Page 85 of Standing In The Sun
Aku gasped. “What?!”
Noodle cracked up, falling into Ahvi’s shoulder, buzzed and honest. “You just mad your little fantasy fell apart. That ain’t heartbreak, babe -that’s just life.”
Aku groaned and clutched her chest like she’d been shot. “Y’all don’t know shit about love! Noodle, this your first time and Ahvi…please…you scared of love.”
Ahvi laughed a little too loud, because…no lies detected. “I am scared,” she admitted, her voice less confident than before. “Love ain’t never done nothing but leave me broken.”
And that was the truth, from Ish’s cold grip to Kamari’s absent father, and the deep-rooted belief that if she let someone in too deep, she’d lose herself. She wanted to trust Lunar, wanted to believe he was the real thing but fear was familiar - love wasn’t.
Just then, Jagged Edge’s voice slid through the speakers like molasses,“What’s it like to be in love…” And Aku went full on dramatic. She threw her arms in the air, yelling the lyrics like they came from her own diary.
Ahvi shook her head and shoved her phone in Noodle’s hands. “Get your cousin. For real.”
But she was already pulling it out to record, Noodle laughing so hard she could barely keep the camera straight.
Throwing caution to the wind, Ahvi downed her drink and grabbed Aku around the waist. Noodle followed, and the three of them stood in their section, swaying and holding onto each other like their lives depended on it.
“What’s it like to be in love? That’s all I’ve been thinking of,” Aku belted off key, deep in her feelings. “Will love ever know me?”
Noodle laughed the hardest, probably because she could really sing.
“Y’all really my best bitches,” Aku cried, hanging on them like a baby.
Ahvi just held her tighter. Having friends— real ones was new. Before them, she moved alone. Her walls were high, barbed wire thick. Now, she had people. People who didn’t expect her to be anything but herself.
“I need a drink,” Aku sniffled.
“Girl, maybe you don’t,” Ahvi said, brows raised.
Noodle squinted at her. “I think we all need one more…just one.”
Ahvi exhaled. “Y’all gon’ be the reason I can’t get out the bed in the morning.”
They walked to the self-serve bar in their section. Aku poured heavy before lifting her glass. “To healing.”
“To him realizing he fumbled,” Ahvi added, smirking, knowing Devin didn’t fumble—he just stood on what he wanted for his life.
“To never dating a rapper, again,” Noodle giggled.
They clinked their glasses then tossed them back. Aku’s throat tightened—her dreams louder than her pride. She wanted love - wanted the real thing so bad it ached. And even though Devin wasn’t it, that didn’t stop the want.
They danced after that - hard and free. The night moved in snapshots - slow and blurry. Aku was already eyeing someone across the room, Noodle was at the DJ booth talking big noise, and Ahvi found herself leaned up against the velvet ropes, watching it all.
Ahvi was still in her head, still wondering if saying yes to Lunar meant losing herself…or finally finding peace.
Ahvi stayed posted up at the table for a minute with her phone in her hand looking at the picture of Kamari, Lunar sent earlier. It was the most beautiful thing. Both of them were shirtless with Kamari asleep on his chest. The club was cool but she wanted to be there with them, knowing their bubble was close to being popped with Lunar ready to step back into the world.
Just when Ahvi was about to put her phone up and go back to dancing, she felt him.
Snaking up behind her, Lunar whispered in her ear. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you in this dress and heels.”
Ahvi’s body shook like a gust of cold swept around her. She smiled big when his teeth scrapped across her ear. She blinked. “What you doing here?”
“I missed my girl.” He shrugged, with a glint in his eyes. “And based on y’all IG videos I came to make sure nobody ended up on Ken Barbie.”
“Where is Kamari?” Ahvi asked, still wrapped up in his arms. He always smelled so good and the feel of his slim muscles against her back did something to her.
“Butta,” he replied, swaying his body to the music, not acknowledging the DJ shouting him out now. “I called her to come spend the night with him.”
