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Chapter 12
The Blackwell Beat with Lala Jacobs
What’s good, my fellow Blackwellians! Welcome toThe Blackwell Beatwith me, Lala Jacobs,where we give you the tea, Black, no sugar. Blackwell’s resident R&B relationship advisor, Kiki Banjo, was seen getting frisky at FreakyFridayz when she locked lips with the newest player in town, double-chocolate-fudge-mocha Malakai Korede, just a few days after warning girls off him. Now obviously this smelled a little bit suspect, looked like she wanted to save dessert for herself. Had some of us rattled. We’ve been listening to her advice for a year and if we can’t trust her with that, then what else was she lying about? Is she really about it? Well, fear not, people, because I’ve done my digging and word on the tweet is that it was just super unfortunate timing. Apparently Malakai and Kiki squared up to each other shortly after her show aired, him calling her out and her refusing to back down. Sparks flew and enemies became baes. Cute! And I know some of us will be salty about it, but it wasn’t planned and I think we all know Kiki always keeps the girls in mind. I, for one, stan the newest couple in town. I also got some intel from Kiki’s camp that a new series will launch onBrown Sugar,inspired by the newromance.Gotta Hear Both Sideswill be four episodes where the campus cuties will give us a He Said She Said on dating. I personally look forward to following their updates on social media, and I’m sure I won’t be the only one preeing.
This wasThe Blackwell Beat with Lala Jacobs.Until next time, folks.
I pulled my earphones out of my ears as Lala signed off. So, it was official. It was a few days after the Sweetest Ting nondate and I’d been at the campus coffee shop, Beanz,waiting for my order, when I got a notification for a new upload ofThe Blackwell Beat,the quick turnover webcast “news channel” for all “melanated members of the student body,” which operated in front of a green screen in communications and politics student LaLa Jacobs’ room. Although she had to play an objective role for her show, she always had our back and always shouted out FreakyFridayzandBrown Sugar,being Aminah’s classmate and one of the few people she actually liked. It wasn’t surprising to me that Aminah had got a press release sorted and managed to give the inside scoop toThe TeaHouse’srival. Aminah was good at what she did. It was a slick move that got the word out and exacted revenge on Simi for trying to mess with us. My phone pinged.
MinahMoney:So what you think?
Keeks:The baddest in the game.
MinahMoney:Nobody in my lane.??????Our followers have tripled! This week’s show is going to be huge! I heard Simi-the-Snake is seething at the fact that her attempt to drag has backfired. Do u like my alliteration?
Keeks:Come thru, Naija Angelou.
MinahMoney:Thank you. Thank you. *bows* U at ur afternoon coffee date? Ur very first one as a couple. Hot. What u wearing?? So pissed I had to leave for class before I saw.
Keeks:It’s not a date! We’re not a couple! Stop it!
MinahMoney:Yeah, yeah, I know but I saw that pic that someone took of you guys at dinner the other night and sent to The TeaHouse... you guys looked cozy. You were laughing lots. Also, you got like three #couplegoals in the comment section. I bet Simi was pissed but there were four other pics of u guys online so she had to post otherwise she’d look badmind. You guys are convincing.
Keeks:We get along fine. I was probably laughing at him anyway. He makes a lot of really bad jokes. To answer your question, I’m wearing a mock-turtleneck black bodysuit, my tan corduroy button down mini, and calf-length boots. It’s not a date.
Minah:Sexy. That top really accentuate your tits too.??
Keeks:MIMI! It does, doesn’t it?
I smiled at my phone just as a notification slid down from the top of my screen.
Rianne Tucker (GoodGirllRiRi) has followed you on ProntoPic.
My smile swiftly froze and fell, the sight of the name ricocheting through my chest, hurling me to a place I’d thought I’d buried. My throat tightened as I stared at the tiny, circular avatar of the pretty girl with a glossy pout.
“Kiki?”
Malakai’s voice almost made my phone slip from my fingers. I jumped and turned around to see him looking down at me quizzically, and my stomach flipped at the sight of him. It was probably the distress of the moment prior clashing with surprise. Nothing to do with how good he looked in a black T-shirt and black windbreaker, those perfect fitting jeans, and his black Vans. Or his signature scent, clean and woodsy and crisp, mingling with the steamy roasted scent of coffee beans and pastry. Despite this, his presence was a welcome distraction; the frostiness the notification had brought ebbed, the dark feeling pushed back temporarily.
“Kai! Hi!”
Whose voice was that? Since when did my voice get so chirpy? It wasn’t even chirpy after I’d had my morning coffee and now suddenly my voice sounded like I was a Disney Princess?
If he noticed he didn’t let on, and his “Mornin’, Scotch” fell out as easy as his grin. My stomach somersaulted again. I needed something buttery inside me immediately.
“So,” I murmured as we inched forward on the queue. “Did you watchTheBlackwell Beatthis morning?”
Malakai nodded and smiled. “Yeah. She called me a double-chocolate-fudge mocha. You know, I’m really feeling being considered a hot beverage. I’m thinking of changing my ProntoPic handle to MochaMalakai.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re a fool.”
“Funny way of saying genius. I just want to make the most of my new social capital. My followers doubled since last week. So has the number of DM slides.”
“Yeah, so have mine.” It was fascinating, as if my new relationship status made memoreaccessible than I was in my perpetual singledom.My inbox was brimmed full of “Yo, Kiki, what you sayin’?” comments on IG selfies asserting that “I was lookingnice,still,” with multiple fire emojis. It was as if attraction to me was validated by another man’s attraction to me. That was going in the show.
Me + Newest Spice on Campus = Doubled social currency and increased perception of availability.
The queue crawled forward; it was peak time, purposely chosen so we had maximum eyes on us. The more exposure the better and in Blackwell, Coffee Shop Official was itself a relationship status. “So, did you reply to any?”
