Cassiopeia Odette.
Chino Hills, California
July 4th, 2021
4:30pm
"Oh m- Ow" Jelly trips over my coffee table and grabs at her foot "Oooohhh, that hurt"
"Jelly" I laugh and slip my shoes on
"I'm nervous bruh" Jelly hops over to the couch and sits down to put her shoes on
"Just vibe. If they like us, they like us. If not, sucks for them" I put on lipgloss and grab my purse and sunglasses
"Ugh," she laces up her last shoes and walks to the kitchen "Do you have any edibles left?"
"Not for you, no. I don't think Lavar likes drugs or drinking"
"Oh my gosh," she runs to my guest room and begins moving things around frantically. I take a deep breathe as my cheeks flush
"Jelly, relax. You're freaking me out" As calmly as possible, I walk to my master bathroom and grab the yellow bottle. The lid slides open with a press and twist, creating a quiet click sound. I rattle out a small orange pill and pop it in my mouth before quickly swallowing. The bottle cap twist back on before I set it back in my medicine cabinet
"Let's go, Jel" I make my way to the kitchen, grab a water bottle and gulp it down
"Where'd you put my Legendborn book?" she yells
"I was reading annotations last night, it's on my nightstand. Hurry up" I sigh and plop down on the couch as Jelly runs around my apartment
"You annotated again?" Jelly grabs her purse and phone as I stand from the couch and walk to the front door
"Nope. There's no space left, I might do sticky notes but I feel like it's gonna get too crowded"
"True" she tucks the book under her arm and opens the door. We walk down to the garage and hop into my car on our way to the Ball Estate
"Turn on some calm music" Jelly opens the book and sits quietly reading for the whole of the ride
"You remember them?" I park in the large driveway behind a green SUV and turn the car off
"How could I forget" she closes her book and takes her seat belt off
I sit for a second and process "You know something I don't?"
She mumbles something under her breath and steps out the car, taking in the large tan house. I follow her, walking up to the front door to ring the bell
"What?"
"Tell me about Melo"
"I think he plays for the NBA" Jelly and I wait patiently at the door
"What team?"
"Um... Like the wasps or- I don't know, something about an insect"
"In LA?"
"No, in one of the Carolinas"
"So you're movi-"
Jelly is interrupted by the front door swinging open. A tall, tan man with harsh acne and pale blueish, green eyes stands at the door examining us
"Can I help you?" he stares down at me in confusion
"Um..." I try to think of what to say "I'm here with- or for M- Or maybe not for, but like by inv-"
"Y'all look familiar" Zo states
"Well-"
"Jelly!" Zo yells in realization as he pulls her into a hug
"Hey," she smiles and returns the hug.
Um... I don't know what's going on. I could've sworn last time we came over here with my parents Jelly and I both stayed away from the guys. So I'm very confused as to how they acting like they know each other
"Dee?" Melo walks up and pushes Zo out the way
"Hi," I politely smile and stand with my hands tucked behind my back
"Hey," he pulls my hands from behind me and puts them over his shoulders. His arms fall around my hips in a tight hug
"Act like you like me, he don't know we fake" he whispers into my ear
"Hi luv" I reluctantly hug him back before he releases me
"Jelly, right?" he turns his head to her as she disconnects from Zo's hug
"Yea, nice to see you again" she sticks her hand out for him to shake
"Yea, I've heard a lot about you" Melo nods his head and turns to the tan man behind him
"Zo, you remember Dee. Dee, this is Zo"
"Oh, I definitely remember her swerving you in high school. Delighted to be in your presence again" Zo daps me
"Man shut up" Melo pulls Jelly and me into the house
"So what you doing back here? Yo parents in town?" Zo swings his arm around Melo's shoulder
"Just here for Melo, I guess"
"Here to humble him again?" Zo laughs
"You think you so funny," Melo rolls his eyes "We're actually dating, bitch"
"What?" Zo yells before running around while laughing "No you not. She don't like you"
"Dee, what we is?" Melo turns to me with a smile
"For lifers" I make a heart with my hand. Melo laughs loudly and hangs his arm around my shulder. Zo hangs his mouth open
"Fuckin for lifers bruh," Melo locks his pointer and middle finger together
"Noooo, Dee you failed me. What the fuck" Zo face palms
"I'm sorry, It's not my fault" I smile awkwardly
"This some bullshit" Zo laughs and turns away
"Hatin ass nigga," Melo mumbles while walking with Jelly and me
"Where are we going?" I ask
"With everybody else"
"Wait-" I stop in my tracks and grab his arm. Jelly runs into the back of me and laughs nervously
"Sorry, maybe a warning next time" Jelly mumbles
"Can I help you?" Melo looks down at my hand on his arm
"Who's everybody else" I ask
"Friends, cousins, girlfriends" he states "Unhand me, woman" he proceeds to shake my hand off of him and continue walking
"No, wait" I pull his arm again
"What you scared of? They not gon bite" Zo encourages
"Well, no- I jus- It-"
"You gon spit it out?" Melo smirks and again, pushes my hand off. I side eye Zo
"Cmon J, let's let the couple do they thang" Zo takes Jelly and walks away
"How many people?"
