On Our Block: Monse and Cesar s4

Chapter 10: Whiplash

Monse's POV:
"Hold on to each other. Just don't do it naked." lil Ricky tells us and we all pause. "You told him about that?!" I ask Jamal. "Told him about what?" I know Cesar isn't talking to me right now. "That we did it. Sorry, Cesar." Jamal says. "What the fuck did you just say?" Cesar pushes Jamal back and gets in his face. "I woke up naked in your bed with Monse." Jamal's really trying him. Part of me just wants to let Cesar think it's true, but I don't. "No. No! We did not do it." I get between him and Cesar. "Hold up, you think you boned Monse?" Ruby laughs and Jamal shrugs. "Is this 'cause you've been feeling her lately?" He asks and I raise my brows at Jamal. "What?!" Why am I the only one that's surprised? "My penis was in retrograde." Jamal says and he tries to touch me. "I meant Venus... Venus was in retrograde." He corrects himself. "Don't touch me. Don't touch me." I say. "Oh shit. I forgot to get a picture with lil Ricky. Ruby, follow me." Good to know Jamal has his priorities straight. "We didn't." I tell Cesar and he nods. "I know." He laughs. "What do you mean you know?" I ask. "He passed out in my bed and you went looking for me a few hours later. Ruby told me the whole thing." Cesar explains. "Right." I vaguely remember it. "Sorry that I made such a mess for you today." I apologize even though he should be. "No, I'm sorry." You should be. "Monse... I'm the mess." Damn right he is. "What I did to Vero wasn't cool. It's not on you." He says. "It's on both of us." I shrug. "Maybe I should be on my own for a while. Gives us room to be friends, right?" He asks. "Yeah. Yeah, maybe it's for the best." I admit even though it hurts. I look over at Jamal and he smiles. "Probably not just friends." Cesar says what I was thinking. "Yeah, probably not." I laugh. "So what do we do now?" Jamal asks and we all look at Cesar. "No idea. But we're gonna do it together." He says and I smile. We walk back to the cars but I walk in the back with Jamal. "So you really had a thing for me?" I ask. "Yeah, forget about it though. I wanna be your friend and I know you and Cesar-" I stop him. "There isn't a me and Cesar right now. That's over." I tell him. "Really?" We stop walking and I nod. "Yeah." I smile. "Good to know." He says. "You wanna ride with me?" Cesar asks. "I'm good. Jamal's driving me." I say. "You know that's gonna piss him off." Jamal tells me. "He pisses me off everyday. One day won't kill him." I shrug.
Cesar's POV:
Monse found out Jamal was into her and she still went with him. I know I can't be jealous but I am.
I don't know if I still love Monse like that but she's my first love. Jamal's one of my best friends, he shouldn't be trying to get with her. I get to my house and it's quiet. Can't believe I'm about to say this, but I miss Vero's annoying ass fighting. I didn't even realize it until today. I'm alone.
I drive to school and meet the crew outside. Jamal's all over Monse but I just let it go. "You finish your essay yet?" She asks me. "It's not great." I admit. "Let me know next time. I would've gone over last night and helped you out." She smiles. "Yeah, we weren't really doing too much." Jamal adds and I just stare at him. "Ok, we gotta go." Monse grabs my arm and drags me to class. "So are you guys trying things out?" I ask. "No. I still gotta figure some stuff out. I'm not you, I can't just move on in a minute." She says and I'm happy she's not over me yet.
"Ok, everyone drop your essays in the bin on my desk. We're just gonna relax and try to enjoy our Friday." My obviously hungover English teacher says. "I missed having you at school." I say and she smiles. "You don't even know how many times I thought about coming back." She says. We stop talking when the lights turn off and Monse moves closer to me. "I'm cold." She whispers so I wrap my arm around her. "Sure." I try not to laugh and she puts on of her ice hands on my face. "Take my jacket." I take it off and hand it to her. "Thanks. Now I don't need you." She says but she still leans on me. "Doesn't mean I don't wanna go this." She shrugs. I put my hand on her thigh and she looks at me. "My hands were cold too." I kiss the top of her head. "What happened to wanting to be on your own?" She asks me. "I'm just trying to be close to my best friend." I shrug like I don't know what she's talking about. "Sure." She lays her head back on my shoulder. I wanna tell her the real reason I need want but I can't.
After school all I wanna do is her. When I get to the crew I see Jamal checking her out again. "For real?" I ask him. "She told me you guys were done." Jamal says. "We're not. I didn't wanna get back with her until I figured out some shit." I explain. "What about what she wants?" He asks. "Monse's the one who broke up with Vero for me so we could get back together. She wants to be with me." I tell him. "I'm gonna be honest with you and I don't want you to get mad." He says. "Whatever." I shrug. "Maybe you're not done with her but she's done with you. Monse's moving on." He says and I punch him. I don't even think, it just happened. "Cesar, what the hell?!" Monse runs over and helps him up. "What's wrong with you? One minute you're being sweet and the next you're fighting my best friend?" She yells. "Monse, I-" she cuts me off. "I don't care. I'm done with mood swings, your apologies, with you. Being around you is giving me whiplash." She says. "He was being a dick." I try to defend myself. "And? You were right, you are the mess." She pushes past me.