“What time does this party start?” Miss Simmons asked.

  “At seven.”

  “Then you better start getting ready. I assume Stacy is going with you.”

  “Yeah,” Kiesha said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and shooting her BFF a text message. “I just told her I’ll be there to pick her up. She’s so mad that her mom still hasn’t been able to get her a car yet.”

  “Michelle is working her butt off just making sure they have a roof over their heads. The boutique is bringing in good money, but she has two other kids to care for. Stace will get a car in due time.”

  “I guess not everyone could be as lucky as me to get an accountant mom with only one kid.”

  “How fortunate you are.” Miss Simmons winked. “I’m going back to my painting. Be safe tonight.”

  They both got up from the table and went their separate ways. Kiesha bounded up the stairs to her room. The first place she went was to her walk-in closet. She went to the back, where her more formal clothes were. Without even trying one on, Kiesha knew that she didn’t want to wear a dress. She hated being confined in them and wanted something that would allow her a little more freedom. Her eyes fell on a brand-new light blue halter-top romper she recently bought. She loved it because it hugged all her curves and made her butt look huge. Not to mention, her peanut butter–colored skin really set the blue off. She snatched it off the hanger and went to take a shower.

  The whole time the water was hitting her body, all she could think about was how she couldn’t wait to see Malcom that evening. He was the kind of fun she was trying to have all summer, and she hoped that after the party he would feel the same. Kiesha had to be real with herself. She was definitely in her fairy-tale way of thinking. But at the same time she didn’t care. She believed in fairy tales, and maybe hers was about to become a reality.

  After she was finished washing her hair and body, she got out of the shower. After seeing in the mirror how pretty her hair looked, she opted to wear it just like that. She put some product in it to hold the curls and then wrapped a towel around herself to start her makeup.

  She had just done her brows and foundation when she heard her phone ringing next to her makeup bag on the counter. It was Stacy. Kiesha answered it and put it on speaker.

  “Hey, girl.”

  “What are you wearing tonight?” Stacy blurted out.

  “Remember that cute blue romper I bought from your mom’s boutique?”

  “Ooh! Great choice. You’re gonna be sexy as fuck in that.”

  “Thank you. What are you thinking about putting on?”

  “That spicy red little number I’ve been saving for somethin’ special. And I guess this is special enough. I just hope G Money doesn’t think that just because I’m comin’ to his party, I’m gonna jump his bones.”

  “Don’t hold your breath. He’s been trying to get you since the beginning of the school year.”

  “Yuck. I wish he’d give it a rest. I mean, he’s not ugly. He’s just not my type.”

  “Let you tell it, none of these niggas are your type.”

  “You got that right! Well, one is.”

  “Who?”

  “Nobody you know. Anyway, do you think you’re gonna get your cherry popped tonight?”

  Kiesha heard the question as she contoured her face. Her virginity always seemed to come up in their conversations recently. She felt like Stacy was more concerned about it than she was. Kiesha just felt like it was because they had always done everything together or around the same time. Stacy had lost her virginity the summer before their junior year. It was something she said she didn’t regret and enjoyed doing. Kiesha, on the other hand, just hadn’t met the right person to give it to. Nor had the setting been right. She wasn’t waiting for marriage or anything, but she didn’t want to give away something so sacred to just anybody, despite her lustful thought of Malcom earlier at school.

  “I guess I’m just not looking to let someone fuck me at a party. That isn’t how I see myself losing my virginity,” she said absently, finishing her face. It wasn’t until Stacy grew quiet that Kiesha remembered that was exactly how she had lost her virginity. “My bad, Stace. I just meant—”

  “I know what you meant. Don’t worry about it. What time do you think you’ll be by to pick me up?”

  “I’ll probably be there at seven exactly.”

  “Good. We don’t want to show up super on time like some lame bitches. Okay, I’ll let you finish getting ready. I’m going to call my girls, so just let me know when you’re outside.”

  “Okay!” Kiesha said, and the phone disconnected.

  She hoped that she hadn’t hurt Stacy’s feelings. She truly just hadn’t been thinking. If she had, she would have never said anything at all. But Stacy knew her heart.

  After putting on her lashes, Kiesha grabbed her romper and got dressed. To accent the blue, she selected a small cream-colored purse and slid on a matching pair of sandals. Once her look was all the way together, she stared at the finished product in the full-length mirror in her bedroom. She was almost blown away by her own reflection. The romper fit better that day than when she tried it on. She glanced at the digital clock on her dresser and saw that it was time to go.

  “Ma!” she called when she ran down the stairs, stuffing her phone and car keys in her purse. “Ma, I’m about to go!”

  “Okay, baby. Have fun and be safe. Please be home at a respectable hour!” Miss Simmons called from the garage.

  Kiesha sent Stacy a text that she was on her way and ran out the front door.

  Chapter 3

  “I told you this bitch was gonna be jumpin’!”

  Kiesha barely heard Stacy’s voice because she was too busy looking incredulously around the inside of G Money’s lavish beach home. She’d been to a lot of nice homes for gatherings, but this by far was the most luxurious. They were right on Darwin Beach and had a beautiful view of the water. Not to mention that G Money’s dad had really gone above and beyond for the party. There was a live DJ, and waiters were walking around with food and drinks.

