The Boudreaux Sisters

Chapter 7: Old Friends

For the past two years, Desi and Bri always sat together at lunch time. When Desi first started high school, she was so happy to be able to attend with her older sister. That time will be coming to an end soon, as Bri just turned 18 and is currently a senior in high school. Meanwhile, Desi still has two more years to ride out. She always secretly prayed and hoped that she would soon find a good girlfriend to become cool with, so she wouldn’t have to sit by herself. Not that Desi found anything wrong with sitting by herself. Before she started going to the same high school with Bri, Bri would always sit by herself.

Both of them have always been the antisocial type, especially because they had to hide their abilities. Just like her sister, Desi learned how to tune people’s thoughts out so that she wouldn’t always hear what people were thinking or feeling. Being an empath has a way of taking a toll on you, especially when you’re able to hear the emotional thoughts of other human beings. Sometimes it can get really loud, even when you’re in a room by yourself. As Desi and Bri sat at lunch together, Desi began to think back on a past friendship from when she was in middle school. She always thinks back to this one friendship because not only was it ruined because of her ability but, she actually missed Monie.

Desi met Monie one day after school had ended. They were just hanging out with more friends, who had nothing else to do. After one conversation, it was like Desi met the ying to her yang. They began to have sleepovers with each other almost every weekend and called each other everyday. Like they didn’t go to school and wouldn’t see each other at the bus stop or just passing by in the halls. This friendship lasted up until one day when Desi and Monie were hanging out at Monie’s house and they were all alone. Normally, they’d just chill in Monie’s room or go downstairs in the basement, where Monie’s dad had a recording studio set up. They both had no business being down there but it always felt fun to chill and relax there, knowing that there were plenty of singers and rappers who had recorded some of their work there.

On this day, Monie and Desi were in the studio, listening to music when suddenly, Desi began to hear Monie’s thoughts. Monie had looked across the room and gave a nervous smile to Desi but then looked back down at her notebook while she was writing. She’s so pretty. I wish I could tell her how I feel about her. Her smile is just like her mother’s, so bright and beautiful. Sometimes I look at her and I just want to kiss her… Desi stopped listening to Monie’s thoughts as soon as she heard this. Time passed by and Desi couldn’t escape the thoughts she heard from that day. Every time she hung out with Monie, it began to feel weird to her because she knew how Monie felt about her. Desi tried her hardest not to make it weird. She knew she wasn’t into girls and that she was only attracted to boys. Thinking back on Monie’s thoughts sometimes made her uncomfortable to be around Monie.

Then, one night, while sleeping over at Monie’s, she finally confessed her feelings. Desi and Monie were laying in her bed, watching a movie when Monie got up and turned on the bright pink lamp that sat on her nightstand. She paused the movie, sat up in the bed and looked Desi in the eyes. Desi looked back at her and asked, “What happened? Why’d you pause the movie? It was getting good!”

Monie hung her head down and said really low, “I have something I need to say to you.”

Desi sat up in bed and prepared herself, as she already knew or had a feeling of what Monie was about to say.

“Desi, I’m not sure if you know but, for the last year or so, I’ve been kinda struggling with how I feel about you. At first, when we met, we said we were going to be best friends and I still want you to be that for me. But, I like you. Not in a friendly way but–”

“In a way that you want me. Like, you want us to be girlfriends.” Desi said as she finished Monie’s sentence for her. Monie’s face frowned up in confusion and she looked at Desi and said, “Yeah. How’d you know I was going to say that? You feel the same way?” asked Monie, with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Desi frowned up her face and quickly said, “No.” Then, she took a deep breath. “I mean, no. Like, it’s not that I don’t like you or feel the same way about you. I just don’t like you like that. But to be honest, I already knew you felt like this about me.”

Monie looked confused and asked Desi, “How? What? You can read minds or something?”, she chuckled. Desi looked off to the side and replied back, “Well…” Monie hopped up out of the bed and said out loud, “Bitch, you can read minds?!” Desi hopped out of the bed behind her and motioned with both of her hands for Monie to be quiet.

