Baddie Next Door

Kiara

The apartment is a mess of boxes.

Like, an actual disaster zone. Cardboard walls rising up in every corner, packing tape dispensers scattered across the floor like I'm running some kind of shipping operation out of my living room, and bubble wrap crunched underfoot no matter where you step.

I've been at this since ten this morning and honestly? My back was starting to scream at me. The late afternoon sun filtered through the half-closed blinds, casting long golden stripes across the chaos, and I could see dust dancing in the light every time one of the girls moved. Made me realize how dirty this place actually was now that everything was cleared out.

Music played from my phone, propped up against a half-empty bookshelf on a stack of old textbooks I hadn't bothered to sort through yet.

Some upbeat R&B track that usually would've had us all dancing while we worked, but right now it was just background noise to the exhaustion hanging heavy in the room.

I stood in the middle of it all, hair pulled up in a messy bun that was definitely starting to fall apart, an oversized tshirt hanging off one shoulder, and I could feel a streak of dust across my cheek but honestly? I didn't even care anymore. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and looked around at the apartment I'd called home for the past two years. Looked so bare now. So... temporary. Like I was already gone even though I was still standing in it.

"If I have to tape one more box, I'm gonna freak out," Jade said from the floor. She was sitting cross-legged next to a box labeled 'KITCHEN - FRAGILE' in my handwriting, holding a tape dispenser like it had personally offended her.

Her dark hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail, her makeup still flawless even after hours of helping, because Jade was the type of person who looked put together even while suffering.

She gestured dramatically at the cardboard mountain surrounding us. "Like, actually lose my mind. Start running through the streets naked kind of freak out."

I snorted. "Nobody wants to see that, Jade."

"Excuse me? I'm a masterpiece."

"When are you moving into the new apartment anyway?" Nia asked from the couch.

She was sprawled across it like a starfish, one arm dangling off the edge, her phone held loosely in her other hand. She'd given up on being helpful about an hour ago. Her braids were splayed out behind her in a way that was definitely going to be tangled later.

"Next week," I shrugged, taping closed a box of books with a ripping sound that made Nia flinch.

All three girls groaned as a collective. This harmonious sound of pure exasperation, like they'd rehearsed it.

"Come on," Nia groaned, throwing her head back. "Next week? Kiara, that's literally seven days away."

"And what the hell are you gonna eat if you already packed the pots, plates, and pans?" Jade asked sarcastically, pointing her tape dispenser at the bare kitchen cabinets like evidence.

"I'll order takeout," I said with a small smile.

"Yeah no," Nia said, sitting up now. "We've been packing for hours. My back hurts. My fingers hurt." She gestured toward Jade. "Jade looks like she's about to commit a crime."

"We know you excited about getting into your dream university but come on girl we need a break," Cameron said softly from her corner, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah let's take a break, go out," Nia said, her eyes lighting up.

"Fuck yeah and I have an idea," Jade said, perking up. "Let me show you guys around the city. I know all the hotspots. We could go clubbing, have fun, celebrate."

"Fuck yeah lets go change," Nia said hopping off the couch and heading over to the bedroom.

Nia, Jade, and Cameron have been my best friends since high school. Like, since day one. Before the makeup, before the men, before any of us knew who we really were. They are my ride or dies. The kind of friends who will show up at your door at 2am with a bat if you call them crying. No questions asked.

We're all different in ways that probably shouldn't work but somehow do.

Jade is the firecracker. Outgoing, bold, loud in every room she walks into. She doesn't just speak her mind, she throws it at you like a weapon. She's the "fuck around and find out" type. The kind of girl who will clap back at a stranger in the grocery store without blinking. She's always been like that, even back in high school when we were all too scared to raise our hands in class. Jade was the one getting sent to the principal's office for talking back and coming back with a smirk on her face like she'd won something.

Then there's Nia. Nia is the confident socialite. She knows everybody, and more importantly, everybody knows her. She walks into a party like she owns the building. But here's the thing about Nia—behind that gorgeous smile and all that charm, she was no one to be messed around with. She didn't do the loud confrontation thing like Jade. Nia would just look at you with this calm, dead stare and say something so cutting that you'd still be thinking about it three weeks later. Jade was the fire. Nia was the ice. And neither one of them backed down from anything.

And then there's Cameron. My sweet Cameron. The silent shy cutie of the group. Youngest of all of us by almost a year, and honestly? Sometimes it showed. She was the one who'd sit quietly in the corner of a room, observing everything, saying little but noticing everything. She didn't need to be loud to be heard. When Cameron spoke, you listened because it was usually something worth hearing. She was the glue that held us together when me and Jade were butting heads or Nia was being stubborn about something.

And me? I'm the plus size baddie. At least that's what the girls call me. I used to flinch at the word "plus size" like it was an insult. Took me years to wear it like armor. Thick thighs, wide hips, soft stomach, and a face that could make grown men stutter. Or at least that's what they tell me. Some days I believe it. Some days I don't.

We moved in together right after high school graduation. All four of us crammed into a two-bedroom apartment that was too small, too expensive and absolutely perfect. For one whole year it was us against the world. Splitting grocery bills, fighting over the bathroom, sharing one mirror between four girls like we were still in high school.

Then Jade got accepted into my dream university. The university. The one I'd been obsessing over since sophomore year. The one I had a Pinterest board for. And she packed her bags and left. And it hurt. Not because I was mad at her—I was proud of her. But because it felt like the universe was telling me that life wasn't ready for me yet.

Five months ago I met my boyfriend. And Cameron and Nia got their own apartment right next door to mine. Close enough to knock on the wall when they needed something. Close enough to never really feel alone.

And now I was about to move out too. Finally going to the university of my dreams. Finally following Jade to the city.

"I'll help Kiara get ready, you two go get ready, I'll change at my place," Jade said, pulling me into the bedroom before I could even respond. Her grip on my wrist was firm but familiar, the way it always was when she'd made a decision and wasn't accepting any arguments.

"Why waste so much time. You can borrow one of mine," Nia called from the living room, already heading for their own apartment next door.

"Alright, get me something short and tight," Jade shouted after her.

Nia's laugh echoed through the hallway before the door clicked shut.

"Okay girl, let's go celebrate you," Jade said, turning to me with that look in her eyes. The look that meant she was about to take over whether I liked it or not.

"And why exactly do you have to help me get ready? I'm not a child," I said, folding my arms over my chest. I knew exactly where this was going. Jade had been doing this since high school—picking out my clothes, pushing me out of my comfort zone, refusing to let me shrink myself. Most days I appreciated it.

"Cause you have a tendency of hiding that gorgeous body," she said, already rifling through my closet like she owned it. Hangers scraped against the rod as she pushed past hoodie after hoodie, oversized shirt after oversized shirt. All my armour. All the things I wore to disappear. "There it is," she muttered, pulling out a short tight red dress I'd bought on a whim six months ago and never had the courage to wear. Not once. The tags were probably still on it.

She tossed it at me. The fabric landed on my chest soft and light and terrifying.

"Wear that," she said, already crouching down to scan the bottom of my closet. She emerged with a pair of black heels I'd forgotten I even owned. "And these." She pressed them into my hands, her expression serious like she was handing me weapons for battle.

"Now get ready. I'm gonna go get the dress from Nia. When I get back you better be dressed and your hair and makeup done," she said, pointing at me with one perfectly manicured finger.

I rolled my eyes as she walked out, a smile playing on my lips.