Dashawn And Annabelle Ep 02

Episode 2-The walk

The party lights faded behind them, but the city never really went dark. It was spring in the Bronx--warm enough to unzip your jacket, cool enough to still need one. Dashawn had his hoodie pulled low, hands tucked in his pockets like he was tryna dig a hole straight through. Every now and then, his fingers fidgeted inside the fabric like he was grounding himself.

Anna had her little denim jacket on now, nothing fancy. She had left it in the coat closet when she got to the party, it was light enough to swing around her hips but warm enough to fight the chill creeping in from the river. Her Jordans tapped softly against the cracked sidewalk, and every few steps, her hip bumped his. Not on purpose. At least not yet.

They walked side by side, quiet for the first stretch. Not awkward. Just... low volume.

"Where you from?" Anna asked, looking over at him.

"Soundview. How 'bout you?" Dashawn asked.

"I'm from Highbridge but I be out on 135th and Lex." She narrowed her eyes, studying him. "You sure you from Soundview?" Anna clicked her tongue, ring audibly clacking against her teeth. "You too pretty to be a Bronx nigga."

He laughed, the sound low and short. "What that even mean?"

"Neat-ass dreads, perfect skin, hazel eyes... it's giving... idk Queens, or maybe Uptown pretty nigga." As she laughed she had a little moment where her walk switched to a little bop that made her ass bounce like nobody's business. She made sure she was a few steps ahead of him when she did of course.

He took It in stride, grin still sitting soft on his lips. As he watched that ass perform for him. But she slowed back down to be at his side and his gaze dropped for a split second to the curve of her mouth, then bounced back up like he hadn't just clocked it.

He smirked. "You actin' like you from Harlem right now talkin' 'bout niggas too pretty. You sure YOU from the Bronx?"

Anna laughed, shaking her head. The breeze lifted a piece of her hair across her cheek, and she tucked it behind her ear slow. "Nigga, I'm Bronx for real. I just don't be home like that. Whole fam packed into a two-bedroom. Loud, nosy, always in my business. I love them, but I can't breathe in there."

Dashawn nodded, just listening. Eyes ahead, but tuned all the way in.

"So when school out, I'm at Jules' crib. Her people loud too--but different. I sleep better over there."

"Jules the one from the party?"

"Yeah. We met the first week of school and been locked in since. Me, her and Yari. Jules from Harlem, Yari from the Bronx like me. They might be wild, but I love my bitches."

Dashawn nodded again. "It sound like y'all LOCKED IN locked in."

"Most definitely." She crossed her fingers, holding it up like a quick badge of loyalty. The silver glint of her ring caught the streetlamp above them, and Dashawn noticed--more than he meant to.

"Hol' up... How old are you?" she asked.

"Nineteen. This my first year though, my mom convinced me to take a year off to get myself together, feel me. How old are you?"

"Eighteen. So you got a year on me and I still had to make all the moves?" She sighed dramatically, but joking. "I got me a 19-year-old freshman y'all."

"I let you think you was making the moves because you seemed so, so determined," he said with a smirk.

"Nah. I was curious. Still am."

They shared a look--brief but charged. Her tongue flicked against the back of her teeth again, ring clicking once. His hands were still deep in his pockets, but his shoulders had dipped a little, less guarded now.

"What's your major?" she asked.

"Psych."

She raised a brow. "Oh, so you one of those."

"One of what?"

"Tryna unlock the meaning of life through other people 'cause you scared to unlock your own shit."

Dashawn shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe I just wanna understand myself better before I hand it to somebody else."

Anna gave a little nod, impressed even if she didn't say it. She walked with a little extra sway after that, hips looser. Just enough for him to notice--and yeah, he noticed.

"Mine's Communications," she said. "Figured I'd talk my way into a check."

Dashawn chuckled. "Makes sense."

"Freshman year been cool though?"

"It's... different for me."

"Different how?"

"Just all the people. Closed spaces. Can be a lot sometimes. Crowds not really my vibe."

