Belonging to Lust
Chapter 202: Besties?
Before the questioning could continue onwards, Catherine Lourd, Grace Duke, Karen Shrader, and Grace Smith all walked over to Zaiyia’s table of friends to politely interject with a soft series of greetings. Everyone at the table was taken aback by the visit from these four women that were known to be Alice’s friends and Zaiyia’s enemy once upon a time. Zaiyia, of course, recognized each young woman vividly. Grace Smith was one of the chicks that had jumped her in the locker room in the very start of her bullying warfare. The other three were familiar to not only herself, but everyone else at the table for they were the three that had ambushed Zaiyia at the gymnasium which ultimately led to the McCoy sisters readily getting involved within the altercation as well. Despite these four innocuous greetings, everyone at the table seemed to tense up at their arrival, and it was understandable to them why. They hadn’t exactly been on the best of terms. Becoming nervous themselves at this essential encounter, the four stole a glance over their shoulders at Alice who was sitting at their table watching them with the most hopeful smile on her face. She clearly had faith that they’d triumph in repenting for their sins against Zaiyia on their own without her presence needed there to play the mediator. The blonde gave them all the thumbs up sign, inspiring them to see it through with their heads held high.
From one blond to another, Catherine sent Alice a confident nod before returning her dark eyes to Zaiyia’s uneasy face. Stepping forward from her three friends, she clasped her hands together in front of her and attempted to apologize to everyone at the table on behalf of her friends. “Um, we just wanted to come over to apologize to every one of you for what happened in the gym a while ago.”
No one at Zaiyia’s table spoke, just stared suspiciously up at her in wait for her to go on. Seeing that they were expecting more from her than that lone sentence to rectify her action, Catherine cleared her throat to buy herself some time so her mind could scramble for more to say. “Right, I…we don’t have a single reason to give you that could ever justify what we did to you, or what we were a part of. We can’t take it back no matter how much we wish we could. As of right now, all we can do is try to make amends with you all and hope that you can forgive us one day. Perhaps even be friends?”
When everyone suddenly turned their eyes to Zaiyia in wait for her response, she honestly didn’t know what else to say other than what has been expected of her since becoming friends with Alice. In a tone of indifference, she replied. “Yeah, okay.”
Finding it a miracle that her friend, Catherine, got them all forgiven by Zaiyia, Grace Smith suddenly got the courage to step forward to speak up next, grasping a hold of Catherine’s hand in hers for some much needed support in order to see it through. “Zaiyia, I too would like to apologize to you!”
Zaiyia had to clench her hands into fists beside her lunch tray to keep herself from rolling her eyes in growing annoyance with these suddenly repenting fools likely coerced by Alice’s desire for them to all be good girlfriends. To Zaiyia, this was all stupid and unnecessary. Literally every one of Alice’s minions that have apologized to her since they’ve reconciled were of no concern to her anymore, and hadn’t been for awhile now. She ‘accepted’ their apologies for the sake of Alice, but didn’t really ACCEPT their apologies. Accepting their sorries didn’t take back what happened, the pain that had been inflicted on both sides! It sucked, because Zaiyia could feel Alice’s eyes on her too from across the lunch room. The blonde decided to sit with another group of friends for lunch, but clearly wasn’t too preoccupied to not have Zaiyia and her friend’s plight on the forefront of her mind. Barely able to give Grace Smith a smile that was not too fleeting and tight, Zaiyia muttered lamely. “Oh?”
“Yes!” Grace Smith confirmed with a nod, leaping on through with her apology with the guiding squeeze of Catherine’s hand. “I’m so sorry for trying to jump you in the locker room so long ago. It was incredibly wrong of me to do it and doesn’t in any way reflect who I am as a person. I also hope that one day you could find it within yourself to forgive me and perhaps then we could become close friends too?”
Zaiyia’s table was still speechless. The McCoy sisters were doing everything they could to fight the temptation to laugh at this comical change of events. They tried looking around the cafeteria to distract themselves, load their mouths with their lunches, or securely seal them with both hands clamped over their lips. Anything to keep them from laughing! Chastity was staring back and forth from Zaiyia to whomever was speaking, her eyes huge with wonder. This wasn’t the first time Zaiyia got an apology from one of Alice’s henchmens for their past discretion against her, and there was no doubt in her mind it would be the last either. The real question was if she was ever gonna get used to it?
Needing to voice her own apology too, Karen Shrader placed a hand on Grace’s shoulder to let her know she was coming up from behind her next. Stepping forward to stand in solidarity with Catherine Lourd and Grace Smith, Karen faced Zaiyia…someone she hadn’t seen since their confrontation in the gym. “Hello, Zaiyia, you…you probably don’t remember me much.”
Zaiyia remembered Karen, but didn’t want to give her the satisfaction that she or the damage she’d done was at all worth remembering. Shaking her head, Zaiyia told her. “Oh no, honey, I’m sorry, I don’t think I do. What’s your name again?”
