Aaliyah dreaded going to school. She laid in bed as the alarm endlessly went off, reminding her that it was time to face reality. She sighed and forced herself to get up and get ready. She texted Elijah that she was waiting for him to pick her up and he texted her that he was on her way. On her way out of her room, she spots the Queen album she bought earlier last week and stops and thinks for a moment. Before she knew it, she was stuffing it in her bag and walking out the door.

She and Elijah silently sat next to each other in the car, letting the music fill the silence instead. "Can't we listen to something else?" She asked.

Elijah looks up at her as they stop at a stoplight. "What's wrong with Travis Scott?" He asks her.

"Nothing," she quickly answers. "I️ just, rather not hear something so...loud, in the morning," she tells him.

Elijah looks over at her and rolls his eyes. "Okay...so what do you wanna hear?"

She holds her hand out for his phone and and he hesitantly gives it to her. She types in some music and hits "play". Soft R&B fills the car, and gives her a sense of peace.

"I️ think you're truly something special..."

And then he changes the song.

"Hey!"

"You tryna make me fall asleep or something?" He snaps. "Damn, get outcho fuckin' feelings bro."

Aaliyah's jaw dropped at hearing that. She scoffs and looks out the window, wondering how long it was until they reached school so she could get the hell out of this car. Elijah and her simply got out the car once he parked. No "see you later", "have a good day", no kiss, nothing. Just a frigid ass nod like she was one of his homeboys and then he moved on. Aaliyah rolled her eyes and made her way to her homeroom so she could get her new schedule.

She walked in and noticed Carolina was already in there, looking over her schedule and texting. Aaliyah boldly walked forward and sat down next to her, still not getting her attention. She must've been ignoring her on purpose.

"How long do you plan on ignoring me?" Aaliyah asks as she looks over her new schedule for the spring semester.

"Until I️ don't feel like it anymore," was all she replied with.

The bell rings, signaling it was time to switch classes. Carolina got up first, followed by Aaliyah who quickly caught up with her. "Carolina, please. I️ already apologized. What more do you want from me?" Aaliyah asks, exasperated. "You're my best friend, okay? I️ need you more than you think," she pleads.

Carolina eyes her up and down dubiously. "God you're needy," she scoffs. But then playfully rolls her eyes and opens up her arms for a hug. "Okay, fine, you win," she giggles. "I'm sorry for being such a bitch," she now apologized. "We cool?"

"Definitely," Aaliyah smiles. They then walk side by side for a bit, looking for their next class. "So...you and-"

"Oh! I️ found my class. Text me!" Carolina abruptly leaves, waving goodbye. Aaliyah weakly smiles back but her face drops to a frown once more. Aaliyah walks in her social studies class and sees Jackson sitting towards the back, furiously texting somebody. She sees his face contort into annoyance before he slams down the phone on the desk, screen facing down. He then catches her eyes, looking back at her before looking away. She quickly takes her seat in the front as the teacher comes up behind her and yells at everyone to sit down.

"Everyone find your seats!" He says, startling her into the first desk she sees. "Good morning class, I'm Mr. Harkins and I'll be your American History teacher," he introduced. "Now before I️ get started, I️ just want to get this out the way now. Every year, and you may have heard this from past or other studies, I️ conduct a genealogy project that is to be presented and graded at the end of this semester," he explains. "Now, I️ do understand that due to our country's past history of slavery, that this project is a bit harder for our African American students," he points out. "But don't worry, I'm very mindful of that and won't take any points off if cannot trace your ancestry past a certain point," he says. "But the point of this project is to understand who you are and where you come from and how that makes you the person you are today."

A few students buzz around with excitement while a couple look like they don't even want to do it. Aaliyah being one of them.

Mr. Harkins was pulling up a welcome PowerPoint when he said, "Oh! And everyone must partner up! I️ honestly love it when students get to know each other more," he adds. Everyone now bursts in excitement at the possibility of working with a friend, except Aaliyah who didn't really have any...friends.