They had been walking so close this whole time... suddenly her arm brushed his a little too much and he pulled back. Not afraid, just making space.

"Mmhmm," she looks as if tryna analyze him. "It seem like people not really ya vibe."

"Shit how you know?" he said with a bit of sarcasm, laughing.

"Just the way you was moving at the party... BUT for a nigga that don't like people you sure seem to have a thing for me." She stares at him smiling, her tongue ring comes out of her mouth now instead of just hitting her teeth, or showing quick flashes. As she licks her lips, slides her tongue all the way down towards her chin and flicks it back into her mouth. The first time her arm brushed him on accident. Now she moved in closer and placed her hand on his on purpose. He took his hands out of his pockets to check his phone briefly and she took advantage.

He didn't pull away. He kept his cool. At least he did on the outside. He was trying not to flip out, all this flirting, tongue ring flashing, ass bouncing, for him. He returned the hand hold instead of just letting her rub on his hand. He looked directly at her. Street lights flickering off his hazel eyes doing all types of witchcraft. "Well I told you you was different... I don't fuck with people but you not people." He was able to keep himself grounded by taking over the moment.

"Sigue mirándome así y te juro que cuando lleguemos a tu dorm, te voy a dejar sin aliento, maldito." [Keep lookin' at me like that and I swear when we get back to your dorm, I'ma leave you breathless, motherfucker.]

Dashawn takes this time to ground the convo a little bit. "So you still down to give me those lessons or nah... 'cause that shit sound good as fuck," taking the moment to release her hand and slide it back into his hoodie.

"It's gonna feel good as fuck too if you don't stop being so pretty--watch."

"You wildin with the pretty shit though. Cant a nigga just be handsome?"

They both let out a laugh and he seized the moment.

"So you never told me about your freshman year," he changed the subject before things got a little more charged.

"Wild, but good. Me and Yari ain't know each other before, but now it feel like we been cool for years. Jules too. I be with them more than my own family sometimes. I swear I don't even see my girls that I grew with but once out the blue."

"I saw Yari lookin' at Trey tonight."

Anna rolled her eyes while simultaneously pulling her head back, pushing her chin into her neck. "Nigga... she'll eat that boy alive."

Dashawn shot a curious look over at Anna. "I don't even know if I should ask."

Anna just smirks. "You shouldn't."

Dashawn laughed. "Trey my dog for real. Known him since middle school."

"For real?"

"Yeah. But he's a year younger than me so he's a freshman too. Q from Queens--we met playin' 2K online. He was our third in MyPark one day and never left. Malik been roomin' with Trey and Q since the beginning of the year. That's gang."

"So them your roommates?"

"Nah, I got a single."

She stopped walking for real this time, eyeing him. "Wait... how you get a single?" She scanned his frame up and down. "I mean you got a lil sumn going on but I know you not an athlete nigga."

He gave a noncommittal shrug. "It just ended up that way."

Anna squinted, side-eye sharp. The wind picked up, tugging at the hem of her jacket. "Uh huh. So you not gon' tell me the real reason? Or you just tryna lull me into your murder dungeon? Fuck you thought this was--tryna Jeffrey Dahmer a bitch?"

Dashawn chuckled. "Nah. I ain't tryna kill nobody--I just like peace, quiet... and you kinda fuck that up--in a good way."

She still looked at him sideways, but she was smiling now.

"Mmhmm. Aight." A few steps passed. Then she added, playful but firm: "You give off chill... but don't get it twisted--I'll run if I gotta, maldito."

Dashawn looked over, calm and steady. His voice didn't rise, didn't shake.

"If you ever felt like you needed to run," he said softly, "I'd open the door for you."

The dorm building came into view, lit up soft against the dark sky. Dashawn reached into his hoodie pocket, pulled out his student ID, and tapped it against the sensor by the door. A little beep echoed into the quiet. The air felt still now--cooler. Like the city exhaled just for them.

They didn't say much after that. But the silence wasn't empty--it was thick. Loaded. Tension and patience winding around each other like smoke.

She was still wondering.

But she wasn't gonna ask.

Not yet.