Chapter 18 Cookout

{This Story will be ready to read on my p-a-t-r-e-o-n. If you wish to interact with the story more or simply support me the link is p-a-t-r-e-o-n.com/TrikoRex. Be sure to remove the dashes. I hope to see plenty of you there enjoying this novel. 

Currently, there are 10 advanced chapters for you to read, I hope you enjoy them. 

I demand your power stones as I was deemed worthy by the singularity to present you with its hero's tale, so motivate me to write more and upload chapters faster.} 

~ 

~~~

[Black Creek, August 12th, 18:00]

Hakim adjusted his cap as he and Jess walked along the dirt path leading to the river along Black Creek. The sound of laughter and the smell of grilled food drifted through the trees, promising a lively atmosphere and great delicacies. It was his first social event at Middelburg High School, and he was a little nervous interacting with all the new people. 

"We don't have cookouts like these back in the city," Hakim said with an astonished smile as he glanced at Jess. His cousin seemed more relaxed, her usual confident self probably already used to these types of gatherings.

"I know isn't this much better," She replied with a happy smile. Not bothering with his look of amazement she dragged him further into the clearing heading to where she spotted her friends. 

Hakim simply nodded, letting himself be dragged as he took in the scene around the clearing by the creek. Several groups of students were already there, gathered around picnic tables and grills. Some were playing frisbee or tossing a football, while others lounged on blankets near the water. The atmosphere was relaxed, but there was an underlying buzz of excitement.

A new school year was on the horizon, a chance for them to be someone different or build on their already prospering high school career. All types of clicks could be seen consisting with each other who would otherwise never interact in the school hallways. 

At a picnic table sat a group of students in black cloths, fishnet shirts and graphic neckpieces indicating that they were goths. They were smoking cigarettes and drinking out of a suspicious brown bag. On the next table sat the pride squad wearing vibrant clothing with rainbow armbands or socks acting as the team logo. They seemed to be trying to prove something to either their fellow members or those who happened to be watching. 

The smart kids had their own table burying their heads in their phones, switches and Ds as they engaged in a gaming session. Why they bothered to come out left Hakim stupefied but he didn't bother asking them. He did spot the anime fans and wanna-be otaku animatedly discussing an anime with them. 

As they approached a larger group of people who seemed like some of the more popular kids he spotted Amy and Bella Logan. The two of them were speaking to their friends as Amy held onto a tall boy's arm. Judging by the letterman Jacket he was a part of the football team and he was good to since he had the captain's patch.

I'm surprised not because I'm jealous but because she blatantly flirting with me in the morning. So if she has a boyfriend her action makes no sense unless she is one of those people who are just naturally flirty. 'you those people who are for the streets,' I'm probably just thinking too much and she was just trying to be nice. 

"You made it!" She exclaimed with a happy smile after noticing us jumping up from her seat and rushing towards us. Before we could even react she pulled me into a hug, yes just me, instantly losing all the respect I built up for her. 

"ahem I'm here too," Jess exclaimed after she had hugged me for what felt like two mississippi's. "Oh I didn't see you there," She snarkily replied finally releasing me from her hug. Her comment was less than well received by my dear cousin who proceeded to mutter something about a slut. 

Of course, Amy heard it, how could she not with how close to us she was standing? However, before things could escalate they were interrupted by the guy Amy was hugging a second ago. "We got a problem here," He asked with a gruff voice that seemingly just underwent puberty not long ago.

He was trying his best to look intimidating as his brown eyes stared me down. This was rather comical since his girl took the initiative to hug me for an abnormally long time. He stood at a height 5'11 just an inch smaller than me but his muscle mass was definitely more than mine. Not that it matters as I will lay him out either way cause we used to catching fades in The A. There is a reason why they call it Wakanda from where I'm from because we built differently over there. 

