ᴵⁿᵛⁱˢⁱᵇˡᵉ ˢᵗʳⁱⁿᵍ ⁻ ᴬᵃʳᵒⁿ ᴾᵒʳᵗᵉʳ

ᶠᴼᵘᴿ

ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ˢᵒⁿᵍ ᴰᵉᵈⁱᶜᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿ : ᴴᵉᵃᵗʰᵉʳ ⁻ ᶜᵒⁿᵃⁿ ᴳʳᵃʸ

"Kym! What should I wear to Lydia's house?" Reina asks after combing her knotted brunette hair. Kym was putting on her makeup.
"Well, you should wear a really cute skirt. It's hot outside, and I bet Andy will be obsessed with you," Kym explains.
"Whatever Kym! He's just not my type. Plus, he has probably kissed so many other girls, you know?" Reina mentions, while searching her skirts for the perfect one. She finds a black tennis skirt and pairs it with a short sleeve square neck. She puts her gold hoops in, and puts her lipgloss in her pocket.
"Oh my god, you look perfect! Now hurry up, lets get in there at the same time!" Kym says, dashing down her stairs. Reina shouts for Fleurette to drive her, and runs down the steps to the garage.
"See you there, Rei!" Kym exclaims, hanging up. Reina sees Fleurette coming downstairs with a beach bag ready.
"I'm also going to a pool party after I drop you off. C'mon, let's go before all the good places are taken."
~
Reina blows a kiss to Fleurette when she sees Kym, Megan, and Anya. She runs over to them.
"Stop, we all look so good!" Anya exclaims.
"Lets go in and film some TikToks, my account has like no posts," Megan says as they walk up the steps to Lydia's house. They walk though the house, looking for the deck and pool. Once they get there, the smells of chlorine and bug spray hit them. Kids are screaming, jumping in the pool, or just scrolling on Instagram.
"Hey guys!" Lydia exclaims. Kym and Megan wave, while Anya and Reina say a small hi.
"The drinks are by the speaker, the food is on that table over their, oh and here's Andy," Lydia directs.
"Hey Rei. Damn, you look really fine," Andy mutters. Reina pretends not to hear it.
"What did you say?" Reina asks. Andy shakes his head. Reina wasn't exactly sure what fine meant, but she knew it was probably a weird compliment.
"Hey, I'm gonna go hang with Lydia. Bye girls," Andy says, walking away. The four wave, and Lydia leaves with Andy.
"Do you like Lydia?" Reina quietly asks Anya.
"Eh, she's okay I guess," Anya responds.
"Hey, I'm going to say hi to Aaron, I'll be right back," Reina announces.
"Okay, dont get lost," Kym shouts over the music. Reina searches for Aaron, when she finds him sitting on a bench. He's drinking a Coke, scrolling on his phone. She sits next to him, when he looks up.
"Hey Aaron," Reina says, pulling her phone out.
"Hey," Aaron responds. He looks unhappy, like something is bothering him.
"What's wrong?" Reina asks him. Aaron explains that Andy left him to flirt with Lydia.
"Wow, I'm sorry Aaron. Lydia seems kind of mean, especially since she laughed at Stacy at the ledge..." Reina's voice trailed off.
"Yea, I agree," Aaron says. He drops his phone, and quickly picks up to get it. Reina notices that he also scoots closer to her.
"Are Kym, Anya, and Megan nice?" Aaron asks her. He takes his hands out of his pockets.
"Well, depends. If people are being mean then yes they will fight back. Usually they are chill, especially Anya." Reina looks over at Aaron, since she has been looking down this whole time. She lays her hand on the part of the bench in between them (which is barely any,) hoping that Aaron would take it. To her surprise, he did, and it made the both of them smile.
"Oh my god," someone shouts. It's Stacy, who just witnessed her best friend kissing Andy.
"Oh my god," Lydia responds.
"Oh my god," Aaron and Reina say in shock. They stand up and run to Andy.
"Oh, shit just got real," Aaron says.
~
When Kym, Megan, Anya, and Reina got to where Lydia and Stacy were fighting, Stacy had already left, and Lydia was crying.
"So, you want us to go or?" Kym shouts at Lydia. Megan, Anya, and Reina shush her. It isn't the time for that.
"I don't care, just don't make a mess!" Lydia shouts, running back inside, probably to her room. Everyone stands there, confused on what to do.
"This is what Andy does to a girl, I guess," Reina says, walking away with Kym, Megan, and Anya. Reina felt bad for Stacy. First, her best friend laughs at her, now her best friend kissed her ex crush the day after?
"Let's just sit on the couch. I'm too tired to dance," Megan says, laying on the couch outside. Reina secretly pulled up Stacy's number. She got it when the pad incident happened, and now thinks it's the right time to comfort her.
hey, it's Reina here. im sorry about Lydia, she shouldn't have done that. hope u feel better tho
She sent the message, and asked her mom to pick her up early.
~
"Her best friend did what?!" Reina's mom exclaims. Reina had told her mom the school drama, from what happened at the ledge to the kiss.
"Exactly! It's so messed up. I texted Stacy to see if she was okay, but I'm not so sure if she saw it," Reina says.
"Reina, I really hope you will never do that to any of your friends. That's shitty," Reina's mom remarks.
"Mom, I would never. They are too kind for that!" Reina exclaims. Recently, Reina has noticed that they are being meaner than usual. She's not sure what to do.
