Page 23 of I Survived and will rise again

"Yeah, I'm starving," I respond, loving the feeling of being in Donnie's arms.

Donnie puts his fingers between his lips and whistles. "Yo! Let's go!"

Donnie picks up the cooler without waiting for Ash and Tia as we walk away.

Once we reach the parking lot, I notice Tia wearing Ash's hat while riding piggyback on his back. I can’t help but chuckle at the sight of the two of them.

"You feeling okay, Tia?" I ask. Her face is flushed with heat, her neck and face coated in sweat.

"Why? You sick?" Ash glances over his shoulder. "Oh, hell no. Don't throw up on me, or I'll drop you on your fine ass," he warns.

Tia flicks his forehead. "You drop me, and I'll kick you in the dick."

She climbs off his back, and he smacks her butt.

After we load everything into the trunk, we pile into the Jeep and drive off with the top down.

Suddenly, both mine and Tia's phones buzz at the same time. I open the group chat.

Lupe

Don’t forget it’s movie night with the guys at my house bitches. Bring your boyz.

"Hey, do you guys want to hang out at Lupe’s and watch a movie?" I ask Donnie and Ash. “The guys will be there too.”

"Yeah, I'm down," Ash says as he pulls onto the road.

"Yeah, me too," Donnie says over his shoulder.

Me

We're down. Ash and Donnie, too.

Lupe

Cool. c u later. xo

"Oh! You know what we should watch?" Tia says.

"What?" the rest of us say at once.

I look up from my phone when Tia doesn’t respond and see her lips are tightly pressed together, giving her an almost robotic appearance. Her face reminds me of the character from the horror movieSmile.

"Oh, hell no." I shudder at the thought. I love horror movies, but not the ones that will keep you up all night. Which is why I watch horror movies during the day and every light in the house stays on.

The way she sits there, motionless and expressionless, freaks me the hell out even more. I can’t wait to get out of this Jeep. "Tia! Knock it off," I snap, trying not to laugh and pee my pants.

Tia breaks her smile and bursts into laughter. Moments like this feel like it was only yesterday when we first met and hit it off instantly. We bonded with our obsession with anything that sparkled and made sure that every piece of clothing we wore was covered with glitter.

Tia and I became inseparable. We did everything together and even had the same classes throughout high school. But now, my best friend is leaving for college. Even though I will miss her terribly, I couldn't be prouder of her.

"It's pretty awesome they wanted to get into the police academy," Donnie says, turning to face me, bringing me back to the present.

I grin at him. "Yeah, I'm proud of them for wanting to do that," I respond.

"Can you imagine?" Tia muses as the light changes to green. "Gangsters who caused chaos in these streets will now be protecting them." She lets out a lighthearted laugh. "Ain't that ironic as shit."

I roll my eyes. "Shut up. You know you're proud of them too." My fingers poke her side playfully.

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