"Naw I'm good bro, but you gone need to back up cuh," I responded coolly not one to back down from a fight. Having all those memories of the future doesn't magically make me more mature. So if I need to whopp this guy into next week then that's just what I gotta do.

"What'd you say?" He asked in a slightly surprised but angrier tone as he took another step closer to me getting into my personal space. Don't know about everyone else but I don't like anyone getting into my personal space especially when they are hostile. 

"Ni**a you heard me, I know you ain't stupid," I responded doubling down on what I said and pulling up my jeans ready to throw hands. "Wow guys calm down, we are all friends here," Amy quickly said stepping in between us and trying her best to defuse what she had started. 

Jess also stepped in between us pushing me back slightly before things could escalate. "Calm down, both of you!" she exclaimed joining Amy to de-escalate the ordeal. "Yeah, cool you're Jets Ethan that's Jessica's cousin, jealous much?" Amy chimed in as she directly dragged him away and proceeded to make out with him. 

"Don't mind them, they always find a reason to make each other jealous," A male voice said from behind me as he placed a hand on my shoulder causing me to almost swing at him. Luckily I recognised who he was Royale Harris a tall dark-skinned boy from the tryouts. 

He is the tallest boy on the team standing at 6'10 with a massive afro that literally adds another 2 inches. "Y'know you shouldn't sneak up on people like that," I told him removing his massive hand from my shoulder. Even though I've got reasonably big hands for my 6'2 wingspan his arms are massive. 

"I didn't sneak tho, Im too big for that type of shit," he replied with a bright smile clearly enjoying his own joke. Not minding him I quickly introduced him to Jess so she wouldn't be left out. "Cuz this big goof is Royale don't get too close to him or you'll lose your shooting touch," I introduced remembering the fact that this fancies himself as a shooter despite being a 6'10 centre. 

He is not bad at shooting as he achieved a 50% success rate despite having slow mechanics. It's not unreasonable for someone that big, but it's just not on my level. "Oh you got jokes, just don't let me catch you entering my paint," He defended as he proceeded to show off his massive muscles. 

"Ehem Hi, Royal nice to meet you," Jess said with a slight smile interrupting our banter. "Since you know people I'll go and link up with my friends," She continued before going off to a group of girls close by without giving me the chance to follow.

"See what you did, my sweet little cousin ran for her life after seeing you," I told him trying my best to look as sad as possible trying to pull off an Oscar-worthy performance. "Must be hard when you're not handsome, (sigh) How do you even get out of bed," I continued pulling out a second banda from my cross bag to wipe away imaginary tears.

Royale chuckled darkly, as his body started trembling and his hands subconsciously opening and closing. "You calling me ugly, huh? Man, I know you're just jealous of my rugged good looks," he joked, flexing his muscles dramatically. In the next moment, he put that ruggedness to use directly pulling me into a head lock. 

I wasn't even given a chance to react as he delivered his revenge forcing me to tap in surrender. He wasn't using full force in that headlock so I didn't see the need to try and break out of it. "Am I still ugly?"He asked as he lightly tightened his large bicep around my neck. "Not your rugged," I quickly replied as I tried my best to hold up the weight he was exerting on me. 

"Then who is ugly?" he asked again seemingly wanting me to say myself but there is no way I would do that. Mum taught me to never lie and this would be an outrageous lie. Maybe I'm tripping a little but my ego is on another level and I gotta keep feeding it if I want to keep sane. 

"that guy is ugly," I said pointing at a guy who had average looks but puberty was doing foul as both acne and skin blemishes were doing the most. He was wearing a letterman Jaket from the football team and now that I think about it he was hanging with that Ethan dude from earlier. 

"Yeah, you're right that boy's face looks like a train ran over it," He said with a pondering tone as he looked over the boy's features. He didn't bother lowering his words too preoccupied with his current train of thoughts. Ignoring this I was just happy that he no longer had me in a vice grip. 

"Maybe it's just faze he is going through, y'know like in movies where you gotta go through hardships before succeeding," I quipped knowing that I was probably right as most people have a tough puberty. "Naw that Gollum-looking ass boy was born like that," Royal said shooting down my comment almost causing me to choke on my saliva.