“Thank you so much, I was so nervous! You could probably hear it, couldn't you?”
Naira bends down to hug him, and he reciprocates her moves. “Listen, Dominic, I wouldn't lie to you, you've got a gift, you’re a real special boy.”
Dominic lets out a shy smile. “Thanks so much, Naira. I hope I’ll get to see you again!”
“Trust me, I’ll be back in no time,” she says as she stands up.
“I’ll be holding you to that,” Thomas interrupts, his cheeks rosy while holding Melissa’s hand.
They all share smiles and quick, yet heartfelt hugs and Naira and Credence leave together, walking hand in hand.
She couldn’t let go of how much she loved the performance and even tried poorly mimicking Dominic's verse which startled bystanders.
“Sorry, am I talking too much,” she says, somewhat embarrassed.
“Don’t apologize I like hearing you talk, I’m glad you liked it. They'll wanna see you again sometime.” They share a gleeful laugh, and Naira slowly pauses, unable to shake her thoughts, speaks again.
“Hey, Creed…”
“Mm?” He asks, his gaze fixed on his phone.
“Melissa thinks you’re a vampire,” she says, waiting eagerly for a response.
Credence laughs quietly before answering, not looking away from his phone. “Well, it’s true.”
“What do you mean? I saw your fur,” replies a puzzled and taken-aback Naira.
He finally looks at her with a grin. “Well, that's true too.”
She stops right in her tracks, him turning to face her with a slightly confused expression. Having enough of his coded language, she spits out her thoughts, “What the hell are you talking about Credence?”.
He takes a deep breath before answering. “I'm a hybrid. It's a long story, and not many people know it,” he says, looking at her.
“A hybrid…” she pauses for a few seconds. “I’m still confused, though. Don’t vampires die if they perform rituals that aren't theirs? The same thing with were-folks right?”
“They often do, but I guess I’m just a special case,” he finishes and Naira raises her eyebrows while blinking rapidly, gesturing that he’s not done, and she needs more answers. He lets out a sigh. “When I was turned, I was sort of expecting to die… either way, Rollo tells the story better than me, so I'll let him tell it when you guys meet,” he replies in his signature tired and seductive tone before softly pinching her cheek.
They share smiles, not fully genuine ones, but choose to drop the topic as they walk. After a few minutes of silence that felt endless, Naira chooses to break the tension. “Creed, I was meaning to tell you I love hanging out with you, but I won’t be able to do it as much. I’ve been too distracted, falling behind in my classes and stuff. I know its a bummer but I've gotta start picking my grades up,” she finishes.
“Oh, I see. It’s alright, take care of those grades kid.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t want to see you. I’m actually graduating soon. I just don’t want to mess it up. What we have, or school, you know?”
He nods in understanding. “Yeah, I get that. Just give me a call whenever you’re free. Also, when is your graduation? I know you’d love to have me there,” he jokes, throwing a cocky smirk at her.
Naira tries to share his mood but fails, and as he notices, his eyebrows furrow. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, no, nothing. Just thinking,” she waves it off with her hand continuing their walk holding hands.
***
As the weeks have gone by, Naira has been able to form a study group with a few friends. It’s been challenging for her to say the least, and the last steps at college felt heavy but they were necessary. Despite all of her side projects, Addy’s been able to keep straight A’s and has even played a large role in Naira’s current upward trajectory in school.
“Give me a break! This guy’s a were-vampire thingy?” Fleur asks before passing the blunt to Addy.
“Yeah, it was hard for me to wrap my head around it too. It’s like right when I think I’ve got him figured out there's a new surprise.” Naira answers, running her hands over her hair.
“Well, it ain’t too hard to process, he just lucky,” Addebowale says, trying to speak through her coughing fit, shrugging her shoulders and fanning her face. “A lot of people die doing that stupid shit. If you already a vampire, why the hell you wanna become a werewolf? You just begging for the council to fuck with you at that point,” she finishes in a raspy tone before taking another pull, passing the blunt over to Naira.
