C H A P T E R
S E V E N

The sky was dark and filled with stars shinning brightly, the air was cool and the vibe was perfect. Cali really enjoyed her date with Devante and this night only proved how much she had really missed him these passed few years since their break-up. It felt like old times again and felt like that feeling of emptiness she had been having was finally filled.

After dinner they decided to hit downtown and have spent the passed hour walking around and talking about anything that came to mind such as the kids, future goals and even the past and finally addressing their issues that they both ran away from during the course of their relationship.

In the midst of them talking they both got a crave of wanting something sweet to eat. Pointing towards an ice cream truck that was parked on the grass near the park, he looked back at Cali. "You down for some icecream?"

"Yeah, that actually sounds good then I guess afterwards we can go back to my place." She suggested in which he agreed.

As he grabbed a hold of her hand they both crossed the street together after making sure the road was clear and waited in line behind two other couples.

"You see anything you want?" Devante asked while he used his eyes to scan through the menu.

"You know I always get vanilla." She laughed as she nudged his shoulder.

Playfully rolling his eyes, he laughed. "I forgot you like that basic ass shit."

"You talking like cookies and cream isn't the most basic ice cream either." Cali laughed as they stepped up in line.

"It's better than plain ass vanilla, so get off cookies and cream."

Waving him off she looked off and saw a little boy walking in the middle of his parents causing her to smile before tearing her eyes away as they began to sting.

Noticing what she was staring out, DeVante sighed before pulling her closer to him. "I still think and have dreams about him too." He whispered causing her to look up at him.

"He would've been seven by now." She weakly smiled thinking about their unborn son they lost due to a miscarriage, which caused a major split in their relationship alongside their other issues.

Cali always thought it was so crazy how Ahmad's dream of her losing a child back then had nothing to do with Mariah or any of their kids they carried, but instead it was about her and DeVante although DeVante wasn't even showcased in the dream.

However, everything else in Ahmad's dream did come true as well far as her pushing everyone away and shutting the world off. Her depression had gotten so bad to the point were for almost a year Ahmad had taken all of the kids to livewith him until she got better mentally.

Those were extremely tough times for Cali and was around the time when her and DeVante broke up, but she was proud to admit that she was fully healed from all of that now and was in a way better place mentally and emotionally.

Before DeVante could respond it was their turn to order. "Can we just get two waffle cones one with just vanilla ice cream and the other with cookies and cream?" He asked.

"Yessir, how many scoops?" The young-girl asked looking to be around either fifteen or sixteen.

"Two please."

Once they got their ice cream and he paid, Cali and him took off with no set destination together continuing they troll through downtown.

"But anyways back to what we were talking about, when things ended I should have fought harder for you and stopped you from leaving, but I just felt at that moment you deserved better than me. I was such a mess when we met with the whole divorce process going on with Ahmad and along with having four kids to raise. Then for us to experience a miscarriage together it just became too much for me and I just felt you needed to be with someone who didn't have as much baggage." Cali expressed as they took a seat on a nearby bench to rest.

"I didn't want anybody else though, you were enough for me." He admitted.

Taking a lick of her ice cream, she shrugged. "DeVante, I literally had two close to perfect men come into my life and I fucked up the relationship. I am damaged goods at this point and I can't seem to get out of my own way."

DeVante listened to Cali express her emotions regarding their breakup and understood everything she was saying, but he just found it so crazy how Cali's mind operates when it comes to love and knowing her worth.

"Why do you do that?" He asked.

"Do what?"

Smacking his teeth, DeVante rolled his eyes. "Acting like you're not deservant of love, like yeah we all got pasts and we all have don' shit we regret but damn thats just life. You're a good woman who fucked up, so what? Are you the same woman now? No." He expressed. "Hell I'm sure that's why you're sitting here dating Kim now, she's like a safety net for you because she basically already knows everything about you and you're too scared to start over and let someone in again, but shit what do I know?" He shrugged leaving Cali shocked from his outburst.

Stopping him from walking, she grabbed his arm. "You really think you have everything figured out huh? We haven't spoke in like what? Three almost four years? And you think you can just come back after all these years and try to downplay my relationship with Kim? Well at least when shit got hard she didn't run towards the nearest exit and going ghost on me for months like someone I know did." She defended.

