Playing Hard To Get | COMPLETED ✓ 2014

Chapter 14

Dedicated to niwaly

Chapter 14

I didn't want to leave Crash and when he begged me to stay a bit longer, I didn't want to disappoint him but I knew that my best friend was more important. I'm sure he'd understand. So here I was, getting out of my car to rush to Vanessa's front door. I could see that her mom was not home and all the lights in the house were shut off. I quickly stepped around the house to enter from the back since I had a key to the backdoor. Once I unlocked the door, I headed upstairs and called out to her.

"Vanessa! I'm here!" I yelled, stalking up the stairs to the hallways and swiftly pulled her bedroom door open. She was curled up on the bed with tears streaming down her puffy red face.

I stared in dismay and sauntered over to her. Bending down next to her, I wiped away her tears with my index finger. "Vanessa what's going on?"

"That asshole is....." She garbled.

"Speak up, Nessa. I can't understand."

"He's cheating on me; that fucking bastard."

I took the chance to digest what she was saying. "He's cheating on me," That had to mean Carlos. He was cheating on her!? No, that couldn't have been true. I wouldn't have token Carlos to be a cheater.

"Vanessa, are you sure? How'd you find out?"

She wiped her eyes and sat up, patting the space next to her for me to sit. I took the seat and watched her intently. "I wanted to tell him about everything between Don and I and about the baby and the party. So i....i called him. And a girl picked up his phone. She said he went out to buy 'protection' because they used up the rest of his stash a month ago. I was appalled by it so I said a few words to back him up. But then she sent me these." Vanessa pulled out her cell phone and showed me the screenshots of conversation, the conversations of Carlos with another girl.

I was aghast about the things I was reading. One of the messages that Carlos sent the girl read : I don't even love Vanessa, I just need her for the sex. Nothing more, nothing less.

I closed my hand over my mouth and gasped. "Vanessa, why would he do something like that to you!?"

"I don't know." She cried. "I've noticed that he's been ditching me a lot at night. We haven't had a movie night in over a month and now I know why. He's been with other sluts."

"Oh, my gosh. I just can't believe this." I was so stunned that the hair on my back was rising. Carlos may be a foolish immature teenage guy but I'd never take him as a cheater. Never, ever, ever.

"I'm so mad that I don't even want to reply to these." She showed me another text that she got from Don.

It read : Can we meet somewhere and talk? I wanna c u.

 

I stared hard at the message and scratched my head. Vanessa really messed up this time. She didn't need all this shit in her life. Drama wasn't her thing. She never had drama focused on her. And the fact that Carlos is the one that she gave her heart to is even more fucked up because in reality, Don is the better guy for her. Carlos is now, in my eyes, a piece of shit and if she ever dared jump back into his arms, I'd literally have to slap her myself.

*****

"Where've you've been, mister?" I asked Matt as he walked in the front door early the next morning.

After consulting Vanessa and telling her to reply to the messages that Don had sent, I went back home and talked to Crash a bit on the phone and allowed him to vent to me a bit more about his Mom. When I got home, Matt was nowhere to be found and my mom was completely knocked out so it was basically only me and Jamie that were awake. I took the liberty to stay up with Jamie until she fell asleep and this morning, when I woke up, my mom had left a note saying that she had to work extra, extra late at the hospital so my duties of taking care of Jamie had began early.

He dropped the duffle bag that he had slung over his shoulder and began to advance to the kitchen.

"Out," he answered, walking towards the refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of cold water. I hated that when I asked where he was, he never answered with a actual answer. "Out" wasn't a complete answer to me.

"Matt you gotta start coming home earlier." I told him as I chopped up the strawberry into tiny bits for the fruit salad that I was preparing for breakfast.

"You're not my mom, Jessica."

"I know but my mom has to watch you and if something happens to you while you're out, my mom will be blamed." I explained.

"Nothing's going to happen to me."

"How are you so sure?" I added.

"Why are you so worried?" He asked, taking a sip from the water.

"I'm not. I'm just trying to help better your life." I stated, matter-of-factly. Whatever Matt did  when he was out was on him but if he was selling drugs or smoking things that he shouldn't be smoking, then that would be on my mom. In a way, I was looking out for both of them. I didn't want my mom to get in any trouble on Matt's behalf.

"Hmm," he hummed without adding much too that topic as he sat down. "Where's Jamie?"

Jamie had been fussy this morning and she didn't want to be carried so I'd just allowed her to crawl around the house. I had to make sure that everything was baby proof before letting her off to have freedom. "She's roaming around,"

"How's your relationship with Crash so far?" He randomly asked.

Knitting my eyebrows together, I said, "Why do you wanna know?"

"Just asking. No need to catch attitudes,"

I rolled my eyes and slid the rest of the cut up strawberry in my favorite pink bowl. "I wasn't catching an attitude. I just wanted to know why you're so noisy."

He reached over and almost tried to steal a strawberry from the bowl but I swiftly swatted his fingers away. He winced and pulled his hand back. "You're such a bully, man."

"Whatever. You just came home from doing God's knows what. I don't want any germs on my food,"

"So, you might carry germs as well. With as much products you put in your hair, I'm not even sure you wash your hands after straightening it," he spat back.

"Those products keep my hair in good condition."

Sarcastically he said, "Yeah right, of course."

 That ticked my nerve so out of character, I picked up a handful of the strawberries and threw then in his face. I immediately slapped my hands over my lip as I watched the cherry colored fruit fly directly on his face. He looked as stunned as I looked when I threw them. The fruit dripped down all over his clean white T-shirt and from the look on his face, I knew I was dead.

"Oh, my gosh. Matt I apologize, I'm so serious." I pleaded trying to talk him out of doing anything rash.

I could see him getting up from his seat looking around at something he could fire back at me. The only thing that was on the counter, other than the rest of the fruits, was milk. His eyes met mine as he saw what I saw. He quickly picked it up and pulled the top off, advancing towards me in quick steps. "No! Matt! I'm s—" The milk was poured all over my fragile figure. It was so cold and it covered my vision. My body trembled under the cold liquid.

I stood there in pure shock as I heard Matt's distant chuckles and the sound of little giggles.

I wiped the milk from my eyes to see better and I gazed hard at Matt holding my baby sister in his arms as they both stared at laughed at me.

What a morning.