treat you better - alejandro rosario

chapter 28: be mature

tuesday afternoon, and it wasn't even that bad. we were on yet another hike, but this time on a different trail. the scenery was more beautiful. me and ximena were just walking and talking. we hear some we hear some snickering from behind us. i think i even heard my name.

'mena, do you hear that?' i ask her. she turns to look at me. 'yeah, i think they're talking about us.' she tells me. 'should i see who it is?' i ask her. she turns to look at them.

'fuck, it's talissa,' she says as she turns back. i look back over to see for myself. it was talissa, talking to three other girls. they all give me a dirty look. the girls she was hanging with gave off a hot cheeto girl type vibe. i quickly look away.

'just try to ignore them,' i tell ximena. 'i can't, they're being petty,' she says. i scoff. i then hear my name being called. or rather, shouted.

'hey, atlas!' i hear talissa's shouts from behind. we both stop dead in our track and turn around, slowly. the girls approach us. 'so... i heard your nudes got exposed,' she says. i roll my eyes.

'so what about it?' ximena asks. 'i'm just saying, i didn't think yo guys were that big of slut bags.' talissa says. i sigh.

be mature, be mature, be mature.

'are you done, or is there something else you would like to add on?' i ask. she takes a deep breath, before responding. 'i mean... i just find it weird how you hop from zach to alejandro in not even a week.' she says as she crosses her arms with an attitude.

'it is not your place to judge,' ximena joins in as she steps forward, closer to talissa. 'damn, y'all are basic hoes,' one of the hot cheeto girls says. i look over at her as she looks me up and down with an attitude. oh god, she was smacking on her gum so hard. it was the only physical trait of hers that actually popped out. i found it funny how she though of me and ximena as the basic hoes.

'excuse me?' i ask her. i must admit, i was just a little taken aback by her remark. i tried not to let it bother me.

'also,' talissa starts up again, stepping closer to me. 'i remember specifically telling you that i liked alejandro, and now you go and date him?' she says. i had enough. i roll my eyes, making sure she notices. 'are you actually serious? you never told me you liked him.' i say. i drag ximena along with me as i walk away from a potential fight.

'we can't waste our time on petty bitches,' ximena say, patting my shoulder.

-

i dig my fork into the fried fish as i converse with my friends. is sat in between ximena and alvaro with robert being on the other side of ximena. ale, mattia, and roshaun were all sat on the other side of the bench. for today, we were doing indoor dining due to light drizzles.

'do you ever just buy pancake batter but never make the pancakes because you wind up eating the batter?' i ask my friends as i rip the tail off of my shrimp and pop the body into my mouth. they all look up at me as if i was crazy. okay, maybe i was.

'only you would, atlas.' robert says, running his fingers through his hair.

'yo, leave my baby alo-' alejandro cuts himself off. they all look behind me. i didn't understand what they were looking at.  i turned around to get a good look for myself, but before i could get a good look, i felt a thick, cold liquid placed all over me. i saw nobody else but talissa, with a empty milkshake cup. it was milkshake that was poured all over me. i heard gasps from all around me.

be mature, be mature, be mature.

i slowly stood up to face myself to talissa. ximena did the same. 'why the hell would you do that?' i ask her. she did nothing but give off a toxic smirk. i push past her and walk toward the exit. i didn't want to start anything, especially since i have never been in a fight before. all my friends followed behind me.

'homie hopper,' i heard talissa spit out from behind me.

be mature, be mature, be- fuck i can't keep doing this.

i wipe my face and ring most of the milkshake out of my hair. i wrap my hair into a low bun. i turned around quickly and ran up and tackled talissa. she fell onto the floor and i got on top of her and started swinging. she struggles to fight back.

a few seconds later, i feel a few people pull me off of her. i finally get up. i was shocked with what i had just done. i looked down at my fists. i felt like crying, but managed to pull myself together.

i felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around my waist. i calmed myself. he kissed me on the cheek.

-

ximena and the boys walked me to the cabin where i showered and decided to sit out the next activity.