• vanessa •

"Hey, so do you remember my friend from the party awhile ago?" Tatiana questioned while walking into my apartment. I was sat on the couch, reading an article about the Kardashian family on my phone. Brandon was napping in his room.

"Was I actually at this party? Or did you imagine me at this party because I don't go to any parties?"

"It was like a couple of months ago, it was Catalina's birthday," Tatiana responded. I did remember that party now. Except all that I did was text Antonio checking in on Brandon. We constantly texted each other checking in on our son. Did Brandon eat? Of course, he ate, what kind of parent do you think I am? Did he eat the entire thing? Of course, he did, it was chicken nuggets, he loves those.

"And which friend was it?"

"The Dominican one," Tatiana smiled. She had an agenda in her head. I knew it. "Before you say anything, it's not him. Yashua is definitely not your type. Not that he's not nice and all, but he's more— you know, let's not get into that."

"You're not setting me up, Tati. I won't let you—"

"Just listen," she interrupted me. "Yashua's brother has this friend. And I think he'll be good for you. Even if it's just a fling or whatever. But I don't think he'll be into having a fling, and neither would you. So this idea came into my head."

"I love your ideas," I sarcastically responded. "I'm sure the guy is cute, but—"

"He is cute. Like really cute," she cut me off. "And definitely your type, Richard told me all about him." I gave her a confused look. "Oh, Richard is Yashua's brother. He's actually really cute, too. So is his daughter. Yashua showed me so many pictures of his niece. She's adorable."

"Look, Tati, I love that you want to help me find someone for me to date, but I'm fine. If I wanted to find someone, I—"

"Could. I know," she paused. "Just, please look at this picture of him, and maybe you'd want to meet him." She took out her phone and went to Instagram, searching for a username. She scrolled down a ways, and pressed a picture. "He's cute, isn't he?"

I took her phone from her hand and looked at the picture. I had to admit he was attractive. His curls were falling from a bandana, and his crooked smile is what caught my eyes. "He's alright," I handed her phone back to her.

"He's also Mexican," she pointed out. "And I know your thing with Mexicans."

"I don't have a thing for Mexicans," I defended myself. "Just because my first and only boyfriend was Mexican doesn't mean I have a thing for Mexicans," I quickly added before she could say anything.

"Okay, whatever you say. But I already have his number," Tatiana told me. "And if you want it, he said I could give it to you."

"I don't know, Tati."

"Then don't know," she responded. "But I know he's free this Friday night, and it's Antonio's weekend."

"So what you're telling me is that I can't say no, and you already set up the date," I said. Tatiana had her signature smile, telling me I was correct. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Nothing, because you love me. And I promise, you'll going to like this guy," she told me. "I haven't met him, but Richard said he's very reserved until after a while, but after that, he'll be more open. And he's really nice, and I'm pretty sure he'll like you too."

"What did you tell him about me?" I asked.

"Nothing you wouldn't want me too. But, I think some stuff might be lost through communication," Tatiana said. "I haven't talked to Joel, only through Richard, who gave me this," she scrolled through her phone. A few seconds later, my phone vibrated. She sent me his contact information. "So text him, and confirm that date."

vanessa: hey, is this joel? tatiana gave me your number

"That's what you're going to text him?" Tatiana questioned, before taking my phone from my hand. After a while, she handed me back from my phone. And I read the message she had already sent to him.

vanessa: hey joel, this is vanessa. i'm totally up for that date on friday. 😄

Within minutes, he responded.

joel: that's great! there's a carnival in town for the weekend, i was hoping we could check it out.

vanessa: i love the carnival.

joel: great!

joel: i hope this isn't too weird. richard just told me that some girl was going to text me to confirm a date he set up

vanessa: not too weird. my friend didn't leave me a choice

joel: oh

joel: you could say no to the date. i'm not trying to force you into anything you don't want to do

vanessa: you're fine.

vanessa: if I didn't want to go on the date, I wouldn't have texted.

joel: so this is actually vanessa and not richard's friend?

vanessa: I haven't met richard, so I assume that i'm vanessa and not tatiana

joel: tatiana? as in yashua's gf?

"I'm not Yashua's girlfriend," Tatiana piped in, reading over my shoulder. "That boy would be lucky if I was."

vanessa: I'm assuming you know of her?

joel: yeah. she's friends with both yashua and richard

vanessa: they went to school together before she moved here and they reconnected in the last couple of years

joel: and you know her how?

vanessa: from high school, she's the godmother to—

"NO!" Tatiana stopped me from typing. I looked at her, giving her my 'explain' face. "So maybe, I didn't tell him or Richard that you're a mother."

"I can't hide my own kid—"

"You won't have to! I mean, I know Joel's nice and all, but people our age aren't mature enough to date parents, and maybe you guys can have a couple of dates before you tell him about Brandon. Because if he finds out earlier, then maybe it won't work out because he'll think like the rest of the guys you've seen."

"I—"

"And maybe the feelings he'll have for you will overpower the 'holy shit, I'm dating a single mother. I could become a stepfather if this goes really well.'"

vanessa: we met our freshman year of high school

joel: rich told me she didn't stop until one of us agreed on the date

vanessa: she's never one to give up.

<><><>

thoughts?

joel was introduced, kind of.
he won't be fully introduced until chapter four, because the next chapter is a bit of a background of vanessa.

Also, yashua and tatiana might have a thing, (if you didn't catch that) but I don't want to spoil anything, but the idea is there, but idk if it's gonna be an actual part, but we'll see.