"I know I should have done more to fight for us, but you literally gave me no choice when I came home to see you and your things packed up and ready to leave. I've lost so much in my life down to my mother to drugs, a child, a husband, but I never wanted to lose you too Vante." She sniffled becoming emotional.

Walking away from him the direction of where his car was, DeVante let out a deep sigh knowing he was wrong. Jogging up behind her he grabbed her by the hand. "Look I ain't tryna end our night like this Cal, I was wrong and I'll admit that. I shouldn't have spoken on your relationship and overstepping my place when I was the one who walked out on you."

When he let go of her hand he stood directly in front of her so they could see each other face to face. "But shit if I'm being really honest I been missing you Cal, and every day since our break-up I regretted it. I should've stayed right here with you and the kids, but I was being selfish and only thinking about myself and with me being selfish it costed me to lose the one woman I have ever truly loved." He admitted.

Shaking her head, she wiped her tears away. "You don't mean that."

"Yes I do baby, and tonight I had every intention of showing you how serious I am when it comes to you." Watching as he pulled something out of his jacket pocket and get down on one knee Cali's eyes went wide.

"Vante, what are you doing? Please get up." She whispered once she noticed bystanders watching and coming in closer to them to see what was happening.

"I'm doing something I should have done eleven years ago," He started before clearing his throat feeling the wave of nerves hit him like a truck.

Watching him bend on one knee before her, Cali played with her fingers feeling the sweat build the longer she stood there. She could see women and other couples standing in awe at the two watching everything unfold before their eyes.

"Cali, we have been through our fair share of ups and downs but one thing I know that never changed was the way I admired you as a woman and a mother. During the entire flight down here I thought of a million and one ways to do this so you would see how serious I am and how dedicated I am to do right by you. So baby, here I am on my knees begging for a second chance to prove myself that I am the man for you and sitting here with a hopeful heart that you will accept my proposal of wanting to be my wife. So with all that being said, will you Miss Aubrey Calieen Brown, my other-half, my whole heart in human form marry me?" He asked opening the box showcasing a beautiful diamond ring leaving her even more speechless and unsure what to even think at the moment as she looked around.

Getting up off his knees Nolan quickly kissed Armoni as she sat up before he was about to head to the bathroom, but he stopped in his tracks when she called out his name and motioned for him to come here.

Standing directly in front of her, he jumped back when she reached for his pants. "What are you doing?" He asked confused.

"What does it look like?" Reaching for his pants again he watched as she began unbuckling his belt and swiftly pull his pants down, but the look of fear in her eyes made him grab her hands to stop her removing his boxers.

"I'm forreal Moni, what are you doing?"

"I think I'm ready to have sex." She whispered becoming shy.

"You think?"

Nodding her head she began removing her shirt and before she could remove her bra, he stopped her again. "I need a solid answer from you."

"Nolan, I'm ready forreal I want to do this."

Staring into his eyes she stood up off the bed and kissed him sweetly before laying back on the bed and pulling him forward while removing his shirt and helping him remove his boxers.

Nolan watched her every move not believing this was happening right now, hovering over her he looked down at their bottom halfs only inches away from becoming one and although he wanted this when he looked back up at her eyes and could feel her body shaking with fear he knew she wasn't ready.

"We can't do this Moni, you aren't ready."

Sitting up she used her blanket to cover her body, as she stared at him with sad eyes. "I want to be ready. I thought I was." She mumbled.

Stepping away from Armoni and buckling up his pants back up Nolan looked over at Armoni with a slight frown on his face before taking a seat at the edge of the bed. "Why are you in such a rush to have sex all of sudden? Hell two months ago when I jokingly brought it up you almost beat my ass, now you're ready?" He questioned knowing something was up.

"Do you not want to have sex or something? I thought this is what you wanted." She replied back becoming slightly embarrassed due to his reaction from her sudden urge to have sex.

"I do, trust me I really do but I only want to have it if you really want to and I know deep down you don't. I know how much your virginity means to you and I want your first time to be special for you. I'm cool with doing exactly what we are doing now, I'm good on sex." He expressed honestly causing her to sigh.

