"Chick-Fil-A?" Joziah said as he, Keia, and Lei lounged around in the living room. The trio had finished their classes for the day and was throwing out ideas of places to eat at since they were starving. So far, their week had gone by smoothly; they took advantage of any free time they had since there wasn't any work to be done yet.

Lei hadn't spoken to Raj much since the ordeal in the car. She was ashamed to say that she felt embarrassed by it; the only other people who saw her like that before was her family — and even then, she felt embarrassed because they didn't know exactly what to do.

Deep down, Lei knew she had nothing to be embarrassed about, but the thought of Raj seeing her in pure distress made her cringe. Neither one spoke about that night since it happened, even though Raj was the one who rode to the hospital with her once the ambulance arrived on the scene.

After the accident, Lei was left with a severely injured back that she still to this day took pain meds for. She hated that she did because she was somewhat dependent on them.

"Man, I'm tired of eating that," Lei groaned, throwing her head back as she repeatedly slapped the TV remote down on her leg.

"Same, we been eating that all week for lunch." Keia yawned, sliding her hand under her shirt to rub her stomach. "How bout' Zaxby's?"

"I don't want no damn chicken," Joziah complained, sighing. He heard as both Lei and Keia sucked their teeth, beginning to mug him. "What?" he held his hands out in confusion.

"Nigga why suggest Chick-Fil-A then?" Lei rolled her eyes, "How bout Publix? I think I want a sandwich from there,"

Keia and Joziah exchanged glances as Joziah thought to himself, slowly nodding his head. "I think I could go for Publix right now; I want a wrap," he said.

"Yeah, I haven't had Publix since I been back. I highkey want a Buffalo chicken sandwich," Keia agreed, her mouth drooling, thinking about it.

"It's settled then, Publix it is." Lei tossed the remote to the side, pushing herself up from the sofa. Both Keia and Joziah got up and followed behind her; they all walked out of the house and headed towards Joziah's car. As they all got settled, Lei saw as her phone lit up as a notification came through.

💙

u busy?

Lei stared down at the text message, tapping the back of her phone. She twisted her lips to the side as she began to type back a response.

yea boutta go to publix with Keia and Jojo...

"I need y'all opinion on something," Joziah said, fiddling with the knobs to turn on the air since the heat from the sun made the car feel like an oven.

"What's up?" Keia popped her gum, texting on her phone. Lei glanced up from up hers to look up at him from the backseat.

"So remember that nigga I was fucking wit' before we left for summer?" he coughed into his fist before clearing his throat.

"Yeah, what about him?" Lei raised an eyebrow, still watching him.

"So he wants to make things official between us..." he trailed off; both Lei and Keia squealed in excitement, doing little dances. "But—"

"But?" Lei interrupted him, dropping her hands into her lap. "Don't tell me you having second thoughts about him, Jojo?"

"Forreal, he's the first guy you've messed wit,' and he hasn't tried to hide you or was closeted," Keia added her input.

"Well, he's not closeted on campus," Joziah emphasized, making both of the girls frown a little. "We were on FaceTime one day during the break, and his dad walked in his room, I guess, his dad asked him who he was talkin' to, and he said 'my homeboy.'" he continued.

"Oh nah, so he hasn't come out to his parents yet?" Lei knitted her eyebrows in confusion.

"Well, that's the thing, his mom knows, and his sisters know, but he made them promise not to tell his dad because his dad is one of those—you know, 'i-if my son is gay, I'll disown him' type of fathers," Joziah explained.

It wasn't a secret that Joziah was gay and happily embraced it. However, upon meeting him, one wouldn't know because he still carried a masculine aura to him. When Lei first met Joziah, it did catch her off guard when Joziah complimented how handsome her brother was. He told her that he was very much attracted to men and came to terms with his sexuality at the age of sixteen, once he went through puberty.

Lei nor Xahir were never the ones to judge, given that they had family members that were apart of the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, when Joziah made the remark about Xahir, he simply chuckled and accepted the compliment gracefully.

