Another Lifetime

Chapter Fourteen:

Monse's POV:
Going back to school on Monday feels weird. Latrelle dropped out so it's not like he can catch me and Cesar when we sneak around but the Prophets are acting weird. "Ok, the school is cracking down on gang activity." My history teacher looks at me and Lola. "Why are you looking at the only Black people in this class?" Lola asks and I roll my eyes. "She's Black, dude. We're the only ones with visible gang tattoos." I whisper. "Right... anyways, they told me no tattoos, no bandannas, no whatever the fuck else. Only thing I'm actually going to enforce is 'blended seating, 'cause they can check." She tells us. "Sorry, what the fuck is blended seating?" Cesar asks. "Diaz, you're 19, you know how to raise your hand. Blended seating is when I randomly assign seats so every student has equal opportunity of sitting next to another. This will not be based on... you guys don't care about that shit. Umm you guys are picking who's sitting at your table from a hat." She sighs. "This is the worst idea ever." At least she admits it. "Monse, you're at table one, pick three names." The teacher walks up to me. "Lola, Ruby, and... Cesar." I turn around and smile. "What can I say, we always find each other." Lola laughs and we move to our new table. She might be a smart ass who doesn't know when to shut up but Lola's the smartest person in this school. All AP and honors classes that I haven't seen her study for once. "Santo." Lola kisses her teeth. "You didn't really care that Spooky was a Santo." Cesar tilts his head. "Umm what do you think you're doing?" Lola glares at Cesar. "Sitting next to a Prophet. Isn't that the whole point of blended seating?" He smirks and Lola sits with Ruby. I text him under my desk.
M: great job keeping this on the dl
C: i didn't say anything
I roll my eyes and he puts his hand on my thigh. "So, you're dating Jasmine, right?" Lola asks and he nods. "Cool, I love her, she's great." I'm surprised Lola's actually being nice. Ruby and Lola get in their own conversation and I look at Cesar. "Do you even know the definition on dl?" I whisper. "Not when I didn't get to see you all weekend." He whispers. "Monse, I'm taking Ky to Spooky's place during lunch if you wanna come." She suggests and I look at Cesar and then back at Lola. "No, I was just gonna go to In-N-Out." I say and Cesar laughs.
M: soooo mature
M: good thing you're not gettin in anything
He rolls his rolls his eyes. "Whatever they're doing, I don't like it." Ruby tells Lola and she nods. "You guys have known each other for two seconds! Stop getting along." I try to kick her but she moves. "Sorry, I'm just easy to get along with." Lola says and Ruby nods. "They're the same person." Cesar says. "You guys have good taste in friends." Ruby nods. The rest of class goes by quick and the we all walk out together. "Is it stupid I'm letting Spooky watch Ky?" Lola asks. "No, he has like a hundred kids I'm sure he can handle Ky for a few hours." I tell her. "Can't believe I have a nephew I haven't even met." Cesar says. "Wanna come to the daycare room you can say hi but we really gotta go." Lola says when we get to the class. They started the daycare so people would stop dropping out as much, it kinda worked. "Sure." He nods. She goes in to sign Ky out for the day. "You excited to meet him?" I asks Cesar. "Yeah, Spooky doesn't shut up about him." He says. "There he is!" Ky runs over to me and I pick him up. "Sometimes I swear he loves Monse more than me." Lola walks over to us. "Kyrie, that's your tío Cesar. He's dada's brother." She explains. "Hi." Ky smiles. "Hey." Cesar smiles back. "Ok, you can see him again later. I gotta drop him off and then get food." She takes her son and walks away. "Lola's really protective of Ky, I'm surprised she even let you say hi." I say while we walk to his car. "I get that. I mean I don't get it, I don't have kids." He tells me. "Ky is the closet thing to a kid I want for a long time." I say. "So when you said In-N-Out earlier, you actually meant like the food place, right?" He changes the subject. "Yeah, you literally just got shot no sex." I remind him. "Ok, well I got the next best thing." We get in his car and I lay down in the backseat covered by a blanket so no one sees me. A few blocks later I climb into the front seat and he pulls into a drive thru. "The line isn't worth it, we're just gonna be late for fifth period." I tell him. "We're not going." He kisses me. "How am I supposed to say no to you when you can kiss like that?" I smile and kiss him. "Same here." He puts his hand on my cheek. "Pull up, we can make out later." I say when I notice the cars moved. He orders for us and squeezes my thigh. "So, where we going?" I ask him. "You'll see." He smirks. After a little more waiting he drives to the beach. We walk to a place by the rocks that's surprisingly tourist free. "Wow, this might actually be better than sex. I haven't seen a beach without sunburned white people in years." I laugh. "That's a really low bar." He hands me my burger. "It's kinda weird, right? I mean..." I look at him instead of the water. "No one's here to judge us or talk about how it's gonna get us killed." I remember what Spooky said. "Yeah, that's why I love it here. I used to come here with Spooky when we were trying to figure family stuff." He says. "And now you come here to eat lunch and chill with your... whatever I am to you." I laugh. "You know if it was up to me you'd be my girlfriend." Cesar kisses me. "I don't know, I kinda like the awkward talking stage. I think it's fun getting to know someone without any strings attached." I admit. "Yeah, sometimes I forget we just met." He tells me. "Me too." I smile. We talk and eat for at least another hour. "So, now what?" I look at his lips and he kisses me.