Page 113 of Kentrell

“So?” I blinked, baffled.

“So… he thinks it’s the male symbol.” She smirked. “And I let him believe that.”

Like it was no big deal. Like this wasn’t an unraveling moment.

And maybe to them… it wasn’t.

“Shit, you could’ve putmyname on there and he still wouldn’t notice,” Mars snorted, clearly unbothered.

“Are y’allseriousright now?” I asked, because I truly couldn’t find the humor in any of this. “How long has this been going on?” I pressed again, voice tighter now.

“For a while,” Stacia mumbled, her shoulders lifting in a half shrug. She twisted her lips and glanced away, avoiding my eyes like a kid caught stealing.

“More likeforever,” Mars added with a giggle, clearly enjoying this.

“Forever?” I echoed, frowning. “How long isforever?”

“Forever is a mighty long time…” Mars said, mimicking Prince’s voice from theLet’s Go Crazyintro.

I shot her a deadpan look. “Mars, be serious.”

“It’s not that deep, Zoe,” Stacia cut in, trying to wave it all off.

“Itisto me,” I snapped back, catching her curve ball and lobbing it right back.

That’s when a new voice piped up from behind me.

“Why y’all so loud—oh,shit!” Ayesha froze mid-step, hands flying up to cover her eyes. “Pussy just out!” she yelped.

Stacia and Mars burst into laughter while I spun around, still floored.

“Youknew?” I demanded, eyes narrowing at Ayesha, who was way too calm—way too casual—for someone who’d just walked in on this chaos.

“Since high school,” she admitted, as if she were telling me something as light as a shared password.

My jaw dropped.

I whirled back to the scene in front of me, gesturing wildly between Mars’ smug face and Stacia’s still-bare thighs. “Y’all have been doing this—” I motioned vaguely toward Mars’s mouth, then pointed at Stacia’s lower half, “—since high school?!”

“Summer after eighth grade,” Mars clarified with a shrug. “But yeah.”

I just stood there.

Mind. Blown.

How the hell had they kept this a secret for so long? Were they acouple? Were they… what evenwerethey?

How did they act so normal in public?

Did they sneak around behind everyone’s back like this all the time?

And suddenly, the real kicker hit me?—

“Wait... am I theonlyone who didn’t know?”

A heavy silence settled between us.

And then Mars grinned. “You and Shemar.”

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