  Kiesha maneuvered around the crowd inside with Stacy until they were outside on the luxurious terrace. There were a lot of people there too, but there was more room to move around. It was beautiful, and Kiesha was tempted to wander down to the beach, especially after Stacy’s cheerleader friends came over to them.

  Piper, Kennedy, and Myra were also super popular. They reminded Kiesha of the movie Mean Girls because they acted like they were better than everyone. They didn’t bother Kiesha too much, not after she beat Piper up freshman year. Piper thought she was going to get away with making a slick comment about the small painting Kiesha had in her locker. Her mother had made it special for her since she was starting a new school journey, and she wasn’t going to let big-nose Piper get away with calling it trash. Her nose was leaking blood and had swollen to a size bigger by the time Kiesha was done with her.

  “Hey, babes!” Myra said in a fake, valley-girl voice. She was from the hood, but when her mom remarried, to a wealthy contractor, he moved them into a big house on the good side of Miami right before their freshman year. She practically reinvented herself to match her new lifestyle. She wore an expensive Fendi romper with the matching hat. She embraced Stacy before taking a step back and holding up her cup.

  “What’s this?” Stacy asked, her nose hovering over it. She sniffed.

  “Bitch, don’t smell my drink! Just taste it!” Myra exclaimed.

  “Fine.” Stacy took a sip and made an impressed face. “Bitch, is that tequila I taste?”

  “Casamigos, to be exact.”

  “G Money’s dad let him have alcohol at his party?” Stacy seemed even more impressed.

  “Better.” Myra grinned devilishly. “He snuck it in. Come on. It’s upstairs in his room.”

  “You comin’?” Stacy asked, turning to me.

  I shook my head. “I think I’m going to stay out here and enjoy the view. You go ahead.”

  “Lames weren’t invited anyway,” Kennedy said with a smirk.

  “The only lame thing is that you only got accepted into community college with your dumb ass,” Kiesha shot back. She watched Kennedy’s light-skinned face turn red.

  “You’re such a bitch,” Myra said, turning her nose up.

  “She came for me. I sent back. Who’s the real bitch?”

  “Come on, you guys, not here,” Stacy said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll see you a little later, Kiesh.”

  Most people would feel a way about their best friend’s other friends not liking them or that Stacy left her standing alone to go off with them. But it wasn’t the first time Stacy had ditched Kiesha at a party, and it wouldn’t be the last. She checked the time on her phone and wondered if Myra would give Stacy a ride home if she left early.

  Kiesha looked around and spotted London, a close friend of hers. She was standing by the twins, Cleo and Clifford. There was a time when they all had been almost as close as she and Stacy were, but then senior year picked up, and Kiesha wasn’t able to hang out as often. London didn’t live far from her, so the two of them had kind of grown up together. It would be cool to just hang out with them that evening.

  Before she could make her way over to them, she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she saw who had touched her, she felt instant butterflies.

  “M . . . Malcom. Hey.”

  “Hey,” he said, looking at her and smiling. “Wow. You look amazin’. I’ve never seen you wear your hair like that before.”

  “I do, just not at school.” She shrugged.

  “You should more often. It really brings out your eyes,” he said seriously, but she laughed. “What?”

  “I’ve just never heard anybody say that in real life. Just in movies.”

  “Well, this ain’t no movie. This is real life, baby. Punch?”

  It was then that Kiesha noticed that he had two cups in his hand. She’d been raised to never take a drink from a man if she didn’t see it get made. She hesitated for a second, but eventually she took it—not the one he was holding out to her, but the other one.

  “Your mama raised you right, I see.” He grinned. “But I promise you I didn’t spike these drinks with drugs.”

  Kiesha smiled back and took a gulp of hers. It was good, but it burned going down, and she gagged a bit. “Damn. What’s in here?”

  “I said there weren’t drugs in there. I never said there wasn’t any alcohol.”

  “I can’t believe you.”

  “It’s good though, right?” Malcom asked.

  “It’s okay,” Kiesha said, making a face that caused him to laugh again.

  It wasn’t the first time she had tasted alcohol. It just wasn’t her favorite thing. Plus, she’d watched enough movies to know that getting drunk at a high school party wasn’t necessarily the smartest thing to do. However, any uneasy feeling she had washed away the moment Malcom grabbed her hand and led her to a sitting area. They sat side by side but faced each other. She couldn’t help staring into his face. That might have been the closest she’d ever been to him. Her eyes lingered on his slightly wet, full lips, and she wondered what they tasted like.

  “I really like this blue on you,” he told her, touching her thigh. “And damn, I never knew you were this thick.”

  “That’s because you were too busy dating the cheerleaders to notice,” she said, feeling goose bumps rise.

  “You might be right there, but I’m tryin’ to see what’s up with you now. Tell me, do you have a man?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Lies.”

  “And how would you know?”

  “Because you wouldn’t be sittin’ here with me, lookin’ at me how you’re lookin’ at me.”

  “And how am I looking at you?”

  “Like you want a piece.”

