𝟬𝟬𝟯,   social status.

           𝓞nce Kehlani and her friends arrived at school, most of them went their separate ways. The twins are in middle school, so the teenagers walked them to their school first. Carl and Nick went off somewhere together, probably doing something incriminating. Debbie left to change her 'baby's' diaper in the restroom, leaving Kehlani and Ricky in the crowded halls. They walked beside each other, furiously blushing whenever their shoulders would brush occasionally.

           A familiar squeal could be heard from down the hall, as Kehlani braced herself for what was about to come. The girl with curly hair closed her eyes as her best friends hugged her with full force. Cleo and Marilyn greeted her the same for years. It was their way of showing how much they missed Kehlani, even though they're around her all the time, and when they aren't around her they're probably on facetime.

           Ricky called them dramatic, though he could be the same when it came to Kehlani. Everyone loves the Kingsley girl. She was known for being pretty and popular, but also smart. Kehlani even tutored people in a higher grade lever than her. Maybe it was the fact that she was a lowkey nerd, and used all of Lip's books and worksheets he left behind for her while at college.

            Either way, she was proud of her social status. The girl tended to keep it that way, forever being branded as the popular girl. Kehlani pulled away from the girls that could squeeze the life out of her at any given moment, and smiled at them bashfully. "I missed you guys, but come on, it was a three day break." She teased, earning a nudge on her shoulder from them.

          "Did anyone miss me? I've been here the whole time and have received no hugs." Ricky raised his eyebrows, silently hoping for a fist bump or anything. They barely acknowledged his presence.

           "We're cousins. I see you everyday." Marilyn mumbled slowly, her eyes closing in on him to make him look small. "Actually, Kehlani missed you enough for the both of us." Cleo suddenly pitched in, sending a sly look towards her best friend. Kehlani shook her head in annoyance, covering her face with her hands. "Do the walk of shame." The girl with curly hair stated, with Cleo holding her head down and doing as told.

            "Our first day back from break, and Cleo has already gotten on Kehlani's nerves." Marilyn spoke in a haste. Ricky couldn't help but laugh as Cleo walked down the hallways of their school with her head down. Anyone could tell she had a glint in her eyes, meaning her walk of shame was all an act to please Kehlani.

Cleo only stopped upon spotting Carl and Nick walk into the school building, her eyes widening a large extent. Had Carl gotten out of juvie and Kehlani didn't even think to tell them about it? The dark skinned female turned behind her, motioning towards Carl and sending her best friends a confused glance. Had they all known that Carl returned and didn't tell her? Probably not. She may have been high as hell when receiving the news. Kehlani never kept anything from them.

"So... he's back." Cleo made her way to her friends, ignoring the weird look that Carl gave her for staring at him as long as she had.

"He is." Kehlani almost smiled at the sight of him, but she had to refrain. Especially with Ricky in her presence, the boy she recently set her sights on. Even though she didn't necessarily like like Carl, the feelings she harbored for him were slowly resurfacing.

"And apparently, he thinks he's black." Cleo added in once more, frowning at his sudden━━ change in appearance. "Does he have cornrows? That's like, not appropriate at all." Marilyn held in a gasp, almost doubling over at the sight of him. He looked so different, and it wasn't right to her.

"As good as the braids look on Carl, you guys are right. I don't think he understands that he's appropriating black culture. Maybe we should try to educate him. He's still a good friend of ours." Kehlani told the others, them all watching Carl as he entered a classroom. She wasn't necessarily defending Carl, but she didn't want them to hate him. He was still the same old Carl, when he was around her, at least. The whole thing was some sort of act that he put together while in juvenile, most likely to fit in with a certain crowd.

           "I'm with Kehlani. He's obviously under the influence. Thinking crack, maybe." Ricky stated jokingly, earning a punch in the arm from Marilyn.

"Why'd you hit me?" The boy asked his cousin, rubbing his arm to get rid of the slight pain.

"That was so not funny." Marilyn spoke lowly, hoping Kehlani couldn't hear. She knew how emotional her best friend was when it came to talking about heavy drugs, especially crack, which her mother had left their family for a year after the twins were born.

"Sorry, Mar, I was only joking. Carl Gallagher is not some crackhead." Ricky stated with raised hands. He was so caught up with making Marilyn mad that he hadn't even realized the sullen look that flashed in Kehlani's expressionless eyes for a moment.

          Kehlani was a pro at hiding her emotions, having done it all her life as the oldest daughter. There was a huge weight on her chest as the oldest child where she felt she had to be strong for her younger sisters, only crying alone in her room or certain late nights where she would shower for hours until the water ran cold.

          If Cleo and Marilyn weren't two of her best friends, they wouldn't have been able to notice how dampened her mood became at the mention of such a drug. The two girls glared at a confused Ricky before engulfing Kehlani in a comforting hug. She smiled a little, motioning for Ricky to join the three of them. Kehlani couldn't get mad at him when he was only joking, and had no idea about her family's past. She told him her mother left after birthing the twins, but she never told him the reason for her absence.

