Why do Fools Fall in Love

"Why do fools fall in love?
Why do birds sing so gay?
And lovers await the break of day
Why do they fall in love?
Why does the rain fall from above?
Why do fools fall in love?
Why do they fall in love?
Love is a losing game
Love can a be shame
I know of a fool, you see
For that fool is me" Why do Fools Fall in Love By Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers


Trevor and I got ready for work together Monday morning quickly and quietly. Besides the mandatory “Good Morning” and “Have a good day”, we didn't speak. I didn't know if it was lack of sleep or if we were in a fight. I didn't want to be the one who brought it up, so I followed his lead. It didn't mean I wasn't annoyed by the whole situation.

Urgh, I should have just keep my mouth shut. How did Rocky's indiscretion cause problems in my relationship?

My Monday just got worse when I went to work. Ever since I told Kendal I wouldn't trade patients with him, he had been giving me the cold shoulder at work. I felt so bad, I talked to Q about doing a three-way trade with me and Kendal so Kendal could have his freaking 3 day weekend.  Q agreed, after I begged and promised to work two weekends of his choice. We finalized the details Monday morning and got it approved by Sandra.

When I went to lunch, I pulled Kendal aside to tell him what I did. He just curled his lips at me and told me, “Like you said, it's just inflammation. He’ll be done in 6 weeks. It's ok.”

 “Are you sure?" I asked him. After the bitch fit he threw, it took everything in me not to flick him off in his smug face.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Have a good lunch." Kendal said dismissively.

"Thanks Kendal!" I said. I knew he could tell I was being sarcastic, but he didn't say anything. When I got ready to leave, Kendal was rehabbing the boy who went to Darren's school. Kendal said something to him that made the kid laugh before nodding at me. I ignored him and headed home.

I went home and my spirits were instantly lifted by the smell of food wafting from the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen, Justine at my feet.

"Hey Jasmine." I greeted her as she stood over the stove. "What are you making?"

"Chicken and rice. It'll be ready in 30 minutes if you wanna pig out with me." Jasmine said looking up from the stove, giving me a weak smile.

"Sounds like your day was as awesome as mine." I quipped, grabbing a glass for water.

"It sucked. Lisa informed us her lease went up, so she's charging more to rent a booth. I haven't heard back from the job I interviewed at. I instagram stalked Reggie. He's in South Padre DJing for spring break. It's just that type of Monday." She complained.

"It's a good thing you already started looking for a new job if your boss is raising the prices. It's only been a week since the interview, I wouldn't stress about it: no news is good news. And remind yourself how shitty Reggie while you were together. That always worked for me." I suggested.

"Yeah, I might be inviting Kendal over later. That works for me." Jasmine said.

"If he says one thing to me, I'm kneeing him in the balls, so it might not work as well for you." I threatened.

 "What did he do?" She asked.

I explained to her his reaction to me turning down the trade at first, then explained how I worked it out, and he was still acting like a jerk.

"Why are all the pretty ones always fools?" Jasmine pondered out loud.

I cracked a smile too. "'Cause there so good looking, they never had to work on their personalities."

Jasmine finally laughed. "That's so true. I'll go to his place tonight. I'll make him do all the work." She grinned at me.

I shook my head. "Girl power."

I sipped on my water and asked the question I shouldn't have, but it was too tempting not to.

"What's up with Jake?" I asked, casually.

"Something's up with Jake?" Jasmine asked, keeping her back to me.

"Yeah, well maybe. I don't know. It was more awkward between us than normal. I figured that as time went by, it would be less awkward like it is with Ethan, but it's not. I really thought we could be friends. Is that foolish of me?" I said.

Jasmine sighed and turned around. "It's not foolish of you, it's just hard for him. It's like that expression: Vivieron felices y comieron perdices y a mí no me dieron {They live happily and eat porridge and didn't give me any}"

I smirked at that expression.

"It's silly but true. Kelly and Omar are trying for another baby, his best friend just got engaged, his ex is wishing for an engagement ring from her boyfriend..." Jasmine explained.

I sighed. I wished we were still friends, so I could tell him it wasn't what it seemed. Well, maybe with Omar and Kelly, but not everything. Rocky cheated and it was causing a rift between Trevor and I.

