I got a text from Cesar telling me how the talk between Oscar and Ruby went.
Cesar got promoted. I'm gonna kill Ruby.
School ended about half an hour ago and I told Cesar I was gonna hang out with Angel for a bit more.
'I haven't had a blunt in months' I exhaled the smoke from the blunt Angel and I were sharing. We were behind the school building, laying on the grass and looking at the sky.
'I'm glad I could help you out' Angel chuckled, me chuckling along. 'How did you like your first day?' She asked me as I passed the blunt back to her.
'Cant wait to graduate' I said, making Angel laugh. 'But if everyday ends like this, then I'm not complaining' making us both laugh out loud.
I missed this high feeling.
'No offense, but you don't seem to be friends with anyone else from what I saw' I said as she passed me back the blunt.
'Tried to. But they all work on my nerves' she said, leaning her head against my shoulder. 'There was this one girl I was friends with but she ended up being a backstabbing bitch' she told me as I took a long drag.
'Plus, her weed was shit' we both laughed till there were tears in our eyes. I think we're gonna be great friends.
I left ten minutes later and walked home. I was home an hour later than Cesar, so I know Oscar is gonna be on my ass about not coming home straight from school.
I approached the house and saw everyone sitting on the front lawn with an pissed off looking Oscar in the middle.
'I called your phone 15 times and drove around looking for you till Cesar said you were with a friend' Oscar said, standing up as I approached the house to block my way.
'Okay?' I looked at him confused, chuckling. He kept looking at me and his expression was even more pissed off than before.
'Your eyes better be red from crying, Dani' he said sternly. Those eye drops from Angel must be shit then.
'Yeah, sure, I have depression. Can you move?' I asked, making a shooing motion with my hand for him to move.
'You're not gonna hang out with that friend of yours anymore' he told me, making my eyes widen. 'I can hang out with whoever I want, dipshit' I snarled back.
'While you're under my custody, I can tell you who you can hang out with. I'm telling you, you can't hang out with someone who lets you smoke weed' he said sternly, grabbing my jean jacket I left earlier from the lawn chair and pushing it in my arms.
'You're grounded' he said, getting out of my way and sitting back down.
I groaned and went inside, slamming the door as hard as I could behind me.
'How was your day?' Cesar asked from the couch while he was watching tv. 'Great, till Oscar decided to ground me for smoking some weed with a new friend I made' I sighed, dropping my backpack on the floor and sitting next to him.
'At least you made a new friend' Cesar shrugged while I nodded in response.
'So, promotion?' I asked him, both of us watching Gravity Falls that was playing on the tv.
'Yeah' he sighed. 'Told you my plan is better' I smiled smugly at him, making him chuckle and nod.
'How was your day?' I asked him, to which he responded 'good'.
'That Olivia girl seemed nice'
'Yeah, she's nice. I gave her my number earlier' he said making me straighten up and look at him in shock. 'My little brother is flirting with girls?' I gasped loudly and put my hand on my chest dramatically, making Cesar laugh.
'It's just because she doesn't have many friends yet' he said, trying to make an excuse. I hummed and gave him a look.
'So no more Monse?' I asked him. 'I don't know. Its difficult' he sighed. 'She got jealous when I asked for Olivia's number'
'But do you like her?' I asked him, both of us paying more attention to the conversation than to the tv.
'I do, she just frustrates me sometimes' he said, making me laugh lightly. 'But I don't actually mind it. It's just complicated, with the whole 'me being in a gang' situation. She doesn't know if she wants to be together but also doesn't want me to see other people. And I also don't know if it's such a great idea dating her and what would Oscar think?' He rambled on.
'It all just gives me a headache' he sighed.
'I think you should be with whoever you wanna be. Even though it may be difficult or it will hurt some people' I told him.
'I'm rooting for you and Monse because I love her, but at the end of the day I want to see you happy. So do whatever your heart desires, hermanito'
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A week had passed and Oscar had been bringing me to school and picking me up, much to my disagreement.
He thought I won't hang out with Angel that way. How wrong he was.
I grew really close to Angel and we started becoming close friends. I would sneak out through the window I learned how to unscrew the bolts Oscar put. Angel and I would meet in the middle of the night in a park to go smoke.
I would bump into Monse sometimes since she and Cesar are kinda dating now. She would sneak in through his window and stay the night.
The other kids at school started realizing who I was and wanted to start picking on me again. Till me and Angel beat the shit out of one guy, Matthew. After that, none of them tried me again.
