"THIS IS GOING to be the best shut-in," Ruby exclaims as he fixes the collar of his vampire cloak. "But only if we follow protocol." He adds, causing everyone to groan.
"We know the drill, Ruby." Monse sighs with a roll of her eyes. "How is this year different than any year?"
I nudge her ribs with my elbow and she glances over at me with a curious look on her face. "Because Olivia is here this year." I clarify, winking at Ruby who rolls his eyes in response.
"Yes, this is about Olivia," Ruby says. I give Monse a knowing look, making her laugh. "There was magic in our first dance." He sighs contently, a faraway look in his eyes as he smiles. I roll my eyes and glance over my shoulder at Jamal, who's sitting at the table on his phone.
"Have you guys ever gone to Brentwood?" Jamal asks curiously, looking up from his phone to see who acknowledged his question. Ruby and Monse ignore him and continue conversing about Olivia and the shut-in.
With a sigh, I walk over to Jamal and sit down next to him. "Maybe once with Mario," I answer his question, looking down at his screen but he swiftly turns it away so I can't see it. "Why?" I raise my eyebrow skeptically.
"Just asking." He shrugs, putting his phone face down on the table. "How was it? You notice anything... odd?"
I scoff, "Nothing other than the fact that rich white people live there." He nods his head thoughtfully, frowning at the table. "What's this about Jamal?" I sigh, folding my arms over my chest.
He hesitates for a second, glancing around the room nervously. "You're not going to believe me."
"Try me, Turner."
"RollerWorld!" Jamal blurts and I look at him in surprise. "It's about RollerWorld."
"RollerWorld?" I ask confusedly. "You mean the myth about those Santos that hid fifty k?"
He shakes his head rapidly. "Not fifty k Camilla, two fifty!" My eyes widen and my arms fall from their place over my chest. Holy fuck, that's a lot of money.
"No way!" I whisper-yell, leaning across the table so Ruby and Monse won't hear us. They don't really believe the story anyway. "You find it yet?"
Jamal furrows his eyebrows and gives me a confused look. "Wait, you believe me?" He whispers as his eyes widen in shock.
"Uh yeah? Why wouldn't I?" I ask as I lean back in my chair. The cool leather rubs against my bare back and sends a shiver down my spine. Is this really a good outfit? Oscar would like it though.
"Because everyone else doesn't! They think I'm crazy." He sighs as he frowns at his phone, pulling me out of the thoughts of my boyfriend.
"Hey," I say slowly and softly, prompting him to look up at me. "I believe you, Jamal. I'll even help you find it." I smile at him as the front door swings open. I turn around and see Cesar walking in wearing a white robe of some sort along with a gold crown of leaves on his head. He's Julius Caesar, ironic.
"Shut-in!" He yells, closing the door behind him. He flashes me a smile as he looks me up and down, examining my costume. But there isn't much to examine. I'm dressed as princess Jasmine, which is just a turquoise two-piece outfit that reveals my entire stomach. "My brother seen that outfit yet?" He smirks at me but then gives Monse a weird look, before sitting down on the other end of the sofa that she's sitting on. I glance between him and Monse with a raised eyebrow but he waves me off, mouthing 'Later'.
"No, he hasn't seen it yet," I say, twisting my body so I'm facing him. "Ironic costume choice."
"Thank you for noticing." He smiles, holding his hand against his chest. "Means a lot Cami." I flash him a quick smile as the nickname brings back memories of Oscar. And for once, the memories that are playing in my head aren't bad ones.
"What do you think?" Olivia asks as she steps into the living room, almost instantly grabbing everyone's attention. She's dressed as a sexy cowgirl with her hair up in two pigtails. I glance over at Ruby and smile when I notice his flushed face. He's so obsessed with her.
"That looks nice," Ruby says awkwardly, swiftly grabbing one of the pillows on the couch and putting it on his lap. I roll my eyes and turn around to face Jamal once again, shutting out everyone behind me.
