Jess wrapped his hands with the wrapping Andre had provided him and Natoya. He had bought extras, just incase the two of them forgot, or he lost his. It was a

  "Mysterious huh? That's your type?" He could hear the sound of Andre speaking

  "You know what I mean... " Natoya replied, almost soft enough for him not to be able to hear. They were probably about to get to the park, considering it was ten minutes from Natoya's apartment in whatever direction they were coming from.

  "Next thing you know, you're going to be falling in love with black holes."

  He heard Natoya let out a soft scoff, followed by the sound of playfight, most likely Natoya pushing Andre to the side. "You're so funny." She mocked, almost sounding like a few girls from his school who sounded like laughing hyenas at one of his jokes. He assumed she copying similar girls at their school, which made sense, as Andre was seemed like the type to be popular among girls, whether he liked to admit it or not. He did sports, and was fit, and was conventually attractive. He was surprised Natoya herself didn't want to date him.

  "So.." Andre began, with the same tune he always used to introduce her to an idea.

  "Uh oh..." Natoya replied with a cautious tone, a smile marking on her lips. She knew Andre's antics. He could hear them stopping infront of the gate, but he was out of their view from the way they were standing.

  "Nothing bad, nothing bad.. I was just wondering-"

  "Uh oh." Natoya repeated, causing Andre to roll his eyes in a sassy way.

  "So my mom had a dinner reservation- don't-" He quickly covered her mouth with his hand before she was able to let another 'uh oh' escape. "-And, that dinner reservation is going to waste since she has to work tonight."

  "Mhm." Natoya mumbled, pushing Andre's hand off her mouth. "Andre Vincent, are you about to ask me out?" Jess rolled his eyes at the stupid way he was trying to ask her out. Jess knew Natoya didn't have feelings for Andre, and he knew Andre might've sort of like Natoya. It almost annoyed him how he was being so outlandish about it.

  But instead of being bashful, Andre stared at her with a dead look in his eyes, but wasn't able to keep his playful composure as he quickly started smiling and shook his head.

  "No, I was going to ask if you and Jess wanted to join me there."

  Natoya looked at him with a look, and a slight smile on her face.

  "It's already paid for, that's why I'm asking. Some rich guy asked her out but he wasn't able to go because his wife caught him or something- I don't know- point is would you like to go with me and Jess?"

  "Free food?"

  "Free food."

  "Count me in." Natoya said, fistbumping Andre as he laughed and fistbumped her back before sliding his hands in his pockets.

  "Now we just have to convince Jess to go with us." Andre said, and Jess pulled his phone out, plugging an earbud into his ear to act as if he was watching some form of media on his phone prior to hearing his name get called from their direction. Andre and Natoya continued past the building to the point where they were able to see him through the bars of the fence blocking them from Glady Park.

  "Go with you where?"

  "To get free food." Natoya replied.

  "When?"

  "Tomorrow," Andre answered.

  "Sick."

  "Tomorrow?" Natoya asked, suddenly looking at Andre with a far more confused look.

  "Nah I'm joking." Andre replied, lightly pushing her in a playful manner before jumping the fence.

  "Jesus, Andre." Natoya laughed, looking at Jess who made direct eye-contact, causing her to suddenly look back at Andre who looked like he was holding back a smile. She gave a look of oh shut up before grabbing their stuff from behind the fence.

  "Where's this 'free food' at?" Jess asked, pushing off from the wall and putting his phone into the back pocket.

  "It's la Serre in ." Andre said as he took the gear from Natoya.

  Natoya had not known much about Los Angeles, so hearing the name meant nothing to her. Jess on the other hand paused and looked at Andre, he didn't want to make it obvious that he knew about la Serre.

  "Sounds fancy, we going dumpster diving?" Jess said with a smirk.

  "No-" Andre replied, his words cut off with Natoya's little scoff. He proceeded to explain the situation, revisiting half of the points he had said to Natoya.

  ***********************************************************************

  Saturday, May 25, 2019, 6:39 PM

  ***********************************************************************

  The sun was slowly departing from the sky and shone through the clouds that painted a subtle darkness on the city of los angeles. Jess had asked his choffer to drop him off at a library; a few blocks away from the restaurant, then, he walked for ten minutes to get there.

  la Serre was a classic, little restaurant with a detailed design, and french cuisine. A cozy spot for someone who had learned french in highschool and decided to make it their entire personality. But for Jess, this was just a low-end restaurant compared to what he usually ate with his family.