"Well, let's get home. I've already finished the beef bourguignon, and it should still be hot," Reina's mom explains. Reina nods, and looks at her messages. One is from Stacy, and the other is from Anya. Stacy's message says, Thanks Reina 🫶. Anya's message is, did u kiss Aaron when u were with him missy 🤨
Reina's face is starting to turn red. She covers her face with her hands, since she doesn't want her mom to see her blushing. She has nothing going on with Aaron, why would anyone think that? They only held hands. Plus, no one would have known that they held hands, since it was just them two.
When Reina gets home, she eats the delicious beef bourguignon with her mom and sister.
"So, how's school, Fleurette?" Reina's mom asks her eldest daughter.
"Eh, it's okay. Just schoolwork and some drama, nothing involving me," Fleurette says. "How's your new job, Mom?"
"It's going great. My boss has been really respectful, and I love getting to know the patients," Reina's mom remarks. She talks about how one of her patients was getting a wellness check, and it turned out that she has anemia.
"Oh, that's interesting. Well, what about you, Reiny. What's going on with Andy?" Fleurette calls out. Reina shushes her, but her mom heard them.
"A boy? Andy? You have a boyfriend?" Reina vigorously shakes her head no.
"Of course not! Fleur saw him with me and my friends at the first bat mitzvah, and now she thinks we are dating or something! It's gross," Reina explains.
"He's a cute guy, just don't understand why you're totally head over heels for him," Fleurette mutters. Reina kicks her calf, and Fleurette shuts up.
~
The following day, Reina arrives at Hebrew school earlier. She fixes her black off the shoulder top and navy blue shorts. She notices Kym and Megan, but she sees them with Lydia and Andy.
"Oh my word, are Lydia and Andy dating?" Reina whispers to Megan.
"Yea, they just got out of the hook up closet. Just kissing though," Megan clarifies. Reina sees Stacy, Tara, and Nikki staring at the 5 of them in jealousy. Reina gives a small smile to Stacy, and Stacy smiles back.
"Reina, I'm gonna sit in your seat if that's okay with you," Lydia says while they're walking. Reina tries not to roll her eyes.
"Sure, I don't care." Reina gets into the classroom, and looks for a seat. Kym and Megan sit in their usual, Andy and Lydia are next to each other, and the seats by Kym and Megan are taken. She would sit with Stacy, but they aren't that close. She finds a empty desk, and sits in it. She pulls out her 1" binder for class, and sees Aaron come in the classroom. She doesn't realize that they sit next to each other until he sits down. Thank goodness, Reina thinks.
"Hey Reina," Aaron says, pulling out his notebook.
"Hey Aaron," Reina responds, looking at him.
"Shalom, class. Okay, today we are going to be talking about tikkum olam, does anyone know what that means?" Rabbi Rebecca starts. Kym raises her hand.
"Kym!"
"If God exists, then how do you explain climate change?" Kym asks. Rabbi Rebecca looks stunned.
"Thats actually an amazing question. I-"
"Yea, and why can straight people get on gay TikTok? It's way funnier," Tara questions.
"And if God loves me, why is he always giving me so many zits?" Reina laughs quietly, and Aaron is happy to see her smile.
Everyone keeps asking random questions, when Reina chimes in.
"And why did I have to move last minute to the US?" Rabbi Rebecca responds, saying that God is random in a form of a song.
"This song makes me want to vomit," Aaron whispers to Reina.
"She needs to keep teaching us and worry about her musical talent later," Reina answers Aaron quietly. Rabbi Rebecca sees them talking, and calls them out.
"Okay you two lovebirds, stop talking before I make the class listen to my singing for the rest of class. Anyway..." Reina's face feels hot, and she turns around to look at Kym and Megan. They were making kissing faces, and Reina shook her head jokingly. Reina looks back at Aaron, who is also blushing.
"Seema!" Rabbi Rebecca shouts, "what did Rabbi Rebecca say about being on your phone?" Reina turns around to see Stacy, her phone dropping out of her hand.
"Right? Aaron knows what I'm talking about, come on dude," Rabbi Rebecca says, dapping him up.
"He's so cute when he smiles," Reina utters quietly. She realizes she just said it out loud, but no one heard. Rabbi Rebecca is still talking.
"Yep, Baruch HaShem, Aaron."
~
At the end of class, Reina is picking up her stuff to leave. She waits for Kym and Megan, who are talking to Lydia. Aaron taps her on the shoulder.
"Hi," Aaron says, smiling nervously.
"Uh, hey Aaron," Reina responds.
"So, I was wondering, since we are friends, if it was possible if you wanted my number? Just to talk-" Reina cuts him off.
"Of course, Aaron. Read it out to me, please." Aaron blushes, and pulls out his phone. Reina pulls out her phone as well, her heart beating quickly. After the two get each other's numbers, they walk out of the building. It is chilly, and Reina shivers.
"Here, have my sweater. You look cold," Aaron offers. Reina covers her face, since she's freezing and doesn't want Aaron to see her blush. He takes off his hoodie, and gives it to Reina. At this point, Fleurette and Reina's mom are late. Reina pulls it over her head, and puts her hands in her pockets.
"Thanks, Aaron." Aaron chuckles.
"Of course, Rey-Rey."

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