Surprised that she wasn’t imprinted in Zaiyia’s memory due to what she’d done to her, Karen Shrader shrugged it off and looked at it as a blessing that might work in her favor. If she couldn’t remember what she’d done to her, then it would make it easier for her to forgive her. “Karen Shrader. I was…was in the gymnasium when you got…ambushed.”
“So was I.” Grace Duke added, coming forward to stand beside Karen, her hand coming up to clap over the brunette’s shoulder in support. “Like the others said, it was messed up for us to participate in anything violent like that when it isn't at all who we are.”
“We’re good kids. Good students. The best of friends really!” Karen added fervently.
Since the table was still reeling over these four apologies, Chastity spoke up on behalf of a disinterested Zaiyia. “She accepts your apology. In fact, we all do!”
“Yeah, totally.” Monnique managed to voice before having to clamp her hands back over her mouth to keep her laughter from bursting forth.
Accepting that, the four students all let out piercing squeals of excitement that they’d been forgiven for their crimes and began to hop in place like they won tickets to see Selena Gomez live in concert. They missed Zaiyia’s table cringing in time with their squealing. “Oh please, does this mean we can be your friends, Zaiyia? I hope that we can be the bestest of friends now!”
“Sure.” Zaiyia answered with a sigh, shrugging her shoulders. She just wanted this to be over already.
Another round of piercing squeals were discharged before the group began to retreat back to their table where Alice awaited them. “We’ll see you later then, besties!”
“Besties?” Assata snorted, her smile finally cracking through as she laughed to herself after they left.
“Yeah…that’s their thing.” Zaiyia sighed forlornly to herself. She was beginning to miss the days where they wanted to bust her skull wide open in the name of Alice White.
“How fucking weird.” Aishah remarked with a weird look, watching the four ladies huddle around Alice.
“I don’t like it.” Monnique shared with a shake of her head, watching Alice congratulate them.
“You guys, c’mon! This is a good thing!” Chastity tried to change their minds. “Zaiyia’s enemies are gonna start repenting for what they’ve done to her and us which means more love and less hate!”
“I don’t know if I wanna be called a bestie so soon though.” Zaiyia lamented, looking ill at the thought.
“You know what? Bump all this shit.” Monnique announced, disbanding the topic. “What I wanna know is why the fuck is Alan bothering you about this time?”
Welcoming the change in subject, Zaiyia answered swiftly to get to the core of it. “Because he wants to get back with Alice and he wants my help in making it happen!”
“Damn, that boy is persistent, albeit annoyingly.” Aishah declared with surprise.
“And what did you tell him?” Assata asked Zaiyia, arching a brow.
“I told him to leave me alone.” Zaiyia said then added. “And I might have kicked him in the balls because he wouldn't listen.”
“Well…that explains why he’s constantly glaring at you all the time.” Monnique murmured to herself.
“Yeah, I know. I’m gonna try and talk to him when he eventually cools down. Until then I’ll give him some space till he’s ready. Then we’ll talk it out.” Zaiyia told them, earning scores of support for her idea.
From one blond to another, Catherine sent Alice a confident nod before returning her dark eyes to Zaiyia’s uneasy face. Stepping forward from her three friends, she clasped her hands together in front of her and attempted to apologize to everyone at the table on behalf of her friends. “Um, we just wanted to come over to apologize to every one of you for what happened in the gym a while ago.”
No one at Zaiyia’s table spoke, just stared suspiciously up at her in wait for her to go on. Seeing that they were expecting more from her than that lone sentence to rectify her action, Catherine cleared her throat to buy herself some time so her mind could scramble for more to say. “Right, I…we don’t have a single reason to give you that could ever justify what we did to you, or what we were a part of. We can’t take it back no matter how much we wish we could. As of right now, all we can do is try to make amends with you all and hope that you can forgive us one day. Perhaps even be friends?”
When everyone suddenly turned their eyes to Zaiyia in wait for her response, she honestly didn’t know what else to say other than what has been expected of her since becoming friends with Alice. In a tone of indifference, she replied. “Yeah, okay.”
Finding it a miracle that her friend, Catherine, got them all forgiven by Zaiyia, Grace Smith suddenly got the courage to step forward to speak up next, grasping a hold of Catherine’s hand in hers for some much needed support in order to see it through. “Zaiyia, I too would like to apologize to you!”
Zaiyia had to clench her hands into fists beside her lunch tray to keep herself from rolling her eyes in growing annoyance with these suddenly repenting fools likely coerced by Alice’s desire for them to all be good girlfriends. To Zaiyia, this was all stupid and unnecessary. Literally every one of Alice’s minions that have apologized to her since they’ve reconciled were of no concern to her anymore, and hadn’t been for awhile now. She ‘accepted’ their apologies for the sake of Alice, but didn’t really ACCEPT their apologies. Accepting their sorries didn’t take back what happened, the pain that had been inflicted on both sides! It sucked, because Zaiyia could feel Alice’s eyes on her too from across the lunch room. The blonde decided to sit with another group of friends for lunch, but clearly wasn’t too preoccupied to not have Zaiyia and her friend’s plight on the forefront of her mind. Barely able to give Grace Smith a smile that was not too fleeting and tight, Zaiyia muttered lamely. “Oh?”