"What?"
"I don't like big crowds"
"It's not a crowd, it's a cookout. You'll be fine" he tries to walk away again, I grab his arm tighter this time. I can feel myself getting frustrated and my cheeks beginning to glow
"Can you just tell me how many, please?"
"Why? They not gon care. I'll do a lil quick intro and we be good" he says dismissively
"Why can't you just tell me?"
"Cause I don't know the exact number, it ain't that many"
"Ugh, can i go upstairs? I'll meet them some other time"
"Dee, I kind of need you to convince my other family members that I actually like you or someone's gonna blow it to the media. I can't coordinate my big ass family to lie about our marriage, so they need to actually believe we like- or love each other. So, please calm the fuck down and just let me do the talking"
"Well then act like you like me, you pushed my hand off you like twenty times in front of Zo"
"Because yo nails was in my skin, Dee"
"No they weren't, Melo"
"They were"
"They weren't"
"They-" Melo pauses when he hears footsteps
"I love you, the fam gon love you baby" he caresses my chin and smiles as Zo walks up
"Pops lookin fo yall lovebirds" Zo says
"Aight, we coming"
~~
"Wassup, wassup" Melo goes around dapping everyone before introducing me
"That's Zo, you already know. Big bro" Melo points to his brother and then shifts his finger to the girl standing next to his brother
"His girl, Ally"
"Hi," Ally sticks her hand out for me to shake
"Hey" I smile and shake her hand
"This oompa-loompa right here is Ant" Melo points to a short guy that looks like he could be mexican or some type of hispanic
"Man, shut up" Ant side eyes him and waves at me. I smile politely and look at the next person
"This is Tomi, he's... just Tomi. No explanation" Melo points to a tall darkskin with cute, thick hair
"What's yo name?" Tomi asks me
"She's Dee, I was gonna get to that later" Melo shoots Tomi a meaningful look. Tomi returns the look and then glances at me
"I was askin yo friend, not you" Tomi smiles at me "What's yo name, luv?"
"Um," I cover my mouth to suppress a laugh "I'm Dee"
"Moving on," Melo moves past him and points to a middle aged man that doesn't look like he should be here "This Dmo, Zo's personal bitch h-"
"AY" Dmo yells and hits Melo in the back of his head "Put some respect on my name, kid"
Melo laughs and pats his shoulder "I'm just playin, that's my dawg. But anyways,"
Melo points to a scarily thick, strong, tall guy with lots of tattoos and his hair in twists
"This my brother Gelo, and his girlfriend Evoni" he points to the stick-like girl with tattoos next to Gelo
"Wassup" Gelo daps me up. I smile before Evoni moves closer and pulls me into a polite hug
"Hi, nice to meet you" she says
"Hey," I smile and pull away from the hug
"Then these my cousins Dre and Jhay" he points to a tall guy and a tall girl. I smile and nod
"Y'all fuck with each other or..." Tomi asks. I shy away from his penetrating gaze and look up at Melo
"This my girlfriend so you could stop looking at her like you want a piece" Melo puts his hands on my shoulders and shakes me
"Where's Jelly?" I move away from his grip and look around
"She's in the bathroom," Ant says
"Ant wants her" Tomi puts his arm around Ant
I laugh nervously and rub my arm
"Put a nigga on, Dee" Melo again puts his hands on my shoulders
"Y-" I bite back my first thought and come up with something else to say "I don't really think you're her type. You can try though, but uh..."
"What? She gay or sumn?" Gelo asks
"Who said dat" I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion
"I'm just askin, what's wrong with my nigga Ant?"
