Neighborhood Music

When it Was Me

Cesar tried to lay low for a few days. He got a new phone to replace his old one, and immediately set it on do not disturb. Two whole days passed, and he managed to hear from everyone except Monse. He contemplated calling her, but he was fully aware that he didn't have anything to say to her to justify what he did or correct what she thought. 

The next time he saw her was on Friday, at lunch. 

"Is someone sitting here?" He asked, noticing her sitting on a table all alone. 

She looked up to see who was talking to her, but when they locked eyes, she quickly returned to her food. Shaking her head no. 

Cesar sat down and began silently pushing food around his plate. 

"I know you're probably really mad at me." He started, "But I really do think we should talk." 

Monse didn't acknowledge him, but a few seconds later, Ruby came over and sat down, not saying a word to anyone. The three ate in silence until Olivia walked over, a broad smile on her face standing in stark contrast with the tone at the lunch table. 

"Did I miss something?" She asked, "Since when are you cool with each other?" 

Monse looked up from her plate, "I don't know what you're talking about." 

"Yeah, we're cool." Ruby agreed 

Cesar only nodded. 

Olivia took the seat next to him, and Cesar did everything in his power not to shove her away. 

'This is making things so much worse' he cringed internally.

"Interesting," Monse commented, looking at him with angry eyes

Olivia immediately stood up and moved to sit next to Monse. 

"Are you chilly?" Ruby asked 

Olivia looked perplexed, "Not really, why?" 

Ruby shrugged, "No reason, I just thought it'd be cold under all that shade." 

Cesar closed his eyes and shook his head. 'For the love of god' he thought 

Olivia moved again, this time she sat next to Ruby, and tried to make light of the situation. 

"Oh," She said happily, "I didn't know there was pie." 

Cesar nodded, but Ruby scoffed

"Cesar took the last piece." He bit

Monse joined in, "Yeah, Cesar can't keep his hands off other people's pie."

He looked at her hard, frustrated with how petty she was being. She stared him down. Finally, Cesar had enough. He grabbed the piece of pie off his tray and split it in half. Shamelessly, he deposited half on Ruby's tray, and gave the other half to Monse. 

"Happy" He snarked 

Ruby glared, "I don't want your sloppy seconds" 

"I barely touched it!" Cesar argued

"Liar" Monse coughed

Cesar had it.

"I'm done." He snapped, "Turns out I've had my fill" 

Standing up, he stalked off to finish his lunch in peace. 

He spent the rest of his school day trying to concentrate and debating about whether or not he should reach out to Monse. It was driving him insane. At the same time, he was upset with her for not reaching out to him. She had a problem, obviously, with him kissing Olivia, but she wasn't giving him any opportunity to right his wrong.