And Aaliyah didn't know who to blame for that happening. Aaliyah looked around and saw her old friends, Maria Vazquez and Jariana Mitchell pair up and she frowned. When she and Elijah started dating, Aaliyah definitely used to have a lot more friends outside Carolina. There was Maria, Jariana, Noemi, Carolina and Stasy. And then one by one, she started falling off with all of them until one remained.

Elijah purposely cut her off of her friends. And she was too stupid back then to realize what he was doing. Jariana and Stasy had most definitely been the most vocal and concerned about her relationship with Elijah, but he had put it in her had that they were being jealous and petty. And then she blew up on them and now look where she was at. Alone.

Noemi was the next to go. Maria soon followed after. All four girls tried and failed to save Aaliyah from her abusive relationship before it was too late. But all she did was push them away. Or rather, Elijah did through her.

Jackson tried to do the save thing. Except his approach was different from the other girls. He tried to save her through his love.

Like he always does...

And yet it wasn't enough. Now she lost him too, thanks to Elijah.

Aaliyah just watched as everyone paired up, too shy to ask someone and too scared of rejection. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Jackson standing behind her, hands in pockets. "Hey-"

"You wanna work together? I️ don't know anybody else here," he cuts to the chase, his voice devoid of all emotion. She simply nods and he picks up his bag and moves to sit next to her, not saying anything else, not even looking at her. Aaliyah lowered her eyes and turned forward to look at the board as the teacher explained the syllabus.

Once class ended, Jackson quickly walked out, leaving Aaliyah to rush after him. "Jack! Jack, hold up-"

He stops and she almost crashes into his back. He turns around, a menacing look on his face that makes her back up a bit in fear. "Let's get this straight, I️ don't wanna talk to you," he admits, the words hurting more than when Elijah punched her at homecoming. "I️ only choose you as my partner cause you were the only one I️ knew. We're only gonna talk about the project and nothing more, alright?" He said harshly. Aaliyah simply nodded to his words, not wanting to anger him further. He then turned and walked off, not looking back.

* * * *

"Damn...that's tough," Elijah says, coming up behind Carolina as they both watch the interaction between Aaliyah and Jackson. "Dude still mad? It's been like a month bro."

Carolina turns around and shoves Elijah into a nearby pillar. "What did you do!?" She whispers-tells at him.

"Ayo, chill! Whatchu' mean?" He asks.

Carolina looks back and sees Aaliyah walk the other direction, looking defeated. "Look at her! She's so broken...what have you done?" She asks again, demanding to know.

Elijah shrugs. "What I️ always do," was his answer.

Carolina glares at him once more before pressing her lips against his, pulling him in for a kiss. "Well whatever it is, it's working!" She says giddily. "I️ found some dirt on Jackson," she spills.

"Oh yeah?" He smirks down at her. "What's up?"

Carolina grins up at him. "I'm not gonna tell you silly," She bops his nose, "Cause then you'll know too, and I️ can't have that," she laughs. "Just know, he'll do anything for her. He may be mad now, but it won't be forever, I'm sure."

"Man I️ miss you though," Elijah says, looking for at her now. Carolina looks up at him now with an eyebrow raised. "For real! When we gon hook up? Aaliyah won't even let me kiss her, let alone fu-"

"Ugh, shut up," Carolina scoffs, rolling her eyes. "Your family still going out of town like you said they were?" She asked.

Elijah rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yeah, they still leaving," he tells her. "You sure you wanna do this? She doing a real good job staying in her place-"

"What? You getting soft now?" She asked him. "I️ wanna knock her down a peg...or five," she tells him. "Besides, don't you think once Jackson sees this, he'll want absolutely nothing to do with her?" She asks him. "Plus, it'll be one hell of a party," she smirks. "A night no one will forget. So are you in?" She asks.

Elijah looks up thoughtfully, and Carolina almost thought he was gonna back out when he finally agrees. "Alright," he says, "I'm on it."

* * * *

Hi. I'm kinda drunk. Anyways.