Well, for starters, he aint a nigga but lemme not get into that
"I aint say nothin was wrong with him, he coo or whatever" I shrug
"Why yall grillin ole girl? Ask ha fren when she get back" Jhay gives everyone a stank face
"Yea, ask Jelly" I nod and cross my arms
"Ask me what?" Jelly walks onto the court and pushes Melo out the way to swing her arm around my shoulder
"Bruh, watch out" Melo pushes her arm off and pulls me closer to him
"Ant has a question for you" I wiggle my eyebrows at her
"Okay," Jelly nods her head and looks at Ant expectantly
"No, no, nevermind" Ant waves his hands dismissively
"C'mon, say it with yo chest big boy" Jelly encourages
"Uh... Are you gay?" Ant asks. Tomi drops his arms from Ant's shoulder and walks away while shaking his head
"Anthony, that's- You dumb, nigga" Melo laughs loudly and turns away
"Nah, not 'gay'" Jelly does air quotation marks around the word and smiles
"Anyways, yall tryna play three on three" Zo asks, looking at the guys
"Fuck yea, watch me break them ankles" Melo nods at me before going to the middle of the court with the other guys. Evoni, Jhay, and Ally walk over to Jelly and I
"So you and Melo huh?" Jhay raises her eyebrows at me and smiles
"Yea," I nod and clear my throat
"How long yall been g-"
"Omg, look at Melo dunking" Jelly interrupts her. I exhale a sigh of relief, thankful I won't have to lie or make up excuses as to why I can't answer
"Yea, so what do y'all do for a living" I ask
"Modeling" Ally speaks up first, loud and confident
"I make music" Evoni flips her hair behind her back
"Modeling and basketball coaching" Jhay crosses her arms
"Oh, that's fun. I model too, I can't sing fo shit tho- sorry Evoni" I smile and laugh a little
"I'm a artist" Jelly speaks up
"Does art make a lot fo money?" Ally furrows her brows at Jelly
"Kinda, I can make like $6,000 on a painting, but it takes so long to make that it's kind of like a regular 9-5 pay. I'm a trust fund baby though so I'm coolin"
"Ooohh, how yo family got rich" Jhay asks, plopping down onto the ground. We all eventually follow suit, sitting in a small circle
"Hotels"
"Why you ain't get in the business with them, girl. You get any cut of the profit?"
"Nah, ion like business. That's- nah, I can't. It's just too much going on. Ion like all the politics and cut-throat of it. Plus I like art" Jelly says
"She's got tunnel vision, like she literally gets obsessed with one piece and one piece only for months and won't move on until she feels she's completed it" I chime in "Her art is always gorgeous and so detailed it's amazing"
"No way," Evoni gasp "I'm the same way. Like I can't start a song or anything and then just abondon ship when it gets bad or I get discouraged. I might not release the song, but best believe imma finish it"
"Exactly. I don't understand how people just don't finish stuff. It just hurts my soul" Jelly adds
"I just do what I can, honestly. Whether it's finished or not it's gon be cute and good enough fo me" Ally shrugs
"I'm with Ally, I always back outta stuff" I admit
"So, you gon back out the relationship wit my luh cuzzo" Jhay squints her eyes at me
"Oh, nah, nah, nah. We bonded together, ain't no backin out"
"Oh, damn. You confident and secure, okay sis. But how you know he not gon step out on you? He got a habit of doing that"
"He does?" leaps out of my mouth. I mentally slap myself, knowing that everyone's gonna think it's weird I don't know my 'boyfriends' past history, seeing as he's so famous. In my defense, I was just trusting my mom would set me up with a good guy.
"Stop being so sarcastic, Dee" Jelly nervously laughs and hits me on my arm mad hard. Jhay facial expressions are questionable. Her brows are furrowed and her mouth is almost at a resting position, except for a tiny little pull at the upper left side, barely even noticeable
"Ow," I muffle under my breathe and grab my arm
"You don't know about Melo's relationships?"
"I-" my voice cracks a little. I look away to see Gelo with the ball, guarded by Melo; by doing so I'm trying to buy myself time to think back to the conversation with JJ and Lavar "No, of course I do. I know about Ana"
"What do you know about her?"