A red-eyed Rurik looks concerned. “Yeah well… does he treat you nice? Do you guys argue or anything?”
Naira nods. “Oh, don't worry, he's like the best boyfriend I’ve ever had…” the room grows quiet as Naira takes a small drag. Addy's eyes grow large and dart back and forth between Naira and Rurik, smoke filling her cheeks. Naira laughs nervously. “And yeah, we argue, but over stupid shit,” she pauses to think, “like who pays the tab and what show we should watch. You guys gotta meet him, he’s a really dope guy.” Rurik looks away and lets out a sarcastic chuckle.
Fleur, sensing the tension, chimes in again. “He sounds great, but who I really want to meet is Dominic. He sounds like such a sweetheart. I can't believe you didn't get a video of them singing.”
“Well, sorry. I was too busy bawling my eyes out. I think he goes to school with Shaka right?” Naira giggles at her response, turning to Addy. A knock on Addebowale’s door gets the attention of the group and in walks a tall ebony-skinned man.
“Hey, y’all still studying?” he asks, reaching for the blunt in Naira’s hand.
“Yeah dad, why? wassup?” Addy replies as her father smiles, taking a long pull from the blunt.
“Oh, nun, I just don't think y’all gone need this,” he puts the blunt up in the air. “Gotta make sure y’all fully focused and whatnot,” he breathes out laughing. “Oh, and Fleur, tell your pops I’ll be coming through to look over those plans,” he says as he leaves the room.
Addebowale, annoyed, let out a smile. “He ain't even shut the door.”
“Wait, that was mine,” Rurik says quietly, making everyone burst out in laughter.
Interrupting the laughter, they all hear Shaka, Addy’s little brother speak. “You guys want this shut?”
“Yeah, please. Oh! And I got you some food, it's in the fridge!” She yells as he shuts the door.
“Ugh, Addy, this is so hard. I don't wanna do it,” Naira says fussily, dropping her head. “That's it, I'm dropping out, it's final.”
“She's basically given us the answer six times. Just pay attention,” Rurik demands with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.
“I am paying attention, it's just too damn hard,” Naira complains with an annoyed expression.
“Look girl, just move this up here, then you plug it in. That's all, you doing okay?” Addebowale says with a reassuring smile at Naira.
“Oh, damn! Was it always that easy? Addy, you're a genius!” Naira exclaims, clapping in excitement as she rushes to write her answer.
“Oh come on! She gave us the answer six times, it was literally always that easy.” Rurik replies in disbelief.
“Knock it off, Rurik, we all learn at different paces. She just has a lot on her mind,” Fleur says and smiles at Naira. “You should probably look into getting a fidget,” she adds, not looking away from her paper.
“I had one, but I lost it on the train. It was my favorite,” Naira says, pouting.
“We're just too close to graduation to be fooling around like this. Are you sure that guy isn't distracting you from your priorities?” Rurik asks with a stern expression.
“Well, I kinda thought that would be the case,” Naira comes back thoughtfully, “so I just told him I needed some time to myself so I can focus. Boom! Two steps ahead of ya,” she adds as she pokes Rurik’s nose with the eraser of her pencil.
A somewhat less pissed Rurik immediately answers. “Wow, really? Well, it's good to hear he respects your education and you're not letting him strip you of your focus” he says returning his attention to his paper, his tone was so pretentious Naira felt her stomach churn as an image of her father briefly crossed her mind.
“I mean, of course he does. I can live without him. You do know that right? It’s not like I'm gonna prioritize a guy over my responsibilities. Boyfriend or not,” Naira scoffs.
“That’s good to hear,” Fleur speaks softly, calming the waters. “How did he take the news?”
“Really well… a little too well” Naira adds squinting in suspicion “I was hoping for a single teardrop or an ‘I shan't sleep until I have you by my side again my love’ with a bouquet of roses, an orchestra, and maybe he’d be riding a white horse and-” Naira stops her wild gesturing to see her friends looking at her with bewilderment before erupting in laughter.
