The overly cliche setting of a slim girl wearing his shirt while sitting on his kitchen counter swinging her legs as she watches him cook and wonder how he got so much tattoo crawling up his arms.. could be me but I'm fat.
I look up from the kitchen stool I sat as Hernandez walks to me with two plates of quesadillas. He places a plate Infront of me then takes a seat with his.
"Thanks", I say and he nods with a small smile.
"You're welcome", he says then bites into his quesadilla.
"So..", I trail, "You're filthy rich", I blurt out.
"My dad, so I guess it rubs off on me", he casually says like we're not sitting on furnitures that cost my house mortgage.
I make a pff sound and he looks up at me, "I don't get it, you have all this and you let people think you're some unfortunate immigrant",
"You're pretty but you let people think of you as fat and nothing else", he says back and I put my lips in a straight line.
"Touche", I say then take a bite out of my quesadilla. "So why'd you ride a bike, when you can clearly get a badass whip?".
He shrugs, "Bikes are underrated and also I've been failing my driver's test", he says and I nod. It's totally the last part.
"Totally get it". I say, recalling my first driving lesson with Noah. He's so lucky I didn't crash his car. "You look good with the bike though".
"Thanks", he says with a smile, like he's been waiting for someone to say that to him.
A phone starts ringing in the living room and I have no doubt it's mine. I start to get up but Hernandez stops me.
"No, let me get it for you", he says as he gets off the stool, "You're the guest remember?".
"I think guests get their own phones Hernan", I say to his retreating figure going to the living room. I hear him chuckle so I smile softly.
He returns with my phone and I thank him, taking it from his hold. I quickly pick the phone call before it stops ringing.
"Hello?",
"Abby, honey I've been so worried cause I know how you are when you're upset. Are you okay? Is the party over?",
Oh yeah I did say I'd call her.
"I'm fine", I say a bit too coldly cause Hernandez looks my way.
"Okay, are you coming home soon?", she asks, her tone with agitation. I move the phone away from my ear to check the time on the screen.
It's past one.
"Later",
"2am?",
"Much later",
There's a sigh before she says, "Okay, be safe",
"Okay",
"I love you..",
I hold a breath and then after putting my pride away, I say, "I love you too mum".
I place the phone on the counter with a sigh escaping my lips.
"Is there a Daughter-mom situation on with you guys?", he asks and the incident at the party crawls up my mind.
"No just a little argument but you would not believe what happened at the party", I say and his eyes light up in excitement.
"Fill me up",
"Okay, so we're in the party.. Noah leaves us to his friends and so Callie and I get bored which is weird cause we're in a party, you know?",
"Yeah",
"So some guy bumps into us and asks if we wanna play beer pong so we say yes cause.. why not",
"Yeah..",
"And then we were the first ones to play and guess what?", I ask
"What?",
"We won",
Hernandez's green eyes widen as he tilts his head to the side in amusement. I chuckle at his expression.
"We were the undisputed champions of beer pong", I proudly say.
"That's cool", he comments and I nod.
"But from that point, things started to go south", I sadly say and he leans closer with his elbows on the marble counter. I love how interested he is.
"After our victorious win, I went out to find Noah and honestly I wish I hadn't cause I saw him kissing Loren",
He looks unfazed like he was expecting it. "So..", he trails for me to go on.
"And I left the party but that's when I see Callie's dad walking up the driveway so I run back up to get Callie-",
"Wait her dad showed up?", he asks in shock, cutting me off.
"Yeah, apparently he didn't give her permission to go to the party",
"What? That is fucked up", he shakes his head.
"First hand embarrassment", I add.
"So what'd she do?
"Went home begrudgingly with her dad obviously",
"What a night for her", he says sadly, slouching back as he crosses his arms.
"It was a dumb party after our little win",
"Little?", he asks and I look at him, "You're calling the undisputed champions win little?",
I laugh but it dies down quickly.
"Why'd Loren and Noah make you sad?", he asks.
"They kissed", I point out.
"And?", he raises a brow.
And.. it hurt because these past few days I've been thinking he actually sees me as something other than fat and ugly. I thought he wanted me like he would want Loren..
"And I thought wrong..", I trail looking up at him, "Just as always".
"It's okay", he says, reaching for my hand. "You know, we haven't given you a character", he says squinting his eyes like he was thinking hard on something.
"A character?",
"Yeah, how bout we give you Jessie",
"What?", I giggle a bit because I look nothing like her.
"She's a red head too and she has freckles.. and beautiful eyes", he points out. Yeah cause her eyes were green mines just boring brown.
"She isn't a big toy", I slowly say, feeling more insecure about my folding tummy that was out in the open. I fold my arms over it.
I mentally face palm when his eyes flicker there.
"Yeah but she's a pretty one", he says then gets off his seat to come closer to me. He leans on the counter so we're eye to eye.
"Ironic isn't it?", he asks.
"Hmm?", I hum in reply.
"How it's Jess and Buzz that end up together", he says and I chuckle nervously.
"Uh yeah..", I say and there's a growl from my stomach.
"You hungry?",
"No", I immediately answer.
"I'll cook something", he says then moves away to the burner.
"No it's fine", I say but he's already putting an apron on.
"Any special request, Mamacita?", Hernandez asks and there's a thick Mexican accent that follows his question.
I'm lost for a few seconds just thinking of how sexy that was.
"Uh.. wha.. yeah, I mean no. No I don't have any special request", I fumble with my words at his deep stare.
"Okay mama", he says then turns to the cabinets, giving me time to breath out and fan myself because hell that was hot.
"Are you comfortable in that?", he asks and I look down at my attire.
"Um not really", I truthfully admit.
"Need a shirt?", he asks, looking ready to take his shirt off and as much as I want to see what's underneath, I stop him.
"It's fine I'll just get your jacket from the living room", I hurriedly say then rush to the living room.
I get the jacket from the couch and as I'm about to head back to the kitchen I spot something furry by a stool so I stop to take a closer look.
If this was a horror movie I'd be def dead.
A furry black feline walks ever so slowly to me and I'm shocked by the size of it. We're literally like twins.
"What have you been eating? Other cats?", I ask, picking it up. I carry it to the kitchen. "Look what I found", I announce and Hernandez looks at me.
"Oh, you found Pepe",
By the sound of its name it immediately turns and when it sees Hernandez it meows.
"Hi Pepe", he says smiling at her. By the name I'm guessing it's a girl.
"Is that like a Mexican name?",
"Yeah, isn't she too heavy for you?", he asks, looking concerned at my bent stance due to Pepe's weight.
"Yeah, what have you been feeding her?", I ask putting her down on the counter.
"I might've fucked up in her food proportions. I was over feeding her without knowing", he says, walking up to the counter.
Pepe meows at the sight of Hernandez coming closer but doesn't move. She's that lazy?.. Well I'm one to talk.
"Now she's super lazy, can't walk for too long, sleeps for too long.. I have to change her diet", he says, petting her which she meows to.
I look at Pepe. I know you can't really read emotions of animals but she seems content. She doesn't mind she's overweight. Almost like she's okay with it.. but then again, she's just a cat. She has only her owner to look pretty for.. not the whole world.
"You into cats?", Hernandez asks and I blink looking up. I hate to say it but if a certain someone was here, he'd tease me for losing. "Well that smile says it".
I pause, realizing there was a small smile on my face.
"Uh yeah and dogs too", I rush, pulling some strands of hair behind my ears.
"Okay", he says then returns to his cooking. I quietly sigh looking at Pepe who was licking the back of her paw. Can I be like her? Without a care in the world?.