"I'll be six feet under, and then you can wife her up. You stoked?" I casually chopped my apple, telling Chris who was vibing by the hospital bed, "The Parker Squad is like a rocket in the biz world, and Susan, their girl, is straight-up insta-famous for her looks. She ain't a bad catch for you, just sayin'."
Chris got all serious, "I don't need to put a ring on it."
"Fr?" I said, "You don't need those stacks, but the Parker crew is way more lit than our Johnson clique. Why wouldn't you ride the wave with someone who can level you up?"
"I ain't feeling Susan."
"So you feel me?"
Chris stayed mum.
I munched on the apple, lowkey ghosting him, "Chris, appreciate the visit, but my brain's hitting the off switch. Time to bounce and leave you to it."
He lingered for a hot sec and finally said, "Rest up," before bouncing.
Chapter 1
I, Elizabeth Johnson, am just your regular trust fund Cinderella. My pops had a fling with his secretary and ditched my mom, Mrs. Johnson. My bro and I both chose to stick with our mom.
Sadly, even though Mrs. Johnson repped the boujee Johnson squad, she was all about them boys. In the end, she raised two young prodigies: Michael, the business wiz kid, and a slacker like yours truly.
Two years ago, Mrs. Johnson got hit with leukemia. Before she dipped, she thought about the Benjamins and the future of her son, but she couldn't let go of her girl, so she made a marriage contract with her bestie, and then she was gone.
I bawled after saying bye and realized I suddenly had a fiancé, and the guy was Chris, a genius-turned-poker-king, rockin' that ice-cold glare since pre-K.
Back then, I, Miss Johnson, was the darling of the senior crowd, and I was the life of the party with my crew, but when faced with this sitch, I just wanted to wreck it all. I mean, I couldn't even.
So I grinned and told Chris's mom that I'd def honor the marriage contract, then pulled a 180 and forgot about it, keeping on with my life of grubbing, sipping, and chillin'.
It wasn't until yesterday afternoon that I got in a fender bender and broke my leg.
The crash itself wasn't a biggie, just a lil' bump. After being sent to the hospital, my bro flew over first, but I sent him back to the grind with my words like "it's just a fracture, NBD." Then my ride-or-die Lily came and we munched popcorn. Chris's mom brought soup and dipped.
Unexpectedly, when I woke up from a snooze and was ready to slice an apple to eat, my freebie future hubby rolled up.
This was the first time we'd caught up since he went overseas at 17.
He was still as low-key as ever, not much expression on his face. He asked as soon as he rolled in, "You good?"
"I'm chillin'," I said, "I ain't pushing up daisies yet."
"Don't talk about kicking the bucket," he said.
And then we had the chitchat at the start.
Still couldn't chat for a few more lines, I regretted it again after sending him packing. It's hella boring in the hospital, but when he's here, even if he ain't much of a talker, gazing at that cute face can still pass the time.