“Can't compete with that,” Rurik says while laughing and shaking his head.
“Damn, I need some water, I got cottonmouth,” Addebowale says after clearing her throat and putting her fuzzy black slippers on.
“I'm thirsty too, now that you mention it,” Fleur says, stepping off the bed and exiting the room with her. Rurik and Naira sit in silence for what seems like an eternity. Naira continues writing and humming along to the music Addy left playing. Rurik looks up from his paper and opens his mouth to speak, but shakes his head and returns his attention to his paper. She can hear the muffled laughter of her friends as they talk to Addy’s mom in the kitchen. Naira takes a moment to take in her friend's room fully. She sees her large Nigerian flag hanging from her wall, and pictures of their entire friend group scattered along a corkboard. She squints to get a better look at the pictures in the dim lights of the room and stands up closer so she can see the photos of when she, Randy, Cole, and Addebowale went on their road trip to California. Naira then looks around this room that is almost half the size of her own and is a closet compared to the room back at her parents' house. She sees Addebowale’s string lights strung from the ceiling, and in the corner of her room stands a stack of books almost the height of Naira if not taller. Potions decorate almost every surface in Addebowale’s room. She recalls Addy telling her how she’d arrived in pondbell as a child. With Addy being a Wiccan and Pondbell being an Other town the government gave her family the additional nudge needed by offering lower rental rates and guaranteed work, it was an offer too good to refuse. While the government has not explicitly stated they didn't want Others living amongst humans the message was clear to anyone who could read between the lines. With these incentives along with the rights average Americans receive such as monthly food stipends, free healthcare, higher minimum wage and rent control. The Cunha’s were able to hit the ground running and apply themselves fully without having to worry about the basic essentials. Her father found his passion in construction, her mother works as a mental health crisis responder, and her brother Shaka like his big sister has received straight A’s in school since coming to Pondbell. All of the Cunha’s have found their passion, all of them have a perceived purpose except for Addebowale. Upon arriving to Pondbell Addy promised her grandmother she would become a renowned Wiccan just like she had been. When she had arrived to Pondbell she was sure she would be accepted into the Coven but was startled to see the Wiccans were less than impressed by her talents. Chagrined, she applied to college having not done so before as she was certain she would be accepted with ease. Naira can see just how tirelessly Addebowale works in all fields, science, physics, apothecary, and even Santeria. So it alarmed Naira to discover Addy’s failing before she had decided to enroll at Ponbell University. Addy still harbors guilt not being able to keep her promise with her grandmother before she passed and though she doesn't speak about her often Naira can sense she still carries that weight. The work might have been a gateway to the Coven but Naira is now almost certain that it has become a much-needed distraction for Addy.
“Naira… Hey Naira? Are you zoning out again?” Rurik’s voice interrupts her train of thought.
“Huh? Oh yeah, just thinking about this problem,” Naira says with a chuckle while sitting back down and pointing at her worksheet.
“Yeah… hey, can I ask you something?” Rurik asks, closing his book and placing it beside him.
“Sure, what's up?” Naira replies, closing hers as well.
“Why this guy? What works with him that didn't work with us?” Rurik asks softly, shaking his head as if still trying to wrap his head around it.
“Oof,” Naira replies, her shoulders falling. “I don't know honestly. It’s not like i was just trying to date whoever I could, I actually wasn't planning on dating anybody. Look, I don't think it's healthy for you to compare yourself to others. We didn't work in ways that Credence and I do. We simply click,” Naira responds, opening her notebook looking into it.
“What do you mean click? You bump into a guy on the street, sleep with him a couple of times and suddenly you two are a match made in heaven?” he almost yells, and Naira’s eyes go wide in disbelief. “Naira, I don’t want you to realize that leaving me was a mistake. I want us to work again, I really do,” he admits.
“I really don't wanna talk about this right now. Let’s just study, okay?” Naira says dismissively. Rurik stares at Naira before looking down once more. The silence deafens them both, the tension slowly lowering.
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