"Bad news. That's all imma say, ion wanna talk about the girl too much. I don't know her like that" I offer a smile. Jhay nods
"AHHHHH" Melo interrupts our conversation, running around the court screaming at the top of his lungs with a wide cheshire smile on his face
I feel a tiny smile creeping up on my lips watching him run around like a little kid on christmas morning
"No, no, rematch" Tomi yells, chasing after Melo
"I won nigga" Melo points at himself and sticks his tongue out at Tomi
"Nah bro rematch, that was a warmup"
"I'm tired" Zo walks over to us and sits behind Ally, panting with his shirt soaked in sweat. I cringe at the sight
"Gimme yo water" Gelo lays on the ground next to Evoni with his glistening forehead resting on Evoni's thigh
Tomi and Melo are still arguing about winning and a rematch as Dre and Ant sit under the hoop talkin and trying to catch their breath
"Just do a rematch nigga. One on one"
"No, nigga. I won, suck my dick" Melo flips off and takes off his shirt
I watch as he walks closer. On his chest is a large tattoo of wings and a big 'one' in the middle. His slim torso glistens in the light, accentuating his six pack
He's cute, I can't lie. Some might say he's sexy or fine, gorgeous body, nice hair, beautiful smile, pretty teeth. There was nothing really wrong with him in the looks department
My eyes travel up his abdomen to his face. I immediately feel my cheeks heat when I realize he's been watching and smirking at me this whole time I was admiring him
I clench my jaw and try to relax to calm my cheek flush
When Melo finally reaches me and plops on the ground next to me
He breaths heavily, his chest rising and falling drastically for a while before he finally moves his finger in a 'come here' motion. I lean closer to him until I'm close enough for him to touch me
He grabs my jaw and tilts my head so my ears is to his mouth
"Like what you see?" he whispers. I rolls my eyes and push his hand away from my jaw
"No"
"Oh really?" Melo smiles at me
"Really" I assure. He begins to lean closer until I stop him, pressing my index finger to his sticky chest "You're sweating" I quickly move my finger away and brush it off on the hem of his shorts
"Oh, well no shit sherlock" Melo leans in closer again, opening his arms like he's about to give me a hug
"Oh my gosh, no. Don't" I hold my arms in front of me to try and avoid him getting closer
"I can't give my girl a hug?"
"No, you're sweating. That's gross" I watch as sweat drips off his forehead
"It's natural" Melo quickly moves in, embracing me in a tight squeeze
"Ew!" I yelp trying to push him off
"You're fine" Melo leans his head onto my shoulder
"Oh my gosh," I stick my chest out as a drop of his sweat hits my back "It's goin down my back. Melo, please. Oh my g- Melooooo"
Melo laughs before letting me go and getting up
"I hate you" I admit
"No," Melo grabs my hand to pull me up and begins walking off the court with me
"Where y'all goin" Jhay asks
"Shower" Melo calls before walking out
"I hate you" I repeat
"I got at least 3k of those, join the club"
"You're sweat is on me. My shirt is wet with your sweat" I pull my shirt away from my chest and try to control my temper
"You could take a shower, it's all good"
"I'm not taking a shower with you"
"Who said anything about it being with me?" he glances down at me with a smirk "I mean it can be with me but my bathroom isn't the only one in the house. There's multiple showers"
"I can't stand you"
"Then sit down"
"Has anybody ever told you that you're not funny?"
"Mmm..." he pauses for a second, lookin up at the sky "No"
"You're ridiculous" I mumble
"And sexy" Melo leads me inside, up the stairs, and into a medium sized room with medals and basketball paraphernalia all around the room and hung on the walls
"Is this your old room?" I ask, looking around
"Yea," he walks to his closet and pulls out black sweatpants and a black shirt with 'LF' written in blue letters on the back
I nod, turning my attention to his bed and nightstand
"Ooohh," I bend down to look at a picture of him with a white girl
"Don't look at that" Melo snatches the picture away before throwing the whole picture and frame in the trash. He mumbles something under his breathe and then tosses me the clothes
"Bathrooms, right there" he points to the door connected to him room and then walks out. The door slams after his exit, leaving me alone in his old room
I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. Why did he all the sudden become so upset? I didn't even do anything
I make my way to the bathroom and take a quick shower before putting his clothes on and walking out the bathroom
Melos laying on his bed, shirtless with basketball shorts and wet hair dripping onto his pillow
"Hi," I smile and sit on the corner of his bed
"What'd you say to Jhay?" he lifts his head from the pillow to look directly at me
"Umm... Not much. I dodged most of her questions"
"I think she caught on to that, she was lookin at you funny. That's why I dragged you up here with me"
"So you think you're over the top cringy PDA convinced her?"