  Normally, anytime he and his family ate out, his nieces would wear cocktail dresses, and he and his nephews would wear tuxedos, black suits and expensive ties. For this occasion, Jess wore a cheap navy blue blazer, a white dress shirt that was from a company that made them for less than $10, and dress pants he'd gotten at a retailer corperation. Funnily enough, it was the first outfit he wore when he first met his parents at the ripe age of ten-years-old.

  He was standing just outside the door, watching the new-money rich kids waltz into the restaurant with their families, celebrating birthday parties and the latest promotion their father got from his boss, which was most likely just another worker for The Severen Family.

  "Jess?" He turned around in the direction of the voice and his eyes clashed into Natoya's. Big, and brown, for a moment it almost felt like he was absorbing the warmth of the sun- if the sun was a dark, brown ball trapped in the sockets of a fourteen-year-old girl.

  Natoya wore a dark green midi cocktail dress that was ever so slightly too big for her, and worn, tan heels. Her hair was down, and she had poorly used a hair straightener to curl it. It still looked good, but he was a little more used to someone put more together.

  "You look good." He complimented politely.

  "You too.." She replied, which caused him to remember the way he had dressed. He should've left his hair messy. "Is Andre already inside?"

  "Not that I know of." Jess replied, he could tell she was nervous. Not that she needed to be- just that she probably had never been in a place this "fancy". "Let's check." Jess then said, and held the door open for her. Then, he offered to take her hand as they entered the grandiouse restaurant. He glanced to her as she studied the architecture of the building. She looked back at him and suddenly glowed bright red in embarrassment. He chuckled and brought her to the hostess' podium.

  "Welcome to Le Serre," The hostess went on a long speech about how the restaurant was the most authentic french cuisine in Los Angeles, and how pleased she was that they chose Le Serre. After a quick search in the system, it was revealed to Jess and Natoya that Andre had not been seated at a table just yet. Jess looked down at Natoya for a moment as she seemed to tense up, not sure what to do.

  "Maria Jacques." Jess replied firmly as he recalled Andre telling them about his mother- specifically how she had a different family name from him. The host nodded and looked through the system again to find their name.

  "Right this way." The host began, then lead them through the restaurant until they reached their table. Jess and Natoya sat down, and were handed menues. "Your server will be right with you."

  "Thank you." Jess replied before taking the menu. At first Natoya seemed to relax a little more, but that all changed when they opened the menu. Not a single dish had a pricetag on it. It was one of those restaurants. The server left and Jess tried to catch Natoya's eyes. "It's all paid for, don't worry about it." He said, and though that seemed to make her calm down- it wasn't by a lot. He looked back down at the menu, and she seemed to copy his actions- keeping her eyes on the different options. Jess kept glancing down at his phone, checking his contacts, considering texting Andre.

  "So. Whats your last name?" Jess asked, trying to make idle conversation as he realized he was never properly introduced to her.

  "D'Angelos."

  "Natoya D'Angelos?"

  "Yeah, my dad's side of the family." Jess hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to mispeak her name. He figured it was just one of those weird family names people had. "What about you?"

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "Cartier." He lied, a lie he had perfected- though it wasn't that hard to lie about a last name.

  "Jess Cartier." Natoya nodded. "It has a nice ring to it."

  "Thank you, so is yours... but it's just my nickname." Natoya looked at him with a confused look. "Jesus Cartier- people pronounce it differently. I just go by Jess." He replied, adding her name to her contact information. Jess was a bit dodgy about his last name- he didn't like it. And, of course, legally his name was Jess Severen, but he always perferred the name he went by before the Severens ruined his life.

  "What could I get you started on today?" The server asked with a soft smile.

  "Yes ma'am. We'd like to start off with the Assiette de Charcuterie." Jess said after he and Natoya ordered soft drinks. Jess had a lot of practice with french and italian menus, since that was what the Severens loved to eat. He, of course, didn't pronounce it fluently, but well enough to not be judged, and to be able to read the apetizers menu.

  " Of course!" The server replied and left to get it ready. Natoya shot him a confused look.

  "Just an apetizer. I took french in high school." He half-lied. He, of course, did take french but he didn't use that class to know how to say french food.

  "You... Took french too?"

  "You still have family there?"

  "They disowned my parents after... well.." She sort of rolled her eyes at the thought of the event. Hesitating to tell him as she stared at the menu. Then, she made a motion of pointing at herself.

  "I was born in Portugal." Jess then said, causing her to look up at him with a slightly intrigued, look. He, too, hesitated as he realized he'd have to make up a whole story as to what he was doing in America. "We moved here and I got my citizenship right afterwards."

  "That must've been a process." Natoya slightly laughed. "It took my dad marrying my mom to get the green card for the US, and for her to get dual citizenship to France."

