "I thought her name was Noel."

"Well it is. Her full name is Noelani but I call her Lani." Jalen shrugged.

"You must really like this girl, huh?"

Jalen slowly nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm starting to. We're just getting to know each other."

There was a tiny pause then Bree spoke, "I like her. I think you should keep her around."

Jalen furrowed his brows, "You do? You've only had like three conversations with her."

"I know. I like her, despite how we met," Bree shot Jalen a knowing glance.

"A coworker of mine was at your last game in my place and he overheard her defending you to some guys in the crowd," Bree turned to face Jalen, "I'm not ready to call her daughter in law or nothin', but I don't think you're lonely anymore. And that's enough for me right now."

Jalen was giving Bree a stunned and dumbfounded look, "Uh, you're right. I'm not lonely anymore."

Bree chuckled then turned around back to the sink, "Can you ask if she can make it to dinner the week after homecoming? She's your date, right?"

"I haven't asked her. I don't know if I wanna go just yet." Jalen shrugged again.

"Oh." Bree responded in a clear, judgmental tone.

"You think I should?"

"It's your senior year. Of course you sho-."

Before Bree could finish her sentence, Jurnee came racing into the kitchen, her hair now in two braided pigtails with red bows to tie off the ends, "Mom, look at my hair!"

Noelani stood at the entrance of the kitchen, now fully dressed and her arms crossed.

"It looks amazing sweetie! Go put your shoes on."

Jurnee ran back to Noelani's side and started to pull her arm, "Is it okay if Noel comes trick or treating with me instead of Jalen?"

Noelani snickered a little.

"How about both of you go?" Bree suggested.

Jurnee tugged Noelani to the front door and then out of the house, "Come on," She dragged the word out.

"If you don't watch out, Jurnee's gonna steal your girlfriend." Bree joked.

"Hahaha." Jalen responded sarcastically.

Jalen was so eager to leave the room that he conveniently forgot to correct his mother.

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