SZA's voice coursed into her ears like blood, her voice like honey, singing about opening herself up for the right person.

The door opened and Nimari swept through the classroom before landing at his usual seat next to her.

The two hadn't really talked since homecoming and Noelani missed her friend.

But on the other hand, she wasn't about to apologize for being with someone who made her genuinely happy.

Plucking out an AirPod, Noelani immediately turned towards Nimari.

"I-." The two started simultaneously then stopped at hearing the other person speak.

"I'm sorry how I came at you for getting with Jalen. It's not my business, I just care about you that's all." Nimari said in a low tone.

"I appreciate it. I'm sorry for ghosting you. We cool?"

Nimari grinned, "Yeah. Yeah, we're cool."

The intercom phone, that was hung on the wall by the door, rang and the teacher quickly went to answer it.

The teacher nodded to whoever was on the other end of the line then looked at Noelani.

She groaned, already knowing who was on the other end.

"Noelani, your dad-," The teacher let out a fake cough, "Principal Morales wants you."

Noelani rolled her eyes but rose from her desk, sliding her phone into the back pocket of her jeans and hitting play on the music, her bag on her shoulder.

She slipped out of the classroom and into the empty hallway, while SZA continued to sing about her lover being genuine.

The desk where Alejandro's secretary usually sat, was empty and the door to his office was open.

Noelani hit pause on her phone then went inside the office and closed the door.

Alejandro's office was a neutral beige, the paint covered by his framed college diplomas.

His furniture was in a dark wooden finish and the man at the desk was clearly distressed, his head in his hands.

Alejandro picked his head up at the sound of Noelani closing the door and evident relief on his face.

"How are you?" Alejandro asked.

"I'm good." Noelani stated, keeping her stance over by the closed door.

"What do you want for Christmas? I was thinking maybe a new surfb-,"

"Stop it. Enough with the small talk. Why am I here?"

"Come on, Noel. I'm trying to make amends."

Noelani screwed her face up, "You know when people usually make amends, they start with the words 'I am sorry'. Not ask a bunch of arbitrary questions."

Alejandro stood and dragged a hand down the length of his face, "Where have you been the past week?"

"I've been sleeping in the guest room at Jalen's house and getting clothes when I knew your house was empty. His parents were cool enough to let me stay." Noelani responded in a frosty tone, "Is that it? Because I'm supposed to be in my study hall right now."

Alejandro sighed, "Can you just... Can you just come home?"

Noelani raised an eyebrow, "For what? There's nothing for me there besides Blue and Cin'."

"They miss you, ya know? They sleep in your room."

Noelani stared at her father for a moment then snickered, "Oh, they miss me, huh? They do but not you, huh?"

Alejandro's face got red slightly, "What do you want from me here?"

Noelani gave her father another astounded stare, "Nothing. I want nothing from you ever again."

"God, stop being so dramatic Noel. First, the doctors office, now this." Alejandro shook his head.

Noelani scoffed, "You are so... I can't believe you sometimes! How can everyone see the problem so clearly but you?"

"Spell the problem out for me then! Since I'm apparently the reason that you act so closed off, just go ahead and tell me what else is wrong!"

"I saw you! I saw you with Erin that night on the beach! Mom told me that you were working late and when I saw your truck driving up I got confused as to why you weren't coming right inside! I saw everything!"

With every word that Noelani spoke, Alejandro's face grew paler and paler.

"And I waited, and waited for you to speak up. To tell the truth and man up! But you never did, you just acted like everything was fine until you up and left me for California! I told you at the beginning of all this, that I didn't wanna be here with you. All I see when I look at you is your moving truck driving down the street without so much as a goodbye! So yeah, you're the reason why I'm so messed up!"

Noelani had balled her hands into fists, her body shaking slightly due to her anger.

Her kickboxing skills were internally begging to be used and Alejandro's torso was starting to look like a good place to start.

"I never knew that you saw that night. I would've never... I didn't..." Alejandro started then broke off, putting his head into hands again.

"It's too late for you to be a father to me. You chose who mattered more and you don't get to try and force me to forgive you. God, why can't you just leave me alone?" Noelani pleaded.

"Fine. I'll leave you alone, I'll do whatever you want, just come home. Please. I'm begging." Alejandro's tone was so forlorn that it made Noelani pause.

The bell rang, breaking the tension just a fraction.

It was a half day so she knew that the students were in the hallway packing up to go home.

"I'll think about it." Noelani slipped out of the office without another word.

The secretary had returned and was giving Noelani a pitying look, clearly having had overheard some of the conversation between her and her father.

Noelani shot her a polite smile that made the secretary look away then quickly made her way back into the hallway.

She turned into the southern hallway where Jalen's locker was and luckily he was already there.

"Hey, bab-. What's wrong?" Jalen asked, his eyes throughly scanning her face.

Noelani shook her head, "Not here."

Jalen slammed his locker shut and put his arm around her shoulders, effectively pulling her into his side.

Noelani could feel the tears she had pushed down in front of her father start to make her eyes glisten and ache slightly from the pressure.

But she waited until she was safely behind Jalen's tinted windows before letting them flow free down her face silently.

Noelani might've been able to not place trust in her father but she knew she could place her trust in her boyfriend, at the very least.

The song I'm talking about in the chapter is above

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