  "Five years. No wonder you have a French accent." Her face flashed red as he said that, causing him to slightly smirk.

  "Are you serious?" She asked, her eyes darting across his facial structure trying to find a hint of a lie.

  "Yeah, I'm joking." He lied causing her to roll her eyes and look away, only to make eye contact with the waitress bringing them their food. Jess frowned and checked his watch as he realized Andre had yet to arrive. "Thank you." He said to the waitress, waiting for her to leave to take out his phone.

  Today 7:20 PM

  "Andre?"

  Read 7:21

  Natoya D'Angelos

  "Hey, did you get stuck in Traffic?"

  Andre Vincent

  "nah my dog got sick so"

  Jess stared at his phone for what seemed like hours as he read and reread the text. He could swear he read it wrong, but none-the-less, it was exactly the same every time he re-read it.

  Natoya D'Angelos

  "But you don't have a dog"

  Andre Vincent

  "oh that's just what I call my little brother"

  Natoya sharply exhaled in amusement, trying to supress a laugh as she read the text. But Jess was a bit annoyed, but he kept his composure to not make Natoya any more stressed.

  "Hope he gets better soon."

  Read 7:26

  "I suppose it is just you and me then." Jess began as he set down the menu.

  "Yeah." Natoya replied, setting down the menu as well. "Do you know what you want?"

  "I'm just going to get the Filet Mignon." Jess replied. He watched as Natoya glanced down at the menu, presumably to look at the steaks section as she flipped to the page with pictures of ribeyes. He waited for her to read the title before he'd ask the question "What about you?"

  "Probably the same thing." Natoya replied. She was still incredibally nervous, and though he wanted to make her less nervous, theres nothing he could really do to make her comfortable.

  The two sat in slightly uncomfortable silence before Jess decided to poke a little bit more in the direction of conversation.

  "It's a bit disappointing Andre wasn't able to make it." He said, having been trying to figure out a polite way to phrase it without sounding too annoyed, and also not sounding like he didn't want it to just be the two of them. Natoya looked back up and slightly nodded in agreement.

  "I don't think he likes "fancy" places like this. I don't really know why he invited us- but if it's paid, it's paid." She replied with a small smile. "You seem pretty comfortable being here?"

  Jess hesitated for a moment, it must've shown because her face turned from a look of curiousness to confusion as her eyes slightly closed, and her eyebrow slightly furrowed. "Uh. Yeah, no, I've only been to places like The Garden, and..." He began to stutter as he tried to think of well-known middle-class restaurants. "-What about you?" He suddenly changed the subject, and Natoya smiled as she studied him.

  "My father used to take me to The Garden, but..." She made a motion of rubbing her fingers together to gesture 'money'. Jess nodded in understanding.

  "What about your mother? If you don't mind me asking." He studied Natoya's face as she thought for a moment, presumably about whether or not she wanted to tell him about her mother's situation with her.

  "Eh." She shrugged, filling the silence with meaningless thought. "She was never really a social butterfly."

  "Meaning?"

  "She never left the house, or let me leave the house." Jess looked at her understandably.

  "My parents didn't let me leave the house until I was thirteen." He replied, then glanced over at the plates the waitress brought back to them.

  "Thank you ma'am." Natoya said as the waitress placed her filet mignon infront of her.

  "Yes, thank you." Jess repeated as the waitress did the same to them and smiled.

  "Is there anything else I could help you with?" She asked. Jess and Natoya looked at eachother before Natoya shook her head.

  "No ma'am, thank you." Jess replied with a calm smile. The waitress nodded and began walking off.

  "I suppose it makes sense, Los Angeles is a big city. My mom thought New York was too 'dangerous' for me when I was little." Natoya said as she waited for Jess to cut into his filet mignon.

  "Yeah." Jess replied, trying to think of a fake story he could come up with that he could keep up with. But the silence just filled the air again as he cut into his steak. "I didn't know you came from New York?"

  Natoya's face grew a painstakingly red color and she diverted her eyes, which caused Jess exhale sharply, a small laugh which might've only caused more embarrassment.

  "Yeah..." She said quietly. "Before my dad moved."

  "It's a pretty city." Jess replied, and took a bite of his food. It was to his standard, but if the chefs knew who they were cooking for they definitely would've used a better cow. He chewed and swallowed his food before speaking again. "I used to live in Michigan."

  "What was that like?"

  I thought for a moment, trying to find an answer that fit the atmosphere. "The great lake was nice." I then replied with a small smile, which she returned.

  "I supposed New York was nice. Just the person I lived with wasn't." Natoya replied softly.