Melo shrugs "Hope and pray, cause if she don't fuck wit you she gon let you know"
"Does it matter if she dislikes me? Like are y'all close close?" I get off the bed and shimmy over to his desk to fold my old clothes
Melo laughs and watches me intensely
"That's my family dawg," he finally says
"Come here" he motions me over with an infatuating smile spread across his lips
"What" I walk closer to him. He smiles and pulls me between his legs at the edge of the bed
He slowly moves my shirt up and moves to touch at my lower belly
"Ay," I push his hands away "Watchu doing, dude?"
"Can I not touch you?"
"I'm just askin what you're doing" I push him away and go to walk away
"Cmere saggy" he pulls my waist band and turns me back to him
"Saggy?!"
"Yes, these sweatpants make your butt look saggy. They're too big for lil ole you" he lifts my shirt again and tightens the waist band as tight as possible
"Why you got all these tattoos?" Melo grabs my left hand and roles my- technically his, sleeve up
"Cause I can" I pull my hand away
"You think we gon work? Like friends that are married? You don't think it's gon be weird?"
"My opinion doesn't really matter. Whatever happens, happens. It's a done deal, we're engaged"
"But your opinion matters to me since Imma have to deal with you for the next five years. So I'll ask again; Do you think we're gonna work?"
I smile and shake my head "I think we'll be fine. We'll barely see each other anyways, it's like being roommates" I shrug
"What do you mean we won't see each other?"
"You travel for basketball right?"
He nods "But that's like- the longest I leave for is I think like two or three weeks but I have home games and shit"
"Mkay, but I also travel. I have to go to New York and Arkansas for the businesses. If we alternate our schedules then we could literally go the whole marriage without seeing each other except for holidays"
"Nah bruh, that's wack" Melo shakes his head
"I'm not saying we have to do that, I'm just saying that's a possibility. I'm not tryna push you away. I would much rather we be friends throughout this marriage and get along then be awkward roommates but I'm just saying"
"Nah bruh, I been friends with you from the jump. You're not friends with me though. You won't open up to me"
"Can you give me time to adjust? I met you less than a week ago"
"Fine" Melo agrees
"AY," a loud bang on the door startles me. Melo grabs me around the waist and pulls me closer, pushing my arms to be around his neck
"It's open nigga" Melo yells. Tomi and Jhay walk in the room
"Y'all ever gon come back or...?" Jhay looks at Melo
"Maybe" Melos hands drop down to my butt. I grab his hands and interlace my fingers with his, taking them off of me and swinging them around with a tight lipped smile. Melo looks at my face and snickers
"We'll be down in a second" Melo says dismissively
"Aight cause we bout to start fireworks" Tomi walks out. Jhay looks between Melo and I and raises an eyebrow before turning around and shutting the door behind her
"She do not like you" Melo laughs. I let go of his hands and stare at him blankly "What?"
"Why'd you touch my butt?"
"It's nice, much better then I was expecting" he pats my butt appreciatively and smiles
"Melo, don't touch my butt" I flick him in between his eyebrows and walk away
"Where you going?" Melo gets up from the bed and walks closely behind me
"Fireworks?" I open the door and begin walking down the hall. Jhay turns her head when she hears the door open
"Nah nah," Melo pulls me back into the room by my waist and closes it shut
"Boy what do you want" I push his hands off
"We gotta figure out our story" he whispers
"What story?"
"How we met. How you fell head over heels for me" he wiggles his eyebrows
"Oh, yea! Jhay asked how long we been together"
"Um... well everyone knows I been with Ana for a while now so I guess we just reconnected like a couple months ago. Don't say a specific number" Melo explains
"It's gonna look like I was a side hoe when you was with Ana" I sigh
"Mmm... Well let's say we reconnected and been friends for a couple months and then after I broke up with Ana the first time we realized we had feelings"
"The first time?"
"We break up like every couple months cause I get tired of her. So like it's been a two month break and she came back a couple weeks ago, but ion think I told nobody"
"I'm confused"
"If someone asks for a specific month count just say around two or three. Or really you could just say 'Not too long' and leave it at that" he shrugs
"Ugh, I hate this" I roll my eyes
"You'll be fine" he motions for me to follow him out the door