treat you better - alejandro rosario

chapter 23: i said stop

i've been to the doctor's office, and they said i don't need my crutches anymore, i just need my cast.

in other news, today was the day of the camping trip!!!

i slip on my checkered vans as alejandro fixes me a bowl of cereal. i sit down at the counter on my barstool as alejandro pours milk into the bowl. 'which cereal do you want?' he asks, looking into his food cabinet. 'hmmm...,' i turn around to face him, peeking into the cabinet, the door halfway open. 'do you have captain crunch?' i ask him. he reaches up to the top shelf and turns around to show me an unopened bag of captain crunch.

'your lucky day,' the boy says with a smile.

he drives up to starbucks and parks the car. he glances down at his phone, then back up at me. 'we pretty early, so we can eat inside,' he says. although we just had cereal, we wanted more. 'what time do we have to be at school?' i ask ale. 'they say we have to be there by 7:55 and that the buses will come at 8.' he says as he unlocks his door. he steps out of the car, as i'm about to open the door. 'wait!' he yells, running over to the passenger's side. he opens the passenger door, holding his hand out for me to take. i oblige, stepping out of the car. i let out a small giggle. 'you know, you have the cutest laugh,'

'wanna try something fun?' i ask him, propping my phone up against the napkin holder, opening the tik tok app. 'sure, what is it?' he asks, putting his arm around me. i click the 'create video' button. 'so basically, all you have to do is tickle me, and i'm gonna say bae stop but then you keep going, okay?' he nods his head.

i click record, and the three second timer goes off. after it starts recording, he starts tickling my shoulder, causing me to break into a fit of laughter. 'ale! you weren't supposed to do it that hard,' i exclaim, still laughing. he starts to giggle.

'how do you want me to do it?' he asks. i demonstrate, by quickly tickling his shoulder lightly, so that it doesn't really tickle.

i click record once again and the three second timer goes off. after it starts recording, he starts tickling my shoulder, this time more cautiously. i giggle and say 'bae stopppp,' in a girly tone. he keeps on. 'baeee come onnn,' he doesn't stop. just how i wanted it.

'I SAID, STOP!' i yell, deepening my voice to sound masculine. 'YOU PLAY TOO DAMN MUCH!' the entire restaurant went quiet as alejandro and i were heard laughing aggressively. i bury my head in ale's lap in embarrassment, trying to hide myself. as he lays his head on my back, laughing harder than me. i felt everyone's eyes on us. then the whole restaurant laughed. i lifted my head up in relief.