          Once Ricky joined their small group hug, the four teenagers split up and made their way to their lockers because class would be starting in any minute. Kehlani opened her locker with ease, smiling at the cute pictures of her and her friends scattered around. The Kingsley girl got out her books for first period, and a mechanical pencil, before slamming her locker shut.

            She spotted Debbie, who had finally made her way back into the halls before turning and heading towards her first period. They weren't really the closest growing up, even though they're in the same age group. Kehlani was always mean as a child, with Debbie being far too naive for her liking. Maybe that's why she liked Carl so much, because he was genuinely messed up in the head and didn't mind when she teased him.

    Upon making her way to class, Kehlani took a seat towards the front making sure she saved a spot for Ricky, one of her only friends in first period.

           She noticed some of her peers staring at her, mainly due to her reputation. The staring and whispering about her occurred in every class, even in the cafeteria, which did nothing but enlarge her already huge ego. She wasn't famous, but it sure as hell felt like it.

          Kehlani did nothing but look at her phone as the bell rung, laughing once she spotted Ricky rushing into the classroom. He was always late to class, despite getting to school on time. It didn't matter though, because their teacher always slept through first period.

          "You're late again, Bowen. You know, we're halfway through the school year and you haven't made it to class on time not even once." Kehlani spoke in a stuck up voice, mimicking their geometry teacher.

         "Very funny, Miss Kingsley." Ricky had to bite his lip in order to hide his smile. He reached forward and grabbed Kehlani's petite hand, very aware of the stares they were receiving from classmates.

          He quickly kissed the palm of her hand and put it back down, leaving a shocked look on her face. It wasn't his first time showing her affection, but he had never been bold enough to flirt with her in public. It was always in the confinement's of their homes, whether it was his bedroom or hers. She liked this a lot.

𝓐fter a long, boring school day, Kehlani headed to the girls locker room with Ricky accompanying her. He's on the football team, which was really shocking considering he's a literal stoner. Their school couldn't afford drug tests or anything so he would be safe to do drugs as much as he saw fit. Kehlani spotted the other athletes and quickly grabbed Ricky, pulling him into the girls restroom. Luckily for her, the restroom was empty.

She grabbed the strings of his hoodie, pulling his chest flush against hers. Ricky licked his lips as he stared into Kehlani's eyes, his heart racing at how close she was to him. They had never done anything too sexual, let alone put labels on whatever was happening between the two of them. It didn't matter though, because Ricky would admit that he was Kehlani's bitch, and would do whatever she told him to do.

"We have at least five minutes before they come looking for us." The girl with curly hair whispered lowly, her minty breath fanning Ricky's face.

"And what do you choose to do in those five minutes?" Ricky raised his eyebrows, sending Kehlani a knowing look. He knew what she wanted from him and he was down to give it to her. Maybe he was a little in love, or maybe his hormones made him think he loved her. Either way, Kehlani had him right where she wanted him, and there's no way he could ever escape.

"It's obvious." Kehlani grinned once Ricky grabbed her face gently, as if he was afraid she might break if he was harsher. That was the difference between him and Carl, who wasn't afraid to be rough with her. God, why on earth was she thinking about Carl in such an intimate moment. Screw her mind for troubling her.

Kehlani pushed away her thoughts the second Ricky placed his lips on hers. He then applied a kiss to her cheek, beginning to trace his lips through the trail he memorized by heart down her neck. It was always the same, he would stop himself before they went too far, but give her enough kisses to satisfy both of their desires for even a little physical touch. Kehlani leaned her head back, tilting it so that she could look up at him. She felt a bit intimated by his height sometimes.

"You're tall as shit. You know that?" Kehlani Kingsley stated in a breathless manner. "What a normal thing to say after making out with someone." Ricky let out a laugh at her statement, quite used to her random outbursts after their kissing sessions. He knew she spat a bunch of nonsense whenever she got nervous.

          "Can't help it." Kehlani sat on the sink in the bathroom so that she was a bit taller. She then reached forward and began to play with his hair, smiling when he shook his head at what she was doing.

           "What?" The Kingsley girl stopped her actions when she noticed he was staring.

"Nothing. It just feels nice." Ricky spoke calmly, while Kehlani continued playing in his hair. She stopped for a second and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I think our time is up." Kehlani told the boy in front of her, hopping off the sink and grabbing his hand to pull him into the halls that would soon be crowded with a bunch of popular assholes.

The jocks and cheerleaders, people that gave less popular kids a living hell. It was a bit stereotypical, but true nonetheless. Kehlani was not a bully like she used to be, but she did have a mean streak when she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone and became a complete bitch. It occurred once in a while, so whatever unlucky student that decided to approach her during that time period would be demolished and swallowed whole.

            "Hey, I'll see you out on the field. Make those skanky cheerleaders bow down to their queen." Ricky held his arms out, putting an imaginary crown on Kehlani's head and bowing afterwards.

