Alliyah

She went home and stressed out for the following 24 hours. Re-thinking what she said, overthinking what she was going to say, and pondering whether that present was the right thing to give.

She asked Rayne to be at Central Park at 7:30 pm. She wanted it to be their secret but ended up calling Blue just 30 minutes before the date:

“What if she doesn’t feel the same? What if she doesn’t see how important the portrait is?”

“I would say it shows its own value, but you refused to show me!“

“I want her to be the first one to see it.”

Alliyah gripped the pendant that she had been wearing since her birthday night.

“Well, I’m sure she will know. And hand on my heart, from what you’ve said I think she does feel the same.” He reassured her.

“Right…. Right?” Alliyah panted.

“Right!”

“I should go get ready. Whatever happens, I should at least look good.”

“You always look great!”

“Don’t flirt with me, I’m trying to make her my girlfriend!”

Blue chuckled, and she felt herself her jaw loosen up.

“Alright, go get ready, sweets. Good luck. It will be alright.”

“Okay, thanks. Don’t forget to swing by to check on Lamar, I don't want him alone for too long after the… Thing. Okay, bye, Love you.”

She took a deep breath, feeling the scar on her head, and went on to get dressed. She’d chosen the outfit previously: blue (non-ripped) jeans, a white t-shirt, and a denim jacket with a sewed-on patch on the chest.

It felt odd walking her way to the park, she used her skateboard so often, even back in Detroit and San Francisco. She looked down at the shoelace serving as a belt for her pants and fiddled with it.

Alliyah was marching by the plant store (which she hadn’t visited yet because she held a grudge that it replaced her favorite pen store) when she peered to her left and once again caught Malcolm standing in front of the mysterious building! He nervously glanced over his shoulder, though it seemed he didn’t spot her on the other side of the road.

She made a mental note of interrogating him one more time about that place he secretly visited so much. If he didn’t answer she’d give up once and for all. However, at that moment she just kept walking, given that she was already operating on a tight schedule.

She was nervous while waiting at the park, but couldn’t entirely help smiling at the beauty of the trees: they were so colorful! She adored the colors of Autumn: golden, red, brown-

Rayne!

She was right on time! Alliyah was exhilarated that she didn’t have to anxiously wait any longer. But the backpack that she gripped in her hands still made her notably uneasy.

As Rayne neared, she took a long look at her, contemplating her outstanding beauty.

She was wearing one of her signature plaid skirts, black stockings covering her pale legs up to the knees, - Alliyah wondered if to hide the knee injury - and a leather jacket with a few colorful pins on the fold and some spikes on the shoulders.

“Good evening.” Alliyah greeted, still eyeing the other girl up and down, and smiled, noticing that she was also wearing a choker with a small dangling heart.

“Hi. I love your jacket. Is it new?” Rayne reached out to brush the fabric on the other girl’s forearm.

“Yes. Actually, Z gave it to me on my birthday, but I hadn’t worn it. I’m surprised you noticed since I have a few.”

Rayne simply replied with a soft smile, which Alliyah reciprocated by cocking her head and letting out a sigh.

“So…” Her eyes dropped to Alliyah’s feet. “Is that for me?”

“Indeed…”

She gulped, unzipping the backpack and handing her the portrait she drew of her for months, using only a pencil. It wasn’t framed, it was simply wrapped in a large envelope.

“I wasn’t going to give you this. When you see it, you’ll know why. I hope. But even though it’s difficult, it’s what I have to do. Happy Belated birthday, Rayne.”

It started when they met. Alliyah simply drew her out of habit - just like she drew everyone else, from friends to strangers she thought looked interesting, to what she imagined what her parents would have looked like in the present day.

But that one night, when they briefly talked on the stoop, something inside Alliyah came to life, and she realized her growing affection for the mysterious girl and started drawing her more often and in greater depth.

Looking at all of her features in photographs, and when they were together. Studying her face, her hair, and her jaw.

It became an act of intimacy.

She admired her every day on the paper sheet too, drawing the lipstick on her lips, putting the sunshine in her eyes, and tracing the veins on her temple and the muscles on her neck.

The essence of Rayne was in that sheet but so was Alliyah’s devotion for her.

Standing under the moonlight, in the gorgeous park, Alliyah’s heart was beating fast. Up until Kenya, she wasn’t even sure she was ever going to declare it, but spending so much time with her and hearing her words at the rooftop and the private jet… And after almost losing her, she had to show her.