Page 6 of Blake University: HBCU Chronicles – Yon & Imole
Just when thought the night couldn’t get any better than the wink Yon gave her from the stage, Lala and Stormii hit her with their master plan. Despite that awkward encounter with Terrence, whom she usually was able to ignore, was ready for the festivities to begin.
“Girl, we’re not going to bed. It’s Homecoming!”
Lala declared, already elbow-deep in her closet.
“And Club VIBZ is calling our names,”
Stormii added, wiggling her brows.
“We outside.”
Club VIBZ was only five minutes from campus by car or twenty if you were walking in flats and lying to yourself. After the step show, the girls headed back to their dorm suite, took quick showers, and got ready like they were about to make questionable decisions and look cute doing it.
slipped into her crimson bodycon dress from Zara. It hugged all the right places, stopping just above the knee. She paired it with gold accessories and her favorite gold strappy sandals. Lala glowed in a white mini dress that popped against her deep brown skin, and Stormii, ever the drama queen, went with a black sassy number that showed off her long legs and open back.
They touched up their makeup, fluffed their curls, and strutted out of the suite like they were headliners and not just attendees.
The line at Club VIBZ stretched down the block but moved quickly. The bass from inside was so heavy it made the sidewalk hum beneath their feet. Security waved them through, and the second they stepped inside, the energy wrapped around like heat and rhythm.
The DJ had the place lit.
Not kinda lit. Fully engulfed.
“Okayyyy!”
Lala shouted over the beat as they slid past the bar.
“Tell me this ain’t giving Atlanta on a Saturday,”
Stormii grinned, already dancing in place.
Colored lights swept across the club, slicing through fog and catching on sequins, chains, and freshly laid lace fronts. The entire space pulsed with students grinding, swaying, laughing and living their best lives.
They found a spot near the VIP section and claimed it like a throne. Lala waved at someone near the bar. Stormii ordered drinks. stood back for a moment, just letting herself take it all in.
This wasn’t the girl with braces and a back brace anymore. This wasn’t the girl who used to shrink into hoodies and sit in the back row. Nah. That girl was gone. She belonged here. In this body. In this dress. In this moment. smiled to herself and beamed of confidence.
Then the DJ cut the track and shouted into the mic:
“IF YOU REPPIN’ BLAKE UNIVERSITY, MAKE SOME NOISE!”
The crowd exploded with pride.
lifted her drink and smiled. This was their weekend. Their campus. Their story being written in real time. And just as she leaned in to say something to Stormii, it hit her like an electric pull. She turned.
Yon.
He was in the VIP section, lounging on the couch like he’d built it himself. Gray shirt stretched across his chest, his chain catching flashes of light. When their eyes met, he didn’t look away. Just gave her a small nod… and that damn smirk again.
Stormii followed her line of sight.
“Ohhh. Well, look who just found his favorite subject.”
“Don’t start,”
said, trying to keep her voice cool, even as her stomach did flips.
Lala nudged her.
“You better walk over there like you know your worth.”
laughed, shaking her head.
“Let me finish my drink first.”
Because if she was going over there, she wasn’t going as the quiet girl who blended in.
She was going as this version of . The one who knew she was fine.
The one who wasn’t scared to be seen.