"Damn," Keia grimaced, "So you're having second thoughts about it because you're open about your sexuality on or off-campus, and he isn't?"

"Right, and trust me, I know how hard it is coming out to your dad; you don't want to disappoint them. But I refuse to not live in my truth to accommodate the next person. Otherwise, what was the point of breaking down those barriers I had to go through to embrace being gay, you know?" he vented, occasionally looking over at both of the girls as they sat listening intently, nodding their heads in agreement.

"Exactly, and you shouldn't. Have you talked to him about it?" Lei questioned him. He shook his head, indicating he hadn't. "I think you should talk to him. If you choose to get into a relationship, you have to learn how to communicate these types of situations. This is serious,"

"I agree because it may reach a point where you guys become serious, and you may want to meet his family eventually. It wouldn't be fair if you introduce him to your family, and you're unable to meet his. We're not saying, of course, to force him to come out to his dad in order for you guys to become official. But let him know you walk in your truth, and that's something that may be an issue for you." Keia said.

Joziah slowly nodded his head, taking in their advice. He knew he could always count on them to keep it real with him, especially since they were women. Even though he did have guy friends he hangs out with outside of Keia and Lei, he liked to hear certain situations and solutions from a woman's perspective.

"Right, I just hope, you know, this doesn't become an issue between us that causes us to stop talking —because I actually like him. I just don't want him to feel as if I'm forcing him to come out to his dad, but then again, I want him to tell his dad on his own terms because what if word got back to his dad unintentionally?" Joziah sighed, turning into the parking lot of the plaza where Publix was.

Lei hummed, "Yeah, I would hate for that to happen to anyone who hasn't come out to their parents yet. That only causes a lot of conflicts." she said, looking down to check her phone, seeing another text from Raj.

💙

can I come by once u get home?

Lei wiped her mouth with the paper towel before she wrapped up the rest of her sandwich. One thing she loved about Publix sandwiches was the fact that sometimes only half of the sandwich was able to fill her up, giving her the chance to save her other half for later.

Once the trio arrived back at the house, they lounged around again in the living room, eating their food and binge-watching marvel movies on Disney+. While they did that, Lei was secretly waiting anxiously for Raj. She texted him the moment she stepped foot back into the house like he usually did; he simply replied with a thumbs-up reaction.

During their movie, a FaceTime call came through on one of their phones. They all checked their phones, Joziah instantly getting up, "It's him. I'll let y'all know how it goes." he deeply sighed, walking out of the living room.

Shortly afterward, Joziah disappeared, the doorbell rang, making Lei's heart drop a little. She got up from the sofa and walked to the front door, checking the side windows to make sure it was him before opening the door.

"Hey," she softly spoke, giving him a half-smile.

He reached in to hug her, becoming engulfed in his cologne. "What's up, ma?" he greeted her, walking into the foyer.

She closed the door and locked it before turning around to face him. They both stood there, Lei clasping her hands together, tucking her lips as Raj buried his hands in the pocket of his hoodie.

After a few more seconds, Lei looked down at her feet as she tried to muffle her laughter. "Raj, how many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to be nervous around me?" she looked up at him, tilting her head.

"I know, I know, I-I just don't want to say the wrong thing, man." he shook his head, mentally cursing himself for always acting awkward around her. "I came to check on you, that's it."

"You could've just FaceTime me," Lei joked, causing him to laugh slightly.

"Yeah, that's another thing; I don't want to be too overbearing. I don't know if you like folks FaceTiming you or not—"

"You can FaceTime me anytime — I mean except for when I'm in class, of course — unless it's like an emergency or something, b-but — yeah, you can FaceTime me." She stammered a little as she rambled quickly. Keia sat in the living room, scrolling through her Twitter timeline, softly chuckling to herself as she listened to the two.

She found it cute that the two became nervous around each other. She knew it was something that Lei did whenever she got around someone she found attractive.

