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Today is Juvie’s birthday, and he drove all the way from Baltimore to Alexandria to see me. He got me some gifts. A little black bear with a pink bow, a ring with a pink stone, and my own varsity jacket from his school. He asked me to be his girlfriend, and I said yes. We went to the movies, then we had pizza. He met Mommy and Daddy too. Daddy was kinda mean at first, but it went good, I guess. Well, that’s all. Juvie said he would call me as soon as he got home.

Sav Tha Barbie

I shook my head, smiling at the little doodle in the corner of the page. Juicy & Juvie Forever. I used pink and black markers to shade black into the hot pink. My little sixteen-year-old mind was gone. I couldn’t understand why he would drive all the way to me on his birthday and bring me gifts. Juvie had a pure heart, and the beginning of what made us Juicy and Juvie was something I would never forget.

I stood inside the movie theater, waiting for Juvie to finish parking his truck. He dropped me off in front, walked me inside, and told me to stay here and wait. He was being extra ’cause I think my Daddy threatened him. He had to have me back home by 8:30, so we had a good four hours to spend together.

My parents thought this was our first date, but we had already been on two other dates over spring break. I already met his dad and his granny. Mommy was cool with me dating, but Daddy almost passed out when I asked if he wanted to meet Juvie. It took a whole week, but he finally came back and told me he was ready to meet him. I didn’t have to date Juvie in secret.

I swung my oversized purse over my shoulder and bent over to wipe the smudge off my Jordan 5s that Shaina got for me. Usually, I wore pink, but today, Juvie and I decided to match. I had on a white V-neck shirt and a dark denim distressed skirt. My jewelry was big, silver hoop earrings, bangles, and a necklace my daddy got for me. The only ring I had on was the one Juvie just gave me. It was so cute. I couldn’t wait to show my friends when I went back to school.

The door swung open, and Juvie’s tall frame walked toward me. It was no surprise that he played sports. Juvie could play anything: basketball, football, baseball. He ran fast, so if he wanted to run track, he could. Butterflies flew around in my stomach every time he smiled at me. He walked right up to me and grabbed my hand.

“You ready, Sav? Ion wanna miss the movie,” he said, looking down at me.

“Yeah, I’m ready. Can we get some popcorn first?” I asked, looking away from him.

“Yeah. Come on.”

He pulled me close and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. As we walked toward the concession stand, a photo booth sat off to the side. This was the perfect time to get some pictures.

“Juvie, wait. Can we take some pictures? The movie starts in fifteen minutes. We got time,” I said, grabbing his hand.

He just shook his head, laughing as I dragged him toward the booth. I stepped inside first, then he dipped inside and slid me onto his knee.

“It’s small as shit in here, Sav,” he complained, moving around to get comfortable.

I turned around, looked at him, and knew he only did this because I asked. He already looked irritated. His arms wrapped around my waist, and he gave me one of those lazy smiles like he always did.

“Come on, girl. Let’s take these pics so we can watch this movie.”

“You gon’ smile, Juvie? I don’t want the pics if you not gon’ smile.” I pouted.

He chuckled, then kissed my cheek. “Yeah, Ima smile. Just come on. Press the button or whatever.”

I turned around, smiling my ass off, and started the machine. The countdown started, and I leaned into Juvie, grinning so hard. As soon as it started taking pictures, I started posing. Juvie kissed my cheek in one, and I kissed his cheek. We laughed in another, then I turned to face him. We went to kiss each other’s cheeks again, and our lips touched instead. My heart was beating so fast, but I didn’t pull back, and neither did he. My eyes were wide open. His were closed. Eventually, I closed mine too. When the camera was done, we both opened our eyes and just stared at each other. I’d let Juvie hug me, but I never let him kiss me. So, this was our first kiss. I’d kissed boys before, but they were nothing like Juvie. They didn’t make me feel like him. They didn’t look like him or even act like him. He was special.

“Sav ain’t it,” he said, brushing my hair off my shoulder. “You need a better nickname.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I sassed, trying to peel his arms from around my waist.

He held me there, laughing like this was a joke. “Nah, it ain’t like that, shorty. I mean, it gotta go with my name. Gotta have a lil’ somethin’ on it. Maybe Juicy?”

“Juicy?” I replied with my face screwed up. “That don’t sound nothing like my name, JuMarion.”

“That’s the point. It’s somethin’ for me. Juicy and Juvie sound good. That’s what Ima call you. You gotta answer to it too.”

“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Let’s get our popcorn so we can watch this movie.”

I grabbed the pictures, and Juvie grabbed my hand like it was nothing. Deep down inside, I was on cloud nine. This same boy brought me gifts on his 17th birthday, drove over an hour to see me, got my Daddy’s blessing, and gave me a cute-ass nickname. When we stepped out of the booth, Juvie wrapped the varsity jacket around my shoulders.

“You gon’ be cold, Juicy. I ain’t lettin’ you have my T-shirt like last time.” He laughed, then kissed my forehead.

That was a lie, ’cause he definitely gave me his T-shirt one hundred times after that.

I closed the diary and tossed it back into the box. We were kids, thinking we would be together forever. We thought we had life all figured out. I leaned against the wall, smiling and laughing at how crazy I was about him. That was then, and this was now, though. I grabbed the earrings and the belt and started getting dressed.

My phone buzzed on my bed. It was Shaina, telling me she was five minutes away. I slipped my feet into my slippers, went into the kitchen to make sure the warmers were still lit, then unlocked my door. Shaina had a key, but I knew she would run her mouth about having to use it. The living room was already set up: microphones for karaoke charged up, the bar cart fully stocked, and the vibes already right from the playlist Hilary sent over earlier. Gold streamers looped across the ceiling, and a little disco ball I found on Amazon threw light across the walls every time somebody bumped into the speaker.