Armoni had plans to let Nolan take her virginty tonight since she felt in a way she was becoming boring to him and didn't want him to lose interest in her, especially when its a lot of girls at school willing to throw it back for him at any given moment if given the chance.

"I just don't want you to become bored with me, because Nolan literally whenever we're together you do all the giving while I do nothing and I know that has to be tiring." She replied looking down.

Standing up he reached his hand out for her to grab and pulled her out the bed so they were in each other's faces. "Honestly its not, I like doing it knowing that I'm making you feel good. You mean more to me than just sex, you're my bestfriend and I love you so don't ever think I'm getting bored with you because that probably will never happen."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she smiled small before looking down. "I'm sorry."

Kissing her on the lips, he smirked. "Don't be, but just know whenever the time comes and you're fully ready to do this I'm here and I'll make sure to make it as special as possible for you." He whispered against her lips.

"How will I know when I am?" She asked innocently.

"You just will but until then just continue to be you and don't force anything because of me do it on your time not mine okay?"

Nodding her head she whispered a small, "Okay," before she kissed him deeply and before they knew it they had fell back onto her bed continuing their make-out session half-naked.

The sound of the front opening and closing almost thirty minutes later perked both of their ears but fear didn't set in until they heard foot steps coming up the stairs.

Nolan immediately came up from under the covers and dove off the bed to grab his clothes. "I thought you said your mama was gon' be out all night." He whispered-yelled

In the middle of putting her underwear and shorts back on Armoni shrugged, "I thought so to but regardless you need to get your ass in that bathroom before she sees you half-naked and beats both of our asses."

Running to the bathroom with his clothes in hand, Armoni quickly threw her her shirt back on and began straightening up her room just when Cali knocked twice and opened her room door peeking her head inside.

"Hey baby, I was just coming to check on you before I went to bed."

Trying to act as normal as possible, Armoni smiled. "Oh okay, um how did the date with DeVante go? Had fun?"

Cali smiled, "It's actually still going."

Raising both her eyebrows, Armoni grew shocked. "Oh? Well okay, I guess that's a good thing then."

Cali only laughed. "Yeah, well I'll be downstairs in my room if you need anything and tell Nolan to come up out that bathroom and to go home before I have to call his mama. Goodnight, I love you."

When Cali walked out and shut her bedroom door, Armoni immediately walked towards the bathroom and opened the door to see Nolan in the shower hiding. "You have to go she knows your here and if you aren't out of this house quick she's gonna call your mom."

At the mention of his mama Nolan wasted no time getting out, watching as he was putting on his shoes Armoni made sure he had everything else he needed.

When he was done she walked him downstairs so she could walk him out to his car, but once they reached the door he stopped her. "You ain't gotta walk me to car especially with you not having any shoes on." Opening her front door he gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, I love you."

"I love you too, call me as soon as you make it home please."

Watching him from her front door she waited until he got in his car and backed out of their driveway before closing the door and walking back inside her house.

Grabbing a quick snack from the kitchen, Armoni made sure majority of the lights were turned off and adjusted the AC before starting her journey back upstairs, but when she heard the sounds of loud moans followed by the sound of a head board hitting against the wall from her moms room, Armoni grew disgusted.

"Ew old people." She mumbled before finishing her journey to her room thanking god her room was sound proof so she did not have sit up and hear her mom have sex right below her.

          The following day Armoni was back at school walking the halls during passing period simply ready for the day to end so she could start preparing the gym for after school practice.

Walking up to her best friend Malaysia, she simply laid her head on her shoulder and pouted. "What's wrong girl?" Malaysia asked while digging through her locker for snack.

"Nothing just ready my last class to hurry up and pass so I can get all the stuff ready for after school practice today, we have four days left until game day and its still so much we have to cover and perfect." She sighed becoming stress.

Closing her locker once she found a honeybun, they began walking to their next class which was English and also Armoni's favorite class since she had this class with both Nolan and Malaysia. "Girl please relax we have a good team this year everything will turn out great, you gotta start having more faith in us."

"I do have faith but this is my first game as captain so my nerves are shot today."

"I get it trust me you but you got this, we didn't vote you captain for nothing we knew the talent you had and we knew you would make a bomb ass captain." Malaysia hyped up to help boost her confidence in which it did a lot.

