Fireworks

28

Your brother gets shot and dies and then you feel all fucked up for having friends still?

The words are still fresh in my mind as the night progresses. Isa and I separate from the group at one point and hang out inside for a bit. She and Edwardo dance, and I'm left alone on the outskirts of the group, watching from my place on the wall. I sip soda and smile politely at all the people that pass me, not showing how thoroughly disturbed I am.

When I feel someone sidle up next to me I'm about to dart away, but I feel myself relax when I realize it's just Arlo.

"Hey," he says his eyes sweeping over me.

I nod in acknowledgment and go back to watching people dance. Montserrat isn't with him, thankfully. I don't know if I could handle an altercation with her tonight.

"Where's Monse?" I ask.

He rolls his eyes. "Not near me for the first time tonight. Thank God."

I feel myself smile a little, but try not to let it show. "You don't like her?" I ask blatantly. I don't know where the courage came from, but I go with it.

He sighs and takes a swig of his drink. "She would be tolerable if she weren't trying to get my attention all of the time."

I kind of feel bad for Monse when he says this. I bet it's hard for her to long for someone for so long and still have them only think of you as 'tolerable'. She may do too much sometimes, but it's all in the intentions of being with him.

"What's that face for?" he asks with slight amusement in his eyes.

I swallow and turn to him. "What face?"

He huffs a laugh. "You look like I just pissed in your drink."

This makes me at least crack a smile, and I shrug. "I don't know. She likes you, you're missing out."

"On Montserrat? Gladly."

I shoot him another look and he rolls his eyes. "Hadlee, I heard her call you a slut the other day. Don't bother sticking up for her, I've known her long enough to know her character. I won't entertain it."

The words don't necessarily surprise me, but they're true and real and I can't necessarily argue with how he feels, so I shut up.

After a while he says, "Why do you think I should be with her?"

I look over at him. His face holds genuine curiosity, but also a hint of that amusement, almost like he's making fun of me. "I never said you should be." I say.

He sticks out his lip and nods. "Fair enough. But you're acting like you think I should be."

I shrug. "I don't know her all that well, but she clearly likes you. She doesn't think you give her the time of day, I just can't see why it's so hard for you to give her a chance,"

"I've given her chances to prove to me that she's a better person than I assume her to be. She's failed all of them." he rebukes.

I squint. "Those are tests, not chances."

"Potato potato." he insists, leaning against the wall behind us in a laid-back way that makes him look so...

No, stop.

"A chance and a test are very different. Maybe she's failing your tests because your preconceived notions of her are built on the assumption that you can never be wrong about someone." I say.

I know I'm being difficult and kind of rude, and I really don't even like Monse so much to the point where I'd defend her this thoroughly, but I don't really care right now. I just feel like arguing, and Arlo doesn't seem to mind.