"Tell him there is plenty of porridge to go around."

Jasmine snorted. "Yep, he just needs to find one bowl and stick with it."

"All this food talk is making me hungry." I smiled.

"Then let's eat!"

After we ate, Jasmine headed to Kendal's and I took Justine outside for a walk around my apartment. I then left her at home to hit the gym. Trevor called and I answered, letting him know I was working out. He told me to give him a call when I was done.

I did exactly that, telling him I had a bad case of the Mondays. He teased me, asking if that was possible considering I had Tuesdays off. I told him it was and that a hot bath and my bed were the cure. He didn't offer to drop by, so I didn't invite him. We exchanged "I love you" before we got off the phone.

Tuesday morning I was feeling much better. I went grocery shopping for me and Trevor. After dropping off the groceries at his place, I went back to mine and started on the laundry. I gave Justine a bath then started binge watching Empire. Amber told me how much she loved the show, so I decided to give it a try. I was so glad I did. I washed and folded my clothes, towels and sheets before I realized it was 5pm, I was that into the show.

I stopped after the end of the 5th episode and called Trevor but he didn't answer.  Not even a minute after I called, he texted.

Trevor: Still at work. TTYL

For some reason, that text really annoyed me. Why couldn't he just answer the fucking phone and tell me that? I know I said I was going to work on the way I argued, but this passiveness wasn't going to work for me. Is this what agreeing to disagree meant? Because I wasn't liking it. I would rather fight, make up and move on.

I called my brother to see if he was still at work too. My irritation at Trevor grew when I discovered he was already home. I took a deep breath and calmed myself, asking Cam if he wanted company. When he agreed, I joined him.

With April being one day away, the countdown to Cam's wedding and him moving was starting in my head. I had to focus on how excited I was that he was getting married so I wouldn't feel upset that he was leaving. We hung out together at his place, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. I brought over some fajitas meat, so he grilled while I fixed the toppings. Jenna made it home right when we were finishing up.

"Where's Trevor?" She asked me.

"Still at work. He's gonna call when he gets off." I answered before we sat down and ate. Jenna was telling us about her going away party at work when Trevor called. I told him I was at my brother's apartment, and he said he would head our way. By the time he showed up, I was full.

"Hey Jenna. Lily." Trevor said, leaning over the couch to kiss me on the forehead.

"Hey Trevor. Want me to make you a plate?" I asked, politely.

"No, I got it. Thank you though." He declined, going into the kitchen with my brother. When I felt Jenna watching me watch Trevor walk away, I turned to her.

"How is the wedding coming together?" I asked.

Jenna was leaving next week for Kansas City, but the majority of everything was done. She told me she and her sisters were going dress shopping, and she would gladly pick me out a dress. If I didn't want that, she told me the only requirements were that it be a royal purple, with neutral colors and knee length.

Trevor and Cam came back into the room at the same time I agreed to let her pick out my dress, telling her she was the most laid back bride ever.

"I have enough on my plate with the move. I don't have time to be a bridezilla. I kinda can't wait for the wedding to be over." Jenna smiled.

"Me too. Weddings are all I hear about." Trevor commented, before biting into his fajitas.

"Oh yeah, Rocky just got engaged." I told Jenna and Cam.

"Aww, tell her I said congratulations." Jenna responded.

"Did she tell her mom?" Cam asked.

I nodded. "She was out here for it. They got engaged Sunday."

"Oh, just wondering why she didn't announce it." Cam said.

Trevor cleared his throat and I sent him a glare.

"Probably because everyone was there."

After dinner, Trevor and I headed back to his place. He watched TV while I started to compose a birthday collage for Rocky. I looked over old photos from college. It was so hard finding a picture without Bilal. Back then, I stuck to taking pictures of everyone because I hated being photographed. A lot of my pictures of Rocky included Bilal because they were inseparable.

I texted Ramon to send me a baby picture. I then used a picture from when I first moved to Dallas and Rocky and I lived together. Trevor took the picture of us, posing at the camera, surrounded by boxes of my stuff that he and Cam just brought in. After we took the picture, Rocky commanded Trevor to get back to work. I laughed at the memory.

"What are you laughing at?" Trevor grinned at me.