"A'ight cool, I'll start FaceTiming you. I still want to see you though physically, I have to make sure there ain't nothing wrong wit' you." he grinned, looking over her, causing her cheeks to fluster with heat.

"But um, the real reason I came over hea' is well —you haven't been avoiding me, right?" he wondered, raising an eyebrow. Noticing her changed behavior towards him over the past couple of days had him thinking that he had done something wrong.

"No, I-I just felt — you know...embarrassed," she confessed, breaking eye contact with him. She looked down at her feet again, beginning to wiggle her toes.

"Soleil..." Raj's face turned soft; he slipped his index finger under her chin, making her look up at him. "You don't ever have to feel that way wit' me, okay? I know that's something you can't control; you went through something traumatic, so I'm not gone judge you or look at you differently just because li'l things like that can trigger you," he assured her, disliking the fact that she felt embarrassed about having PTSD.

"I'm not even tryin' to joke on you or none, but honestly, I would be concern if you hadn't reacted the way you did." he continued.

"Thanks," Lei gave him a weak smile, "Especially for calming me down. You're the only person outside of my family who has ever seen me like that. That's why I was feelin' some way about it," she said.

"That's the first time I ever dealt wit' that before. On the inside, I was panicking, but I couldn't let you know that. I knew it wouldn't have been good if both of us were freakin' out. I figured you just needed me to be calm and talk you through it." he replied.

"Well, for your first time dealin' wit' that, you did well. So thanks again Raj, I really appreciate it. I'm sorry I been a li'l distant towards you," she poked out her bottom lip, twiddling her thumbs.

"It's cool. I'm just glad you a'ight," he said. Lei simply nodded her head, licking over her lips. "A'ight well, um, that's pretty much it. Just wanted to see you before I went home,"

"D-do you want to um, you know...hang out? A li'l bit longer? I mean, that's if you don't have anything else to do, I just don't want you to feel as if you can't hang out wit' me now, you know, since my brother is..." Lei trailed off, taking a deep breath as she felt herself becoming overwhelmed.

She hated that she rambled on a lot whenever she was nervous. Despite the many times she told Raj he didn't need to be nervous around her; she couldn't practice what she preached.

"Yea' I don't have any plans. I dropped Maj off a li'l while ago, so," Raj shrugged, walking towards the living room as Lei trailed behind him.

"How does he like school so far? I still can't believe he's in school now. Gosh, he's growing up so fast." Lei shook her head in awe; it seemed as if Semaj was born yesterday to her. She would babysit him occasionally whenever Raj or Ximena asked her if they didn't have anyone else to. The many times that she had babysat him, she always knew he would grow up to be a bright little boy.

"What's up Keia," Raj spoke, giving her a head nod. Keia smiled, showing her braces, and waved at him before focusing her attention back on her phone. "He likes it so far. Every day he has a new story to tell us. He's made a lot of new friends, so that's a good sign. He's gettin' along well wit' others."

"That's good; you should let me babysit him one of these weekends. I miss him," Lei pouted, hugging onto the fluffy pillow she used for her back.

"Shit, you can get his ass this weekend, I gotta go out of town actually, and I think Mena mentioned she was goin' to pick up extra hours at the hospital," Raj told her.

"I can watch him this weekend. They built a new park around the corner, and I wanna take him there."

"Coo', I'll let Mena know," he said, going to his text thread with Ximena to let her know that Lei wanted to babysit. "But uh, how's everything wit' you? How's the fam?"

"Everything's good; classes been going smoothly so far. My fam is...okay, I guess? I haven't really talked to my parents like that this week. They've been busy, but Selah is good — I talked to her earlier." Lei explained, rubbing her arms as she felt goosebumps forming from the coldness in the house.

"Who was that dude you were talkin' to the other night?" Raj finally asked, his curiosity peaking about the unknown guy. Keia's ears perked up, causing her eyebrows to furrow in confusion.