  And he was right. He was looking delectable in the floral button-up shirt that he wore open, revealing his muscular chest. It was taking all of Kiesha’s mental power not to rub her hand across it. Knowing she might not be able to control her urge, Kiesha took another gulp of her drink.

  “I do think you’re very handsome. And maybe it’s the liquor that’s giving me the courage to say this, but I’ve been feeling you all year.”

  “Word? Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

  “I don’t know.”

  But really she did know. The girls she always saw him talking to were known for giving it up. At the time, she didn’t even want to swim in those waters, even if it meant getting her crush to notice her. But now things were different. Her body was yearning for something it had never had before. Kiesha had never even let a boy go down on her because she was scared he wouldn’t want to stop there. However, she had masturbated before and knew what it meant when her clit got to thumping like it was right at that moment. She could feel the secretions flowing between her thighs, and the alcohol wasn’t making it any better. That mixed with the way he was eyeing her down.

  “Do you want to go inside to somewhere less crowded? G Money’s crib is crazy. There are about five empty rooms upstairs.”

  His question caught her off guard. Because it was happening. Malcom wanted to get her alone. And she knew what that meant. He was so fine, and she wanted to go. It was like he had her in a trance. He held his hand out to her, and she was about to take it and follow him wherever he led her, when she felt someone sit on her other side.

  “Girl, I’ve been looking all over for you!”

  The voice belonged to London. London, an earthy girl, was rocking a pair of bell-bottoms and a top that barely covered her breasts. The goddess braids in her hair went past her butt, and her makeup was beat to the gods. She was like Kiesha: beautiful and low-key.

  “Hey, London. I’m fine, as you can see,” Kiesha said and tried to give her a hint with her eyes that she was interrupting.

  London didn’t pay her any mind. “Good. The twins and I are going over to the water. Join us?” London smiled big at her and kept ignoring Malcom.

  “We were about to head inside for a second. I can meet you down there,” Kiesha told her.

  “Yeah, don’t worry. She’ll be in good hands,” Malcom said innocently, but Kiesha caught the glare London gave him.

  “Kiesh, you know Cleo and Cliff leave right after graduation for their summer trip. We might not see them again before we head off to college. They would love to see you.”

  There was something about the way she was urging her to come to the beach that caught Kiesha’s attention. She looked back to Malcom’s eager face. He stood up and held out a hand to her, but at the last minute, she shook her head.

  “I’ll come find you after I talk to my friends,” she said to him.

  “That’s cool.” Malcom shrugged and walked off without another word to her.

  She was glad he didn’t take it too badly. She turned back to London and cut her eyes at her. “Now why’d you come and do that?”

  “Do what? Cockblock?”

  “Yes!”

  “I was coming over here to get you anyway, but then I heard him say he wanted to take you into the house. Girl, you knew what he wanted to do, and it wasn’t to go to second base!” London gave her a knowing look.

  “I know, bitch!”

  “And you were ready for all that? Ain’t nothing wrong with wanting to rock the boat. But you really would want your first time to be with somebody as run through as Malcom? He’s damn near fucked all the girls in school!”

  “That has nothing to do with me. I like him. That’s all that should matter.”

  “You shouldn’t like his type at all.” London rolled her eyes. “Trust me on this one. He’s a sleazeball, and if you knew what I knew, you’d let that go.”

  “Whatever. Come on so we can meet the twins.”

  Chapter 4

  By the time midnight hit, Kiesha was tipsy and all smiles. One thing about her girl London was that she knew how to have a good time. They had danced on the beach until they couldn’t anymore, and then they just collapsed in the sand. It was almost hard to believe that they weren’t kids anymore, that in just a couple of months the carefree pieces of their lives would be swept away. She would miss those days, which was why she cherished those moments on the beach, swapping stories with London and the twins, laughing until her stomach hurt, and looking up at the stars.

  “Hey.” London nudged her and pointed at the house. “It looks like everybody is clearing out.”

  Kiesha looked back up to the terrace and saw that she was right. There was hardly anybody standing there besides a few kids. The cleaners G Money’s dad must have hired were already outside picking up after the careless teens. Kiesha sat up and dusted the sand off her romper and legs. When she stood up, Cleo gave her the biggest hug.

  “Girl! If I don’t see you before you leave, just know I’m going to miss you!” she said.

  “Hell, pray we even make it back, period,” Clifford said, wiping sand off his chest. “Since our dad died, our mom wants us to get closer and closer to our black roots. She might drop us off at an old plantation and never come back to get us! Like, girl, I might be light skinned, but I’m black as fuck. I don’t need any lessons, especially from a white lady!”

  Kiesha laughed and gave him a hug too. She was for sure going to miss his flamboyant self. One thing about him was he would never hesitate to speak his mind. Kiesha had known all of them for almost as long as she’d known Stacy. Although Stacy was her best friend, they were her tribe. They were the ones who got her and didn’t care about social status. Her heart tugged knowing they were about to go off into the world and shape themselves into whatever they wanted to be. And that meant they might grow apart. Her eyes began to water, but she blinked her tears away, not wanting to sully the moment with waterworks. She hugged Cleo and Clifford one more time before she and London headed up to the house.