"I can't believe you would do such a thing to Leslie, how can you be such a cruel person. So you're telling me that you're liable to kill someone because anybody that can do this is capable of murder. Did I give birth to a murderer!?" Her mother's voice echoed through the house.
"Fuck mom, now you think I'm a murderer?" She retorted in a tone just as harsh as her mother's.
"Are you not? Leslie was your best friend, other than being family, she was your friend and you did something so unforgivable to her without any form of remorse" Her sister had joined in on the fight siding with her mother against her.
"I made one stupid mistake, why would you think I'm not remorseful about it?" She pulled her hair out of frustration "You don't even know anything about me"
"No, we know you, we know the kind of monster you are, you don't deserve anything good coming your way, you arent worthy of a smile, you're a big fucking mistake and I regret the day I ever gave birth to you."
Mariah jerked up from her sleep covered in sweat, her heart thumping like she had run for miles which was strange because she had been sleeping.
She rubbed her face with her hands before checking her alarm clock on her nightstand. The time read 6:15am.
She had woken up earlier than she wanted. Her classes were scheduled to start today by 10am. She didn't bother going back to sleep. She unplugged her phone from the spot she had kept it plugged over the night.
She opened her Instagram to check on the story views she got. She saw her story was viewed by over a hundred people, all strangers. She didn't bother with anything else as she left the app.
Mariah figured since she was up so early she could start up with getting a few things from the grocery store. Yesterday Thelma had mentioned that there was a supermarket a few blocks away from their building.
She sauntered to the bathroom to have a quick shower before leaving with her keys, her credit card and her phone.
As she walked out of her apartment, she saw Henry and Adonis walking right out of the elevator. They were both wearing sweatpants and a loose t-shirt coupled with a pair of sneakers.
Their skin was glistening under the light, Mariah could see that around their underarms were soaked through with sweat. It was far worse for Adonis, his whole shirt was soaked through with sweat which resulted in the shirt sticking to his body, vaguely showing off his abs and muscles.
Mariah's gaze was on Henry. He had a slim body compared to Adonis, he looked to be a few inches taller than Adonis. On seeing her, a soft smile appeared on his face.
They both approached her.
"Hey, going out?" Henry asked.
"Yea, I woke up rather early and was about to go get some groceries at least enough for a meal before I leave for class." Mariah explained.
Adonis placed his hand on his waist "do you know your way around the neighborhood?"
"No, but I don't think it'll be that hard, Thelma did mention yesterday that there was a supermarket a few blocks away"
Adonis raised an eyebrow "by your left or right?"
Mariah could not answer that. Thelma did not tell her if she was to go right or left, she only said there was a supermarket a few blocks away.
Mariah chuckled, glanced at her feet before she lifted her eyes to meet Henry's welcoming gaze.
"I can accompany you if you'd like that," Henry offered.
"Yea, we could all go," Adonis added.
Mariah raised her eyebrows in surprise at the offer "Thank you so much, I guess I'll have to trouble you"
"No stress kiddo" Adonis ruffled her hair like an uncle trying to placate his niece.
Mariah frowned "just because I'm shorter than you are doesn't mean you can do that"
"You can't do shit about that," Adonis retorted.
"Oh, just wait and see"
Adonis feigned a fright "Oh my God, I'm so scared, what are you gonna do, bite my knees off?"
Mariah couldn't help but laugh "Fuck you".
They bickered that way all the way to the supermarket. Henry chipped in on their fights when he thought it was getting kind of heated but his worry was for nothing as they were both just joking around.
When they walked into the supermarket which was three blocks away from their building on their left, the sight of the three people attracted the attention of the people in the small supermarket.
Mariah noticed the attention they were getting but said nothing, she grabbed a shopping cart and walked straight to get the necessary items she needed.
When she turned around, she only saw Henry standing behind her, Adonis had disappeared.
"Where did he go?" She asked.
Henry chuckled "he went to talk to a girl"
Mariah nodded her head "Good for him"
"The two of you seem to be getting along well, even having petty bickerings about unnecessary things"
Mariah suddenly remembered their conversation the previous night. How when Henry talked about Adonis there was a hint of jealousy in his voice. She couldn't help but wonder just how small Henry felt around Adonis.
"I can't really say. It's just that he acts like the brother of an old friend. The way he ruffled my hair, I couldn't help but remember him" she said "he was like a brother to me as well"
"I see"
They talked about other things while she shopped for the things she needed at her apartment and when she was done, they headed to the cashier to get her stuff paid for.
There, they saw Adonis leaning against the counter flirting with the girl standing behind the counter. She had basic brown hair and a nose piercing, her looks were also quite a bit below average. It really wasn't suiting for someone like Adonis to be seen flirting with such an ugly girl.
After paying for her things, the three of them walked out of the supermarket.
"I could never have guessed you were into ugly girls" Henry said the words Mariah had wanted to say.
Adonis laughed "please, I'm not. I was just bored waiting for you guys"
"You could've just joined us," Mariah said.
"And interrupt this thing going on between the both of you? Sorry but I don't really enjoy being the third wheel that feels the sexual tension oozing off you guys"
Mariah's face warmed up while Henry tried to hold back a shy smile.
"There's no such thing" Henry was quick to deny.
"The first stage of love is denial, brother." Adonis' phone in his pocket suddenly started ringing. He brought it out and after he saw the caller ID, he frowned slightly before excusing himself. He walked away from them to take the call.
Mariah had seen a trace of red on the screen.
"So, when's your class?" Henry asked.
"By 10" Mariah replied.
"I could walk you to school," Henry offered.
Mariah smiled at how nice and warm he was "I have a car, I was gonna drive to school"
"Oh, I had no idea" Henry laughed "Daddy's girl"
On hearing that term, Mariah's smile dropped unnoticeably.