"One second and I'll show you." I said. I arranged the photos of Rocky and wrote the caption:

Happy Birthday to my better half of the last 8 year's: Love you Racqelle AKA Rocky AKA Future Mrs. Carter! #28 #April1st #NoFooling

I then showed it to Trevor. The grin fell off his face.

"You're announcing their engagement?" Trevor asked.

I read back over it. "Not really. I think the only people who would know for sure already know." I pointed out. "It's like if someone called me your future wife."

Trevor nodded and didn't say anything else. The next morning, before I posted, I removed the future Mrs. Carter part.

I didn't have to worry about announcing their engagement. Brandon did it in a touching tribute on Facebook. He posted a picture of the two of them at her birthday party. They were kissing, the ring shining brilliantly on her finger as she caressed his face.

He captioned it:

Happy Birthday to the love of my life. Can't wait to celebrate next year as husband and wife.

I immediately liked the picture. After work, I stopped by Michael's and grabbed a wedding planner and bridal magazines. I also stopped by the liquor store and bought her a Crown Apple gift set.

I then made my way over to Rocky's house. I rang the doorbell because I didn't call so I could surprise her.

"Happy Birthday!" I cheered when she opened the door.

Rocky smiled as she let me in. We went to the living room and I handed her gifts.

She smirked at the combination. "So I should be intoxicated while I plan my wedding?"

"Anything helps. Especially if you have less than a year to plan." I smiled, referencing Brandon's post.

"He's tripping if he thinks we can plan a destination wedding in under a year." Rocky snapped.

"Y'all really wanna do Jamaica?" I asked, excitedly.

"He does." She said, lacklusteredly.

My excitement died. I was willing to push aside how I felt about the cheating and the lying even though I was completely against it. Despite everything I knew, I was going to support whatever Rocky wanted. At the party, I was so sure this is what she wanted. Now, not so much.

"Rocky... Is this wedding what you want?" I asked her, gently.

"Of course! I need to take a shower. Brandon is taking me out to dinner. I'll call you later. Thanks for the gifts!" She said, ushering me out. I nodded sadly, but left.

I thought about it on the way to Trevor's apartment. I wanted to believe Rocky, but now I wasn't sure. How could I just stand by while Rocky potentially made a huge mistake? What other choice did I have?

It made it worse that the only person I could talk to about it was off limits. I didn't want any more drama with Trevor. I just wanted a carefree, easy night. Maybe Trevor and I could resolve our differences the way Jake and I did: with sex. I realize that didn't solve any problems, but we were in a disagreement over Rocky. So it doesn't really count, right?

I was ready to put my plan into action when Trevor was sitting on his couch with his laptop.

"Hey sexy..." I purred, rubbing my hand over his chest and trying to give him a kiss. He pulled away, putting his hand over my mouth. He clicked a button on the laptop before speaking.

"I was recording. I'm gonna have to edit you out." Trevor smiled at me, before giving me a kiss.

"What were you recording?" I asked.

"A how-to video. On coding-"

"Blah blah blah nerd talk. I'm going to cook dinner, hurry up and finish so we can 'talk'." I hinted.

Trevor frowned. "I don't think I have anything."

"Yes you do. I went shopping for you. You didn't notice the groceries?" I asked, heading to the kitchen.

"Guess not." He shrugged.

"You're welcome." I muttered under my breath.

"Thank you!" He called back. I could have sworn I heard sarcasm, but I let it go. I put on my headphones and cooked spaghetti while I listened to my cooking playlist. Dinner was ready in under an hour and I took my headphones off to make our plates. Trevor joined me in the kitchen.

"Hey, perfect timing. Dinner is served." I told him.

"Did you hear me call you?" He asked.

"Nope." I said, pulling off my headphones. We sat at the table together.

He pushed around his food while I ate.

"What did you wanna talk about?" He asked.

I took a bite of food to hide my smile. I didn't want to talk, I wanted to have sex. I figured I would joke with him. It was April Fool's Day.

"I'm pregnant." I announced.

His face turned pale. "How?..."

"I must have messed up on vacation. We're having a Japanese baby." I grinned.

"You're joking?..." Trevor asked.

"Of course I am." I laughed, digging into my food. I stopped when I realized he wasn't laughing or eating.