"Thank Laysia, you always know exactly what to say."

Bypassing students trying their best not to bump into anybody, Malaysia waved her off. "Don't thank me for speaking the truth, but anyways what I want to know is what exactly happened between you and Nolan last night? Did you chicken out?" Malaysia asked in a low tone.

"I thought I was ready and we were so close to actually doing it, but he saw that I was scared and stopped it but he was very sweet about it though and still made me feel secure and good."

Approaching the class they went right to their normal seats and continued talking as the class filled up. "I told you he would be understanding if you weren't ready."

"I know but its just like the more we do stuff the more curious I am about sex .. I'ma just talk with my mama about it and see what she thinks." She shrugged.

"I wish I could talk to my mama about shit like that all she gon' do is throw the bible at my head and start having me repent for my sinful thoughts." She groaned followed by a laugh just as Nolan was making his way to his desk right beside Armoni.

"What y'all talking about?" He asked while pulling her desk closer to his.

"You are so nosey, get some business." Malaysia replied back smartly.

"How about you get a man." He retorted making Armoni shake her head and roll her eyes at their constant bickering they did everyday during class.

Once class officially started Armoni and the rest of the class picked up where they finished off yesterday with an assignment their teacher assigned for them to be due by the end of the week. The assignment was for each student to take one of the three photos she posted and bring whatever picture they chose to life using their own creativity and imagination.

The classroom was silent and all that could be heard was the sound of fingers typing away on their chromebooks. Whilst Armoni was in a zone and already reaching her third-page, Nolan was struggling big time with only having his name and the date typed at the top of his paper.

Glancing over at Armoni, he nudged her shoulder making her look up from her computer. "What?"

"Can you help me? You know when it comes to this creative writing shit I just don't have that talent."

"What picture did you choose?"

"The sunset over the lake one."

She nodded, "Come over to my dads tonight and I'll help you."

Leaning over he kissed her cheek, "You a real one."

Waving him off she went back to typing, while Nolan decided to use that time finish other class work so he could stay ahead.

In the midst of everyone working their was a slight knock at the door alerting everyone before the door slowly creeped open and the last person Armoni and Nolan expected to see entered in holding a piece of paper.

"How may I help you?" Their teacher Mrs. Coleman asked standing to her feet.

"Um my name is Malcolm and I'm one of your new students, I just got transferred here today." Handing her his schedule she looked over it before handing it back to him with a smile.

"Well hello and welcome, I'm Mrs. Coleman. You can sit in any seat thats available or if you prefer the back its a desk right in front of Ms. Sinclair back there." She explained making him look over and grow slightly shocked when he saw Armoni was in this class.

"I'll just sit here in the front."

"Okay, well everybody please let's welcome out newest student Malcolm and please make him feel very comfortable and welcomed in our classroom."

A few people waved and spoke along with Armoni who motioned for him to come sit in front of her which only annoyed Nolan. "Why you invite him over here?" He whispered.

"He doesn't know anybody here yet so he might as well."

Watching as he took the seat in front of her she smiled, "What made you finally transfer?"

"I gave what you and Santana some thought and felt it was the best fit for me, plus after the coach saw me play he talked with the district into letting me transfer and still being able to use my address so it worked out perfectly." He explained.

"That's great see and you was worried for nothing, but so far are you liking the school?"

Glancing at her with a slight smirk, he nodded. "Yeah, I can already tell this probably gon' be my favorite class. English is my favorite subject."

"English is mines too, oh yeah we finna be best friends." She smiled before she began introducing him to Malaysia, which led to the three of them sparking up a whole new conversation.

Nolan watched as they continued to talk the rest of the class annoyed, Armoni ended up being the one to help him get set up on his chromebook and everything and although it was clear what was going was harmless Nolan was not having it.

Sitting back in his desk Nolan eyed the two just laughing and talking already sensing this was about to be a long ass year and he was not ready for it at all.

-

Hey my babies, hope you all are well
Remember to take time to focus on your mental health, especially with what is all going on in this world. Continue to be safe and spread positivity and love to those around you.
I love you guys, and I hope you all enjoyed this update!

As always thanks for the love & support
- Denise💋