someone like you (joel pimentel)

chapter ten

• vanessa •

"Brandon, what are you doing with my phone?" I asked, reaching over him, and seeing my text threads on the screen. "¿Que es esto?"

"Can Joel come over and play again?" Brandon asked, giving me his infamous pout.

"B, remember you're going to grandpa's house today?" I reminded him. Brandon kept his pout, and I sighed. I knew this would happen once he met Joel. I was glad they got on well, but now here comes the asking about him all the time.

"Can he come to grandpa's to play?"

"Brandon, listen to me. I'm going to take you to spend the day with grandpa, okay? Me and daddy are going to get some stuff for your birthday. So you have to be a good boy for grandpa. You can be a good boy right?" I questioned, changing the subject from Joel.

"I think so."

"So, are you ready to spend the day with grandpa?" I asked Brandon. He nodded. "Let's go."

—

"I cannot believe they messed up his cake!" I complained. "What are we going to do? His birthday is this weekend!"

Antonio shook his head, probably at my overreacting. "They said they can fix it, or they can make an entirely new cake. You have nothing to worry about."

"Except what if the new cake comes out worse, and they spell his name wrong!" There was nothing wrong with the cake, it was just the wrong Spiderman. I was definitely overreacting, but Brandon's birthday was always important to me. And he didn't want Peter Parker, he wanted Miles Morales, and Miles Morales was what he is going to get.

"They just made a small mistake, and they're fixing it," Antonio assured me. "We should get something to eat before you go all crazy baby mama on me."

"Ha ha," I fake laughed, glaring at Antonio. "I am hungry, though." Maybe it was more hanger. "Can we get burgers?"

"Or we could go to the food court," he suggested and I agreed. I was starving, I didn't think of eating when I dropped Brandon off with my dad, I was already late to meet Antonio at the bakery. And once I got there, the cake was wrong, and I was glad Antonio got there before I did. He had already talked to the owner and ordered a new cake.

When we got to the food court, I went to the burgers and ordered a turkey burger with bacon and avocado. My favorite.

Once my name was called, I sat across from Antonio, who had went to the chinese place.

"I have a question," Antonio said. I looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "What do you think of Juliana?"

"She seems nice," I answered. "Really pretty, too. You two go well together." I finally met Juliana, for a quick minute, the other day, but she was really nice. She's the first girlfriend that Antonio had besides me. Unlike the small flings Antonio had after we broke up, she didn't feel intimidated by me because I am the mother of his son.

"You really think that?"

"Of course. Am I supposed to be the jealous ex who doesn't like every girl you date after me?"

"You could be. But I'm glad you're not," Antonio smiled. And his smile was something I'd always loved. "So it's okay for Juliana to come to Brandon's birthday?"

"Yeah, of course. I knew you two were becoming serious, just not that serious," I commented. "Because you're inviting her to basically meet the mess that we call family."

"She's already met my parents, B, and you. Those are the most important people in my life that she needs to meet."

"Uh oh, you're forgetting about someone," I told him. "Someone who we made godmother of our son."

"Tatiana set me and Juliana up," Antonio told me. This was news to me. Tatiana set him up with someone even though she knew how I felt about him. "I thought you knew that."

"I actually didn't," I answered honestly. "I must give her props for—"

"Excuse me, do you have a problem?" Antonio interrupted me, staring behind me. I glanced behind me and saw younger teenagers blatantly recording or taking pictures of us.

"No, but she does," one of the teens responded.

"You went from Joel to this guy?" Another girl grimaced. "Downgrade."

"Excuse me?" I questioned. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Enlighten us please."

"Ooh, a new vocabulary word. Do you get bonus points for using it in a sentence?"

All three girls scoffed, but then eventually walked away, typing away on their phones. It was either be nice, and they'll eventually leave. Or act the same way they acted towards me, and I chose the latter. Because 1. They had no right talking to me like that. 2. Their attitudes aren't right for their age, which must've been twelve or something because I knew they haven't hit puberty yet.

"What was that?"

"I have no idea," I responded, while taking a bite of my burger.

—

"I'm sorry that happened. I feel like it's my fault," Joel apologized. He had asked me about my day, and as I avoided the topic about what happened earlier, he has already known about it.. "That should have never happened."

"It's okay—"

"It's not okay. Sometimes they don't know boundaries, and they think they know everything because of a little snippet we give them into our lives. And what they don't know is how much I care for you," Joel explained.

"They're going to hate me, aren't they?" I questioned, finally giving into my fears. I knew I shouldn't have, but I searched his name on twitter and their fans weren't exactly nice to any female that was in Joel's life unless they were his family.

"That doesn't matter, because whatever they think of you will never change the way I feel about you," Joel assured me. But it can change the way I feel about myself, I thought to myself. "I really like you, Vanessa. And I can promise you they won't bother you anymore." Somehow, I can't fully believe that.

<><><>

It's been awhile.

I have been crazy busy with work and school, and I haven't been able to sit down and write. And idk when I'll be able to. I have two and a half months until I'm done with school for the summer. And three months until I'm on summer break from work.

How's everyone been? Is anyone going to see the boys in concert for the Press Start Tour? I'm seeing them in LA and Chicago🥰

hope you guys enjoyed this chapter after so many months of me not updating🤩