            The oldest Kingsley daughter couldn't help but smile and roll her eyes at how teasing Ricky could be. She stood on the tip of her toes and gave him a small peck on the lips, feeling his arms enclose around her lower waist as he squeezed lightly, enough for her to feel the butterflies swarming in her stomach.

           Kehlani noticed all the football players flooding into the halls and pushed Ricky away, punching his arm to make a friendly gesture. Ricky grabbed his arm in pain, muttering a small ouch under his breath. Kehlani mouthed an apology before leaving to enter the girls locker room. She could hear the boys cheering for Ricky, rolling her eyes as she knew rumors of them being in a relationship would soon surface. If she knew anything, it was that jocks liked to think that sleeping with women were some of life's greatest achievements.

"There you are! We've been calling your phone non stop. Thought you might've bailed on us." Cleo cheered at the sight of Kehlani, glad that her best friend hadn't decided to ditch them when she was mainly the reason they even tried out for the cheer team. Kehlani's been on cheer teams since she was a toddler, whether it was at a children's football game or a real game.

            "This has been my dream for a long time. I wouldn't bail if my life depended on it." Kehlani explained almost cheerfully, her dreams of getting to break dress code and skip class because of cheer meets finally becoming clearer than ever.

           Being a cheerleader in high school has its many perks, and could also increase her popularity among students and even teachers. She was not one to care much about the opinions of others, but it felt good knowing that people liked and adored her all the time.

            "What were you doing? You usually arrive ten minutes early so that you're the first one here. What happened to our little perfectionist? Have you become a rebel?" Marilyn gasped falsely, though she was actually quite curious to see why both Kehlani and Ricky weren't answering their phones. Not that it was any of her business what they had going on, she just wanted to be involved in her best friends life more.

           "It's not important." Kehlani smiled as she began to think of her and Ricky's heated make out session, which occurred a few minutes prior.

            "No, no. Enlighten me, because by the look on your face it seems pretty important." Cleo butted into their conversation, not caring if it was rude. She had every right to include herself, even though she was always under the influence and could barely remember the shit they seemed to talk about.

             "I was.... fine, stop pressuring me. Me and Ricky hooked up, I guess, if you can even call it that? All we did was kiss for like, five minutes straight." Kehlani blurted out the truth, scared of the looks her best friends seemed to give her. It was rather hard for her to keep secrets, let alone lie to the people she cared about. It was fairly easy to lie to her dad, though, because she was manipulative and could get herself out of trouble with a mere sob story. Other than that, Kehlani was a bigger blabber than Kevin Ball, which she certainly hated.

            "Was it hot? Have you guys ever like, I don't know, had sex? Is he good in bed? Not as good as Carl though, right?" Cleo flooded the Kingsley girl with millions of overwhelming questions, not sober enough to realize what she had been asking out loud.

            Marilyn covered Cleo's mouth with her hand, sending the girl a disgusted look. She wanted to know her cousins involvement with her best friend, but she did not want to hear about his sex life or whether or not he was good in bed. The thought alone was enough to make her throw up all over the girls locker room.

            "I thought we promised not to talk about that around other people, Cleo? And for your information, not everything is about sex. We're taking things slow, it's a change from what I'm used to, but I like it." Kehlani whispered to her friends. She had to fight the urge to cuss Cleo out for running her big mouth, even though she loved that the girl always spoke her mind.

            "Wait. I'm confused. You're telling me Ricky, the guy whose wanted you since sixth grade, is deciding to take things slow?" Marilyn asked Kehlani in surprise, her mouth dropping open at the revelation. Whenever she talked to Ricky about it, he'd made it seem like they were doing much more than just kissing.

           "Yeah. Why is that so hard to believe?" The girl with curly hair found herself slowly becoming annoyed by her best friend's sudden curiosity. "It's not. I'm just shocked. Ricky doesn't wait for anyone, and since Carl is back he's going to grow impatient with where your relationship stands." Marilyn explained softly, putting a hand on Kehlani's shoulder like a mother would.

           "You're right. I know you are, but I just don't wanna label what we have, you know? Labels only bound me down and make things more complicated." Kehlani bit her bottom lip guiltily, realizing how much she was leading Ricky on by doing that.

            "It's completely okay to feel that way, Lani, but make sure Ricky knows how you feel. Don't leave him in the dark, he'll be fine with whatever boundaries you set. Let him know that you're not ready to be committed to him and everything will work out." Marilyn clapped her hands together with a polite smile. She was like the nice mom of the group, always comforting them and giving them pep talks when needed.

           "I guess you're right, mom." Kehlani let out a small chuckle. "Go get changed into your uniform. You're the only one not dressed. Go. Now!" Marilyn pushed the girl towards her locker, amused at the fact that she had called her mom, of all things.

𝓢𝙸𝙴𝚁𝚁𝙰 𝓢𝙿𝙴𝙰𝙺𝚂!

okay, i know this update took literally ten years, but i got my phone and computer taken and couldn't really get a chance alone to work on it. anyways, how has your guys summer break been going so far? i start school again in a week or two so i'm doing back to school shopping, and what do you guys think happened between kehlani and carl that they can't talk about? feel free to guess.