𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞, 𝐨𝐦𝐛/𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧

twenty two.

MONSE FINNIE POV

"Remind me why we always have to talk in the stairwell?" Latrelle asked me as I sat on the steps.

"Because..."

He looked at me intently, waiting for an answer. I just sighed. "Look, I don't want people seeing us yet."

He crossed his arms. "And by people, I guess you mean your friends."

I nodded. "Jamal and Ruby will FLIP OUT if they see us together. Ruby already confronted me about our friendship earlier. I don't want that happening again."

Latrelle clearly wasn't happy about that. "It's the wanting to keep our friendship a secret for me."

"It's not like that!" I promised him. He just looked at me doubtfully. "This is for the best, trust me. Especially since Cesar just went public with-"

That ticked Latrelle off. "Why are you still worried about what that dog is doing?!"

"I'm not! It just wouldn't look good if I'm seen with you right after what happened! I'mma look like a hypocrite!"

"Wow." Latrelle shook his head. "So he can move on but you can't?" He scoffed. "It's the double standards for me."

I couldn't help but giggle at that. I hit him playfully. "Shut up with that!"

He laughed and complimented me. "You look nice today, by the way. I don't know if I told you that yet."

"Thank you. You look really nice too."

I smiled at him and he smiled back. It's a little awkward though because all we're doing is smiling. No words are being said.

I cleared my throat and averted my gaze. "So..."

"So..."

Is it supposed to be this awkward when you make a new friend? It wasn't this awkward yesterday, but maybe that's because we actually had something to talk about. Cesar.

Latrelle didn't like the awkwardness either. "Okay, how about we address the elephant in the room?"

I'm not sure what he means. "What?"

"I know you wanna ask me, so just ask me."

He thinks that I'm being quiet because I have something on my mind? That's not why, but I guess now's a good time to find out what he did to Dwayne.

"Well there is one thing. What'd you do to Dwayne?"

He huffed. "I knew it."

"Jamal despises you, Latrelle. It must've been bad."

"It was, but it was a joke."

"What'd you do?!"

Latrelle just looked at me, troubled. "I want to tell you Monse, but I really can't."