harlee's pov:
friday night

me: have fun with your family

j: I will

me: are you're still mad at me

j: I'm not mad at you
j: I just wish you would've told me

me: I'm sorry i really am

j: I'm your best friend harlee, I'm not wanna
j: it wouldn't have hurt to tell me

me: I know I understand
me: I shouldn't have hid it from you

j: have fun tonight w ken and klai
j: keep an eye out on kennedy for me

me: I will
me: have a safe flight

the past day I've felt really guilty for not telling jaden about my internship, because he really is one of my best friends. and when he found out I didn't tell him he was upset

j: thanks

me: see you when we get back

I exhaled a large breath as I leaned backwards on the couch, almost as if I surrendered. I never intended to upset him, but I know he's just brushing it under the rug.

deep down I know he's still upset, because truthfully—jaden is one of the most stubborn people I know.

my eyes looked back down to my phone as my fingers clicked onto javon's contact.

as I read over his name, I could feel my body start to ache a little, already missing him.

especially after last night.

me: did you board your flight?

baby: yeah we're about to take off

me: your dad doing okay?

baby: everything's going smoothly so far so that's good

me: good

baby: what are your plans for tonight?
baby: a party??

me: funny
me: no klai kennedy and I are hanging out at kens house

baby: and drink

me: maybe I don't know if I want to tonight

baby: it's a celebration day

me: I know
me: maybe

baby: I'm about to take off, be safe tonight babe

me: I will
me: have a good flight

baby: oh
baby: and congrats on your internship I'm so proud of you, you deserve everything. you're the best.

me: oh wow
me: wanna being heart felt? where did that come from?

baby: idk to be honest

me: you're cute
me: thank you b

baby: ❤️

my fingers clicked the lock button on my phone, causing it to turn off as I aimed my attention back to klai and kennedy who was grabbing the drinks from her liquor cabinet.

"dirty shirley or dirty girl scout ?" kennedy stood up straight, holding alcohol bottles in each of her hands.

I let out a large breath, looking back and forth from each bottle. "definitely shirley." I motioned my head in the direction of the bottle.

she smiled to herself, looking at the bottle in her hand as she put the other one back down into the cabinet. "klai you?"

"shirley." she said softly smiling, resting her head against the neck of the couch.

I watched as kennedy walked to the cabinet, opening it before pouring drinks into three glasses.

my eyes looked down to the present that was in front of me, still being unopened. "so," I spoke loudly in order to get her attention. "when do I get to open this?"

a small laugh left her mouth as she carried the drinks over towards the living room, sitting down on the couch across from klai and I—setting the shot glasses onto the table.

"you can open it now if you want." she shrugged her shoulders, making herself comfortable as she brought the glass up to her lips.

"I'm actually kind of excited to see what this is." I shook my head, having no idea about what it was that she got me, considering the fact that she wouldn't let me open it in front of the guys.

a couple of laughs escaped her lips at my comment. "open and find out." she smirked smoothly as she removed the glass from her lips.

I scoffed at her as a smile rested on my lips, my eyes rolling at her teasing what was in the gift bag. klai sat up turning to see as I started opening the bag.

my hands reached for the black paper bag, placing it into my lap as my hands grabbed onto the paper wrap, pulling it out.

once there was no more paper, my eyes looked to the bottom of the bag, seeing multiple things inside.

I reached inside, my hand grabbing onto a cold glass bottle, then pulling it out to look at it.

it was a pink bottle that was smaller than the size of my hand, holding a liquid inside. "perfume?" one of my eyebrows raised at her, a small grin on my lips.

her eyes widened as if she were offended. "don't raise your eyebrow at me!" she grabbed a pillow from the sofa, then throwing it at me. "I just love giving gifts and when you told me you got the internship I tried throwing something together last minute."

"ken I love it." I laughed a bit as I looked back down to the perfume. "this was very thoughtful of you."

she looked away from me, looking as if she were thinking about it. "yeah." she spoke lowly, her eyes looking at me widely. "now open the rest, there's more!"

"I'm a terrible gift giver, so my gift to you is a hug harlee." klai said laughing under her breath; as she reached over the couch to wrap her arms around my mid back.

I shook my head—chuckling at her as we let go of each other. I set the perfume down onto the table in front of me, then putting my hand back into the bag.

my hand grabbed onto what felt like a block of metal, pulling it out of the bag so that I could look at it.

my eyes scanned over a silver metal box, not too big, yet also not too small. across the top of the box was the word 'prayer box'.

"what's this for?" my eyebrows narrowed as I looked up to her, being a bit confused on what I was supposed to do with it.

"open it." she spoke lightly, a soft smile was on her face as her eyes looked down to the box.

my fingers played with the latch, opening the cold box. my eyes caught onto a bunch of small folded note cards, and a pen inside of it.