"T-Rev, it was a prank. April fool's day. Ha-ha funny..." I trailed of, with a little smile.

"I know what a prank is. That wasn't funny." Trevor stated.

"Us having a Japanese baby? That's hilarious." I tried the joke again.

"I don't think you should joke about being pregnant." He muttered, staring at his plate.

"Anything else Trevor?" I sighed in frustration.

He finally looked up at me, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

"We can't talk about Rocky, I can't joke about being pregnant. Anything else we need to add to the list of things you don't want to hear? Because it's getting hard to keep up."

"You don't understand why I don't want to hear about my girlfriend joking about being pregnant and being ok with cheating?" Trevor asked me, putting down his fork.

"No, I don't. I told you I didn't wanna just be your girlfriend. I thought we were still going to be best friends. We used to be able to talk about anything. And I never said I was ok with cheating!" I exclaimed. When I caught myself raising my voice, I stopped.

"No, just pretend like it didn't happen. It's ok; it won't happen again because she chose him." Trevor countered.

"I'm not going to judge her because she's not handling it the way I want her to. You shouldn't either. Rocky fucked up, I get that. But even you said I should just stay out of it, so I am. What can I do but pretend like it didn't happen?"

When he sat there, I continued.

"She's your friend too. Do you really think Rocky is a heartless bitch who just cheated to see if she could get away with it? You can talk to her." I questioned him.

He shook his head, silently. "I tried. She's pretending like it didn't happen too. I don't get how she could do that."

"No one gets into a relationship thinking they're going to cheat." I said.

"It's not right to just cover it up. The lying is what kills me. Brandon has no clue. If you ever cheated on me, I would want to know." Trevor finished.

I watched him in silence. After a moment, I spoke. "We aren't arguing over Rocky. You think I would cheat on you?"

"You said it yourself: people don't get into a relationship thinking they're going to cheat. If it ever happened with us, I don't want it to be a secret." Trevor confessed.

"I don't see it happening between us, but I promise, if it does, I would tell you the truth." I assured him.

Trevor nodded and I rubbed my hand across my face.

"I thought you were going to give me the benefit of the doubt and start talking to me about things I may not want to hear?" I asked.

"I didn't know why it was bothering me so much until right now. I was just waiting for it to blow over." Trevor admitted.

"Me too. I was thinking I was gonna come over and have make up sex with you." I said, picking up my plate.

"Really?" Trevor grinned.

"Yeah. That's why I wanted to talk." I said, rinsing my plate off.

"I thought you meant a serious talk." Trevor said, between bites of food.

"No, I said 'talk'." I emphasized.

"That's not how you hint at sex." Trevor laughed at me.

"Whatever." I said, starting to clean the kitchen. Trevor grabbed the sponge from me, holding my hand.

"I got it babe. Go to bed and I'll bring you dessert when I'm done." Trevor said, winking at me as he stroked my hand.

My body flushed with his obvious innuendos. "That sounds delicious." I said, pressing my lips against his, teasingly. "Ice cream is in the freezer." I smiled against his lips before turning to flee to the bedroom.

I went to my room and played on my phone. I had a lot of notifications from the picture I posted of Rocky, but I also noticed Christian tagged me in some photos too. Not only from the birthday party, but a few from SXSW. He had pictures with Mike Will and the rap duo Rae Sremmurd and tagged me in them with the caption:

Wish you were here

 I laughed and commented on them while waiting for Trevor. A half an hour passed and still no Trevor. I was about to go out in the kitchen when Trevor finally appeared. He was holding a strawberry sundae.

"You made that for me?" I said, eyeing the ice cream topped with whipped cream and strawberry sauce. There were even gummy bears on top.

"Of course. It's all yours." He said, handing to me before sitting on the bed. I took a huge bite...

... and spit it out as soon as it touched my tongue.

"What the fuck Trevor?!?" I sputtered, sticking out my tongue to get the offending taste out my mouth.

"That's an April's fool prank. Ice cream, sour cream, ketchup and the gummy bears are from Halloween." Trevor laughed.

"You asshole!" I yelled, pushing the disgusting dish away before hopping out the bed and racing to the bathroom.

"Aww, our Japanese baby didn't like it?" Trevor called after me, laughing.