“SHHH! You want your folks to hear you?! And yes! But no.” Monie looked at Desi like she was crazy.

“I mean, I’m an empath. I discovered I had the ability to do this when I was a little girl. I can only hear people’s emotional thoughts and feel exactly what they feel. I overheard your thoughts one day when we were hanging out in your dad’s studio. Do you remember?” asked Desi.

“We always hang out in my dad’s studio. That’s nothing new.” stated Monie. “Yeah, well… you’re right. Anyways, I just remember you were either doing your homework or probably just writing, in general. And I could hear how you thought I was so pretty and how I looked exactly like my mom when I smiled and…” Before Desi could finish, Monie held up her hands to motion for Desi to stop. Desi got quiet. It was silent between the two of them for a minute.

Then, Monie spoke up. “I think you should go home.” Desi looked at Monie with tears in her eyes, as she said this. Monie had tears in her eyes, too. “Why?” asked Desi. Monie replied back, “Because you just should.” Then, she picked up Desi’s duffle bag that she always packed her clothes in and threw it at her.

“I don’t want to be your friend anymore.” Monie said coldly, while she stared at Desi and had tears falling down her face. Desi caught the duffle bag but she let it drop out of her arms.

“Come on, Monie. I don’t think we have to stop being friends because of this.” Desi walked up to Monie but she put her hands up and said, “No. You gotta go.” Desi looked at Monie, while crying tears, too. Monie had turned her back and faced the wall, as if to say she was done with Desi. Desi picked up her duffle bag and said to Monie’s back, “I still love you.”

Monie didn’t turn around until Desi walked out of her room and closed the door.

Ever since then, Desi had considered herself to be antisocial. She also told herself that this ability of hers would cause her to never have too many friends, as some people just wouldn’t be able to handle having a friend with a supernatural talent just like hers. Monie ended up going to the same high school as Desi and Bri. Sometimes, Desi would see Monie around and she’d try to wave or give a slight smile as if to say, “Hey. Remember me?” Monie would always look the other way, pretending that she didn’t see or even notice Desi. This always hurted Desi. She knew she did nothing wrong but she would always find herself questioning her own thoughts like, did she do something wrong? Her sisters would always console her and confirm for her that she did absolutely nothing wrong.

“It’s having these abilities that could either make you or break you,” her oldest sister Rez would always tell her.

Bri brought Desi back to the present by throwing a french fry at her face. The fry bounced off Desi’s nose and she instantly came back to the present.

“Hellooo? Earth to Desiree Laurent? I know you ain’t ignoring me!” said Bri, as she waved another french fry around in Desi’s face.

Desi looked at Bri and laughed. Then, she picked up the same fry that Bri had just thrown at her and threw it back.

“Don’t be throwin’ no damn fries at me. What’s wrong with you?”

Bri laughed and said, “I was asking you what was you gon do when I leave you here in this big ol’ school by yourself. You know, graduation is right around the corner,” said Bri, as she got up and walked to the nearby trashcan to dump her tray. She sat back down in front of Desi, then grabbed her phone to look at the time. 12:08 p.m.

“We literally have two minutes left of lunch and this is what you want to talk about?” asked Desi. She rolled her eyes and got up to walk over to the same trash can to throw her tray away. “Plus, graduation is only two months away. Pump your brakes. It’s not like you going to school this fall.”

Bri rolled her eyes. Then, the lunch bell rang, signifying that Bri and Desi’s lunch was over and they, along with all the other kids in the cafeteria, had five minutes to get to class.

“You don’t know what I plan to do, little girl.” replied Bri, as she and Desi began to walk to the back entrance of the cafeteria. Desi chuckled at Bri and was about to respond back when she felt a slight brush up against her arm and saw that it was a random girl. The girl looked back and yelled, “Excuse me!” Desi held up her hand and yelled back, “You good!” Then, she noticed something strange about the girl. Something that stuck out.

The girl had a long scar on her left cheek. Desi immediately said out loud, “Damn, she looks familiar.” Desi and the girl were only a couple of feet away from each other, so she instantly responded back by turning around and saying, “You do, too.” The random girl smiled at Desi and she smiled back. She knew exactly where she knew the girl from.

