Cheater

Ten

Cesar's POV:
"I was thinking and maybe we could invite some old friends to the party tonight." Bubblez sits on my lap and smiles. "Who?" I wrap my arms around her waist. "Jamal, Ruby and Jasmine, maybe even Monse." She suggests. "I'm cool with the first three." I tell her. "You're always with Monse, I wanna know her." Bubblez explains. "Know her or scare her away?" I laugh. "Monse means so much to you and yeah I'm a little jealous. It's normal." She shrugs.  "How is her showing up gonna help?" I ask. "I was just thinking we could be like friends or something." I throw my head back. "You know I never say no to you." I remind Bubblez. "So, is that a yes?" If I look her in the eyes I'm gonna give in. "Come on what's the worst that could happen? If you like her so much I know I will too." I can hear how excited she is. "It's up to Monse but I'll invite her." I laugh. "Thank you baby!" She grabs my face and kisses me. "You're spoiled." I smile. "I'm doing this for you!" She lies. "Right, sure you are." I nod sarcastically. "Watch, next thing you know we're all gonna be friends." Bubblez tries to get up but I pull her back down. "Wait, I wanna spend some time with you." I tell her. "I know baby but if I'm gonna show up tonight I gotta work now." She kisses me. "I love you." I tell her when she gets to the door. "I know." Bubblez mocks me. "So you're over the other hyna?" Sad Eyes asks a second after Bubblez leaves. "You want me to get caught?!" I yell. "Haven't seen Monse around here in a few days." He continues. "I needed to slow things down with her." I explain. "You're gonna get yourself in some serious shit, compa." He says. "You gotta stop acting like you're my brother. Spooky left and I'm over it. I don't need you to take care of me." I say, seriously. "I'm not." Sad Eyes shrugs. "I don't how I feel right now but I know I'm not gonna lose either of them until I find out." I try to not look like I'm stressed as hell. "Just remember, hyna's can hurt you worse than you can hurt them." He gets up and walks away. I can't think about this.

Jamal's POV:
I'm working and Monse's hanging out with me. "Cesar texted." Monse leans over the counter. "Thought you said he was ignoring you." I say while I pass people their food. "He was but apparently now he wants us to go over to his house tonight." She says. "All of us?" I stop working. "Yeah." Monse nods. "I'm not going and honestly you shouldn't either." I can tell she was expecting me to say something else. "Why not? We're all friends again." She shrugs. "Just friends?" I look her up and down. "I'm not getting back with him." She rolls her eyes. "You say that a lot." I remind her. "We never technically got back together." Monse laughs. "Sure you didn't." I narrow my eyes. "He said Alísa would be there." She mumbles. "The girl from the beach?" I ask quickly. "Yeah but I'll just let Cesar know that-" Ruby walks in and cuts her off. "We're going to the party!" He announces. "Two against one." Monse smiles. "I was gonna say we should go." I tell them. "It's 'cause Alísa's coming." Monse mocks me. "Beach girl?!" Ruby smiles. "Do y'all know other Alísa's?" Monse asks us. "You should go for it... she's cute" He nods. "Who's cute?" Jasmine walks over. "Hey amor, didn't know you were working today." Ruby says awkwardly. "Alísa." Monse explains. "Oh yeah, she's hot." Jasmine agrees and the girls burst out laughing. "I will never understand their kind." I shake my head. "Me neither." Ruby says. "You're totally Jasmine's bitch." Monse tells us. "Uncalled for... and a little true." He nods. For a minute, everything feels normal. "Jamal, I there's some guys out there looking for you outside." One of the waitresses tells me. "I'll you guys at the party." I take off my apron and throw it to Monse. "Cover for me." I run out before she can respond. "You're late." Cuete glares at me when I get in his car. "I was at work. You guys know you can't be on this side." I tell him. "So now you're the one telling me what to do?" He asks.

Monse's POV:
I finish closing the Joint with Jasmine and all I wanna do is take a long nap. "How do you do that everyday?" I ask her. "It's usually not that busy." She laughs. "I'm gonna go make sure everything's turned off and locked up." Ruby tells us. "So, the guys we're getting along." I wait for him to walk away. "For now." She shrugs. "What do you mean?" I ask. "They can be friendly but it always goes back to them not talking." Jasmine explains. "That doesn't make any sense. They used to be best friends and they obviously still wanna be friends." I wipe down one of the tables. "Monse, maybe you should just let it go." Jasmine says. "What you talking about? You would've done anything for the crew and now you're just giving up on it?" I ask. "Sometimes people just grow apart and there's nothing you can do about." I hear Ruby say. "Well this isn't one of those times. You guys said it, I'm the glue." I remind him. "We're not gonna change your mind, are we?" Jasmine asks. "Never, I don't care how long it takes, we're gonna be friends again." I shake my head. "Cesar said he didn't care how long it took to you to get back, he'd still be waiting for you... everyone gives up eventually." Ruby walks out. "He knows he's giving me a ride, right?" I ask and Jasmine can't keep a straight face. "Come on, the party's in a few hours and you do not wanna go looking like that." Jasmine looks me up and down. "Still coming for my outfits?" I ask. "Gotta keep you in check." She smiles.