"I know you overthink a lot, so when I had that problem my mom got me a prayer box. you write down any worries or things you're stressing over and put them in here." her blue eyes looked up to me, looking gentle.

without even trying, a smile had slowly appeared onto my lips, really appreciating how meaningful her gift to me was.

"this is amazing." I could feel my heart warm up from the kind gesture. "I've been needing a way to write out my feelings, and this is going to help so much."

"these are actually the cutest thing ever kennedy." klai said peeking over my shoulder to see the box.

"I just know that you always seem to have a lot on your mind, and you care let your worries on others effect yourself." her facial expressions looked softened.

my heart feeling warm, I stood up from the couch, walking over to the couch that she was sitting on.

I went to sit down into her spot next to her, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her tightly. "thank you." I thanked her genuinely.

she wrapped her around me from the side, squeezing me tight. "of course." she mumbled into my shoulder.

she let go of me, grabbing the original present bag that she had given me. she put her hand into it, then pulled out a pen. "y'all want to write some down as we drink?" she grinned widely.

as both of the corners of my mouth curved upwards, I leaned forward as klai got up grabbing both our glasses, taking a seat next to me on the other couch. "let's do it."

"we'll just write until we run out?" klai questioned, aiming her eyes at me and kennedy instead of the alcohol.

my eyebrows narrowed out of confusion, "you guys have one too?" I questioned, not knowing that klai nor kennedy had their own box as well.

"I got klai one a couple of weeks ago, and I've had mine for a few years now." she laughed to herself lightly as she reached over to the coffee table pouring herself a shot in a cup that sat on the table.

her unfinished dirty shirley still sitting on the table.

she poured the liquor into each of the shot glasses, then putting the handle back down onto the table. "cheers." she handed me one of the glasses to each of us as she swallowed the alcohol in hers.

I put the glass to my lips, then tipping my head backwards as the burning sensation of liquor hit my throat causing it to feel like it was closing.

my face squeezed a bit as I put the shot glass back onto the table, creating a clinking sound, then taking the pen from her hand.

my fingers grabbed onto one of the pieces of paper, setting it down onto the table in front of me. my lips rubbed together as I focused on what words I should write.

harlee
my dad has found happiness and is watching over me

after writing down my first prayer, I handed the pen to kennedy as she read my paper. after reading it, her eyes looked back up to me.

without saying anything, she smiled softly at me without showing her teeth. her hand gently rubbed my arm up and down, "he has." she tried her best to give me hope.

I slightly nodded my head, letting her know that I appreciated her hopeful words.

exhaling a large breath, she turned towards the table, leaned forward as she started to write.

ken
I'll remove myself from toxic friendships

after my eyes read what she wrote, I immediately knew what she was referring to. "trust me she'll get what's coming for her." I assured her.

though kennedy and sidney were childhood friends, ken's admitted multiple times to how mentally exhausting being sidney's friend is. and a soul like kennedy's doesn't deserve that type of pressure.

she passed the pen to klai, she focused hard on her first prayer before messily jotting down her thought and facing her paper to us.

klai
all worries I have will be lifted from my shoulders

"I've been so stressed out recently with just everything." she admit honestly, not making eye contact with either of us.

"it's okay, we're so close to school ending." I told her my honest thoughts. I know klai isn't one to usually get worked up, but it happens to the best of us.

she smiled at my words, "yeah, I'm just holding out till summer." she told me as she put the note card into her metal box.

"want to take another shot?" kennedy's eyes stayed aimed away at us as she grabbed onto the handle on the table in front of her.

"at this rate we'll be blacked out by ten kennedy."
klai said laughing as she held out her shot cup to be refilled.

I rubbed my hands together excitedly, my eyes widening at the sight of the alcohol. "yeah, let's go." my voice laced with hype.

she poured all of the shots, then handed one to me, klai, and keeping one for herself.

without saying anything, all of us took the shot quickly. again, the burn of it was strong, but in a way I was getting used to it after only the second one.

"shit, that one stung." kennedy's voice spoke with rasp, her face turning a shade of red.

I laughed a bit at the color of her face, then grabbing the pen from off the table. without thought, my hand began to write—already knowing what one of my main prayers was.

harlee
dj will find peace whether it's a cure, or after he passes away

klai inhaled a breath, nodding her head as the look on her face stayed plain. her teeth bit onto the inside of her cheek as she took the pen from my hand.

klai
I'll graduate college and be successful

after writing, a couple of small giggles came from her mouth—finding it funny.