“Lady!” Desi said out loud. Lady smiled even harder and she ran up to Desi and they both hugged each other really tight. Then, Desi could hear Bri yelling out, “Come on, Desi! Before we be late!”

Desi and Lady released each other from their embrace and Lady yelled out, “Imma see you around, girl!” Desi smiled hard and yelled back, “Ok girl!”

Later on that afternoon, Desi and Bri were sitting on the school bus, waiting for it to take off. Desi and Bri were in deep conversation about how their day went, when Desi suddenly looked up and noticed Lady was boarding the bus. After Lady finished showing the bus driver her slip, she proceeded to walk to the back of the bus. Desi raised her hand and waved at Lady, motioning for her to come here. Lady smiled and walked to where Desi and Bri were sitting and she sat down directly across from them both.

Desi and Lady begin to get acquainted with each other as they did a little bit of catching up. They exchanged phone numbers and even followed each other on social media. Desi also found out that Lady stayed in the same neighborhood as her, she was just two blocks away. Desi got so excited to hear this because she instantly thought back to what Bri had asked her earlier that day. ‘What you gon do when I leave you up here in this big ol’ school by yourself?’ If Desi didn’t have an answer then, she definitely had it now. Her old friend from way back when was back in College Park, staying just two blocks away from her. Desi had a lunch partner for the next two years, who she could also call her best friend.

Over the next couple of weeks, Desi and Lady began to hang out and rekindle their relationship. They talked about everything. What happened after Lady’s parents passed away, her time in Mississippi and finally, settling back down in Atlanta. Lady even remembered Desi’s ability and she asked her if she could still do it. Desi confirmed this for her by going to the mall one day, posting up in the food court and just laughing at everybody because Desi was able to hear just about everyone’s thoughts. They had the time of their lives that day.

One night, when Lady came over Desi’s house to spend the night, Desi confided in Lady by telling her about this one particular boy that she had a crush on that also went to their school. His name was Darren Touissant and Desi just thought he was the bees knees. Darren was a junior but he should’ve been a senior. He got kept back in the 8th grade because of a fight he got into that left the other boy blind in his left eye. Of course, the family pressed charges and Darren had to go to juvenile for a couple of months, which also caused him to get left behind. But that didn’t phase Desi at all.

Every time she saw him in school, it was like her knees would get weak, she couldn’t find any words to say and she would just stare at him. One time, Darren walked past her in the hallways and just simply said, “Hey.” and smiled, showing off his beautiful, straight teeth. Desi was so lovestruck by him that she just stared and said, “Uhh hey.” back.

Desi and Lady sat in her room that night, just talking and laughing like two teenage girls would. Then, Desi confessed to Lady about Darren.

“Girl, have you seen him around school before?” Desi asked, as she pulled up Darren’s social media and showed Lady a picture of him, sitting on the hood of his car, with no shirt on. His chest was exposed and you could vividly see his muscles, as well as his six pack. In the picture, the sun was shining bright and his chest and muscles were glistening with sweat.

Lady grabbed Desi’s phone and looked at the picture. “I may have but, I don’t remember. You know, I’m still kinda new to school. But he’s fine as hell, though.” Lady replied.

Desi sighed and said, “I know, right? I have had a crush in him since middle school when he got kept back for beating that one boy up.”

Lady busted out laughing. “Why you gotta like a dude that’s violent?”

Desi laughed along with her. “I don’t like him because he violent. I like him because he’s fine. He been fine. And he’s so mysterious. Nobody knows too much about him except for the fact that he beat that one boy up so bad, he went blind.”

Lady leaned back and looked at Desi and exclaimed, “Damn! Not he beat the boy up so bad he went blind!”

“I mean, he ain’t completely blind but he can’t see out of his left eye. So, there’s that.” Both Desi and Lady laughed. “But yeah, he is fine, though,” Lady repeated as Desi kept scrolling through his social media, looking at his pictures.

Desi sighed. “I know. One day he’s going to be mine. Whenever I get the balls to speak to him and stop acting like a little ass girl.”