  "Your mother?" I asked, connecting the dots. Natoya nodded and I presumed not to ask her anymore.

  I didn't know what Natoya had gone through as a child. Many of the kids I knew back in Maine acted as if nothing was wrong, when they were beaten black and blue every night. I would have no way to know if that was the same as Natoya.

  I lived in a small family in maine. Unlike the one in Michigan, this one had a dad, a mom, and a doberman that didn't put up with any of their shit. My mother was a deceptive lady. She did everything in her power to break me down, and at the young age of eight years old it worked. She used any weapon she could, a steel rod, a whip, sometimes even an umbrella if we were close to the front door. It took me until the fifth grade to get over the test anxiety she had created. Every point off from 100 would be one cut, hit, or whip to my arms, legs, and back.

  It was the doberman that saved me, ripping a chunk out of her arm before she sent it flying out the window, into the rainy night where I followed it out onto the streets, out of the city and into a different home that my case worker would send me in. I never saw that dog again. It was probably put down.

  "What were your parents like?"

  "They're good people." I replied in an attempt to fabricate a fake story about my family. I didn't know much about the Cartiers. I knew they died after I was born, I knew I was put into the foster system shortly after. I knew they were probably good people, and that their death traumatized the baby sitter who had practically saved my life by taking me to the park so the two of them could have alone time from the screaming toddler who they were trying to raise. "They just were a little overprotective."

  We continued talking, and eating our food until I called the waitress to let her know we were done eating. She brought the check, and I opened the little leather folder to stare at the numbers sitting next to the dollar sign.

  "Thank you." I said and pulled out my wallet. The waitress gathered the dishes as I pulled out some counterfit cash, Natoya gave me a puzzled look as the waitress began to leave, watching me 'struggle' with the check.

  As soon as we were clear, I set the check down, put my wallet back in my pocket, and grabbed Natoya's hand to pull her through the restaurant.

  "... What's wrong?" She whispered, but I gave her a sharp look and we rushed to the lobby. I slowed down, and pulled my arm around Natoya's waist, trying to act like an upper class couple who just happened to have a bad hair day.

  "Have a great day!" The host said as I slowed down my pace, acting casual as we walked through the first door.

  "You too." I responded, making direct eye contact with the host as I and Natoya left. Her face stared at mine, stunned and speechless before me and Natoya walked out the door.

  "What's going on?"

  "Shh." I pushed her further down the street, her flashy dress and my tuxedo made us stand out in the public. I had to play my cards right. We turned the corner and I paused as I noticed the police station right there. I quickly crossed the street, dragging Natoya along with me.

  "Jess!"

  "Shh." We dodged by a unit, approaching the library I had originally came out from. I entered through the back, the original way I had previously exited and I dragged her along the carpeted floor, pushing her to an enclosed area, a small study room that was available to anyone who purchased it up to 3 hours. This one had a digital screen with the words "Severen" on them.

  "We can't be here!" Natoya whispered harshly, and I covered her mouth and closed the door.

  "What I'm about to show you you can not tell anyone. Ever." I said, my tone sharp and low.

  "What are you talking about?"

  I grabbed her hands and pulled her closer. "I am serious Natoya. Swear to me you won't say anything about anything that I'm about to show you."

  "I swear." She said, cautiously.

  "Follow me. You're a girl, and we have never known eachother or met besides this class that we're both studying for. I don't know you, and you don't care, but you needed help with this subject. Do you understand?" I said, my heart beating rapidly. She nodded and I stared at her apprehensively before pulling her out of the room.

  "What is my name?" She asked, playing along. I thought for a moment, glazing through the names I knew of girls in my school before I stopped on one printed on a book on a bookshelf we stood next to.

  "Jacelyn. Turnbow."

  "What!"

  "Just play along."

  I let go of her, and turned around to walk out of the library, signing out of the room I had borrowed for the date. We walked out to the street where a Mercedes was parked, and I waved my chuffer over.

  I opened the door for her, and entered after she had.

  "Take us to McKoffen Street."

  The chauffer drove them to the street- it was a block away from Glady's Park, and the closest place Jess knew to Andre's apartment. He kept his cool until they finally got out of the car, and he swung to the other side to open the door for her. The three of them turned the corner to see Andre, playing basketball with his little siblings.

  "... Seriously dude?" Jess asked, relaxing his shoulders as he focused on Andre, who stopped dead in his tracks.

  "I thought your brother was sick?" Natoya added, sarcastically as she folded her arms.

  "... No I meant my dog."

  "You don't have a dog." Natoya retorted, and walked up to him as the two got into the smallest argument, too focused on each other to notice Jess slowly slip away.