"Oh, that's Ms. Jean's grandson. She told me about him the day that you took me to the store. It was my first time meeting him,"

"Oh...I don't like the way he was lookin' at you," he spoke truthfully; Lei tilted her head as a goofy smile grew onto her face.

"How was he lookin' at me?"

"He probably wanted to get her number," Keia smirked; Lei sucked her teeth, grabbing one of the other pillows off the sofa, and tossed it at her head, causing her to whimper. "Ouch!"

"I don't know; it was creepy. He was still watchin' you even when you walked off. He stood there for like a whole minute," Raj shrugged, yawning as he slid his phone into his pocket. Lei remained quiet as she simply stared at him. "You got a boyfriend, Lei?"

She snapped out of her daze, her eyes almost bulging out of her head, caught off guard by the question. She heard Keia snickering to herself; she grabbed another pillow and tossed it at her again. "Ouch! Bitch, I didn't even say anything this time!" she whined, smoothing out her hair as the pillow messed it up.

"You wanted to, though," Lei rolled her eyes, redirecting her attention back onto Raj, who still hadn't taken his eyes off of her. "I don't, honestly. All of the guys I was talkin' to, I dropped them after Xahir died."

"The guysss?" Raj repeated after her, staring in shock, both Lei and Keia bursting into a fit of laughter. "Oh, so you had niggas, huh?"

"I mean...yea' but it wasn't like I was — you know, havin' sex wit' them. They were just there to entertain me," Lei shrugged.

"Well, I'm glad you dropped them cause I don't wanna have to beat niggas up,"

Within the next two days, the weekend had finally arrived. As she wished, Siraj had dropped Semaj off to Lei's house Friday night for the weekend. Lei wished Raj a safe trip, letting him and Ximena know that Maj would have the time of his life with her —and that he did.

That Saturday morning, she'd woken him up early for breakfast. Whenever she babysat him, she made it a tradition to make heart shaped pancakes for him.

Once the two were done eating and lounging around an hour afterward, playing around. She gotten him washed up and dressed to go out for the day. Keia tagged along, given that she hadn't seen Maj since the beginning of summer.

They went to the mall, Lei letting Maj pick out a couple of toys that were pleasing to him. One thing that both Raj and Ximena hated, is the fact that Maj always returned home with more stuff than he had whenever Lei babysat him. She couldn't help it, whenever he looked at her, he melted her heart. She found it adorable that he resembled a mini Raj.

"Watch your step," Lei warned him, helping him down from backseat of the car as they were parked in the parking lot of the new park that Lei had mentioned.

"Park, Lei!" Maj's eyes lit up, once he realized where they were. He saw a few other kids out playing already on the playground, he bounced up and down, ready to take off.

"Yeah I know, I wanted to bring you here. You can go ahead, I'll be watching." she told him, after making sure his shoes were secured tightly. Not even a few seconds after she said that, he took off running towards the playground.

Lei made sure to grab her bag that was packed with sanitizer, a small first aid kit and wipes just in case. She was well aware of the boo-boos that children could end up with while playing, or the germs that were also at the park and spread from child to child.

While Maj played, Keia and Lei sat at a bench close by, watching him closely. "Dooda, say hi to mommy and daddy!" Lei recorded him, playing on the slide.

"Hi mommy! Hi daddy!" Maj waved to the camera, before sliding down the big, yellow slide. Lei smiled and sent the video to both Ximena and Raj.

"He's so cuteeeee!" Keia cooed, placing her hand over her heart. "He gives me baby fever, I can't wait until I have a son."

"Shit I can," Lei laughed. "Nah but moments like these, do make me want to have a son—"

"Lei Lei!" Maj called out to her.

"Yea' Dooda?"

"Can I get on swings?" He pointed to the empty swing nearby. Lei got up from her spot and walked towards him, he grabbed her hand as they started walking towards the swing set.

Before they could make it any further, Maj started to scream, startling both Lei and Keia. She looked down at him with a panicked look, thinking something had happened. He pointed to the side of her, causing her to look and see Rocko running towards them.