On my block: Monse and Cesar

Chapter 3: Part 3

It's been three weeks since the last time Monse and Cesar had kissed and Monse was desperate for time with him. She decided in between classes she'd wait in the storage closet he always passes by on the way to class. She peeks out the window and sees him coming so she pulls him in. He smiles as soon as he realizes it's Monse. They spin into the room and he leans against the door. He kisses deeply and tries to make up for the weeks they weren't able to kiss or be close. He pulls her waist in close, takes off her flannel and she smiles into his lips. He picks her up and they sit on an old office chair. "You gotta start doing this more often." He laughs. "And you have to stop being busy all the time." She takes his shirt off and they keep making out. His hands are on her hips and her arms are around his neck. He kisses down her neck slowly, savoring every second. Cesar starts taking off Monse's shirt and she shakes her head. "We're at school." She says. He kisses her collarbone and says, "I don't care." She lifts his head so she can kiss him again. He places one hand under her shirt, right above the top of her jeans and it sends a chill up her spine. She's missed this kind of contact with him. "That's my que." She says as the announcements finish. "Just a few more minutes." Cesar pleads. "I can't I have a chem quiz." "You'd rather take a chem quiz instead of staying here? Come on a few more minutes won't kill you." He smiles. "I swear if a few more minutes turns into the whole period." She drops her flannel back on the ground and he pulls her back onto the chair. He barely gets a chance to kiss her before Monse's trying to leave again. "What about next period?" She asks. "Can't miss trig. How about sixth?" Cesar grabs his shirt off the ground. "I could sneak out for ten minutes." Monse answers. "So tonight, will you dance with me?" He asks. "Of course I'll dance with you, and Ruby and Jamal... like always." She gives him a weird look. "What about just me?" He asks. "What, like a slow dance?" She asks. "No no no, hm-mmm, not like a slow dance, a slow dance." She laughs and he frowns. "No, no slow dancing." She continues to laugh. "Why?" He's ready for everyone to know they're together even though she's not. Even if no one knows they're together he doesn't want to dance with everyone other than Monse. "Because we've never done it before." She says in annoyance. "So? We've been doing a lot of things we've never done before." He says as he looks her up and down. "Friends don't slow dance, especially not friends dodging rumors they've smashed." She turns around so she can leave but he steps in front of her. "But we're not just friends. I don't care that no one else knows, we know and I should be able to dance with you." He sighs. She doesn't respond. "It's just a dance." "Slow dances aren't just dances. They're statements." Monse explains. "So what if I want to make a statement?" He asks. "Let's just talk later. Sixth period?" She says. "Sure. We can talk... about how slooow. We're gonna dance, because it's going down." He kisses her quickly and leaves before she can say anything. "Shit." She mutters under her breath.

*sixth period in the storage closet*
Monse leans in to kiss Cesar and he pulls away. "You sure you want me to kiss you or am I going to make you feel objectified." Cesar shakes his head. "What?" "You know I thought since you didn't want to go to the dance since you feel objectified I probably shouldn't kiss you. I thought you wanted to talk about what's in your heart and mind instead." He shrugs. "I didn't mean me, I meant like women in general." "Mm- hmm." He smiles and shakes his head. "So did you decide to dance with me and realize it's not a big deal?" Cesar asks. "We can't Cesar. What if we just skip the dance my dad's on a long haul so we-" Cesar cuts off Monse. "Are you objectifying me?" He asks. "I wish we could slow dance together but we can't. I don't want to break up the fam." Cesar knows she's serious. "I know but I just wanna dance with you. Only one slooow dance." He pulls her in close. "One day." Monse gives him a half smile.
*outside of the dance*
"What happened?" Cesar asks. "They canceled the dance because of a gun. You know I was really excited to slow dance with you and everything. Too bad." Monse says with a smile. "Yeah it is too bad huh." Cesar says. "The night doesn't have to be a total waste. My dad's still gone." Monse tries to look upset about the dance but it's pretty obvious she's happy. "That is a great idea. Yo Monse's dad's out of town, party at Monse's!" He yells with a devilish smile. "You said you were ready to dance." He really wants to dance with her. Monse's pissed but it's not like she can just say no and tell everyone not to go. That would just make even more problems for her. They walk back to her house and she doesn't even look at Cesar. How could he do that? They get to the house and a few minutes later musics blasting and there's tons of beer all over the place. "How is she drunk it's literally been thirty minutes?" Olivia asks Monse. "It's Jasmine, she finds away." They watch Jasmine lay on top of Ruby and laugh. "Should we help him?" Jamal asks. "A few more minutes." Olivia says as she drinks some more beer. "I'm getting another refill you want one?" Olivia asks and Monse nods. "Hey, play something lit." Olivia tells Cesar as she walks by. He nods and then gives Monse a smile. He presses play and ComeMyWay plays. Monse's eye get wide and she gives him a nervous smile. She chugs the rest of her beer when Cesar gets a text. "Be right back." He says as she finishes her beer. She looks at him, confused. She waits a couple minutes and then she goes to look for him. She finds him counting money in her room. "Where's that from?" She asks. "Ready for our dance?" Cesar says, trying to change the subject but he knows Monse won't just drop it. "Are you crazy carrying that around? You're gonna get yourself killed!" She can't stand when he doesn't think. "Don't worry about it. Worry about this." He leans in like he's going to kiss her but instead he puts his hands on her waist and moves them to the bed. Monse falls on the bed and starts laughing. He puts a hand on her waist and she stops laughing right away. "Door." She says. "Right." He nods as he gets up and closes the door. Olivia's walking down the hallway so he locks it to make sure she doesn't barge in. "Where were we?" He laughs. She pulls him back down and kisses him. "We can't stay in here too long or they're gonna know something's up." Monse says. "They won't even remember. Ruby's being suffocated, Jamal's too focused on rollerworld and Olivia's probably talking to one of her new friends." He kisses Monse again. Before things can go too far Cesar pulls away. "We still need to dance." He says with the same goofy smile from earlier. They walk out and Olivia and Ruby are dancing. "It's now or never." Monse says nervously. "Come on, it'll be fine." He slides his hand around her lower back and she gets tense. "It's fine, pretend it's just us." He whispers. They start dancing and surprisingly the world didn't explode into millions of pieces. "See what did I tell you. Look at us slow dancing and not making a statement." Cesar leans in to kiss Monse and she pulls back. "That would literally be the definition of making a statement. We can't kiss in front of our friends." Monse says and Cesar nods. "Small steps, I get it." He smiles.