"good one." I encouraged her, even though there wasn't question that she would graduate. klai is a lot smarter than you'd think, she does good in school.

she passed the pen to kennedy without saying any words, without a second of thought she started to write.

ken
I want to maintain a positive relationship with my family

we all smiled at kennedy, and taking myself by surprise, I reached for the bottle of alcohol, pouring each of our shots.

I don't know why, but I really just want to be drunk off my mind right now. no, I don't usually drink, but this isn't a party or anything.

I'm safe from doing stupid shit around random people, I'm with my friends, and we're alone for the next twenty four hours.

not even bothering to hand klai and kennedy their glass, I put the rim of my glass to my lips and let the drink splash into my throat.

"jeez." kennedy mumbled, being taken off guard from my sudden urge to drink, considering that it wasn't very normal for me.

as a laugh left my mouth, I grabbed the pen from her lap and started writing without even waiting for them to take their shots.

once I was mid sentence in writing, I could see both of them take the shot out of the corner of my eye. only this time, neither were affected by the bitter taste.

harlee
my mom will be happy and find love she deserves

I clicked the pen after I was done writing, folding up my paper as I put it into the box with the rest of the small papers.

kennedy grabbed the pen, clicked it on the table before beginning to write, not thinking too long about what she was going to write.

ken
I will move to california and start the rest of my life (after college)

after writing it down, she held up the note card for us to look at, letting me read the words she had written onto it before passing the pen to klai.

"you want to live in california?" my eyes widened as I looked at her, being able to one hundred percent see her live there. klai starting to write on her slip of paper.

"yeah," she spoke with excitement, "I have lots of cousins out there and I love it more every time I visit." her voice changed, almost as if she was complaining that she didn't live there right now.

my eyes squinted as I looked at her, scanning her fully up and down. "you seem like one of those cali girls, but in a good way." I laughed lightly, being able to visualize her living there.

we both laughed in-sync right as klai was turning around her prayer.

klai
good things will come

I put my hand over my heart, letting my jaw slowly drop as klai looked at me. "that just made me so happy." my drunk state of mind was becoming obvious from my dramatic expressions.

"are you already feeling it?" klai asked her, referring to the alcohol.

I rubbed my lips together, as if I were guilty. "almost." I spoke in a low tone, quickly.

"same." kennedy admit, even though it was embarrassing since we were only three shots in. the conversation caused us all to break out into a light laugh, causing me to laugh as well.

"come on." klai's laugh began to slow back down. "let's just do a few more of these then we can party." she grabbed the pen, handing it out to me.

letting my smile fade from laughing, I inhaled a deep breath of air as I grabbed the pen from her.

leaning forward, I grabbed another note card and placed it onto the hard table so my writing could be smoother.

a sudden seriousness took over my body as I thought about my next prayer. my jaw clenched hard, the pen hovering over the paper.

my lips pursed together as my teeth bit onto the inside of my mouth. I nodded my head barley, only for myself to notice.

harlee
javon will be good to me

my lips caved in, rubbing together as I handed the pen to klai. she took it from me, but her eyes stayed on me.

I turned my head to look at her, seeing her eyes looking at me with a gentleness in them. "you don't have to worry about that, harlee." she assured me in a calming tone.

I let my shoulders shrug after she spoke, "you never know. anything could happen." the words easily came out of my mouth without thought.

she nodded, not being sure as to if she agreed with me or not, then looking down to her next card.

she began writing, but it was quick. then handing it over to kennedy who wrote hers down just as quick.

klai
I will spend more time with my mom before going to college

kennedy
jaden and I will finally make it official

my eyes read both their notes, "you seriously do care about him don't you?" I questioned kennedy, not realizing how much he truly does impact her.

she began to nod her head before I could even finish my sentence. "one hundred percent." she spoke with assurance. "sometimes I try to convince myself that I'm the only person who fully understands him, but I know how crazy that sounds."

I can see where she's coming from. whenever you love someone, you always find a way to excuse their mistakes. you understand why they make the decisions they make.

the corner of my mouth began to curve upwards as I looked down to my hands. "klai I can't imagine how much of a wreck you're mom is going to be when we graduate."

"she talks about it all the time." she said pouting out her bottom lip. "she won't be able to survive without me."

more laughter filled the room, and not bothering to pour a shot, I took the pen from klai's hand and started to write down one of my last prayers onto a note card.

harlee
everything will play out as it should

I turned my head to look at them, seeing their eyes read over my note card.

a small smile formed onto each of their lips, feeling a happiness arise in the room.

as silence started to fill the room, my eyebrows narrowed a bit as a question raised inside of my head. "why couldn't I open that in front of the guys?" a laugh escaping my mouth as I asked kennedy.

she shrugged her shoulders as her bottom lip popped out. "it's not their business to know a girls wishes."

I one hundred percent agree.

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I'll be updating again monday!! love y'all