'Attention, students' we heard the principals voice through the speakers as Angel was drawing on my arm. She said we should get matching tattoos.
She already has a few, I always wanted one. I just couldn't convince one of the staff members from the orphanage sign the permission slip.
'One last reminder to buy your tickets to tonight's Homecoming Dance' the principal said, making Angel roll her eyes.
'A magical evening full of wonder, excitement and romance can be yours for only ten, ninety-nine'
'No, thank you' Angel said, drawing a flower on my wrist. 'Not a fan of dances?' I asked her amused.
Angel let out a short laugh as her answer, making me laugh. 'So what are you gonna do then? I think Oscar has a suspicion that I'm sneaking out. He added extra screws' I sighed.
'We can go to the dance and smoke on the football field' Angel suggested excited, whispering, making me nod my head in agreement.
'That way Oscar will think I'm just going to the dance' I told her. 'Plus, I'll convince him to give me money for a dress'
'More clothes' Angel sang. 'Fuck yeah' I sang back, making us both laugh as the class looked at us weird.
'The fuck you looking at?' Angel said, me laughing beside her.
'However, this is not an opportunity to get freaky' the principal continued. 'That sucks, there goes our daily bathroom hook up' Angel whined jokingly, making me laugh out loud.
'Remember: if you're not responsible, you'll end up with responsibility' Angel and I looked at our pregnant classmate.
'So, there will be no twerking, yiking, getting crunk, lit or turnt'
'There goes half of your dance moves' Angel joked, making me almost push her off her chair as she laughed.
'For all you ladies, dress appropriately. Nobody wants to see your lower butt cheeks'
'They're talking to you,Sophia' I said, making Angel laugh out loud and Sophia flipping me off.
At lunch, Angel and I were heading towards the bleachers to enjoy the sun. And probably smoke underneath them later.
We walked past the cafeteria tables outside when I heard my name.
I looked to the side and saw Ruby wave me over. Angel and I walked over to the five of them as there was clear tension in the air.
'You girls are going to the dance, right?' Ruby asked us. 'Yeah, but we're only going to smoke on the football field and laugh at people' I shrugged at him. 'Don't snitch' I pointed a finger at Cesar, who held his hands up.
'Can you guys convince Monse and Olivia to go to the dance tonight?' Ruby asked, pointing at the two girls in front of him.
'I don't blame them' Angel shrugged.
'Why do you guys not wanna go?' I asked them confused. Olivia seemed excited about it yesterday when I bumped into her.
'Dances are cesspools of bad behavior. No matter what the principal says' Monse said, Cesar looking confused at her.
'I don't wanna go' both girls shook their heads.
'Yeah, people get freaky, but what's wrong with getting freaky?' Ruby asked them as Olivia gave him a disappointed look.
'How old are these kids again?' Angel asked me confused after what Ruby said.
'I mean, people are gonna be having sex in the bathrooms, but that's everywhere, not only at school dances' I shrugged, looking at an annoyed Monse and Olivia.
'But don't have sex in the bathroom at a dance' Angel warned them all. 'You'll get detention for two weeks'
'Bitch, who did you fuck in the bathroom at the dance?' I asked her confused, trying the bring up the memory of her telling me.
'Tommy, the blond one' 'Oh, yeah!' I began laughing out loud at her. Angel smacked the back of my head as the kids looked confused at us.
'You guys seemed so excited a few days ago, what happened?' I asked Monse and Olivia, going back into the conversation.
'That was before we realized how lame dances are. And maybe we're just not in the mood' Monse told all of us.
'Oh, is it your menses?' Ruby asked carefully, making all of us girls raise an eyebrow at him.
'Her what?' Olivia asked, Cesar and Jamal trying to stop Ruby from talking.
'Her lady pond has runneth red' Ruby said. What the fuck.
'Lady pond?' I asked Ruby, raising an eyebrow at him. Ruby saw all of the looks we were giving him and realized he fucked up.
'What? What am I saying wrong?' He asked nervously to all of us.
'Everything!' The four of us exclaimed. 'You guys don't understand what it's like to be a woman and treated like an object' Monse told the boys.
'Period' I heard Angel say.
'We have hearts!' Monse exclaimed. 'And minds' Olivia added. 'So take out any question that we're going tonight. The answer is no. With a period, because that's what it's actually called'
Both Angel and me clapped at their speech, making the boys look at his with a look of betrayal.
'Girls, let's go dine in a less hostile environment' Monse said, standing up with Olivia and grabbing their tray and walking away.
Angel and I both shrugged and followed the fifteen year old sassy girls.