“Yes!” Grace Smith confirmed with a nod, leaping on through with her apology with the guiding squeeze of Catherine’s hand. “I’m so sorry for trying to jump you in the locker room so long ago. It was incredibly wrong of me to do it and doesn’t in any way reflect who I am as a person. I also hope that one day you could find it within yourself to forgive me and perhaps then we could become close friends too?”
Zaiyia’s table was still speechless. The McCoy sisters were doing everything they could to fight the temptation to laugh at this comical change of events. They tried looking around the cafeteria to distract themselves, load their mouths with their lunches, or securely seal them with both hands clamped over their lips. Anything to keep them from laughing! Chastity was staring back and forth from Zaiyia to whomever was speaking, her eyes huge with wonder. This wasn’t the first time Zaiyia got an apology from one of Alice’s henchmens for their past discretion against her, and there was no doubt in her mind it would be the last either. The real question was if she was ever gonna get used to it?
Needing to voice her own apology too, Karen Shrader placed a hand on Grace’s shoulder to let her know she was coming up from behind her next. Stepping forward to stand in solidarity with Catherine Lourd and Grace Smith, Karen faced Zaiyia…someone she hadn’t seen since their confrontation in the gym. “Hello, Zaiyia, you…you probably don’t remember me much.”
Zaiyia remembered Karen, but didn’t want to give her the satisfaction that she or the damage she’d done was at all worth remembering. Shaking her head, Zaiyia told her. “Oh no, honey, I’m sorry, I don’t think I do. What’s your name again?”
Surprised that she wasn’t imprinted in Zaiyia’s memory due to what she’d done to her, Karen Shrader shrugged it off and looked at it as a blessing that might work in her favor. If she couldn’t remember what she’d done to her, then it would make it easier for her to forgive her. “Karen Shrader. I was…was in the gymnasium when you got…ambushed.”
“So was I.” Grace Duke added, coming forward to stand beside Karen, her hand coming up to clap over the brunette’s shoulder in support. “Like the others said, it was messed up for us to participate in anything violent like that when it isn't at all who we are.”
“We’re good kids. Good students. The best of friends really!” Karen added fervently.
Since the table was still reeling over these four apologies, Chastity spoke up on behalf of a disinterested Zaiyia. “She accepts your apology. In fact, we all do!”
“Yeah, totally.” Monnique managed to voice before having to clamp her hands back over her mouth to keep her laughter from bursting forth.
Accepting that, the four students all let out piercing squeals of excitement that they’d been forgiven for their crimes and began to hop in place like they won tickets to see Selena Gomez live in concert. They missed Zaiyia’s table cringing in time with their squealing. “Oh please, does this mean we can be your friends, Zaiyia? I hope that we can be the bestest of friends now!”
“Sure.” Zaiyia answered with a sigh, shrugging her shoulders. She just wanted this to be over already.
Another round of piercing squeals were discharged before the group began to retreat back to their table where Alice awaited them. “We’ll see you later then, besties!”
“Besties?” Assata snorted, her smile finally cracking through as she laughed to herself after they left.
“Yeah…that’s their thing.” Zaiyia sighed forlornly to herself. She was beginning to miss the days where they wanted to bust her skull wide open in the name of Alice White.
“How fucking weird.” Aishah remarked with a weird look, watching the four ladies huddle around Alice.
“I don’t like it.” Monnique shared with a shake of her head, watching Alice congratulate them.
“You guys, c’mon! This is a good thing!” Chastity tried to change their minds. “Zaiyia’s enemies are gonna start repenting for what they’ve done to her and us which means more love and less hate!”
“I don’t know if I wanna be called a bestie so soon though.” Zaiyia lamented, looking ill at the thought.
“You know what? Bump all this shit.” Monnique announced, disbanding the topic. “What I wanna know is why the fuck is Alan bothering you about this time?”
Welcoming the change in subject, Zaiyia answered swiftly to get to the core of it. “Because he wants to get back with Alice and he wants my help in making it happen!”
“Damn, that boy is persistent, albeit annoyingly.” Aishah declared with surprise.
“And what did you tell him?” Assata asked Zaiyia, arching a brow.
“I told him to leave me alone.” Zaiyia said then added. “And I might have kicked him in the balls because he wouldn't listen.”
“Well…that explains why he’s constantly glaring at you all the time.” Monnique murmured to herself.
“Yeah, I know. I’m gonna try and talk to him when he eventually cools down. Until then I’ll give him some space till he’s ready. Then we’ll talk it out.” Zaiyia told them, earning scores of support for her idea.