"What do you know so far?" I ask Jamal as I rest my elbows on the table. He grins widely at me and unlocks his phone.
"I need your boyfriend's help." He says, swiping his finger across the screen.
"Oscar?" I raise an eyebrow. He nods his head, looking over his phone at me. "Why?"
"I need to ask him some questions about a guy named Lil Ricky." He pauses for a second and then gasps. "Or you could ask him!"
I scoff and shake my head. "Nope. You're the one that wants to talk to him. You ask." I am so not getting roped into this again.
Jamal huffs in frustration. "But he'll tell you!" He whines, putting his phone down on the table once again.
"No Jamal," I say sternly, glancing over my shoulder at Ruby, who's practically having a meltdown.
"Why can't we go somewhere else? There's got to be other places?" Olivia asks. Jamal gets up and leans over the sofa she's sitting on.
"Brentwood." He whispers making me laugh. He won't rest until he finds that money.
"How about Brentwood?" Olivia says, taking Jamal's suggestion. Jamal gives me a mock look of surprise which makes me laugh once again.
"Great call Olivia!" I exclaim, going along with Jamal's plan. He grins at me, and I smile back.
"I'm down." Cesar and Monse say at the same time. They glare at each other before looking back at Ruby. I frown, what the hell is up with them?
"No, it's a bad call!" Ruby exclaims. "Great idea though. It's just, Brentwood's super far and we'd have to take public transpo, which sucks." My younger brother says, trying to change the mind of the girl he's infatuated with.
"No need," Jamal says, looking up from his phone. "I got us a ride." Everyone smiles at Jamal except Ruby, who gives him a dirty look.
"SO, WHAT'S UP with you and Monse?" I ask Cesar as we walk down the sidewalk behind Ruby and Olivia. My abuelita dropped us off, which was surprising but then Jamal explained that she's the one helping him out with the whole RollerWorld situation, which is why he wants to go to Brentwood in the first place. But before Jamal and I could rush away to one of heist member's ex-girlfriend's house, Cesar had claimed me and Monse had claimed Jamal. And before we went our separate ways, Jamal promised he'd tell me everything that he found.
"Nothing," Cesar says hastily, furthering my suspicions. "Why do you ask?"
"You two are acting weird around each other," I say as we follow Ruby and Olivia up someone's driveway. "Cesar, just tell me what's going on."
He sighs loudly, looking down at the concrete ground. "It's nothing Camilla, I promise. We're just... figuring out what we want to be." I nod my head, placing my hand on his shoulder.
"I get it. Do you want me to talk to her?" I ask as a middle-aged white man gives all of us full-sized chocolate bars. Cesar shakes his head, and we follow Ruby and Olivia down the sidewalk once again.
"We'll figure it out. We gotta do this on our own." He assures me with a small, incredibly fake smile.
"If you say so..." I trail off, bumping into Ruby. He turns around and rolls his eyes. "Why'd you stop walking?" I ask, looking over at Olivia and following her eye line to the lively house across the street.
"Olivia wants to crash the party," Ruby mumbles, a look of annoyance on his face as he gestures towards the house across the street.
"Then let's do it," I suggest, looking around at the three of them. Cesar and Olivia's faces light up and they walk across the street before Ruby even has the chance to object. "Come on Ruby," I playfully bump my shoulder against his. "Show Olivia what a badass you are."
"Why would I do that?" Ruby asks, pretending to be confused but the blush on his cheeks states otherwise.
"I know you like her." I roll my eyes and grab his wrist, before dragging him across the street. "Show her who Ruben really is."
A/N : the awkward moment when your mom likes your boyfriend but you have to say he's only a friend otherwise she'll be angry.
also, I'm doing good so far with the whole updating on schedule thing. look at me goooo. and I just want to thank all of you for reading/voting/commenting on this story. it honestly means so much to me and it really does brighten my day up to know that there are people out there who enjoy my writing.
-h